Injustice, Coping: Fine Oaxaca Black Pottery Maker Goes to Santa Fe International Folk Art Market
Right now, there’s mango cardamom chutney cooking on the stove. It’s a clear, cool day after a series of heavy rains and the sky is brilliant blue. White puff clouds hug the mountain just beyond my reach, and I’m thinking about the injustices in our world and how people cope. In about three weeks, I’m […]
12 Health Tips for Mexico Travel: What NOT to Eat and Drink
Only drink purified bottled water OR ask for un vaso de agua de garafon — a glass of water from the big blue purified water bottle Only brush your teeth with purified bottled water. Do not use tap water for drinking. Hand washing with soap is okay. Keep your mouth shut when taking a shower! […]
San Juan Chamula, Chiapas: No Photographs, Please
It’s impossible to take a photograph inside the once-Catholic church of San Juan Chamula. It is a Sunday haven of pre-Hispanic mysticism, with folk practices that go way back in indigenous history. Tourists are warned to tread lightly. My body aches to take a photograph of the family crouched on pine needles in front of […]
Post Knee-Replacement Surgery and Return to Oaxaca
You haven’t heard from me since Thanksgiving, two weeks ago. That’s because I’ve been flat on my back recovering, calmed by a drug-induced stupor from ample doses of powerful pain medications Oxycontin and Oxycodone. I can’t remember ever having such surreal dreams, supercharged, electrified, day-glow wonders. My mind took me to worlds I’ve never been, […]
A Prayer for Guadalupe
Many women in Mexico are named Guadalupe in honor of the Virgin, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who many say was Aztec high-priestess Tonantzin and Earth Mother, adapted to the religious needs of New Spain. Our Guadalupe is a woman in her early forties with thick, luscious long black hair that hangs down to her waist. Most […]
Oaxaca, The Beatles and Knee Replacement
For the past two weeks that I have been in North Carolina, I have made the rounds of orthopedic surgeons first to get a diagnosis, then to hear second and third opinions. Consensus: knee replacement. Question: What type? Answer: Read on. Bottom line? It’s essential to get a second and third opinion! It all started […]
Blogger’s Dilemma: What To Say and How Often
Perhaps I’ve been traveling too long and have run out of things to say about Oaxaca, and what would be interesting to know, see and do there. I left Mexico on August 19, 2014, not scheduled to return until early October, another two weeks from now. I am not there, so daily life is not […]
Oaxaca Temple of Beauty: Estetica de Alex or Where to Get Your Nails Done
Oaxaca city is filled with beauty salons where haircuts, coloring, manicures and pedicures are available at a half to a third of the cost in the United States. Some are bargains, where a manicure costs 100 pesos or about $7.50 USD. I’ve paid as little as 300 pesos ($23 USD) for the mani-pedi combo. And, […]
UK Medical Student Talks About Health Care in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Edd Morris grew up in the United Kingdom (UK) on the Wales-England border. He just finished medical school in London, England, and decided to return to a Spanish-speaking country to volunteer in a community service project before going on to a two-year hospital residency back home. He has a passion for people and community health. […]
Best Medical Care in Mexico City and Oaxaca
Where to get the best medical care in Mexico and in Oaxaca, has been foremost on my mind for the last month. Here are recommendations. We are still reeling from Suzie’s accident on February 20, when the guide/driver of the car she was riding in hit a concrete barricade on the way to Teotihuacan. The […]
Where, What and When: My Last Three Weeks in Mexico
I haven’t posted much in the last three weeks and I’m sorry. Some of you may be wondering about that. It began with our Looking for Diego Rivera Art History Tour in Mexico City three weeks ago. The day we were set to gather for our first dinner together to launch our program, Suzie and […]
Oaxaca Clinic Receives Medical Equipment Gift
This week Federico Chavez Sosa and I made a visit to the Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca Centro de Salud (public health clinic) to present a gift of five stethoscopes to the clinic doctors. The gift is from Dr. Deborah Morris, MD, PA-C, academic coordinator and the Methodist University Physicians Assistant Program in Fayetteville, NC. The […]
Nursing Student Volunteers in Oaxaca Public Health Clinic: Health Care Externships
Aside from organizing arts workshops in Oaxaca, Mexico, I also work with universities to place students pursuing a health care degree in the Teotitlan del Valle public health clinic for student exchange externship experiences. I started doing this during the ten years I worked at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School […]
Oaxaca Healthcare: Free for the People
From personal experience I can tell you that tapping into the public health care system is low cost and easy if you are living or visiting in Oaxaca. This morning I presented myself at the Centro de Salud in Teotitlan del Valle with symptoms that I had pretty much determined via internet research were the […]