Ecuadorian Health Care

We finally got our window screens and it is so wonderful to be able to leave the windows open in this lovely weather – and not be hassled by flies and mosquitoes.  Our landlord decided she would have them put in – and did.  We still need living room furniture and this house will be complete.  Well, sort of.

German, the young man who is setting up the English school, tried very hard to get me to be a full time administrator for his school.  I told him I just wanted to help – not another career.  He has finally come to understand that I want to be part time help.  He has a student who is a teacher at the school here who has some Basic English, but needs to become more proficient and understand the grammar.  German says he would like me to help with this person (Raul).  Right now German is getting the books and supplies together.  He has four or five other students lined up, so he’s looking around for more teachers.  He believes that he could easily have a classroom full by fall.  

Steve had a go-round with a bug of some kind that wouldn’t respond to my tea and acidophilus regimen.  So after fighting the battle for three days, we went to the near-by hospital and floundered our way through an explanation of what the problem was.  A girl and her father walked in at about that time, and Dad spoke English very well – married to an American – so he helped us get the information needed to the nurses.  Steve was taken in for a shot, blood tests, stool test, re-hydration, and a general work-up.  While all this was going on, I asked a nurse if there is a doctor in Sucua who spoke some English.  It turns out there is and he had just walked by me a few minutes earlier.  She went to get him and we talked for a while.  He is a super nice guy who gave us his cell phone and home phone numbers and said to call at any time.  While I had him captive, I asked him about my insomnia.  The only medication I have not been able to get here through the pharmacia is my insomnia meds.  He asked me to come back the next Wednesday and he would set me up with the sleep specialist.  We went to the appointment and he sat in acting as translator with the specialist.  The hospital doesn’t dispense the meds I took in the states.  The only thing they had was much stronger and highly addictive.  I didn’t want that.  So they told me to ask for another medication at the pharmacia.  Doctors here cannot write a prescription to take to the pharmacia – they can only prescribe what they have in the hospital pharmacy.  In fact, they can get in trouble by suggesting anything else.   I finally found the meds I need at the local pharmacia.  

For Steve’s care, prescriptions, and my appointment the cost was $0.    I feel really good about having met the doctor knowing that he will help us should we need it in the future.

Steve and I are still hammering away at our Spanish lessons.  We are conjugating verbs all over the place.  Steve is getting really good at giving the cab drivers instructions.  We do OK when we try to converse with someone who understands our struggles, but occasionally we find someone, who makes the ordeal worse.  We have run into two people who, when we don’t understand their rapid fire Spanish, and say so, they respond by speaking very loudly and even faster, which really is not a big help.  Our overall experience with trying to converse with Spanish speaking people, though, has been good.  They tend to be very patient, and helpful. 

Job?

I just got offered a job.  

We had some curtains made and they hung them today.  The lady who made the curtains brought with her a friend from Quito who is here to set up a school to teach English.  I have heard that the government here is pushing the children, in particular, to learn English.  German speaks English fairly well, so we started talking.  He started, like so many do, teaching me Spanish, then asked if I would like to teach English.  

 I have not been looking for employment, so I have been kind of wondering what to do with the offer.  Teach English?  Me?  It makes me think of Phoebe’s teaching job in China.  It would be as beneficial for me as for the students, which range in age group from grade school age to college kids.  They teach me Spanish – I teach them English.  I think they will have to work a lot harder than me.  It is something to think about. 

Utilities, Curtains and Curbs

We have officially been living in our house now for one month.  Steve and I went to town to pay the utilities on Wednesday. 

Water bill: $1.50. 

Electric bill: $2.50.

Of course, we don’t have to worry about heat or air conditioning.  The only hot water is in the shower. 

Bottled water:  $8.00.  $2 per 5 gallons & we use about 2 per week.

Gas: $2.00 per cylinder.  One cylinder lasts about a month.  

Internet:  $23.00

That is it for utilities unless and until we hook up to a satellite system for TV.  That is still undecided.  We can get the networks from the US for free over the computer, but we would like to get the Ecuadorian stations.  Plus, at this point, we have no TV set, so we would have to go purchase one.   That just isn’t real high on the priority list. 

We finally got the nerve to go talk to a lady in town about some curtains.  It was a frustrating, and at the same time, hysterical conversation, but we did it.  She finally took control of the situation and made it clear that she and Steve were going to head to the house to see and measure the windows that needed coverings.  She will install on Tuesday.  We still need to find someone to build us the screens.  Our land-lady told us to get them made and she would take the costs off of our rent.  So, another conversation with a more-than-likely non-English speaker is soon to come.  UPDATE:  The screen fellow will be by tomorrow (Sunday) to measure.  We are moving along.

It is amazing that as soon as we start to feel like we know some of the language, we try to negotiate with someone and find out how much we still do not know.  We are getting good at “No entiendo” and “Por favor, hable más despacio”.  Poor Steve ends up with most of the work as I usually cannot get into the stores.  I am part of the conversation, but from the sidewalk.  It makes for interesting exchanges.  Sometimes I will pick up something Steve misses when we are being spoken to.  Sometimes it’s the reverse.  Sometimes we look at each other and say "Huh"?  So far, we have always managed to work it out. 

The stores around here, almost without exception, have a huge curb in the front.  The grocery store has ramps up to the front of the store – but then a curb.  If I am to get inside, I have to stand up and hold onto something stable while Steve hefts the wheelchair or scooter over the curb.  We do that at the grocery.  That is not always possible as sometimes there is not even anything to hang onto.   So far, I have been able to find ways onto the sidewalk, at least.  Once on a sidewalk, there is no guarantee that there will be another way back off, so then there’s some backtracking.   I am learning where I can and where I cannot use a sidewalk – when I cannot, I simply use the street.  Cars and trucks are good at giving me a wide berth as they do for bicyclists, dogs, vendors  or other slow moving vehicles .  I have seen two men in Sucua moving around in wheelchairs, so I am definitely not alone in that regard.