Hola everyone!
We continue our service work today after arriving at DIF at 7am and eating a delicious breakfast of hotcakes. Raul, my host father and also the lawyer/social worker for DIF, woke up early today to bring a young boy to an orphanage in Acupulco. After breakfast, Lauren, Barbara, and I went the the general hospital at around 8 a.m. When we arrived, around 30 people were already waiting in a line at the hospital. Due to the organization of Barbara, who had been at the hospital the day before, the nurses at the hospital were ready to put us to work checking vital signs of patients waiting. Between Laura, Barbara, and myself, we checked around 40 to 50 people in about an hour and a half. We were also able to converse with a couple of the doctors and asked them about how they became doctors and what they typically see at the hospital. The radiologist showed me how they develop x-ray film and we examined a couple films of patients together.
Our apologies–the internet cut out before we could finish our blog last night.
After our days at the various clinical sites we all met at Claudia’s house to reflect upon our stay in Petatlan. The students shared similar thoughts including the enriching experience of living with a host family, learning about Petatlecan culture, and eating delicious Mexican food! We all agree that the overwhelming amount of hospitality and support that the families and citizens have offered us has been the most meaningful aspect of the trip. We will forever have friends in Petatlan, Mexico.
During the evenings the students have participated in various activities with their families. Many have traveled to the surrounding cities such as Ixtapa and Zihuatenejo, visited the surrounding beaches and frequented the local plaza. We have found a favorite local tienda de jugos (juice shop) where they sell every kind of juice imaginable in addition to many delicious flavors of ice cream. Needless to say, we visit the tienda de jugos daily 🙂
Tonight we are hosting a great fiesta to express our appreciation for our families, the directors of DIF and the other clinical sites and the city of Petatlan in general. We are looking forward to much dancing, delicious food and great music from a Mariachi band.
Hope you all are staying warm! We can’t believe we are more than halfway done with our trip.
Lauren and Kevin