Thursday 2-26-09

Thursday, we had our first stomach upset of the trip, probably from eating salad from the Pizza Hut that Jacqui ordered last night. Figures we'd enjoy the Ecuadorean food just fine and then get sick from eating Pizza Hut! Our host mom made us tea from oregano, which is supposed to calm the G.I. tract. Herbal remedies are very popular here. It was actually tasty and I might try making it in the U.S. just for something different.

I spent most of the morning blogging at the Pharmacy next to our house to stay close to home since I wasn't feeling great. For lunch, we went to our favorite cafe down the hill and then rested in the afternoon with some Pedialyte (no Gatorade to hydrate sick people here).

Pictured: Megan, Ben, me, Cara, KT, the other Lauren, Carlina, ? not in the med program.
Brittany, Britton, Emily, Kristen.

Our stomachs were feeling better just in time to go to a cultural meeting with the other students that evening. Since this was our last night together as a group, we celebrated in traditional Ecuadorean fashion: on a chiva bus. Basically, it's a bus with a band on top that takes passengers all over the city to enjoy the views while drinking a traditional hot alcoholic beverage and blowing whistles or using noise makers. Some of the band members were children who might have been as young as 10 years old playing an instrument on a party bus on a Thursday night. This made me think of the old commercials "it's ten o'clock, do you know where your child is?" The band is by no means very talented but they certainly get one in the spirit.

Britton took this picture when we all stopped to get out and dance in the San Francisco Square. It's a pretty crazy picture but probably a good representation of that night. ;-)