Water, my new thing

I've always been a fan of water. I enjoy drinking it, I enjoy swimming in it, and I've been known for years for my "rock out showers," of which water is a key component. Recently, however, water has become kind of my new thing. In Ecuador, water can be good, bad, and definitely ugly.

The good: hot springs in Baños rumored to have healing properties

The bad: "agua mala," or what the locals of Estero de Plátano call it when you encounter a stray jellyfish tentacle in the wave you're playing in and run back onto the beach shrieking

The ugly: drinking water contaminated with fecal matter, bacteria, and any manner of grossness

As you've probably gathered from my blog this summer, my bread and butter has become the ugly of water in Ecuador. Although my original public health focus was on sexual health, a series of events and influences have led me to focus on water. After years of work, Yanapuma was finally able to install a water purification system in Estero de Plátano... which made it the perfect time to conduct a water quality assessment to measure its impact... which was perfect fodder for a one credit hour independent study with an environmental health professor... which grew so big it turned into my culminating experience (mini-thesis)... and finally, which put Yanapuma in a great position to be the implementing parter on a Rotary Club project to install water purification systems in 200+ communities in Ecuador... of which I am now the perfect choice to manage. As I said, water is kind of my new thing.

I'm a bit hesitant to put this in my blog since it's not yet a sure thing that we will be implementing this project... but after months and months of job searching and doubting, I somehow feel sure about this one... vamos a ver!

Culture: un cultivo, la cultura

According to www.dictionary.reference.com (an obviously reputable source), when used a verb culture can be defined as: to grow (microorganisms, tissues, etc) in or on a controlled or defined medium. I started thinking about the definition of the word when I realized that in Spanish, cultures of microorganisms are called cultivos, while culture of a place is called la cultura. Although the two concepts are separate words in Spanish, I think that English may actually have the right idea this time around.

The culture of Estero

de Plátano is something that has also grown in a defined medium. Flanked on on either side by cliffs and facing the ocean, Estero is a small, defined environment. Most families living in Estero have lived there for generations, growing together and developing a culture, norms, alliances, enemies, and a whole complica

ted network of understandings and assumptions. Some of this culture is what you might expect, like a love of seafood and Bachata music. But other things come as a surprise, such as the general acceptance of transsexuals in a small, rural community in Ecuador.

In comparison, my water cultures are pretty unimpressive. My 48 hours

of coliform growth are pretty simple to understand, even though I had too many coliforms to get a good count. Everything came out pretty much as expe

cted, with no big surprises. And I guess that's the nice thing about bacteria.... they pretty much do what you expect them to do, which brings me to my point (I know, you've been waiting for a point).

This time around in the community, I was much happier with my water cultures than the community culture itself. My water cultures were done in 48 hours and they did exactly what I wanted them to do. Estero's culture, however, proved rather more challenging. Yanapuma has been attempting to install a water purification system in Estero for years. A few months ago, with the help of another NGO in the area, it was finally accomplished. People in the community can now buy 20 liters of water for 25 cents instead of the typical cost of $1.00 or $1.25. The one little hitch? That the people in the community aren't buying the water. The director of the system gets paid from sales, so she isn't getting paid. In short, if we can't get people on board with the water, the system won't be able to stay functional. Why aren't the people buying the water, you might ask? The overwhelming answer is that they don't like the taste, although I personally think it has more to do with cultural norms and distrust of new things.

But don't lose hope, my dear readers! Despite my frustration, I am dedicated to do everything possible to get people on board and make this system sustainable. It's slow going, but well worth the effort. In other news, I made this video about our scholarship students in the community and I have to say it makes me super happy, and hopefully you'll enjoy it as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meufO_aMSgA

Outbreak Investigation: Ecua Stomach

This blog post is going to be a special treat for all of my Infectious Disease Epidemiology friends (lemurs, if you will). I have prepared an outbreak investigation about my recent bout of Ecua Stomach, which happened to be the worst I've experienced.

In Ecuador, the Day of the Child (Día de los Niños) is a pretty big deal. As a result, I spent the morning in a party for the children of Estero de Plátano, which happened to include a cake. The cake was left out for about 3 hours before we ate it, and probably longer than that since it had to get to Estero from Atacames. Regardless, I have a pretty cavalier attitude about the strength of my stomach and I ate it anyway. Sometime after dinner, I begin to hear the stomach rumblings that signaled trouble on the way. Early the next morning, the worst case of Ecua Stomach I've ever had began.

My philosophy on Ecua Stomach has always been that you just have to let these things run their course. At Day 3, my philosophy changed and I was ready to try anything. Unfortunately, Day 3 was a Saturday and the Health Subcenter wouldn't be open again until Tuesday. So I took some random pill that I bought from a tienda. Which sort of worked, but not really. Next, I submitted myself to an especially interesting cure: having an egg rolled all around my body and being crossed. At which point the egg is cracked and put in a cup of water to see how much of the sickness it pulled out of my body. Surprisingly, this remedy also failed.

On Tuesday, Day 6, I went to the Health Subcenter where I was given some random pills that I had never heard of and some rehydration powder to mix with water. I don't know what the pills were, but they worked. Finally. After 6 days of becoming very well acquainted with the bathroom in our hostel, I felt like a person again. And now I'll know better than to be overly smug with my "stomach of steel."

So, my faithful IDEpi folks, what did I have? Assuming it was the cake that did me in, I would put the incubation period at about 6 or 7 hours. I would guess I was probably headed toward the end of my symptoms by the time I took the pills, so duration of about 6 to 7 days. The fruit on the cake may have been the actual culprit, or it may have been your typical fecal-oral contamination through little kids touching the cake while they desperately tried to wait 3 hours to eat it. I await your answers.

Ahora mismo, ya viene

The two weeks since I touched down in Quito have passed in kind of a whirlwind. I spent a few days in the Yanapuma office getting ready to go to the coast and left after only having been in Quito for 2 days. Since arriving in Estero, I´ve completed bacterial cultures of different water soruces, done 20 household surveys about water, danced salsa, gotten stung by a jellyfish, and helped build a hostel.

When comparing this trip to Estero to my time here last summer, the contrast is fairly striking. While last year I was frustrated by the lack of real, solid work to do, this time I´m exhausted by how much work there is. The Artisan´s Group is racing against the clock to finish building their hostel, the Women´s Group spends every Sunday making ceviches and almuerzos to sell to tourists, and every afternoon from 4 to 7 is spent in the library helping with homework. And in between all of those responsibilities I was also trying to fit in my water project. Luckily, I´ve finished all of my water stuff for now and I can focus on other things for Yanapuma.

Amidst all the changes, there are still things that remain the same. I still spend Saturday nights with ¨los muchachos,¨ who delight in asking me when I´m going to bring my sister for them to marry. The two main (and only) drinks in Estero are the national beer, Pilsener, and aguardiente. The answer to anything regarding time is always ahora mismo (right now) or ya viene (it´s coming right now), while the reality could be a wait of an hour or two. And of course, the most important thing of all is not to be ¨brava¨ (grumpy).

I have a little less than two weeks left on the coast, at which point I´ll be headed back to Quito to continue working in the office and looking for a job. I´m keeping my fingers crossed that I´ll be able to pull that off as well as I did with my water assessment!

Thoughts from the Command Center

I'm currently sitting in my almost-empty room in what my friends lovingly call "The Command Center," and what most people would refer to as my bed. Although it is now only the mattress and box springs since my bed frame is gone. People call it the Command Center because it is where I've spent a great deal of the past two years writing papers, catching up on email, watching Hulu on my computer... and occasionally sleeping as well. The Command Center is about all that's left in my room at this point. My parents drove away yesterday with all of my possessions save what I'm taking with me to Ecuador in a few days. So, devoid of the normal distractions of my room I'm forced to reflect on the last two years and my upcoming trip.

For the last two years, I've been held hostage by Washington University. While I was a Brown School student I stopped reading for pleasure entirely, severely restricted my social life, and took on a mind-numbing amount of debt. And now I am a bright-eyed new (almost) graduate excitedly looking forward to a life free of interminable group meetings, endless reflection papers, and reading done on the elliptical for lack of any other time. Unfortunately, I'm also staring down the barrel of that mind-numbing debt paired with pending unemployment. While you might imagine that employers would be breaking down the door to have such a self-aware, transdisciplinary social worker/public health practitioner, that has so far not been the case. So I'm off to Ecuador to find myself, and hopefully (and also more importantly), a job.

As usual, I'm resurrecting my blog since I'm headed back to Ecuador. My activities this summer will include:

-a bitchin' water quality assessment

-managing community development programming Estero de Plátano (a rural community)

-The Great 2011 Job Search

-managing my complicated Ecuadorian social life

-self indulgent reflection through copious amounts of journaling and whatnot

-lazing on the beach

-getting a tan

So stay tuned as a I find out about water quality, navigate a complicated social scene, continue my epic job search, and attempt to handle whatever else gets thrown at me.

The End of the Journey... well, this journey anyway

I arrived back in my St. Louis apartment today, after a grueling 7 hour drive without air conditioning in the heat wave hitting the midwest. I spent several hours catching up with my roommates and several more watching bootleg DVDs with them. Now that I'm back here and ready to start the school year, it finally feels like my summer journey is over.

I felt a million miles away from St. Louis for the majority of the summer, and I think a part of me felt that I wouldn't end up back here. But here I am. I guess I feel like I should be able to encapsulate my summer into a few pithy lessons learned or something to that effect. Unfortunately, that isn't quite the case.

I think the best I can come up with is a list of some of the things that I'm glad to have back and some of the things that I'm really missing...

It's always the small things that seem to be the most important. I'm really excited to be able to really unpack for the first time in three months. To be honest, I've been looking forward to putting my clothes in a closet for weeks now. And to be able to leave my shampoo in the shower, now that's really something. Just generally settling down again is going to be really amazing. Having internet and cell phone service is nice I guess, but I kind of learned to enjoy going days without communication.... but I guess now it's back to the race against my inbox.

It pretty much goes without saying that I miss the people in Ecuador. After two tours of duty, I've amassed a pretty significant list of friends and colleagues... and of course a boyfriend. As always, leaving the people is the hardest part. I miss the sound of Spanish all around me, and the volcano Pichincha looking over my shoulder. And I never thought I'd say this, but I miss la hora Ecuatoriana. The idea of rushing to beat a clock for the next 9 months makes me almost physically ill.

So I guess that's that... back in St. Louis for the self-flaggelation that is a dual degree program. An experience only made bearable (and even occasionally enjoyable) by the people who go through it with you.

Until my next trip down south...

Cipro: My new best friend

When I decided to resurrect my blog, I didn't really consider the lack of internet access. So here I am again, trying to fit a month of activities and news into one post.

I walked into my last three weeks in Estero with the responsibility of everything on my shoulders. The person responsible for the projects in Estero left the foundation the week before I went back, so for my week in the office I was desperately trying to soak up all of the knowledge that I could about everything going on there... and failing for the most part. So I came back with a three page work plan and the knowledge that in the office, I am now the person who knows the most about this community. For those of you who know me well, you know that I was a mixture of nerves and ambition.

As far as work goes, the three weeks passed pretty much as normal. Successes, setbacks, and plenty of time conversando and relajando. The new volunteers arrived for my last weekend in Estero so I was playing hostess and trying to cram 2 months of knowledge into their poor heads in two days. Luckily for them, I mixed in catching pulpo and a killer despedida.

We ended up leaving Estero at a dead run trying to catch the last bus that would leave for the day. It was leaving about and hour earlier than we had expected, so after begging the driver to wait for 15 minutes, I found myself running through town to get everyone together and onto the bus. We all made it, by some miracle, and that was the end of my time in Estero de Plátano.

I arrived in Quito with a disgusting cough and plenty of body aches and the like. After watching me hack up a lung for the weekend, one of the new volunteers, Allie, gave me some cipro to knock out whatever I had. After a few days of popping pills, I finally started to feel like myself again.

I was supposed to finish my practicum on August 2nd or 3rd, but I'm still here in the office. Since I'm the one who knows the most about Estero at this point, I feel a lot of responsibility to leave people well-informed. Luckily, I have complete confidence in the abilities of the new volunteers. It's always hard to know if the work you've done will have any sustainability when you leave, but leaving it in good hands does a lot for peace of mind.