Teaching, Learning, and Enjoying Nutrition, among other things!

We ventured out to the pueblo of Colorado today. I think we’re really starting to get the hang of things now. The charlas went smoothly with the ladies of the town, and I learned a lot about the local food availability in their community from our interactive nutrition charla. I had never heard of nopales or quelitas, but have since learned that napales are a type of cactus, and that quelitas are “galletas de los Incas,” or Incan cookies. We had a good system for achieving all of the screenings with better flow between the stations today, which made everything less chaotic and much more efficient.  The women were so sweet in this town, and they even had prepared lunch for us. We were then faced with that careful balancing act as presented to us by one of the UNC pre-departure safety modules: the desire to be culturally sensitive and grateful for the food, paired with the concern of water safety and preparation methods our American immune systems are unfamiliar with… but since all of the food was cooked, we were able to satisfy both. The women had prepared some sort of spicy potatoes in a sauce, and when eaten with tortillas, it was a very nice lunch after a busy morning.

We're becoming pretty well known at that Office Depot by now - another excursion was made there today to print out more health summary sheets (I guess because we've been able to see so many people out in the communities so far!) as wel as to purchase some speakers. Our plan is to incorporate more interactive activities in the charlas, since many of the people have been hearing the same general health information for awhile now from various health organizations and health fairs. The speakers would be utilized during an exercise or Zumba-esque class as a way to teach the people some simple movements to do that can get their heartrates up. We're still in the planning stages, but we're pretty excited about some of our ideas.



Another view of SMA from the mirada



Kelly prepared another knock-out dinner tonight, featuring tacos con papas – potato tacos – then piled high with lettuce, sour cream, and special salsa. Coincidentally, we also had nopales with our tacos! We spent a long time chatting with Alex and Kelly after dinner – again with more philosophical advice from Alex on how to begin writing one’s marriage vows, and several alarming stories about the wild dogs that roam Mexico, eating babies and the elderly. For tomorrow, we are excited to be able to sleep in a little later, and are planning on going out to explore the main part of SMA (“el centro”), including the main churches and the organic market.

Health Fairs and TV Stars

Phew, what a day. We ventured out to Alonso Yanes, a little community that is known for the woven baskets made of grass that are crafted there. Rafa again accompanied us – he is, in a word, awesome. Not only did he help us out with a few translations and crowd control, he also moonlights as a DJ and is going to school to study design. Jason gave his First Aid charla, which was a big hit. One woman bravely volunteered to demonstrate how to tie a sling after Jason’s instruction, and despite an ENORMOUS height difference, she successfully put Michael’s arm in a sling. Today we got our studies going in full swing, which meant obtaining consent from the people who showed up to the health fair and explaining what all we were collecting the data for. Considering that we had different consent forms and procedures for our two different studies, and this was the first time we were doing vision screenings and glucose checks, we managed to get everything accomplished pretty well. Our efforts were captured on film when Canal Tres (Channel Three) showed up with a camera crew to document the health fair. We’re on the lookout for Michael’s Mexican television debut now after his interview today. The crew also recorded a lot of action shots of the rest of us – Jason, performing a cardiac exam like a real doctor, Lauren, checking glucose like a pro, and me, wrapping a tape measure around waists and hips while measuring height and weight, or basically giving the appearance that at our health fairs, we also give free hugs! It was a lot of fun though, and we saw and screened over 50 people. From 10 until 3 we were scrambling, putting on our charlas, trying to screen everyone and collect all of the data properly, while also addressing the Pandora’s box unleashed by, “Do you have any questions?” We performed vision screenings as well, and handed out lots of recommendations to go to the Lion’s Club clinic for glasses. We are hoping that many will follow through with the clinic to receive their free glasses, and that our intervention will then directly result in some good!

I think we all have been struck by how nice and welcoming everyone in the SMA region has been so far. While out in the communities, the people are so kind, even though they are often a bit shy around us Americans at first. In our house, all of the inhabitants, whether part of Alex and Kelly's family or just other guests renting a room, have all been very inclusive and friendly. We feel very much like part of their family (and it is often hard to keep track of who is family living here, guests living here, family visiting here, others visiting here). The people we have met in the different organizations we are trying to work with as well have been great people, and we are very fortunate to be able to work with them here.

We’re off to another community tomorrow, and planned on getting a full night’s rest… however, it seems that there is another celebration of sorts (still unclear whether religious in origin at this time), and the fireworks have begun, with eruptions every 45 minutes or so. The dogs have also been especially active this evening, so we can only imagine that the two will join forces in their nighttime melody-making!

Lions and Midwives and Karaoke, Oh My!

Today was a bit of an adventure. While we did not go out into the communities, we nevertheless had a lot going on. The plan was to meet with the Lion’s Club at 10 am to discuss plans for vision screenings and getting glasses to kids in the community that needed them. We had been emailing them back and forth, and the plan was to meet at 10 am at the one and only Starbucks in SMA. Due to some miscommunication, we were still waiting outside of the Starbucks at 11 am. I had taken one for the team and bought a coffee so that we could have internet access (a true martyr, I know) and so we managed to find some sort of address for the Lion’s Club. Lauren and Michael caught a cab to go see if they could find it, taking the cell phone with them.  Jason and I remained on the street corner just in case our ride came to pick us up there after all this time. After a while, we got an email that Lauren and Michael had made it to the club, so Jason and I tried to make our way there. Our cab driver wasn’t sure where to go at first, but he eventually managed to take us to the Club de Leones. We ran upstairs and found a pretty much empty building. A very nice, older lady asked how she could help us, but it was pretty clear that we were in the wrong place. It turns out that there is a Club de Leones Internacional and a Club de Leones de Mexico in SMA. We had arrived at the Mexican Lion’s Club, and needed to get to the International Branch. We tried to call our cell phone in the possession of Lauren and Michael from the phone in her office, but the number we had copied down in a hurry did not work. The lady gave us the address for the International branch – which, to our dismay, was on the complete opposite side of the city. We walked a few streets, caught another cab, and told him the address. When we had reached the outskirts of town, the cab driver took us down la Avenida Revolución, the street that the lady said the building was on. There were many run-down, abandoned buildings, but no Lion’s Club to be found. We had, however, caught sight of a children’s clinic on the next street over through the smattering of buildings on Avenida Revolución, so our cab driver backtracked to that building. We asked him to wait for us while we went inside. The receptionist informed us that, yes, the vision clinic for the Lion’s Club was in this building on the upper floor, but the clinic was only open on Thursday mornings… So I went upstairs to check, and everything was locked up. I asked to borrow her phone and again was unsuccessful in getting my call through to our little Mexican cell phone. So Jason and I decided at this point since we couldn’t find Lauren and Michael or the Lions, and since we had another appointment at 1, it would be better to just go back to our house to wait. Luckily our neighborhood was actually really close to the Lion’s Club, so we were soon home.

The next problem: Lauren had our key with her, and no one was home. It was also around 12:30 at this point, with the hot sun directly overhead. Jason and I stood up against the door to take advantage of the small sliver of shade provided by the balcony. As we were both former cheerleaders, we did consider somehow scaling the wall to get onto the balcony and entering the house from there… but we decided that would be a little sketchy. Soon enough, however, Alex and Kelly returned from the store and let us into the house. We were able to call Lauren and Michael from the house phone (turns out we had written down the wrong number for our own cell phone number…) and were glad to hear that they at least had managed to have a meeting with the Lion’s Club, and were a bit envious when they told us they were having lunch on the Lion’s Club right now at a restaurant three blocks down from the Starbucks. Of course. So I really can’t tell you too much about the involvement of the Lion’s Club, save that they are excited to help us out, and that we will start our vision screenings out in the communities tomorrow.

Our next meeting at least had all four SMA-ers present: we went to CASA, an organization that provides a lot of educational and supportive services to women in rural communities. We were trying to establish a relationship with their organization and hope to work closely with them in the future. They have a very prestigious school of midwifery, and are about to open another this August in the region with the highest infant and maternal mortality in all of Mexico. It was a beautiful building and the organization shares many of the same goals as PPS, so we hope to be able to arrange more collaboration with them during our time here. This is a wall mural in progress in one of the hallways of CASA – the colors are fabulous.

Tonight we went to the finals of a very extravagant karaoke competition. The family was supporting a young fellow named “Alex” – so we all went, toting “Alex” signs (I felt very special). The bar was really cool inside, with lots of star-shaped glass lanterns. We arrived around 10, thinking that it might be over around 12… when actually the proceedings started around 11. So, needless to say, it was fun, could have been a lot more fun if we didn’t have to get up so early tomorrow to visit our next community!

Other exciting things of note:

We stocked up on toilet paper and christened the toilet after Montezuma – you should watch Michael’s explanatory video on Facebook about the Game of Thrones he and Montezuma are currently involved in down here in SMA. We also purchased an oscillating fan – which was a surprisingly long process considering we are medical students and not completely unintelligent.  It is working now, but I had my doubts throughout the construction process. It is still very, very, very warm in our room, but it might be taking the edge off, just a bit, and the air movement might help deter some of the mosquitos.

We had, quite simply, one of the most delicious desserts of all time tonight. Mango champan, or something like that. Made from fresh mangos, it was chilled and very refreshing.

If you're going to San Francisco - San Francisco, Guanajuato, that is!

Today was a taste of the weeks to come – we went out to our first community today, a little town called San Francisco. Alex dropped us off at the DIF at 9 am, and we hopped into the Suburban with our very nice and extremely knowledgeable and helpful DIF representatives, Rafa and Victor. They drove us down the paved highway and then out onto the unpaved roads – just a little bit of a bumpy ride! We arrived in the town and they showed us to the local school. We set up shop and began performing blood pressure checks and measuring height and weight on people in the community who came to the health fair. We ran into a few difficulties when asking if they had any questions about their health – this would often open a whole plethora of symptoms in rapid, rural Spanish. As we’re not ACTUALLY doctors yet (and no, four med students that have each completed one year of medical school do not equal one doctor), and we are not really supposed to give medical advice or recommend medications, it was hard to think of what to say next. Luckily we will be helping out with a health fair put on by the DIF for a lot of these communities next week where there will be doctors present, and so they will be able to get more satisfactory information then. We were, however, able to give counseling on diet and exercise, and Lauren and Michael performed their charlas to great effect. I think everyone enjoyed playing the game, “Saludable o No” (“Healthy or Not”), and I also learned something new - how to make your own toothbrush and toothpaste using every day things in your house and outside.  We definitely have a lot of room to improve, but this was a good first effort, and we’re very excited to continue to work with the people at the DIF. They have a lot of really great programs already in place and have really been instrumental in helping us get set up with our programs so far.

Highlights from today include yet another fantastic meal prepared by Kelly. We had “tortitas de papas con pollo” tonight (like little round patties of potatoes and chicken that were sort of fried/sautéed) – and with some sour cream and spicy salsa, they were fabulous. We also learned many lessons about love and relationships from Alex during our dinner conversation – the top three items a man should do to please a woman are:

1. Have clean shoes. This is a no-brainer.
2. Pay attention to the little details.
3. Kisses. Muchos, muchos, muchos besos.

But alas, good night for now - we Americans have quieted down in our room for the night – which means that now all of the neighborhood dogs have begun barking in earnest…

Let's Get Down to Business (to defeat... diabetes and hypertension!)


Today was an eventful and busy day:  Alex drove us to the DIF (the Mexican equivalent of the YMCA as far as we can tell) for an appointment he had made a year ago. Alex recommended that we wear our scrubs. We met with a man who is, according to his title of contador, an accountant but is also in charge of a lot of the programs, and before we knew it Alex and the contador had arranged for us to go out to our first community tomorrow morning. This was very exciting news but it also meant that all of the things we had to get done this week, we had to get done TODAY. We found out that we also needed to take out money to pay for our room and board ASAP, but found that the customer service associated with our bank account set up for the trip was a little less than helpful. After an hour or so of skyping with the customer service line, sending various emails to our very helpful UNC support system in the Office of International Affairs, and trying to think of other ways to access our money while in Mexico, we sorted out a temporary solution.

Next, we spent the afternoon in Office Depot (still wearing scrubs) printing out all sorts of consent forms and surveys for our studies during our health fairs. Everyone, including the Office Depot girl helping us transfer our files to print, got a kick out of the titles of some of Jason’s files on his flashdrive. 14,000 printed pages later (incidentally, this medical volunteer work does NOT coincide with environmental volunteer work), we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some ingredients to make homemade toothpaste, bought some towels since the instruction of “BYOT” was not conveyed to us until we got down here, and learned some new words in the fabric store (cintamétricos = tape measure, and chiquira = bead). Lauren and I also splurged on fancy coffee drinks to take the edge off of the warm day, and found, to our dismay, the pesos my father has been saving since he was last in Mexico (maybe 20 years ago?) are no longer valid. BUT the old pesos are very cool, and the guys at the coffee shop were pretty amused by the two American girls that came by and tried to by coffee with obsolete currency.

Tomorrow is our first day in the trenches, as they say. It’s been a lot to throw together in one day in terms of preparing our “charlas” (our talks on various health topics), but it will definitely be a matter of learning on the job.

Other highlights from today: Kelly made delicious enchiladas with salsa verde. I think this has been my favorite meal in Mexico so far. Alex took us to the “Mirada” or lookout point where we could see the entire city. It was a great view of San Miguel, and we spotted a few of the places we’re planning on visiting (namely, the hospital and la parroquia – or the really big, pretty, main church in the city).

The Music of the Night... SMA style

4:30 am is the perfect time to resume fireworks to celebrate a religious feast, in case you were wondering. We thought we had seen the grand finale last night, but celebratory pyrotechnics began again early this morning. Fortunately they spaced out the blasts so that there was just enough time to fall asleep between each one – only to be awoken again. It was a noisy night, to say the least.

Example of the equipment used for the fireworks display

We attended la misa at the local iglesia in the neighborhood this morning. The church itself was beautiful, with simple white-washed walls, bright stained glass windows, cool tile floors, dark wooden pews, and blue and white cloth draped from the ceiling for a lovely effect with all of the light coming in from the high windows. It was very fitting decoration for a feast day celebrating Nuestra Senora de la Luz (Our Lady of the Light). The most outstanding portion of the Mass was the traditional Mariachi band that played fantastic music throughout the service, followed by a powerful rendition of “Time to Say Goodbye,” in Spanish (one of my all-time favorite songs).  Following the service, a procession of people clad in traditional feathered headdresses and costumes came out and danced in front of the church, toting a banner of Jesus, burning incense, and playing drums and guitars. It was quite an interesting mix of a few familiar Catholic elements, and the traditions of the area.  We also noted that they had the next firework display set up in the square – which looks like it will be featuring a fiery outline of the Virgin Mary at some point… well, when in Mexico…!

I tried to highlight Mary's outline in this picture of the fireworks for tonight using the technology of Microsoft Paint - now imagine this on fire, sputtering sparks into the crowd - looks like it's sure to be quite the display?



Bienvenidos a Mexico!

Warning: okay, yes, this is obnoxiously long. I apologize. I don’t think this will ever happen again – not because exciting and interesting things won’t be happening, but we’ll probably have far less down time for me to record it all down. Feel free to skim – highlights would include the taxi ride on day one, the FOOD, and the fireworks on day two.

After one long day of planes, buses, and taxis circling the block for a seemingly unmarked house, we’ve made it to SMA and now are snug and settled!

We had an early start to our day, meeting at RDU around 4:30 am for our 6 am flight to Dallas Fort Worth. Our flight from DFW got into Mexico City around 12:30 CST. Customs went smoothly, considering how many medic al supplies we had distributed among our checked and carry-on bags. I only tried to leave my bags behind twice, which is fine, since my group has done a very good job of keeping tabs on me so far. The initial feelings of,  “Yes, great! We’re finally in Mexico!” waned a little bit during the following two and a half hour bus ride to Querétaro amid stop and go traffic . We did, however, get to watch “Independence Day,” which I had never seen before and now sort of have seen (there was no sound on the bus). But the bus was very nice in and of itself, very comfy. Once in Querétaro, the SMA-ers said adios to the JR half of the team. The Delegation from JR (Juventino Rosas) had come to Querétaro to pick up their students. Meanwhile, those of us destined to journey on to SMA had to locate another bus to take us onward. After some inquiries at various bus line counters and exploration of the bus station, we found a bus to SMA that was leaving in ten minutes – much sooner than the hour and ten minute wait for the other bus line’s route to SMA. The projected hour-long bus ride was actually two hours long, again thanks to stop and go traffic for most of the way. Fortunately, now I can say that I’ve watched “The Planet of the Apes” (en español!) in addition to “Independence Day.”  We were amazed by how large SMA is as we circled around the city and winded our way down into the valley. Once at the bus station, we felt like our journey was almost over… we were in SMA, after all. We now only needed to catch a cab (well, two cabs, due to the large amount of luggage – again, mainly on my part – and then we would arrive at our host and hostess’s home…

We had the address, we hopped in our cabs, and we told our cab driver that we wanted to go to Calle de Paloma, número 19. Unfortunately, when our cab driver asked us which Calle de Paloma we wanted to go to, we had no idea. Número 19 was all of the information we had. And so the two cab drivers discussed and gave their best guess as to which Calle de Paloma to take us. Our cab drivers were very nice and helpful, and when we did make it to Calle de Paloma de la Residencia de la Luz, they drove up and down and around the street  looking for número 19 – which actually WAS labeled, it was just almost impossible to see in the dark, and the numbers weren't necessarily in logical order. But after much circling, we made it to la casa de Alex and Kelly – our wonderfully warm and inviting hosts for the next five weeks.  Kelly had made delicious flautas de pollo, which tasted even better after our long day of traveling. We unpacked in our shared bedroom, got a kick out of the giant closet with our names on our respective corners, and enjoyed the melodious conversations that the neighborhood dogs conducted at all hours of the night.



One of the churches we saw today

 Today we slept in a bit, enjoyed SHOWERS for the first time in a long time, and had a marvelous breakfast.  We’ve mostly been getting oriented and exploring the area, resting up, testing the waters (and food), and planning a few of our meetings with different organizations in the area. After a siesta, after we ate more of Kelly’s delicious food for dinner, after long chats with the family and some of the other guests staying in the house (and with one of the daughters who called the family up and wanted to chat with each of us), and after doing the dishes, we went to a neighborhood fiesta. The church in the neighborhood is called La Iglesia de la Luz – and today was the feast of light, apparently. So there was a concert and fireworks throughout the evening, and we showed up in time for the grand finale of pyrotechnics. I can’t even describe it – you’ll just have to watch the video footage that Jason captured to day. It was, by far, the most hilariously dangerous display of fireworks I have ever seen, and yet no one else batted an eye. Fireworks are near the top of my fear list (shortly below lightning, though) but it was a very entertaining and impressive show, and a great way to end our first full day in SMA.