Last Monday was the final day of classes at IDEA. We took our final exam, had our last culture class and headed home to put finishing touches on our presentations. We then returned to IDEA later that night to present and have a good-bye dinner for Chloe, who unfortunately had to leave after only four short weeks. The dinner was not what I was expecting at all. They told us that there would be musicians. While we were waiting to eat, a man came onto the stage in full native costume and began to dance.
After his dance, other dancers came out to perform some traditional Mexican dances. Their costumes were so elaborate and the dancing was phenomenal. Afterward, they tried to teach us a quick dance, but it was a hopeless effort for most of us.
After the farewell dinner, a few of us came back to my house for a final good-bye to Chloe. It was so sad to see her go. The next few days were a lot of just chilling before I began my internship the following Monday. I am in a pharmacy, and love it so far but more on that later.
More importantly, we went to Acapulco for the weekend! We left at 1 AM on Friday and the bus ride was so long. We made stops that lasted for hours in other cities along the way. In the first, it was mostly shopping and walking around the town. There were some cool statues and we saw a really pretty church. In the second town, we walked through some stifling heat, explored, visited a museum of the Mexican flag and then had some delicious food at a local restaurant. Then it was back on the bus. We finally arrived in Acapulco around 7 PM and checked into our hotel. Our rooms were on the 11th floor and the view of the city was pretty awesome. There was a casino and a Walmart nearby. We hit the beach for an hour, and then quickly got ready for a night cruise on the ocean. It was nice, the best part was the entertainment. There was a transvestite that sang and danced and then two couples that came out to dance. Overall, it was a great show. The cruise itself was nice, it was good to be out on the water at night. After, we went to the hotel to hang out before our day at the beach Saturday.
After we got up Saturday, we went on the bus to get to a really nice beach about 20 minutes away. To get there, we were on one beach and then took a boat with a partial glass bottom to get where we stayed all day. The beaches in Acapulco are so beautiful! There was so much swimming, it really was a great day. We ate a seafood dinner, and then went to see the famous cliff divers, a truly spectacular sight. We didn't pay for a fantastic view, but what we saw was crazy. The kids came out, and they were around 15. I was shocked by how young they were. Then, some of them went down into the water and were just swimming. They all climbed up a really high cliff, kissed religious statues for safety, stretched and took turns diving. I wasn't able to capture actual dives with my camera, but I did get a few shots of them on the cliffs. After, we went to get some tacos and had a great time dancing at a place on the beach.
Sunday was spent hanging out at the Hard Rock Cafe in Acapulco while we waited for the other bus trip goers to be in a water park. Cheap college students that we are, we thought that the water park would be a waste of money. Plus, who wants to deal with being soggy for a 9 hour bus ride back to Orizaba?
I finally started my internship this Monday and I love it. I'm in a hospital called Sanatorio Escudero which is kind of like a giant clinic, which operating rooms, specialists and of course, a pharmacy. The system here is so much different than in the US, so getting used to that after all my shadowing has been slightly difficult. The staff is great at answering questions, and super nice when I don't quite understand something they tell me. I think I have learned a lot and can't wait to keep learning during my remaining five weeks there!
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