I am back in the states. Yesterday, I had been back for 3 days and I found myself looking at Team Rubicon's site for their next mission; I am ready to go back out again. 12 days in Mexico was just enough to wet my whistle...at least, that is how I feel. I arrived back in the states and ate at Chili's with the group. BIG mistake. I should have eaten some exotic foods with Mick. Herein lies the mistake: Apparently our GI systems get so used to the foods/oils/etc. of other countries (especially 3rd-World ones) that when we return, many people have difficulty re-adjusting to American diets. I was sick for 2 full days, and barely able to stand for more than 5 minutes together. My muscles were so weak that my very bones felt heavy. I could hear the contents of my stomach sloshing around as I walked or turned over on the couch to reposition myself. I was not digesting anything - it was just going straight through. I did not really have any pain, and I had little to no energy. Imodium helped a little, but it was the powerade, the chicken noodle soup, and the gentle encouragement that my mom, dad, and Christa gave me to 'let myself rest', that really helped me recover quickly. Next time I have a small plan for easing into this diet, and I will know to give myself a few days.
      We began our trip at the Nashville Airport. Mick gathered everyone together and set his tone for the whole trip. Mick: 'I have these 2 tickets, but how do I know where to go to get on my flight? Do you guys know?' he asked the group in pretend wonderment and confusion. They all looked at him quite blankly. Most of them had never even been on a plane before, and had only dropped loved-ones off or picked them up at the airport. 'Well,' Mick said finally, 'First I can look on my ticket and see the flight number. Then, do you see those large screens up on the wall that keep flashing and changing? Ok, well, I can look at those and see that I am departing FROM Nashville, and then check the flight number, and it tells me what time the plane will take off and what gate I need to be at to board the flight.' He would go through this type of routine every time we were clustered together and had to go anywhere. As we walked down the streets of Juxtlahuaca, he would stop at street corners and tell everyone to look around and he'd point out certain land-marks or street signs. This was so that people would be aware of where they were, and also possibly find their way if they got lost from the group. He would also ask someone new to lead us to the restaurant where we ate breakfast every morning.
     Day One: Go to the church 'Gracias Abundante', and the group stayed there and helped out with tearing down fences and putting up new ones in their place. Our little clinical group gathered all the supplies that we would need to do clinics for the rest of the week in the 'pharmacy'. The next day, the clinic group loaded into the suburban and drove to a little place at the top of a mountain called Pena Prieta (it means Dark Knoll), and held clinic for the people who lived there. I was so nervous, but my small team assured me there was nothing to be nervous about. I picked up the job of being 'Pharmacy tech' really quickly, and was able to splint fractures and clean and dress wounds as they came up. It is ingrained in me not to take pictures of patients, so I did not take pictures of them until later in the week. We ate a late lunch - at around 3pm - and came down the mountain at around 7pm. A long day, but it set the speed and routine for the clinical group for the rest of the trip: we were always the 1st ones on site, last to eat lunch, and the last to get back to town. Many times the group waited on us to arrive before we walked straight to dinner. The hardest thing was at the end of the day when we had to send people away. How do you tell someone who's been waiting for hours to see you that the clinic is closed?

    

I saw such beauty around me all of the time. How do these people survive? How do they live? What kinds of things do they think about? I wonder how they are so stoic in facial expression, but still love such vivid colors?

Looking in their eyes, I cannot tell. They do not smile much, unless we smile first. Many of them do not even know how old they are. This woman could be anywhere from 60-100 years old, and she does not even know where she fits in that line. They do not know what the average lifespan is here. They are the people of the clouds...ageless, nameless, but not forgotten.

           Here are some of the pictures that I like most:

                        A Triki chair. They are a tiny people. A view from my perch at the pharmacy table.  

 Again, a view from my pharmacy table. These 3 hombres had already been seen, but their wives and children were waiting. The white hats were popular with mountain people.

                                     The mountain roads. We are in the back of a cattle truck.

 This shot was taken at one of the clinics - San Martin Duraznos (Saint Martin Peaches). She sat there and stared at me for several hours, then she turned and looked outside. I LOVE this shot.

 This is the canyon that we visited. We did not have to pay and I have no idea what it was called. But it translated to 'Muddy River Canyon' or something close to that. It was beautiful.

Poor little Eeyore. Their saddles were made of wood and so all of the hair on their backs was rubbed off. All of the animals were shy and skittish, but they were so hungry for affection that they perked up when we brushed their fur with our hands.

     We visited, in order: Pena Prieta, Juxtlahuaca, Yucuyi, Rio De Hielo,  Oaxaca City, Puebla, and Mexico City.      

Cheers to Mexico