Portoviejo, Ecuador Day 1

So I think I will try and write each day what we did then add all my pictures once I get home. I am sitting in our hotel lobby using their computer. In front of me is an armed guard. He is protecting the hotel. I do not feel in danger (sorry can not find the apostrophe on this spanish keyboard and i think it might be from 1999 because the buttons are really hard to push) anyways I was saying I do not feel in danger but evidently someone thinks its a good idea for him to have a gun and walk around the front of the hotel so that is fine with me.

Today was amazing. We started it at the foundation which provides eye care for the people of the province of Manabi. David stayed there to see patients and train 3 ophthamologists on using the laser while I visited 2 schools, 1 home, and a water reserve.

I loved visiting the schools. They are all behind locked walls--again a safety thing. The children were so cute and excited see americanos. The classrooms were very simple--desks, chalkboard, and the teacher. Some of the classes have up to 40 students per class. I asked about disciplining so many children and she said that was not a problem. The children behave and if they get out of line the teacher speaks very sternly to them and that is enough.

We visited a little girl named Samantha in her home. She is blind and can no longer attend school so the foundation helped her mother open a small store in their home so she could care for her and have a way to make some money to support her daughter. They lived in very humble home with the store on the bottom and their home above. The laundry hung along lines in the front of the house. Before we left they gave us a bag of her homemade candies.

After a nice lunch of encebollada (onion soup with fish and shrimp) we drove through the countryside to the water reserve. I loved seeing all the different homes. They were small and simple, many made of bamboo. Most of them did not have windows. There were tables and chairs outside with people eating and playing cards, clothes hanging on lines from the trees, chickens in little pens. ( I was told today the chicken that you eat here is tougher because they are muscular, they run around--have normal chicken lives unlike american chickens that are pumped full of hormones and get to fat to walk). It really was amazing to see such a different way of life.

We drove back to the foundation where David was still working. I got to see him using the laser which was fun for me because I never see him at work. It made me appreciate his work and when he tells me he has had a hard day I can understand a little better what that means.

Awesome day, looking forward to another.

Adios for now!