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...
No comments:
Post a Comment