The weekend

I've been able to do some fun things these past few days; probably the most exciting being my hike up to San Javier on Saturday. Not just any hike, but an 11 mile trek up a mountain, on a paved road through the jungle, to see one of the largest statues of Christ in the world, made out of cement. The scenery was phenomenal. I will post a link to my photos from this hike, but they just don't do it justice. It was absolutely gorgeous, and well worth every step. We got to the top, took some pictures, and we started cooling off, and noticing that it was getting pretty chilly and sprinkling a bit. It was at that point that we found out that we couldn't catch a bus for 3 1/2 more hours. We were hungry, wet, cold, and exhausted, so we walked over to Sol de San Javier (a hotel nicer than most I have seen- even many in the United States). We ordered the cheapest food possible there, mine cost about $2USD (the most expensive thing on the menu was 48 pesos= $16 US dollars, and it was a meal for 2). Some people were able to get a taxi, but the rest of us waited for the bus to get back to town. The trip pretty much took the whole day.
Church was an interesting adventure; we had relief society, Sunday school, then sacrament meeting. More kisses. We were such a large group that a few of us (the casados- married ones) went with the older people and everyone else stayed with the solteros- singles. I got the general gist of each meeting, and even walked away feeling like I had learned something. I felt the spirit even though I couldn't always understand what they were saying. It seems to be a very strong ward, although small. There weren't a ton of youth or children, but there were some.
Today was my first day in the hospital. I was assigned to the labor and delivery (parto) unit. I was paired with a non- Spanish speaker who I was to translate for, and sort of be the voice for both of us. No pressure... We watched one birth- the first unmedicated birth I have ever been a part of. It was her first birth, and she hadn't taken any classes, and didn't know what to do- she felt like she couldn't do it, but she was incredibly strong. I was amazed and honestly somewhat horrified at some of the things the doctors do here- they put everyone on pitocin whether they need it or not, and they get up on the bed and push with all their weight on the woman's abdomen to help get the baby out faster. These things are to get the baby out as fast as possible. Some of them are quite dangerous. I felt bad when the woman delivered (with at least 12 people coming in and out of the room) and then was left alone for 2 hours with no one checking her bleeding, the firmness of her uterus (a very important assessment to do if you want to catch a hemorrhage before the woman bleeds to death) or doing any kind of assessment. So I did it. I tried to help her with breastfeeding too, because it wasn't working too well for her, but she was exhausted and kept giving up after trying for a minute. I really felt limited by my vocabulary, and by time- we had to leave soon after. We are in clinical for about 4 hours, 4 times a week, and we have class for 1-2 hours each day as well.
Tonight I am supposed to help be in charge of FHE. We will probably go to the governor's mansion for a tour. I have been inside once, but didn't stay too long. I will post pictures of that, and add to it probably, after tonight.
http://picasaweb.google.com/RochelleCTaylor/SanJavierAndTheGovernorSMansion?authkey=kUvNngSzbGo
I will post more soon. Love you all.