The breath-taking CASA rooftop
On Monday, I gave a tour of CASA and of the CASA clinic to one of Nadines friends, who was here for the week to become acquainted with the youth center. The intent was good, but I am really seeing why so many of the Mexicans dont like American tourists. The woman took pictures of people without asking, as if she were at an exhibit or a zoo, and got really close to people in order to speak to them, all in their faces. Sometimes she even spoke to them in English. I know she does not speak Spanish herself, which always complicates matters, but still. This aggravated my already existing annoyance with Americans, which blossomed fully when a podologist vistited and changed many of the patients names into English, which caused great confusion when we gave out the athletes foot medicine.
On Wednesday, I spent the day at the clinic, but this time at the lab, with Yolanda. I observed urine test analyses from pregnant women, and learned how a centrifuge functions. It was fascinating to see the slides under the microscope! Many of the urine samples had cystals, and Yolanda explained that these form into kidney stones - simply because the women do not drink enough water! Other women suffered from UTIs. In addition, we ran tests for parasites on a man who enlisted for work at a restaurant - and he had salmonella! A lightbulb went on in my head: many of the people working in restaurants in the US are undocumented, hence they do not undergo such testing. Perhaps, if nothing else, the threat of salmonella, which the FDA is so paranoid about, can urge the US government to ease the legalization procedures for immigrants? In any case, it was fascinating to see how the antibodies reacted with the cell proteins... perhaps I will take chemistry in the Spring semester, after all. Yolanda's son was there also - a first year chemistry student at the University of Guanajuato, he told me much about the city, so I became even more excited to visit it.
I came back to CASA after 1, and met a group of high school students from New York City! They visited CASA for 3 days as participants in Global Kids - a program which happens to be right across the street from Baruch. I love my Mexican friends, but what a breath of fresh air, to see Black, Asian and Eastern European faces. Two of them accompanied me on Thursday to Corral de Piedras, and we all ate dinner and played games with the chavos from the summer course on Friday. The summer course kids are wonderful too - so curious, and smart, and uninhibited. I will definitely continue working with young people all my life.
Later on, on Friday, we were supposed to meet with Shelley, who is leaving her post as intern coordinator, and Nadine, but none of us had keys to the office, so we sat on the roof. In the evening, we went to MM Cinemas to see Batman. It was as if someone carved out a piece of Anywhere, USA Mall and dumped it in the middle of Mexico. The shops, the cement, all so neat and corporate... But the movie theater was amazing! And they even give out tomato, onion and chiles as condiments. And the movie - what a performance by Heath Ledger! I just wished I was there with Jamal next to me. I hope we'll go back when he comes to visit.
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