Scrapes and Such

Natalie has begun getting trained to work as a doula at a maternity clinic outside of Quito, Clinica La Primavera, which promotes humanized birth and gives mothers the option of giving birth in a tub of water. She's learning the role doulas play in that clinic, the location of supplies and other items, the clinic's procedures, and so on. She's hoping that once she's familiar with everything, she'll get to be the primary doula on some births. She seems excited to be in the world of birth again.

Natalie has driven the 20-25 minutes to the clinic and back twice now and already had a scrape with a taxi that took some of the paint off the side of our car (and kept going). It's nothing serious but it's annoying.

Here I am driving that car, the Hyundai Atso. I'm not sure why Natalie took this picture, but I am reminded of one meaning of the acronym ATSO: Ability to Survive and Operate.

Of more concern has been Helen's health. She was full of energy and doing very well last week, but again fell into a period of weakness this week. Her primary physician today detected cardiac arrhythmia and sent her to a cardiologist, who now has her under observation at the Hospital Metropolitano. She is not happy at all with having to hang out there, but is hopeful that a better understanding of the source of weakness will result in treatment that addresses the problem.

Earlier this week, we had a wonderful reunion with Jens's old buddy Steve Contag (on the left) and his wife Patricia (on the right), who live in Baltimore, MD.



-Spee