Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A rare day in Patzcuaro
Major news- it didn't rain today! We had clear skies all day AND all night! Which made beautiful weather for going out with Veronica, an outreach worker at the organization. We took the combi to the pueblo of Santa Anna which was about a twenty minute ride. Santa Anna is a mestizo community that is situated very close to where I live on the mountain because it is in the valley below, but it takes a while to get there by bus. When I asked Veronica what the pueblo was famous for (because many towns around the lake have a handicraft that they are famous for) she said- fiestas! Which, I guess is also very important. Veronica and I were conducting a survey about nursing practices and inviting the nurses to attend an information session about the enfermera parterra (nurse midwife) session that our organization is holding in July. Once we got to the town Veronica asked a person where all the nurses lived and we plotted our journey from there- it was very grass roots. One nurse wasn't home, so we waited outside her house for twenty minutes hoping she would return (which she didn't). This house didn't have a doorbell and there was a gate that was removed from the property, so Veronica yelled "Senora, Senora" until the neighbor yelled at us and said "La senora no esta aqui", so then we waited.
We also visited the "Imms/Opportunidades" clinic which is a health care system set up by the Mexican government to manage health care for rural areas. Theses clinics are free if you live in the area the clinic serves. While not very large or impressive it serves a population that would normally have to travel to Patzcuaro to receive primary care- which is a good thing.
After my hike back home, my housemates and I made "stir fry" which was just kind of veggies, beef, rice, and an egg because we didn't actually have any spices. It was pretty tasty and we washed it down with Mango Smoothies because are mangoes were getting a little mushy and needed to be used. We enjoyed our meal on our patio to see the non-rainy sunset.
We are all celebrating the lack of rain today. If this keeps up I may even return home with a tan (or..er.. burn)! We are crediting the sun to the new intern Jessie who flew in from Chicago yesterday and brought the heatwave with her. Jessie is a little older than us and is living with Richard and Brenda for the summer. She just graduated nursing school and is going to train to be a nurse midwife. She is really the only intern who actually has practical skills so far to work in the clinic. She is very friendly and was a Spanish major, so she is great addition to our group.
Hasta luego!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Janitzio y Ihuatzio
So much has happened since I last posted! I guess I should start where I left off. We did end up going to the organ festival, but it was more like a organ + crazy opera lady concert with a 20 person audience. It was interesting and fun I guess… Afterwords, we went to the bar (the only one in downtown!) where Katrina’s Spanish tutor owns. It was kind of fun, there was live music and since the owner knew us we got a discount and he talked to us about things we could do around town which was helpful. The singer was pretty funny and kept on singing to us at our table ( I guess since we were one of the few tables full he didn’t have very many options).
On Saturday, we had a meeting with nurses from Morelia in the morning which went really well. About 10 nurses came from Morelia and they gave really good feedback about our projects and they are interested in partnering with Brenda’s nurse-midwife training project which is really neat. They invited Brenda to come speak at big important meeting at the University in October which is pretty exciting.
After the meeting we headed to the docks and took a fairy to the island of Janitzio. (It’s the big rounded one you see in all of my pictures). The ride takes about half and hour and you get to see fishermen (Who are planted there for the tourists- haha I’m serious). Janitzio is a really big tourist attraction for people from D.F and within Mexico, so there are lots and lots of street vendors and stores selling the exact same souvenirs. We braved the tacky junk and rainstorm and climbed to the top. At the top, there is a giant statue of famous figure Don Jose Maria Morelos – think statue of liberty, only a little smaller. You can pay a few pesos to climb to the top inside of the statue. It is pretty neat and there are murals depicting his life inside the statue. Due to “fear issues” I only made it about half way up, but it was still kind of neat. After our hike to the top we decided to go off the beaten path on the way down (there is a main street that all the tourist use to go up to the top of the island). This was really neat. Janitzio is considered a Purepecha/Tarascan community so it was interesting to see many women in their traditional dresses speaking Purepecha. We found lots of neat views of the houses and a neat old cemetery (Sorry, there are lots of pictures of random buildings). We took a “convi” ( little bus) back to town and spent the rest of the evening watching Frida.
Today was another great adventure. We started off our day with a guided tour of Patzcuaro by Miguel Angel, a friend of Richard and Brenda and Mexican anthropologist. This was really neat and he pointed out lots of interesting architectural details around town that we probably wouldn’t have noticed. Like the crazy bathtub in the old convent or the fact that they used the Purepecha ruins to construct parts of the street after the Spanish came (there are lots of sunny pictures of Patzcuaro). After our tour we ate comida and hoped on another convi to Ihuartzio(30 minutes away). A little bit outside the town they have a really nicely preserved set of Yacatas (Purepecha pyramids). It was really neat because we were just walking on the road for a really long time, there weren’t really any houses or buildings in site except for the these cool (chido) stone walls, and then out the mist we see these really cool pyramids. It was so beautiful. It was a little rainy, we were the ONLY people there, there were lush mountains in the background, and the pyramids had a cool green moss growing on them- wow, it was really neat. After we got back to Patzcuaro we went over to Richard and Brenda’s for tacos and tostadas and to discuss the rest of the week. Tomorrow, Sean, the Vice-president (??) of Heartland Alliance is coming for a site visit- so this week will be very exciting but also hectic.
I have posted lots of (mostly rainy) pictures- so check them out if you are curious where the places I visited looked like.
On Saturday, we had a meeting with nurses from Morelia in the morning which went really well. About 10 nurses came from Morelia and they gave really good feedback about our projects and they are interested in partnering with Brenda’s nurse-midwife training project which is really neat. They invited Brenda to come speak at big important meeting at the University in October which is pretty exciting.
After the meeting we headed to the docks and took a fairy to the island of Janitzio. (It’s the big rounded one you see in all of my pictures). The ride takes about half and hour and you get to see fishermen (Who are planted there for the tourists- haha I’m serious). Janitzio is a really big tourist attraction for people from D.F and within Mexico, so there are lots and lots of street vendors and stores selling the exact same souvenirs. We braved the tacky junk and rainstorm and climbed to the top. At the top, there is a giant statue of famous figure Don Jose Maria Morelos – think statue of liberty, only a little smaller. You can pay a few pesos to climb to the top inside of the statue. It is pretty neat and there are murals depicting his life inside the statue. Due to “fear issues” I only made it about half way up, but it was still kind of neat. After our hike to the top we decided to go off the beaten path on the way down (there is a main street that all the tourist use to go up to the top of the island). This was really neat. Janitzio is considered a Purepecha/Tarascan community so it was interesting to see many women in their traditional dresses speaking Purepecha. We found lots of neat views of the houses and a neat old cemetery (Sorry, there are lots of pictures of random buildings). We took a “convi” ( little bus) back to town and spent the rest of the evening watching Frida.
Today was another great adventure. We started off our day with a guided tour of Patzcuaro by Miguel Angel, a friend of Richard and Brenda and Mexican anthropologist. This was really neat and he pointed out lots of interesting architectural details around town that we probably wouldn’t have noticed. Like the crazy bathtub in the old convent or the fact that they used the Purepecha ruins to construct parts of the street after the Spanish came (there are lots of sunny pictures of Patzcuaro). After our tour we ate comida and hoped on another convi to Ihuartzio(30 minutes away). A little bit outside the town they have a really nicely preserved set of Yacatas (Purepecha pyramids). It was really neat because we were just walking on the road for a really long time, there weren’t really any houses or buildings in site except for the these cool (chido) stone walls, and then out the mist we see these really cool pyramids. It was so beautiful. It was a little rainy, we were the ONLY people there, there were lush mountains in the background, and the pyramids had a cool green moss growing on them- wow, it was really neat. After we got back to Patzcuaro we went over to Richard and Brenda’s for tacos and tostadas and to discuss the rest of the week. Tomorrow, Sean, the Vice-president (??) of Heartland Alliance is coming for a site visit- so this week will be very exciting but also hectic.
I have posted lots of (mostly rainy) pictures- so check them out if you are curious where the places I visited looked like.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Viernes
Today was pretty relaxed. On our way to Spanish class we were greeted by caballos(horses) grazing on the grass in a nearby park. They didn't seem too excited by us, so we took a few a pictures and trekked on. After Spanish class we walked to Richard and Brenda's house for our staff meeting. We had a two hour meeting where all the staff reported about what there were doing this week and we presented our projects(in Spanish- be impressed). Next week we are going to some of the villages by bus with the outreach workers to start collecting surveys (en espanol! que interesante, no?). On Tuesday I will be going with Veronica, who actually lives down the street from us and on Wednesday I will be going with someone else, but I am not sure who yet.
After our meeting we had comida (which means food, but also means the big meal of the day) downtown near la plaza chica and discussed our projects a little further. Hopefully my survey will be done and translated by next Friday, so that I can start collecting data the following week. On the way back to the car we got helado (ice cream). Patzcuaro is known in Mexico for their helado. It was pretty tasty, I got pistachio (of course) and some nut flavor. The most popular flavor is called "Pasta" and tastes kind of like sweet cream. After comida, the afternoon rains started coming in so we headed back to work on our projects. There is an organ festival tonight at the main basilica, perhaps we will go. Next Monday, we are going to discuss the paper I wrote for my Issues in Women's Health class about Cesarean Sections in Mexico! I am really excited that Richard liked it so much and thinks it is valuable for the entire staff to read.
For those of you who were concerned(Mom and Dad): my shoes are fixed. Veronica mi viscina (neighbor) took them to cobbler (or someone) who added leather to the parts where Doula chewed - they work great, I am wearing them now.
After our meeting we had comida (which means food, but also means the big meal of the day) downtown near la plaza chica and discussed our projects a little further. Hopefully my survey will be done and translated by next Friday, so that I can start collecting data the following week. On the way back to the car we got helado (ice cream). Patzcuaro is known in Mexico for their helado. It was pretty tasty, I got pistachio (of course) and some nut flavor. The most popular flavor is called "Pasta" and tastes kind of like sweet cream. After comida, the afternoon rains started coming in so we headed back to work on our projects. There is an organ festival tonight at the main basilica, perhaps we will go. Next Monday, we are going to discuss the paper I wrote for my Issues in Women's Health class about Cesarean Sections in Mexico! I am really excited that Richard liked it so much and thinks it is valuable for the entire staff to read.
For those of you who were concerned(Mom and Dad): my shoes are fixed. Veronica mi viscina (neighbor) took them to cobbler (or someone) who added leather to the parts where Doula chewed - they work great, I am wearing them now.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Cooking attempts and first clinic visit
Today my roommates and I attempted “traditional” Mexican cooking- attempted perhaps being the key word in that sentence. We bought chicken from the market, which as we quickly learned was not really like the chicken you buy at the grocery store. It still had lots of "things" attached like bones, fat, tendons, and all that other stuff that we don’t think about when you buy a pre-cut chicken breast. After Katrina butchered the chicken we mixed it with hot peppers, green peppers, onion, and cilantro to make a fajita-like concoction to have with our fresh tortillas. We stopped by a “tortillaria” this afternoon and bought a kilo (That is like a 3 inch stack for those of you not accustomed to buying tortillas per kilo) for 80 cents. There were pretty tasty. Our attempt at cooking beans was.. um.. interesting. After they were pretty soft we decided to mash them… maybe in an attempt to make them at least look like refried beans, but apparently you have to add lard to them to actually make them taste good- which was probably where we went wrong. But overall our first attempt at making something that might resemble Mexican food was not a complete disaster. Success!
The rest of my day was pretty exciting as well. After Spanish class, we stopped for a torta de jamon (Ham sandwich) which was delicious by the way, on our way to clinic. It came with avocado, tomato, onion, and hot peppers on it- much more exciting than my usual sub-way veggie patty. After our quick lunch, we got to shadow Brenda at the women’s health clinic where she works. The clinic it self is about 15 by car from Patzcuaro, but women come from very far away for appointments because the care is such high quality and the price includes medication which many of the free public clinics run out of. It was very interesting meeting the women who come to the clinic and hearing the horror stories of poor health care practitioners. The clinic itself is very basic with about 3 exam rooms, a lab, and a few offices but compared to the care and quality that these women receive at other clinics it is worth the visit. Three of the women I met today were Purepecha and live on the island of Janitzio in lake Patzcuaro. The must come by boat to the main land and then by taxi to get to the clinic. But for many women it is worth it. Most people in the rural villages around the lake don’t have health insurance and can’t pay for private care (although even if they could many private doctors are corrupt and prescribe procedures that are not needed just to make money), so they try to go to the public clinics but these are staffed by doctors who just graduated medical school and have to spend a year “giving back” which means that they are very inexperienced and often are not in the office plus these clinics rarely have medicine. So the medical care system for a poor woman in Patzcuaro lake basin basically sucks. We were talking to an older woman who used to go to a doctor notorious for over prescribing. She told us that she had a hysterectomy and to pay for it out of pocket so she couldn’t buy food for her family for four months! When we asked her why she had a hysterectomy she said that the doctor told her that when she gave birth the midwife stuck her hand in her uterus, so now it needed to be removed. This is blatantly a lie and gross violation of the doctor’s power. The sad part is we have been told that stories like this are not uncommon. It is absolutely ludicrous! Many of the these women are living in complete poverty and then whatever money they do have is being taken away by the medical system- it is so crazy! Ok, sorry for the rant.
In other news, we also watched the movie “Water” tonight using the projector that take into communities to give health care lectures. It was almost like we were actually in a movie theater except that giant bugs don't normally get attracted to the light! “Water” was really good- I cried a little. It is in Hindi with English subtitles, definitely worth seeing if you get a chance.
The rest of my day was pretty exciting as well. After Spanish class, we stopped for a torta de jamon (Ham sandwich) which was delicious by the way, on our way to clinic. It came with avocado, tomato, onion, and hot peppers on it- much more exciting than my usual sub-way veggie patty. After our quick lunch, we got to shadow Brenda at the women’s health clinic where she works. The clinic it self is about 15 by car from Patzcuaro, but women come from very far away for appointments because the care is such high quality and the price includes medication which many of the free public clinics run out of. It was very interesting meeting the women who come to the clinic and hearing the horror stories of poor health care practitioners. The clinic itself is very basic with about 3 exam rooms, a lab, and a few offices but compared to the care and quality that these women receive at other clinics it is worth the visit. Three of the women I met today were Purepecha and live on the island of Janitzio in lake Patzcuaro. The must come by boat to the main land and then by taxi to get to the clinic. But for many women it is worth it. Most people in the rural villages around the lake don’t have health insurance and can’t pay for private care (although even if they could many private doctors are corrupt and prescribe procedures that are not needed just to make money), so they try to go to the public clinics but these are staffed by doctors who just graduated medical school and have to spend a year “giving back” which means that they are very inexperienced and often are not in the office plus these clinics rarely have medicine. So the medical care system for a poor woman in Patzcuaro lake basin basically sucks. We were talking to an older woman who used to go to a doctor notorious for over prescribing. She told us that she had a hysterectomy and to pay for it out of pocket so she couldn’t buy food for her family for four months! When we asked her why she had a hysterectomy she said that the doctor told her that when she gave birth the midwife stuck her hand in her uterus, so now it needed to be removed. This is blatantly a lie and gross violation of the doctor’s power. The sad part is we have been told that stories like this are not uncommon. It is absolutely ludicrous! Many of the these women are living in complete poverty and then whatever money they do have is being taken away by the medical system- it is so crazy! Ok, sorry for the rant.
In other news, we also watched the movie “Water” tonight using the projector that take into communities to give health care lectures. It was almost like we were actually in a movie theater except that giant bugs don't normally get attracted to the light! “Water” was really good- I cried a little. It is in Hindi with English subtitles, definitely worth seeing if you get a chance.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ascending the summit....
It didn’t rain today! It was an absolutely beautiful day here in Mexico. The sun was shining- it was great! The only bad thing was my shotty internet (la red) connection tonight, but I guess I will manage. Since it was so beautiful I decided to take lots of pictures of Patzcuaro in the sunshine, so you should check them out on my flickr site (See link to the right).
This morning we went to Spanish class, met a cute perro, and played Spanish language bingo. In the afternoon we met with Richard and had an intense meeting about what exactly our projects and responsibilities are going to be for the summer. I am going to be designing and implementing a survey to gain a better understanding of the quality and availability of the health care resources in la cuenca (the mountain basin surrounding lake patzcuaro). I will be surveying the health care centers in about 22 mestizo and Purepecha communities to gain a better understanding of who is covered by which clinics and what the training of the staff is in those clinics as well as the quality of those clinics. I’m pumped. Although, I hope my Spanish will be good enough to actually conduct the surveys I design (If not, a staff member can help me and then I can analyze the data).
Around 7 we decided we wanted to climb to the top of the mountain we live on. Oh man, what an idea! It was beautiful, but lots of sweat, blood, and tears contributed to getting us to the top. Ok, perhaps I am over exaggerating but there definitely was lots of sweat and gasping. Uphill hiking is hard, but uphill hiking when there is little oxygen in the air that your body is not used to is even harder. It was amazing though, twice we were passed by some super athletic locals who could climb quite easily- I still don’t know how they didn’t die running up the mountain.
After our epic summit scaling, we decided to cook dinner! It wasn’t very exciting just veggies, pasta, and avocado salsa, but after our intense outdoor workout anything would have tasted great. After dinner we sorted beans! This was a pretty cool part of my day. I had no idea how beans were cooked. For those of you out there who know nothing about beans like me I will update you. First you have to sort them to check for rocks (?) and strange looking ones (This was a fun part- I had NO idea beans had such a visual variety, so amazing). Then you have to soak them overnight so that they can absorb H20. Then you have to let them simmer for FOUR hours! Woah, I don’t think I have EVER spent four hours preparing any sort of meal or food derivative. Tomorrow will surely be an adventure en los frijoles. There is a tortillaria down the street, so we are going to make rice and beans with fresh tortillas, peppers, and cilantro. Yummy. I will let you know how it goes.
This morning we went to Spanish class, met a cute perro, and played Spanish language bingo. In the afternoon we met with Richard and had an intense meeting about what exactly our projects and responsibilities are going to be for the summer. I am going to be designing and implementing a survey to gain a better understanding of the quality and availability of the health care resources in la cuenca (the mountain basin surrounding lake patzcuaro). I will be surveying the health care centers in about 22 mestizo and Purepecha communities to gain a better understanding of who is covered by which clinics and what the training of the staff is in those clinics as well as the quality of those clinics. I’m pumped. Although, I hope my Spanish will be good enough to actually conduct the surveys I design (If not, a staff member can help me and then I can analyze the data).
Around 7 we decided we wanted to climb to the top of the mountain we live on. Oh man, what an idea! It was beautiful, but lots of sweat, blood, and tears contributed to getting us to the top. Ok, perhaps I am over exaggerating but there definitely was lots of sweat and gasping. Uphill hiking is hard, but uphill hiking when there is little oxygen in the air that your body is not used to is even harder. It was amazing though, twice we were passed by some super athletic locals who could climb quite easily- I still don’t know how they didn’t die running up the mountain.
After our epic summit scaling, we decided to cook dinner! It wasn’t very exciting just veggies, pasta, and avocado salsa, but after our intense outdoor workout anything would have tasted great. After dinner we sorted beans! This was a pretty cool part of my day. I had no idea how beans were cooked. For those of you out there who know nothing about beans like me I will update you. First you have to sort them to check for rocks (?) and strange looking ones (This was a fun part- I had NO idea beans had such a visual variety, so amazing). Then you have to soak them overnight so that they can absorb H20. Then you have to let them simmer for FOUR hours! Woah, I don’t think I have EVER spent four hours preparing any sort of meal or food derivative. Tomorrow will surely be an adventure en los frijoles. There is a tortillaria down the street, so we are going to make rice and beans with fresh tortillas, peppers, and cilantro. Yummy. I will let you know how it goes.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
El opuesto de comodo es divorcio
Another day in rainy Patzcuaro... After gulping down a pineapple breakfast bar and making the dangerous trek down our mountain I started my Spanish classes. My teacher, Edna, is very nice and helpful. We got a good laugh today when I we were practicing opposites. I confused to be married (casado) with to be comfortable (comodo) and so I said that the opposite of comfortable was divorced. Which perhaps is sometimes true (?) Since Richard was in Morelia to renew his visa this morning, we got a chance to explore the city a little more. We kind of wandered and took pictures of interesting old buildings we saw until we ran into the main basilica. We went inside and "semi-crashed" a mass taking place- opps! The church is decorated so beautifully! The church is definitely the most expensive and well kept building in the city. We then ate lunch at a nearby cafe. The food was good, but the bathroom was quite interesting since there wasn't any toilet paper and the water from the faucet was collected in a bucket under the sink. My first experience in roughing it in Mexico.
After lunch we went to the supermarcado and the outdoor market to stock up on food and practice our food vocabulary. It seemed like everything they sold in the supermarket was so tiny. For example, instead of selling a box of pasta they sell little prepackaged bags that serve two. In the open air market we were able to get some great deals on vegetables. We bought zucchini (Calabeza), Tomatos (jitomates), onion (Cebolla), garlic (ajo) for 10 pesos (about 80 cents)- the woman even threw in some cilantro as a gift for us!
After our shopping spree and exploring we climbed "Mount Estribo" (ok, so perhaps this isn't the official name of the mountain where we live, but desperate times call for desperate measures). It was intense- there was sweating- be impressed we made it alive. We then met with Richard for about 4 hours to discuss our projects and give us background information about their projects and the surrounding communities. We hadn't finished talking when Richard was called back to the house, so we finished the afternoon practicing our Spanish on our back porch and eating re-heated Veggie spaghetti a la Brenda with Gluten and soy (strange, but delicious).
After dinner we planned our future adventures. This weekend we hope to take a guided tour of Patzcuaro, visit the Juanitzio (the big island on the lake) and possibly hike up our lovely volcano we live on. We also want to visit another volcano in Michoacan that errupted in the 1943 and swallowed a city, as well as visit Morelia, Guadalajara, and the beach! There is so much to do this summer I will keep you all posted.
Send some of your warm midwest weather here! It was only a high of 61 today!
Buenos Noches!
After lunch we went to the supermarcado and the outdoor market to stock up on food and practice our food vocabulary. It seemed like everything they sold in the supermarket was so tiny. For example, instead of selling a box of pasta they sell little prepackaged bags that serve two. In the open air market we were able to get some great deals on vegetables. We bought zucchini (Calabeza), Tomatos (jitomates), onion (Cebolla), garlic (ajo) for 10 pesos (about 80 cents)- the woman even threw in some cilantro as a gift for us!
After our shopping spree and exploring we climbed "Mount Estribo" (ok, so perhaps this isn't the official name of the mountain where we live, but desperate times call for desperate measures). It was intense- there was sweating- be impressed we made it alive. We then met with Richard for about 4 hours to discuss our projects and give us background information about their projects and the surrounding communities. We hadn't finished talking when Richard was called back to the house, so we finished the afternoon practicing our Spanish on our back porch and eating re-heated Veggie spaghetti a la Brenda with Gluten and soy (strange, but delicious).
After dinner we planned our future adventures. This weekend we hope to take a guided tour of Patzcuaro, visit the Juanitzio (the big island on the lake) and possibly hike up our lovely volcano we live on. We also want to visit another volcano in Michoacan that errupted in the 1943 and swallowed a city, as well as visit Morelia, Guadalajara, and the beach! There is so much to do this summer I will keep you all posted.
Send some of your warm midwest weather here! It was only a high of 61 today!
Buenos Noches!
Monday, June 22, 2009
My new house
I moved into the house I am going to be staying in for the summer. It is on a "famous" street called Estribo. It is literally the last house on top of this extinct volcano! I still haven't had to walk up the steep street to the house, but even walking down is an adventure because of the uneven cobble streets. I have my own private bedroom, bathroom, and PORCH! It is really lovely. Since this region is known for it's handicrafts everything in the house is hand made- from the tile in the bathroom to the doors and window panes.
My roommates and fellow interns Joanne and Katrina came yesterday night. They are both medical students at Northwestern entering their second year. They are very friendly and I really looking forward to spending the summer living and exploring Mexico with them. Joanne studied abroad in D.F. (Mexico City) and so she knows a lot about Mexican culture and customs.
I have been getting annoying headaches in the afternoons the past few days. I have been drinking plenty of water (So I don't think it is the altitude) instead I blame caffeine withdrawal. I am trying to cut my diet coke addiction because "Coca-cola Lite" is too sweet- but if these headaches keep up I may fail :(
So, today Richard, Joanne, Katrina and I went to breakfast downtown. I ordered Chilaquiles (Sp?) which is a traditional Mexican breakfast of "soggy" tortilla chips with sauce, cheese, and chicken. It is a lot better than it sounds! We ate outside at restaurant on the main plaza. Richard warned us that this spot was a big gringo hangout and sure enough we got to meet two gringo couples from the states. Apparently there are around 50 ex pats who live in Patzcuaro. Most of them are retired and very friendly. Although surprisingly the couple we met this morning didn't actually speak Spanish and wasn't making any effort to try. But I guess when you are a rich old American you don't really care who you offend.
After breakfast we walked to Plaza Chica (the smaller main plaza in town) and through the open air market. It was so big and beautiful! Row after row of fresh fruits and vegetables- they all smelled so good! Joanne, Katrina, and I are very excited about cooking, although none of us really know how. We will definitely have to learn because there are so many good delicious veggies and fruits-even if we don't know what most of them are used for!
After our tour, we went to the language school to sign up for Spanish classes. We are all going to take Spanish classes for two hours a day for the next two weeks to really jump start our Spanish skills.
This afternoon we took a break for a siesta and to allow the rains (they come through every afternoon it seems like during the rainy season) to pass. Also to eat fresh Mango- yum!
We then went to our first Staff meeting and Consejo this afternoon. A consejo is meeting in which important board members and community members come and discuss the progress with the organization. There are 4 other staff members that work for Mujeres Enlazadas besides Richard and Brenda- so it was nice to meet them. The meeting was conducted entirely in Spanish which was sometimes easy and sometimes very challenging to understand. It only became completely overwhelming when multiple people were talking in Spanish at the same time. When that happened it was too hard to concentrate and I often gave up following the conversation.
After our meeting we went out for Tacos at great little taco stand on Estribo. While we were there a really cute little boy came and talked to us to practice his English. He told us all about Texas and his "Mario Bros." It was adorable. The tacos in Mexico are very tiny - about 4 inches in diameter but delicious! I ordered my with Bistec and added lime, and avocado salsa- so good and only about 30 cents a piece!
Our power is out on the main level of our house and the internet service is spotty but all in all life here is good. I am excited to begin my research and improve my Spanish.
I promise pictures soon! :)
My roommates and fellow interns Joanne and Katrina came yesterday night. They are both medical students at Northwestern entering their second year. They are very friendly and I really looking forward to spending the summer living and exploring Mexico with them. Joanne studied abroad in D.F. (Mexico City) and so she knows a lot about Mexican culture and customs.
I have been getting annoying headaches in the afternoons the past few days. I have been drinking plenty of water (So I don't think it is the altitude) instead I blame caffeine withdrawal. I am trying to cut my diet coke addiction because "Coca-cola Lite" is too sweet- but if these headaches keep up I may fail :(
So, today Richard, Joanne, Katrina and I went to breakfast downtown. I ordered Chilaquiles (Sp?) which is a traditional Mexican breakfast of "soggy" tortilla chips with sauce, cheese, and chicken. It is a lot better than it sounds! We ate outside at restaurant on the main plaza. Richard warned us that this spot was a big gringo hangout and sure enough we got to meet two gringo couples from the states. Apparently there are around 50 ex pats who live in Patzcuaro. Most of them are retired and very friendly. Although surprisingly the couple we met this morning didn't actually speak Spanish and wasn't making any effort to try. But I guess when you are a rich old American you don't really care who you offend.
After breakfast we walked to Plaza Chica (the smaller main plaza in town) and through the open air market. It was so big and beautiful! Row after row of fresh fruits and vegetables- they all smelled so good! Joanne, Katrina, and I are very excited about cooking, although none of us really know how. We will definitely have to learn because there are so many good delicious veggies and fruits-even if we don't know what most of them are used for!
After our tour, we went to the language school to sign up for Spanish classes. We are all going to take Spanish classes for two hours a day for the next two weeks to really jump start our Spanish skills.
This afternoon we took a break for a siesta and to allow the rains (they come through every afternoon it seems like during the rainy season) to pass. Also to eat fresh Mango- yum!
We then went to our first Staff meeting and Consejo this afternoon. A consejo is meeting in which important board members and community members come and discuss the progress with the organization. There are 4 other staff members that work for Mujeres Enlazadas besides Richard and Brenda- so it was nice to meet them. The meeting was conducted entirely in Spanish which was sometimes easy and sometimes very challenging to understand. It only became completely overwhelming when multiple people were talking in Spanish at the same time. When that happened it was too hard to concentrate and I often gave up following the conversation.
After our meeting we went out for Tacos at great little taco stand on Estribo. While we were there a really cute little boy came and talked to us to practice his English. He told us all about Texas and his "Mario Bros." It was adorable. The tacos in Mexico are very tiny - about 4 inches in diameter but delicious! I ordered my with Bistec and added lime, and avocado salsa- so good and only about 30 cents a piece!
Our power is out on the main level of our house and the internet service is spotty but all in all life here is good. I am excited to begin my research and improve my Spanish.
I promise pictures soon! :)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I've arrived!
Well, I made it! After a slight delay in Houston, I arrived in Morelia (1.5 hr drive from Patzcuaro). When we arrived, our plane taxied not to a terminal, but to a staircase (Think Casa blanca, but more rainy and less romantic). We descended the stairs in the rain and made our way through customs. I was greeted by Brenda and Richard's driver Nacho. He had never met me before, but found me immediately seeing as that I was the only confused looking gringa in the airport. Nacho drove me to Brenda and Richards house in Patzcuaro. I learned that in Mexico they call speed bumps "topes" and in Nacho's words "Mexico es el paise de topes" which I learned to be very true. I was amazed at how quickly we went from 60mph to near stand still because of the speed bumps. Richard later explained that they use the speed bumps as way to slow traffic instead of stop lights or stop signs. But I did see some Cow crossing signs.
Richard and Brenda's house is gorgeous.I will add pictures soon. The live on a hill on the outskirts of the city and have lovely views of downtown Patzcuaro as well as lake Patzcuaro. They probably have one of the nicest views in the city. Their land is pretty amazing too. They own about 4 acres of space that surrounds their house that was once an orchard. They grow three kinds of avocados, peaches, figs, lemons, limes, pears, oranges, apricots, and some other fruits that we don't get in the United States (So of course I forgot their name).
Richard gave me a tour this morning and we found lots of pottery and stones that our hundreds of years old. Many archeologists believe that their house was built on top an important Purepecha structure (given it's high location and the way that the land is built up around it). So it is easy to walk around and uncover ancient pottery and tile work. Today while we were walking we found a pipe (Which apparently is pretty rare).
After a lovely breakfast of juevos ranchearos and potatoes Richard and Brenda moved me up to their other house. This house is even higher on the mountain. It is the last house on a famous street in Patzcuaro called El Estribo. The road literally goes up the side of the old volcano that created lake Patzcuaro. The house is lovely and the view is to die for! I can see everything- it is amazing. While walking the 15 minutes into town downhill in the morning will be fine I am little worried about the uphill hike home every night. I hear taxis are cheap, (about $2) so I may have to become friendly with the drivers over the course of the summer. I am going to be staying in this house with two second year medical students from Northwestern (Who fly in tonight).
After I settled in a little, Richard, Brenda, and their REALLY CUTE dog, Doula(how appropriate!) took a hike around the mountain. We didn't go too far because I was still getting used to the altitude and the rainy season brings afternoon showers everyday, but I will definitely explore it more in the future.
We are back at the main house now resting before we go downtown for our main meal and exploring. Overall, it is absolutely beautiful and I am really looking forward to getting to know the town more.
Everyone has been very friendly and I have gotten a chance to practice my Spanish. On my flight last night I talked for a while to a really nice gentleman who was visiting his family in Michoacan (the state that I am in now), but who works as a roofer in Chicago. I also talked a gentleman in the Houston airport who noticed my Mexico book and talked to me about my trip.
Richard and Brenda's house is gorgeous.I will add pictures soon. The live on a hill on the outskirts of the city and have lovely views of downtown Patzcuaro as well as lake Patzcuaro. They probably have one of the nicest views in the city. Their land is pretty amazing too. They own about 4 acres of space that surrounds their house that was once an orchard. They grow three kinds of avocados, peaches, figs, lemons, limes, pears, oranges, apricots, and some other fruits that we don't get in the United States (So of course I forgot their name).
Richard gave me a tour this morning and we found lots of pottery and stones that our hundreds of years old. Many archeologists believe that their house was built on top an important Purepecha structure (given it's high location and the way that the land is built up around it). So it is easy to walk around and uncover ancient pottery and tile work. Today while we were walking we found a pipe (Which apparently is pretty rare).
After a lovely breakfast of juevos ranchearos and potatoes Richard and Brenda moved me up to their other house. This house is even higher on the mountain. It is the last house on a famous street in Patzcuaro called El Estribo. The road literally goes up the side of the old volcano that created lake Patzcuaro. The house is lovely and the view is to die for! I can see everything- it is amazing. While walking the 15 minutes into town downhill in the morning will be fine I am little worried about the uphill hike home every night. I hear taxis are cheap, (about $2) so I may have to become friendly with the drivers over the course of the summer. I am going to be staying in this house with two second year medical students from Northwestern (Who fly in tonight).
After I settled in a little, Richard, Brenda, and their REALLY CUTE dog, Doula(how appropriate!) took a hike around the mountain. We didn't go too far because I was still getting used to the altitude and the rainy season brings afternoon showers everyday, but I will definitely explore it more in the future.
We are back at the main house now resting before we go downtown for our main meal and exploring. Overall, it is absolutely beautiful and I am really looking forward to getting to know the town more.
Everyone has been very friendly and I have gotten a chance to practice my Spanish. On my flight last night I talked for a while to a really nice gentleman who was visiting his family in Michoacan (the state that I am in now), but who works as a roofer in Chicago. I also talked a gentleman in the Houston airport who noticed my Mexico book and talked to me about my trip.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Don't mess with Texas!
Well, I am almost to Mexico! After surviving the crazy midwest weather yesterday, I have a four hour layover in Houston, so I decided to check my email and update everyone. I am currently at the lovely George Bush International Airport. There is a fantastic statue of our good friend George in my terminal- he looks a little windblown but classy. There are also lots of people in cowboy boots and hats (even with shorts- que estrano). I am tempted to buy a "Don't Mess with Texas" T-shirt because they are being sold at every quiosk and this is probably the closest to Texas I am ever going to be(if I can help it) but I can't bring myself to buy one because honestly, where would I wear it? To sosc class? The Texas club meetings?
The airport itself is pretty large and I had to take a train in the 93 degree texas heat to switch terminals, but there are lots of duty free, swatch stores, and starbucks to explore. Hasta luego.
The airport itself is pretty large and I had to take a train in the 93 degree texas heat to switch terminals, but there are lots of duty free, swatch stores, and starbucks to explore. Hasta luego.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Pre-travel jitters
I leave for Patzcuaro on Saturday!
I have a new camera, lots of sunscreen, and two stuffed suitcases.
This is going to be quite a summer- stay tuned for more updates!
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