Puyo

I´m in Puyo now for the second month of my program. Puyo is a small city about 5 hours away from quito by bus. It is actually nicknamed "el corazon de la selva" which translates to the heart of the ranforest. It actually kind of boarders the amazon so it´s not quite deep in it but it is defintately on the edge. I´m staying with two other med students in the house of the doctor that we are working with out here in puyo. His house is pretty nice for an ecuadorian house out here. I have my own room which is nice and share a bathroom with the family of the doctor as well as the medical students I am with. In the small backyard there are actually a couple chickens, some baby chickens and also two ducks. I think they eat them, but i´m not really positive. Last night we did eat duck but i don´t know where it came from - whether it was the market or from their back yard. This week for the first few days we work in various clinics for a few days. This morning we were supposed to have a lecture on snake bites and leishmaniasis from a local doctor but there was some sort of emergency so he had to cancel. This weekend we have a long weekend off because the following weekend we actually go trekking into the jungle around manta about 2 hours from here. I´m not exactly sure what it entails, but i know we got out hiking for about 4 days with a guy who is going to take us to some small villages as well as teach us about the medicinial uses of a lot of local plants and things. I´m not sure where we are sleeping but I do know that I am taking a sleeping bag as well as my mosquito net. at some point next week we are also doing some malaria work with a local organization where I think we go out in the community and maybe spray for mosquitos or try to eliminate standing water, as well as maybe take blood samples from some local people to monitor the types of malaria in the area. The rest of the time will be spent at some clinics and hospitals. at least one clinic that we spend 3 or 4 days at, is a couple hours away and i think deeper into the jungle. its some sort of missionary clinic where there is only one doctor at most and they apparently are appreciative of the help. And so far i remain healthy.(knock on wood) not too many problems yet so we´ll see...