For anyone who doesn't know, I am on my way to Ecuador. My purpose is two-fold, or possible more fold, who knows. The first is to spend a month shadowing/interning with a doctor at a public health center in Ecuador to learn more about their health system and put my Medical Spanish into practice. The second is to get out of Baltimore for the last summer vacation of my life, and enjoy myself as much as possible in the process. I will not be returning until July 24th, because I am traveling for 3.5 weeks after my program in Cuenca, Ecuador is finished.
Now that the logistics are generally settled, to my program. I will be living with a host family in Cuenca, Ecuador, that I was connected to through my program El Nomad. I am slightly nervous about this because I have never stayed with a host family outside of the country. I have stayed in the homes of many Americans during Joyful Noise! tours and retreats, but all of my international experiences have been in hotels/hostels and apartments. I will be living with a mother and her two teenage sons, ages 13 and 15. I am excited to present them with the gifts I have thoughtfully selected (Orioles baseball caps, a DC mug, and Old Bay), and hope that we can build a great relationship during my short time with them.
I honestly have no idea what to expect from this month. Everything is set up and planned for me, which has been a great relief since the first year of medical school does not leave much time for trip planning. This also means that since someone else planned it for me, I have no idea what I am getting myself into. I don't even know exactly who is picking me up at the airport when I arrive. This is both thrilling and terrifying. Obviously everything will work itself out because it always does. And as my dad said this morning, "Money is no object, just use the [credit] card." Though money is definitely an object, it is comforting to know that I have security to deal with another fiasco like the luggage fees on my return trip from Spain.
As for my weeks after my program, nothing is planned except flights. This makes me a bit nervous, but I know that there will always be some hostel that has an empty room. We (meaning myself and my sister Steph) have a hostel in Quito, but only because she needs to tell Compassion International where we are staying. Otherwise we probably wouldn't even have that. With that said, any recommendations are welcome, for ideas for Quito, Los Galapagos, and Santiago, Chile. I will do all of my planning over the next few weeks, hopefully with the assistance of my new friends in Cuenca.
I suppose that is a long enough post for my first one. So I'll spend the rest of my time waiting for my flight trying to finish House of Cards. A lofty goal, since I have about 80 minutes and 3 episodes. So I guess the rest will have to wait.
Now that the logistics are generally settled, to my program. I will be living with a host family in Cuenca, Ecuador, that I was connected to through my program El Nomad. I am slightly nervous about this because I have never stayed with a host family outside of the country. I have stayed in the homes of many Americans during Joyful Noise! tours and retreats, but all of my international experiences have been in hotels/hostels and apartments. I will be living with a mother and her two teenage sons, ages 13 and 15. I am excited to present them with the gifts I have thoughtfully selected (Orioles baseball caps, a DC mug, and Old Bay), and hope that we can build a great relationship during my short time with them.
I honestly have no idea what to expect from this month. Everything is set up and planned for me, which has been a great relief since the first year of medical school does not leave much time for trip planning. This also means that since someone else planned it for me, I have no idea what I am getting myself into. I don't even know exactly who is picking me up at the airport when I arrive. This is both thrilling and terrifying. Obviously everything will work itself out because it always does. And as my dad said this morning, "Money is no object, just use the [credit] card." Though money is definitely an object, it is comforting to know that I have security to deal with another fiasco like the luggage fees on my return trip from Spain.
As for my weeks after my program, nothing is planned except flights. This makes me a bit nervous, but I know that there will always be some hostel that has an empty room. We (meaning myself and my sister Steph) have a hostel in Quito, but only because she needs to tell Compassion International where we are staying. Otherwise we probably wouldn't even have that. With that said, any recommendations are welcome, for ideas for Quito, Los Galapagos, and Santiago, Chile. I will do all of my planning over the next few weeks, hopefully with the assistance of my new friends in Cuenca.
I suppose that is a long enough post for my first one. So I'll spend the rest of my time waiting for my flight trying to finish House of Cards. A lofty goal, since I have about 80 minutes and 3 episodes. So I guess the rest will have to wait.
