CASA

10.01.07

Blessedly I sleep later than I had planned and make my way to CASA, the Midwife School where I get to sit in on a partera's appointments. None of the clients seem to care that I am sitting there, a stranger in the room and the midwife feels no need to introduce me. The first 2 clients don't know their birthdays, are here for their paps and have had 7 & 8 children each. There's not much eye contact between counselor and client and minimum equipment for various procedures. The older women cover their faces during the exams and the younger ones continue to chat. At one point a young male counselor came in to take photos of the midwive and no one batted an eye. HIPAA doesn't exist here and neither due lawsuits since it's the government who provides the care.

The building is beautiful filled with this wonderful soft but bright sun light that hits the walls of homes like a happy slap. Skylights fill the hallways and local art, musuem posters and hand copied signs decorate the walls. Lovely young students rush around in wasabi green scrub jackets and it's all very quiet. It feels comfortable and a way like home, for some reason. Maybe it's the dream just come alive for a moment that feels so qenuine. Unlike my first day at Kaiser where I felt like an alien.

A lovely 2 hour lesson takes up the after noon, discussing topics from horror movies to the rates of obesity in Mexico. Now I just have to drill in new vocabulary. The view from my window welcomes more afternoon rain.

Which actually never comes. I enjoy the quiet space, a good book, a nice stew for dinner and a walk under the clear night sky before bed. It's quiet in the streets, a few dogs out and some stray walkers. Yet life lives and breathes behind the walls which hide homes and hearts.