Monday rolled around, and we started our usual pre-health fair preparation rituals: French toast, coffee, reading Game of Thrones (in my case), scrubs, sunscreen, bug spray, dental hygiene after the sugary breakfast, French braid (in my case), redistribution of medical supplies and personal supplies into The Mobile Lab (our fond name for Jason’s giant backpack), peanut butter sandwich assembly… However, this series of events was interrupted by a phone call from Rafa, informing us that we would not be able to go out to communities on that day, or on Tuesday. It sounds like the DIF had other projects going on and did not have the resources to spread out on those days, but I am not exactly sure what happened. So all of a sudden we had two free days we had not budgeted for, and… we were done with our health fairs for the trip.
Kind of anti-climactic: We were done, but we hadn’t really realized we would be done after last Wednesday. All of our worries from last week were suddenly abolished – we weren’t going to run out of supplies after all, and there would be more than enough free time to enjoy San Miguel de Allende at the end of our trip. Unfortunately, another doctor from our university had flown down to help us out with our health fairs… so we called her up, explained the change, and luckily she was able to hop over to JR to help them out with their health fairs.
We went to el centro, ate at Media Naranja (which was still serving breakfast, to Jason’s dismay - he had his heart set on Chicken Burritos, and there were none to be had), tried to go to the Toy Museum but found that it was only open from Wednesdays to Saturdays… so we did a few other errand-y things before heading back. Oh, and I accosted a nice man wearing a Notre Dame shirt. This is not the first guy I’ve seen with Fightin’ Irish garb on, but I have been hesitant to yell, “Go Irish!” because I am not sure if it would be understood. The translation of “Vamos Irlandeses!” also sounds a bit strange, so I have withheld. This guy looked like he might speak English, though, so I gave him a hearty, “Go Irish!” and startled him into a brief conversation typical of ND alums. He studied English and graduated in ’68, I believe. Having successfully embarrassed him and my fellow companions, we parted ways, but I retained that afterglow of having talked about ND with someone who understands for a while after the encounter.
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| Having dinner with friends we have made during our time in SMA |
We were able to sleep in for a change on Tuesday, and Alex made us his special and fancy cappuccinos to go with breakfast. We did some yoga, lounged about, and had a really relaxing day. We met up with Kip and Marjann for a pre-fourth of July dinner. The plan was to go to Harry’s for the Tuesday Tacos and drink specials – after lots of delicious homemade guacamole at their lovely house, of course. We always end up having too much fun with them – they are really great – and we met up with their friends at Harry’s for dinner. This other couple was equally friendly and fun, and they even extended the invitation to celebrate the Fourth of July with them at their cookout tonight. We are all very excited about this get-together. There is a very interesting quality to celebrating this holiday while abroad – the majority of people around you are going about a very typical day, while you are carrying a little piece of National Pride that makes you feel an added kinship with others there from the US on that day. Last year I spent the Fourth of July in London with some wonderful family friends, and now I am in Mexico with some wonderful med students and relocated Americans. It’s actually a similar sort of kinship compared with the Notre Dame alum I accosted – seeing a Notre Dame shirt in San Miguel was so much more exciting. Celebrating with other Americans here in SMA on the Fourth of July is a very special thing to do, too.
This morning we met with the president of the DIF and our friend Farhad from Casa Esperanza for breakfast. It was good to talk with them about our time here and our hopes for the future of our program in San Miguel. The TV crews were there again and Michael had another interview. We were all filmed at the end (fortunately NOT speaking!) and hopefully someone will email us with the footage airs.
I hope you all have a very fun-filled Fourth of July! All this talk of America is getting me excited about being home with friends and family again soon – even though I will be sad to say goodbye to SMA.
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| Spotted: Mexican TV Star Michael Garner, giving a rare interview |
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