Summer:
On June 1, the five of us students, with Mr. Mac met at the San Marcos Episcopal Church. Inventory went smoothly and quickly and soon I found myself back at my house to wallow away a month of summer. The month was too soon gone.
On June 29 I was once again at the church. Many things had happened in my one month of freedom and most were good. Though the three hours we were there waiting seemed like an eternity (during which the dental students arrived), the
medical team walked through the red porton and we could finally have lunch. After lunch I found myself carried off to the ballet studio/comedor/Sunday school classroom. I stood feeling a little helpless with Jessica and then the blood and gore of extracting teeth began.The other days carried on in much the same way. There were a few interesting instances: a teeth they could not pull, the screaming, crying girls I had to hold down so the dentist could remove a tooth (or teeth), a little old lady with a very moving tragic story about how her daughter had been killed by her daughter's husband and her own husband killed by a car and now had "only her chicken and her duck to help her."
The old woman and the screaming little girls were left behind as we returned to Xela, not to leave
again. Then in rain and sunshine we made our way to Episcopal Church again. At the church we met a group of older people who com to have lunch at the church. They were friendly and greeted us kindly. One who I specially found interesting was Concepcion Carmen, an Indigenous woman with thinning black hair, streaked with gray. Her countenance was lively and she enjoyed conversing. She told me how she had had ten children but only eight survived. She told me about her cat and how it was delicate and ate only fish cat chow and rats.
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