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