A Day with Cid

Showering in the river has become a part of the morning routine here. David and Bailee ran to the river and encountered a dead snake and some dogs along the way. Dan was kind enough to drive Lizzy, Jessie, and me. We got clean and swam around a bit before all hopping in the car. David and I rode in the boot of the SUV. Don't worry, it was short ride.

Sun rise

Cool Lookin' moth

Just a little cold

When we got back breakfast was just about ready. It was eggs, rolls, warm jam and a the best of all CHOCOLATE!! Emily and I were looking out the window at the chickens and she asked what the red things were on the tree. I thought it was cacao and we asked Andrea to check and yes it was! She went out and brought one in for us. She cut it open and let us suck on the seeds. The meat of the fruit tasted like a sweet slimy tart. We spit the seeds out into a bowl where they will be fermented and then dried to make CHOCOLATE!! Just like how our chocolate drink was made this morning.

Dr. Oetzel didn't have any of his food stolen this morning by the kitten so the score is now 1-1. Part of our breakfast was the fresh pineapple that was given to us one of the farm visits the day before. It was an amazing gesture and even better tasting pineapple.

After breakfast, the goose decided that I was enemy number one. The male started to chase me and hiss. Luckily, nothing else happened. Then David decided that it would be funny to just go and pick him up. The goose wasn't happy but didn't fight the situation. Sasha thought it was a game and decided trying to jump up and play with the goose in David's arms was a good idea.

After we dispersed, Andrea, Pato, and I did a tour of the their fruit tree garden. It was really interesting and I even got to do some taste testing. One of the fruits tasted like those sour warheads.

Yep that is tart!

Just a pretty flower

Then it was time to be off to Macas. The Sanguay volcano was just peaking above the clouds! Kendra told us a story from the last trip where Dr. O said "oh there it is, Sanguay is just peaking his head above the clouds today." We all laughed. We met Cid at his clinic and got a tour before some of the government officials came to do an interview with Dr. Oetzel to promote the coneservation efforts and tourism in Ecuador. Pracilia (Lizzy's classmate who is from Ecuador) joined us for the day. She is here visiting her family for a few weeks and was able to come spend time with the team. I also met Dr. Patricio Mimichala who is a fish veterinarian for the government. I was super excited. As the team knows, I love fish! It was amazing to talk to him about his aquaculture operation and experiences. He also brought along his daughter to practice her English. He and I were glued in conversation stumbling over translations but it was amazing to hear all that he is doing here in Ecuador for conservation efforts of the rivers and establishing aquaculture in villages to have a sustainable food source. After all the interviews were completed it was time to go visit the farm where Cid was establishing an embryo transfer facility. On the way there, the taxi that Cid and other people were in was pulled over. Thankfully, everything was fine. There was just a licence issue with the taxi, but the police we understanding and let him through so we could all get to the farm with no other problems.

Lost the Cid for a bit

Just peaking its head out

It was a government owned property that they were renting for this project. Cid is a government veterinarian that is leading the province in advanced reproduction for diary and beef cattle. We met the other associate veterinarians and friends and had time to talk one another and relax on the beautiful property. I hung out with Dr. Patricio and talked about fish. Then it was time for some presenations. Dr. Cid went first and talked about advanced reproducion and cattle practice in Morona Santiago (Province of Ecuador that we are in). He had collected the data he shared with us for two years. Dan (Dan the Man as we fondly call him now) did an excellent job translating adn tackling some of the more techincal terms. All of us students have gone through our reproduction classes so it was a great review and impressive to see all the same techniques being used here.

yum yum yum!

Next us was Dr. O. He gave an overview of dairy and beef practice in Wisconsin and the United States. Then he moved on to talk about gramalote (a native plant that is commonly found in the grazing pastures here). We know that younger plants provide more nutrients and energy for cows and lead to higher production. One problem here is that the gramalote needs to be full grown to reproduce. It was a fantastic talk because it turned into a dicussion with Cid, the other Ecuadorans and us. We were asking a lot of questions and the Ecuadorians brainstormed ideas and more questions. In the end we may not have solved anything, but we can hope we sparked some new ideas for the Ecuadorians to try with their cattle.

Almost lunch time! The food smelled absolutely amazing! They had been preparing the food since we arrived. It still wasn't quite ready yet so Kendra, Quigs, Lizzy, Pricilla and I relived our childhood by swinging on the monkey bars!

The food was amazing. We had a spread of yuca, chicken, sausage, beef, shrimp and salada. There was this avacado sauce that was to die for. None of us were hungry for hours afterwards. The last talk of the day was Dr. Patricio talking about his aquaculture, research and fish medicine practice. Pracilia did a fantastic job translating and I think everyone learned more about fish.  He is working on a paper  and offered to send it to me to read, which of course I would! He and I talked more afterwards and I am hoping to keep in touch with him to see the progress on his research. We had had enough sitting for the afternoon so it was time to go meet the cows that are apart of the new embryo transfer program. Along the way we stopped and admired all the leaf cutter ants.

Cid gave a short talk and then we got to hang out with the cows! We met the nicest brown swiss bull. He loved being scratched! I will let the pictures talk for themselves!

Joseline pick a mandarin orange for us to eat! 

After some more time of all of us talking together it was finally time to go. We had extra people to take home so we loaded 19 people in JT (Joseph Trevor = Bailee's name for the toyota 12 seater van) and go over the biggest curb with only a minor scratch to head back to Macas to drop people and supplies off before heading back to Rio Blanco.

Andrea had dinner all ready for us when we got home. Hosana wanted to pour the juice for everyone so we did that before I had my dinner.

All of us weren't too hungry but the food she made was still amazing (pork, rice, beans, and salad)! Not long after it was time for our devotional. It was a good night of singing and sharing. The final task of the night... fecals. Candace lead a group of people to examine the feces we had collected yesterday for parasites. Another group packed the supplies we need for tomorrow. Bailee gave Sasha and Bibi dewormers. And Morgan, Jessie and I printed some photos to give to the veterinarians and farmers we have worked with. They wrote bible verses on the back. We hope this will be a good gift and reminder of our mission to share the gospel through working with animals. I again have Sasha at my feet and Bibi on my lap as I close the night writing this blog. One of our prayer focuses tonight has been to pray for the people we are working with. Please continue to prayer for your team member and the team. I would also ask youto pray for our day tomorrow and the Shuar community we will be visiting (Santa Isabel). This community has recently accepted Christ and we hope to support Pato's ministry there adn be an encouragement to these people who have has a difficult history. Good night to all and God bless you!