Tired, wet and happy

It has been raining a lot this week and we have been running all around Oaxaca! We had a whole week of activities planned with our program, including cultural excursions, getting our syllabi and assignments for the quarter (ugh), taking Spanish classes at Becari Language school, visiting the locations of the clinics we will rotating through and getting to know this kooky bunch of UCD (and one UCSB) kids!

Monday 9/22

We met with our tour guide for the week, Esther, who is highly knowledgable about Oaxaca, both the the city and the state. She is so energetic and lively at 60 something years olg, I really hope to have her spirit when I am her age. We met at Santo Domingo, a beautiful cathedral with green bricks (a result of oxidized copper in the bricks) and the interior is covered in gold, reminding me a lot a Greek Orthodox church. We had a presentation on the native fruits and vegetables of the area and tasted some interesting fruit. We walked around the city and ate some pumpkin flower quesadillas by some women street vendors. Again, Oaxaca cheese is amazing, the pumpkin flower has a subtle taste, and the corn tortilla is smokey. We walked around a lot! In the evening we went to Guelageutza show, which is a presnetation of the folkloric dances of the 7 regions of Oaxaca. A Guelaguetza is an annual event in Oaxaca City that brings people from all the 7 distinct regions of Oaxaca State to a week long cultural event. It includes the regional dances, but also regional foods and traditions are shared through events and activities. The Guelagetza is held in July, so I will not get to see the real one.

Tuesday 9/23

Orientation stuff, ice breakers, university regulations about behavior (aka- learn to hold your liquor) and syllabi. Yuck, a long, but necessary, day. We are swamped with reading, especially since 2 weeks out of the quarter are in Puerto Escondido, a beach resort where very little homework gets done. So technically, we only have 8 weeks to do 10 weeks worth of work. I also started Spanish classed today at Becari Language School, a local language school that we must receive 40 hours of Spanish and Medical Spanish coursework. I was a little dissapointed, frankly, that I got into the intermediate Spanish course, but the placement was based off of a Spanish grammar exam and I have not taken formal Spanish courses since senior year of high school (4 years ago.) But it is quite easy, I am not complaining, I want to spend less time doing homework and more time hanging out in this lively city.

Wednesday 9/24

Cinic time! We took a tour of all the clinic sites for our our clinical rotations. I will be attending UCD classes on Monday and Tuesdays, attending language classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and clinical rotations for 4 hours each day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We are busy little pre-meds! My first assignment is in Xochimilco, or Xoxo ("ho-ho") which is a suburb of Oaxaca that is 40 minutes away from el centro (downtown.) It is far and I have to be there by 8 am, so lots of coffee for me! We will all get a chance to work at Hospital Civil, or general hospital, where a lot goes on! We will also get to observe surgeries here and get access to various specialties, like oncology and general surgery. In the evening we went to a really lame presentation about cultural events in Oaxaca. It would have been cool, but the presenter spoke really slow and loud, so that the low level Spanish speakers would understand. But if people dont know what a word means, slowing your speech and increasing volume is not going to help; it actually irritates. But after that, PARRRRRTTYYY TIMEE! Geez, it was Wednesday night but we went clubbin! Oaxaca has an active nightlife and cheap drinks. We didnt stay out too too late, though, cause we had to go hiking in ruins the next day!

Thursday 9/25

Monte Alban is the site of ancient Mesoamerican ruins, where Aztec, Zapotec, Olmec and Toltecs lived and later abandoned around 500 BC. I had visited Chichen Itza before, but Monte Alban was smaller. More is being discovered every year, since it is an active archaeological site, but the charm of overlooking a fertile valley and the weather made the experience almost magical. It was raining the entire time we were there, but it was okay, since there were no mosquitos out. But the clouds were low, and the mist was grazing the hills and flowing through the valleys, as though a spirit was hovering the ruins.

Friday 9/26

The longest, most expensive and exciting day EVER! We starting our tour of several pueblos outside of Oaxaca City to explore different artesian crafts. First we went to San Bartolo, a town known for its black ceramic. The style of ceramics was created in this village, where a special kind of soil found in the hills of Oaxaca, can be treated at different lengths of time and at varying temperatures to give a black color, there is no paint or dyes. We saw a presentation of how the ceramic cantaros (jars) are made and it was so cool to see Valentin, an experience and aged craftsman, share his love and knowledge to us.

Next we went to Ocotlan, known for their huge market and native painter, Rodolfo Morales. We went to the food court and ate at Cocina Frida Kahlo, whose chef was dressed as Frida! We had some awesome mole colorado and then walked around the market.

We went to the church, where just to the side is a musuem of original artwork of Rodolfo Morales. I am very drawn to the bright and contrasting colors, the sharp images and the abstract shapes. I guess I have the art taste of a kindergardener! Sorry about the poor picture quality, but I was not allowed to use flash to preserve the paintings!

Next we went to San Martin, a village that makes its living off of textiles. We went to a womens artesan cooperative where a group of women make handicrafts and sell them at a fixed priced. They have beautifully woven cotton rugs, handbags, dresses, it was a feast for the eyes! I went a little scarf crazy and got 6 different colored scarves, but I loved just loved the bright colors!

Just outside of San Martin was a a woodworker that specializes in painted wood sculptures. They are made of the copal wood, a tree indigenous to the area, and are a worldwide folk art craze. They prices show it too, they are really expensive! I couldnt afford anything, what with spending 100 pesos on scarves and all! :)

After a long day of shopping till were dropping, Alexa and I came home and watched the brand new episode of Grey Anatomy. We are super lucky, our host family has wireless internet, a luxury for Oaxacan families. We went to get some amazing street burgers, which have 2 slices of ham, beef patty, pineapple and grilled onions for 20 pesos or $2, and then sat down to watch some trashy TV. It was the perfect end to an awesome week.