Week 4 marked our first week of clinical rotations! Myself and one other student, Victoria, were in the urgent care clinic on UPAEP campus. The first day, we observed a few procedures, such as vaccinations, bandaging, and wound cleaning. The second day, we actually were able to participate in the hands-on procedures. Very cool.
On Friday, Lisette (our program director) organized for us to tour two schools. The first was a preschool and primary school with both English and Spanish speaking classrooms. This one actually reminded me very much of working as a counselor at camp, and I loved getting to interact with the kids there. The second, Dios es Amor (God is Love), is a school for children and adults with various types of mental and physical disabilities. They teach the students at their own pace and engage them in other activities such as baking and carpentry. Going forward, we have the option of volunteering at either of the two schools.
After visiting the schools, we went to lunch at a pizza restaurant. We sat down at a large rooftop table, from which we could see the whole city and surrounding volcanoes. We then had a four course Italian meal served with some delicious red wine: crab rangoons, meat lasagna and salad, then margarita pizza, and finally a brownie with ice cream. It was absolutely delicious and refreshing to have a break from Mexican food (although I haven’t eaten a bad meal since arriving here).
After our meal, we headed to Museo Barroco (Baroque Museum). This museum highlights the Baroque era in Europe, which heavily influenced Puebla as it grew in the 17th century. Here we learned about the music, fashion, art, and history of the city during this era. This included many beautiful Stradivarius violins, which were particularly interesting to me. They also showed how they added the beautiful inlay and engravings to the violins.
On Saturday, we headed off to Ex Hacienda de Chautla. This was an old hotel property which had been turned into a park. The old hotel sits right on the bank of a beautiful lake. There is a land bridge that crosses the lake and takes you right up to the hotel. Once at the hotel, we were able to walk up the the roof and see the whole beautiful property.
Around the property, there were various activities to engage in, including canoeing, fishing, and zip-lining. Our whole group was able to canoe around the lake and many decided to zip-line. Unfortunately, I was wearing a dress, so no zip-lining for me 😦 Our day trip to Ex Hacienda de Chautla concluded with paletas (popsicles) for everyone. We then headed home to prepare for our upcoming tests and papers, although we didn’t let our studying interfere with a fun night of playing cards.
Unfortunately, one of my friends, Mary, was not feeling well, so my weekend actually wrapped up spending Sunday in the hospital with her. Michael, Mary, and I were there all day, as other people came in and out to hang out for a few hours and play a little Uno. All things considered, we had a pretty good time, and Mary’s stomach was feeling better with the pain medicine. She was also able to leave the next day, which was exciting for everyone.
I’m sorry I’ve gotten a little behind on blog posts. Week 5 was filled with a lot of school work: papers due, tests to take. Luckily though, we had Independence Day to look forward to on Monday, which meant a long weekend! More to come 🙂
En Puebla Bailan Así 