Service Learning Visit at Hospital of Quito – By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
Buenes Dias! Como estan? Well, this week we started volunteering in the hospital. So, now our days are pretty full with volunteering in the morning around 8 until 12. At 1:00pm we have lunch at school and then study Spanish from 2:00 until 6:30pm. and we always have homework… The hospital is a teaching hospital and since 8 in our group are med students, the doctors that they follow give them homework such as presentations about certain diseases (yes, in Spanish!). And 2 people in our group have to be there at 7:00. The others in the group are in the areas of OB-GYN, surgery, oncology, infectious diseases, and pediatrics.
I went into Urgencia, or Emergency. I was assigned to a nurse but she has me doing things like taking 1000 blood pressures, so I have been just observing the trauma cases that come in or attending the rounds or the med students. I haven't practiced too many skills as of yet just because of the language barrier. But, I am pretty satisfied with learning the Spanish medical lingo and observing the way things are done in Ecuador.
There are so many med students in the hospital that there really isn't that much to do for me. Which I was a little disappointed with in the beginning but with the language barrier, it's really ok. The first day I was there, I met 2 med students from Colombia that showed me around the ER and talked with me for about 2 hours! Isabel, my house mom, is convinced they are into drugs somehow, but I keep telling her that no, they're really med students. How they had time to talk with me, I have no idea. They talked really fast but I was able to keep up. There are also a lot of residents there that are also extremely friendly and eager to show me equipment and introduce me to their instructors and other doctors. I am so amazed at how incredibly friendly all the staff is: nurses, doctors, and students.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Glenn Rigby
After traveling Europe extensively as a boy, and then as a young adult, Mozart began making his return to his native land of Austria. On the way he stopped in Munich, where his opera Idomeneo premiered. The next year he returned to Vienna with his employer, Prince-Archbishop Colloredo. Mozart grew more and more rebellious towards Collerdo, and admitted he was released from employment "with a kick in the seat of the pants." He then settled in Vienna to pursue an independent music career.
In 1782 Mozart married a woman named Constanze Weber. This was also the year that he created the opera Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"). This piece was widely successful. Not long after he performed piano concertos as director and soloist.
The next year, Amadeus and Constanze visited his father in Salzburg with a cold reception. Leopold Mozart did not take to his son's wife. Though the visit was not a particularly pleasant one, it did inspire Mozart to write one of his best known works, the Mass in C Minor. This piece premiered in Salzburg with Constanze as lead female soloist.
In 1782 Mozart became acquainted with the composer Joseph Haydn. The two quickly became friends. During Haydn's visits to Vienna, the two would play in quartets together. During the years of 1782-1785, Mozart dedicated six quartets to Haydn, and it is thought that these were in response to Haydn's Opus 33 from 1871.
Between 1782 and 1785, Mozart also performed a series of solo concerts. These are considered to be his best pieces, and were financially rewarding.
During the years 1784-1787 he lived in a lavish, seven-room apartment behind St Stephen's Cathedral; it was here, in 1786, that Mozart composed the opera Le nozze di Figaro. This apartment may be visited today at Domgasse 5.
Source: wikipedia

By Kayla Allen
Milan is synonymous with fashion and thought by many to be the fashion capital of the world. Just name all the famous designers you know off the top of your head and you might as well be speaking Italian; Dolce & Gabanna, Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Franco Moschino, Prada, Fendi, Gucci and the list goes on.
You also might as well be walking the Via Montenapoleone in Milan. The Via Montenapoleone is the most important street of Milan's fashion district, Quadrilatero Della Moda and home to some of the world's top designers. One visit to Milan and it lives up to its reputation. Everywhere you turn there is yet another opportunity to purchase something gorgeous and to pay a pretty penny for it, or…euros.
There is another side to shopping in Italy however. With all those designers there's bound to be some surplus; enter, designer outlets. First developed so design house and store employees could actually afford to wear their designers' labels and later opened up to the masses, designer outlets are a fashionista on a budgets's dream come true.
The best of the outlets tend to be centralized around, Milan, Florence and Rome allowing shoppers to pick-up last season's goods at more affordable prices. Though most who come to Italy specifically for the fashion would not be caught dead in last seasons garb, for those of us who still live in the real world the outlet stores provide a peak into a more glamorous lifestyle.
And if Italy is too far away to indulge your dream of being absolutely fashion fabulous Italy also turns out some of the most stylish and eye pleasing magazines and photos around. So you can lose yourself in those luscious images while sitting on your couch painting your toenails.
Something that I'm totally addicted to that has nothing to do with Italy but maybe something to do with Italian fashion and a lot to do with hilarious and entertaining is Project Runway. This is my entry point to the fashion world. I watch every week as fewer and fewer designers try to impress model Heidi Klum and her designer judges. At this point I'm as opinionated and critical of the designer's work as judge and designer Michael Kors or guest judge Diane Von Furstenberg. I even bought a sewing machine. Lookout!

By Glenn Rigby
Asia is the largest continent on earth and contains an abundance of mountains and mountain ranges, in all shapes and sizes. Well, the mountain shape is pretty set in stone (haha) I suppose, but the sizes certainly do vary.
Everyone knows about Mount Everest, and its claim to fame of being the highest mountain in the world. But what about the often overlooked K2? This guy may not achieve the 29,000 plus feet that Everest does, but its 28,251 elevation is still impressive enough to put it in the number two spot.
K2 is in the Karakorum range, one of Asia's Greater Ranges. The Karakorum is popularly identified with the Himalaya, though it is a separate range in itself. It is home to many of the world's highest mountains including Gasherbrum; Broad Peek; Gasherbrum II; Gasherbrum IV; Distaghil Sar; Masherbrum; and many, many others. There is even one called "The Ogre," known to be one of the hardest peaks in the world to climb. (The Ogre was first sucesfully climbed in 1977 by Doug Scott and Chris Bonington. They were involved in one of mountain-climbing's most notorious descents, which lasted a week. Early on Scott broke both ankles, and later Bonington broke two ribs and came down with pneumonia. It was 10 failed attempts and 23 years before the next succesful climb!)
Also called Godwin-Austin, K2 is located on the border of China and Pakistan. Though its elevation is about 800 feet less than Mount Everest's, it is considered to be a more difficult climb, partly because of its greater height above the surrounding terrain.
You might find yourself asking in wild disbelief, "More difficult to climb than the mighty Mount Everest?" Well, I am no mountain-climbing expert, so let us take a look at the statistics, shall we?

By Jeremy Carter – Guest blogger traveling in Merida, Mexico.
Skulls, Monkeys and Flamingoes (oh my!)
The school hosting the Yucatan Spanish Institute, the program I'm participating in, has done a phenomenal job of planning excursions for those of us studying there. On Wednesday, we went to the Museo de Antropologia e Historia, which is operated by the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia that I blogged about earlier. The museum, which is housed in a restored mansion on Merida's historic Paseo de Montejo, is filled with artifacts about the people who have occupied the Yucatan peninsula for the past 4,000 years or more. The first floor of the museum is devoted to the history of the Mayan people, in particular from the Pre-Classic (2,000 BC-250 AD), Classic (250-900 AD) and Post-Classic (900-1500AD) periods. (I hope I got those dates right.)
One of the most fascinating exhibits was the one showing skulls of ancient Mayan people. Mayan people used to believe that a sloped forehead leading to a nose of about the same angle was the ultimate in beauty and a sign of nobility. As a result, they would often force this slope by tying boards and other objects to the foreheads of babies. At the museum, we saw skulls of adults and children who had this slope, either naturally or by force, and the shape was indeed striking.
Also interesting was an exhibiting showing the various materials Mayans used as "canvases" for their artwork. Jade, pottery and stone were the most common mediums, but they were even known to carve intricate carvings in bones from deceased people and animals. (As a side note, we learned from Armando, our Mayan culture instructor, that no ovens for firing pottery have been found at ancient Mayan sites, so anthropologists aren't sure if ancient Mayans fired their own pottery or imported it from nearby cultures/countries.)
On Thursday, we took a trip to the city zoo, which is located just outside downtown and, due to the fact that it's government-funded, admission is free. Since there's no direct public funding for the zoo, it's not as expansive as many zoos in the states, but we got to see many animals native the Yucatan peninsula that you wouldn't otherwise get to see.
Today, however, was a definite highlight of my two weeks here. This morning we boarded a bus and went to Celestun, a town and neighboring nature preserve that serve as home to North America's only mainland population of pink flamingoes. Here we took motorboats out into the water to see these beautiful birds, which number in the tens of thousands during the winter months, but there are still a few thousand of them this time of year. We also stopped at an "ojo de agua," or freshwater spring, for a quick swim. After that, it was off to the town – a quaint, sleepy pueblo fronting the gulf – for dinner. This evening I'm so tired I can barely stand up, but with only two weeks left, there's much more to see, so tomorrow I'm planning a trip to the nearby beach at Progresso.

By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
Some people in my family were wondering about where I live and the food we eat in Ecuador so I thought I'd write a blog about it. I live in a really neat little apartment in kind of the older part of town. There is just me and the mother of four older children who all live and work around Quito. She has family dinners with them on random nights and every weekend.
One of the sons, Jose Luis, works out of the bottom floor of the apartment. He deals in exports/imports. Another son, Freddie is a lawyer; her daughter Tanya is a social worker, and the other daughter, Christina, is studying to work with computers. Isabel, the mother, has three grandchildren who are all extremely cute and a lot of fun. Nickolas is the son of Tanya; he is 11 and swims most nights of the week. He is very serious about his swimming and eats a special diet. He speaks a little "Ingles". Sometimes Isabel has him interpret. He loves to play video games and watch TV, but works very hard on his studies and sports. I am usually gone on the weekends. While I am gone, Isabel usually has the whole family over for dinners and while Ecuador was in the World Cup, the family came over to watch the games.
Isabel makes breakfast and dinner for me every day. I try extremely hard to help her but she always says "manana, manana," you can help me tomorrow. I try to sneak in washing or drying some dishes, but she tells me to sit down. She puts out butter, jam, cream cheese, coffee, hot chocolate, and so many other little jars on the table every morning – so I sneak those back in the cabinets to help her clear the table. Every morning she makes fresh juice of some sort.
There are so many delicious fruits, they are so different than in the US. There is one called a narajanita – a tomato looking like thingo that grows on trees like an orange. It tastes like sunny delight but is completely natural. She makes these little empanadas – fried tortillas with cheese and usually meat inside. I am bypassing the whole vegetarian deal right now b/c it's just to hard to explain and a big deal to make a special meal just for me. But I think she knows now and she is cutting down on the meat.
We had scrambled eggs this morning, but also breads, fruit salad… pretty much the same as in the US. For dinner, we've had rice, empanadas, beef, pork chops, always a bowl of soup with potatoes, or cream of mushroom. She makes veggie salads with cucumbers and tomatoes. We had some little yucca balls that were white and floury with cheese in the middle, extremely delicious. Sometimes she cuts of pieces of corn but not just the kernels but the whole cob part as well and throws it in the soup. It's really good. We had some little fried broccoli with cheese thingos that were really tasty.
On the street I had some fried plantains with cheese in the middle that was incredible. My friend calls the street vendors 'diarrhea markets'… but I haven't had any problem with that in the least. There are also a lot of restaurants – mexican, chinese, tex mex, ice cream (mmm….)… and a lot of specialty shops. I went to a cafe called 'xocoa' and there was the most impressive selection of delicious chocolate. I had an Irish chocolate with a little bit of liquor and super thick chocolate; so thick I had to almost chew it with a deliciously thick blob of whip cream.
Overall, I think they eat a lot of potatoes, yucca, beans (lentils, garbanzos), and meat with most meals. But everywhere there is fresh fruit juice to be had… it's really inexpensive as well. You can also buy a dozen roses for a dollar! We always have fresh roses in the house. A lot of businesses have fresh roses as well.
Well, time to get with the group!

by Kayla Allen
South America is the world's 4th largest continent, includes 12 countries and is divided into 3 major territories. It contains the massive Amazon River and surrounding basin – the largest tropical rain forest in the world, the Andes Mountains stretch the entire length of the continent and some of the most diverse and spectacular landforms on the planet. Because of its diverse landscape South America's climate varies greatly.
South America contains the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls, the largest river (by volume), the Amazon River, the longest mountain range, the Andes, the driest desert, Atacama, the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest, the highest capital city, La Paz, Bolivia, and the world's southernmost town, Puerto Toro, Chile.
The fact that South America resides in the southern hemisphere does mean that their seasons are the opposite of those in North America but what winter or summer look like for the various countries in South America is a another ballgame. In many South American countries, altitude rather than distance from the equator determine temperature. For instance it has been said that in the Andes all seasons are represented in one day.
Even a small country like Bolivia can be broken into 5 separate climate regions; the Andes and Altiplano (high plains), the Yungas and Chapare (hot and humid), the temperate valleys, the Chaco (hot and dry) and the tropical lowlands of the upper Amazon basin.
The same can be said for Chile. Temperatures are moderate along the coast throughout the year and more extreme inland, especially in the central basin. The average temperatures for the hottest (February) and coldest (July) months are 72F and 60F.
Central Chile has a Mediterranean type of climate, with cool and rainy winters but without a completely dry season. The climate of the southern region is cool and rainy the year round and characterized by abundant clouds.
For more information on South America and what all of its countries have to offer visit one of my resources at here
Because of its topographic and climatic diversity, South America has a lot to offer equally diverse travelers; with tropical getaways, skiing paradises, and miles of rainforest for the ecotourist in all of us. Pretty much everything under the sun, below the equator, above the tree line and approaching the antarctic circle.

by Glenn Rigby
I love spinach and you can too, with this traditional Greek recipe. I like spinach salad, spinach souffle, creamed spinach – you name it.
But I am also a big fan of spinach pie, or the Greek "spanakopita."
Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie, made with spinach, phyllo dough, butter, olive oil, feta cheese, green onions, egg, and seasoning. The filling can also be rolled up in phyllo pastry to make individual triangles. We should achieve a nice golden color when cooked.
This tasty treat always makes me daydream of vacationing on the Mediterranean or Aegean Sea. Or the Ionian. The good news is that you can enjoy this deluxe pie in Athens if you decide to go, or simply prepare it yourself with an easy recipe such as this one.
Original recipe yield: 1 – 9×9 inch pan.
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Servings: 5
Ingredients:
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 bunch green onions, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 2 pounds spinach, rinsed and chopped
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
* 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
* 1/4 cup olive oil
Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9×9 inch square baking pan.
1. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute green onions, garlic and large onion until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.
Enjoy!
Source for recipe:
* Planet Claire

By Jeremy Carter – Guest blogger traveling in Merida, Mexico.
While the foreign language program at the university I attend is very strong – with incredible instructors from all over the world as well as US-born instructors who have spent extensive time abroad – there's so much I've experienced in the past two weeks that I could never get from a classroom in North Carolina.
The program I'm attending here in Merida is divided into three parts: the first hour is devoted to Mayan culture, the second hour is about Latin American literature, and the third hour is about Yucatecan literature. Learning about Mayan culture and the literature of the peninsula is given an entirely new dimension when classes are taught by people who have been immersed in this culture their entire lives.
For example, we read part of "Popol Vuh," the sacred book of the Maya, in a university class in North Carolina last fall. But last week, our literature instructor here in Merida taught us another part of the book, and she was able to give us so much insight into the symbolism in the book and how it can be found in Mayan culture today. To her, these legends are part of her history, not something she studied for a few days as part of a larger curriculum.
Last Friday, our Mayan culture instructor, who works as an archaeologist for the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH), took us to the office where he works, and we were given a tour of places few people get to see. As its name implies, INAH is devoted to excavating, restoring and interpreting historic sites throughout Mexico. Armando took us into a room filled with rows upon rows of drawers containing literally thousands of artifacts that have been recovered from sites such as Uxmal, Chichen Itza and even the city of Merida. Some artifacts were scraps of pottery, while others were highly detailed statuettes. By just glancing at a piece, Armando was easily able to tell us which time period it came from, what part of the peninsula it was from, what it was used for, what the designs represented, and more.
The past two weeks have been filled with experiences such as these…opportunities to experience the culture through the eyes of people who live it every day. It brings a new dimension to learning the language and history of Latin America, and it reminds me of why I love this culture so much and chose to study it in the first place.

By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
Aloha again, Robin here. I just had the most weird experience with a taxi driver. To start, my friends from the school and I were going to go out salsa dancing. After school I went out and bought some shoes to salsa in because I only brought some tennis shoes. I was so excited to dance, especially because the SALUD group had salsa lessons at school today. I got ready to go out at my house and had mi madre de casa call for a taxi. The driver arrived 10 minutes early and I was worried that this would be a problem for my friends that we were to pick up. I was to pick them up at 9:15 and we were to meet the rest of the group close to the school and go from there to the salsa place. But, it turns out that the driver had no idea where the address of my friend's house was.
The driver had a map but didn't even try to read it to get to my friend's house. Therefore, I grabbed the map and started looking myself. Meanwhile, we haven't gone anywhere and the meter is running. I suggested I get my map, which clearly stated where to go, but the driver didn't want me to get it. He thought he knew where to go. We started driving and made it to the main cross street of where to go; then he asked me where to go.
First of all, the streets in Quito have absolutely no obvious street signs and second, it should have been plainly obvious by my broken Spanish that I am not from here. I told him I have no idea where to go. The driver was getting mad at me because I didn't know where to go and I was getting mad because this was becoming a very expensive drive. We decided to go back to my house and get my map.
Two dollars and 20 cents later we are at my house. I go inside and mi madre de casa is wondering what the heck is going on. She goes outside and gets into a small discussion with the driver as to why he can't find the place and I'm wondering if I should get back into the taxi with this man or better yet still even go dancing. Well, things seem ok so I get back in the car. We head in the direction and then again, without even looking at my map, he asks me where to go.
Again, I said I had no idea where the streets are and told him he needed to look at my map! But he wouldn't and said no entiendo!
I was so mad at this point. Three dollars later, I finally found a street sign and we had to turn around. Argh! He was pissed at me and called on his radio that he had a passenger that doesn't understand anything! All the time I'm thinking, what is going on, he is a taxi driver and has no idea where to go! What is going on? So, then we get to the street. We find the address and honk for my friends.
I finally get out and ring the doorbell, but my friends have already left! I knew they would be gone because we were supposed to meet the rest of the group. I then decided to go in the taxi to the salsatech, and to make an already long story longer; we couldn't find the salsatech either. I resorted to go to Papayanet, a hip little Internet joint, yes, in my salsa shoes and drink a beer. Sad.
Moral of the story is, always know where you're going when you get into a taxi in Quito and always bring your own map!