¡Los perros se hablan Español!

Hóla amigos

Yes. It's true. The dogs speak Spanish. Ok, well they don't speak Spanish but you know what I mean. Speaking of dogs... they are a step above Panamanian dogs. There are plenty of on-leash pet dogs, but the mange-ridden-rabies-having-anorexic dogs far outnumber the pets. It's so sad to see and I can't bear to photograph them because I fear I will steal bits of their souls if I do.

Yvonne & I bought bikes here last week and so far the pedal arm thing has become detached twice. While I was riding. Ha! I have concierge service with the purchase so I called up the store and a mechanic came and fixed my bike today. Honestly, the bikes are pieces of junk so it's nice to have that service. It is also nice to have the bikes to ride around town, especially since we have baskets!

I started at a new clinic this week. I am in Barra de Colotepec (barra = where the river meets the ocean). It's a pretty, poor little town just outside of Puerto Escondido. Monday we saw 14 patients in 4 hours. It was pretty intense. Let me explain... families who have Seguro Popular (gov't issued health insurance) and Oportunidades (same but different) are required to go to the clinic once a month for a check up. So, we may see a family of four at one time. It's focused on preventative medicine, family planning, and community service. Yep, you read that right--families who receive Oportunidades must complete a certain number of community service hours per week. Obviously nothing is perfect and systems remain bureaucratic and corrupt. But it's definitely food for thought. I'm really enjoying clinic time. Patients are really interested in who the güera is (that's me) sitting next to the doc.

This week I've seen 2 cases of chicken pox (no varicella vacuna here!), a woman in active labor (she walked in 5cm dilated), parasitic diseases (Albendazole anyone?), and I got to write a few Rx's recetas in Spanish. Here's a photo of the Centro de Salud:

And the obligatory selfie:

The sun and humidity are fantastic substitutes for makeup :)

I finally (!!!) took the correct colectivo directly to the clinic today. It's a camineto, a pickup truck with a canopy, and it's pretty frightening! It's only 8 pesos ($0.60) one way. Took some photos during my morning commute:
Statue of Benito Juarez in Puerto Escondido (the cut out is so you can see where you are going!):

This is a shot out the back:

Today was an interesting day. I met up with Rodolfo, the Public Health Official for Barra de Colotepec. He gave me a lecture (en Español) about Dengue (clásico y hemorrágico). There is a public health campaign called "Patios Limpios" where an official goes to each house and checks for mosquito activity. People have huge tanques of water outside their homes and standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitos. So, he makes sure the water is clean (by putting in fish that eat mosquito larvae), the patios are clean, and that there are no high-risk areas of homes. I walked around with him today and he handed me the clipboard and I was in charge of recording the results of each visit!

Our first stop was to an abuelita. We sat and talked to her for about 30 minutes. She had tamales cooking on the outdoor griddle and she made sure we each had one. Honestly, it was the most delicious tamal I have EVER had. It was a tamal sordo, without filling, but the flavor was amazing:

I couldn't get a better picture because I didn't want to be rude. But you can see a bit of her in the background along with the oven/stove situation. She also had pineapple plants, a starfruit tree, and mango trees. You better believe she gave me a mango at the end of our visit!

Then another lady gave me plums (ciruelas). You can't say no...it's offensive. So, I gave the plums to the colectivo driver and the mango to La Doña. I don't have a talented enough digestive system to handle fruit just picked off the tree here and since I just went to the supermercado I didn't want to waste the fruit.

We went to one house with tons of farm animals:

And we ended the day with a full clipboard:

Here's a cute pic for my sister. These two kiddos could NOT get enough of my books. 

And I could not get enough of this damn adorable cat with gigantic orejas (ears on animals... oidos are ears on humans).

It's almost like they are weighing him down!!

My Spanish is improving day by day. I try to talk to as many people as possible. If I did that in the US, people would probably think I am weird. Friendliness is the rule, not the exception!

NO PASA NADA...the only other rule in Puerto.

Talk to you all soon enough.