It is so nice to finally be settled in at my hotel after such a long day. I have pictures to post, but I have not downloaded them, as of yet, and I am mucho tired after this 17 hour day. So, I will edit this post tomorrow and fill them in with the text. Today began at 6am with cafe con leche (coffee with hot milk) and pineapple for breakfast. The nice chefs in the hotel also made me an omelet with goat cheese (queso), champognes (mushrooms), y peppers. (And, yes, I have found that I am now speaking Spanglish quite often, so please excuse me when I throw in Spanish words here and there.) We loaded the bus at 7am to begin our ascent up the mountain for our second full day at the hospital and found that operations would be delayed by 30 minutes as we could not locate any staff to get our instruments sterilized. So, lesson learned, when staff cannot be found, check the breakroom! In the meantime, we were able to prep our first two patients (Dr. Gutek's first patient was a no-show, but we found out that the baby woke up with the flu and would be unable to get her cleft palate repaired at this time, but his second patient had arrived early so we quickly compensated and moved him up to the first slot of the day). The morning flew by quickly with our early kiddos and we escaped to the lunch area around noon to be greeted with a true Ecuadorian lunch! A group of volunteers from the hospital had gone shopping the night before and provided our hotel with the ingredients to prepare beef with onions and peppers over angel hair pasta, vegetable medley, the famous aji sauce that I have come to love so much and a dessert to fall over for (I think it contained some form of lemons or some equivelant fruit that I have no name for).
After lunch, I traded spots with Mike (my comprade from Cerner) so that he could go up to surgery and post-op for awhile and observe the afternoon cases. I soon took over the clinic logs by filling in any patients that were being seen by either the pediatrician or with our doctor who specializes in hypertension and Type II Diabetes and detailing the treatment provided in our documentation. The afternoon was definitely much slower compared to the morning, but after speaking with one of our translators I confirmed that siestas are taken seriously in South America, too. Now, how do we get that fad to take on in the US??? At 4:30 we had discharged all of our surgery patients and had finished up in the clinic and we all boarded the bus to head out for a speacial treat.....we were headed to the city of Banos! 
Banos, located about an hour southeast of Ambato, is settled in to the base of the most active volcano in the area, the Tungurahua. The drive there was one of the most spectacular and thrilling that I have ever been on. The roads wind endlessly, climbing and then falling down grades that have to be sharper than Lombardo Street in San Francisco. And the views!!! I have no words to explain the beauty of Ecuador. I am awestruck at how this country has developed and how they have managed to carve a life in to the terrain of the Andes mountain ranges. One common theme, as we drove through many rural areas, were the sheer amount of dogs that were hanging out on the rooftops. I do not know how they got there and/or why they want to be there, but I have not captured that photo yet, but it is worth seeing a bichon on a rooftop :)
We pulled in to Banos (this drives me nuts that I don't know how to add the tilda on top of the 'n', but just know that one belongs there) around 6:30 and our group of 27 piled in to a local restaurant to place our orders and then head out for shopping while they prepared our meals. I started in one of the small squares in the city and marveled at the pristine beauty located in such a simplistic setting. 
I then set out to peruse the shops, but found I did not buy anything as nothing captured my eye (every store seemed to have the same type of items and it was hard to buy when I found nothing unique about the "tourist items" that were for sale). I then found my way to the main square of the town which contained the Basilica of the Virgin of the Holy Water. When I arrived the main doors were open and Mass was setting to begin. I quietly stepped inside and was floored by what I encountered. The floors were comprised of green and white tile, the walls were covered in huge murals, and the art inside depicted the Virgin's miracles and volcanic eruptions. Absolutely stunning! I soon discovered that dinner time was approaching so I strolled the mile back to the restaurant and found a place to sit and await my dinner of peppered steak, green beans/carrots/zucchini, and a bowl of potatoes in goat cheese. One couple was already in the restaurant eating dinner when we quickly overtook the inside like vultures. I felt so sorry for them as we are not quiet and it was a small place. We were then joined by a Danish group of 10 and completely filled up all the seats. A local Indian band then packed themselves around our tables (I know we were well over a fire hazard at this point) and started playing the most amazing local music.
Many members of our group got up to dance and the entire night of dining turned in to a masterpiece of comraderie. Companionship, music, drink, and good food allowed the night to end on a beautiful note. We all sleepily climbed back in to the bus for our trek back to Ambato and quickly retreated to our rooms for a busy day of surgeries por manana (another tilda on that one, too).On that note, I shall end this post, but will be sure to add the photos from today as soon as I can. Hasta manana y buenos noches!
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