Mas Gringos en Campeche

The last couple of days have been interesting. As bad as my Spanish still is (todavia es muy mal, yo prometo), I have actually been called upon to be a translator twice in as many days. First, for a woman who's husband had a stroke while working in Lousiana. Most of his medical records were in English and the family was curious what had happened to him there (he is totally aphasic). I discovered that he had some money that mysteriously disappeared while he was at a hospital in Lousiana (bienvenidos a Estados Unidos).
The next day, I had to translate a conversation between a tecnico en Estados Unidos and another tecnico aqui in Campeche. It seems that there was something wrong with the gas water heaters they use to heat a therapy pool at a facility here. I managed to figure out that the heaters were designed to run either on natural gas or propane, and the folks here in Mexico were using butane gas. The only type of gas available here is butane. So, they invested about $7,000 in two heaters that aren't going to work. Esto es un gran problema. Esto es Mexico. Anyway, it was a good test of my Spanish.

Two of the biggest industries here in Campeche are fishing and shrimping. For those of you who don't know, the Gulf of Mexico has the best shrimp in the world, and Campeche has some of the best shrimp in the Gulf.

There are these gigantic shrimp in the Gulf that Texans call "jumbo shrimp" (talk about your oxymoron). Here in Campeche, they are called piguas. I have attached a photo of a camaronero (shrimper) who was pushing his boat out into the gulf to check on his shrimp traps. Actually I just made that up, I have no idea what he was doing. I didn't notice it at the time, but he had on a University of Michigan hat. My brother Jim, who works at U of M, got a big kick out of that. I talked to the fisherman later, and he told me he was mortified with the performance of the U of M football team in recent years. Actually, I never talked to him, I just made that up as well.

Jessica Castellano arrived to Campeche this week. It was illuminating to see the city through her eyes. I took her to the muralla (wall around the city) and to the market, where there are a series of kioskos of fruits, vegetables, etc. for sale. The reason I said this was illuminating is because it seemed so foriegn to Jess, but so familiar to me. I realized that I have, in some ways, become a part of Campeche. I have never felt this way in all of my world travels. In the past, I have always felt like an outsider looking in.
For those of you that know Jess, I don't have to tell you what a breath of fresh air she brings to everything, and her first day in the clinic was no exception. It was a fun day indeed. It has been interesting to see how differently Mexicans respond to a young woman verses a crusty old guy. Now, I realize even in the states a pretty young woman is going to elicit a different response than a man, but the difference here is much more pronounced. Below is a picture of Jess on top of the eastern baluarte (bastion) of the muralla. The baluartes can be found at several places along the muralla and were areas of extra fortification against the piratas. While we were atop the muralla, Jess got to see her first iguana (always a defining moment in any Mexican experience). I also took Jess to Fuerte San Miguel which has been transformed into a wonderful Museo Arqueológico. I have attached a photo of a 1700 year-old Mayan figurine from the Museo.

Jess speaks some Spanish, so this has been a good chance for her to hone her skills in Spanish and experience physical therapy in Mexico. Aldo and I took her to Edzna to see the ruins. All told, I think her experience here has been a good one. She is going to be returning to the states next week, and then Deb is coming for 10 days. Deb and I are going to travel throughout the Yucatan, the details of which I will talk about in my next blog posting. More later!