6/16/04 (Wednesday)

6:15 AM. I am now back at the airport waiting on my plane. We are due to depart at 8 AM to Quito. I had a good rest at the Crowne Plaza Hotel courtesy of American Airlines. I am looking forward to seeing Jane and working with her for the next two weeks.

9:15 PM. The flight to Quito was smooth and a very good hot breakfast was served on the plane. I arrived at the airport at 11:30, got my luggage and went through customs, walked out and met Jane. We got our stuff in the car and off we went to HCJB headquarters. There I met Jane’s co-workers, saw the HCJB campus and wrote an email to Phyl. This organization is much more of a campus than what I saw with MMI in the Dominican Republic. The city of Quito is cleaner, quieter and traffic is much more organized. I could live here easily.

I am staying in HCJB Guest House. The room is very clean and comfortable. I am staying the night and then Jane will pick me up at 5 AM to head to San Lorenzo. We will spend about 10 days there seeing gyn patients and doing surgery. Jane is bringing her laptop along so we can send email each night. Time to go to bed. It has been a long day.

HCJB Guesthouse

HCJB Campus

HCJB Campus.

Hospital on HCJB Campus

We did see a hummingbird working some flowers by the guesthouse. It’s tail was 4 to 5 inches long and stood out away from its back as it hovered over the flowers. I got a couple pictures. Jane said next week we will take a side trip to a ranch which is a bird sanctuary. There are hummers galore – 42 species. I hope to get some great pictures.

Today, I did see a lady with incontinence with Jane. This was an exposure to her clinic here in Quito.