Calzón Chino

Notice: The title of this blog is completely unrelated to the content. I just learned yesterday that the word for wedgie in Mexican Spanish is calzón chino. These little gem is just one of many things I am learning here in Mexico. Other new talents include being able to administer tetanus shots to adults. See photos below.

We just finished a three week vaccination campaign for children under five. We went to kindergartens and houses administering oral vaccines and catching kids up with their vaccination schedules. We also gave tetanus boosters to adults. Now that this campaign is over I am helping with clinical consultations. People who have social security must come to our clinic for a quick check-up before they are assigned a primary care physician. We get them caught up on their shots, give them a few talks about sexually transmitted diseases, oral hygiene, and address general concerns. It is a bit slow because I am doing a lot of observing. But, it is interesting to be in a clinical setting and I think more responsibility will come with time. In addition to these office hours, I will be helping with the mobile medical teams that I talked about in my last blog.

I spend most of my day working with the social security and then zip over to my tutoring job. This job is really fun and also pays the bills. A lot of my satisfaction comes from knowing that I am actually finally using all those chemistry classes that I suffered through. When we aren’t doing chemistry we are doing funny combinations of yoga, interpretative dance, self defense, salsa, stretching, jumping up and down, playing baseball, and probably a few other funny things I left out. Their mom just wants them to get outside and move around for physical education. I love this kind of stuff.

I am going to keep this blog short because the beach is calling my name. I should mention that below you will also find pictures of the newest addition to the Beckley family – Oliver Robert. He was born on the 13th of February. I am especially baby crazy these days and wishing that I was in Seattle to see the little nephew.

The Team

Here we pose at a kindergarten after giving a bunch of kids drops of Sabin - an oral booster vaccination for Polio.

This is what the team really looks like

One requires survival instincts on these vaccination campaigns. We get dropped off in different neighborhoods, have to figure out where our co-workers went, and locate a way to get back to the clinic. There is also a fair bit of down time as we try and coordinate all of this. As you can see, I am honing my hanging out skills here.

Look at me vaccinate!

Aim high, if you miss you will still be amoung the stars

I hope to one day have the ability to vaccinate children in the bum. As you can see, my coworker Magda is a pro.

Happy New Family

Little Bundle of Beckley