Puebla: day 4

Any day that starts with a breakfast like this is bound to be a good day...

Today I got to sit down and talk with Dr. Casas a bit. He is very nice, very welcoming, and very very smart. He has two masters degrees besides his doctorate and is fluent in Spanish, French, and English. He is one of those people you can sit and talk to like a friend, but when you walk away you feel like a 5 year old that has just started kindergarten...I have so much to learn here and I am READY!!! I will start Thursday when I go to the local hospital for the first of my clinical rotations....the name of the hospital is Betania which is pretty cool since that means "Bethany" in Spanish. I hear it's a pretty big hospital and I'll be shadowing some in the ER...I can't wait to start!

We also had our first salsa class tonight-that was quite challenging. I think three different people tried to teach me and gave up. haha! Honestly I felt sorry for them because they looked a little frustrated. But I think I am slowly catching on and it was alot of fun! At least I have a month to practice =)

Later we took the bus into Puebla and met up with the BUAP kids for dinner. We met a really cool guy on the bus that turned out to be a part time engineer at the university, part time D.J. and he helped us find our way from the bus stop to the zocalo. Everyone here has been so welcoming and helpful. I wish I could say that people visiting the U.S. from other countries get the same treatment...

The rest of the night was exciting, to say the least. There are some stories that are better told in person and this is one of them. So, hasta luego!

Tacos dorados con pollo

Today we had orientation which consisted of a meeting with the international office, an (official) tour of campus, and meeting the professors we will be working with. I met with Doctora Magdalena, a primary care physician and now a professor at UDLAP. We talked about my interests, about the medical school at UDLA, and a little bit about public health in Mexico. I'll be finding out more details about my schedule when I meet with Dr. Casas tomorrow. We are starting to meet some of the international students here who we have the cooking and dancing classes with as well as weekend trips. There are a couple girls and a guy from the U.S. and Canada, and several other students from France.

This evening we had our first cooking class, taught by a professional chef in a commercial kitchen in Puebla. I didn't know what to expect since this was my first cooking class, but it turned out to be so much fun! We made flautas (tacos dorados) con pollo, esquite (corn boiled with onion and topped with mayo, chile, and cheese), and postres (fried pastries with lemon meringue)....SO YUMMY!!! We made so much food that we all ate and afterwards had a table full of leftovers. This class is going to be a WIN.

Hey I just met you, and this is CRAYYYzy...

First an explanation of the title: Because Matt and Nadareh haven't quit singing Call Me Maybe since the karaoke bar, we all have it in our head and it has turned out to be the theme song of this trip. Sad but true =)


We met Heather and Nadareh and went into Cholula today (UDLAP is on the outskirts of Cholula so it's a 15 minute walk or $20 pesos for a taxi). We climbed the great pyramid of Cholula, el pyramide Tlachihualtepetl, which is one of the largest in the world by mass and the hundreds of steps up were quite a workout. The pyramid was originally built by indigenous peoples (probably Aztecs) as a religious monument, where they sacrificed children. The children were sent as messengers to the Gods to ask for rain. Later when the Spanish conquered Mexico they destroyed the city and rebuilt it; evidently the pyramid was just too big to dismantle, so they covered it with soil and built a church at the top. 

The church, El Santuario de la Virgen de los Remedios, is absolutely gorgeous, and this was my first time seeing a cathedral from the inside. I was impressed with the beauty of the building and the sacred, solemn atmosphere of a place where people come constantly to receive blessings and pray. It's crazy to think about how long that church has been there and how many people have come to pay homage since it was built in 1594.

At the bottom of the pyramid we walked around the ruins that have been uncovered by locals in the last hundred years. Parts are uncovered so you can see walls and stairs and rooms at the base of the pyramid. It looks like the rest of the pyramid is probably similar but because it's covered over it just looks like a big dirt hill now. These ruins are part of the base of the pyramid where the actual sacrifices took place.

After the ruins we headed into Cholula and wandered around the Zocalo where there was a carnival going on. We saw an old convent that was built by the Spanish when they conquered Mexico; we didn't see the inside though because they were having Sunday mass.

 
We also had dinner at an amazing open air cafe in Cholula where we tried our first mole poblano (amazing!) which is a local specialty in Puebla. It's basically a big piece of boiled chicken smothered in cocoa mole sauce. 









The walk back from Cholula turned out to be longer than we thought and we all got a little sunburned except for me...I got absolutely roasted. The weather is tricky here...it doesn't feel as hot because it's not humid, but the sun is so strong here. We played fútbol for awhile with some of Matt's roommates and later we walked back to Cholula because nothing much is open here on sundays. Best meal so far....flautas (Spanish for flute), or rolled fried tacos with chicken inside and topped with cheese, green sauce, and salad. Desert was a cream cheese filled flauta with sweet cream and dulce de leche on top. Without a doubt the BEST thing I have ever eaten. Today was a great day...I learned this:

1. Everything is closed on Sunday except Subway.
2. Nobody ever has change.
3. Everyone here is good at fútbol...except for me.
4. SPF 80

Puebla: day 1

Today was one long learning moment...that's the great thing about traveling to foreign countries, you have to put aside your pride and learn everything the hard way, awkward and frustrating as it may be. Luckily we've met a lot of cool people that have helped us find our way around. This morning we checked out of our hotel and got a taxi to Cholula which is only a 15minute drive from downtown Puebla. UDLAP isn't as big as I expected but it's a beautiful campus, with old stone buildings, palm trees, and cobblestone paths crisscrossing between buildings. There's a pond in the middle of campus with a fountain and surrounded by palm trees and colorful flowers. We checked into our dorm, el colegio Cain-Murray and met our roommates. I have a roommate, Cari, and three suite mates. We share a kitchen, living room, and large bathroom which has a washer and dryer. The dorms are small but quaint, with tile floors and open screen windows. Honestly I'm just glad that they have outlets with a ground so I can charge my computer...evidently that's an issue here. But not as much of an issue as the fact that evidently the voltage is not quite the same here as it is in the U.S. It seemed to be working out ok until I left my hair straightener plugged in for 20 minutes and it melted. Yeaaah.....

Tonight we met up with Heather and Nadareh in Puebla. We ate at a pretty sweet little cafe that sells cemitas, or big sandwiches that have fried meat, avocado, and ridiculous amounts of this yummy shredded cheese on a big homemade roll. I had pollo and Heather took one for the team and tried "pata"....turns out pata is beef hoof, but it looks more like big chunks of fat that feel sort of like jello. Yeah pretty gross, really wishing I hadn't forgotten my Spanish dictionary at home.

We ended up at some karaoke bar that claimed to have a special. The special wasn't much of a special but the karaoke was crazy fun! I can't believe I know all the words to Call Me Maybe (yeah we got some weird looks)...and yeah we are failing at not looking like American tourists =). So basically I learned this today:

1. Pata is cow hoof.
2. Always ask about the price before you buy anything or get into a taxi.
3. Don't leave anything plugged into an outlet here that you wouldn't want to melt.

Hemos llegados

Finally, we are in Mexico...it's hard to believe we woke up in Raleigh this morning! Our day started when at 5:30 when Jordan dropped us off at RDU. The actual flying was uneventful...we met up with Heather and Nadareh in Charlotte and flew the rest of the way to Mexico City with them. Matt and I got to practice our Spanish with a guy on the plane...it was a little bit of a reality check to say the least, but I know I wasn't prepared for the Mexico City airport. Luckily, Heather and Nadareh had two guides waiting for them in the airport, Chris and Erica who are Mexican students from BUAP. They turned out to be life savers. They helped us change over money, find a place to eat, and then find a bus to Puebla. The bus ride was almost three hours and we all slept...almost the whole way. In Puebla we all split up. Heather and Nadareh went to meet their host family and Matt and I found a hotel, the Hotel Victoria near el Zócalo, or the main square in the historic district of Puebla. For less than $300 pesos a night, the hotel is amazing. All the floors in Puebla are tile, and all the stairways and balconies have quaint iron railings. The city is laid out in perfect square blocks and the streets are cobblestone and completely packed with taxis and pedestrians. Everything is stucco and tile, and every other store smells like yummy Mexican food. The area where we are seems pretty old...it's absolutely gorgeous.

We didn't realize where we were or how amazing Puebla is until later tonight. First we had to buy phones, which turned into a huge ordeal. After at least two minutes of us struggling awkwardly to communicate in Spanish that we wanted cheap phones we could use for a month to call the U.S., one of the salesmen goes, uh do you speak English? Turns out he's from Chicago and probably speaks better English than either of us. Three hours later we had phones and Chicago guy had helped us find an atm. Lesson learned: when in doubt, ask if they speak English!

By the time this was all over with, we were starving but everything looked closed and dark. We walked a couple blocks looking for food and then came around a corner and discovered that we were in the Zócalo, a huge square lined by shops and restaurants. There's a park in the middle with festively lit palm trees and one side of the square is bordered by el Catedral de Puebla, which is huge and awesome. Hopefully we will get to come back and see the inside. Dinner was amazing. For roughly $8 USD we got enough food and drinks for at least 4 people. Tacos Dorados (which turned out to be fried tacos) and enchiladas con pollo. And an authentic Mexican Corona...Bienvenidos a México!

What proved to be a pretty stressful and challenging day ended pretty well...we have alot of Spanish to learn but it's gonna be AMAZING. Hello Mexico!

Packing

I can now officially say that TOMORROW I will be in Mexico!!! ...and that is why I am so excited that I can't sleep and am up blogging at 2:30 in the morning. I'm almost done packing, just need to run to the store and do a few other last minute things before we head to Raleigh later today.

Matt and a couple other friends and I went to Dos Amigos earlier just to get psyched for tomorrow. I realized two things over dinner: that my Spanish is rustier than I thought after only a couple weeks of summer, and that I have the BEST friends ever. I'm gonna miss them =/

 We also found out where we will be staying, the colegio (dorm) Cain-Murray on the UDLAP campus. Looks pretty sweet!

ONE MORE DAY!!!

15 DAYS!!!

With two weeks until departure, it's time to get serious about this blogging thing... I have been corresponding with my faculty mentor at UDLAP, Dr. Casas. He says I will be spending alot of time with the medical students until they begin their finals. I also may get to do some clinical shadowing outside the school...yay for finally having all my shots!

I'm also super excited about our weekend trips including Teotihuacan, which is about 100km outside Cholula, where I will be staying. Teotihuacan is rich with pre-Columbian history including some of the largest pyramids in the world.

Puebla is shadowed by this enormous active volcano, Popocatepetl...cannot believe I'll be here in 2 WEEKS!!!