the end of my journey...

so guess what...i'm HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

will finish post tmrw!

all i can say is...it's weird to be back, and it's cold :(

Thanksgiving and other shenanigans

Hola to whoever still reads this thing ... =) Lately, I've really been slacking with updating this thing...partially because I have like 3 essays to write before Friday...and partially due to pure laziness... lol.

It's so crazy how this weekend is my LAST weekend here in Oahaca (my key is broken..so the h will have to do since it's how you would phonetically pronounce it anyways..)!!!! O__O This following week is week 11...my LAST week here!!! By this time the following week, I would be home...perhaps hanging out with my best friend...or perhaps still sleeping in my bed :) I'm really really happy to go home!! Especially after reading all the facebook statuses about shopping, holiday lights, holiday cookies, etc etc. Don't get me wrong though, I'm definitely sad that I'm leaving this wonderful place that has taken me in for 2 and a half months, but, listening to holiday songs, and just the fact that Christmas is almost here makes it a bit less sad for me. I'm going to miss all the friends I've made here, but I know we will keep in touch...I hope.

This program was great. I've learned so much and have grown so much. I've learned more about medicine and have made sure that this is definitely what I want to do. Despite the amount of readings and essays, the essays were interesting in that it has opened my eyes to what public health is. Also, I've learned so much about the Hispanic culture that surely, when I go back to LA, I won't look at them the same way. I'm glad I was able to because one of the reasons for me coming on this trip was to be able to learn more Spanish as well as other things so that I could help the Latino population in the states.

Personally, I've grown a lot. This program was challenging for me in that I was thrown into a group of so many people with so many different personalities and backgrounds. In a way, I had to find myself among these people. Also, the fact that I was in a country with a whole different culture and lifestyle made it hard in the beginning to get used to. BUT, I feel like at the end of it all, I've grown a lot. It was a good self-identity kinda thing...I'm more confident and assertive. :)

HOKAY. This was not the post to analyze this trip...we'll save more for later.

Let me just start off with Thanksgiving!!! It was definitely a memorable day. I was planning on going to the Thanksgiving banquet thing with everyone else, but, I didn't really feel like going. So after studying at Cuiles, due to lack of sleep, I had a huge headache and couldn't study anymore. I decided to go and shop at Fashion District for scarves and then spent almost $50usd on 5 scarves...but, they were nice scarves!! WAY better than the cheap scarvesz from Forever 21 that I bought before! There, I saw Judy and John! Then, we met up with Trieu and Andy and decided to eat sushi. I felt like getting ramen...but was thoroughly disappointed at how small and disgusting the ramen was. It was literally, a handful of noodles smaller than my palm (my handsz are tiny too), with half an egg and 2 shrimps. UGH. I was so sad watching my friends eat their delicious sushi :( BUT, despite the nasty food, I had a great time. Then, afterwards, we went to the famous Dona Domi's for torta. It was my FIRST time eating at this place! 2 of our other friends met up with us and we went. Dona Domi's only opens at 10pm ...so we went to eat AFTER dinner. Such fatties we are.

Dona Domi's tortas are delicious! The bread is toasted perfectly and the meat is pretty tender. It's incredible how a small, little old lady cooks and does everything herself. We had such a good time chatting and everyone talked about their drunkest moments...although, I really didn't have any ;P.

Overall, it was a memorable Thanksgiving....the rest of the time afterward has just been full of essay writing. I plan to finish latest Tuesday so I can shop and play Wednesday-Friday :)

Can't believe it's all ending so fast! :( BUT IM GOING HOME SOON so YAY!

mezcal everwhere here! "arriba, abajo, en centro, en dentro!" :) this mezcal was strong enough to kill flies apparently. ew.

dona domi!! making tortas

our first time eating at dona domi's

la torta muy rica

en dentro de la torta...es de torta de cecina

john getting harrassed ... pretty much sums up his life everyday here. hahahaha. i love this picture!

okay. essay time!!

SO MUCH SO MUCH TO UPDATE!!!

WAHH!!! I haven't updated since...the first week of Puerto!!! AND believe it or not, I'm actually already back in Oaxaca city!!!!! However, I am actually super happy to be back in Oaxaca. It feels like "home" haha. Also, I love the cooler/dryer weather. Puerto was nice and all, but the weather was horrible in my opinion. I hate HATE hate humid weather!!! THOUGH, humidity DOES have its benefits as it did help clear my skin up a bit. :)

Anyhow, I have a LOT to update about! Mm..let's see. Last week, we learned about reproductive health. On Monday,Tuesday, and Wednesday, we had lectures by Dra Adela and Dra Isabel about women's health (ie. family planning, birth, parteras). Then, on Thursday, we went to visit parteras in this small pueblo named Rio Grande Tuxtepec or something like it...haha.

The parteras visit was okay. It wasn't as exciting as I had thought it would be...I thought we were going to be seeing live births partera style, but NOPE. It was just interviewing the midwives. So basically what a partera is is a traditional midwife. They are different in that they use herbal remedies to treat birth. Parteras are a type of curandera. A curandera is a traditional healer. When a woman has stomach pains, the partera would use herbal teas to heal them. Also, a partera is not at all intrusive as Western medicine is with the birthing process. In Mexico, during labor, NONE of the mother's family/friends can be in the room with her. However, the partera usually allows many people inside with the woman if she wants. The woman can also choose WHERE and in what POSITION she wants to have the baby in. So, you see that the woman is the boss when she is with a partera. Also, they are more culturally sensitive.

Anyhow, it was HOT HOT HOT (as it always is on our brigades), and we needed to walk ALOT. I couldn't help but think to myself how spoiled we are in the states with our nicely paved roads, our AC buildings, our fast internet, etc etc. Here I was, complaining about the heat when people live their lives there everyday. It really made me feel awful. Haha. I guess you really need to count your blessings. I mean, this whole trip itself with all the excursions and trips to pueblos has really opened up my eyes. Okay, I got sidetracked AGAIN. We went to visit 3 parteras. The first one lived in this little wooden shack with chickens walking around during our interview. The second partera, Dona Josefina, lived in a better place. She was really interesting to talk to and listen to because she was very energetic. The last one, Dona Lucia, was also very interesting. We were able to see the rooms where the women gave birth in for the last two parteras. Dona Lucia had some medical equipment which apparently the government provides her with. She also has a certificate for being a certified partera, which is interesting to see. None of the parteras charge much since the people who live there are poor. It is interesting to note that with Seguro Popular, the women can get all their pre-natal care as well as labor/delivery in a hospital free. However, many women still choose parteras though there may be a cost because they have confianza (trust) with the parteras. Trust is a VERY important value in the Mexican culture. There are some parteras though, such as Dona Lucia, who doesn't charge anything. She just takes whatever the people bring her...such as small items, food, or whatever. They all note that they cannot survive just on being a partera alone; thus, many of them have a side job as well.

On Friday, we went to a school to talk to middle school aged students about family planning, or in other words, sex ed. It was really quite the experience. We prepped to talk about condoms, the pill, IUD, arm implants, etc etc. and even had a banana as a prop. You can imagine what the banana was used for....hahaha!! It was so much fun though because the kids were NOTHING like I imagined. I imagined them to be immature and uninterested, but they were the opposite! They all raised their hands with so much enthusiasm..it was hard to tell who to give the prizes too! We gave out condoms as prizes hahaha. This was a great highlight for this trip. I definitely believe in family planning, especially to kids in Mexico since there is such a HIGH rate of teen pregnancy here!

On Saturday, our last day at Puerto, some of us went to visit Mazanillo and Carizalillo beach in the morning. Carizalillo beach is so beautiful and it reminded me of the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. Some people received Henna tattoos, but I didn't because it wouldn't stay long and I didn't want to spend the money. During the afternoon, we went to Adoquin, which is a street with lots of stores for shopping. Got myself a souvenir pen and some bracelets, and a necklace. At night, we decided to cook ALL the food we had left over including other people's leftover food and we had this GIANT feast with 8 people. It was so much fun! People that wanted to eat would contribute their food they cooked or wanted us to cook, or wait to help with dishes after. We made fried chicken, bell pepper stir fry with bacon, pigs in a blanket (hot dog wrapped in bacon), fried rice, stir fry beef and broccoli, and Dana's delicious pasta. It was SO much food!! We also finished our leftover wine which made me super dizzy. Serene then brought out her Bailey's and I had that with leftover ice cream we had. UGH. By the end of the night, I was SO FULL. The next morning, I was SOOO tired still from the alcohol. Then, I took Dramamine which made me knock out the entire trip...9 or 10 hour trip. I seriously gained weight in Puerto from all the delicious dinners Judy cooked for us, and the lack of walking I did. It's so sad because my pants are now tight again :( Must lose weight in these last two weeks!! Though I'll probably gain it back in a week in the US. Lol.

ne at Carizilillo beach

feating!

Oh I don't know if I mentioned this, but I also went surfing the weekend of our first week in Puerto! It was so scary because the water wasn't that DEEP, but it was still deep enough that I was not able to stick my head out of the water if I stood AND the fact that I don't know how to tread water made it even more scary. I think Jeremy and Roger (surf instructors) thought I was a hassle. I was so afraid that I clung onto to the board for dear life. How could I even stand? And THUS, I didn't. They forced me onto 7 waves but I didn't stand on any of them. I ALMOST did, but then fell off. Haha. I was just SO afraid of going underwater. Anyhow, I just did it so I can have the experience to say I tried surfing. Haha.

Okay. Now FINALLY onto this week. Monday, we had our lecture back in Anturium. Then, went to Cuiles to study in the afternoon, and at night, got to watch Harry Potter with a bunch of people from our trip! IT was SO much fun! We went to a theatre in Plaza del Valle called Cinepolis and bought ticks for the 9:30pm showing. DUDE. I have to admit, walking into the theatre made me miss home so much because it was seriously like a legit movie theatre. It felt like I was back in the states. The movie was great too! Glad I got to experience watching HP in Oaxaca :)

Yesterday, we woke up bright and early to visit curanderas in the Sierras in a small pueblo named Cupalapam. The first thing we did was visit this beautiful Catholic church with things built as long ago as the 18th century. Then, we went to visit the Herbolario which worked together with the Centro de Salud of that area. Basically whatever patients the Centro de Salud couldn't treat, they would send them over to the curanderas next door. The curandera showed us some common herbs she uses and then demonstrated a limpia or a soul cleaning in front of us on Joaquin. First she whips the person with aromatic herbs from head to toe. Then, she uses an egg that MUST be from a ranch and rubs the egg all over the person from head to toe as well. These two acts are supposed to "absorb" all the bad energies that are present in a person. Afterwards, the curandera takes a mouthful of alcohol and spits it on the person's front and back (gross..). Lastly, she take a cup of water and cracks the egg in it and then "reads" the egg. I personally didn't get a limpia because I don't really believe in it. A couple of us didn't so we just roamed around town.

Afterwards, we headed for our hike into the caves. We waited a LONG LONG time before the first group FINALLY came out. I was SO scared because I didn't know what to expect. Since I slip so easily and am afraid of heights, I was terrified waiting outside. But, I decided to go and I was really glad I did. It was such a cool experience!! We got down and dirty in mud and bat poop! We climbed ladders and looked at stalactites and stalagmites, crystals, strange shadows, and stood for a couple minutes in PITCH DARKNESS. It was AWESOME! Never did something like this before! There was only one part where I was super scared. There was a ladder that was like super perpendicular to the ground, and it was kind of high. When I was about to go down, I was so terrified of slipping and the height and all, I just kind of froze. I felt myself kind of short of breath and my body was paralyzed. I began tearing up even from fear. I couldn't even comprehend what the guide was saying to me, but then I heard Serene, "Linda, bend your knees!" And then, I was like "OH YEA! Bending my knees would make it easier..." So I did, and even though I was SUPER scared because it was really slippery, Dana was on the bottom holding the ladder. So, I was okay :) I was touched by my friends who were like "Guys! Pay attention to Linda! Don't worry, Linda!" And everyone who said "Linda, I'm proud of you" Seems so silly, but it really helped me during that time :) We were supposed to be home by 4pm, but we ended up not leaving Cupalapam until 6:30. It was really disorganized and badly planned because we were also supposed to go ziplining as well. But, that didn't happen. Ended up getting home around 9pm. BUT, it was still a LOT of fun!!! Sad that it's our LAST field trip though ...

So, yep. Next week is our last week. I have no clinic rotations and I'm really happy because I get to have time to write my papers without much stress. =) This weekend is my last weekend here in Oaxaca. I gotta finish buying everything I need! Alrightey! This took forever to update...

Life on the Beach

Hey guys! So first week of brigades have finally ended and it was actually VERY tiring. I thought that we would be trekking through a forest to learn about the different diseases, but instead we just went to small towns. On Thursday, we did our brigades on chagas which is a very scary disease that is trasmitted by the chinche bug. The treatment for this disease costs 100,000 pesos, which is around $10,000USD/year! O___O crazy! It was SO hot though. OMG. I was sweating buckets!! The heat gave me a really bad headache, and I felt so dehydrated. Plus, we had to walk up and down hills...and we walked a LOT. Oh well...at least we burned a lot of calories! YAY! However, overall, I felt that the chagas brigades was boring. We walked so far and so much just to go to a total of 3 houses. It was pretty lame.

a Chinche (dead)

Then, later on, Andy, John, Judy, Trieu, Serene, Lisandra, and I decided to walk to Super Che, the Costco of Oaxaca, for groceries again. It was nice because we walked along the shore of the beach. Judy and I collected many seashells! We are planning to bring them back to the states and put them in glass jars! ^_^ The whole walk to Super Che took around 1.5 hours!!! Whew! But, it was a LOT of fun just walking with good company along the beautiful coast. I absolutely LOVE the ocean. I could probably sit on the sand and just watch the ocean for hours.

dead puffer fish we found on the beach...doesn't it look SO sad? LOL

Today, we went to educate a tiny pueblo on dengue and chagas. It was such a cool experience. The ride there was an experience itself. We drove for 1 hour or so along the BUMPIEST dirt road ever! Halfway, one of the vans got suck in this ditch. The drive was beautiful. We saw papaya trees, weird looking cows with humps, and just fields of different foods!

When we got there, there was already a ton of people gathered there. Apparently this was a community meeting. A couple of us got up there and explained the dengue disease, its transmission, and prevention tips. The people who explained the disease were AWESOME! Afterwards, we were split into groups to explain chagas. Joaquin did most of the talking in our group...most of us just stood there and listened...and gave him "moral support" hahah. But, it was fun and very interesting. I definitely love this public health aspect of the trip despite it being exhausting and HOT.

Angela and Edgar explaining about chagas

The people from the pueblo took us down to see this river. I love this picture because John looks like a freakin gangster with gang signs thrown up from his posse haha!

The people at this tiny pueblo (probably only around 300 ppl) were so hospitable. This one family cooked food for all of us. Even though it was only just beans and rice...it was the BEST beans and rice I've had! :) It was a great experience being able to eat a meal with these people.

Then, during the afternoon, we decided to go to the shopping areas near Super Che again. I bought a couple of nice stuff for friends and family there, but definitely the things are more expensive since this is a very touristy area. Definitely waiting until we get back to Oaxaca to buy more things. On the way back, we walked again. We spent a heck of a long time taking pictures of the GORGEOUS sunset though. It probably was why we ended up getting back so late...but it was worth it!! We also saw baby sea turtles that just hatched make their way into the ocean! It was SOO CUTE and definitely one of the highlights of this entire trip!!!

cute baby sea turtles!

Sunset... *sigh

TOMORROW, i get my FIRST surf lesson! I'm pretty stoked...then I have TONS of work to do. SIGH. everything is winding down now...3 more weeks!

Time to work in Puerto =(

Last night was the first night we had to start doing work...we had our first lecture at 6pm with Dr. Salcedo on dengue. It was surprisingly...kind of...boring. I think it was the fact that it was hot and we were hungry. Also, after listening to so much English for the past couple of days, it was kind of hard to immediately switch back to all Spanish, so it was a little difficult for me to translate again. I hope this isn't a sign of how fast I'm going to lose my Spanish skills when I get back to the states.

Today was the first day of our Dengue brigades. It was interesting learning about the disease. Basically dengue is transmitted by mosquitoes that are of the species Aedes aegypti. Their whole biological life cycle lasts about 2 months, and it takes approximately 10-14 days for them to hatch from an egg and develop into an adult depending on the temperature and environmental factors. The cause of dengue is NOT from the mosquito bites, but rather from the virus present in the mosquitoes. The medicine used to kill the larva is called abate. It is put into the water to kill the larva. The larva dies by ingesting the abate, and the chemicals kill the larva.

Water is delivered to the people twice per week. Since the people are allocated a specific amount of water, they try to save as much as possible by storing it in tanks and cisterns. However, by leaving the water there, it harbors mosquitoes. Dengue symptoms are very similar to many other diseases; thus, it is very hard to distinguish from other diseases. If untreated, it can develop into hemorrahgic dengue. Basically, conditions and accessibility is a huge contribution to this disease. Treatment for this disease is only symptomatic meaning there is no cure. =(

Vector brigades consisted of checking houses for the Aedes mosquito larva in random houses (ie. random sampling). These houses have been routinely checked for larva, and if the house turns out to be positive for larva, then they apply treatment immediately. Anyhow, it was really hot, but it was also interesting going into the houses and checking the water. It was interesting for me to see the rural setting since I wasn't really exposed to it during my clinical rotations. These people live with chickens and dirt floors and stuff.

Overall, after 4 hours of checking, we only found 1 house that had 1 Aedes larva. I really enjoyed this new experience! Tomorrow, we have chagas brigades and then on Friday, presentations on how to prevent both diseases!

Anyways, I think I'll upload pictures tomorrow...today's internet is really sucky! :(

Arrival in Paradise!

We have finally arrived in Puerto Escondido & I must say it is P A R A D I S E!!!! We arrived at 5:30pm on Saturday after a long 10 hour bus ride. Luckily, I slept the WHOLE way through thanks to Dramamine. Usually I don't get carsick, but the ride was so curvy that it made me super nauseous. On top of that, my stomach was hurting so so bad. When we left in the morning, I was shaking from the pain. Dramamine just totally knocks you out so I had a good rest on the bus. =) My stomach WAS feeling better on Friday, but at night, I decided to go out and some friends and I decided to get Chinese food. Then, at night, my host mom fed me cold delicious grapes, and also apple bread that we all baked together. It was a lot of fun BUT my stomach wanted to murder me that night. =(

Anyhow, on Saturday night, after everyone was settled in, we had dinner and a presentation from the medical director in Puerto. After being seafood deprived since I've gotten to Oaxaca, I was SOO happy to see FISH! :D

Judy and I are rooming together. We live in a cute little room studio style with our own little kitchen. The bathroom is super cute too...our shower is decorated with stones and our sink has the face of a sun inside! I absolutely love all the decor of this place! It's very beachy! In fact, there are huts everywhere around here and the beach is literally less than 5 minutes away!!!

our cute bathroom ^___^

The rest of our place is pretty sweet as well! We are living at a place called Casa Mar which includes a nice pool and hammocks for us. So most of the time during the day, I just chill by the pool "trying" to read. It's seriously hard to do work here. Ugh. Sucks because we have TONS of essays to write.



Yesterday, they had a welcome thing for us at Zicatela beach where we got free surf lessons. Well, I didn't because I couldn't due to unfortunate circumstances of being a female. Enough said.
It was nice though seeing people surf. I really want to be able to do that next week for sure. I got horribly burnt. I was literally FRIED. My back and legs are burned badly :( It hurts to sleep. At night, most of us went to Super Che to buy groceries since we all have a kitchen now. Judy and I bought lots of things to cook Asian meals every night ^_____^V YAHH!
ASIAN FOOD!

Today, I just tried to finish reading. During the afternoon, I went back to Zicatela to read while John and some other people went back to surf. I had a whole coconut to myself while reading too! Afterwards, I saw the most beautiful sunset while sipping on some fresh coconut juice =) Paradise, like I said.

Tomorrow will be the first day of class. *Sigh....I guess we gotta do work now =P

Dia de los Muertos!!

Okay guys, I'm feeling a LOT better today...still really sleepy and tired from my stomach problem, but at least it's bearable now. Don't have much time to rest anyways today since I have so many things to do before tomorrow. (ie. UPDATE this blog! Haha) I'm trying to shower, but apparently, my family is low on water. I guess it ties in with the whole lack of potable water in Mexico issue. They are allocated an amount of water for a certain amount of time unlike in the US where there is water every time you turn on the faucet. So I guess I'll update this thing while waiting for the little amount of water we have left to run so I can shower!

So, Dia de los Muertos shenanigans started happening on Friday the 29th! The real celebrations start on the 31st all the way through 11/2. Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that resulted from a mixture of indigenous and Roman Catholic beliefs. On this day, they believe that their deceased family members will come back to visit. Thus, people here build altars with offerings of the family members favorite foods, drinks, as well as with personal items. The view of death in Mexico is interesting. After someone dies, they have a period of grieving usually lasting 9 days. Afterwards, they have a huge celebration because they know that they will reunite with the member someday. Celebrations include foods such as tamales, and mole. They also respect death because they know that death does not discriminate against class, or race. In the end, death will get you. Lol. Kind of a macabre thought.

Anyhow, Day of the Dead is filled with festivity and joy. It certainly isn't a depressing holiday at ALL! The cemeteries are lit with candles and live music. Beautiful altars and tapetes (huge pictures made of sand) are built! Comparzas (parades) fill the streets. It's really an exciting time to be here during Dia de los Muertos!

Our group did a LOT during this holiday. It was honestly extremely exhausting especially since I did so many shifts at Hospital Civil the days right before Muertos. We were going to be entering a altar/tapete building contest at the Panteon General (closest cemetery near us). Thus, it needed a TON of prepping. On Saturday, all of us went to Mercado de Albastos to buy supplies. Then on Sunday morning, at 7am, some of us went to prep for the altar/tapete. It was a lot of hardwork! We dedicated our altar/tapete to Macedonia Alcala who was a famous musician in Mexico and was influential somehow in the Mexican revolution. So, we based everything on our altar off him from little skeleton figurines playing the guitar to musical notes constructed out of flowers. Speaking of flowers, we had SO much! We adorned our whole altar with a TON of cempasuchil (marigolds?), which is one of the flowers of Muertos. The tapete was so beautiful too! In fact, everything we did was so beautiful that we won second place, which is the first time in Oaxaca Quarter Abroad history! We also won 3500pesos which we are donating. =D AND, we made it on the news! BUT, lemme tell you, it was a LOT of work, especially the tapete. I worked on it with Judy and Andy after and oh my goodness, dizzy spells and sore thighs from squatting so much. Ugh. Can't believe they worked on it since 7am! On Sunday night, all of us went to a bigger cemetery in Xoxoctlan. Dude. It's kind of amazing because it feels like I'm at a mini-fair outside the cemetery. There are games, and tons of food being sold and so many people! Xoxo, I felt, was more traditional in that people actually camp out ALL night at the graves. The whole place is light up and it just feels so peaceful. Kind of. I guess pictures will explain better...

Panteon in Xoxo at night!

On Monday night, all of us went to a small pueblo to see how Muertos is celebrated there. It was an interesting experience, and the smell reminded me of Davis because it smelled like cow poo everywhere. But, bands walk around town and play music and pass out mezcal. It was fun because we just danced with them and walked. There were also parades...and by that time, some people were already drunk from the mezcal. The most memorable part was the Mexican mosh pit. People just get really close to each other and start dancing...lots of pushing and shoving...I literally feared for my life and grabbed onto the closest thing to me which was Joaquin. LOL. But, I had to keep HIM from falling too because if he fell, then I would fall. So finally, I got out of the mosh pit and my heart was beating so fast by then. Quite the experience though.

all made of sand

On a random note, I HAD CHINESE FOOD!!!!!! :D Opened by legit Chinese people! (and cooked by them too) It was a bit greasy...and definitely wasn't the best ever, BUT, it totally satisfied my Chinese food craving. I was filled with emotion with each bite I took.

Happy happy!!

Puerto in less than 24 hours! Crazy stuff. 29 more days!

Dia De los Muertos---COMING SOON!

As my friend Andy Luu would say, "Hola guys!" Haha. Sorry for not updating you guys about Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead). I'm deathly sick today...okay..not deathly...but I DID have stomach aches from hell. Felt like my typhoid symptoms again (side effect of taking live oral typhoid vaccine...a big no no ) Ugh.

It's ironic though because this morning, I was like..."Hm, I feel like ditching clinic. I think I'll tell Leslie that I'm sick. Dear God, please forgive me for this lie...I kinda wish I was a little sick so it wouldn't be a lie." Be careful what you wish for because afterwards, all hell was let loose. Had diarrhea, severe stomach cramps, severe body aches, and a fever. I'm sure it wasn't God who gave me this because He's definitely not like that. I'm thinking it was the chorizo torta I had on Tuesday at Cuiles because I did feel funny the next morning.

Anyhow, I was trying to read after sleeping the whole day, but my stomach was SO in pain. I began to cry because it hurt SO bad. It felt like someone was carving a hole in my stomach. I felt nauseous and my body was aching so badly. Then, I was stressed because I had so much reading to do and I need to pack for Puerto. Anyways, I tried contacting Dr. Tenorio for like half an hour, but couldn't reach him. I tried contacting Dra. Adela, but she was no where to be found. I finally decided to call my family physician in the States who told me to take cipro. Yay for bringing cipro. I was also craving a light soup so badly...but didn't know if I could cook at my house. Luckily, my homestay grandma knew my stomach hurts, so she gave me pain meds and she made me a hot porridge. It was everything I wanted--meds, food, and warmth. =) I feel like it was God who was taking care of me because I remember just telling myself how much I wanted my mommy's porridge. Anyways, just the thought of everything made my stomach feel a little better. It still hurts, but it's bearable. I can finally read in peace and rest.

I think I will ditch clinic tomorrow too because I don't feel well enough to get out of bed still let alone walk around in an environment with sick people. For sure I will try to update Dia de Los Muertos tomorrow! I really need to update before I leave for Puerto on Saturday since internet there sucks I hear.

Alright. 30 more days before I get to go home to my doggy and my family :)

BREAK please?--EDITED

EDITED..because i realize my unedited version wasn't detailed enough...

So, I FINALLY have some time & energy to blog about the week. This week has been so packed! But, I really enjoyed it because I gained experience here that I probably NEVER would have gotten back in the states.

This week was my week at Hospital Civil, a hospital for the uninsured. Since I wanted surgery, I had to be there at 7am and I had to wake up at 5:30 ish to shower ...ugh. So,basically, during the mornings, we would do rounds with the residents with patients which was really cool because I felt like one of them as well :) The patients we saw were basically patients who has had surgeries the days before. It was interesting because I was able to hear a lot of medical terminology in Spanish while doing rounds, but at the same time, it was extremely difficult to understand. After rounds, we would wait to scrub in for surgeries. I loved it because it was my first time seeing surgeries, and it's so great that I got to be so up close and personal about it too! I learned a lot at this hospital especially because all the people there are so willing to explain everything to us. For instance, I had a question on the "Hartmann bag" that I read on the patient's chart and I asked one of the residents. He ended up going into a WHOLE elaborate explanation with board drawings and everything! :D He then showed us patients with the Hartmann bag. Basically, it's when the intestines, due to scar tissue from possible surgeries before, doesn't heal properly. So what happens is blockage. Your poop can't get through basically. What they do is the cut the intestines in half where the scar tissue is, and then connect one half to the outside of the stomach...and the bottom half is sealed. So you see a hole when they lift up their shirts with the tip of the intestine visible and a bag connected to it where your feces will just end up traveling too. We saw TONS of surgeries from appendectomies, hernias to big surgeries such as stomach bypass surgery due to a tumor, orthopedic surgeries, etc. In fact, Ally, Maggie and I loved surgery so much, we would voluntarily at night. So, on Wed and Thurs night, we went back for a night shift! Unfortunately, there wasn't too much going on in surgery so we went to Ob/Gyn where we saw live births and C-sections! We ended up going home at like...1-1:30am ish those two nights. I was planning to go back on Friday night, but I was way too exhausted for anything by Friday especially since my flats gave me 0 back support.

On Friday though, we switched out of surgery since we were only there for 3 days. We wanted to give others a chance at surgery, so I switched to Ob/Gyn since my other option was Peds. God knows I don't really prefer kids. It was so emotional even though I had seen live births nights before. This one woman was giving birth to her first child, so her vagina was kinda tight still. It was really really difficult for her to get the baby out since every time she pushed, it seemed like the baby's head was retracting in...Finally, the baby came out, but the baby's head was so big, it ripped her vaginal wall. So they had to suture it back. I guess the pain of child birth was so strong that nothing else compared because when they stuck a HUGE HUGE needle inside her vagina, she barely winced. When the baby came out of her...I was so filled with emotion. It's seriously SO surreal seeing a human life pop out of someone else and especially through SUCH a small hole. LOL. Seeing how much she had to go through for her baby, and seeing the baby finally out, I couldn't help but tear up. Makes me appreciate LIFE and mothers! I saw a second case where another woman was giving birth for the first time. This time however, the chief attending had to come in and perform the birth since the woman's vagina was too small. I freaked out because he had to use metal clamps to pull the baby out! But still, they couldn't get the baby out so what he did really SCARED the beejies out of me! HE CUT HER VAGINA! SNIP SNIP SNIP! OMG. There was so much blood...more than surgery I felt! Omg...it was kind of traumatizing. I'm seriously so scared to have a baby now. Haha. C-sections are scary, but LIVE BIRTHS are SCARY too!! :( All I know is, this is the best form of birth control ever. Lol. It's also interesting because in Mexico, they do not let ANYONE in with the mother who is giving birth...no friends or family. So the women are FREAKING out since they are alone. I personally think it sucks that they need to be alone during such an important and terrifying moment in their lives. I also got to witness a hystorectomy which is when a women needs to remove her uterus due to something such as cancer, which my mom had. It was a stressful surgery and the surgeon sweated through his scrubs and through the surgery coat he was wearing. He was literally sweating bullets. Okay, not literally. Anyways, I got to see the uterus and cervix just sitting there. Reminds me so much of my mom's case. She had her uterus removed at like...36 or something.

Also, on Friday, we got to attend a hospital wide class too and I got to learn about HPV in Spanish! Haha! Anyhow, I LOVED Hospital Civil. This is by far the BEST clinical experience I've had ... EVER. Up close and personal with surgeons...I mean, HOW cool is THAT! Plus, just the residents I've met and the doctors that I've talked to made it SO hard for me to leave this hospital. Hopefully, my next rotation will be awesome, but I know it won't match up to this. This experience has made me even MORE pumped up for the future! I know that this is definitely what I wanna do...not surgery in particular..but medicine! I love it!!!!

that large mass was a tumor. it was so big it was crushing the pathway leading from the stomach to the intestines so this patient was having trouble eating...so instead, the docs did a bypass and just sewed the two organs together so that he could eat again. they couldn't remove the tumor because it was too advanced. this surgery was crazy because this patient's intestines were just hanging out....omg....it was crazy..

awesome doctors! some of them are my age!!! makes me impatient!

the two nicest docs ever! the guy (dr. paul) on my left is only 22!!!! the guy on my right, dr. Tairi Mejia, is 27 and married...but extremely good looking. ^_____^

the craziest surgery I saw besides the stomach tumor ... this patient had a dislocated elbow, but she waited 21 days before seeing the doctor so in order to fix this, they had to do surgery since there was already fibrosis. LOOK at the drill in her elbow!!!!!!! also present is the tricep.

Anyhow, those past three days were the best, but also the most tiring! My shoes were HORRIBLE for support..and standing for hours on made my back hurt! Plus, 3 hour sleep for 2 nights really wore me down. So, I'M EXHAUSTED! AND, it's Muertos weekend, which makes everything a whole lot more crazy! Since I have HORRIBLE stamina, it's been hard for me to recover...in fact, I'm STILL so tired. I am also 2 weeks behind in reading! :( BUT, tomorrow is the big day! I need to be at Dra. Adela's house at 6:30 am to set up for the altar at the panteon which is basically the cemetery. I'm pretty excited! I'll definitely update you guy on Muertos once all this craziness has passed. I'm also happy because there's only 35 more days until I get to see my family! I mean, I LOVE Oaxaca and all its festivities and food, but I also miss my friends and family.

OH YEAH. Apparently, I've been getting these weird bites all over my body. They are not mosquito bites because these bites itch, but when I scratch them, they bleed and form like a scab...and it HURTS. =( They've bitten me in places where they are not supposed to and it hurts and it's ugly because it leaves a LINE of scabs! So, I found out they were FLEAS!!!! Ugh. I do shower btw...but my homestay mom says it's probably the people in pueblos since I went to Mitla...or the taxis/buses. But I wonder why they are only biting me...I must taste good or something. Anyhow, I gotta go buy some meds for myself and pick up laundry...and sleep more.. haha.

Adios amigos!

SIGH

definitely how i feel today...i'm exhausted!!!!!! But, i guess that's my fault for going to surgery for so long in the worst shoes ever! :( AND i lost my phone today at Civil and now i gotta pay 500 pesos ($50usd) *super sigh..at least it wasn't my precious camera! i would cry. i love Civil though...i love surgery so far, but don't know if i can do it...but i love it! it's such a thrill everytime!

and it rained on my way home =(

i guess it's better than the sweltering HEAT here in Oaxaca.

i have so much to update, but i'm so tired...perhaps tomorrow? people are going to a strip club tomorrow, but i think i'll pass on that ... hahaha. i know i'm boring...Dia de Los Muertos is this weekend. i'm so behind on schoolwork because theres NO TIME! at least it will be fun this weekend! =) gotta conserve energy for it! ><>

alright. i'm off. hopefully my mood will be better.

i just want to go home when im in a bad mood. i just want to hug my dog.

just one more month! almost there linda!!!

Sunday Morning rain is falling

No..not really...it's from a Maroon 5 song! Duh! Haha, kidding =)

But seriously, yesterday was SO much fun! So a couple of us planned on Saturday to go to Hierve del Agua. It was a pretty suddenly planned trip thus we didn't have a chance to publicize this trip to everyone, and I'm kind of glad we didn't..you'll know why ;)

So, Sunday morning, I meet with Trieu, John & Judy (the couple on this trip), Joaquin, Ivan, and Andy to go to Hierve del Agua. It's s'posed to be one of those "you gotta visit places" here so I was pretty excited! But, since it's so far, we need to take a colectivo, which are like taxis that take you to specific places for a cheaper price because they take a lot of people at once, to Mitla, and then take another one to Hierve. So, we all wait at Mercado de Albastos to wait for these colectivos. But, it was taking a while to wait...and so finally, we find one car that can take us there, but there are 8 of us. The driver says he can take ALL 8 of us, so we decided to go since it took so long just for one to come. It was QUITE the experience fitting 8 people in a small car and may I remind you that there are 6 guys. John and Judy sit in the front, and so I'm stuck in the back with 5 guys! LOL! SO basically, 4 guys sat on the seat and I sat on Andy and then Ivan (who's NOT a small person), lies on top of us...including me and my RIGHT LEG. It was SO squished that Ivan's legs were sticking out the window and my head was stuck out the window because I couldn't get them to fit in...finally though, I was able to put my head inside. I felt bad because I was sitting on Andy's diaphragm so everytime he laughed, I thought he was going to pass out or something. Haha. It was a good 40 minute ride there and when we got out, all of us were limping. HAHA!! Anyways, then we took this truck thing that took us to Hierve and that was another good 50 minute ride. When we got there, the driver actually gave us a personal tour which was cool. Apparently, Hierve del Agua is like these rocks that are calcified that kind of look like a waterfall. There is water though spewing out FROM the inside of the rocks which is cool. It was beautiful though...the hills, the nature, just everything! Some of the guys went swimming. The walk was pretty dangerous I felt because it was so rocky. The steps were SO steep too. Climbing up was annoying! It was a good workout though. My thighs are sore! Actually, my whole BODY is sore, and it was so hard to stay awake in class today. Hehe. Anyways, here are some shots from yesterday!

yep. =)

Then, anoche (at night), there was a special dinner thing at John's house because his homestay brother or something is a chef or this pretty pricey restaurant. So a lot of us gathered at his house to eat tlayudas (a giant tortilla with frijoles, quesillo, and other stuff you can add), or garnachas (don't really know what that is..lol). It was a good mingling time except for the fact that my contacts were making my eyes hurt so bad :(

Anyways, good day yesterday! :)

This week is Dia de Los Muertos celebration and I'm SO excited for it!! :D YES!!!!!!!!!! I should have a good post for that too! We are apparently going to build an altar so that should be really fun! Then, it's one more week before PUERTO ESCONDIDO (aka paradise)!

I'm also going to be at Hospital Civil this week! YES!!! :)

Excited!!

Await for a good post and great pictures soon!