The Friendly Smiles of Petatlan :) – 3/29/11 Posted on March 29th, 2011 by Jeffrey Rathlef

We continue to be awakened by the sound of roosters bright and early each morning. Today, we continued our service work in the four locations that we visited yesterday. Lauren, Korbin, Kevin, Sarah Kate and Patty are working at DIF. Molly, Allie and Carla are at the Rehabilitation Center. Kirsten and Nicole spent the morning at Came with the children. Kristen, Katelyn, Barb and Chaz are helping at the hospital. At DIF we have checked many blood pressures, blood sugar levels, pulses, height/weight, etc. and were much busier than yesterday.All the patients are SO friendly and we are thoroughly enjoying speaking (or trying to speak) with them! Our Spanish speaking skills seem to be improving, however, everyone is very patient and willing to work with our lack of Spanish. There is an ADORABLE little girl running around at DIF who we are all in love with! She is loving the camera and saying “otras fotos!” (She is in 2 of our pictures). At Came Kirsten and Nicole were able to sit in on classes for children that are physically and/or mentally delayed. The two of them had a wonderful time and enjoyed every minute they had with the children. The teachers there work with the children so that eventually they can be integrated into the public school system. Kristen and Katelyn are assisting with vitals and making rounds with the head nurse of the hospital. The hospital is a busy facility, and we are doing what we can to assist with the flow of patients. They were also able to spend time in the Emergency room and see a patient with a bad reaction to salsa (perhaps we should cut back on our salsa intake?). The Rehab Center seems to be busier today and they are able to see a few more patients than yesterday. The weather today is wonderful and seems to have cooled down a bit. The building is quite breezy, however, our white scrubs tops may be a bit soiled by the end of the week! We are finished with our day at 4 o’clock and each have various plans with our families for the evening. We look forward to sharing more details of our experience with all of you when we return! Enjoy the COLD weather – haha! Love, Everyone (written by Korbin)