Let's see. Today I went to the town of Tingambato which is about a 45 minute bus ride from Patzcuaro, on the free road to Uruapan. It was a lovely, but nauseating drive through mountains and Avocado fields. I was officially in "green gold" aka Avocado country. A quick rant about avocados- Did you know that most of the Avocados we eat in the US are Hass Avocados. And 90% of the Avocados imported from Mexico come from Michoacan! Que Chido! While Hass is a large popular fruit, it actually less flavorful than the smaller species of avocado. Also, our word Avocado comes from the Spanish word Aguacate which comes from the Nahuatl word for um.. well.. you can look it up. Also it is good to know that avocados have 60% more potassium than Bananas! And they have the highest fiber content of ANY fruit! Ok, I am done ranting.
Ok, back to bussiness. The town of Tingambato is known for the archeological site that dates to between 600- 900 AD. It is a pre-perepecha settlement that resembles Teotihuacan in its layout. It is unique because it has a ball court and step pyramid which are rare in this area. It was pretty cool! It was also kind of funny to travel alone today. I must have had a sign on me that said either "I am lonely, talk to me" or "I am friendly, talk to me" because many times throughout the day people would just come up and talk to me. For example, one 70 year-old woman adopted me on my way there and decided that I needed to sit next to her while we waited for the bus and also on the bus ride. It was unexpected, but very nice.
An update from the rest of the week: Yesterday I went shopping (get excited!), hiking, and shelled fresh walnuts. Walnuts are crazy! If you don't know how they grow you should look it up- there are so many layers of protection!
Most of the week I have been busy with meetings, presentations, literature reviewing, and shadowing. On Thursday, I was lucky enough to shadow Brenda at the Clinic. I was a very very interesting experience. I got to see lots of vaginal infections and pregnancies. Did you know that your stomach (when pregnant) grows one centimeter for every week of pregnancy! Also, I got to hold a one month old baby girl! I don't think I have ever held a baby that young before, the whole time I was worried I would drop her or not support her head enough- it was stressful. (See picture above of Brenda with the parents). On Friday, we were supposed to have a presentation on "Woman know and respect your body" in Arocutin (See picture above), but the person in charge of the mayor's office forgot to unlock the room for the presentation. So, we waited for a while outside the office and then we were forced to reschedule.
Overall, life here without the other interns isn't so bad. I have been studying lots and watching lots of Arrested Development. My mom comes in less than a week! Hooray!
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