Hey everyone,

So my trip is finally coming to an end. I am sorry I did not update my blog very frequently at the end. I was very busy wrapping up the program.

I have mixed feelings about going back to the United States. I am very sad to leave Mexico because I enjoyed myself so much here but I do miss California very much.

My last month of the program was spent going to Puerto Escondido, a beach town on the pacific coast of Oaxaca and writing my final exams. Puerto Escondido was absolutely beautiful. While there we worked with the local Secretaria de Salud (health secretary) on controlling dengue fever, malaria and chagas disease. We went to some of the local villages and worked on eradicting the vectors (mosquitoes and their larvae). After Puerto I went back to Oaxaca for two weeks and wrote my final papers.

My parents came to visit me on November 30 and they stayed with me in Oaxaca city for a week. After that we went back to Puerto Escondido where we are now. It has been very nice being on vacation after the stressful last two weeks. While here my parents and I went on a birdwatching tour at one of the local lagoons where we saw many tropical birds. They have alligators, crocidiles, ocelots and jaguarundis (which are small wild cats) but we didnt see any of them.

Thanks everyone for reading my blog and taking interest in my life. I am excited to see you guys and for those I will not see Happy Holidays!

Love,
Max

Hola,

Today is Dia de los Muertos in Mexico and I just finished a long weekend of celebrating. The holiday here is a huge celebration where everyone wears costumes and enjoys themselves for three days. Many people gather at the cemetaries to pay respects to their loved ones by putting things on the grave.People also construct altars as offering to the dead. My group built an altar in one of the local cemetaries. We put a lot of work into it (it took six hours to build) and it came out really well. We made a giant arch out of sugar cane and tied beautiful flowers to it. We placed items such as bread, fruit and peanuts on the altar.

On halloween night I wore a giant tigger costume and had a lot of fun. I wore it to the cemetary tour and lots of people (kids and adults alike) wanted to take pictures with me. I kind of felt like one of those people who dress like cartoon characters at disneyland and take pictures with people.

Last week I was placed at the local hospital. On wednesday I got to go to the ER and observe the doctors there but it was not very exciting. No emergency cases occured and the doctors there seemed a little bit annoyed we were there. Thursday was a whole different story. I got to go to the surgery floor and observe. The doctors were very accomadating and let us peer over their shoulders as they operated. I saw a doctor perform a histerectomy (uterus removal) because of benign miomas on the uterus. It was very interesting but also gruesome to see the doctor cut through the fat, abdominal muscles and whatever other layers he cut through. That same day I also saw two births. One normal and one caesarian. It was the first time I had ever seen a live birth and it was a very interesting experience. The woman who gave birth was on her sixth kid so the birth took about 5 seconds and was a little anticlimatic. I kind of expected a long, agonizing process. I have another week at the hospital so hopefully I will see more interesting things I can relate to you all.

Tomorrow we are going on a tour of the sierras (the local mountain range). As part of the tour we get to do a zipline which I am excited about. On saturday we are going to Puerto Escondido for two weeks for some rest and relaxation on the beach.

Hasta luego,
Max

Mexico City

Buenos tardes,

How is everyone?

I just came back this morning from Mexico City after taking an all night bus ride so I am pretty exhausted. The trip was amazing but very tiring. Last thursday I took an all night bus from Oaxaca to Mexico City with 15 other kids from my program. On Friday we went and saw the Aztec pyramids at Teotihucan, which were some of the most impressive strucutres I have ever seen. The main pyramid which was called the sun pyramid was the largest pre hispanic structure in the Americas. We climbed to the top and had panormic views of the entire valley around it. Also that day we went to the Basilica of Mexico which is the main catholic church in the country and is where the virgin de guadaple originated. That night we went and saw Juanes, a mexican popstar, in concert.

On Saturday we walked around the Zocalo (main plaza) and historic downtown. We also went to the National Palace which houses many of Diego Rivera´s impressive murals. His murals depict Mexican history starting with the indigenous people and continuing through spanish colonization.

For me, the soccer game we went to on Sunday was definitely the highlight of the trip. The games was between Mexico´s two biggest rivals, Chivas and America, and was housed in the sold out 100,000 seat capacity Aztec Stadium. We sat in the very first row next to the field. It was amazing. I wore a Chivas jersey to the game which turned out to be a bad idea. Chivas is from Guadalajara and was not the home team, although there were many Chivas fans. Chivas ended up winning 2 to 1. The energy in the stadium was unlike anything I have ever experienced at a sporting event.

However after the game we had some problems with unruly fans. The America fans were very angry that their team lost. My buddy and I were wearing Chivas jerseys while everyone else in our group was either neutral or wearing an America jersey. In the Metro station on the way back from the game we ran into a gang of drunken America fans (who all looked very young, maybe 15) who were chanting and attempting to attack the Chivas fans. There were riot police who told me and my buddy to stand behind them for our own safety. We did and when the mob passed the police went away. However there was another mob that came after the police left and we had no protection. They came into our group and attacked us. My freind was punched in the face and started to bleed profusely. It was an ugly scene. Luckily I was not hurt. However someone ripped a flag I was wearing around my neck off and tried to light it on fire before the police stopped them. My friend was ok and of course everyone was a little shaken up. I guess this type of thing is the norm here when it comes to soccer. So i guess it was sort of a cultural experience.

Anyway I am happy to back in peaceful Oaxaca and away from violent soccer fans. This week we are celebrating Dia de los Muertos and are making an altar as a group. Next week we are travelling to Puerto Escondido (a beach town on the pacific coast) for two weeks.

I will post another entry soon.

Love,
Max

Hola amigos y familia,

I finally have a little time to sit down and write another blog. Last week I started a new clinical rotation with a private practice pediatrician named Dr. Hector Tenorio. The private clinic is very different from the public Centro de Salud where I was at the previous week. The people who go to the private clinic are clearly from a higher socioeconomic class and the facility itself is much nicer. However the private doctor lets me do less than the public doctor did. Mostly I just observe him treating the kids. A lot of kids come in with gastrointestinal infections and pulmonary infections. Many kids also come in for vaccinations, such as for the flu or for hepatitis A. Tomorrow is my last day with him beacause we are going to Mexico City late thursday night and next week I will be with a different doctor.

I am very excited for my Mexico City trip. 16 kids from my program are going. We are taking an all night bus on thursday and returning on an all night bus on sunday. We bought tickets for a concert by a big Mexican pop star named Juanes. We also have tickets for the America vs. Chivas futbol game which is one of the biggest games of the year in Mexico. We are staying in a hostel in the main square (Zocalo) of Mexico City. We are also planning on going to see the pyramids at Teotihuacan. I will write all about my trip when I come back.

Everything in Oaxaca is going well. Last week I took a cooking class where I made mole (a mexican sauce), tamales and fresh salsa. It was lots of fun and everything turned out really well. We made the salsa with a mortar and pistil (I think that is what they are called).

On the weekends my group and I usually go out dancing. The dance clubs are really fun here. We do salsa dancing and koombia too. We have met a lot of locals as well as travelers from other programs. People are really nice here. The drink of choice here is called mezcal which is an unrefined form of tequilla and it tastes really bad.

Anyway I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for reading and commenting on my blog and I will try to send you guys an email soon!

Love,
Max

Hola todos. Que tal?

Sorry I have been neglecting my blogging latley but I have been really busy. This week we have our midterm and I have been spending a lot of time doing that. I also joined a yoga class and a gym to lift weights at so that has been taking up some of my time. 

This is the end of my third week in Mexico. Friday was my last day at the Centro de Salud clinic. I felt I had a good experience there but I am ready to move on. Next week I am going to shadow a private practice peditrician which I am excited about. I felt I learned a lot at my time at the centro. The doctor taught me basic check up techniques such as how to check for a throat infection, how to check for bladder, stomach, appendix and kidney pain. He also taught me how to listen to breathing for signs of a pulmonary infection. I also learned how to check up on pregnant woman and feel around the stomach for signs of normal, healthy development of a baby. I learned how to listen to the heartbeat of the developing baby which is possible to hear after about 25 weeks of pregnacny. Since many of the patients were diabetic I learned some of the ways to examine a diabetic. We checked for the pupil dilation reflex which is sometimes impaired in diabetics and also for poor circulation and loss of feeling in the legs and feet. 

One thing I found surprising about the clinic I worked at was the amount of time we spent listening to drug company representatives. Almost half of the time I was there we had to listen to presenations from drug reps who told us about their drugs and handed us samples that they wanted us to give to patients. However most of the patients cannot afford the drugs the drug reps talk about so I thought it was kind of a waste of time. Also the time spent listening to the drug companies could have been spent on patient care. I am curious if this type of drug advertising goes on in U.S. hospitals and clinics. 

On a personal note, this week I finally got over a bad case of stomach pain and diarrea I had for about two weeks. I guess this is normal for travelers in Southern Mexico to experience. Many other people in our group had gastrointestinal problems as well.

Today I went for a nice run with my roommate Ricky. I live on a set of stairs that lead up to beautiful running path that reminded me a lot of Marin. The path had awesome views of Oaxaca and the surrounding valleys and pueblos. It was nice to get out of the busy city and into nature. 

After this week we will be done with our midterm and I will have a lot more freetime. Some people in my group are planning a trip to Mexico City in two weeks which I think I will go on. Mexico City is about 6 hours away by bus. We are planning on staying in a hostel and watching a soccer game there. 

Anyway I will write another post later this week. Hope everyone is well.

Max

Hola todos.

Today was my first day of hospital work. For the next two weeks I am actually working in a small clinic called a Centro de Salud where I am one on one with a doctor. I get to be in the examening as he sees all his patients. The doctor goes out of his way to explain things to me and to involve me. For example today he had me check the heart rate of all his patients and he let me do some physical examining. For example one patient complained of stomach pain and the doctor had me check for tenderness in the abdominal area. The clinic where I am working at is a public clinic that is paid for by the government. Families that are relatively poor can qualify for what is called Seguro Popular which is a government program that pays for basic healthcare. They must recieve their healthcare at Centros de Salud, public hospitals and certain specialists. The Centro de Salud is a general consulting clinic and is the primary stop for patients in non emergency situations. If the doctor at the Centro feels the patient needs an x ray, surgery or needs to see some other type of specialist he will refer them to the public hospìtal. All of this is paid for by the government.

Many of the patients we saw today had diabetes and high blood pressure. These are common problems in Mexico because the population suffers from a lack of excersise and consumes diets high is sodium and sugar. Mexico is the number one consumer of soda in the world. The doctor explained to me that because of the high poverty levels families often cannot find time to exercise or come up with the money to join a gym. It is also hard for some families to afford healthy food. It is a complicated issue. The Centro has a pharmacy and the doctor often perscribed various drug to help control blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

Tomorrow is my second day with the doctor and I hope to have new and exciting information to write about next time!

Nos vemos
Max

Hola ustedes. Right now I am at a trendy interent cafe called Cuilles eating breakfast. Stuff is amazingly cheap here. I am eating a breakfast with eggs, sausage, bread, beans, cheese tomatoes, fruit and coffee for less than 4 dollars.

 Since my last blog entry my group has taken some field trips to some of the interesting places surrounding Oaxaca. On thursday we visited the ancient Zapotec city of Monte Alban. The city consisted of many mountain top pyramids, temples, stadiums and other structures with views of the many surrounding valleys. We learned about Zapotec daily life including some of the gruesome sacrificial rituals they practiced. The Zapotecs played a ball game kind of like soccer and the best player would have his heart cut out and offered to the gods. 

The next day we visited some of the surrounding towns around Oaxaca. We were exposed to some of the local industries such as pottery, weaving and wood sculpting. We visited this family that had been making a special type of black pottery for centuries. The pottery is spun with simple tools that do not require electricity. We also visited this wood sculptor who is world renown for making these wood sculptures of animals and other figures. The were articles from many American newspaper and magazines about him posted on the walls of his shop. The animals were very beautiful but extremely pricey so I did not buy any. 

We also visited a giant outdoor market in one the Oaxacan suburbs. The market sold food, clothes, electronics and all sorts of things. It was similar to a flea market. I bought a sombrero for 1.5 dollars after bartering with the guy. Bartering is common in Mexico and is fun to do. We are often able to lower the price of goods significantly. 

Some other news is that I joined a local gym here to try to stay in shape. It is a pretty nice gym by Mexican standards.

Ok well I am going to start studying now since we start classes on Monday but I will have another entry soon.

Adios

Hola todos

¿Como estan ustedes? Sorry I have not been able to write earlier but this is the first time I have had access to a computer. I have been really busy with all of my orientation activities. I got into Oaxaca on Saturday. My host family met me at the airport and we took a taxi to our homestay. I am staying with one other student who is fluent in spanish so he is able to help translate when I dont understand things in Spanish. Our home we are staying at is at the top of a large set of steps with a great view of the city and the surrounding mountains. We are staying with a lady whose husband just recently died of a heart attack. Her kids and grandkids are almost always around the house keeping her company.

Oaxaca is a very beautiful city. The centro (downtown) where we are staying has lots of old, colonial architecture and small cobblestone streets that cars cannot go down. Surrounding the old city are more modern suburbs.

This week we have been doing various orientation activities such as visiting the hospitals where we will be observing at, meeting the members of our group and going over the classes we will take. We are taking spanish classes, latino health classes and doing clinical rotations at local hospitals.

My group has 10 boys and 11 girls who are all from UC Davis except one who is from Santa Barbara. Tomorrow we are all visiting Monte Alban which is an old Zapotec city with ancient pyramids. The Zapotecs are an indigenous group similar to the Aztecs. Oaxaca is a very indigenous region of Mexico. 16 different languages are spoken in the state.

The food here is somewhat similar to the mexican food in the US but also has some differences. The local specialty is Chapulines which are fried grasshoppers. On the first day of class they gave each student a bag of them and had a contest to see who could eat the whole bag first. The kind of taste like sour sunflower seeds. Most meals here contain queso, tortillas, beans and some type of meat. A lot of the food is very spicy.

I will write more once I start my classes and clinical rotations. In the meantime I hope everyone is well.

Nos vemos

Welcome to my blog

Hey everyone,
This is my blog that I am planning to keep for my trip to Mexico this fall. I am leaving California on September 20 to go to Oaxaca, Mexico for three months. While down there I will be doing medical volunteer work and taking classes. I hope to use this blog to keep all my friends and family updated on my adventures.

Max