Day is Done

It's been a nice weekend...started off watching the sunset on Friday from Playa Principal and Zicatela...

and ended it with the sunset today at La Punta...

Of course the photos never do it justice.  It's amazing to me how powerful the sunset is, how enduring.  The amazing peace I feel as it dips over the horizon, marking the close of a day in God's creation, putting the small stuff into perspective.  A time for grounding, going inward.  It never gets old.

Friday was an early evening of dinner at a little taqueria with the Aussie girl and then home.  Saturday I slept in a little and then went to Dan's Cafe and met Caitlin, who was super nice.  Then I went to yoga at Vida Yoga, and it's the first time I've ever done 'perro abajo' (aka down dog) in Spanish.  The yoga studio is beautiful and open air with a view out to the sea.  After, I spent some time reading on the beach, and then went out to dinner with my house mom, Sol, at her favorite place for tostadas, and they were amazing.  Last night was my first night out on the town, and Caitlin took me to Cafe Babylon, Kabalah, and Sativa before I called it a night at 2 AM (which is EARLY for the peeps here...there is a bar here that doesn't even open until like 3 or 4 AM, sort of like Spain was).  It was great to practice my Spanish in a social setting...it's here that I get to learn the slang lingo...buen onda (which means 'good vibe') and que chido (which means 'cool').

Today I went for a walk in the Centro where I haven't really explored yet.  I stopped into some shops and then came home for lunch, before going with my house family to La Punta where Sol did some surfing, I got my ass kicked by some waves (like scary, I had to get out of the water), and we saw the sun set.  Off to my new work location tomorrow.  More on that soon!

15 Mexican Minutes

So today was my last day at the clinic in La Barra.  The doctor said to me, oh, you should go with the nurse to go see the lagoon.  I was like, cool, how far is it.  She said, 15 minutes.  Well, it turns out 15 minutes in Mexican means 2.5 hours there and back.  I thought I was going to die.  It was so far, and so hot, and I had nothing - no sunscreen, no water, no money, NOTHING.  I had to walk there over a bridge that had a median like a foot wide (with buses flying by me), and the way back he told me was shorter to walk THROUGH the river, so I was like, yes please.  I doubt it was shorter.  But I got to walk through a river so that was cool.  I'm totally sunburnt now, and started crying out of despair on the bus ride back from the clinic, but now it seems funny and totally like an adventure.  My photos from the 15 minute walk are here...you can see the bridge I had to cross and the river (which, ok, admittedly only had like five inches of water in it and was really pretty), and my beautiful sun burn.

I'm writing this blog from my favorite little cafe (CasaChoc - Andy was here :), sitting in the shade and drinking an iced coffee.  I come here most afternoons before my Spanish class to catch up on email, etc.  A couple new observations: we have a mango tree in our yard that's literally dropping fresh mangos to the ground all the time.  I asked my house dad about it and he showed me where a long stick thing is to pick my own if I ever want to.  So that's cool - fresh mangos in my yard.  Speaking of my house dad, it is so funny, because his uniform everyday is 'shirtless with board shorts'.  I've never seen him in anything else.  What a life, seriously.  Every morning I watch my house mom leave to go to the beach for an hour from 7 AM to 8 to go get her surfing in for the day.  The entire family compound is all about SURF.  There are boards everywhere, the uncle even has a surfboard repair shop right next door.  Pretty awesome really.

K, off to Spanish class now, and then going to watch the Puesta del Sol (sunset :) with my aussie friend, Jade.  Hopefully some good photos to load from that.  Tomorrow morning I'm trying my hand at surfing again, so I can fit in with mi familia :).  I told my family today at lunch how happy I am to be staying with them.  I was like totally dorking out with tears in my eyes, all sentimental and probably really just completely fried and dehydrated from my 'walk', but it was sweet nonetheless.  They said they were really happy to have me too. :)

Buen Dia!

OMG, I was sick four 24 hours straight.  4 AM yesterday I was restlessly dreaming of throwing up...sure enough, in my waking world, I had to run to the bathroom.  What misery!  To be sick anywhere in the world just sucks.  You honestly can't understand how you will ever feel normal again.  I was down for the count all day...in bed and sleeping mostly.  My host family was so sweet - they went and got me electrolyte water and made me toast.  So, after sleeping for 36 hours, more or less, I woke up this morning feeling 100% better, and soooo grateful.  There is nothing like feeling sh*tty to make you grateful for your health!

Yesterday, a very sweet 28 year old Australian girl arrived at mi casa to stay for five weeks.  She has her own bedroom and kitchen upstairs (I didn't even know there WAS another bedroom and kitchen upstairs, turns out there are two).  She is a music journalist and has been traveling through Central America since January.  Anyway, the long and short of it is, I have a new friend. :)  She is here only to learn to surf and take Spanish lessons, so her day isn't quite so crazy as mine, but we talked about going to the beach together this weekend.  I also have plans for breakfast with an older Mexican women, Maria, at Dan's Cafe, and Dan (who owns a hotel and restaurant) is going to introduce me to his 30 year old daughter so I can make another friend.

I didn't go to the clinic yesterday because I was sick, but Tuesday and today were eventful.  Tuesday I observed a vaginal exam, and today a little old man of 92 years came in with a huge gash in his head.  He said he fell but the doctor suspects possible abuse in the house.  I got to watch as they cleaned and stitched the wound (Mary, you would have loved it!).  He was so cute, and his niece informed me he has many novias. :)  We had two kids today that had to have shots, and they both completely freaked out, the same as at home...nobody wants shots.  They were crying and crying.  The second one was being treated poorly by her mom, very harshly.  After they left the doctor informed me that the woman wasn't her birth mom, and that she thinks the father may have conceived the child during an affair, and the child's mom had died.  So sad.

Anyway, tomorrow is my last day at the Centro de Salud in La Barra.  Next week I will be in Bajos de Chila.  I can't believe already my first week has almost passed.  Thank God I have more, because my Spanish still needs some serious work.
  

 

 

First Day on the Job

K so yesterday I got like a five minute lesson on where the bus stops are in Puerto, and this morning I somehow navigated myself to a little pueblo about 15 minutes outside of town called La Barra.  I walked in the clinic and introduced myself, and the lady doctor put me right to work educating patients on nutrition, safe sex, and breast exams.  I was like, um, you sure I'm ready for this sister??  This entire experience was in Spanish.  Total crash course, completely exhausting, and just what I signed up for. 

The healthcare system here is a bit different - they have healthcare for everyone, but the rich have insurance for the private clinics, and the poor attend various grades of clinics depending on the referral of the doctor from the previous level (i.e. they have to go to their local clinic to be referred to a specialist, or a hospital).  In the entire state of Mexico where I am, there are only three hospitals, and people have to travel hours to get emergency care of the level we are used to.  It's a total bureaucracy.  One of my main jobs today was helping la doctora to fill out all the required paperwork.  That said, it was a nice little clinic, had all the basics, and they dispensed medicine on the spot.  The doctor was nice and showed me photos of her son and dogs on her computer in our down time.  Next week I head to a different clinic, but I will be at this one in La Barra all week.  

My Spanish lesson was good - I have personal one-on-one instruction.  After I was done with that it was only 6, so I went for a walk down to the Adoquin, which is a pedestrian walkway after 5 PM, touristy shops and restaurants right off the main beach (Playa Principal).  Nobody was there, I don't think people start going until after 8 PM, but it was still nice to get out and get my bearings more solid.  

Just got off Skype with Andy.  My day was Spanish minus my technology connection to back home (thank god for Words with Friends - keeping my English sharp :).  Now I'm in my little room typing this and going to sign off and get to sleep and do it all again tomorrow...hasta manana!!

My home away from home...

Andy and I moved me into my house today.  It was really hard watching him leave this morning, but he left me in the best possible hands.  My new family is wonderful.  We met Soledad, the mom, who is sweet and young, along with her husband, Roger, and her two girls.  The little five year old was really curious about me, and I think they hung the picture I painted them of cherry blossoms up in her room already.  Too cute. :)

They live in a sort of compound of the whole family - her husband's mother, brother, and sister all live in homes surrounding a pretty courtyard that you enter through the gate on the street.   My room is adorable; the photos really don't do the character of this place justice.  I even have my own little kitchen area and bathroom - sort of my own apartment within their home.  The kitchen area is open to the outside.  You can see in the pic.

Every day the family (like, the WHOLE family) eats at 2 PM.  I'll join them for our first lunch today.  When I get to know them a little better, I'll post some photos of them.  Today, Sol is going to take me on a tour of the city at 5 and then I will meet Dr Isabel (who coordinates my rotation with all the clinics) at 6.  I start work tomorrow, and every day at 4 I have an hour and a half Spanish lesson.  In addition, Sol assured me that the only language spoken by the doctors and the clinics is Espanol, so I should get plenty of practice!

I feel so incredibly blessed to be here.  Nervous, definitely, but beneath it all a feeling of deep gratitude.

Con Brillo de Sol,
Stefanie

 

From the beach...

I'm literally writing this on my iPhone from carazililla beach in puerto. This last day has been filled with the beauty of this town from my fresh fruit breakfast to the whole red snapper I had for lunch yesterday to the oysters I just ate freshly caught by a swimming local with a net and an inner tube; we watched as he brought them in and shucked them in front of us.

Andy and I both got up on a surfboard yesterday and explored the town in the afternoon. We are going to meet Soledad today and I move in with her family tomorrow before Andy leaves. I keep trying to talk him into staying awhile, :) but he has some exciting things going on at work and needs to get back. I'll miss him so much and I am thinking of all my peeps back home even now. Still hard to get my arms around two months away; I can't for some reason conceptualize how short or long that is, or how long it will feel after I start work and school.

For now though, I'm just focused on the sounds of the waves, the ocean breeze, my guy laying next to me, and the fresh oysters. All is good.

Con sol,
Stefanie

First Morning

Just woke up in Puerto for the first time.  It's a beautiful quiet morning and we are sitting on the patio out front of our little bungalow, where we will be staying until Andy leaves Sunday.  It's owned by a German guy named Manfred, who is super accommodating and sweet.  Today feels calm and lovely, but yesterday was a bit different...

Travels were good, and we arrived in Huatulco around 2:30, with still an hour and a half drive to Puerto, having not eaten.  The first thing I noticed was the extreme humidity; I don't know why but I wasn't expecting that.  Such a foil to Denver's uber dry climate.  So...hot, hungry, lost, and tired is how we came into Puerto.  Andy's face when we arrived at our little hotel in the middle of nowhere was priceless, like, "what have you gotten me into here?"  But we soon got some delicious, authentic, fresh Mexican food in our bellies and came back to get in bed under the fan, and we both slept amazing.  I think the first night in any new city can always be a little awkward, but today, watching the hummingbirds in the garden in the relative cool of the morning, feels renewed.  Except I hope I don't get malaria.  

We are going to have the included homemade breakfast here at our hotel and then I think will venture to the beach and to explore the town.  Haven't met my new Spanish family yet, but hope to do that today or tomorrow...more then, with love...Stefanie