Marco and Polo and the Borroso Fighters

¡Hola! Marco and Polo here,

With a thirteen hour bus ride behind us and the possibility of cloudy and cold weather ahead of us we spent one last day relaxing, with Blondie, by the pool in the scorching Phoenix heat. Without the breeze off the Sea of Cortez the heat was nearly unbearable.  We found ourselves taking a dip in the pool every twenty or so minutes so that we wouldn't melt.  In between our frequent trips into the water there was lots of reading and much snacking happening poolside.  It was a simple and relaxing way to spend our last morning/afternoon of our vacation.

When the heat became too unbearable to stay out we returned to our room to solve the great internet mystery.  With our belated blog post published we took some time to catch up on our favorite TV show Psych, it just celebrated its one hundredth episode, (WOOOO!!!).

Psych finished with just enough time for us to meet with the rest of the gang for dinner.  We all pilled into a giant creeper van (clown car style) for the drive to Rustler's Roost (a.k.a. Tex's version of heaven).  This place was insane: it had a live band, a dance floor, a slide, and a pet bull named Horny (we think this is unfortunate)...  Dinner consisted of bread rolls and biscuits, salad, steak, green beans, and corn.  The meal was completed with a childhood favorite for desert, cotton candy (Doc apparently really enjoys his cotton candy).  After some great photo opts we all pilled back into our creeper van to return to the hotel.

Our final day of vacation ended with a rousing game of 'Travel Tetris', a game which Polo is a master of (if she does say so herself).  Our check bag weighted in at 38 lbs, this gave us enough room and weight allowance to help Blondie with some of her things as well.  Another day gone and one step closer to Michigan (not that we are ready to go back)..

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¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco y Polo Dicen Adios a Mexico

¡Hola! Marco and Polo here,

It's been a sad day in our short lives, for today we had to say adios to the beautiful San Carlos, Mexico.  Although hopefully it's not actually 'adios' but 'hasta luego'.  

Our morning started off earlier than any other for us in Mexico.  We wanted to get to Barracuda Bob's to eat a delicious breakfast and use their internet to post our belated blog posts for all you loyal followers.  Many others in the group joined us for breakfast because Barracuda Bob's has the best breakfast in San Carlos (in our opinion).  This is where we also decided that once we buy our boat to live on in San Carlos we will be eating every breakfast at Barracuda Bob's and every dinner at Tequilas.  

Following our delicious breakfast, we stopped off at the hotel gift shop to buy 5 cans of pineapple nectar and 1 can of mango nectar to smuggle across the border. Pineapple nectar was one of our greatest discoveries here in Mexico and now it's safe to say we're addicted... We plan to find out how much it might cost to ship a case of it from Mexico to Flint (Doc estimates $10/can).  

We boarded the bus about 8 AM with a heartfelt 'hasta luego' from Veijita (the sweetest translator and our San Carlos host).  She even offered to let us stay at her house when we told her we didn't want to leave San Carlos. We were quite tempted to take her up on that offer.  The bus pulled out of the hotel and set a course for the American border. Along the way, we stopped at the same Mexican gas station as the trip down and managed to cheat the system of paying the 2 peso 'fee to pee'. Our next exciting stop was at a government checkpoint.  Here we had to unload everything off the bus and pass it through an x-ray scanner so they could make sure we weren't trying to smuggle drugs or weapons into America.  Don't worry, everyone passed and we were allowed to be on our way.  Close to the border we stopped for lunch at Asadero Leo's  (nothing like the Leo's we're used to) for some carne asada tacos and quesadillas. After lunch, we boarded the bus for the last time with Marco (the miracle-working bus driver) and continued toward the border. Our final stop in Mexico was a quick bus change back to an American bus line and not nearly as great of a bus driver.

At the border we all had our passports checked, except Doc because he tried to get by with an enhanced drivers license.  We then moved on to customs where we had to once again scan all our luggage and be sniffed by a dog trained to sniff out fruit and meats instead of bombs and drugs. They don't joke about smuggling fruit into the states...  Luckily for us the only fruit the dog could smell on us was the lime juice on our hands from lunch.  After a bus inspection at Dept. of Transportation we made our way onto free American soil and headed for Phoenix.  

About 13 hours after we left San Carlos, we arrived at our hotel in Phoenix, dropped off our luggage, changed out of our bus pants (yes, we have bus pants now) and headed to dinner with the group at Applebee's.  Everyone was happy to once again be enjoying American food and there was much laughter to go around the table.  After stuffing our faces we played a rousing game of  'Doc's 5 Question Post-Trip Survey'.  

With our stomachs full and our spirits high, we returned to the hotel where we promptly crashed for the night.


¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo See the Change

 ¡Hola! Marco and Polo here,

Our final day of clinic is complete and we are sad to see the end.  Not just because it means heading back to Los Estados Unidos mañana, but because this has been one of the most inspiring and humbling experiences of our young lives.  We would do it again in half a heartbeat, even without the relaxation days in beautiful San Carlos. We’ve even made a pact that sometime in the next 5 years we are going to come on the trip again, funds permitting.  We have also made a pact to purchase a boat and live on it in the Sea of Cortez, finding dock in San Carlos; it is highly probably that only one of these will become reality…

Despite seeing less patients than yesterday (410 patients today to be exact),  today’s clinic ran more like a well oiled machine and less like a three legged dog through knee high mud.  The student docs were more conscious of our stock of glasses and made their prescriptions a hell of a lot easier to play hand grenades with and we all finally had a decent grasp on the nuances of lens prescriptions.  Clinic today was at an elementary school in the valley region of Empalme; this region is the most impoverished region we’ve seen here. This fact did nothing to change the gratitude we have been shown when a patient got their glasses and can see clearly. There was much hand-shaking, hugging and cheek kissing to go around the dispensing area today. 

There were no great leaps or bounds in our Spanish speaking abilities, the best that can be said is that we didn’t get worse and Polo thinks she might have understood a little bit more when patients were trying to explain, or ask something.  We have decided that becoming fluent in Spanish is a must for all future trips.

The bus ride back to the hotel from clinic started with the ceremonial passing of the beers from the cooler in the back of the bus and the announcement of the number of patients seen.  After a quick stop to replenish the coolers, Doc led the bus in another rousing horse race.  This time Doc had the assistance of a microphone to announce his horse race; it only took him 6 days to discover that the bus had one… The horses managed to have changed names since the trip across the border.  The winner (Horse #3 Dopey Dan) was predicted by both Marco (the bus driver) and one of our translators, a sweet and amazing local, before the betting was opened.

After returning to the hotel we decided to get some last minute shopping in before dinner, getting souvenirs for ourselves, friends and family.  Marco found some fun stuff (these will not be listed as to not ruin the surprises), and Polo got a hand-painted ceramic turtle, since she was unable to find postcards (her normal wares for travel).  We then met a couple of the people from the group at Tequilas for dinner, for one last delicious Mexican meal (and fresh-made tortillas) before heading stateside.  On the way out of Tequilas Marco, Blondie and the others bought t-shirts, and Polo finally found her postcards.

Today concluded three remarkable days of clinic.  It is hard to believe that we were given the chance to See the Change in 1,317 patients.  This whole week, most notably the last three days, has been an experience that is impossible to forget and which we will forever wish to repeat.

¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo Have a Shitty Day (as in from Birds)

¡Hola! Marco and Polo here,

With our second day of clinic and another 525 patients behind us, we have but one thing on our minds, exhaustion (of the mental and physical variety). Don't get us wrong, today was incredible. Today's clinic was at an elementary school in Empalme, which essentially meant a lot less room and a lot more kids. The place was packed when the bus pulled up, which for us in dispensing meant we were on our feet from the moment we got off the bus until the moment we got back on the bus (about 8 hours later). Despite the increase in confidence from yesterday we still felt like we were ten steps behind. Sometimes feeling like we were flying through patients and other times like we were tripping over our own feet and stumbling into tables just trying to get through a single patient. Despite the insanity, we still had some unforgettable moments, mostly of the inspirational variety but a few of the comedic as well. One such instance was when Stiletto (not because she wears stilettos but because she wears heels everywhere) came back to the dispensing station covered in bird shit (hair and all). Stiletto was in shock for a moment until Marco found the wet-wipes in her bag (Thanks Mom!) and Stiletto could clean the bird shit off her hair and shirt. I guess you could say we learned our lesson about feeling safe under the roof... damn pigeons. As far the inspirational moments, we feel like we're cheating the student docs and the rest of the volunteers on the trip. Even though we have just a small role we get some of the best displays of gratitude when we find glasses that will work for the patient, giving them the tools to see the world more clearly. After only two days, we've lost count of the number of people who have hugged or kissed our cheek because they are just so grateful to be able to see in a way they have never been able to before. The lesson? Service and gratitude transcend even the most ramshackle language barriers.

Building off of yesterday's questionable success with the Spanish language, we'd like to think that we made progress today. Polo has officially graduated to three word sentences in Spanish (with the occasional charade thrown in). Marco can now communicate in Spanish to the point where the patients think she's fluent but really she has no idea what they're saying back. We've managed to add a few more important phrases to our repertoire like: ¿Es claro? (Is it clear?) and ¿Es borroso? (Is it blurry?). Day 3 of clinic can only mean more improvements in our Spanish right? We sure hope so.

We're sure tomorrow's clinic will be no different and we're sure to have many more stories to share.

¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo Deal in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

¡Hola!  Marco and Polo here,

First day of real work here in Mexico and we must say it was probably the best day yet.  It's really tough to put today into words but we're going to try...  

We started our day by waking up before the sun had fully risen (this was a first for us here in Mexico).  We joined the crew for breakfast where we learned that Doc has finally joined our small yet faithful group of blog followers (Yay Doc!).  While waiting to board the bus, Polo got a small lesson in Catholic history from the Deacon and Marco got in trouble for not going to church yesterday (sad face).  

The bus took us to Empalme, where the real work of the trip began, starting with unloading, opening and organizing billions of boxes of glasses (we only exaggerate slightly people).  We were assigned to dispensing which is where we take the prescriptions from the docs and find the correct glasses (this is where the horseshoes and hand grenades come in...).  We all quickly learned that finding that 'perfect' match to the script was nigh impossible. This is when Marco decided that the trip motto should be 'Close enough only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades... and VOSH trips'. It was a steep learning curve trying to work out the subtle nuances of lens prescriptions, deciding just how much you can sacrifice in one area just to get  a little closer in another without totally screwing up their vision.  By the end of the day we think we had it figured out pretty well but we're sure tomorrow will bring new challenges to throw us off our game.

Despite having many helpful interpreters, there were often times when we were left to our own devices.  Which in our case meant pooling our collective 10 years of Spanish classes to figure out how to communicate.  By the end of the day we figured out how to say the important things like: ¿Puedes leer esto?(Can you read this?), un momento (hold on while I get a translator), muy bien (very good), de nada (You're welcome), para el sol (for the sun aka sunglasses) and ¿Esta bien? (good?).  For Polo there was a lot of charades happening creatively using the 12 words of Spanish she could remember. Hopefully, we can pick up some more Spanish tomorrow and sound less like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons. 

After a hard day's work of seeing 382 patients through registration, exams and dispensing we were invited to a party hosted by the Empalme Rotary Club. Let us tell you from our new experience, that no one throws a party like a Mexican Rotary Club.  It was a fantastic night filled with good music, great food and terrific company. There was plenty of carne asada, carnitas and fresh made tortillas (Polo's favorite) to feed twice as many people as were there. The entertainment for the night (other than Doc's dancing skills) was a local group of teachers who practice traditional Mexican dances and a young man (Mexican Idol) who was a fantastic singer. The dances were incredible and we were surprised that the dancers still had functioning knees by the end of the night; even in another language Mexican Idol's songs were captivating.

There was plenty of not so great dancing by Americans (and Canadians) that think they can dance. Our favorite to watch was Sarge (disclaimer: we aren't sure whether he currently is or ever has served in the military or any other organization that would grant him this rank).  The Sarge is one of those people who looks like he would make a great drill sergeant but when he smiles, it makes you want to smile right back.   Doc's dance moves seemed to consist mainly of running in place awkwardly but he has an unbeatable enthusiasm about it. We also learned that Mexicans have similar dances to our awkward American line dances except theirs are WAY cooler.  Blondie (a quick witted, hilarious wise-ass and many year veteran of the trip) was quite talented at one such Mexican dance called 'The Golden Lasso', she was really quite impressive.  

All in all, today was an unforgettable experience and we are sure tomorrow will be just as great. Until then...


¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo and the Great Sea Shell Hunt

¡Hola!  Marco and Polo here,

Another strenuous day for Marco and Polo here in Mexico...  We had to walk all the way to the beach, where we continued our lessons in relaxation.  After some time roasting in the sun we decided to cool off in the Sea of Cortez.  It was FREEZING!  After going into shock, we warmed up by swimming around a bit.  Marco was reminded how much she hates salt water, Polo learned that she isn't much of a fan either.  We did get in some great mini dives and found lots of shells, among other things...  Polo about had a heart attack when she picked up a shell, thinking it was a sweet find and found it was still being occupied by a mollusk; there was screaming involved (of the underwater variety).  The mollusk might have a concussion from being dropped.  The great hunt for shells finished and Marco had a margarita and we were on our way back to the pool.

Our arduous trek back to the poolside was rewarded with more margaritas (these ones much better than those on the beach), a normal one for Marco and a mango margarita for Polo.

Our time at the pool was interrupted by a trip to the Soggy Peso Bar, where beer was consumed as well as our weight in chips and guacamole.  To work off the chips and guac  we continued the great sea shell hunt with a walk along the beach and a hike up a rocky hill (we apparently took the long hard way up).  The completion of this hike was rewarded with a shared piña colada.

Back on the bus we got stuck in Mexican traffic...  It really exists people (we blame it on the students from LA that are on the trip with us).  The policia had set up a road block at the base of a BIG winding road, at the top of which were road stands and the promise of a great sunset.  We missed the sunset but the traffic and disappointment was worth it because Marco found her traditional travel souvenir, a coffee mug with a fish on it, and we found a souvenir for another friend.

We finished off our day with dinner at Tequilas.  We got to eat a fish (a yellow-tailed something or other) that part of our group who had been fishing all day had caught.  We tried some raw fish appetizers (they had a bit too much lime for Polo's tastes), and had baked (or grilled, we're really not certain) and fried fish for dinner.  It was the perfect way to end our days of relaxation.  Tomorrow the real work, fun, and experience begins.


¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo Lost at Sea

¡Hola!  Marco and Polo here,


Another day and another adventure here in Mexico.  We spent our day re-learning how to relax...  How did we do this?  Easy take two bathing suits, two books, a bunch of snacks, a bottle of SPF 30 sunscreen (this bit is vital), a margarita, a pool, and a sunny warm day.  Add a Marco and Polo and mix vigorously, let sit for three and a half hours.  This is exactly how we spent our morning...

After absorbing all that vitamin D a trip to Tequilas (a nearby restaurant) was in order.  There we had another great Mexican meal with lots of laughing involved.  While there we got to watch an exciting match of 'Name-that-Price' with a local selling bracelets and necklaces (we found a great gift for Tex too).

A clothing change, and power nap later we met up with the group to go on a Sunset Margarita Cruise!  There was no lack of excitement on this cruise.  To give you an idea the least exciting moment was convincing one of the optometry students that calling the Mexican Coast Guard from the boat radio was NOT an excellent idea.  Before we had left the marina everyone on board had a margarita in hand and an almost infinite supply of refills thanks to Ms. Margarita (the Captain's first mate).  Ms. Margarita not only supplied us with drinks she was also responsible for 'Dolphin Cheer-leading'  (this consisted of whistling, clapping, and cheering in Spanish for the dolphins).  This was probably the highlight of the cruise, the dolphins.  There was a whole pod of them who live in the Sea of Cortez outside the marina.  It was incredible!  Polo got to sit at the bow of the boat and take pictures and videos of the dolphins swimming alongside the boat while Ms. Margarita lead the group in yelling 'arriba arriba' at the dolphins.

This exciting day finished off at a restaurant where Marco had a boiling pot of sauce and shrimp and Polo made Aluminum foil art. Now somewhere at around hour ten on the bus yesterday we weren't so sure this trip was really worth all that hassle, this cruise (and this day) changed our minds, we have now decided to buy a boat and live in San Carlos for life.

¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo Cross the Border

¡Hola!  Marco and Polo here,

We've officially been awake for 22 hours time with only 2 hours of sleep last night and a few cat naps... It's been a LONG day. 

Our day started at 4 AM (the ass crack of dawn) as we made our way down to the lobby of our hotel outside Detroit Metro to catch a shuttle to the airport. The breakfast buffet was out of coffee (Marco was not a happy camper) so Marco and Polo caught one of the first shuttles to the airport. Once at the airport, we managed to sit for 30 minutes less than 15 feet away from other members of our group, without even noticing (Marco blames the lack of coffee).  We made it through check-in and security and played more of the waiting game at the gate.  The waiting wasn't so bad because Marco finally got some coffee and we saw a guy with the COOLEST mustache ever. Don't believe us? Look at the picture below. 

Promptly after boarding the plane, Polo fell asleep; Marco on the other hand, could not sleep... damn coffee. The plane ride was fairly uneventful unless you count finishing a book, complaining about being tired and flying over mountains! Here's a neat picture Polo managed to take while the person in the window seat in our row was in the bathroom. 

We landed in Phoenix at Sky Harbor International Airport (pretty cool name huh?) and played a rousing game of 'Grab that Luggage!' with the baggage claim carousel.  We then started what felt like the longest bus ride ever. Really people, it was almost 12 hours... We rode one bus all the way to the Mexican border where Polo managed to sleep through an armed guard (not doing the cabbage patch) checking our bus and then switched to a Mexican bus line for the rest of the never-ending trip. Fun Fact: Our Mexican bus driver's name is Marco!

Once safely across the border, we stopped at Immigration to fill out our Visas. Then the bus ride got much more interesting and included beer... It started out with Doc announcing a cut-throat horse race (Marco placed a bet on Horse #6, Slippery Sam from Arizona). Horse #5, Russell from Texas managed to win the race.

After the horse race, Doc tried his hand at hosting 'The Price is Right' where we all had to guess the prices of random travel items, the person with the closest guess that wasn't higher won the item, Marco managed to win a stick of deodorant.  Near the end of the bus ride, Marco (the bus driver) stopped to get gas.  This is where we learned that if you want to pee at a Mexican gas station, it's going to cost you 2 pesos... The rest of the trip went by uneventfully with only naps, reading and lots of snacking.

We FINALLY arrived at our hotel here in San Carlos around 9 PM local time. We checked into our room, dropped off our luggage, got confused by the light switches, found some toilet paper origami and then got right back on the bus.  A less than 3 minute bus ride took us to the Beach House of our hotel where there was an endless buffet of amazing tacos and delicious drinks. After stuffing our faces, we opted to walk back to the hotel with some others in the group to avoid the bus. We made it back to the hotel just in time for Doc to pour some tequila shots (Polo's first shot ever!) to celebrate the end of our never-ending travels.

¡Quédate un empollón!

Marco y Polo

Marco y Polo Ir a Mexico

¡Hola!  Marco and Polo here,

We'd just like to say that we are super psyched to be coming to you from Mexico for the next 8 days! Why you ask? That's a good question and a looooong story. 

Once upon a time, in the fall of 2009, Marco and Polo were just teeny tiny freshman, it was back before we were even friends (these were dark times people, dark, dark times).  Our department had a presentation by an optometrist (Polo's future boss and here on out referred to as Doc) who goes on a volunteer trip to Mexico every year.  They spend the entire year collecting gently-used glasses which they then bring to villages in Mexico.  They spend a week every year holding clinics for the natives around these villages; for many of these people, this is the first (and probably only) time they will see an eye doctor.  We heard stories of how these simple acts of improving vision, improved lives and we wanted to be a part of that. Dare we say it, we wanted to See the Change.

Fast forward 3.5 years, one unbreakable (probably insane) friendship, some money saved (and spent), multiple parental freak-outs (we promise it's because they love us) and here we are. We're sitting at the hotel next to the airport waiting for 4:45 AM to roll around so we can go to the airport, get on a plane, fly to Phoenix, get on a bus, cross the border and arrive in the (rumored to be beautiful) San Carlos, Mexico.

So here's to hoping we have a safe trip, a great time and don't end up digging our own graves while two armed guards do the cabbage patch.... Don't freak out, it's a joke, sort of.... just watch this Psych episode promo-ed here.

Quédate un empollón (that's 'Stay Nerdy' for all you losers not going to Mexico),

Marco y Polo

Marco and Polo Spread Christmas Cheer

Marco here,

    Polo and I love to give Christmas presents. It's just plain fun to come up with something you know the person will love and to see the smile on their faces when they open it up. So every year we like to buy or make (if we're feeling crafty) presents for our friends, professors and family. This year may have the been the best one as far as our presents go.

    I'll start off with what Polo and I got for each other: Polo got me the card game version of Dirty Minds (which is just hilarious by the way, I recommend it!) and I got a Navy SEALs calendar and the Act of Valor book for Polo. We both loved our presents!
       Polo here, I really LOVE my gifts.  I have been loving seeing the new month pictures.  As for the book...  it took me a bit to get through because life is crazy but I finally finished it.  It was incredible!  Very well written and even knowing what would happen from the movie the book had me tearing up.  I strongly suggest getting a copy, or if you're too unimaginative or lazy to read a book, watch the movie (also a masterpiece).

     For our roommate Tex we got Squidward's house from Spongebob as an aquarium decoration. Tex LOVES Spongebob. There's been some updates to the hobo house fishtank too so keep an eye out for a post about that. Currently in our fishtank we have Spongebob's house (a pineapple!) and a miniature Spongebob. Now we have Squidward's house too, soon Tex will be able have the whole collection!

     We like give presents to our professors in the Chemistry Department. They have to put up with us and all our crap during school term. We basically live in some of their offices... This year I would say that Polo and I outdid ourselves with our presents that we gave to the Lord of the Benzene Ring (LotBR), Kilo, Chief, La Catedratica and Dr. Mom.

• Kilo is the lab manager in the dept and frequently deals with Polo and I sitting in her office. Due in part to the giant bowl of candy on her desk but mostly because she's just plain awesome. Kilo has a collection of nerdy bumper stickers on the door to her office. 'Honk if you passed PChem' and 'Old chemists don't die, they just reach equilibrium' just to name a few. Polo and I made two new additions to Kilo's nerdy bumper sticker collection. 

• The Lord of the Benzene Ring (LotBR) is our other favorite organic professor whose favorite saying is probably 'There's no crying in Organic Chemistry!'. Polo and I got him some aptly chosen nerdy magnets for his bookshelf.  Don't beat yourself up if you don't get the second one, it's some serious nerd humor (Google is your friend).

• La Catedratica got a combination present from Polo and I this year; part Christmas, part baby present! Yay! This combination present was three nerdy onsies, personally designed by Polo and I because we just know that baby is going to be nerdy. 

• Chief is the dept secretary (the real brains behind the operation) and she happens to LOVE pigs. So of course Polo and I had to include pigs in her present. This year, Polo and I tried our hand at making homemade snowglobes (thanks Pinterest!) and Chief was the first victim of our attempt. We made her a snowglobe with two plastic pig figures inside, except the end result looked more like a glitter explosion in a mason jar than a snowglobe....whoops. Oh well, she still loved it! 
• We learned our lesson from Chief's snowglobe when we made one for Dr. Mom, a little glitter goes a long way... A VERY long way (it looks like a glitter bomb went off in my room, I'm still finding glitter in weird places).  Dr. Mom loves snowglobes, a fact Polo and I stumbled upon last year when we got her a picture snowglobe that you could record sayings on. So this year we figured the only way we could beat last years was to make a snowglobe.  Instead of being filled with pigs like Nucleus', the snowglobe we made for Dr. Mom was filled with various things we may or may not have pilfered from the labs (Shhhhhhh...) including colored eppy tubes and test tubes filled with colored sugar. It was the nerdiest snowglobe I've ever seen and sorta looked like a couple of 6 year olds made it (which is actually sorta fitting for Polo and I...)

    Clearly Polo and I are just a little bit nerdy in our Christmas present giving but could you really expect anything else?  Even though it's way past the season, let us know how you spread holiday cheer (nerdy or not!) by dropping a comment!

Happy Belated Holidays! And as always, Stay Nerdy!

-Marco