So the juxtaposition of this post and the previous post may or may not be significant (ATTENTION JOURNALISM AND ENGLISH MAJORS: I realize that there is more than a small chance that I just used juxtaposition incorrectly. No me importa.) Either as a side affect of the 17 various animal parts I ate last weekend, the tap water I've been using to rinse my toothbrush (whoops), or my own cooking, I have been suffering from unfortunate but not completely unexpected Digestive Distress this week. I don't know if it's exactly the infamous Monteczuma's Revenge but someone/something besides me is Definitely getting the last laugh. Darn. Anyways, I think I'm finally on the mend but it was not the greatest week I ever had...
Despite the above mentioned undertones of the week, it was overall successful. I went on my first solo public transit adventure to visit my semi-host family in a nearby neighborhood. After a confused conversation with the bus driver, I successfully unloaded at the correct bus stop, walked the short distance to the neighborhood and even remembered at which gate I should ring the bell. I had a lovely comida with my host mom and siblings and admired the newly born chihuahua puppies. After a coffee with Mama Olivia, I decided it was probably a good idea to head back to UDLAP before the daily monsoon. I will not go into travel desmadre details for the sake of my mother's nerves, but I will say GRACIAS A DIOS for the friendly, helpful, and better oriented UDLAP exchange students sitting behind me on what turned out to be the wrong bus! What the bus driver described as "a bus stop close to UDLAP" turned out to be at least 8 blocks walking on an unfamiliar street. Aw well, live and learn.
This afternoon we had our weekly pre-internship conference with a doctor from a local hospital. Today's presentation was about the process of becoming a doctor in Mexico. The thing that surprised me the most was that every medical school and nursing school graduate is required to spend a year doing some kind of social service. Even if you go to a private university, you are not licensed to practice medicine until you have completed your year of service to the community. While this program is a little reminiscent of the "required community service" from my middle school years, I think it's an excellent idea. I'm sure it's not a perfect system, but imagine if every university graduate gave a year of their time and enthusiasm for their new career to the community.
Eeeentonces...(i picked up this Spanish equivalent of sooo/ummm from Mama Olivia) I think I'll end here to go spend some quality time with Harry Potter y la camara secreta. Embarrassing? Maybe. This weekend we're taking a daytrip to Tepoztlan, which is a little-ish town near Cuernavaca. Check it out!
Tepoztlan
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