Día de los Muertos Festivities

La fiesta sigue¡¡ This morning we all met up early for our trip to Mercado de Abastos.  Meche warned us before we left that it would be crazy busy and possibly a little dangerous, so she advised us not to bring purses and to take off all our jewelry.  I'm glad I listened. The market was insane. Everyone was there buying their Dia de los Muertos necessities.  It reminded me of how crazy American supermarkets get around Thanksgiving time and it made me a little sad to think I'll be missing that this year. :( 

Anywho when we got to the market we all broke off into different groups in charge of getting one or two things for the altar we're constructing tomorrow.  My group (me, Ivan, and Sarah) was in charge of buying the Cempasuchil which are the traditional yellow/orange flowers that have been used to adorn the altars since Aztec times.  We needed A LOT and we had a good time walking around and trying to haggle for prices.  We ended up getting a really good deal for two huge bundles (maletas).  The only problem was then trying to figure out how to get them back to our professor's house.  She had given us money for a taxi but the nearest street where we could catch one was at least a 10 minute walk away, through the market and crowds.  Luckily, Ivan with his mad Spanish skills negotiated a deal with this cart guy for 50 cents USD to bring our flowers to the taxi for us. Here's our cart guy expertly navigating the crowded market with our flowers.

We finally made it back to Dra. Adela's house.  This is our group standing out front.

Ivan, Me, and Sarah with our 2 maletas of Cempasuchil

I can't wait to put these on our altar tomorrow. We're meeting at 6:30AM to go to the Panteón! I guess I won't be getting much sleep but that's okay. Hehe.

This evening I went to watch the World Series game with Kate, Gerardo, Ally, and Leslie. (Jonny, if you're reading this, be proud!) I'm not a huge baseball fan but Kate, Ally, and Leslie are kind of die hard Giants fans so they convinced me to go. We had a good time. Unfortunately, the Giants lost though.  After the game, Leslie and I walked around for a bit.  On one of the main streets that runs right past Santo Domingo, they were displaying this art project they started this year.  People decorated these huge paper mache skulls.  I think there were almost 30 of them lining the street. This was one of my favorites.

After, Leslie and I went back to the Zócalo just for a bit to check out the progress on the tapetes.  They're all finished now and they look amazing. I'm sorry I don't have any more pictures of them. You'll just have to take my word for it! ;)

News Update- Shooting in Oaxaca

I meant to include this in my earlier post but there was a shooting this afternoon at the church in town. Two men were killed.  The guys were part of a group that calls themselves "porros" though to be honest, I didn't really understand the whole situation. Our professor assured us it's all internal political issues and they're not targeting outsiders/tourists but in any case we're supposed to stay away from the church for awhile.  Here's a short article about it.

Blood and Guts

Today was yet another wonderful day at Hospital Civil.  I honestly cannot believe what I've been able to see there.  This morning before we started our rounds, there was a hospital meeting that all the doctors and med students had to attend on HPV and cervical cancer.  This is me and Andy before the lecture started.  (We got there kind of early.)

The doctor that gave the presentation did a really great job and he spoke slow and clear enough that I was able to understood most of what he was saying.  It ended up being a really interesting presentation and I actually learned quite a bit.  I wish I had jotted down some notes.

After the lecture Doctora Mayda dropped us off on the surgery floor where we changed into our scrubs.

Leslie and I before surgery

I got to see parts of a couple hernia surgeries and a cataract one. In the hernia surgery, we actually saw the doctor pull the intestines out of the body which was kind of crazy to see.  Then his phone rang and he didn't even hesitate in answering it.  It's a little odd but the doctors joke around, listen to music, and talk about things totally unrelated to surgery while the patient is lying there on the table.  It was a lot more like Grey's Anatomy than I would have expected.

Hernia surgery

Leslie watching the doctors

The cataract surgery was pretty neat also. The patient was awake for the surgery, though obviously they gave her a local anesthesia. I got there just in time to see the doctor insert the artificial lens. The doctor said she was kind of nervous because the lady she was operating on was completely blind in the other eye so this was her one chance to be able to see again.  It reminded me a little of my Grandpa. Love you, Papaw. <3

Before I left the hospital today, I decided to run back up to Gynecology. I wanted to see if the patient whose hand I held yesterday was still there. I was really regretting not getting a picture with her and her daughter but unfortunately, it looked like she had already been discharged. That's too bad.  I did, however, run into one of the doctors I was shadowing yesterday and he was nice enough to give me a one on one lesson on how to hear the baby's heartbeat with this metal trumpet thingy.  It's really hard to do.  You have to figure out what position the baby is in, find it's shoulder, and then you've got to figure out how to position the trumpet thing so that you hear it correctly.  The doc was really nice though and he took me from one patient to the next so I could practice. As I was saying goodbye for the day, he said the one thing he's really sad he didn't get to teach me was how to receive the baby. Can you even imagine?!! Maybe next week. I think I'm going to skip my rotation next week so I can go back to Hospital Civil. I feel like there's still so much to see!

On the way home, I met up with Helen at the mercado in El Llano.  I bought a pirated version of Monsters, Inc. for $1.50 USD. Can't wait to watch it! Also, I got a slice of this delicious cookie and cream cake and Helen convinced me I had to try one of the tacos from a stand she knew--it was amazing. I wasn't one bit hungry for lunch by the time I got home but of course I still ate a ton.  Goodness, I really am going to come back 20 pounds heavier! Haha.

Also, all the festivities are really getting started for Dia de los Muertos. This afternoon there was a parade of kids in costumes that marched down our street.. right past our door.  They stopped all the traffic.

Taken from our front door

This evening Helen, Linda, Leslie, and I went to el Zócalo.  There was music and dancing, lots of street vendors, and some of the largest most amazing tapetes (designs made in sand and traditionally put in front of the altar for Dia de los Muertos).

My favorite tapete we saw--it's not yet finished!

When Leslie and I got home, we walked into a huge party. The whole fam was over, kids and everything.  It felt like Christmas--that kind of exciting.  We sat down to hot chocolate and pan de muerto with everyone.  Ale, one of the 2 year old twins, was being really cute and showed us how she can move her eyebrows up and down as if she were flirting with someone. So adorable. It's really nice to feel like part of a family here.

So Completely Surreal

I just saw I don't even know how many babies being born.  It was absolutely incredible.  We got to the hospital at 7:30 this morning and Doctora Mayda took us straight up to the birthing unit. We changed into our scrubs and put on the surgery caps, booties, and face mask. Cute no?

Me and Helen before watching our first birth

I wish I could post pics of the births but I doubt the mommies want their female parts plastered all over the internet.  They did give me permission to take pictures for myself though which was really really nice.  I honestly lost track of how many we saw. We got to see a couple Cesareans, too. After they pulled the baby out, they actually pulled the uterus out of the body to clean it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  As I said--so completely surreal.

There was one woman who was actually my age.  This was her first kid and when they brought her into the birthing room I could tell she was terrified and obviously in a lot of pain. She kept crying out for someone to hold her hand but none of the doctors made the move to do so.  It's weird but the women aren't allowed to bring their husbands or boyfriends or family with them, not even to the room where they wait to dilate enough.  They just have to suffer through their contractions alone and the doctors and nurses walk by as if nothing's happening.  Anywho, when this one woman cried out for someone to hold her hand I walked over to her side and grabbed it. I held her hand through the whole thing and even afterward while they stitched her up. I could tell she was really thankful and later when I passed her in her bed (which was literally in the hallway for lack of space in the rooms), she was holding her brand new baby girl newly decked out in a pink onesie and blankie. We talked for a second and then she asked me to hold her baby while she signed some of the paperwork the nurse had for her.  I love babies. Her girl was SO cute.

So after a very eventful morning, I'm still kind of floating in the clouds.  (Though I'm definitely reconsidering my decision to have my own kids. That was kind of brutal and I think that's about all the birth control I need for a long while. Heh.) I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to check out surgery. This rotation is so incredible.

Día Uno en Hospital Civil

I need to learn to not expect anything when I walk into my clinic/hospital rotations.  The coolest things have happened on the days I had zero expectations.  Today was a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping I'd get to see babies being born or surgery or something equally exciting but with so many of us assigned at Hospital Civil this week, it's hard for all of us to get a spot in the department we want.  I spent about half an hour this morning cruising around Internal Medicine which was really not all that interesting.  The doctors and med students in that department already know the histories of all of the patients because most have been there for several days.  So listening to the updates on each patient's status in medical language that I wouldn't have even understood in English was not all that instructional.  Plus, I was sweating my eyeballs out in that department which put me in kind of a bad mood.  It was only 8:30 in the morning but the sun was coming in through the windows and the rooms felt like saunas. It's crazy that the main hospital in such a big city in Mexico doesn't have air conditioning.  Especially since the climate in Oaxaca is usually in the 80s+ all year round.

Anywho, after the Internal Medicine ordeal, I asked to be moved to a different department.  I ended up in Gynecology but not the birthing room. This was the small closet of a room women come to before they're admitted to the hospital to have their babies.  It ended up being a good experience though I was a little disturbed by how emotionally hardened the doctors there were.  Some of the women were obviously in a lot of pain but the doctors did not comfort a single patient.  They were kind of like robots--very mechanical.  They checked to see if the woman was dilated yet, checked for the baby's heart beat, and typed up massive amounts of paperwork all without a pat on the back, a smile, or anything else that might have reassured the patients that everything was going to be alright.  This especially bothered me as most of the women arrived at the hospital without a husband, boyfriend, mom, or other family member.

Tomorrow, Doctora Mayda promised to schedule Helen and I in the birthing room.  Guess we'll see what happens!

LOTS Going on This Week!

I am so so SO excited for this week. First, Dia de los Muertos is next Wednesday (November 2) and all week we have fun things planned.  On Thursday, we have a pot luck type lunch will all our families at the language school. Saturday, we're going shopping at Mercado de Abastos for all the Dia de los Muertos essentials. Sunday, we're making a Dia de los Muertos altar and entering it into this local contest.  Also that evening we're going to get to go see the altars in the cemetery nearby.  Meche mentioned something about making tamales at home either Friday or Saturday which would be amazing because I love tamales.  I'm not exactly sure what we're doing Monday/Tuesday for the actual holiday but how could it possibly be bad.

The second reason I'm crazy excited for this week is that tomorrow I start my rotation at Hospital Civil, which is the biggest hospital here and everyone else in the group has spoke reallyy highly of their experiences there.  The doctor in charge already confirmed that I'm going to start in OB/GYN tomorrow which is what I requested. I really hope I get to see a baby being born! Also, I asked that I be placed in pediatrics and surgery for the other two days this week. Can't wait!

Done, Done, Done!

Done with the midterm! As of Friday at 5pm, I am officially free. It's such a great feeling.  I didn't expect to be so crunched for time but it did get a little stressful the last couple days.  Also, I sent my rough draft to my professor and the morning before it was due she wrote me back saying that I needed to rewrite part of it because I didn't answer her question correctly.  I'd argue otherwise but I changed it anyways.  After all, she is the one grading it! Hehe.

How Alyssa and I celebrated during Friday's lecture

I don't really have too many updates except from clinic on Friday.  I ended up skipping clinic Thursday so I could work on the midterm and on Friday we only saw two patients but I thought they were both pretty interesting cases.  I can finally say that my million and two UTIs have come in handy! One of the patients we saw was an 8 year old boy who had a fever, was feeling dizzy, and throwing up.  Turns out not too long before he had had a UTI and Dr. Tenorio suspected that that infection was never fully controlled.  It's really rare for boys to get UTIs, so Tenorio sent him to get some scans and tests done to make sure there wasn't any sort of structural abnormality.

The other patient we saw was a much younger boy, probably around 2.  He had also been having flu-like symptoms but it turned out not to be the flu at all. I don't know how Dr. Tenorio figured this out from what the mom described, but I guess he must have been looking for it. The boy had tiny faint pinkish/red sores under his tongue, on the palms of his hands, and barely visible on the bottoms of his feet.  The disease is called Mano-Pie-Boca. I just googled it and it does translate to English (Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease).  I've never heard of it but it's apparently fairly common and is caused by the same virus as the mumps.  Dr. Tenorio took out one of his medical books for me so that I could read about it.  The pic below is a google imaged pic of the sores.  The one on the kid we saw were much less prominent.

Mano-Pie-Boca Enfermedad

Anyways, there's no treatment for the disease but from what I understand it usually disappears after a couple weeks.

Also, I should probably update you all on some of the amazing food I've had lately:

• Mexican Hamburguesas and Hot Dogs-- If you think McDonalds is artery clogging, you should see how they do them here.  Hamburgers and hot dogs come complete with grilled unions, tomatoes, jalapeños, pineapple, cheese, bacon/ham, mustard, mayo, and ketchup. 

How Mexicans Do Hot Dogs

• Coconut Oaxaqueño Nieve-- Nieves are the traditional Oaxacan ice cream. They're kind of half way between an Icee and ice cream. Coconut is def my favorite thus far.
• Condensed Milk Filled Churro-- From a shop called Señor Churro. Amazing.

Condensed Milk Filled Churro

• Champurrado (Chocolate Atole)-- Our mom served us this a couple times for breakfast.  It tastes like the thickest, richest, most wonderful hot chocolate you've ever had. :) 

• PIZZA!!-- There's this really nice Italian restaurant here called Mezzaluna. Ally, Helen, and I went on Saturday and split a pizza.  It was my first non-Mexican food in 5 weeks! I can't say I've really been missing American food all that much but that pizza was the most heavenly thing ever!! Also, our waiter was really nice and brought us extra bruschetta and mezcal shots for free. May I just make note that the bruschetta was pretty decently spicy. Mexican bruschetta maybe? Haha.

Tomato, Garlic, Olive Oil Pizza From Mezzaluna

Lots of Updates!

Llevo un rato sin escribir. Well, maybe it hasn't been that long but it sure feels like it.  Actually, I've been pretty busy with school work lately.  (Crazy, I know. Why bother with school work when I should be out enjoying Mexico right?!)  As I mentioned last week, our professor handed out our first midterms (a couple of essay questions) which are due this Friday.  I just about have a complete rough draft for them now. I'm hoping to finish it up tonight and spend all of tomorrow editing.  As much as I normally hate writing, this actually hasn't been that bad. I'm glad I started early.

This past weekend was really relaxed. Lots of studying/hanging around in cafes.  Friday night I went out dancing for the first time in a couple weeks.  That was a lot of fun.  On Saturday, Serene, Alyssa, Sarah and I took a break from studying and went to get hairwraps from the lady next to Santo Domingo.  I haven't had a hair wrap since like 2nd grade. Haha. Yeah, I feel pretty cool (though it's now a pain in the neck to brush my hair when I get out of the shower).  Sunday morning our host mom prepared a brunch for all of us.  It really reminded me of the family brunches we have at home with most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom's side.  Both our host mom's son and daughter came and brought their kids.  The kids played while we ate.  We had all kinds of tamales, fruit and yogurt, fresh squeezed orange juice, and jello. Oh, and of course coffee--my fav.  Everyone was in such a great mood and the food was deliciosa!  I was sorry to have to excuse myself to go work on the midterm.

Monday was back to classes.  This week we focused on diabetes and obesity among Latinos in both the U.S. and in Mexico.  Though the reading for this week was rather dry (lots of obesity studies and statistics), I found the lectures to be pretty interesting.  I've always believed that one's eating/exercise habits are a direct result of what one learns/observes in the home as a child.  Therefore, I feel like parents carry a lot of responsibility for their child's health and habits.  I'm not sure if I can say that I believe much differently now, but what I did realize is that sometimes, because of the situation, it is practically impossible for a parent to impart good eating/exercise habits to their kids.  Take for example, a family that is so poor they are struggling to feed their kids day to day.  They don't have the money to buy fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient rich foods. Instead, they must buy very calorie dense foods, which are obviously not the healthiest, just to keep their kids full.  Also, our professor presented the case of a family with two working parents.  If when the kids come home from school, they must feed themselves, there's no one there to educate them on healthy choices.  The kids are going to choose the foods they know and like (ie high fat and high sugar). Obviously these are extreme cases but it was a real eye opener into just how difficult it can be to combat childhood obesity and diabetes.

Yesterday, instead of having lecture we had a field trip to a traditional Mexican restaurant out in the middle of nowhere.  Although it was supposed to be a lesson in how to prepare "light" Mexican dishes, I'm not so sure how "light" the dishes we prepared actually were. The menu: black mole and chicken, sopa de guias (squash soup), quesadillas and empanadas with hand made tortillas, calabasa dulce (sweet squash), arroz con leche, and horchata de pitaya.  I helped make the tortillas, quesadillas, and empanadas which was so SO neat.  The lady showed us how to press the masa (dough) into tortillas and how to use the comal.

Showing us how to make empanadas on the comal

The quesadillas and empanadas ended up being a big hit. Most of them didn't even make it to the buffet table.  Also, I sort of fell in love with the arroz con leche.  I had two full servings plus I ate half of Helen's.  Thank goodness they gave us the recipe. I think I might be making that one at home! ;)

After our cooking class we had a short excursion to Mitla, where we got to see some more Zapotec ruins similar to the ones we saw in Monte Albán the first week.

The cool thing about the ruins in Mitla is that a lot of the stones have these really pretty carved designs in them (which you can kinda see in the photo). I can't even imagine how the Zapotecs managed that, way back when.  Also, we got to go down into some tombs.  The entry way was really small (I had to basically crawl on my hands and knees just to get in) and it was really moldy and musky in there but it was so worth it.  I kinda felt like I was part of Indiana Jones.

Anyways, that just about catches you all up.  In other notes, it's started to get warmer during the nights here so the mosquitoes have been crazy vicious.  I have bites everywhere.  Also, I started at Dr. Tenorio's pediatric clinic today.  He's known for being kind of late so I planned to arrive at about 10:20, 20 minutes after the clinic is supposed to open.  Turned out he didn't get there until 11:30.  Now that's fashionably late! Haha. Also, since Tenorio hardly had any patients, I ended up following the allergist around.  Basically I spent all morning looking at sniffly coughing kids. I refuse to ever be an allergist. SO boring.

Highlights From the Last Couple Days at Dra. Lucía's

• I watched 2 six inch long needles be inserted into this woman's butt. Then laughed hysterically at the shock on the nurse's face when she removed them.
• I got a complete lesson from the grouchy nurse in how to cleanse myself after giving a massage: always suck in your stomach, brush your arms, legs, and torso off while turning in circles, wash your hands, take a couple sips of water. Ta-da, you're now cleansed of the patient's bad energy.
• Cupping--scary open glass spheres that suck up human flesh.
• The doctor put these stickers with mustard seeds attached on a patient's ear. She has to wear them until they fall off. They're going to reduce her blood pressure. (DUH)
• Hot Pencil Herby Thingy--They hold it an inch above the skin and wave it around. I don't know. I'm lost?
• And I think this one speaks for itself:

"Hueso de Dragon" (aka Dragon Bone)

Why do I feel like I spent the last 3 days in fairytale land?

Change of Pace

This evening was my first shift at Doctora Lucía's.  Like I mentioned before, Dra. Lucía practices alternative medicine (mostly acupuncture) which is so different from everything I've learned previously. Honestly, for most of the three and a half hours that I was there, I felt like she was speaking a different language. She touched a woman's wrist and told me she was checking each of the pulses. (Yes, that is pulses, plural; apparently each organ in the body has a different pulse.)  Then she explained to a woman with high blood pressure that the reason she's been feeling lightheaded is because there's a viento (wind) within her body.  She diagnosed countless patients with having an unbalance in their livers just by examining their tongues. And on the kids, she used this odd metal pen that contains quartz which, when pushed down on, apparently creates a spark that excites the channels that she's targeting in the kid's body.

I may sound a bit skeptical but, de verdad, it was actually fairly interesting.  I can't tell if what she's doing is really what's making the patients feel better or if it's just the patients thinking that they're being treated that's making them feel better, but either way it seems to work.  I think I'll have to try it to believe it. Maybe I'll ask her to fix my stomach. Oh also, did I mention she showed me how to remove the needles? That was kind of cool.

In other news, our professor posted our first midterm tonight. It's essay format and she expects 10 pages. I just looked at the questions.. I think I'm going to be pretty busy this weekend. Haha. Also, I learned some interesting things in lecture this morning. Here are a couple random facts:

•  About 35% of the population here in Oaxaca is illiterate, 12% don't even have a basic education, and only 4% will obtain a university degree.  Much of this deficit in learning is due to malnutrition.
• In Mexico, if a man has sex with another man, as long as he's not on the receiving end, he can still be considered completely straight.
• Prostitution is legal in Mexico. Prostitutes carry around a booklet to keep track of their sexual encounters and are required to go in for checkups once a week to be tested for STDs.

Another Amazing Weekend

I know it's been a little while since I've updated pero no preocupense. I'll catch you all up!

FRIDAY:
Friday was Helen's and my last day at Centro de Salud San Francisco Tutla but it was actually one of the more interesting days at the clinic.  I asked one of the doctors if she would mind if I sat in on her patient appointments. I didn't expect it to be too exciting cause I figured most people would be there for check-ups and/or flu symptoms but it turned out to be kind of cool.  I got hear an unborn baby's heartbeat! Also, there was this 65 or almost 70 year old woman who came in and about mid appointment started rambling, in detail and without realizing that I understood, about how she couldn't have sexual relations with her new lover because things down there weren't working.  It was kind of funny (and maybe a little embarrassing for her) when she realized I was actually following along. Haha.

After that I got a little lesson in machismo when the same lady started talking about her ex husband and how controlling he is and how he ran off with a younger woman and now wants her back.  She also told us that her grown up son said to her, "Mom, you're like an old broken down car.  You don't work and he [the ex husband] can't drive you anymore so why are you surprised that he left you." WOW. I would have smacked that kid.  Apparently, the sentiment that the man is always right/always in control is all too common in Mexico.  The woman had a small breakdown after that and we spent about half an hour talking to her about self worth.  I think she walked out of the clinic with some tools to help herself though, which is great. 

After breakfast, Helen and I left with Priscila to go vaccinate the pueblo.  Every couple weeks or so, Priscila leaves the clinic and walks around the town, trying to find people that aren't up to date on their vaccines. 

Helen and Priscila with the vaccine cart

This was really eye opening in a couple of ways. First, when in the world would anyone in the US go in search of those that haven't been vaccinated, and not only that but walk right up to their door and vaccinate them right then and there. Second, our little excursion really allowed us to get a feel for the town and the extreme poverty there. 

A mother and her 8 children live in this house

At the end of the day it was a little bittersweet having to say goodbye to everyone. I feel like we really did bond with the majority of the staff but we got all their contact info and promised to keep in touch and plan some sort of gathering before we leave. :)

SATURDAY:
Saturday was a pretty regular day.  I did a lot of reading and catching up on work. Not too much to say.

SUNDAY:
On Sunday, I went on a similar hike to the one I did last weekend.  This one was actually right next to Eric's (the guide) home town of Tlacolula.  The mountain was called Picacho Quialana. This is a picture from the bus ride there.

"Hey guys, see that mountain with the clouds in the middle?! That's where we're going!" -Eric

The bus dropped us off in Tlacolula, where there was a huge market going on.  Eric took us to a little chocolate shop where he knew some guys and they showed us how they make chocolate.

It took about 5 minutes to go from beans to yummy-ness. I would've never guessed it was so fast. Also, the amount of sugar that went into it was almost unbelievable.  Probably more sugar than chocolate! Haha.

After that we walked around the market a little more. Eric showed us a place to buy good mezcal (which I'm still not such a fan of) and he had us try pulque, which is alcohol made from fermented maguey plant.  I actually really liked that but I'm not sure how to describe the taste. It was fairly sweet. I'll have to try it again sometime. We also tried cornbread from a lady Eric knew. It was good, much denser than the cornbread I've had in the states, but I think I stand by my claim that Marie Calendars' cornbread is the best on the planet.

Once we reached the end of the market, we jumped in the back of a pickup truck and this guy drove us up to the base of the mountain.  This hike was a lot harder and steeper than last weekend.  It took us 4 hours to get to the top and then 2 hours to come back down.  This is me dying at the top of the mountain. Haha

 

And here's a shot of the whole group.  The view from the top was amazing!

 

When we finally got back down to the bottom of the mountain, we were all exhausted but there was a big festival going on in Tlacolula so we decided to stop for just a bit. We got really good tacos (less than a dollar each) from a random taco stand.  And then jumped on this crazy spinning ride.  Two things about Mexican amusement rides: 1) There's very rarely any sort of safety measures taken ie. a fence around the ride or seat belts on rides such as bumper cars or in our case, cutting branches off the neighboring tree that we were swinging into.  2) The rides last foreverr.  I think we were spinning/swinging/bouncing up and down for at least 5 minutes straight. I love roller coasters and amusement park rides but even I felt a little sick afterward.

In any case, the whole trip was a lot of fun and I didn't make it home until almost 10:30 last night.  I was so tired, all I could do was mumble buenas noches to my host mom, take a quick shower, and get in bed.  I didn't even bother to check my email or Facebook. You KNOW that's saying something. ;)

Where Do Vaccines Come From?

Today was a pretty slow day in the clinic. Helen and I actually left an hour early but before that, Priscila took us to the department downtown where they hand out vaccines to each clinic. Each nurse in charge of the vaccines at their clinic goes down there to refill their clinic's supply when it starts to run low.  While quite a few of the vaccines are manufactured in Mexico, others are imported from all over the world (India, Japan, France, USA).

 

To be honest, it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world (just a room with a bunch of refrigerators) but I guess it was cool to see once.  This afternoon I'm heading off to the cafe to get some studying done. I've heard plans of possibly another hike or an excursion to Mitla this weekend so I think I better get going on the reading that's due next week! ;)

El Ratón de Las Muelas

Fun Fact: In Mexico when little kids lose their baby teeth, the mother tells the kid to go outside and wait. She throws the tooth on top of the roof and tells the kid that a mouse is going to come get it and leave money for the kid. So when the kid comes back inside, they find the money that the "mouse" left for them. Not quite as charming as the tooth fairy, but I like the idea. 

(He's kind of cute, no?)

I Gave My First Injection Today!

Aunque I've been complaining a little about our clinic being in the middle of nowhere and often times it's kind of slow, the staff has really made it worth our while.  This morning Helen and I arrived at the clinic at 8.  For once, I finally felt well rested which I can tell helps tremendously with my español. (I need to remember this trick in the future.) Anywho, somehow I managed to butt myself into a conversation with the nurse and director about natural births and the advantages of having a natural water birth over the traditional hospital ones.  Apparently, the big hospital here (that I'll be interning at later this quarter) is starting to do water births and it's a little bit of a controversy.  In discussing it with them, it reminded me that I saw a documentary a year or two ago about this exact subject and how it's being handled in the US. The documentary is called "The Business of Being Born."

If any of you are interested, I strongly recommend it. They talk a lot about advantages/disadvantages of both natural and regular hospital births and they actually follow/interview a few mothers that decide to have completely natural ones.

Anyways, that was probably the least interesting part of the morning.  After that me, Helen, the nurse, and director headed off to an elementary school to educate the kids on maintaining good health.  Everyone got Albendazol (helps protect GI tract against worms and amoebas) and daily vitamin/mineral packets, and the girls got folic acid supplements which helps prevent breast cancer and birth defects (if they get pregnant), among other things.

Helen and I with some of the students

Also, the kids that were 12+ years old got the first of two Hepatitis B vaccines.  After watching Priscilla do it a few times, she actually let me do a couple! It was so neat. The needle went in so much easier than I expected and the kids didn't flinch or make faces so I guess it couldn't have been THAT bad. Haha

Hepititis B vaccine

Also, just as a side note, I was really surprised to find that a couple of the older kids (12 and 13 years old) didn't know their age or where they lived. I asked Priscila about it and she said it's because some of the kids are born into really big families that may live far from the school. The mothers of the kids sometimes give birth in their houses without anyone knowing and then may lose track of their kids' ages or decide not enroll them in school until later. It's crazy to think that can happen.

Anywho, after we finished at the school we went back to the clinic to drop stuff off and then Priscila invited us to come with her and Saúl to pick up chile rellenos from a lady she knows nearby.  I know my stomach has been awful lately and the last thing I should be eating is fried greasy food but everyone was talking about how good they were and I just had to try a bite of Helen's. SO. FREAKING. GOOD. If my stomach starts acting up again later, it'll be worth it.

We have two more days in this clinic.  Next week I'm going to a private practice run by Doctora Lucía which will be a completely different experience.  Lucía practices alternative medicine like acupuncture, teas, oils, meditation, and such.  I'm a little sad to be leaving San Francisco Tutla now that we've made such good friends but Priscilla promised she'd give both Helen and me her contact info. :)

Mari, me, Saul, Helen, Julian, and Priscila on the end (I actually don't know the one on the far left or second from the right)

What An Amazing Weekend

I know this is only our third (or maybe, more correctly, second and a half) weekend here but I can say, without a doubt, it was the best! Helen and I started it off right on Friday afternoon.  When we were walking home from the clinic, we happened to pass through the park, El Llano. Normally it's fairly quiet except for the students who have just gotten out of school and are chatting with friends, making out with boyfriends/girlfriends (the amount of PDA here is incredible), or grabbing an afternoon snack at one of the various food carts, but this time it was packed with people. Apparently, Fridays and Saturdays are mercado days at the park.  This got Helen and I pretty excited, as we've been in search of some good mango con chile since Week One.  Needless to say, it only took a minute or so to stumble upon a fruit stand and ask the nice lady working there to add some chile powder to the mango they had just freshly cut. (Note that the freshly cut mango + chile powder cost less than a dollar. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a mango for less than a dollar in the states, not to mention, pre-sliced and chile powder-ed.)

After a long first week of classes and clinic, Friday evening wasn't too eventful but I did make it out for a little bit. I saw the end part of a concert in El Zócalo and then had a quick dinner with Ally and Maria before heading home.

Saturday I had made plans to go hiking with some of the other students in our group.  There's an alumni from last year's program, Kate, who's back in Oaxaca this year to do an internship as her final senior requirement for her major.  She's working with this free lance tour guide who plans all sorts of hikes and outdoor excursions and together they're trying to jump start the tourism in other pueblos around Oaxaca.  So when Kate asked if anyone would be interested in doing a day hike in a town near by, I jumped at the chance.

There were about 10 of us that decided to go and after a 25 minute taxi colectivo ride we ended up in the town of San Pablo Etla.

In San Pablo just before heading up into the mountains

We then took a van (12 of us squished into an Ford Excursion), driven by the mayor of the farmers in that area, up into the mountains. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for the trip.  At 10,000 feet, the mountain is the the tallest mountain you can see from the city's center.  It was a 6 hour hike, 3,000 feet to the top, and some of it fairly steep uphill but we did eventually make it. Along the way we stopped to hike down to a small waterfall which was pretty neat and we took a few much needed water/snack breaks. The mayor followed us in the van the whole way and met up with us at different points where the trail intersected the main road.

Me, really excited to have reached the top

At the end of the hike, we made our way down to these cabins which had BBQ grills out back.  I forgot to mention but earlier that morning we bought some meats, tortillas, avocados, green onions, peppers, etc at the market so we had a pretty big feast afterward. Also, the mayor, Primitivo, chopped off some branches from this bush called Poleo, put them in a pot of boiling water, and made tea.  For those of you that know me, you know I'm a coffee drinker all the way, but this tea was freaking amazing! So sweet and absolutely delicious. Kate basically brought back half the bush so I think we've got enough tea to last until the end of the program. Haha. We didn't get back until after sunset last night so after a hot shower I was ready for bed. 

Today, I woke semi early, went downstairs to find that our mom had planned tamales de mole for breakfast. (Tamales are the bestest!)

The mole ones are a little different than the ones I've had in the US in that they're wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks but man are they good! After breakfast, Mom and I had a quick skype date and then I ventured out for the day, met up with Ally, and we spent the morning shopping in the 20 de Noviembre mercado.  On the way back, we got super lost (not quite sure how) but finally made it home in time for lunch.  And then this afternoon a few of us met up in Cafe Cuiles to catch up on our reading.  Tomorrow will be our first class with Doctora de La Torre, our professor for the rest of the program.  I'm actually pretty excited to meet her; everyone I've talked to speaks reallyy highly of her, both as a teacher and a person. Tomorrow also happens to be Leslie's (one of my roomie's) birthday so we're all going to have a little celebration for her tomorrow evening.  Happy Early Birthday, Leslie!!