So it has been a while since i have been on here.. No I didnt forget about it, I have been really busy. So this past weekend (which was Easter) we started our adventure out on Thursday by taking a train trip to a town out in the middle of no where, which was surrounded by mountains and beautiful landscape. I am sure you all have seen the pictures on facebook. On Friday we went to  our house keepers sisters house for Easter dinner and had a traditional dish called Fensesca. It was really good, it minda reminded me of cream of broccolli soup. It had all different type of vegtetables, potatoes, fried dough balls, hard boiled eggs, and some kind of fried apples thingys. After we ate they were showing us some traditional dances that they do here in Ecuador. I am kinda shocked how they move their hips like they do. After that we had to get on a bus to Quito which takes about 2 to 3 hours. When we got there we checked in to our hotel which was very cozy and cute. We decided to go grab a bite to eat before we called it a night. We had to be up and ready by 7a.m on Saturday to do a tour of the mountains and volcanos of Quito. We came back to Ibarra late Saturday night by bus. Sunday morning we decided we were going to make our house keeper an American meal so we made pasta salad, sandwhiches and we had chips and soda. Very unhealthy but thats how we do things in the States lol.  Vivian loved it though I think she had 3 servings of the pasta salad. So here we are now another week of fieldwork so i should have more interesting things ahead. Chao for now

Hello everyone, 
 This week was interesting to say the least at Madres Unidas. The clients and staff were really busy trying to get things prepared for a fiesta that we had yesterday. We made crafts as our therapy session, which worked on FMC and sensory issues. One of my clients  that has Down's Syndrome loves to play in the homemade paste that we use for our crafts, which is just flour and water. He would take a bath in it if we would let him. Lets just say when I leave in the afternoon I am covered in it. Then I have a little girl that I work with that actually does not have a dx and she will not put her hands in the paste to save her own life. So I have to guide her through the whole process which takes twice as long.
 I have a client that is dx with Cerebral Palsy, and he has a huge crush on me. He told Elaine (my supervisor) that he didn't want to work with anyone but me. I have been working with him during meal time to increase his level of independence. Sometimes he uses his "learned helplessness" and wants me to feed him, but I know that he can do it himself even though it may take longer and use more effort on his part. In Ecuador they do not observe HIPPA violations, so I will be posting some pictures on facebook of our fiesta. (We did get permission from the parents though to take pictures.)
So after wee leave Madres Unidas around 12:30, we go to another site for 2 hours called INNFA, which is an outpatient clinic for children as well. The therapist there is pretty amazing. She does not speak any English, but she is so good with the kids and really knows her stuff. I had the oppertunity yesterday to observe her on the mat with a 2 year old with Down's Syndrome. The baby is missing specific milestones such as learning how to crawl, walk, and talk. It was very interesting to see therapy done on such a young toddler. The therapist asked me through translation on her laptop if I would be interested in seeing her outpatient clinic that she runs outside of her house. I asked her what type of caseload she treats there and she said all ranges from young to old. So im pretty excitied to go there sometime. I will have to keep everyone updated. Enjoy the weekend and the up coming week. Chao!!!

Well i just wrote alot on here and it got deleted so now im tired hahah but anyways i was telling everyone that we have been getting up early every morning to start our day at Madres Unidas. We are working on a pinuata ( lol im not sure of the speeling on that), but we are making it to be a 3 leaf clover for St Patricks day, which has already passed but the kids wanted it so thats what we are making. It is a total mess, well I shouldn't say that, I am a total mess b the time we are done. Some of the kids that have sensory issues do not like to put their hands into the paste which is made of water and flour, so they slop it everywhere while some of the other kids with Down's Syndrome rather play with the paste than to use it for what it is meant for. Its all good though as long as the kids are having fun and we are meeting some of their goals then I guess I can handle walking around all messy. We finished up putting the green tissue paper on it today so I had to carry it home through lunch hour traffic. As if i wasn't getting stared at enough already!! The people down here are nice but boy they love their white girls hahah..In the States it is kinda considered rude to stare for long periods of time and down here it is any everyday thing. The kids at the facility love us though they actually make us feel normal and welcome. We told them today that we are taking them on a fieldtrip to our house tomorrow to celebrate our house keepers birthday whom also works at the facility as an aid. They were so excited and asked us if we were going to sing and dance. Thats another thing about this cultrue, they love to dance and aren't shy about it. I think this is pretty neat. So tomorrow should be pretty fun. I'll have to keep you updated. Thats all for now.. Chao!!!!!

Today has been kind of an interesting day. Our schedule has changed a little bit. We are starting our second rotation at a facility called Infa. I guess they also work with children and the therapist there is suppose to be really good. The only problem is she dosen't speak any English, or not alot at least. The same goes for our spanish. Oh well it should be a good learning experience. So this morning at Madres Unidas, one of the boys brought coy( guinea pig) for lunch and he told Elaine that he brought it for al of us to try. In this culture it is considered rude to deny or roll your nose up at food that is offered to you, so we had to try it. Lets just say im not eating it ever again. Tonya started to dry hieve and ran to the bathroom. Of course everyone was laughing, including me. Well thats all for now i have to go eat some lunch and take a nap before my spanish class starts... Chao!!

SORRY ABOUT THE SPELLING ERRORS IT IS ALL TONYA'S FAULT LOL NO I JUST DON'T PROOFREAD

Well hola everyone... Sorry it's been a while since i have been on but we have been really busy with our fieldwork and our spanish classes and our dance lessons.. Lol yes i said dance lessons.. Vivian and Sussie are teachong us how to do the bamba and sala.. Our spanish classes are going well, at least i thought they were.. Today as we were walking back from our fieldwork site TK greeted a lady on the street by saying Gracias, which means thank you.. Lol I busted out laughing and she was like oh my God that isnt right is it and I told her no through all of my laughing. Then tonight at spnaich class we were taking a breakand Iasked TK if she wanted a drink of water and she said No Gracias, Por favor which means No Thank You, Please? I could have died laughing just her facial expressions and  they way she says it has me rolling everytime, and then when she tries to use it in conversation she gets all flustered. Anyways.. Our fieldwork has been interesting. The is a guy there that is in love with me he is actually 32 years old and has the mentality of a 16 year old boy.. His body looks even smaller then a 16 year olds would be. His name is Darwin ( i can say that because in Ecuador they do not recognize HIPPA violations), and he is nonverbal.. anyways he wont work with anyone besides me now. He is so full of energy and he signs his emotions through hand and facial expressions. The other kids that are so cute to and everyone just loves us even though our spanich isnt that good. Oh i forgot to tell everyone that here the garbage truck play music just like and ice cream truck dose in the states.. it's quite comical, well except for when we are trying to sleep. The weather here is kinda rainy and sometimes hot and sometimes chilly, or sometimes both all in one day. Well thats all for now... Buenas Noches!!!!

So we got our grociers and we went outside to get a taxi, which didnt take long at all.. Once we got in the taxi the driver kept looking back at me and speaking in spanish i asked Elaine if he was talking to me and she said no he is talking about you.. I was like what?? She said he was telling her how beautiful i was and he was amazed  with my eyes. So once we got back to the house he helped us take the bags to the door. After Elaine and Tk started to take the bags inside he said Cho.. so i said the same.. then he looked at me and said it again.. I was like okay??? So he gets in the taxi and startes to slowly drive off he stops like 2 seconds later and turns around and waves hahah it was to funny.. Then once i got inside Elaine told me he kept saying i was beautiful and was wondering if Iwas single.. and wondering why i waas here haha... oh well i told her to tell him that he just made my day.. What a day!!!! I havent been called a gringa so much in my life... Elaine said that they always comment on peoples appearances good or bad and we shouldnt take offense to it. Well i think thats all for tonight.. Adiosssssss