I awaken to sunlight, coughing, dogs barking, chickens crowing, and car horns. I slowly arise and look around, wondering what time it is. Its only 7am and I have hours before I’m allowed to wake Sandy to tell me what to do for the day. There is no food in the refrigerator and no towel for a shower, so I am feeling a little lost and confused at the moment. Much to my delight, Diego comes home early from his meeting and invites me up to their apartment for breakfast. I have already eaten a breakfast bar from my carry-on luggage, so I sit at the table and watch Sandy eat her morning pizza. She then takes me over to the PAE shelter, for a day with Maria Teresa (aka Terre).
When I arrive it is chaos. Terre is crying and making no sense to me, though she only speaks Spanish and my Spanish skills are deplorable. Through some communication with others, I find out that Terry’s beloved poodle was attacked and fatally wounded (though it lived most the day) by a pit bull rescue whose ears had been removed for fighting. I go into the grooming salon (aka shed or surgical suite) where Diego is working diligently on the poodle and realize that it has many broken ribs and an open pneumothorax (hole through the chest allowing air into the chest cavity). He can feel the heart through the open chest wound. What a way to start the day.
However, the day does get progressively better. The shelter has two sisters (Gonza and Maygora) that volunteer their time there and both speak English. Maygora is in veterinary school and Gonza got a business degree and works in a local tire shop. Both are on vacation. We clean up some of the other wounded animals and then spend the rest of the morning working on making Terre’s house (which doubles as the shelter) more presentable to clients. When finished, Gonza and I take a tour of the city and stop to get home made ice cream in a neighborhood called Ficoa.
The city is primitive, yet beautiful in its own right. It is snuggled within the Andean hillside and colorful homes litter the landscape. It is obvious the city is poor, because the homes are in an ill state of repair and most people don’t have appliances or cars. The city is actually quite large from a census standpoint, but it has the feel of a much more rural town. The shops are all locally owned and you’re hard-pressed to find any sort of chain store here. Driving is quite frightening, people pass one another at mach speed with little more than a horn warning that they are plowing into traffic. Add some hills, round-abouts, and u-turns and it feels a little like an indy car race.
At lunch time I am invited to the home of the sisters for a meal of beans, soup called locre (potato, avocado, bone marrow), and a fried egg, rice and beans. The food is wonderful and it gives me confidence that I will not turn into a waif over my visit. The people are very nice to me, though I wish I better spoke their language.
On the way back to the shelter from lunch I find out that Sandy is coming to pick me up to view hotels for the veterinarians that will be visiting from the US for the spay/neuter campaign next week. We go to 2 hotels, and find that one has a pool and a gym, but neither can be used. The other hotel is very nice, but cost $46 a night as compared to the $16.70 per night of the first hotel. We choose the first one and head to town to try the empanatas (fried dough filled with cheese) and the colado morado (a warm fruit drink filled with strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, and many other unidentifiable fruits). It is at this point that I had horribly misjudged Sandy. She is sweet and soft-spoken, and I found out that she teaches English to Ecuadorians. She even offered to help me with my Spanish. I get the feeling that we will remain friends long after this journey.
After eating, we head back to the shelter where we find Diego working on more animals. The first one is a boxer who has been hit by a car and suffered face and hock injuries. The joint looks weak and luxated and is swollen from a joint capsule infection. The next dog has a penile prolapse and needs a stitch to keep it in place as well as get neutered. The final two dogs are young pups to be spayed for their adoption the following day. It is now 9:30 and we’re tired and ready to go home. We walk the two blocks home and say goodnight. A new day to begin in the morning.
OMG!!! It is like reading a fascinating novel in the beginning, I was on the edge of my seat when you arrived to find Terre in tears. Sandy sounds like a doll. It also sounds like just about everyone speaks good English...you got it made in the shade! So, are you getting a lot of hands on experience or are you just observing all of the action?
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