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.