I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain...

...coming down in such massive torrents as it was today here in Quito? I'll come to that in a bit. Our day today was a bit of a deviation from the normal. Starting Monday, Dra. Luzuriaga began to give classes to medical students from the Universidad Central here in Quito. One student each day gives a presentation on the development of a baby during a particular trimester of the first year of infancy. Being the third day of the class, today's was on babies during the third trimester (7-9 months). And that was all well and good, but after the class, instead of going to the pediatric ER with Dra. L, she took us to a guarderia, or day care. So Jennifer and I shared a very tiny room (pictured) with three other medical students, the occasional nurse, and Dra. L, while we whisked in and out kids for physical exams. It was rather chaotic at times, especially when we got the occasional screamer (sometimes even blinking wrong would make the kids spasm in fits of crying). But overall it was a welcome change of pace! And it was fun to get to know some of the Ecuadorian medical students also, who were amazed at how fast we spoke English (there's a taste of your own medicine, native Spanish speakers!).
So after a fruitful morning, Jennifer and I headed to the cafeteria, looking forward to our $1.50 almuerzo. Yet our expectations were dashed when they served us a big plate of none other than guatita. Yep, that's right - cow stomach stew again. And this time the pieces of cow stomach were big enough to patch a knee-hole in a pair of blue jeans. There was definitely a difference in taste too, as I could definitely make out the distinct flavor of stomach contents. No more will I complain about the cafeteria beef stroganoff... for you ain't had nothin' until you've had hospital guatita.

Jennifer decided to largely forego her lunch, while I ate mine out of desperation, knowing there was nothing else. After lunch we proceeded to Dra. Rosas' clinic, which was awesome as usual. But towards the end, we noticed it was getting noisier and noisier with thunder outside. And darker. And soon the city was inundated with a massive flash flood... right as clinic ended and Jennifer and I were setting out to return home. We scrambled over (and through) puddles, sharing a measly little umbrella, and finally got on the bus back home, and when we got off, the first street that we came to was as you see in the picture - deluged with mud and rainwater! It was a rough trip trying to find our way around the flooded areas, and eventually made it back home rather soaked. Apparently the whole neighborhood had been flooded, as both Maria, the housekeeper, and Señora Anita commented to me about such terrible flooding around the house! But thankfully, we've got a roof over our heads now, and I think both of us are planning to stay indoors for the rest of the night, preferably with something warm to eat and drink and a good, cozy, dry place to be merry.