This shot's for you....

Most of you should be glad that you are not in Mezcales, Mexico, right now. If you were, there is a good chance that I would be sticking a needle in your arm. That is if you are ages 19 to 29 and not pregnant. Yup, we have moved from preying on little kids to young adults. We’re everywhere: the streets, the supermarket, places of work, and roaming around the clinic. We’ve even been known to stop carloads of hapless twenty-somethings on their way to a day at the beach.

As you can see, Mexico has a very aggressive campaign at the moment against Measles and Rubella (German Measles). The diseases themselves are a lot like the chicken pocks but the problem is if a woman gets Rubella during her pregnancy the baby can be born with some major defects. According to the Center for Disease Control in the US, congenital and acquired forms of Rubella were eliminated in 2004. But, there continue to be cases here in Mexico – hence the campaign. The idea is to vaccinate people in the “fertile” stage of life. But my experience would say that half of the women I have contact with are already pregnant or have a child before age 19. One thing I have learned in Mexico is to never guess a woman’s age based on the ages’ of her children. They start young here.

When I am not walking door to door vaccinating, I am doing a lot of hanging out. The girls I am tutoring keep on going on vacations; which is cool for them but a bummer for me. I actually really like teaching maybe even more than my internship. Wait did I just say that? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I am going to become a teacher. Let’s just say that working with the social security is a lot of hours in the sun, a lot of waiting around, and a fair bit of disorganization. In summary, it is Mexico. Tutoring is structured, the girls are sweet, and did I mention it pays?

My down time is mostly filled with “life planning” aka job applications. It is official, I am moving back to the US on the 27th of May. From Mexico I will fly to Berlin, defend my thesis, celebrate for a week, and then try to get settled in Seattle. I don’t know exactly what I will be doing in Seattle, but the goal is to land a job with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or some organization along those lines. I also don’t know exactly where I will be living. Hum, Paige Beckley not knowing what she will be doing or where she will be living? Ecclesiastes said it best: There is nothing new under the sun.