May 2013 Med Trip

This trip was an absolutely amazing experience! I got so much more that I expected and imagined out of all 3 parts of the trip; med rotations, traveling, and volunteer.

The Med rotations were definately one of the things that most attracted me to this trip, and they did not disappoint. Its crazy how much we learned in just a week. It was an experience I could not have gotten anywhere else. We all got to see a wide variety of surguries and my group was even lucky enough to see a birth. But we also learned a lot from the workshops and the case studies too. The tutors were amazing, so knowledgeable and always answered all our questions, and went above and beyond to make the rotations exciting and educational for us. They were well chosen and definately were a huge part of why the med rotations were so great

The traveling around Ecuador was super cool because we got to know all the different sides of what Ecuador had to offer. We never stayed very long in one place, even though they did try to arrange longer stays in some of the nicer places like Canoa, but that was ok because thats what made it possible to see so much. We got to do some pretty sweet activities like surfing and waterfall rapelling too. Our tour guides Olivia and Tom were also awesome!!

The volunteer part was once in a lifetime experience. Nothing compares to actually meeting these families that will be receiving the houses and getting to know them, playing with their kids, and working along side them for the week. The work was hard but so rewarding, and at the end of the week it was so hard to say goodbye to the community. One thing that really struck us was how grateful they were and how generous and willing to give, even though they had so little! They made dinner for us the first night, and had a `dance party` for us to show us their appreciation. It was really special to witness.

Overall this trip was a great experience and I would definately reccomend it to anyone! You will do so many amazing things in a month and build so many lifetime memories and friendships!