Adios Oaxaca!

Today is my very last day in Oaxaca. What a wonderful time it has been, and what memories I will take with me!
Just now as I walked here to the school, where I am returning my cell phone, I walked through the mercado near my house while peeling una naranja that the Hernandezs gave to me from their own tree. A little girl stopped me and asked if she could have the orange. I was surprised that she was so bold, but I gave it to her and went on my way.
I have just returned from my last visit to Mitla! It was great to be there for one last time. I know it is my home, when shortly after I arrived I asked for a glass of water and Claudia exclaimed `yes! go ahead, this is your home!` I was there for a bible study last night, and two Mexican workers were visiting as well. I wish I could stay another month because I think that every week I find that I am understanding even more of what is being said! After the bible study I began to make pizza, something I had promised to do (and there were many eager questions about when it would be ready). It took quite a while and turned out a little different than I anticipated because the oven had no temperature gauge. It was finally done at almost 10 pm (haha yes, what happened to the time?), and meanwhile I played another game of Monopoly and chatted with the family. Just a few asides... first, getting the ingredients was a bit of an ordeal. I rode a bus to the Soriana supermarket, though realized that my directions were a bit incomplete. Fortunately I asked the bus helper (in addition to a driver there is a man that yells out the door for people to get on the bus and helps the driver with things like his choice of blasting music) and he and a lady on the bus told me when to get off and where to go. Once I bought my ingredients which were quite heavy, I took a taxi home. I then packed them all into my backpack and walked about 30 minutes to the bus stop for Mitla. The bus to Mitla on a Thursday afternoon is quite busy, so I stood in a packed bus for the first 30 minutes before a elderly man getting off in Tlacolula offered me his seat.
Yesterday
Yesterday one of my classmates and I went for a last day at the hospital. When we arrived, we were told (from what we understood) that there wouldnt be much going on in Pediatrics because there was a pediatric conference going on in town. We decided we would like to go to the conference. We asked the onco-ped nurse who I have been working with how we can get there, and seeing how she said she would be giving a presentation there today she should have been a reliable source. So she told us where the hotel was and off we went, taking the bus. We arrived, went in to see many pharmaceutical company demonstrations set up (including 2 Botox drugs and 1 for Ritalin), but were confused to find that none of the presentations listed on the Agenda included pediatrics, nor was the Drs name listed on todays schedule. We soon realized we had been sent to the wrong conference! All of our efforts had been for wrong directions! So we called our director, Dr. Tenorio for a tip. He made a few calls and was able to call us back with the correct information so off we went again. However, we again got lost (because there are two streets with very similar names), and when we asked two people for directions, (we had been warned of this) they led us astray. Finally after miles of walking, 2 weak coffees, an exhausted classmate and I made it to the conference. We were happy to find they were serving instant coffee that was actually good, and we stayed for about 30 minutes of a presentation about Pediatric Comas and emergencies before getting bored and leaving.

Today I am making a few final stops, including the Botanical Gardens near my house and possibly a 2nd visit to the awesome ruins at Monte Alban. I plan to go for coffee at an awesome hotel Camino Real that used to be a convent, finish packing, and later tonight meet my classmates for a final dinner together at the Zocalo. My flight leaves tomorrow morning at a muy temprano 6:50 am.
Adios!