Yesterday we were FINALLY able to begin our volunteer work. It has been one thing after another. First there was the aforementioned strike involving all of the Seguro Popular clinics and hospitals in the State of Oaxaca. Then as we were assured we would be able to start yesterday there was another march/protest/blockaded road that prevented us from being able to get to the clinic the way that Lucero, the director of the Institute, knew. She THOUGHT she knew a back way and after getting lost and asking a random on a motorcycle for directions we found our way there. I was anticipating getting to the open gates and them closing in our faces. But we walked right in and started talking with the director. Apparently unorganized is the Institute's motto. Although Lucero and Gustavo, the director of the clinic, had spoken, they had not discussed the educational backgrounds of myself or Michi (neither of us are med students) nor had they discussed what we would be doing. Lucero suggested some things and Gustavo suggested some back. Anyways. Lucero left and Gustavo gave us a tour. It's a cute little place that doesn't really have much to it, but it sure is busy. After the tour Gustavo said he was going to talk to the nurses about what we could do when all of a sudden he disappeared with three nurses, never to return in our remaining hour and a half at the Institute. AY DE MI! The Doctor who was there was very kind, but was with a patient so she told us just to take a seat and chat or watch tv. I learned how to take a boring old umbrella and paint it so that it is beautiful and something you can be proud to carry around. It was the Mexican version of the Today Show...but I felt more like I was watching HGTV or Food Network (we later learned how to make mango and swiss cheese sandwiches and frozen watermelon drinks). We literally sat for the rest of our time there, watching TV.
As we were sitting there this crazy loud lady, who decided she could really do whatever she wanted, entered. The nurse who was checking everyone in left with Gustavo and the only other nurse and the doctor were seeing a patient. We said hello, but did not know what else to do. She immediately started talking to us. Apparently we pass as possible locals as both her and her son asked if we lived nearby. Not understanding what she was asking me I said yes to something and had no clue what. You would think I would have learned my lesson by now. Anyways, she barged herself into a Consult Room where luckily the Doctor was just finishing up with the other patient. When her son walked in she loudly yelled out to him "Those girls are definitely interested." Interested in what you might ask? Apparently Octavio, her son, works at one of the local tv stations, and we told her we wanted to be on TV. We quickly took that back, but he still invited us to stop by the station any time we want to watch a live broadcast and see how things work. I still remember the address so maybe one of these days if we can catch a break from our insane schedules we will stop and pay Octavio and his mom a visit.
Tomorrow we are volunteering again. We have to be at the place at 9 am. May I remind you all that it is about an hour + walk. Consider how early this means Katie must be awake, alert, and functioning. Now, consider this. We will be helping out at a mass vaccination clinic in the small town's Zocalo. The director made it sound like we will not only be doing paperwork, but will probably be helping actually do the injections. How cool is that? It is totally normal for a non-licensed person to be allowed to do something like that here. My senora said that in the past she had a girl stay here who was a pre-med student. She went to one of the hospitals and asked if she could do some shadowing. They said even better, you can help with some procedures. She was in the maternity ward. Everyday she would come home and tell my senora how many births she got to help out with.
To be a doctor here you must volunteer one year of service after your residency in one of the "rural" clinics, like the one I'm helping out at.
Breastfeeding in public here is the norm. No one even blinks an eye. I don't know why, but I find the fact very interesting. I think it's because if a woman just whipped it out and started doing it in the U.S. she would catch quite a few glares.
No one here ever has change for "big" bills. Many times you can't even use a 50 peso bill to pay for something that is 20 pesos. This causes problems when the ATM pretty much only gives you 50, 100, 200, and 500s. At the market in Tlacolula this weekend I ended up having to borrow 20 pesos from a friend because I only had 15 in coins and my next smallest bill was 100. When I paid with a 100 for something that was 40 a little while later, they had to go to all their neighbor stands asking if they could loan them enough to give me change.
Speaking of the market at Tlacolula, I tried mezcal this weekend. I tried three different flavors--coconut, coffee, and Fruit from the 7 regions. The coconut and coffee were good because they had a little but of sweetened condensed milk added to them and were not very strong. The 7 regions one was quite brutal, but still very tasty. I can't believe the prices of alcohol here, or at least for mezcal. A large bottle, that even for something like Fleischman's would cost around $20-40 at home, was 50 pesos (about $5) here.
As we left class yesterday we realized that one of the main streets in the city and the one we all walk up together, Porfirio Diaz, had no cars on it. No big deal. There had been the blockade at the top of it, in front of the Medical School earlier in the day, so we thought nothing of it. Very soon we heard marching band music and realized that there was a march coming down the hill. It was very cool to see. It was for one of the candidates for Governor, Gabino. I managed to take some pictures. Also yesterday, as Michi and I were walking back to school from our volunteering there were people for Gabino standing on the sidewalk on Porfirio Diaz. I got a pretty cool paper fan thinger and a comic book. I wish candidates in the U.S. had comic books of themselves made. Michi even got a really cool bracelet.
Speaking of the elections. Monday night we were leaving school and they were of course, out as always. Traffic was moving as normal but there were people waving giant flags IN the road (on the "lane lines" that don't really exist in Oaxaca). As in the flags were blocking the view of the drivers. No big. They also had a mascot of their candidate, Eviel and his picture lined the sidewalks on other flags. It was quite intense. Although I'm sure it was illegal to have the flags in the middle of the street, I was surprised that no one really cared or did anything to stop it.
Mosquitos blow. That's all there is to it. After I changed rooms I discovered that the new room was pretty much infested with mosquitos and some sort of other little bitey bug. Before the move I had maybe 4 bites. Two nights after the move I was covered... as in on ONE leg alone over 13 bites. I itch like mad and have made several scab over in my sleep. Yes Jess, you can call me Scabs now. Also, until last night I didn't have a fan in here. May I remind you that it has been at least 90 almost every day since I got here (exception: 1). May I also remind you that it doesn't get down to 70 until about 2 am or later. Let's just say that between the heat and the mosquitos I went a couple days on very little sleep and was not the happiest of all campers.
We had our trip to Mitla, Tlacolula and Teotitlan del Valle on Sunday. Mitla was only cool because of it's architecture and the fact that it didn't involve a ton of walking. It was not nearly as impresionante as Monte Alban in it's grandeur. Check out my photos on facebook (all my non-facebookers, click here to see them) to read more about it. Basically it was a really cool, happening kind of place and then the Spanish arrive and did what they seemed to do best...tear things apart and use it for themselves, basically screw anyone who isn't us or doesn't have our beliefs. Tlacolula is just a small town but it has one of the biggest markets in the Valley of Oaxaca outside of the city. We only had 45 minutes to explore though it was where I had my mezcal adventure. We saw a really really ornate church there, but people were actually praying and stuff so I didn't feel right taking pictures. Pretty much the coolest part of the city was it's name, which is really fun to say (pronounced TL-a-co-loo-la). Next we went to Teotitlan del Valle, a small pueblo where everyone's first language is Zapotec and they make beautiful tapestries. I really wanted to buy a purse there but they only had totes and I figured that would get itchy. It was really neat to learn about the weaving process and I even got to take a try at using a spinning wheel. I was pretty much a master of it right away.
Today was our last cooking class. We learned how to make entomatadas.
I will leave you with this final thing that I have been pondering for days. I have decided that Mexican men must be bred with an innate sense of how to whistle loudly and obnoxiously. That or else in Jardincito they take a class like "Whistling 101: How to attempt attracting the women with your call". I can't even be mad when I get whistled at anymore because most of the time I am simply impressed by it's volume and the various themes that they tend to whistle. An example: Freddy has a very distinct whistle. I was sitting at the airport waiting for him (I got in a little earlier than expected). I suddenly heard a whistle and knew right away that he had just walked in and saw me. Also, when he gets to his mom's house he whistles as he's walking up to the door, as a kind of doorbell. It's crazy. Leah, you know what I'm talking about.
You can cook for me as much as you want when you get back!
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