I got to help Trale (a dental hygiene student) suction while he used the ultrasonic instrument

We were invited to Joel's (the owner of Velmar Hospital) house for Paella on our day off

Me and my horsie Maria. She gave me the most thrilling ride of my life! She literally galloped down the beach and I was holding on for dear life. I was laughing hysterically. See the video :)

Me and some cute kids from the migrant camp

I was able to watch 4 births. This baby girl is literally minutes old and I got to hold her and feed her. I felt bad that her mother didn't get to hold her first though.

An enormous tumor I watched be removed from a very overweight patient's abdomen. Sorry...heheh

Me and my roomates (the dental hygeniests)

A group photo- this was only part of our group. There were 25 of us altogether

Me and Joeny in front of the general hospital. She spoke fluent spanish and was a great friend.

My two week trip to Ensenada was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. Thank you Sally Beck for helping me get there! I was able to see four births, two surgeries, tour two hospitals, visit a public health clinic, help clean kids teeth at a migrant camp, and do glucose tests at an orphanage. I also got to go on an awesome horseback riding adventure, see the Bufadora (a big blowhole) and meet some great people. When I arrived at our hotel everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone in our group over the next to weeks. There were so many different people from all walks of life. I felt like I had a few stand in mothers and made some really great friends. I really miss them-we were all like a big family. We ate together, worked together, cried together, talked together, and had fun together. I learned a lot about the health care system in Mexico. It's better than I expected but it is definitely different than ours. The labor and delivery room really opened my eyes to that. There were 12 women laboring in one room and it was virtually silent!

I was a bit frustrated with my spanish during the trip. I used to be able to speak so much more smoothly and I felt tongue tied every time I tried to say anything. I had good days and bad days language wise. There were some people on the trip that didn't know any spanish and they elected me to help teach them basic things. That was nice:) But being there really ignited the desire in me to some day be fluent in espanol!

So I was hoping that going on this trip would also make me super passionate about medicine. That didn't exactly happen. I enjoyed the trip and the things I did but I still don't know if I'm called to medicine or if I'm passionate enough about it to have a career in it. I'm pretty sure I want to help people and involve spanish somehow. I just don't know if it will be in health care. I feel so fickle. One day I think it sounds great to be a P.A. The next day I get an uncomfortable feeling when I think about medical things and having to see sick people all day long. I also found out that P.A school is really hard to get into and you need at least 3,000 hours of working in health care before you can be considered a strong applicant. I'm scared to throw myself into something that I'm not sure if I will even like. Lately I've just felt so unexcited about college and my future. Nothing is sparking my interest-how lame is that? I enjoy a lot of things but I've never had a dream career. I know God has a plan for my future but it is still so hard to have faith that everything will work according to His plan when I'm the one having to make the decisions!

Even though my trip didn't answer all my questions and give me an overwhelming passion for health care I'm still so happy I went. It was such a valuable experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything.