It’s been a few days since i’ve posted a blog, & since then we have done ALOT!
On Friday 13th of January we had the opportunity to visit Casa Para Ancianos Arturo Mundet, an Elderly Healthcare Centre which is made up of high-care, low-care & daily visits for consultations, as well as Physiotherapy. The visit was an amazing experience, we had the pleasure of joining in with some of the residents for their exercise routine with the physio team.
Below: Getting ready to get our exercise on!
It’s incredibly important for us to acknowledge just how incredible these residents are. The vast majority of the residents has more flexibility then most of us students! For example, 2 residents were over the age of 100yrs old!
From Left: 100yr old resident, Nikki Callander, 101yr old resident, Tegan Monttinen & Kahlia Hickey (Bottom)
All in all, the visit was fantastic! The next day we went along with the Spanish group to Historic Downtown, which included National Palace/Diego Rivera murals, a cathedral & found Aztec temples. To get downtown we took a double decker bus! On occasions you would have to duck to avoid a whack in the face from a branch!
From Left: Tegan Monttinen, Emma Bailey, Kahlia Hickey & Nikki Callander
When we arrived at the National Palace, I think it’s fair to say we were all in awe of the beautiful site! We made our inside to the palace (after many security stops) & viewed the amazing work, that are the murals illustrated by Diego Rivera (or commonly known as Frida Kahlo’s husband)
Below: The National Palace
Below: Diego Rivera mural (one of many!)
Our wonderful & brilliant history guide, Arnaldo, gave us insight & much history into every mural Diego painted & the reasoning behind each. Every painting is not only a work of true art, but also a significant piece of knowledge, history & political action. We then visited a cathedral which was packed! The cathedral is across from the palace & is a common gathering site for Mexicans to come together in prayer & hope.
Below: The cathedral
By this point in the day, we all began to hear our tummies rumbling & made the decision to head to lunch! Lunch was at The Holiday Inn on top of a building!
Below: The view from lunch
From here, we headed to found Aztec temples where we viewed the ruins & the findings.
Below: The ruins & temples
This completed the end of our journey, so a few of us decided to head to Mexico City’s Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Was great fun, got caught in the rain, but was worth it!
Below: Ripley’s!
The next day was a big one! The Aztec Pyramids & Basilica of Guadelupe! We arrived at a little shop which sold Mexican merchandise. We had a lecture from a gentlemen who knew a lot of history about the pyramids & general Mexican culture. We were then offered 2 shots of Tequila before the climb!
Below: Nikki Callandar & Alonso taking their shots!
We then began the climb to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun!
Below: Pyramid of the Sun & Healthcare Jan Group
Below: From the top!
The climb was tough & steep, though rewarding & beautiful! We then made our made to the Basilica of Guadelupe, we were unfortunate enough to get caught in the rain, though this added excitement & a different scenery! Notice that the church is leaning heavily, this is due to non-solid ground; engineers have been working for years to stop the building from leaning however it continues to lean.
Below: Basilica of Guadelupe
Today we visited ABC Hospital, a private hospital that is quite new & still expanding! We viewed many clinics, including BRIMEX, the Cancer Centre & were lucky enough to sit-in on some post-op consultations with plastic surgeons. We also received a lecture on obesity.
Looking forward to updating everything in the next few days!!
Adios!!
Kahlia Hickey is participating in our January 2012 Public Health in Mexico Program at La Salle University, Mexico. Kahlia is going into her 2nd year of a Bachelor of Nursing degree at Victoria University.
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