Turkey and Hangman

Last week, I had my first chance to be a substitute teacher....in a language I have come no where near mastering. Erin, my roommate here in Casa Wood, went home for Thanksgiving and I covered her English, Chemistry, and Biology classes for three days last week. The kids are middle school age and of course they were quick to pick up on my limited language skills but I confiscated 3 notes, managed to prevent one kid from putting a grasshopper in my purse, and was able to explain that because I was a PA, I knew for a fact that his stomach would not explode if I didnt let him use the bathroom. We had a rousing game of hangman in English class on Friday, with free drug rep pens to the winning team! The game was deciding on the word 'homework'.

On Thursday, we had a Thanksgiving Day dinner here with the 8 people in the house and 6 more. We had turkey (apparently from the Costco in Acapulco), mashed pototatoes, cole slaw, yams, and apple pie...very traditional, no? And, I was able to say what I was thankful for in Spanish...
¡Gracias por mi familia en Los Estados Unidos, mi familia aqui, mi tiempo en México, y todos las personas puedan me ayudar!

More Pictures with the World Caract Foundation

Patients resting after their surgeries...



Dr. Freeman and me

the whole gang

the restless crowd


happy family members...


helping with the screening


in the middle of surgery

Here are a few more pictures from my week with the World Cataract Foundation. WCF has a great website,www.worldcataract.org, that describes their mission to eliminate blindness here in Ometepec which is in the state of Guerrero. The fourth picture is of me and Dr. Jerre Freeman, founder of the WCF who comes to Ometepec several times a year.

I know it has been a while since the last post, but first things first, Happy Birthday John, ¡Felicidades!
Well, it took me a little while to settle into things here, but I have been pretty busy. The beginning of my first full week in Ometepec was spent at the local hospital, Hospital de la Amistad (Friendship Hospital). This hospital has been around since the 1950s and is quite impressive. As you can imagine, the health care standard isn't the same as ours in the states, but this private hospital does a pretty good job. I spent Monday through Thursday each with a different doctor to see how they do things and to be surrounded by as much Spanish as possible. The doctors here do EVERYTHING, from outpatient follow ups to surgeries and deliveries. I helped in the operating room during an appendectomy, did a Pap Smear, and saw several babies born (by they way, Mexican babies have so much hair!) Then, Friday, a team of Americans representing the World Cataract Foundation arrived for their 37th annual trip to Ometepec. There were 6 OOphthalmologistseach with their own team of scrub nurses, support staff and an optician. They come every year to do surgery on cataracts and pterygiums (a fleshy growth on the white part of the eye that with UV exposure and dust can grow over the cornea obstructing the vision). I helped give patients their discharge instructions, observed several cataract surgeries and assisted one of the doctors with his pterygium surgeries. I even served as a translator when I was needed. The optician dispensed reading glasses and sunglasses to the patients that weren't ccandidatesfor surgery. They screened over 1300 people (which was a little bit crazy!) and in 4 and half days, they did 153 cataracts, 45 pterygiums, dispensed 971 pairs of glasses and 850 pairs of sunglasses. I had a lot of fun. It was a great chance to meet new people from the states, and most of all, a great opportunity to touch a lot of people here in Mexico who now have the gift of sight!
This is a picture of the operating room, three doctors per room, and me with a lady that just received a shot to numb and iimmobilizeher eye. The ball helps distribute the medicine and speed along the process.

¡Estoy en México, finalmente! So I am dusting off the ol' blog and hoping that all of you who were reading it will pick back up on my life. It's been a long haul, but I have finally settled down in the town of Ometepec. It is about 3 hours from Acapulco, surrounded by mountains...and mosquitoes, and quite warm. It is the 'dry' season and the winter but it is still humid and hot. And don't take that for complaining, I am so glad to be back in the country...still communicating basically, but at least I can communicate! I have one picture of the city here, I'm just learning my way around so there will be more pictures to come. ¡Hasta Luego!