indian food in xela
we finally found the chocolate shop in zona 1– bought a couple bricks of some very fabulous smelling chocolate.
went to cafe baberia for breakfast- benedictinos with jugo de naranja, plantanas, frijoles, y pan. then…. iced cappucino because the cafe isn´t well ventilated and has a tendency to become very hot.
in lieu of class today, we followed our maestras to the public hospital. unfortunately, we arrived too late for visiting hours, and the rifle-wielding security guards wouldn´t let us in. instead, we flagged down some medical students and chatted with them about guatemalan medicine and medical school.
apparently, med school starts at age 17 and lasts for about 7 years. the local school costs only Q100 per year, but the competition is fierce to get in… and out. the first year starts with 600 students, by the second year it´s down to about 200. by the 4th year, they´re down to 80 students, 50 of whom are female. woo hoo!
i spaced out during a lecture on public health because it was all in spanish and the nurse giving the presentation spoke tooooooooooo fast for me. i got that it sucks, doctors aren´t paid well, and nurses are given 180 patients each during night float. not suprisingly, people are neglected and die overnight.
we spent the evening at a fundraising dinner for voces de cambio, an organization that seeks to empower young girls through writing and photography. the dinner was fabulous– homemade vegetarian indian food and chai tea. our friends bought raffle tickets and walked away with yoga classes and free internet time at the local cafe. fun fun.
that night, we walked liz home to her sketchy neighborhood and by the time we got to our house, we realized our key didn´t work and spent the next few minutes freaking out, ringing the doorbell, and calling the house until magda came and showed us how to open the door. bah!