After arriving back mid-week from spending Carnaval in Mompiche, I was so happy to welcome back Ibarra’s climate into my arms- 70, sunny, and low humidity, though I will say the non-bustling and fresh air lifestyle of the coast was nice as well. The rest of the week at CRECER was very slow because school kids had the whole week off, and I also wasn’t going to any of the older adult centers for the holiday week as well. Because we had not slept at all over the last week, these slow paced few days were needed for all of us to recover physically and mentally.
On Thursday night, Corri, Hannah, Gina, and her friend Jim and I joined Marcela, one of the physical therapists who works for the local government, for wing night in town. It was a 2×1 deal, so we scarfed down some Jack Daniel’s and BBQ flavored wings. Not as good as at home, but still tasty since I haven’t had wings since October. We have been wanting to spend more time with Marcela after rafting, and we finally found some time to do so; she’s so personable and patient with our attempts at Spanish, but she’s also interested in bettering her English from us.
Friday night we spent in, eating brownies, making guac, finishing up Spanish classes (for me), and preparing for a Saturday morning hike up Imbabura Volcano. It is the visible volcano from my roof at home, and it’s something we’ve talked about climbing since we all made weekend plans. I knew this was going to be tough for me, but I’m not sure the others were quite aware of my future struggle! We woke up early, got a taxi to Esperanza, and ate breakfast at hostel Casa Aida before meeting our guide, Charly. After a short ride in the open back of a truck, we arrived at the trailhead.
Sort of to our dismay, there was a tour group of probably 40 hikers going up at the same time as us; Charly said he had never seen so many people hiking Imbabura. The first 2/3 is a steady uphill climb, while the last 1/3 is rock scrambling on cliffs. About half way up the 4,000+ ft elevation gain, we entered the cloud forest in the paramo landscape; we were unable to see anything at the top, but the density of the clouds still was beautiful in its own way. 
From the moment we started, I was short of breath and fatigued. After requesting encouragement and motivation, Hannah proceeded to hit me saying “Come on Samita, faster” for the following 3 hours. When I stopped to breathe and said I couldn’t move any faster, Hannah stated “Sure you can- you’re not even moving right now…” She said she had never seen me so grumpy. Apparently, my lips turned blue and my face pale, I got super lethargic, semi-dizzy, and had zero energy- altitude sickness! I wanted to think it was my fitness level, but the others assured me the altitude had to do it. Once we hit the rock scrambling, Hannah got too cold so Corri took over to accompany me. At this point, I enjoyed myself much more instead of just shuffling uphill. At the top, Gina and Jim were waiting for us. We started out at 11,000 ft and summited to 15,190 ft- I cannot imagine hiking even higher altitude Andean or Himalayan mountains. The way down, I felt heaps better and Corri, Charly, and I enjoyed a relaxing pace as to save our knees from the abrupt impact of each step down the steep trail. In all, it took 4 hours up and about 3 hours down- though the others didn’t struggle as I did, I thoroughly appreciated their patience with me. It was a beautiful view the entire way, and something I’m very happy I had the chance to do. Especially since Imbabura has a higher altitude than any mountain in the mainland United States!
Corri and I vowed to ourselves to do absolutely nothing the Sunday after, so that’s exactly what we did. We puzzled, sat on the roof, watched 2 documentaries (Meru and the Barkley Marathons), and made dinner together. It was a needed R+R day, especially since we haven’t slept in on a weekend in weeks. During the week, Hannah decided to go on a run with us and proceeded to hate everything in the world for the day after.. she hates running that much. We also had a group of level 1 OT students doing their pediatric fieldwork at CRECER and at the infant center in La Esperanza. There were 11 of them, and they had a packed schedule since they only visited for the week. I can’t believe how much they squeeze in! Hannah and I headed out to La Esperanza this past Friday for two in-services on safety with ambulation, one at a center for community adults with disabilities (cognitive, physical, developmental/intellectual, etc), and one at the general older adult center. Walking into the morning in-service, I expected only the staff to be there, as my capstone is geared towards caregivers. However, 40 people from the community showed up, a mix of caregivers and care receivers. I had to last minute adapt the way I was giving the in-service, but the group was engaged in a way I entirely grateful for. The in-service later in the day went great as well, and this was only the staff at the older adult center. While we may learn about walkers, canes, and gait belts in the United States, in Ecuador, it is more relevant to talk about walking sticks, how to manage non-level sidewalks, and how to get on and off buses. It’s been interesting to adapt my project in a way that is culturally relevant while still maintaining functional OT content.
At the end of the day, Hannah and I love visiting La Esperanza. It’s 30 minutes out of Ibarra where the air is clean, there’s minimal traffic, and the highly indigenous population is welcoming of us. Plus, my Spanish has come a long way where I can now get through the in-service speaking Spanish…. it motivates me to work even harder for fluency.
On Friday night after saying by to the level 1 students, Gina, Corri, and I headed out to Gong for some live music. There was absolutely no one there except for a few people, but the music was instrumental and sounded like a mix of latin-rock-funk and was great. On Saturday morning, Hannah, Gina, Corri, and I headed out to a friend, Peter’s, farm in Salinas, around 40 minutes north of Ibarra.I met Peter the first week I was here- he used to live in the States, but his mom is Ecuadorian and his family owns land here where they cultivate limes/lemons, coffee plants, avocados, corn, etc. Peter showed us around his farm which 
was stunning and had great views, and then we spent the day with his parents and their friends. Many of them are United States citizens who live either part time or permanently in Ecuador now (how can I do this….?). I met someone who grew up in Grand Rapids, MI; someone who lived in YellowSprings, OH and Columbus for extended periods of time, and someone who was just as interested in radio waves and power technology as my dad. It was an afternoon filled with fantastic conversation, delicious food, to-die-for carrot cake and homemade pumpkin pie, and wonderful people. We were so happy to spend a day outside of Ibarra in such a tranquil place. That night, Peter invited us out to a friend’s 30th birthday party on the outskirts of Ibarra. We had a good time being Ecua-napped in attempts to get to the party after 2 hours of driving around picking people up, and we spent a good time there attempting to speak Spanish with people but mostly speaking English. It really makes me feel sad that there isn’t encouragement in the States to learn a second language, yet a majority of people our age in Ibarra speak English. Continued motivation to get better at Spanish!
We are incredibly sad that we only have a little over a month left together. We are at a point of feeling like we really are living in Ecuador, but the time we have left is so short and not sufficient for a total immersive experience. When I arrived in November, I thought the 5 months would seem like asignificant time, but it seems so short now. I figured out that I have to extend my tourist via this upcoming week, and I wish I could stay the 90 days more. I asked Ohio State and the graduate school, but unfortunately it’s not permitted for me to stay longer. So, this short time that is left with these amazing women and wonderful country, we need to take advantage of everything. So now I’m headed out to the local lake for a delicious lunch! Hasta la próxima vez.