Weather in Cuenca

Out of all the months that I have been here so far March is one of the coldest and wettest months of them all. If memory serves January also fell into that category.

When I say coldest I am strictly referring to night time temperatures because the day time temperatures are, most times, quite comfortable (even in March and January). The cold is more noticeable where I live because this is an older house and somewhat well ventilated. As well, there is no heating system (other than for space heaters) as is typical in most houses here in Ecuador.

Almost magically at the end of March the rainy period ceased. So far, April has been very comfortable both at night and in the day. It is overcast today but still very comfortably warm.

I do remember when I first arrived in May that there were some cool nights but not much rain. The days were like Vancouver, BC, Canada summer months: Very warm.

First Medical Experience With the Social Hospital (IESS) In Cuenca

Yesterday (March 30, 2015), Nieve and I visited an Intestinal Specialist to see what could be done for my Ulcerative Colitis (UC) as it has been acting up lately. 

He said that I would need to have a blood test done and then a colonoscopy.

I knew all of this was not going to result in any benefit for me other than to make sure that I had no cancerous growth occurring in my intestines. The only benefit is to the medical system to convince themselves I was correctly diagnosed as having UC.

Today (March 31, 2015), I had to go in for a blood test. No problem.

There was a very long lineup of people waiting to have their blood tests done. But it was moving quite quickly so no problem. 

A little blurry but you get the idea

Despite this Nieve used her status at the hospital to move me to the head of the line. Nieve had to go off to work so I was left to fend for myself. 

I waited a very short time and had my blood taken. The nurse then said you need to give a urine sample ("orina" in Español). So, she gave me a sample container and I left.

I went outside and looked for a place to sit and wait for the urge; however, I started to feel another urge (i.e., to have a bowl movement). 

With UC, such an event means a bathroom is needed immediately. The closest bathroom was closed because it was being cleaned. Oh, great! 

I looked for another but there were just hallways and no signs regarding a bathroom. I returned to the closed bathroom and asked the attendant where another bathroom was. He said something in Spanish, but it was beyond my level of comprehension. Eventually after me saying "Donde" ("where") several times he pointed in the direction of the lobby. I hustle my tail over to the lobby and madly search for the bathroom. 

I finally found one and fortunately it was not occupied. But unfortunately, before I found the bathroom I messed my pants. It wasn't a big mess but enough to be unpleasant.

I entered the bathroom and there was shit on the toilet seat and guess what, there was no toilet paper. Keep in mind this is a HOSPITAL. Can you believe this?!

So, innovating, I used my hand to clean myself up and wash my hand in the sink. Fine, problem solved. Guess what, no soap or disinfectant. Keep in mind this is a HOSPITAL, I think! 

Now I know what it must have been like in the dark ages before they had toilet paper and soap. I guess we are really spoiled. Too spoiled because this is a killer for me. I will never be using the IESS hospital system other than for emergencies while I live in this country. And I may reconsider even using the IESS hospitals for that.

If they cannot even maintain their bathrooms properly it doesn't give me much faith in the rest of the system.

The good news is the other hospitals in this country are maintained as one would expect in a civilized country. Mount Sinai and Hospital del Rio are examples of private hospitals that I know of and they are both maintained as we would expect. 

However, if I decide to pay as I go and an emergency surfaces, the cost could be significant. So, if I am to stay in this country I guess I will have to use the IESS hospital, but only for emergencies as do other expats. Here's hoping I never have to do that or at least not for a long time so as to give the system a chance to improve.

Getting back to the urine sample, I managed to accomplish this task. So, in my uncomfortable state I returned the sample to the place for analysis. The attendant says "Oh, you need to provide a stool sample" (in Spanish). First time I have heard this. I wish I had known that before as I could have taken care of that at the same time I did the urine sample.

The nurse who took my blood gave me one sample container not two. Great!  Well, I was done for the day. The stool sample was going to wait until later.

ASIDE:   Ecuadorians refer to "poop" as "caca". The official Spanish appears to be "Heces" (as indicated on the medical sample tag).

Now that I am home and showered I feel much better. But, changes are definitely required for me to be happy. 

Back in the hospital, in my frustrated state, I was ready to pull the plug and move back to Canada right then and there. But, now that I have had time to regroup, there are other options to explore here before doing that. Another reason is that I would rather not have to put Tiger through a long return trip to Canada as it was pretty tough on him on the trip down to Ecuador.

UPDATE APRIL 2015:

I had occasion to return to the IESS hospital and this time the main bathroom on the main floor was open and it was very clean and contained all the necessary things we are accustomed to (soap, toilet paper, etc.). So, I guess the poor conditions that happened to me were just an unusual circumstance that I hope I never have to repeat.

Dogs and Car Alarms!!

Dogs are very prevalent in Ecuador or so I have heard. Since Cuenca is the only place I have spent much time as of yet, I can only be certain of the state of dogs and car alarms here.

In Canada, most people keep their dogs inside at night. That is not the case in Cuenca. As a result, you can expect to hear dogs barking at night.

Last night was a case in point. Between car alarms going off and dogs barking I did not have a very good sleep.

I have stayed in other parts of the city and can attest to the fact that there are areas that are more quiet than others. Also, I would think living in an apartment that is 6 or more floors up that the affect of noise would not be as great.

Some apartments have double-paned windows which help to reduce noise as well.

On another note regarding pet care, people do not treat their dogs the same way we do in Canada. They often do not get proper veterinary care.

There is a dog that lives across the street from us that has severe hip dysplasia. He looks like he is in pain most of the time, but the owners do nothing.

Coco, my girlfriend's dog, was in a fight with another dog and suffered some nasty abrasions to his nose. The wounds were left to heal on their own.

Most dogs are infested with flees and left that way. And they rarely ever get a bath so they smell.

Dogs are, typically, kept in a confined area at night, but are allowed to roam the streets during the day. 

Since about two weeks ago, dogs roaming the streets seems to be on the decline. This could be as a result of the city implementing a much needed law that would result in a stiff fine ($300 - $1000) if an owner's dog is caught wandering the streets. Whether this law will be enforced or not remains to be seen.

Hopefully we will see less poop in the streets as well. I am not trying to indicate that there is a lot of dog poop in the streets, but you do have to watch your step.

My girlfriend has two dogs she rescued from the street. She feeds them table scraps (if there happens to be any) and dry dog food. They each get a cup full of dry food twice a day. And most of the time they are hungry. I guess it is better than them trying to fend for themselves. They seem to be happy and do not look malnourished.

I have been trying to teach them not to bark at passing cars, dogs and people and have had some success. Since I am not allowed to use a shock collar I have been throwing water on them whenever I catch them barking. It stops their barking immediately. The problem is it is difficult to catch them in the act all the time.

Since I have been living with her, and knowing that I dislike her dogs barking, my girlfriend makes a concerted effort to chastise them.

I have heard of a collar that vibrates instead of applying a shock. I may give that a try if I can find one that is not too expensive.

The other problem is finding some way to stop other people's dogs from barking. The owners don't seem to care if their dogs bother anyone. 

Some nights I feel like poisoning a piece of meat and throwing it in the yard where the dog lives. I don't think I will ever go that far. But, I may invest in a gun that can spray a strong stream of water. That might help.

As to car alarms there is not much to say other than I don't think Cuencanos should have ever been given car alarms. They seem to have no clue how they work.

I was walking in the street yesterday and this guy was wandering around his car opening and closing the doors in an attempt to get the alarm to cease. I don't suppose it occurred to him that he had to depress the button on his keychain to deactivate the alarm after making sure the doors were closed.

There is an older person living across the street from us. Almost every time he uses his car he opens the door before disabling the alarm and of course the alarm goes off. And, it seems to take him a few minutes to figure out that he should push the deactivate button. Very irritating especially when he does this at night.

I hear car alarms going off all over the city every day and sometimes during the night. Fortunately, most of them, except for the guy across the street, are in the distance.

One other source of noise that is not great is motorcycles that have no muffler. Young people love that wild and nasty sound.

If anyone is really sensitive to noise you might want to consider another locale than Cuenca. I think this is one reason why some expats live in small towns like Cotacachi. However, the disadvantage in living in a small town is there is not much to do.

Don't get me wrong:  Most of the hours in a day are quiet. But when the noise happens it is not pleasant.