Today I start to fall into a routine. I am delighted to find that I have a hot shower this morning and it gives me hope that today will be better than yesterday. I eat my breakfast bar and head over to PAE (Protection Animal Ecuador, the shelter in which I am working) with a list of things to accomplish for the morning. Diego has now entrusted me with the lab work, some of his shelter paperwork (which I think is funny, because I don’t speak Spanish well), and the treatment of all the sick animals. He is busy working with the municipality to set up a bona fide shelter for the city, the first ever in Ecuador.
Most of my morning is spent giving injections and cleaning wounds, and before I know it, it is time to meet Sandy for lunch. She decided the night before that she would take me downtown to the central market for traditional food from Ambato. We get yaguarlocre (blood soup that contains sheep blood, potatoes, avocado, bone marrow, and onion), llapingachos (a sort of fried potato pancake), and naranjillo juice (which is somewhat like an orange, but sweeter). Of course the llapingachos were served with a fried egg on top, which I am learning is a staple around here. We leave the market and wander the streets for a bit, making space for the helado (ice cream) that I have to try.
I finally make it back to the shelter around 4pm and prepare myself for more work to be done. The rest of the day goes by very quickly, but of course I screw up in surgery around 7pm and prolong the evening even more. Thankfully, when I finish with Diego in surgery, Maygora and Margherita were at the shelter and invited me to go have a dinner of French fries with them. We go to a restaurant called “Choko” where they order a giant plate of ruffles potato chips smothered with ketchup, mustard, mayo, and mozzarella cheese. I got a small bowl of fries and returned home happy. Lets hope the rest of the days run as smoothly as this!
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