Bye, Toluca! :(

I'm flying back to Denver today. So sad to be leaving Mexico. The Starkey mission will continue here until next Wednesday and I so wish I could stick around and keep helping. This experience was AMAZING. Everyone at home was saying "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, you have to take it!" So I did. But I don't think it's going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity, I think I'll be doing this (or something similar) many more times in my lifetime. this has opened my eyes to how so few people can make such an enormous impact in a short amount of time. I was involved in 4 days of fittings and collectively, with about 15 fitting stations, we helped over 2,000 people. INCREDIBLE. Tani tried to put it in perspective-- at home, by the time I've woken up, eaten breakfast, and gotten to class, the Starkey team has already fit a couple hundred patients that day somewhere in the world. Think about that. I know I will be.

How does one go back to Colorado and the mundanity of studying in grad school after something like this? I just want to up and GO.

Mission day 3

Remember yesterday when I blogged about how grateful I was to have a translator? Yeah. Well. This morning, I knocked out a couple dozen fittings WITHOUT a translator. We were short a translator, I guess, and holy MOLY, that was the hardest couple hours of my life. I flailed for a while, trying to search out someone bilingual, but once I committed to just winging it, things started going a little more smoothly. It forced me to connect using my crappy half-ass Spanish and some wild gesturing. It was hard and rewarding and I felt so much more accomplished completing a fitting without Spanish help. 

Here are a couple pictures with my two go-to translators (where were you guys this morning?!!)

The first person I fit today was so frustrating I had to step away and try not to cry for a second. I had no translator and he kept asking for "más volumen, más volumen!" So I kept increasing the power of his aid, until it was skull-crackingly loud. He liked it. Two minutes later, after I'd fit the other ear, he gestured that it was too loud and we ended up back at square one. Over and over again. I almost lost it. Eventually, he was happy and I was happy to see him go. For every 10 amazing, easy patients, there's one who's tough.

That's another thing-- here in Mexico, a fitting takes us 5-10 minutes. They're happy immediately. In the US, fittings take hours and the person may come back over and over again to have the programming tweaked so that it sounds just right. There's an immense difference in expectation between the patients I see here and the patients in the US.

Mariachi dreams come true!

Tonight's event was a welcome dinner held by the Secretary of Social Development and the State Council for Women & Social Welfare. Apparently, formal dinners are very formulaic here. First, we were seated at the most decadently set table I've ever seen.

Then, there were several songs performed. And by several, I mean almost an hour. And THEN, dream of all dreams, an enormous mariachi band came out and performed. And much to my delight, they continued playing throughout the entire 5 course meal. 

The meal was quite interesting. The first course was cheese-filled thingies covered in more cheese and gravy. I'm not one to skimp on cheese, but that was more cheese than you could even shake a stick at. That seemed to be the general theme of the meal. Cheese, gravy, and mariachi music. And tequila. 

3 hours later, I'm finally back in my hotel room, stuffed, and (dare I say it) glad to be away from the mariachi band. Time to hit the sack for another long day of Starkey-ing tomorrow! 

Toluca Day 2 - Peds!!!

Day 2 went by even faster than day 1. I can't thank my translator enough. A handful of university students have volunteered to be on site every day to help with communication since there is such a language barrier. My translator, Melissa, and I have it down to a science and we're a juggernaut fitting duo. The most amazing feeling is standing eye to eye with a happy patient. They're speaking a mile a minute to me in Spanish, shaking my hand, sending blessings, etc, and I don't need Melissa to tell me what they're trying to communicate. There's such a strong connection between people despite the fact that we don't speak the same language and have entirely different cultures. I'm so sappy and there's no stopping the flow of sap.

It has been mostly adult patients, but a couple profoundly impaired kids showed up today. I was lucky enough to be able to fit one. He's nonverbal, so we were just watching for behavioral reactions to see whether he heard the sound. When I had reached his threshold of amplification, he whipped his head to the right, the side I was fitting, and kind of growled at me. Good sign. When I'd for both aids, he jumped off his chair and barreled straight into my chest and wanted pictures. So we took 'em, by gosh! 

Another nonverbal boy screamed when he heard for the first time. He jumped out of his seat, hugged the starkey volunteer fitting him, and then sprinted around to hug everyone he could see in a red Starkey polo, screaming the whole time. I've never seen such a strong reaction. This kid was overwhelmed and SO. HAPPY. I have never seen that level of happiness. Here's a quick shot-- he ran into Derek's arms before Brittany was even done with the fitting! 

This is exhausting, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Every 5-10 minutes, we're changing the courses of peoples' lives. How cool is that? HOW COOL IS THAT?! SO FREAKIN COOL.

When in Argentina!

Just got back from the most ridiculous dinner I've ever attended. The lot of us got on a bus and were whisked 500 meters down the street to an Argentinian restaurant. I'm just gonna list out the courses. Make of them what you will. I tried to be adventurous. 

- Fried cheese. Actually called provoletta or something, but really it was just a fried cheese wheel the size of a tennis ball.

- A spicy sausage thing

- Questionable salad drenched in something beige 

- Steak tacos

- GUAC. ALL THE GUAC. I recognized this stuff and therefore went to town on it.

- The most incredible thing-- French fries in a bowl made out of potato chips, lying on a bed of potato skins. *jaw drop*

- Warm tortillas in a leather mitt?!?

- Huge platter of mystery meats

- Chocolate mousse

- Neopolitan ice cream cake

- Ice cream with a caramelized sugar doohickey on top

- Dulce deleche

- And drinks, duh-- margaritas, wine, cappuccinos, weird blends of tequila and tomato-y juice, blah blah on and on 

Unfortunately, this wasn't the kind of place that gives to-go boxes. Heartbreaking. I shoulda shoved the remainders of the fries/chip bowl/potato skins combo straight into my purse. Ah well. 

Toluca Day 1

WOW. Incredible day. All the volunteers hopped on a bus (18 in total, I think) pulled up to the mission venue and there were HUNDREDS of people. People clogging the roadway, a sea of people, all here to see us. We looked out in awe, waving through the tinted windows. I cried, I laughed, I stumbled my way through dozens of hearing aid fittings. I saw a man with hooks for hands, I saw a woman frantically needle pointing a toilet seat cover, I saw a woman so overcome with gratefulness she had to give me something. She gave me a bruised yellow apple from the depths of the trash bag she used as a purse and I've never felt so overwhelmingly happy. 

We're using a fitting system I've never heard of and it's so easy to question the validity and reliability of it, but the sheer volume of people we help makes it worth it. I learned today that Starkey's mission is to give the gift of hearing so that the person may hear well enough to go out into the world, obtain a job, and be able to support themselves so that they may afford a better hearing aid down the road.

I feel so fortunate to be here, so fortunate to be in a position where I can provide help and hope.

Also, on an unrelated note, I had my first Big Mac today. Starkey is sure taking advantage of my burger weakness. 

Denver --> Mexico

What a surreal day. This Starkey mission opportunity felt so far away, even just this morning. Even now, here in the hotel bathtub reading the itinerary, it still feels far away. 

I woke up this morning, threw clothes (and HELLA snacks) in a suitcase and hit the road for the airport. It was the most uneventful travel day in the history of ever, and for that I'm grateful. The flights were a blur, thanks to my body's ability to stop drop & nap wherever/whenever I tell it to.

Exited the baggage claim area frantically searching for the mystery someone who was supposed to pick me up. There was a dude with a Starkey sign and for the next hour and a half, he didn't say a single word. I got in the back of a car and off we went, my imagination getting the better of me. Don't worry, haven't fallen in with any drug cartels yet.

Made it to the hotel (Quinta del Rey in Toluca) and it's SWANKY as all get-out. I'm writing this post from a bubble bath with swan-shaped gold faucets. I kid you not. I'll post a picture of the view from my room tomorrow. It's insane. It feels sort of weird to be staying in such a lovely place when we're here to help people who have very little. Can't say I'm complaining about the swanky hotel by any means, but I'd like to be a bit more immersed in Toluca's culture.