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.
Marco y Polo
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