Oventik

I had an incredible experience today. I went to Caracol de Resistencia y Rebeldia por la Humanidad, one of the five headquarters for the Juntas de Buen Gobierno, the leaders of the neo-Zapatista movement in Chiapas. The caracoles (compounds...literal translation is snail or observatory) house alternative schools, clinics, pharmacies, artisan workshops, and land for agriculture (they grow delicious, organic coffee.) They exist to promote the continuation of indigenous culture, language (Tzotzil and Tzeltal are spoken here more than Spanish), and tradition, and additionally, to support the poor who have been removed from ownership of their native lands. They wish to have a government autonomous from the Mexican government, as well as from any other government who bases its economy and socialization on capitalism.

I was pretty intimidated when I arrived. I came with two friends from Argentina and France, and their Spanish-speaking abilities helped me feel better. I was too nervous to talk much at first. They checked out our passports and asked us why were were there, what professions we held, and if we were aligned with any particular political organizations. They were welcoming, but very bureaucratic and all wearing ski masks... My friend explained to me, the masks are not just to hide the identities of the rebels, but also to make race and gender irrelevant. Despite this knowledge, I was on edge (and kept me from communicating with much fluidity in Spanish).



The leaders talked to us for almost an hour, answering some of our questions about their philosophies, alliances, and organization, but were somewhat secretive and responded with very general answers at times. I appreciate the amount of time they spent with us however.

They allowed us to wander around the Caracol. We were permitted to take photos of the place as long as no one's face was revealed or license plates were seen in the photos. We had to carry a permission slip with us everywhere we went and even had to present it a few times.






Seeing the school was great. About 150 students attend the secondary (middle-high) school and the professor teaches them together even though they vary in age from 13 to 18 years old. They were just getting out of class when we made our way over to the school. I was impressed with the attendance numbers since no one actually lives in the compound all year long and it is pretty well off the well traveled routes of Chiapas. The people living in the surrounding areas seem to have a lot of faith in this way of living. I am very much impressed with their level of organization despite being unsupported or recognized by the official Mexican government. They are giving people, otherwise ignored, a voice and an alternative means to educate themselves and I respect that immensely.


We saw the clinic as well. They use modern western medicine combined with Maya herbal medicine. They get most of their pharmaceuticals donated to them from various sympathetic organizations. I was told quite a lot of the donors are from outside of Mexico. They had a dentist working on someone when we visited the clinic, as well as rooms for gynecology, optometry, emergencies, and sick beds for 8 people. The man telling us about the place said there is rarely a day when none of these beds are occupied. There are no resident doctors or nurses in their clinic. They host visitors a few times a year, but other than that, laypeople organize the distribution of medicines and treatments as well as host health workshops a few times a month. I would not mind at all coming back with a team of health care workers to treat some of the illness in the people who seek treatment there. It would be nice to exchange my work for a few lessons in herbal medicine. The herbal pharmacy was my favorite part of the trip. It smelled amazing. I wish we could have had more time to talk with the workers there about their individual contributions to the cause and their skill set. However, the people populating the caracol did not volunteer information very often and seemed pretty removed from our presence in their space.

I just had a rare opportunity to touch an alternative means of civilization outside of what I know. I feel honored. I am curious to learn more.

El Museo de Medicina Maya

So happy this place exists!

Explanation of the five types of Mayan Healers: midwives, pulse-readers, bone healers, herbologists, and prayer healers. A garden with medicinal shrubs, flowers, roots, and trees. On-site "pharmacy" to make plant tinctures. A 10 minute video of the practices of Mayan birth techniques. See for yourself. Pfizer isn't everything... This is the original Western medicine.



*If you know basic Spanish, click on the photo to enlarge and read this sign. Well said.

Sayulita: The Vortex of Chilllllll

Well I have all this free time, yet I have been bad about using the blog site. I love this place!

Today was my second attempt at surfing. I caught some waves this time, but they were rough. Couldn't stand up, so it was basically a really good boogie board adventure. It took a lot out of me. I have to get it down before the month is over and I move on. My arms and neck hurt, but it is a good soreness. I think there's some ocean water still rattling around in my sinuses and belly. The first great lesson I have learned from surfing; don't panic when you get stuck under a wave, it will make everything worse.

I feel like I really did something today.



Right now I am sitting on my second story hillside deck watching the sun set. This is what I have done almost every twilight. Its perfect. Last night I saw some huge fountain fireworks exploding above the hills. I could see the silhouettes of the palms in front of them. Gorgeous. The sky is perfect right now. Everything for me has really slowed down. I didn't realize how much stress I was carrying with me until I started unloading it here.




I taught English to some 5th graders at the local school today. It was my second day. I love it. My group is very sweet. I have this really hyper little guy named Kevin who is all about picking up trash around the school just so he can get the plastic gloves they give out. One of the girls, Esperanza, is really eager to learn about anything we talk about. It makes me really happy. I wish I had more time here for them. Their favorite part of the day is when we sing "Yellow Submarine" together at the end. Adorable. They're pretty good at it.

Tomorrow I am getting a three hour massage from this North American couple who include Matrix Energetics into their practice. Supposedly, they can rearrange my molecules through slight touch and a two point mental focus. It has something to do with quantum physics, a subject I know almost nothing about. I am looking forward to the experience. Maybe they can erase my old belly-bumping wrist injury! They think I will be able to use this technique in my nursing practice. I'm all about it if it works.

I have been practicing Tibetan Kunlun meditation with a group led by a man who says he is in contact with extra terrestrial life. Don't worry, if he tells me to drink the Koolaid, I'm out, but I really enjoy it. He's really cool, not overly eccentric, and I am open to new schools of thought. Modern science doesn't know it all. It is hard for me to quiet my brain and it is super helpful to have someone help guide me. Some of the movements really do feel intense if I concentrate on them and nothing else (big fan of the water movements). I am really happy I have found a way to meditate. My brain is very analytical and hyper-active in general. Sometimes, I just need it to shut the Hell up for a minute. James is helping me cover that.



The jungles around here have a bunch of trails cut into them. I have been going on long solitary hikes. I feel so much more healthful than I have felt in...I can't even remember. They are beautiful. Very hilly with ocean views.

And the people here are really sweet. Everyone seems more alive and interested in everyone else. The town is so small that I run into the people I have become friends with without having to try. Cell phones and email are not necessary. Everyone should live like this. I will be sad to leave, but I am definitely coming back.

A theme that keeps coming up here is that I don't have to be in complete control of every detail of my life to get the best out of it. The old cliché, everything happens for a reason, has been making itself more and more apparent recently. Having an open mind, listening to my intuition, and appreciating spontaneity have led me to some awesome experiences in the last couple of months. I feel like I am growing more now. I like to think it all started with the house fire last year and snowballed. It is amazing. I am really excited about all of the tomorrows in my future.

And the rest of my blogs, I promise, will be a little less earthy/granola, and a little more audience friendly.

Uhhhh...

So I was looking up youtube videos in español about prenatal care to use as a visual for my medical Spanish presentation on Premature Labor. I stumbled upon this anti-abortion rap and decided I needed to share it with my friends.

Warning, this is pretty graphic and disturbing. I am trying to look at it through a cultural lens. Abortion is illegal in almost every case in México. I'm pretty sure that the birthplace-of-birth-control (that would be México, ya'll) only performs elected abortions in cases of rape and when the mother's life is in danger.

I'll just say this one more time. Whoah.

Amigas with Amoebas

I have two stories about healthcare, and Krystel is the subject of both of them....pobrecita!

The first story begins at el Estadio Jalisco, where my friends and I got wasted at a Chivas VS Cruz Azul soccer game 2 weeks ago. While Moni watched me try to make small talk to a toungless street child, Krystel and Daphne bought and ate the famous Guadalajara tortas ahogadas from a sketchy street vendor next to the stadium (very bad idea). Days after, they both presented with similar symptoms; stomach cramping, bloating, constant fullness, nausea with food consumption, fatigue, diarrhea... Daphne got diagnosed a week later by a sweet physician who works at our clinic. She had amebiasis, a parasitic gastrointestinal infection common in developing countries, from the sketch tortas stand. He diagnosed her for free, but even if she had been a regular patiente, the consult would have only cost her 100 pesos, less than $10. She took anti-parasytic meds, also very cheap, for two days and she is completely fine. Krystal, on the other hand has had to endure much more; The ugly inefficient side of Mexican Health Care System.

So, most likely, no OBVIOUSLY, this girl also has amebiasis. Her hospital appointment (she doesn't work with us at our clinic) was at 4:30 and the doctor did not show until 5:30. She told him her symptoms and about her roomie who shared the bunk torta with her was being successfully treated for amebiasis. The "doctor" poked her liver, which was enlarged and painful, referred her to a lab for bloodwork yesterday, and did not diagnose her or prescribe her the anti-parasytics. Strike one. 400 pesos (a little less than $40)


Yesterday, she got bloodwork. The doc forgot to tell her she needed to fast prior to the blood work so she had to go home and fast for 8 hours. Waste of her time, strike two. A complete blood count, no liver function tests, were taken from her when she actually got her tests done. Strike three, she has an enlarged and tender liver and they didn't check to see if it was damaged, easily done with a blood analysis. The only unusual thing they actually did find was increased leukocytes (a type of white blood cells)....this is a clear sign of INFECTION in the body (still no amoeba diagnosis???). They then made her drink 2 liters of water to do a bladder scan and pelvic ultrasound. Even though she has NO symptoms of a urinary tract infection or crazy lady-part problems. WTF is up doc? He wasn't there to read the results. Strike FOUR, come one Krystel... Nurse Carrie is now SCREAMING second-opinion time! Today she has to call him. Each visit is costing her money. 400 more pesos. Bend over Krystel, the Doctor needs you to take it like a puta.

But what is worse? Being a patient in Mexico, or being a patient in the U.S.? She told me this other story about living back at home and bursting her eardrum (BTW one of the most agonizing, painful things you can go through...said from personal experience). It was during the summer, when she was an uninsured college student who had to wait for school to restart in the fall to be treated by the school physician. That, or pay an unknown and most likely ridiculous amount of money to be seen by yet another inefficient health care system. Because she decided she couldn't afford to have it treated and waited it out (what a tough girl!), she has severly reduced hearing in her right ear. She told me if she covers her left ear, everything sounds like it would if she were underwater through her right year. That will never improve on its own.

So it seems we have few options after hearing about Krystel's misfortunes. Waste our time in a slow, inefficient health care system, tough out our health problems even though this act may add to the severity of the problem, or pay over-inflated health care costs.

Am I a pessimist, or is health a privilege rather than a right? I hope things are starting to get on the right track back at home, but I won't be holding my breath.

PS- I make 5 times as much as a nurse in México. Thank you over-inflated health care costs.

La PlaJA!

Paco and his cousin took us to some artsy fartsy fresa bar Friday and we killed two bottles of tequila and ended the night at 4am singing DOMO ARIGATO MR ROBOTO. 3 hours later, Paco's friends, Diego y Diego (the dudes from the Red Bull Back to the Future movie) plus two super hot Argentinian chicks Emma y Elina, came by to round us up for the beach. It was pretty hard getting up, and I never actually slept more than 30 minutes or so until the next day, but it was (of course) completely worth it. We ended up in Playa Maruata, Michoacan. So beautiful. So chill. Que perro!!! Only bad thing, Argentinians speak the most convoluted Spanish I have ever heard. They make their Y's and LL's into JA sounds and that was the easiest part to figure out. I barely ever understood them so I kind of stayed quiet most of the time trying to understand what the Eff they were saying. I felt suuuper gringa a lot of the time.



And I ate the best ceviche. I saw 4 shooting stars. I learned a lot of slang. I got to scope out Leticia's son half nekkid for 24 hours. Kind of a perfect weekend.



Kensey, I have homework for you miss scientastic... identify these animals for me. I thought of you while I was taking their pictures.





Today was the first day of class for me. We were told in our Medical Spanish class that we are going to have a final project at the end and I want to make an exercise video with the other two ladies. I think that would be pretty funny. I like my roomies lots.

I didn't think I was going to have clinicals until the final two weeks of class, but I was wrong. We have it 5 days a week for 4 weeks. I am going to have Spanish coming out of my ears when its all done. I think every day we will be in the same clinic, a small one outside of the city center in Tlatepaque. All of the Doctors and med students seem pretty chill. The patients are great too. Jaqí, one of the Doctoras, told me that unlike in the U.S., Mexicans don't have super anal privacy laws. The best part about that place is the one nurse, Señora Margarita, who works there every day. I think she loves me already. As soon as I got up with her, she had me taking off the sutures of a cut from a 3 year old and taking notes for her while she checked a urine sample. We're going to get along just great. My Spanish skills need sooo much work and the vocabulary ain't quite there but I sure don't mind trying! I told this preggo lady that she weighed 150 kilos...thats over 300 lbs. She and La Señora laughed at me. Of course. I laughed at myself.

One of the first things I learned in Spanish was numbers and I still don't get them right some of the times. Que pedo!

Allright! The Fresh Prince is on and totally dubbed in Spanish! El Principe de Bel Air! You're so jealous!

First Few Days

My Spanish is coming back quickly. Tequila helps, but I'm trying to slow down on the sauce while I'm here. Last night, Halloween, was an exception. MC and I met these guys who own the Mexico division of Skull Candy (headphones and speakers and such) and they just kept buying us mojitos, supposedly on the company dime (...their company). They were super nice, not creepy. Much of my experiences with Mexican men is that if you pay them just a little bit of attention, they follow you around the rest of the night like puppy dogs and it gets pretty frustrating. These guys were really chill and fun to talk to. One of them, Aurturo, kept dropping the word "huey" which is the same thing as "dude" more or less and I about lost it a few times. This was the first year I didn't dress in costume for Halloween, but las hermanas gringas still got in the spirit! Here are some photos of us.


Yesterday morning I went to my sister's English conversation club to see her in action. She wanted the group to talk about Dia de los Muertos and Halloween and ghosts and purgatory ect. One of her students said she hated Halloween because a few years ago, as she was putting makeup on her son for Halloween, he started throwing up blood. She took him to the emergency room and he ended up staying in the hospital for over 40 days due to some kind of infection. She said the nurses told her it was her fault her son got sick- she made him look like a demon and the spirits made him bleed. Wow. Mexican healthcare workers believe in boogeymen over science. I got a kick out of that.

I saw La Danza de los Muertos yesterday. It was rad. This guy was dancing around in a skull head looking really creepy. The way I interpreted it, he was at first confused about the fact that he was dead, but then he got really into it and seemed happy to be a badass skeleton-man. I wish I could describe it better than that. It was pretty spooky.

I went to el Museo de las Bellas Artes and saw a Goya exhibit and another exhibit by Pedro Friedberg. I never knew it, but Goya was a pretty non-conventional painter for his time. I really liked Friedberg's stuff. He studied to be an architect when he was young and decided against actually going in to the field. Instead, he drew these crazy, highly detailed and non-functional buildings with all sorts of tantric, Aztec, and even Masonic symbolism within them. His stuff kind of reminded me of Monty Python cartoons. He's also that guy who made those chairs shaped like hands so that he could cop a feel while you sit in his art work. This guy rules. Check him out. If you ever win a million dollars and want to buy me a gift, get me one of his drawings.

Enough. My head feels like someone is stabbing me in the temples. Mary Claire made pancakes. Happy Dia de los Muertos! Oh and hey, check this contradiction out real quick. Illegal aliens with green cards? If you're going to be witty, think it through a little. Orale.