Livin It Large In Ecuador: The Eberts Visit Ecuador: Part 1

I've spent the last month spending time with my parents and Hannah, exploring the Galapagos, all about Quito, the coast, and Santo Domingo. So here it goes - part 1 of the adventures: my parents' visit.

My parents visited for two weeks in total - we spent the first week doing "touristy" things in Quito and the Galapagos and the second week in Santo Domingo working with Timmy Global Health on a medical brigade.

Week 1: Matele, my host mom, threw my parents a welcome dinner for their first night in Ecuador. My parents were able to meet my "Ecuador family", and lucky for me, they all speak English except for Matele. We spent the next day wandering throughout Quito's Old District, checking out the many beautiful churches. Monday morning, we headed off bright and early for the GALAPAGOS!!!! We spent the next four days in the Galapagos. We kayaked at the beautiful Tortuga Bay, visited the giant tortoise reserve, and snorkeled with sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, manta rays, and many tropical fish. We had a fantastic time, just wished we had more days to continue exploring the islands. Thursday, we returned to Quito and spent the evening at local restaurant listening to live jazz music - possibly one of our favorite meals the whole trip! Friday was used for exploring more of Quito - we rode the teleferiQo up to the top of Volcano Pichincha (too bad it was quite foggy), followed by a visit to Museo Guayasamin (an Ecuadorean artist - look him up, we really enjoyed his work). Saturday, we took the 2-hr beautiful trip through the Andes to Otavalo, the enormous outdoor market. This trip marked the end of our "vacation", it was now time to start to work.

Week 2: Saturday evening, we met up with the rest of the volunteers for the medical brigade. In total, there were 3 family physicians (including my parents), 1 dentist, 2 women's health pa's, about 10 student volunteers, and 3-4 translators (including myself). Sunday morning, we headed down to Santo Domingo. In spirit of Carnaval, after lunch and before getting down to serious brigade business, we had our own water-balloon and silly string battle. After that, it was all business :) We held medical clinics Monday through Friday at different sites throughout the clinic. I LOVED translating for my parents. It was cool to see them "in action". Plus, it was pretty great to relax with my parents after a long day at the clinic!

Overall, it was a wonderful two weeks with my parents. I loved showing them bits of my life here in Quito - hopefully they enjoyed the time as much as I did!