kari-paul

[kari-paul]

TRAVELING TO OAXACA

General Tips:

Don't fly Volaris (worst airline ever)

You can get cash out of the ATM at the airport more easily than exchanging dollars. Many places also take credit cards. Oaxaca is super cheap, I would budget $100 a day to be safe but an average meal for me and my two friends with 2-3 appetizers, 3 entrees, and 2-3 cocktails each was $1200 pesos or US$50 TOTAL. It's insane how cheap great food is in Oaxaca.

Boutique hotels are plentiful and are probably a better option than Airbnb. We stayed at Casa de la Tia Tere and it was great. They had a pool and free breakfast daily and it was centrally located.

Foods to try:

Tlayudas ('mexican pizza' traditional to Oaxaca - a partially fried tortilla covered in beans and meat and cheese)

Chayote (a local squash)

Huaraches (thick maza with amazing toppings that is shaped like a sandal, hence the name)

Pozole (traditional soup)

Enchiladas verdes

Hot chocolate (chocolate is native to central mexico)

Chapulines (crickets!)

Memelsas con quesillo

Tascalate (chocolate drink with vanilla and roasted corn)

Tejate (corn and cacao beverage from pre-hispanic Oaxaca)

Atole de pinole (traditional squash and corn beverage -- I think)

Restaurants and Bars:

Origen: our best meal in Oaxaca, this restaurant features traditional Oaxacan food with modern twists. Super great appetizers and shared plates, too.

Los Pacos Oaxaca: A bit outside the city center, this place gives you mole samplers with mezcal pairings. Traditional foods.

La Jicara: vegan-friendly traditional food with outdoor seating.

Boulenc: Amazing hip cafe with live music, food, coffee, etc. Good during the day or at night.

Mezcalogia: great cocktails

Don Juanito: hole in the wall with karaoke and cumbia on Sunday nights

See full map of recommendations here.

Art Centers

Centro de las Artes de San Augustin

Hoja Santa Taller

Resplandor (women-run photography gallery)

Espacio Centro

Espacio Artístico Xicoténcatl

Arte de Oaxaca

Tingladography (MUST GO)

El adoratorio.caseta de arte y diseño

Things to do in Oaxaca City:

Temazcal: something I regret not doing is the Temazcal, a indigenous sauna ceremony that is supposed to foster rebirth and spiritual growth, or something! it looks awesome. You can find a lot of places that do this on TripAdvisor

Mercado 20 de Noviembre: Located in Oaxaca City town center, this market is food-focused. You can try tamales, tlayudas, cemitas, enfrijoladas, to moles and entomatadas, etc. Bring cash.

Mercado de Benito Juarez: Next door to 20 de Noviembre, this market has EVERYTHING: art, ingredients, souvenirs, food, drinks, pets, clothing, traditional crafts, leather shoes, etc. A good place to try weird foods and get all your souvenir shopping done.

Museo Textil de Oaxaca: Textile museum

Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca: You can do a 2 hour tour where they walk you through the cactus plants

Stamp Museum (next to botanical garden)

Pre-Hispanic Art Museum: Amazing art from 1200 BC to 2000 AD

Oaxaca Lucha Libre: Mexican wrestling, check their website for a schedule

Boogie Books - cool bookstore and cafe.

Things to do Outside Oaxaca City

I highly recommend renting a car to get out of the city and get a taste of the Mexico countryside. We rented a car from EuroCar on Calle Murgia for about $1500 pesos or $75 for the day (plus insurance probably around US$100 for a day). We turned the car in at the airport when we returned that evening. Here are some places you can drive to from Oaxaca:

Centro de las Artes de San Augustin: An art center in a renovated factory. You can take classes here or come for exhibits and performances. Close to Oaxaca City (accessible by taxi).

San Martin Tilcajete: A village near Oaxaca City known for its alebrijes, a traditional Zapotec/indigenous art form. They hand carve wooden animals that are meant to ward off bad spirits. You can take a free tour of the workshop of Jacobo and Maria Angeles, a couple that has kept this tradition alive. This city is also what the Disney movie Coco was based on.

Envia Tour: A tour that gives women in Oaxaca, particularly indigenous women, microloans to start businesses. You can visit the women, who make textiles, tortillas, etc. to learn more about their culture while supporting them financially. Highly recommend. 

Hierve el Agua:

Mitla Ruins: Tour Monte Alban, the second-largest archaeological ruins in Mexico and a UNESCO world heritage site

Turista Grafico: This is a free tour that takes you to more than a dozen print-making and graphic design shops in Oaxaca. It's very cool!

Arbol del Tule: A 2,000 year old tree in a village 8 miles from the city center. There's a public bike ride that goes to it on Sunday (Meet at Explanada de la Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman at 8 am)

Tlacolula Market Supposedly the largest Market in Latin America. Farmers come from all over the countryside nearby to sell goods in this village. Traditional and delicious foods.

Calendars of events:

Que Pasa Oaxaca: Updates daily on events around the city. 

Keep an eye out for posters because that’s how we found a lot of cool stuff to do. 

[kari-paul]

TRAVELING TO CUBA

Cuba is beautiful! Here are some tips.

- Travel ethically. Support local businesses and bring supplies for locals, especially school supplies like pencils, calculators, paper, etc. 

- Bring A LOT of cash. I would budget at least $100 a day per person to be safe. There is no way to get cash in Havana. Let me repeat: there is no way to get cash in Havana. Your credit and debit cards will not work there. We almost got stuck in the country so don't make the same mistake. 

- It's very safe in Havana so there aren't any specific areas you should avoid. It's easy to get around by walking or by taxi. The old cars driving around just pick anyone up if you flag them and it's usually $5-7 depending on how far you go. You can haggle a bit.

- I would recommend staying in Centro Habana or Habana Vieja. Wherever you decide to stay if they offer to make you food at the home for $5-10 take it, they were the best meals we ate (the food in Cuba is very hit or miss). 

Some specific recommendations:

Espacios Old fashioned (Calle amargura entre Habana y Compostela) this place had the best food we ate in Cuba and the best ceviche I've ever had. A friend of a friend owns the place it's very artsy/new Havana.

Casa Miglis - Cuban/Swedish fusion restaurant. A little pricey by Cuban standards but delicious.

Panaderia San Jose - This was definitely the best food value we found in Havana. Cheap and delicious. You can get a bag full of pastries and bring them to the upstairs cafe to have with coffee.

La Bodeguita - this is an traditional Cuban bar where Hemingway used to hang out and supposedly the mojito was invented. It's touristy and expensive but worth a stop!

Cabaret Las Vegas - people kept telling us this was "the worst bar in Havana" but I loved it in all of its trashy glory. It's a really seedy gay bar with bad drag shows and it was wonderful.

Cervecería Antiguo Almacén de la Madera y el Tabaco - this was a very cool brewery on the water, would recommend. It's next to a market for souvenirs inside a warehouse-esque building that was neat.

Fabrica de arte cubano - this is a club and art gallery inside an old factory that is supposed to be very hip and fun (it was closed when we were there unfortunately).

Hotel Nacional - It is extremely hot in Havana so your days are best spent at the pool or the beach. Hotel Nacional's pool is very easy to sneak into even if you aren't staying there. There are also many beaches nearby accessible by taxi. My friend went to Mi Cayito, which is a gay beach 20 minutes outside of Havana and said it was beautiful.

Any restaurant called a "paladar" is basically someone's house they have opened up to people and is often better than actual restaurants. I'd recommend going to one.

At night most locals hang out on the Malecon (the big highway stretching along the ocean) and drink rum. I'd definitely recommend joining them. For a tour of the city we asked our hosts if they knew of anyone and they set us up with a guy who drove us around and told us the history. Tour guides are all government-approved and can only tell you the Cuban version of history. Don't ask anyone about politics unless you know them very well, it's fairly taboo and could get them in trouble.

Honestly almost nobody speaks English so if you have time to brush up on basic phrases like directions, please and thank you, ordering at restaurants, etc. that would be wise. I would plan on not having internet for the whole time you are there but it is accessible in some places. Basically you can find government-approved outdoor hot spots around the city. If you see a bunch of people crowded in one spot looking at their  phones, it's probably a hot spot. You have to buy an internet card for $2-4 CUCs and it lasts for 1 hour. Ask around when you're in a hot spot and usually somebody will be selling cards for cheaper than you could get them elsewhere. 

People will constantly try to upsell you on things--someone tried to sell us a bottle of rum for $30 CUC. It's $2 CUC. Just keep that in mind and don't get screwed over. You can always try to haggle with people. 

[kari-paul]

...official language is indeed English, but the lingua franca is the local language of Kriol, which belongs to the family of Caribbean creole languages. Spanish is spoken in varying degrees in both the north ( Corozal and Orange Walk) and west (Cayo) but it's integrity has been undergoing a corruption and degredation sadly due to various factors. Originally the Norteno Spanish was very much based on the Mexican Yucatan dialect, but in recent decades due to the influx of poorer central american..

hi! I am just seeing this thank you for messaging :)

[kari-paul]

A long time ago, when you were a wee thing, you learned something, some way to cope, something that, if you did it, would help you survive. It wasn’t the healthiest thing, it wasn’t gonna get you free, but it was gonna keep you alive. You learned it, at five or six, and it worked, it *did* help you survive. You carried it with you all your life, used it whenever you needed it. It got you out—out of your assbackwards town, away from an abuser, out of range of your mother’s un-love. Or whatever. It worked for you. You’re still here now partly because of this thing that you learned. The thing is, though, at some point you stopped needing it. At some point, you got far enough away, surrounded yourself with people who love you. You survived. And because you survived, you now had a shot at more than just staying alive. You had a shot now at getting free. But that thing that you learned when you were five was not then and is not now designed to help you be free. It is designed only to help you survive. And, in fact, it keeps you from being free. You need to figure out what this thing is and work your ass off to un-learn it. Because the things we learn to do to survive at all costs are not the things that will help us get FREE. Getting free is a whole different journey altogether.

Mia McKenzie, creator of Black Girl Dangerous, author of The Summer We Got Free  (via arabellesicardi)

I have been thinking about this quote constantly for weeks. i think it will guide my 2k15. Relearning/unlearning/thriving. 

(via arabellesicardi)

[kari-paul]

Opportunity reveals itself to you because you see the interconnection of two things, the interdependence of things, that others cannot see.

Kaihan Krippendorff 

[kari-paul]

Beginner's Guide to Buenos Aires

Lately, I have been meeting people who are heading to Buenos Aires, or who have recently arrived in Buenos Aires who ask me for advice. I've been back in the U.S. for 4 or 5 months after living there so I've definitely had some time to think about what I wish I would have known before I left.

I'm not sure how I became so well-adjusted to a city I originally didn't like at all. It can feel so scary and overwhelming to move to an area of 14 million people who speak a different language than you, but after being there for 6 months, I knew enough people that I would generally run into someone I knew, no matter which bars I went to at night. I conquered a completely baffling system of buses enough that I didn't need to look up directions about 70 percent of the time. I developed a lasting love for fernet, and mate, and staying out late like the porteños do, and I picked up a great (or snobby, as one Argentine from Córdoba I met the other day told me) Buenos Aires accent.

A lot of my love for Buenos Aires is due help I got: Lovely locals like my friend Valentina who adopted our study abroad group of yanquis and helped us navigate an insane, confusing city when our school's program completely failed us. Random new friends and friends of friends who invited me to asados so I could experience something really important to Argentina's culture. I also worked at a news publication, making it necessary for me to jump into the culture here and always know what's going on. 

In hopes of helping everyone love Buenos Aires as much as I do, I am going to publish pseudo-guide here with the basics of starting to live in Buenos Aires. Porteño and expat friends, feel free to comment on this post with your thoughts. I'll keep changing it when I think of more things.

Background information:

Before I left for Buenos Aires I asked my editor at the Argentina Independent if he had any suggestions of books so I could learn more before I arrived. I'm just going to copy and paste what he said directly:

Books:

One suggestion for books is 'The Argentina Reader', which has essays and a different sort of historical overview than the books below. It goes into indigenous issues, society, culture and is told through speeches, poetry and essays, by different notable types and historians from over the years, rather than being written as a straight book.

Another option is a more standard academic history book than The Argentina Reader. 'A history of Argentina in the 20th Century' by Luis Alberto Romero, which is a pretty straight history book. It's a little dry, but very comprehensive - if it is too much (a whole book!) definitely read from Perón onwards, as he is so influential still, you won't really understand anything about politics without knowing about him (although the early bits about the Radicals is interesting too, I found). After Perón the book goes through the turbulent 60s and 70s, the dictatorship, then the Alfonsín and Menem years. 

As this book does not make it to the crisis, and you really should try to get your head around that, a good book (which really is more interesting than it sounds, and you don't have to be an economics buff to work your way through it) - 'And the money came rolling in (and out)' by Paul Blustein. It's a really good breakdown of what happened back in 2001/2 and also why it happened, and as you'll all be here for the anniversary of the crisis, we will most certainly be doing something on it.

If the Madres of Plaza de Mayo interest you, a great book is 'Revolutionizing Motherhood: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo' by Marguerite Guzman Bouvard. It goes into the dictatorship in a great amount of depth, and also analyses the social movement of the madres since the return of democracy, how they have become more polemic over the years, and the impunity that was present during the Menem years for the people who committed the worst atrocities. 

Another book which is just generally a necessity, although most of you Latin American buffs will probably have read it, is 'Open Veins of Latin America' by Eduardo Galleano. It's pretty heavy stuff and I would read it in English unless you're feeling fairly bilingual already. It's a bit of a cliche, and was made famous last year after Chavez gave it to Obama, but if you want to understand the frustration most people on this continent feel and have a chance of empathy in interviews, it really is an excellent background read. And particularly relevant now as lots of bicentenary issues that are being raised at present point to a sort of, ok, 200 years, but how far haven't we come in that time, as well as how much has been achieved.

He also suggested some documentary films:

Argentina

La República Perdida (I and II) 

Part I: early 1900's to 1976

Part II: military dictatorship and return to democracy (the film is from the 80's)

(Can't find links with subtitles)

Memoria del Saqueo, by Pino Solanas

Explains the economic policies of the 90's and the 2001 crisis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6_i8zuffs (subtitled but in 12 parts, alas)

The Take, by... Naomi Klein's husband!

Shows the 2001 crisis and the social movements and recuperated factories that came from it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEzXln5kbuw

Latin America

South of the Border, by Oliver Stone

Gives an overview of the current Latin American political processes and shows how they are misrepresented in the US media.

(Can't find link, but it may be not so hard to find abroad as it's a US movie...?)

War on Democracy, by John Pilger

History of US intervention in Latin America. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3739500579629840148

The Revolution will not be Televised

About the 2002 coup against Chávez in Venezuela and the role of the media and the opposition.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144

Where to Live

You can search for apartments on CompartoDepto or CraigsList. CompartoDepto in general has more ads from locals and Latin American students, and Craigslist has more expats and English-speakers. A furnished apartment in a shared house should cost you around US$400-500 a month (or around $1600-2500 pesos). Buenos Aires is comprised of 15 different barrios, but most young people and expats opt for places in Palermo or San Telmo. Other neighborhoods are nice, too, but I love living in Palermo because I rarely have to take the bus, as almost everywhere I want to go to is there. If you want to look into other neighborhoods, or see a really cool house on Craigslist but don't recognize the name of the area, I encourage you to check out this guide to neighborhoods in Gringo In Buenos Aires.

Getting Around the City

You can use the online city map to find how to get from one address to another using public transport. You can buy a Guia T from most newspaper stands (around $10) which is useful for getting around the city when you aren't connected to internet. Make sure you check that the Guía says "2013" on the front, sometimes they try to scam tourists and sell them old ones. Here is a very useful article on how to ride the buses here and how to use the Guía T.

To get around the city using buses and subways (subtes) you need to buy a Sube card which you can get at many Kioscos or subway stations. They cost about $15 and then you put money on them and swipe them. Often places that will charge your sube card have this sign in the window: 

Fares:

Subte fare: $2.50 (flat fare) Bus fare: $1.50 (up to 3km), $1.60 (3-6km) or $1.70 (6km+) depending on the distance with SUBE. If you don't have a SUBE, it costs twice as much, and you need to pay with coins using a machine on the bus. The subways are pretty limited so expect to use buses a lot. 

Taxis

Only take taxis that say "Radio Taxi" on them. Taxi drivers are notorious for ripping people off and you are slightly less likely to be ripped off in a Radio Taxi. On a similar note, they will often try to take a long route or drive in circles if you're foreign. Say: “¿Porqué estás dando vueltas?” (Why are you going around in circles?) and they'll stop usually.

Remember that you don't tip taxi drivers in Buenos Aires.

Money

Argentina has a kind of weird money situation. You can read up on it here, but basically the government artificially pegs the peso to the dollar so there is the "official rate," which is currently about US$1 to $5.33 and the black market or "blue dollar" rate which is currently US$1 to $8.50 but changes constantly. A few weeks ago it was at $10 so anyone who used an ATM to get money at the official rate was getting half of what they could. It's frustrating for expats but probably even more frustrating for Argentinians, so don't complain.

How do you get the black market rate? You sell your dollars illegally. Places to sell your dollars change constantly and I'm not going to post them here. For that, you need to ask fellow expats or ask local friends if they would like to buy your dollars. Sometimes if people hear you are American they will ask you if you want to sell your dollars. Everyone wants them, so it's pretty easy to sell them, just be careful. In general, if you are coming to Argentina, bring as many dollars as you possibly can and your life will be a lot easier. 

If you didn't bring dollars and/or want to get money in a legal way, use Xoom. You can read more about it here, but it is essentially a money transfer service that uses a rate closer to the Blue Dollar. It's completely legal and safe, just make an account on their website, send yourself money from your own bank account, and go pick it up at one of their locations. Bring your passport and be prepared to answer a few questions about why you're in Argentina in Spanish.

Regardless of which way you choose to get money, just don't go to an ATM because the official rate will rob you.

Going Out

Buenos Aires has a pretty grueling weekend schedule, so prepare yourself. A typical night of going out works like this: You start previa or pregaming around 11 or midnight. Then you head to the club (called boliches here) around 3 a.m. Getting to a club before 2 a.m. is both fairly uncool and also a bad idea because nobody will be there. It's fairly normal to stay out until 6 or 7 am, or in some cases go to an after party at 8 or 9 in the morning.

If you are wondering where to go out, check the schedules at Wipe magazine for a more alternative scene, or Vuenos Airez under the "fiesta" tab for what's happening in boliches, etc. I also put every Facebook page I've liked since I got here into this list and you can follow it for updates on what's going on. Also, you know, make Argentinean friends who actually know what they're doing and let them adopt you/invite you to things. There's something happening every night of the week here and you will probably end up either going out a lot or suffering from crippling FOMO.

Ferias

Almost every neighborhood has a cool outdoor market in it on weekends. My favorites were in Recoleta (in Plaza Francia near the cemetery), San Telmo (this is the biggest and best— don't eat before you go because the best street food ever is here), and Palermo (small but good). 

Centros Culturales

Cultural Centers are my absolute favorite part of Buenos Aires and if you live here they are great resources for a variety of things: Classes, workshops, movie nights, bands, good food, etc.

Here's a rough list of some different Cultural Centers:

Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas: One of the best ways to improve your Spanish is to enroll in a class or workshop. Rojas has a huge variety of classes: Whether you want to learn videogame design, an indigenous language, or painting, Rojas has you covered. They even offer a class that just involves going to different galleries with a group of people. It's a great way to meet friends and learn Spanish and I'd highly recommend taking one! 

Casa Presa: So far away, but worth the trip! They have classes, films, music, and weird experimental art. They also serve incredible homemade food. 

Vuela el Pez: Restaurant/bar/music venue with classes and other things as well. 

El Quetzal: This place has an adorable open-air restaurant and bar. They frequently show movies and have concerts and I think sometimes they offer classes. Also once I was eating brunch there and the DJ Avicii started filming a music video around us, so that's something, I guess.

These are some of my favorites but there are many other lists of other Centros Culturales, so explore them all!

Random Lifehacks

Tired of weird Argentine laundry machines and hanging your clothes in random places to dry? There's a lavadero on every block here and it's insanely cheap. Bring a bag of dirty clothes and you'll have it back the next day in a bag washed, dried and folded nicely for the equivalent of about US$5

Don't take your iPhone out in public. In our group of 12 Americans, I think six of them had their iPhones stolen over the course of the semester. I don't think Buenos Aires is too much more dangerous than any other big city, but iPhones are banned here so they're worth a lot, making the risk higher.

Speaking of being robbed, the number for the police is 311, but you may not want to call it. When my apartment was broken into, we called the police and the police ended up robbing us of about $2,000 pesos. Welcome to Buenos Aires. 

 Buenos Aires Time means that everyone will arrive about 20 to 30 minutes or longer to any appointment or meeting you set up. If you are trying to schedule a really important meeting, tell people to come about 30 minutes before you really want them there. 

Learn the local slang, it's amazing.

[kari-paul]

"There are two books in America: one for the poor and one for the rich. The poor person does a crime, and gets 40 years. A rich person gets a slap on the wrist for the same crime. They say that the poor person doesn’t want to work and the poor person just wants a handout. Well I picked cotton until I was thirteen, left Alabama and got my education in the streets of New York. I drove a long distance truck all my life and never once drew welfare, never once took food stamps either. I sent four kids to college. But they say all poor people do is sit around with a quart of beer. Look in this bag next to me. I’ve got three things in this bag next to me: a Red Bull, a Pepsi, and Draino, because my drain is clogged. But you see, even if I do everything right, I still have to play by the poor book.”

[kari-paul]

"Diana también representa las miles de mujeres asesinadas, el paso doloroso de los años y los expedientes de investigación archivados. Diana nos empuja a darnos cuenta de que nos hemos olvidado de pedir justicia, de darles su lugar en la memoria histórica de la ciudad a tantas mujeres asesinadas. La historia de Diana no nació en agosto, se gestó hace más de veinte años, y bien o mal, legal o ilegalmente, representa muchísimas cosas que van más allá de lo evidente, es por todo lo anterior que me atrevo a decir que, aunque sea simbólicamente, Diana sí existe."

— “Diana, la Cazadora de choferes” en Juárez: reflejo del hartazgo y desánimo social por las injusticias

[kari-paul]

If you’re uncomfortable about yourself, you’re gonna be mad at Kanye. If you’re uncomfortable within yourself and not comfortable with the type of person you are, when you see him on his shit, it’s gonna make you mad because it makes you feel bad about yourself. Because you wish you could be as passionate about anything in your life as he is about his music.

- Talib Kweli [via] (via pushinghoopswithsticks)

[kari-paul]

"Among educated Russians, including those who drink, classical literature and philosophy are sometimes debated in casual social settings, the way sports often are in Western countries."

-Debate over Kant in Russia ends in a shooting

[kari-paul]

Considering the embarrassing amount of times I Googled "Cafe Berlin Breakfast" while abroad, I'm pretty glad this blog exists now. 

[kari-paul]

An important read on women and the "sexist perpetual-motion machine" of the media world.

I suffered a minor bout of rage-blindness when I read Jack Shafer’s post about journalism’s “Marquee brothers” just one week after Bryan Goldberg bragged about the millions he scored to found a website for women. In Shafer’s telling, there is a “brotherhood” of powerful men in media who...

[kari-paul]

Belize: Several Weeks Later

This recap of my trip to Belize is extremely belated for several reasons. For one, I've been getting adjusted to being back in the U.S. after being gone for six months, and it's a lot to deal with. Repatriating is hard, especially in recent weeks, and I'm starting to realize my relationship with the U.S. works out a lot better long distance. 

On the more tactical side of things, I wanted to make sure I could publish certain photos before I did so, due to privacy issues, etc. But, we recently got access to official trip photos so I feel like I can now publish mine.

View from our hotel window. The program was located in Orange Walk, Belize. 

As I've said before, LEAP is a non-profit organization comprised of volunteer plastic surgeons, eye surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and support staff that volunteer their time and resources to travel around the world and bring medical care to areas that otherwise would not have access. The organization has completed trips in Haiti, India, China, Ecuador, and many other countries. The trip I participated in went to Belize. 

The public hospital where we worked

The first day involved screening hundreds of people for surgery. This is what the waiting room looked like:

The screening involved processing a chaotic group of over 400 people who had walked, driven and taken buses hundreds of miles to be there. We formed different lines for different kinds of surgeries and the doctors decided which patients could be helped and scheduled surgeries for the next two days. 

One thing that really struck me, and was probably even more noticeable to the American doctors who do this all the time in the U.S., was how patient and nice everyone was. In the U.S., patients get agitated if a doctor is 20 minutes late to an appointment. Here, people waited hours for a small chance to be scheduled in for surgery. One patient was turned away after taking a bus five hours to be there, and then waiting eight hours to be seen. He responded by smiling and saying "I appreciate all your help and I hope you doctors can go home and get some rest. You've been working so hard today." I was stunned by the amount of gratitude people showed. 

Day 2, Pre-Surgery

Day 2, In Surgery (Photo via LEAP)

The second day basically involved back-to-back procedures from 7 am to 11 pm. Between the two operating rooms (one for hand and foot surgeries and the other for facial surgeries) that was more than 20 surgeries and a marathon of staying on foot for the doctors. Luckily, the local Rotary Club kept an endless supply of amazing food for doctors and volunteers to eat when they had time.

The Holy Grail of fried chicken: I have seen it, and it is in Belize 

I was stationed in the recovery room, which means my job included assisting patients as they woke up, filling out charts, taking out IVs, bandaging them up and sending them to the room from which they would later be discharged. I also had what I feel is the most rewarding part of the job: Bringing relatives of the patients from the waiting room back to recovery to see the patient, safe and sound after surgery. Since many of these surgeries were reconstructive, some parents would come back to see their loved one with reconstructed face, or a hand that worked for the first time in his or her life. 

The cutest baby ever, with a cleft lip before surgery

A mother holds the baby after his cleft lip reconstruction.

Another one of my jobs was translating. Because Belize was formerly a British colony, almost everyone speaks English. Some immigrants from other Central American countries who live in Belize speak Spanish better than English, but most people speak at least a little bit of English. The exception being the Mennonite population. 

A Mennonite woman holds her son, whose cleft lip was fixed by LEAP previously. (photo via LEAP)

Approximately 3.6 percent of Belize's population is German Mennonite. They emigrated from Germany in the 1950s and still speak only German amongst themselves, and Spanish with others. Therefore, the majority of the Spanish translating I did was for blonde-haired, blue-eyed, German-speaking Mennonites. It was unexpected, to say the least. 

The second day of surgery was the same as the first, although we got out much earlier. Since LEAP had gone to Belize a couple weeks before, the amount of surgeries we had to do was a little smaller than usual. Over the course of the two days, LEAP performed 44 successful surgeries.

In our unheard-of free time on the last day, we took a boat trip to Mayan ruins. 

More than anything, this trip made me wonder why I never considered going into medicine instead of journalism. I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie: I love being in the newsroom when a story breaks, and I actually really love the stressful deadlines of working at a newspaper. Medicine is kind of like journalism in that it has stressful deadlines, but different in that if you don't meet them, rather than a story not getting filed, someone could die.

The stakes are higher, but the variety of life you see in a hospital on a daily basis is incredible. One day I watched an emergency C-section. As in, I saw a brand new human life violently yanked out of someone's belly. Less than five minutes later saw someone die in another wing of the hospital, a chorus of sobs from the family in the hallway immediately following. The ups and downs of working in a hospital were exciting and scary, and I am so glad I got to experience them. The people we helped taught me so much about gratitude, and I sincerely hope I can work with LEAP again in the future.

[kari-paul]

EZE-LIM-SAL-BZE

After six indescribable months in Buenos Aires, more than 30 hours of travel (involving much crappy airport food and sleeping in weird places), I have arrived in Belize. I did a really bad job of blogging in Buenos Aires so this is my earnest attempt to document my trip here. 

Six months away from the US, five currencies in my wallet.

I am here with my dad and my brother as part of LEAP organization volunteer medical trip. My dad will be doing as much free reconstructive surgery as he can for the next few days, mostly for babies with cleft lips and other birth defects. As for me,  my job description basically includes playing with kids and translating Spanish, so it will be a short but great trip. 

Photo from LEAP's last trip to Belize from their website. 

I was picked up at the airport by someone involved with LEAP and then we drove an hour north to Orange Walk, where I'm staying. The drive was through jungle-like wetlands filled with colorful houses and people selling mangos on the side of the road. After six months in a huge city, it's nice to be somewhere a little more tranquilo. 

House from drive to the airport. "Welcome to nice local food."

The official language in Belize is English, but more commonly people speak a Creole-like dialect. There is also a decent amount of Spanish, especially in the North where we are. Many of the signs here are in English and Spanish. The Spanish is extremely different from Argentina (obviously, because Argentina has the weirdest Spanish) so I'm getting used to the dialect, accent, and speed of talking.

I had heard that English, Creole, and Spanish are all spoken here, but I didn't realize that they meant at the same time. Last night I went to dinner with the local Rotary Club, which is organizing the trip, and they fluidly moved from English to Creole to Spanish as they planned dinners and activities for the LEAP trip. Sentences like "Compramos twenty-four manzanas, right?" were common. It was fascinating and very hard to keep up with. 

Also I ate empanadas for dinner because I CAN'T QUIT ARGENTINA

Today I am going to the hospital to help families get checked in and do some translating. My dad and brother get in around 4 p.m. today and I think there is a big dinner tonight. I will post more photos as I go.  

Jungly view from my hotel

Also, when I get back to Iowa, I will have a month of nothing to do and will  finally, retrospectively, write some posts about Argentina. Until then, you'll be seeing a lot of baby and jungle pics on here. 

[kari-paul]

WHEN YOU TRY TO GET INTO THE SUBTE IN THE LAST MINUTE

[kari-paul]

"When you meet a woman who is intimidatingly witty, stylish, beautiful, and professionally accomplished, befriend her. Surrounding yourself with the best people doesn’t make you look worse by comparison. It makes you better."

— "Shine Theory: Why Powerful Women Make the Greatest Friends," by Ann Friedman

[kari-paul]

Yesterday former dictator of Argentina Jorge Videla died of natural causes in prison where he was carrying out a life sentence for his role in Argentina's Dirty War. Videla and his regime are responsible for the disappearance of more than 30,000 people during the 1970s dictatorship and the lasting impact of this time in Argentine history is still manifested in many ways today. 

Above, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo march, which they have done every Thursday since 1977. Their activism was born out of the helplessness that these women felt when their family members began to disappear. When this happened in Argentina, there was no way to fight back. If you went to the police, the person you were filing your report with may have been the same person you saw take your child the night before. Many people felt helpless, and in a time where anti-government activity was highly monitored and suppressed, the act of simply silently pacing around in circles in the town's main square was extremely revolutionary. 

The bottom two photos are from the "Nunca Más" demonstration, which takes place every year on March 24 to memorialize the day that Videla overthrew Isabel Perón in a coup d'état and started the dictatorship. I went to the protest this year and it was one of the most moving demonstrations I have ever seen. These specific photos are from a community art project where everyone writes messages to lost loved ones, or notes about the dictatorship in general and puts them on this fence. Many of them said "NUNCA MÁS" (Never Again).