food and friends

Every day after our afternoon shift while walking from one orphanage to another to get picked up by the bus we pass this lady who has one of those little food stands where she sells salchipapas, aka french fries with a little sausage on top (salchichas=sausages, papas=potatoes). To top it all off there is the choice of mayonaise, salsa de tomate (ketchup), and/or special sauce. Every Monday and Wednesday (ok, maybe not EVERY Monday and Wednesday, but fairly often) Chelsea and I buy some: they are only 50 cents! I usually ask for them without the sausage because it's a little sketchy but sometimes she gives it to me anyway. And I eat it. Salchipapas, con o sin salchica, makes my day every time.

Another thing that made my day today was when I went to the orphanage with the kids who are 2-5 years old. They like to chant their favorite volunteers' names like, "May-gan. Megan!" and they get really angry at you if you are not that volunteer whose name they are chanting slash if that volunteer will not be there that day. Whenever I go I always have to remind them of my name because they can't remember it. It's pretty awesome. In a not way. BUT today when I walked over to get the other volunteers to leave for dinner the kids saw me and started chanting, "Caaa-si. Cassi!" I didn't even have to prompt them! It was amazing.

desfila

There was a parade in downtown Cuenca today. A parade of school children. What? There were uniforms and nuns everywhere, as well as marching bands, baton twirlers, and mimes. Those Cuencans sure know how to party! We couldn't figure out exactly what the parade was all about. There were lots of signs saying something about "50 Años" (years) but we couldn't tell 50 years of what. We asked this guy at the Chompa (Jacket) Market about it and he went off about how on Monday there is going to be a strike because of the way the government treats the indigenous workers. Not exactly what we asked... but ok. Maybe I'll get to see that, too, if I have an off on Monday. Cross your fingers!

Note: Marching band uniforms here are WAY better than in the states, even if the girls skirts are a little short and some of them were wearing hooker-type boots with high heels on the cobble stone streets. Those shoes are just about as practical as our polyester uniforms in high school: cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Genius.

The march of the children. We were hoping to see some of the girls at one of the sites we work at, but we couldn't spot them amid the sea of various plaids and navy sweaters.

The parade in the shadow of one of the many sweet buildings downtown.

Guys on stilts. You could see them all the way down the street and they provided a great contrast to the groups of kids walking around in plaid, sweater vests, and blazers. My friend Kellie wants to live in that white building in the background. So do I.

Along with the guys on stilts was this kid dressed up as a mime. He saw us taking pictures and came over and posed with each of us for a picture. Hilarious. It made our whole morning.

¡qué rico!

Tonight I ate out in Ecuador for the first time! We went to a traditional Cuencan restaurant called El Maíz, or, literally translated, The Corn. It was delicious! It was a nice sit-down restaurant with tablecloths, glass goblets, cloth napkins, all of that. Our waiter was wearing black pants, a white button-down shirt, and a black vest. He also had an iPod earbud in his ear when we arrived: very classy. Strangely we were the only ones in the restaurant for the majority of our meal which confused me because the food was SO GOOD! Did I mention it was so good?

We had this great appetizer made of tiny potatoes with a sauce made from seeds from something like a pumpkin. (We pretty much asked the waiter about every item on the menu but my Spanish is only so good. Don't judge me. "Something like a pumpkin" is as detailed as I can get at this time.) We were also served this giant corn-kernel/bean thing with a "not very spicy" but secretly rather spicy salsa. The waiter told us that in Cuenca they do not traditionally eat much bread, so they serve this bean mixture thing instead. It was pretty good, though I wasn't a fan of the secretly spicy sauce, though it was alright in moderation. Cortney and I also ordered a traditional Cuencan drink that had small pieces of apple cut up on top and tasted a little bit like watered down applesauce which sounds nasty but was actually more and more delicious the more you drank. Kind of like drugs. But without the after-effects (I'm hoping).
For my main dish I got this delicious mushroom/grain thing which was really good, but Emily and Chelsea got this FANTASTIC beef that made me regret the vegetarian dish that previously I had been so proud of. Lucky for me they shared. Also, next time we go back that is what I am getting (sorry Jace and Jen, but it was SO GOOD!). For dessert we got Cuencan ice cream and we're pretty sure but not completely certain that there was possibly rum in it. But there were also delicious fruit pieces on top that was from a fruit that is something like papaya. And that was delicious.

All in all the night was a smashing success! In addition to the food beforehand I bought this great green sweater at the chompa (jacket) market for $12 (I bargained them down from $14—not that impressive, I know, but I was pleased) and also a black scarf/hood from this store at the mall that is so clever and amazing and that I am in love with. I am wearing both in the first picture posted here. Do you love it?

bonfire

Every Saturday night we have group activities. As far as I know they are supposed to be fun, but are also mandatory. The first week I was here we had a bonfire. The second week we watched the movie Juno and ate delicious Ecuadorian candy. This Saturday we are having a "girls night" complete with face masks and fingernail painting.

I don't want to talk about it.

Here are some pictures from the bonfire, though. It was very Ecuadorian in style, and by that I mean that despite the fact that we were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs (rather American) the bonfire itself was small and made in the "fire pit" in a "park" in our little gated community thing, aka on the dead grass between the basketball courts. Amazing. I ate 2 hot dogs and 18 marshmallows. Don't judge me: one marshmallow here is equivalent to like 1/4 of a marshmallow in the States! And they were delicious.

Me and my roommate Cortney.

Me and Cortney with other roommate and Cortney's cousin Chelsea.

iPod dance party. Try not to be jealous of our hot dance moves. Cassi Dance, anyone?

preparation

Ways that summer camp prepared me for living in Ecuador:

1. Getting up early: At camp we had to get up at 7:15 am every morning. In Ecuador we have to wake up at 6:30, BUT the time zone is an hour behind PA time, so it's really like waking up at 7:30. I'm actually sleeping in!

2. Not having a cell phone. No texting? No problem! I didn't have service in Lake Como, PA, and I don't have service in Cuenca, Ecuador. I'm used to it.

3. Inconsistent showers in terms of water pressure, hot water, and regularity.

4. Sleeping on uncomfortable mattresses with blankets that are not mine.

5. Strange bathroom rituals: At camp it was "poop, flush, whip, flush." In Ecuador, it's "wipe, throw toilet paper in garbage, flush." In other words, the plumbing in a developing country and the plumbing at "Camp Summer" are strikingly similar.

6. Tempermental internet. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and no one is ever online when you want them to be anyway.

7. The weather: it is cold in the morning and at night and hot in the middle of the day. Hmmm... living in the Andes sounds a lot like living in the Poconos...

8. Living with upwards of 15 other girls, all younger than me.

9. Planning activities by looking through the the piles of supplies we already have? Easy. The hard part is that it's for 1-5 year olds instead of 7-15 year olds. Their skill set is a little different...

10. Eating the same thing over and over and over again. Rice, anyone?

incapirca

Today we went on our first-ever field trip to Incapirca! For more details see my facebook photo album. And look for the ducks. That is all.

things found

Ok, so while I have been spending a lot of money on hand-made things like the shirt (and earrings from the Peruvians, and woven bracelets, and more earrings...), not everything I find to collect costs money! Walking home from volunteering at the Catholic-run all-girls orphanage tonight I found these on the street:
That's right, those are x-rays. There were actually 3 sheets in all that I rescued, and I am rather excited about it. When we walked past them on the street they just looked like shiny black pieces of something, but I felt like I should go back and take a look. So we did. And how cool is that?! I think I am going to take them and make them into book covers.

Speaking of books, we made little journals at the all-girl orphanage for the activity tonight. My roommate Chelsea and I were in charge of it and I think it went pretty well! We made sure we were really organized: we cut the paper ahead of time, separated the girls into 6 groups (which correspond to the 6 tables in the room where the activity is held), made 6 ziplock bags full of the materials we would need to make the books (2 bottles of glue, 3 colors of embroidery floss, 8 markers, enough paper to make 10 journals, hole punchers, beads, and 3 pages of stickers), and included a list of helpful phrases—glue: goma, "We are going to make journals!": ¡Vamos a fabricar diarios!). My biggest fear was not that we wouldn't be prepared (clearly if anything we were over prepared), but that the girls wouldn't be as excited about it as I was. Also, after doing prep for the activity for over 2 hours I was almost so tired of the project I wasn't even excited about it anymore.

Luckily, all my fears were for not. The girls all seemed to really like the project, and once I was there my own enthusiasm was renewed. While we got some of the run-of-the-mill kid-type creations, some of the girls were really creative with their journals, coming up with their own ways to bind the journals or drawing their own pictures for the covers. When we had to leave after our alloted 45-minute activity time the girls didn't want to stop decorating their journals to let us go. It made me happy.

PS I'm not supposed to post pictures of any of the kids on my blog unless it's private, and I don't want to do that, so instead I'm going to make a private Picassa album of the photos from the orphanages. So if you want to have access to that little gem, let me know and I'll put you on the list, or whatever I have to do to give you access to that. Pictures of some of the girls with their journals will be there.

travel sounds

I've been thinking about traveling. I recently counted and I have visited over 12 countries on 4 continents. I found this article that talks about how important sound is in travel, so here are some sounds that I remember from places I have been, including where I am presently:

Cuenca, Ecuador: sirens, the barking of stray dogs, airplanes in flight, revving engines, car alarms, cars honking, and whistles, kissing noises, and "hey baby" from men on the street

Costa Rica: lapping waves, white-faced monkey calls, tree frog sounds, and a conch shell calling me to dinner

Singapore: cars, silence, and the clinking of plates/silverware at restaurants, the sound of tea being poured over a man's shoulder through a large tea pot with a very long spout

Alcalá de Henares, Spain: loud talking of Pilar and la vecina in the kitchen, the dump truck using a crane to pick up the dumpsters full of trash and dumping them out late at night, passing pedestrian conversation, buses, the neighbor talking on the phone audible through our shared wall, the buzzer of the apartment to let people in, the turning of the key in the door around and around and around to open all the locks, crackling of cooking oil on the stove, theme song from "Corazón Corazón" and of "Karlos Arguiñano en tu cocina," a cooking show we watched at every meal

a good cause

When I was packing to come to Ecuador, I really hadn't given much thought at all to what my life would be like for the next two and a half months—I literally just didn't have time. One thing I did take into account, however, was how much money to bring with me. OSSO, the organization I'm down here with, suggested that volunteers generally spend between $200-$500. I promised myself that I would only bring $200 in cash (small bills only, as suggested) and I would certainly have money left over. People really spend $500?! On what?! Our food, rent, and almost all our transportation is paid for; what could people possibly find to spend that much money on?!

Well, I am learning. Today we discovered a small shop in an industrial area of the city that is owned by a small female artisan co-op that is based somewhere in the countryside here in Ecuador. These women have gathered together to create this shop where they sell their handmade goods, specializing in embroidery and knit items. Their work is beautiful and my favorite part is that all the proceeds go directly to the women who have created these beautiful works of art! Below is a shirt that I bought there today. I tried it on initially just to see how the type of shirt fit, not really liking this particular embroidery all that much, but once it was on I just loved it and bought it—only $12. I also custom ordered another shirt with an image of a country woman embroidering something embroidered on it. I get it next Monday and I can't wait! It also cost only $12, despite the fact that both the image, placement of the image, and the length and size of the shirt were custom ordered. I am maybe a little obsessed with it.

monkey brains

At the house, and in Ecuador in general, there is a type of fruit called a granadia. It looks normal on the outside, but bizarre on the inside (the roommates call it monkey brains). In this how-to video tutorial, I introduce you to the wonder that is the granadia...

anything is possible

I've been thinking a lot about human potential. We've been learning here in the house about the brain and how important the years from birth to age three are on the development of the brain. Did you know that the brain structure of a three year-old is comparable to that of an adult? Those years are when the brain builds itself up for the rest of a person's life. Pretty important. But that led me to wonder, what about after the age of three? Almost all of our lives consist of life after that and those years are super important too. Everything that happens to us in our lives are what help shape us into the people that we become and the people we want to be: the families we have (or don't have), the countries that we live in, the friends we have, the cities and towns we live in, the people we are surrounded with, the role that religion plays (or doesn't play), AND how much we let all of these things affect us. Sure there is a lot to be said about brain chemistry and all of that, but so much of who we are is who we chose to be and I'm becoming a big believer in that.

We can do anything if we try hard enough. I realize that this sounds cliche and it is—cliches exist because they hold a little bit of truth; that is why we still use them. I'd always thought that speaking another language fluently would be impossible. While I'm certainly still not at that point I am starting to believe that it is possible. I always thought that other people were better at academics than I was, but I'm beginning to realize that people learn differently and are good at different things. Stupid, I know, that it's taken me 22 years to believe this fact that I have been told and that I have told people over and over again, but sometimes it just takes awhile to believe what you already know is true. I am good at things that other people aren't good at, and other people are good at things that I'm not good at, BUT that doesn't mean that I can't learn to be good at the things I'm not and that I can't teach other people to be good at the things I am good at. Phew! Wordy, perhaps, but true.

If we take care of our bodies—and I don't mean pamper them but keep them healthy by eating right and getting exercise—then we can do amazing things. Maybe not great feats of incredible strength but we can walk great distances or carry things that are heavier than we thought we could manage (like people who need our help). The human body has great strength. I recently re-watched this video called The Longest Way and it really brought home to me how our only limitations in life are our imaginations. This guy walked across China. Why? Why not! And if he can do that than any of us can follow our dreams as well.

la oruga muy hambrienta

I just finished translating The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle into Spanish. What? Who knew I could even do that?!

la lengua

I was never very good at Spanish when I took it in school. Sure, I got okay grades, but those from my Spanish classes were usually among the lowest on my report card. It was always just so confusing to me: preterite and imperfect past tenses (why are there two?), ser and estar (again, two words where one would do just fine), the subjunctive (we have it in English but we don't use it but sometimes we do but in Spanish they use it all the time but then not... what?!) But, the most confusing of all, perhaps, were commands. Mandatos, if you will. (That's Spanish for commands.) The forms of commands in Spanish are different if they are affirmative or negative. What? Yes, that's right: there are different tenses depending on if you want someone to do something or if you don't. SO, if you want to say "Eat" you would say "Come." But if you want to say, "Don't eat" you would say "No comas." Note that the conjugation of the verb has changed from an -er ending to an -ar ending (yay for subjunctive!). It also has changed conjugations from third-person to second-person. This most likely won't make sense unless you yourself have studied Spanish or another language that is equally confusing, but I just felt the need to include this background information so that my next statements would make more sense:

When you work with little kids a lot you use commands almost exclusively. I can now use the command forms of eat, drink, (don't) hit, (don't) bite, (don't) do (that), and (don't) touch (that/him/her) with close to complete confidence. Yay for learning!

music=magic

Music=magic; they even share a lot of the same letters, like m, i, and c, AND all their vowels are in the same place. They are pretty much the exact same word. Maybe I should buy this cd to help learn how to be more musically magical. Or maybe this one. Or find a guitar like this one. (Who knew there was so much magic to be found in the free market? I sure didn't. I thought you had to be born with it or have a wizard give it to you or something. I guess not!)

Anyway, today I brought a guitar to one of the handicapped orphanages (maybe a magic guitar?) and played it for them. Not my guitar, mind you, because there are 3 guitars just sitting up in the library of the house so I took one of those so if something happened to the guitar in transit or on site I wouldn't have to cry. We put the kids wheelchairs all in a circle around me—a captive audience, if you will—and I just played random songs for a while. One of the more mobile girls pulled her chair up really close to me so that she could watch my fingers the whole time. It was pretty cute. The kids really liked the music and it made them smile which made me smile. One of the girls has had her head down a lot recently but she picked it up a few times and smiled while I was playing—that was awesome. I need to memorize more songs because even I'm starting to get tired of "It's All Been Done," "You Are What You Love," "The Sweater Song," and "You Are My Sunshine." And maybe I should learn some in Spanish so the kids can understand what I'm saying... Things to think about.

i scream, you scream

Today I was supposed to have a free afternoon off, but 3 girls in the house are sick so I had to sub in at one of the sites. I was ok with it because I got to go to a site I'd never been to before and it was all little kids. You know, so little that they can't talk yet and are just learning to walk so they don't really cause too much trouble or take advantage of you because you're new and aren't fluent in Spanish. When we got there all we had to do was change their diapers, put their shoes on, and take them outside. Then later we fed them dinner and put them in their pjs. Easy. Especially because there were four of us there for nine kids. Piece of pastel (cake).

During the pj-ing part though one of the monjas (nuns) asked me to bring some bottles in to the nursery for the tiny babies and help feed them. There was a girl in there already who is not with OSSO but did come down as a volunteer with OSSO four years ago. She's back living in Ecuador for 3 months and just helping out with the different orphanages while she's here. We chatted at bit (obviously: that's how I obtained all this personal information) and she seems pretty chill. The babies were super cute, too (as most babies are) and they were also really quiet which was a little weird. They fussed a little bit when it was time to go to bed, but other than that they didn't really make a lot of noise. I wonder if that's because they aren't spoken to a lot? There were only 5 of them in the nursery, but they just stay in there all day. During the day they bring them out of their cunas (cribs) and put them on a mattress on the floor to sort of play, but they can't sit up or anything yet so it's pretty much the same as the crib. They seemed pretty content, though (I mean, no crying) and they didn't have sores or flat heads or anything from laying in one spot for too long, so it seems like they are well taken care of.

Funny story about one of the bebes: His name is John (which is necessary to know for the sake of the story and I don't feel will compromise his identity too much, call me crazy). Now, the Spanish version of this name is Juan, but that's not what his name is: it's John. J-o-h-n. Now, in Spanish the letter h is always silent. Always. It never makes a sound: think of words like hola (oh-la) or hamborgesa (ahm-bore-gay-sah). So when we were feeding the babies their bottles, John had one with his name on it in masking tape, but his name was spelled Jhon. It could have just been an accident, but the same mistake was made with one of the girls named Johana; her shoe cubby name reads Jhonna. I guess it doesn't really matter where you put the h because it's silent, right?

Also, Stephanie, today I ate Guanabana ice cream. Try not to hate.

miracles

I went to the handicapped (and by handicapped I mean "differently abled") orphanage today! I was a little nervous about it because I've never worked with kids like that before, but it was actually awesome. I worked this shift with my roommate Cortney who is the "mom" at that site and I think that is what made a huge difference. (I've worked at some other sites with girls who are not as informative or excited and I tell you what those sites were not as fun.) I was there in the afternoon so all we did was help put them in their chairs after their nap, took them for walks around the orphanage grounds, then did an activity with them (we painted their feet and printed them on a sheet with their names), helped feed them dinner, changed their diapers and put them in their pjs. The people working there take super good care of the kids and you can just tell that you love them—that was my favorite part.

the first real day

The first two days are the hardest. If that is true then today and tomorrow will be the worst.

So far it is kind of true. The work at the orphanages is super easy: sure I'm tired after but you would be too if you were looking after eight 2-3 year olds for 5 hours in the morning and then seven 4-5 year olds for 5 hours in the afternoon. I have no problem with the orphanage work, at least so far. Some weird Ecuadorianisms (or at least orphanage-isms) are as follows:

1. The little kids eat normal food, not baby food. They drink out of adult sized cups and bowls and use adult size silverware. And, for the most part, they don't spill!
2. They don't use wipes when they change the kids' diapers. If they are just wet you change the diaper and don't wipe them at all. If they are poopy you wipe most of it off with the diaper then put their bums in the sink (the same sink they wash their hands in, PS) and wash the rest of it off. You can wear a latex glove. Then you dry them off with a towel used for just this purpose and put on a new diaper. I did this today.
3. The kids wear tons of clothes. Every morning they wear a onesie, a shirt, leggings, pants, socks, shoes, and a jacket. They are worried that if the children are underdressed they will catch a cold.

So yeah, the kids are totally chill and I like them a lot. The voluntarias... well, they are girls. Mostly from Utah... Culture shock again, let's just say that. Oh my life.

I have made friends with this girl whose name is Whitney but goes by Nigel (can you see already why we're friends?). We had a nice long talk today about our shifts at the orphanages and boys and life and I like her. I am glad she is here.

cosas favoritas

A few of my favorite things about Ecuador thus far:

1. Bread is super cheap (15 sandwich rolls at the panadería for $1.85. No joke.)
2. The old ladies walking around in black loafers, knee high socks/nylons, knee-length pleated skirts, sweaters, shawls, fedoras. and two long braids.
3. Peach pizza.

ecuador

I am in Ecuador. No big deal.

memories...

Since I didn't blog at all while I was actually at camp, I feel the need to do a little story telling now. I hope you enjoy

Story #1:

Ashley and I are the same person. Ashley, for those of you who don't know (which I realize is pretty much all of you) was my co-counselor at summer camp. She is amazing. She's from Florida/Alabama, is 22, married to Rob—the pottery master and head of pottery at camp—and is hilarious. She was a counselor here at camp last year too and I was so lucky to have her to help me through the trying times that are summer camp. It got to the point where we could complete each others sentences, one of us could tell our girls what we needed them to do then the other would enforce it without even missing a beat. We worked together at T-Shirt Factory (tie dying t-shirts) and one of us could nap while the other helped kids and then we would switch and there was never animosity or frustrations and she is seriously one of my best friends now. She calls me her other-other-half. We even made up our own tie dye fold called The Cashley (or Hugs and Kisses because it makes x's and o's when it's done). In short, I love Ashley Lugo.

Story #2:

We are not supposed to talk to our campers about our personal lives (to avoid awkward questions about drinking, virginity, and the like) so to help deflect questions about me and Jace we just told our campers that we were siblings which usually sparked the comment, "Oh yeah. You do look alike." Well, one night Jace and I sneaked away from one of the evening socials to microwave tiny delicious pies we had bought at Walmart the night before and then forgotten about. As we were trying to eat them without burning either our hands or our mouths Alex walked into the kitchen. He was complaining about how his parents were late picking him up for his night and day off because they were helping his brother move into his new apartment when all of a sudden, mid-sentence he stopped and, looking from me to Jace, asked, "Hey, are you guys brother and sister?" Without missing a beat I go, "Yup." Then he asked if we were twins to which I replied, "No. Not twins." When he wanted to know who was older Jace told him to guess. He guessed Jace (probably because he is taller) and Jace goes, "Yep. Good guess." Haha. The whole thing was hilarious because we were so serious about it the whole time and Alex did all the work: all we had to say was yes or no.

A week or two later Alex came up to us at an evening activity and asked us if we were really brother and sister, which we assured him we were. "Yeah, that's what I said too but those girls over there seem to think you are dating." "What?" I responded. "That's ridiculous." "I know!" and then he walked off.

Meanwhile, camp goes on and we forget about the whole thing. Then, during minicamp, Jace and I were standing together at another evening activity and for some reason he gave me a hug (probably because he said something and then I told him we were through and he had to make it up to me). Alex, unbeknownst to us, was sitting on a bench behind us and commented to Stephanie, who was sitting next to him, how cute it was that Jace was hugging his sister. Stephanie, understandably confused, asked who Jace's sister was. Alex, surprised, said, "Cassi." To which Stephanie responded, "Ummm... They're dating." It is at this point that seemingly out of nowhere Jace and I hear yelled from behind us, "YOU!!!" We turn around to see Alex, open mouthed, pointing at us while Stephanie is sitting next to him beside herself with laughter. Jace looked at me all confused and that's when I realized that the lie we had told weeks ago had come back to haunt us. Well, mostly to haunt Alex. We laughed and then went over to taunt him further. It made our night.

NOTE: The last day of camp Alex asked me if Jace and I were going to get married. I responded, "Oh yeah. We're actually already engaged." To which he responded, "Oh really?! WAIT! I hate you."

Story #3:

I taught my girls The Sweater Song. My 10 year old girls. And it was their favorite. I wrote out the words for them (editing the first line for their and my benefit) and we would sing it together and then they would ask me to play it for them on the guitar like every night so they could sing it. It completed me.

My favorite though was when we had a new group of girls come and the old girls wanted to teach the new girls the song. We played it through for them once and asked them what they thought. One of the girls said, "Well, it's a little inappropriate, don't you think? I mean, NAKED?" It was all I could do not to laugh. The 13 year old girls I had cabin-sat the night before were listening to songs like Birthday Sex and when I tried to tell them that was inappropriate they didn't seem to understand. So to have a song deemed inappropriate just because it had the word naked in it was such a shock to me: in a good way. I smoothed it over by explaining that the "naked" being referred to in the song was metaphorical: he just feels naked without his sweater; he's not actually naked. (I think it went right over her head.)

because yellow fever is good for no one

This morning I left Boston at 5:30 am. That's right, 5:30 AM. Why so early you ask? Because I needed to get back to NJ in time for an 11 am appointment to have needles stuck in my arm. It was great fun. Actually, it wasn't bad at all. I needed to get vaccinated against Yellow Fever and Typhoid for my up coming Ecuador trip. The Typhoid shot hurt because it went into the muscle but the Yellow Fever one just stung a lot. But I tell you what, both of those are nothing compared to what would happen if I actually contracted either of the two diseases. You know, lots of pain and possibly death. Yay for modern science! Think about it: vaccinations are shots OF THE DISEASE! And they keep us from GETTING the disease! We live in the future.