A New Life in Guayaquil

Now that the "Estado de Excepcion" is over, everything went back to normal! Keke and I went to class regularly and I got to leave the house! Internship This was a great week at the internship and I learned a lot from Juan. During the state of exception, a man got hit on the head with a baton and needed 7 stitches, so Juan taught Keke and I how to remove them. We also learned about vital signs, how to properly do the Heimlich Maneuver, how to clean wounds, and how to prevent people on bed rest from getting ulcers. It was a very informative week! Learning how to clean wounds Observing stitches being taken out School This was our last week of Spanish class and Ecuadorian Culture and Society Class. For Spanish, we took a cumulative final and for EC&S we did a final exam essay. I am happy I received an A in both classes and I am excited to start my biology courses in a few weeks. The program allows you to take intensive courses at  Instituto Tecnológico B...

Personal Thoughts during the "Estado de Excepcion" After this past weekend, I thought things would cool down throughout the country, but it has done the exact opposite. On Monday, there were small protest in Guayaquil and looting throughout the city, but Keke and I were told it was safe and to act as if it were a normal day, so we went to our internship and classes. The only big problem that occurred was that taxis began to block certain roads, so it made it harder to travel throughout the city. Additionally, the indigenous people blocked some of the main streets/ highways to allow trucks and cars to get into the city, so no trucks were able to supply markets with fruits and vegetables. The people began to panic and buy all of the food from the stores. My host mother told me there was no fruits, vegetables, or water when she went to buy food for the week and the prices of food went up because there was a low supply and higher demand. Also, the price of public transportatio...

Wow I cannot believe it is October already! Time is flying by. The biggest thing that happened this week was the "Estado de Excepcion", or "State of Exception." The government took some economic measures to raise gas prices and the entire country started to protest. Not only are people  protesting in the streets, but the city is in "paro," where the country is paralyzed because there is no transportation such as city and inter-province buses. Classes got suspended from schools and a lot of stores and restaurants closed early. During this time, the president could put police and military in the streets, so there were groups of policeman on every corner in the downtown area. Additionally, during this time people are not allowed to buy alcohol and there is a curfew of 10pm. If you read my blog post about Cuenca, you will understand how shocked I am to read this article https://cuencahighlife.com/public-transit-strike-paralyzes-traffic-in-cuenca-cops-douse...