Last day with Dra Guaman

Today was my last day at Atucucho. Next week I am headed back to maternidad. I thought about switching to surgery but my friends have had some pretty negative experiences at that hospital. It seems that in ecuador, male doctors can be pretty sexist. I have heard that female doctors can have a hard time in the united states, but it is nothing compared to here. Two of my female friends were in a surgery rotation with a male student. The attending commented on my female friends appearance (saying something like women from whatever country her last name is from are the most beautiful in the world). He then sent the male student to surgery and made the female students accompany him on rounds. He only let the female students watch surgeries that he performed. I also felt a little weird at maternidad my first week. The doctor that I worked with always kissed me on the cheek when he saw me (a common practice here, but I noticed he did not do this with everyone). He also often entered the room when I was changing into my scrubs and would stop and watch me. This happened at least three times in the four days I worked at materidad. Lessons to take into next week: use the lock on the changing room door. I am not sure if this creepy male doctor behavior is common here, or if we are treated differently because we are american. Regardless, I figured I would mention it in the blog because it has been part of my experience here.

Anywho, back to Dra Guaman. As you can tell from my last post, I really admire this woman. Today, the catholic students that accompanied me to clinic were first years and it was their first day of clinic. To introduce them to the area, the doctor took us on a tour of Atucucho. The area is muy peligroso (dangerous) but does boast some amazing views. In one of the clinics that we stopped in (the third that I have seen Dra Guaman work at this week) I learned how to do a intramuscular shot (in the booty). You divide one cheek into four quadrants and the top outermost quadrant is the one with the fewest nerves. Then you place your index finger on the hipbone and where your thumb meets the skin is the approximate location of where you should give the vaccine (this needs to be modified if you have unusually large hands, some men do). I learned from my nursing friends that in the states we inject into the thigh instead to avoid hitting a nerve, but still learning this technique was interesting.

When we finished the tour, the bus dropped me off near Plaza Foch. This is where the travel agency is located. I went and booked my Cotopaxi tour and got the details of the excursion. The trip involves meeting at 7am at the travel agency and driving 1.5 hours to the park where we will be taken to the museum and the lake. Then we get back on the bus and drive to the parking lot which is already at 4600 m above sea level (15,901ft). From there we hike up to the base camp which is at 4800m above sea level. 200 m does not seem like such a long trek but at this altitude it will be extremely difficult. It takes approximately one hour to do this. We get to take pictures and walk around at the base camp and then it will take around 15 minutes to hike back down. Once we return to the parking lot we will be given boxed lunches, which is included in the price of the trip. Then we get on our bikes and bike the rest of the way down the mountain. I opted to do this tour because I don't think I will be up for climbing up to the top after the 10k. Also, I have zero high altitude climbing experience and I am thinking this volcano is not the place to start learning. To put in perspective just how high the parking lot of Cotopaxi is, Quito is at maximum altitude slightly under 3,000m. My friends have been taking altitude sickness meds to get through daily life here in quito. So, I will be hiking at a cool 1200m HIGHER than quito, and sans meds. It is ok though, my motto is slow and steady and I am sure it will be fine.

From there I headed to Quicentro to get running gloves and socks. I picked up some Nike running gloves and was fine paying the 20something dollars for them because I will need them back in philly (November marathon=lots of cold training days and a freezing race start at 6am). I got some kiddie hiking socks for $9 for the hike/bike ride on Monday. And now I am home relaxing and drinking some gatorades to hydrate for tomorrow. They say that high altitude causes you to become dehydrated more quickly, so I am trying to compensate for this. I am also glad I brought my water band with me because there are three water stations during the race (compared to like 6 at the tufts 10k) so I will be able to have both a water bottle and my phone with me(the band has a pocket in it).

Thats all for now, I will post tomorrow night or sunday morning to let you know how the race went. Wish me luck!