Training and Preparing for FCSF in Quito

Day 5:
After going to the office Brian got a $1.50 haircut, what a price difference with back home. We had lunch at a pizzeria while Ricardo was finalizing the laboratory training arrangements for us. We went in the afternoon to the laboratory of the Sangolqui Hospital in Quito. The lady who helped us (Gladys) told us that it is impossible to learn to identify intestinal parasites in 2 days (which was the plan). After looking at some sample slides with her showing things to us we had to agree with her. The sampes are made by sticking and stirring a toothpick in a poo sample. That is put on a glass slide with 2 different kinds of liquid. She checked out the microscope that Ricardo got and that we took to and from Cabo San Francisco. We couldn't get that microscope working properly. After we had seen all of the slides we left to do some shopping for FCSF and ourselves. When we got back to the FCSF office we could not open the door with the key that we got. We tried calling Ricardo, but there was no answer. After having some food and trying again we left a message on the phone and on the door. We went to an internet cafe and were planning on getting a hotel at 10pm (when the taxis stop waiting), if we hadn't heard back. We were only inside for 2 minutes when Ricardo arrived, so we were really relieved. It turned out we needed a second key to open the door!

Day 6:
We started out the day with an ice cold shower. Ricardo had told us that there isn't always warm water here, so it wasn't a big surprise. We went to pick up another microscope that we call the 2-headed microscope, because it has 2 eye pieces, so that 2 people can look through the microscope at the same time. This will be very handy for our research, since we are planning on doing lots of it together (at least while we are still learning). Then we went shopping again. This time shopping was with Ricardo's son Joseph (FCSF Project Coordinator). The microscope needed a 6 volt converter, which is more work than it sounds because we didn't know what we needed. We also got a UPS (power regulator for the laboratory equipment) and some stuff for garbage clean-up. Then we went to the laboratory and tried out the 2-headed microscope with the converter. We cut up the converter cables and connected the microscope light with electrical tape, but it didn't work. We tried a few things and Brian made sure the converter worked by connecting the wires to his tongue (the converter worked and Brian is still alive). So, we figured that we needed a stronger converter. Brian and Joseph went to look for one, while Paulien looked at some new poo samples. Fortunately, the new converter worked and we managed to get sharp images with the new microscope!! Joseph brought all of the shopping goodies and the non-functioning microscope back to the FCSF office. Since we left later we had to take the 2-headed microscope on the bus. Paulien almost poked out a kids eye when she fell backwards onto the seat when the bus suddenly took off. For dinner was a roadside diner of a lady cooking food basically in a bbq on the sidewalk. Since we didn't include meat all that was left was fried mashed potatoes, corn (similar to popcorn), beets and lettuce. The night before we got dinner from the same place, but that time we ate it in the park out of the plastic bags with our hands (since we couldn't get in the house). Still tasted good though.

Day 7:
We started out the day with a cold shower again, so we were wide awake. In the morning we found out that the UPS wasn't working properly. We took it back to the store where it worked perfectly. We don't know what happened, but when we got home that night it worked perfectly again, luckily. Then back to the laboratory. We were still having trouble locating and differentiating parasites. Also, we had only seen a few different kinds of parasites and not all of those parasites are as common on the coast. We wanted to take a picture of Gladys because she was so helpful and always nice and cheery, but she was a little camera shy. We tried to find a parasite atlas, but had no luck. We tried to find the pizzeria where we had a great lunch on day 5. That time we were dropped off by car, but this time was by bus. The first bus we got on we ended up on a highway because we didn't get off on time (even though the lady was yelling "El Triangulo", which was our stop). So, we crossed the highway and took another bus back and missed our stop yet again. This time it was walking distance back (1 block) and we finally ended up at the pizzeria after another bus ride. Then the foccacia wasn't as good as the time before, but fortunately the rest was yummy. A technician was going to Cabo San Francisco the next morning to fix the water, but we decided not to go with him since we needed more stuff before we could start our research. He did take all of the stuff we bought so far, so that will make the bus trip out a lot easier.

Day 8:
No hot water again. Brian was getting used to the cold water, but Paulien with her longer hair was almost getting a brain freeze in the shower. We went to Quito city center to buy supplies for our research and a parasite atlas. After 4 days of traveling around a lot on buses and driving with Joseph, we finally had everything we needed. Also, we got a laptop today so we can work on translating more of the FCSF website into English. Since there is no internet we can't use babelfish to help us out with translating the spanish into ridiculously funny sentences.

We were supposed to leave on a bus tonight at 11:45 pm, but it was fully booked for today and tomorrow. Therefore Joseph (who is going to Quito tomorrow) will try to get us tickets and we can hopefully leave tomorrow night with a different bus company. This is not all bad, because we get an extra day of training in the laboratory. Hopefully there will be some parasites we haven't seen yet and the ones we find hard to identify.

Days 9-11:
Paulien was sick and vomiting for 2 days, so we could not use our bus tickets. She probably got sick from the food on the street. On day 11 (Sunday, August 3rd) Paulien got a bit better, which was good since it was her birthday. We went to a big market in Sangolqui (Quito suburb) that had more food than the market in Otavello (the most known market in Ecuador). One of the more interesting things there was lots of pig heads for sale. We took the night bus to Cabo San Francisco.

It is a shame that we are using so much of our volunteer time for getting things organized instead of actually working. At least all of this organizing has produced some results, like a lab that can be used to analyze parasites.