Baja California Sur

We made the most of our vacation in Mexico this summer and along with a trip to the coast of Jalisco we flew out to Baja California for a week long kayaking and snorkeling adventure.

On all of our previous trips Aaron has arranged everything, from equipment to routes and food. It always works out wonderfully but this time our plans were last minute and we decided to sign up with a tour company. We selected a company in Loreto because it is very close to a chain of several islands that have been designated as national parks. Our guide and owner of the tour company was a Brazilian via LA that has been in Loreto for over 15 years running tours.

We decided on three days kayaking solo and sleeping on the beaches of one of the islands. The rest of the week we slept in an air-conditioned luxury Palapa and took day trips out to kayak or snorkel. It was fantastic and wonderful to spend the trip so worry free. Throughout the trip we had delicious home cooked meals: chicken fajitas, beef stew and tamales to name a few. Far better than the pasta or peanut butter and jelly I would usually pack on a camping trip.

It was our first time camping on the beach and sleeping in the open air.  I was nervous about the lack of a tent but apparently it doesn’t rain in the desert and without fresh water there aren’t many mosquitoes to speak of either.  Still beware of the sand fleas We had a fantastic, relaxing time paddling for a few hours along the dramatic shore, stopping in the shade for meals and snorkeling. While paddling we saw a whale with her calf, a sea turtle followed us for several hours, dolphins popped up next to our boats and dozens of stingrays leapt out of the water landing with a painful sounding smack.

With our snorkel masks on we saw all kinds of beautiful underwater life. Every time we snorkeled I saw something new.  One afternoon we even found ourselves sharing the cove with a sea lion that was very interested in checking us out.  It was exhilarating to see the sea lion swimming on its back a few feet under me and looking up at the funny faces in a masks & snorkels.

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Surf’s up

In July we had a lovely 3 day vacation in Sayulita. Lonely Planet describes it as a sleepy fishing town that has been “discovered” by the gringo surfers. I think the implication is that being discovered makes it not as desirable but if it’s a relaxing vacation you are looking for I might disagree.

We stayed in a lovely home built by some gringos. Although the house wasn’t beach front we didn’t miss it at all. We spent many hours cooling off in the beautiful salt water pool, reading our kindles and taking in a lovely view of the bay. The house also came stocked with snorkel gear so we spent an afternoon spying on fish. Just a 20 minute walk away and we were able to wade directly out from the beach and see lots of lovely sea creatures. Snorkeling we learned is also a great way to get a sunburn.

As serious bonus of being discovered was the abundance of delicious food. Fresh fish and shrimp tacos, big burritos and of course a cafe with great lattes.

Another afternoon we rented long boards from a surf shop on the beach and tried surfing for the first time. The beach in Sayulita offers a pretty relaxed but reliable breaker for novice surfers. I quickly discovered even the novice wave was too much for me because it ended in a row of rock covered in sea urchins. Ouch!  As it turned out a simple breaker in 4 feet of water was just enough for me. My feet made it on the board a few times and it was exhilarating!  Next time I’ll stand up

Shadow update

It’s been a while since my last post but now that school has started again I’m  sure I’ll make time (during class) to update more regularly.

It has been an eventful summer including finding a new home for our puppy Shadow.  Thanks to a well written entreaty to our classmates on facebook, good references from friends and most of all how super cute she is, Shadow found a new home. I couldn’t be happier. She is now living with two of our classmates. I hear she gets to go for runs and sleep in the bed at night!

One Saturday morning we brought Shadow out to a park to meet our friends that were interested in having a dog. We played, she showed off and then we let her go for a trial period for the weekend.  I haven’t seen her since!  It’s a good thing I didn’t realize it would be permanent because there would have been water works.  As it is, we are relieved to be free of the responsibility and sad puppy eyes begging for runs and I’m sure she is very happy in her new home.

Shadow

Growing up I never had a pet. Well, there were the gerbils that we dearly loved until we discovered mommy gerbil cannibalizing her babies and that “mom” was actually dad.  Although we talked a lot about what kind of puppy we would want and how wonderful a pet would be, none of us really was ready for the responsibility or totally comfortable with keeping keeping such a cute creature captive.

It took us all by surprise last Halloween when I fell totally in love with a stray outside our house and didn’t think 2 seconds about bringing her in and making her at home with us.  It was nearly mid-night and we were all dressed up in our Halloween costumes going to a party when this puppy appeared out of the shadows and gave us the irresistible puppy eyes.  We had just met but she was already trying to hop in the car and whimpering as we drove away.

You bet she was waiting at the door when we returned.  ”Maybe she would like some hot dogs?” Of course, she’s a dog. Next thing I know she’s in the house hiding quietly under the table after lots of salchicha and a bath in the courtyard.  ”We’ll find a home for her tomorrow, she won’t be here long.”  Yeah, right. That was 7 months ago.

For two fledgling dog owners Shadow has been perfect.  Although she was skinny, dreaded and flea ridden when we found her she had obviously been someones pup. She was already house broken and responded quickly to our experiments with training.  It’s sweet having a wagging tail and belly waiting for you at the end of the stairs or when you get home from a long day.

Shadow is still looking for a permanent home. Somewhere  ready for lots of love and with lots of love to share. We think she’s awesome and deserves a totally awesome home.

Stitching Pillows

I know you are all just dying to hear about our surgery course. Probably not but if I tell the story well you’ll be shaking your head or chuckling.

The course lasts 4 weeks, 4 Friday afternoons for 3 hours. The most difficult part of the course is your appearance.  Everyday of class you walk down the hall hoping you’ll make it past all the check points. At the end of the hall is a round grumpy woman siting in her folding chair, legs kicked out, berating and turning away those that don’t make her cut. White pants, white scrub shirt, only the mexican mustache (aka bigote), short nails, the right kind of white shoes and short low volume hair for the guys. All of these requirements are open to some kind of interpretation none of us quite understand.  I find it rather funny women are allowed to have long hair while Aaron couldn’t even get by with short hair because it had too much “volume”. Guess all prejudices in Mexico aren’t against women.

Once we made the cut we spent the first class watching a poorly produced video of a masked woman washing her hands while a man in the background called out orders. “Pinky finger, inside, outside, dorsal, palmer, Ring-finger: inside, outside, dorsal, palmer…..” (in spanish of course) We watched the video THREE TIMES until the power cut out and we were left in the dark for 20 minutes then dismissed.

Second class, we watched another video about three different methods of scrubbing in for surgery.  It’s all quite regimented, there is a specific way of getting on your coat and gloves when you have no help, when you have a little help and when you have a lot of help. All of it is carefully orchestrated to avoid any unnecessary contamination. This time we get to practice scrubbing in. Instead of having an automatic soap dispenser we use a human dispenser and get to shout at our classmate to apply more soap every 20 seconds.

Third class, we watch another video! This one is equally low-quality and has Enya playing in the background. A tranquil cover for the fact that the video shows them slicing open the abdomen of a live rabbit, layer by layer, then roughly stitching them back up again. Ugh. Some students were very eager to practice sutures on live rabbits, signing petitions, buying rabbits.  Fortunately the pet store ran out of rabbits before our turn to practice sutures came around. I think I learned plenty for starters by practicing on a pillow.

Our Surgery exam was this Friday. The task was to correctly complete three sutures on a pillow (mock rabbit). This part was fun.  You have to hold the instruments in a very specific manner and do everything in a specific order. Apparently, you are not allowed to be a left handed surgeon either, grrr. It’s also a bit a test of nerves, even though I knew I could do the suture and my examiner was not particularly mean, my hands started shaking. I can only imagine how shaky one could get doing it for real, yikes.

Although the low budget nature and cultural differences lend themselves to a rather peculiar experience. I have to admit we were both pretty excited about stepping into an “operating theater” and learning the tricks that will serve us well if we ever make it back to East Africa as physicians.

Chapulines

There is a lovely restaurant nearby serving up Oaxacan foods and a wonderful variety of salads named after Mexicans of note.  My favorite salad has fresh strawberries, blueberries, grilled shrimp and a tasty vinaigrette.  We were there yesterday for lunch and I was faced with the restaurant dilemma.  You know, get your favorite dish because it’s your favorite and you know you’ll enjoy it or get something new because who knows, it might become your new favorite.

Hmm, I see that salad with oaxacan cheese, cherry tomatoes and sunflower seeds, perfect.  I’m sipping on a refreshing glass of agua de tamarindo when a salad drowned in little grasshoppers is placed in front of me.  Should have paid better attention to that word chapulines.

So, I try to be culinarily open minded (or open mouthed) but Mexico has really put me to the test on several occasions. For example, I appreciate that people eat every part of an animal and let nothing go to waste but I really really don’t want to eat brain or lip tacos.  I think it’s great that people eat insects, they are abundant, crunchy, salty, I’m sure very delicious but it requires fighting some “instincts” (probably learned) to eat a salad with spiky arthropod legs all over it.  I didn’t have a camera but you can google chapulines to get an idea.

With closed eyes and some careful lettuce to grasshopper ratios I ate that salad. Can’t say it was always with pleasure but the chapulines are a great crispy, salty-lime addition to an otherwise totally unadventurous salad.

Fish Tacos

With spicy carrot salsa and blazing apple salsa

Veggie Booty

The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato

Don’t worry, one photo won’t spoil the fun of your own visit to the Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, it’s definitely worth a visit.  Apparently the first mummy was exhumed in 1865, he was a foreigner with no relatives in town, so why not put the corpse on display? The soil conditions created these unintentional mummies and the grave tax  poor families didn’t pay was an excuse to dig up the bodies and put some of them on display. It is profane but an incredible look into the customs and rituals of the time and a reflection of where we all end up, just hopefully not in a museum. PS If you go to the Museum and are thinking about paying the extra cash to see the torture museum, don’t. Unless you want an museum experience that is so bad you can laugh about it later.

Food for Thought

Experiment with home-made salsa and tacos.