Thanksgiving Dinner in Mexico (Day 75)

11/27

Tonight, we had a nice dinner at Casa Crespo with Dra. Adela and Sandra. Although everyone was freezing, we laughed and chatted, munched many foods, huddled around the fire, and shared one of our last nights together.

Usually in the States, Thanksgiving dinner is just an excuse to eat out at a Chinese restaurant with my family. But today I appreciate this day. I take many things in my life for granted, but after nearly 11 weeks away from home in a foreign country, I have realized what I couldn’t live without.

First and foremost, my family. I’ve always been very independent, never really “needing” my family. But with each passing year, I find myself getting more and more attached to my family. I’ve called all my family members at least twice throughout the duration of this program, and my mom about twice a week, sometimes even every other day. Perhaps it’s a part of maturing. Perhaps it is the awareness that not everyone will be around forever. Being so far away for so long, the first thing I want to do when I get back to the U.S. is run to my family and hug everyone of them. I can’t wait to see their smiles!

I have also realized how much I need people around. Childhood friends like Claire and Cynthia. How lonely I would have been in high school without my friends. Marian. Joanne. Melanie. Alex. Erin. Xiangbin. I’m thankful that I’m still friends with these wonderful people. They have shaped me in so many way, my interests, my personality, my behaviors.

Also, these past 11 weeks would not have been the same without my classmates, my friends, the people who I now call family. Every smile, every laugh, every tear I have shed with them has been etched in my heart. Every “eso”. Every “por fa”. Every “contact”. Every “blblblbl”. Everytime someone yells out “fairy!”. Memories flood my mind when I think of them, tugging at my heart strings. I have opened up to this group of people more than I have to any other. We’ve shared our past, our secrets, our hopes with each other.

I can’t say I’ve had a perfect life; I’ve seen many tragedies, jumped through many personal hurdles and the many obstacles that life sets up. But I’m grateful for so much more: the privilege of growing up in the U.S., the advantage of growing up with a multicultural background, access to quality education, my family’s support, heaters, nutella, friends I would take a bullet for, a boundless future.

Diagnosing in Mexico (Day 69)

11/21

This week in clinic, I realized one really prevalent pattern. Since it was winter, many patients come in with symptoms of a fever, with possibly a cough. The doctor I was shadowing would always end up checking the throat and make a diagnosis of throat inflammation. It seemed to be the go-to diagnosis. In fact, during consultations, after checking a patient, the doctor asked me what I thought the diagnosis was. The doctor would be satisfied with my answer of throat inflammation. When he asked me what to tell the patient to do, I recited his usual advice to the sick patients: drink water, rest, take warm showers, eat well, eat oranges, don’t drink cold beverages.

When I went to Dra. Magaly today, I told her I had a fever, dizziness, headache, and that I couldn’t move from bed. Since my fever had receded, she checked for an ear infection. Eventually, she diagnosed me with a throat inflammation. Something as simple as that caused my severe symptoms the day before.

I don’t want to doubt her diagnosis, nor those from the clinic doctors, but I can’t help but think that the doctors really simplify the diagnosis. I’m not sure if the diagnosis simplification is common throughout Oaxaca or Mexico. I think doctors would reevaluate the simple diagnosis only if the patient is not getting better on the current treatment. Is that a effective way to treat? I understand there is a time restraint during doctor appointments, but I don’t think the doctors in the U.S. make such simple diagnoses. Usually the doctors in the U.S. does a more comprehensive examination and tries to make sure it isn’t a more complicated disease or cause.

Weekend in Puerto Escondido

11/8

There was a surf competition, and our CFHI Puerto Escondido Local Coordinator, Soledad, competed in the bodyboard category. Later in the night, we released baby sea turtles into the sea. I was glad to know that the team that organizes the releasing was very eco-friendly. They made sure we used the coconut shells to scoop the baby turtles and that we did not actually touch the turtles, because they are really sensitive to any chemical products that we apply to our skin/hands. The type of turtle we released were no longer endangered. 

Soledad in action

Getting used to the beach (Day 53)

11/5

The morning jogs are really nice. I’m still struggling to run on sand, but the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and the salty breeze blowing through my hair makes it worth it.

It is so hot and humid here that I’m sticky 24/7. I ended up taking three showers yesterday, though I should really just adapt to it. It is difficult to do anything in the afternoons when it feels like 98.6 °F (according to Accuweather). That’s body temperature! I’m sweating puddles whenever I take a step out after 11AM.

First full day, yesterday, we played in the water and played volleyball. Though I couldn’t really play at first, because the sand was so hot! I didn’t  buy sandals yet, so eventually, out of desperateness, I put on my socks in order to play beach volleyball.

The warm beach is so nice! Such a stark contrast between this and the SF beach that I grew up with.

So hot!

Breakfast with everyone is nice!

Morning jog!

rocks and shells I’ve collected so far

To Puerto Escondido! (Day 51)

Long car ride and really windy roads. We kept going up and down in terms of elevation, so much that my ears were really hurting, and that usually never happens!

Saw a pool while on the road, so I knew we were getting closer to the coast. At the first sight of the ocean, fifteen minutes before time of arrival, I got really excited!

After about six hours of driving (left at 7AM and arrived around 5PM) and about three hours worth of breaks, we have finally arrived!

Casamar Suites Hotel

First time at a warm beach!

Stressful Week (Day 44)

10/27

So much planning this week! I had a lot of outside work to do. First of all, I needed to make a questionnaire, or at least a sample survey for my research paper. On Tuesday, I will go to two private schools to do interviews, and small surveys. On Wednesday, we have to go shopping for our altar. Thursday, we will make our altar in memory of Felipe Matias Velasco (a Mexican poet), representing Papaloapan (a region of Oaxaca) at the Museum of San Pablo, which is a great honor. Friday night, we will go to cemeteries and observe what Mexicans do on Dia de los Muertos. Saturday, we will make our tapete dedicated to Alejandro Santiago, a Mexican artist who made sculptures in honor of Mexicans who migrated to the U.S. for work. Saturday night, we will go to Etla, where the Dia de los muertos celbrations were said to be amazing. Sunday, we celebrate Matteo’s birthday and pack for Puerto Escondido!

It was particularly stressful because I ended up planning a lot for the altar, while many others were not too enthusiastic about building the altar, especially after finding out it was just an exhibition rather than competition.

But I’m glad our projects all turned out so well! The altar took a while to plan and a whole seven hours to build! We had some innovative ideas, like the cascading curtain of flowers as a backdrop, arrangement of fruits, banana leaf papel picado, and using the symbolic pineapple as a flower vase.

I was not part of the tapete team, but I tried to help out too!

 

innovative banana leaf papel picado

Part of Velasco’s poem, Flor de Pina

Our reps!

Altar in memory of Felipe Matias Velasco

After taking down the altar