Fat Tuesday- The Celebration

Fat Tuesday rolled around and Madgalena invited me out to her house to celebrate. And, did we celebrate! This is my kind of event.

Julie´s host family lives out in Datanli, a small city (really, a small road out in the campo) located  30 minute bus ride out of town, and a 2km walk from the highway. Magdelena is Julie´s host mom. She is really a wonderful woman.

This tuesday, a pretty important part of the year for Catholics, she taught us how to make "buñuelos." These are basically corn, cheese dough balls, deep fried and dunked in cinnamon and sugar. YUMMM!

Magdelena showing us the ropes.

Cutting up "dulce," or a big cube of cane sugar. This will be the syrup we put the buñuelos in.

Julie breaking up a pound of cheese. This gets mixed in with 2lbs of cornmeal, "maseca," 2 eggs and a bit of water.

Nathan, a local Ag volunteer, watching the work being done. I know he´s waiting around for the final project.

Julie, Magdelena, Oliver (her son) and myself making the dough balls.

Getting ready to deep fry the buñuelos.

Dumping them in sugar and cinnamon.

Oliver eating up our hard work.

SO WORTH IT! 

Jenny came to visit and . . . we hiked to the cross

MEDICAL SCHOOL

Most you know the good news, I got into medical school! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I received the letter a couple of weeks ago. A small envelope if you believe it, from the University of Northern Texas. So much for the large/small envelope theory. Anyway, ever since I have been on a whirlwind mission to try and get paperwork done and sent back to the US. It is not easy, let me tell you. Papers signed to accept the offer. Papers filled out for the government to see I can get any loans. Papers printed and filled out to apply for scholarships. Papers. Papers. Papers.

But today, I'm taking a break form papers. I've borrowed a computer from a friend (because my computer decided to finally fart out on me), I've walked up to the highway to the local coffee coop, I've ordered an expensive latte, and I am going to surf the web like I have nothing else to do!

Dr. Vice

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I was going to put a funny doctor comic here . . . I couldn't find one 

with a female doctor in it who wasn't an ob/gyn. Grumph.

Photos, finalmente!

A while ago I wrote to you all about a special workshop I put on. It was a one day course taught to 20 young women in a rural community hours away from any health services. No one travels to these people. The police don´t make it out there. The closest doctors forget about them during national vaccine campaigns. Even the closest school forgets to go out there and recruit students for the next year. Obviously these women were in need of attention.

A local agriculture volunteer found funding and invited me up for the day. We spent the morning talking about health education and the afternoon sharing stories about our rights a women. It was a wonderful experience.

Well, 2 months later, I finally have photos. WOOOOOOO

Learning about HIVaids (VIHsida).

Vulvas. Enough said.

Talking about how the immune system works. I like to add in a little dance.

A serious, and pretty fun, conversation about what we deserve.