Last evening, we heard the ‘rain birds’ for the first time this year. Usually we associate them with May, but we are a couple of days before the 1st of May. I think that I talked a bit about these last year in May. The call is a prolonged sound a bit like a whistle; it stays the same pitch, fairly high. There were only acouple last night. Later in May when there a quite a few, the sound is continuous. Actually, as I mentioned last year, the sounds are not made by birds, but by insects. They are called ‘rain birds’ because they supposedly are harbingers of the coming rainy season. Last year, the first rain came on May 8th which I think was a bit earlier than usual. In 2008, our first year here, the first rain was on May 12th.
We have had more than enough excitement this week. Just after midnight Sunday night, the power went out. It did not come back on until just after 11 a.m. on Monday; apparently a transformer went out. That cancelled our irrigation scheduled for Monday morning. Barbara tried to make up for it in the afternoon. That was not a good idea. On Monday,, Wednesday and Friday, the water comes from La Floresta only in the mornings until early afternoon. Then, it doesn’t come on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until late morning to about 6 p.m. Thus, the cistern (aljibe) was low overnight. When the irrigation system came on at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning., it soon draained the aljibe and lost the prime. We had to wait for the water from La Floresta to come on and partially refill the aljibe. Then, in the afternoon, we primed the pump and got water again. Usually, the irrigation system timer is set so that the watering coincides with the water flows from La Floresta. We shall certainly be more careful in the future. Right now in the hottest and driest time of the year, the grass and flowers need more water.
We just had more excitement; a hummngbird was in the house. Our feeder is in the patio, but until it gets dark, we usually leave the door from the dining room into the patio open so the dogs can go in and out. Actually, during the day many of the other doors are also open. Thus, we do have birds flying in. Some fly right out again; we have to be quick because Lily is fast and kills any she gets hold of, as she did 2 evenings ago. The humming birds always stay too high up in the rafters to find the doors to go out. The usual procedure is to keep them flying until they get tired. Sometimes, they get so low that they do find one of the doors. However, often, they just get so tired that they flutter down and I can pick them up; usually, I throw a napkin over them so they don’t struggle too much in my hands. Then, I take them outside. That is what happened tonight. It often takes 15 or 20 minutes for them to get tired out. I find it harrowing as I hate to see them get hurt.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The deep end
It’s a long time since the last post. Kate & Jack, the last of our snowbird friends, left on Thursday. Things do slow down now. However, friends of Steven and Heather of the house next door are staying for a month. We went out to dinner on Thursday night with Cathy and Ian. They are in the process of buying a lot on the other side of Ajijic, near where Sonia has her house. They don’t plan to start building for a year or more, but are having a great deal of fun and pleasure in scouting out ideas for what to build. They plan to continue with their jobs for 3 or 4 more years before coming here for at least half the year. This is a working holiday for them; Ian works for a mining exploration company in northern Ontario and can do a lot of the necessary paper work and information to investors from here via the internet. His company has hired Cathy to do some updating and furbishing of the company website, which is also something that she can do here. However, they say that most work days, they spend the day in front of their computers.
Last Saturday, we took the 4 niñas (Gloria is kind of permanent member of the group; she is in the middle with long hair in the photo) next door to Steve’s pool; there is no shallow end so the girls have to be in water balloons . That of course, means that we have to be in the pool all the time. Both Barb and I got sunburned. The twins, who had been in that pool before, both went in quickly, but Gloria and Fatima took a few minutes to get up their courage. But all had a very good time.
We have been a bit mystified because everyone at LIA keep calling the twins, “Camila”. Finally, we asked Alvia. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, “I can’t tell them apart, which is Dareli and which Dariana, so I just call them ‘Camila’”. We have not resorted to that. When we first go there, we find out which is which and note what clothes they are wearing, usually different. Then, when we want to use their names, we look at the clothes. Actually, if I watch them for a couple of minutes, I can usually distinguish because there are slight differences in behavior, but it is very difficult if you just look at their faces.
April is usually quite hot, but this has not been the case very much this year. In fact we had quite a bit of cloud for a few days and the temperatures did not get much above 27º C (over 80º F). However, today we set a new high for 2010; it got to 31ºC (87.6º F). Last year the hottest day of the year (32 C or 90 F) was on April 28th. I expect that we shall be getting more hot days for the next few weeks.
Barb claims that she has finished making new flower beds. That aside from changing or replacing a few plants occarionally, all she has to do is maintain what she has. Even that involves quite a bit of work. I am trying to get her to let Rosendo do a bit more. He won’t do it as well as she does, but so what? Although she is letting a bit go, I am still working on that.
Last Saturday, we took the 4 niñas (Gloria is kind of permanent member of the group; she is in the middle with long hair in the photo) next door to Steve’s pool; there is no shallow end so the girls have to be in water balloons . That of course, means that we have to be in the pool all the time. Both Barb and I got sunburned. The twins, who had been in that pool before, both went in quickly, but Gloria and Fatima took a few minutes to get up their courage. But all had a very good time.
We have been a bit mystified because everyone at LIA keep calling the twins, “Camila”. Finally, we asked Alvia. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, “I can’t tell them apart, which is Dareli and which Dariana, so I just call them ‘Camila’”. We have not resorted to that. When we first go there, we find out which is which and note what clothes they are wearing, usually different. Then, when we want to use their names, we look at the clothes. Actually, if I watch them for a couple of minutes, I can usually distinguish because there are slight differences in behavior, but it is very difficult if you just look at their faces.
April is usually quite hot, but this has not been the case very much this year. In fact we had quite a bit of cloud for a few days and the temperatures did not get much above 27º C (over 80º F). However, today we set a new high for 2010; it got to 31ºC (87.6º F). Last year the hottest day of the year (32 C or 90 F) was on April 28th. I expect that we shall be getting more hot days for the next few weeks.
Barb claims that she has finished making new flower beds. That aside from changing or replacing a few plants occarionally, all she has to do is maintain what she has. Even that involves quite a bit of work. I am trying to get her to let Rosendo do a bit more. He won’t do it as well as she does, but so what? Although she is letting a bit go, I am still working on that.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Mexico's health care 'system'
Twice (Jan. 24th & March 11th, 2009), I have talked briefly about health care in Mexico. On Friday, Barb went with Kate and 11 other women (it is another little charity that I’ll discuss a little later) to Civic Hospital in Guadalajara. Over the almost 2 years that we have been here, we have gradually been learning about the health care ‘system’ in Mexico and I think have now gotten a pretty good handle. I use ‘system’ in quotes because parts have been added over the years until coverage is fairly comprehensive even though there are cracks that some people fall through. I’ll try to outline the various aspects.
Private care
This is very comprehensive with excellent quality by and large. We go to Maskaras Clinic set up and operated by Dr. Garcia. There is a dental office and an extensive list of specialists from Guadalajara who come out regularly, often weekly. The clinic has both a pharmacy and laboratory as adjuncts. They even have 2 beds for overnight hospital care. I used it when I was suffering from dehydration last year. One can get almost any kind of specialist and test, often the next day. Last year when I mentioned that I had not had my prostate checked even though the PSA had been rising., Dr. Garcia had me in to Guadalajara for ultrasound and biopsy the very next morning. The equipment used by the specialists is the latest and many of the doctors have had training in the US or Canada. Most have their specialist certification from the relevant American association. The private hospitals are modern; people who have used them say that the facilities and service is more like a hotel than a hospital. Again, almost all get certified by American boards. The private health care and hospitals serve wealthy and well -to-do Mexicans, ex-pats like us and growing numbers of ‘medical tourists’ (mostly from the US some flown down by insurance companies). Costs are just a fraction of what they are in the US. That being said, just as in Canada and the US, not all doctors or facilities are equally good. Initially when we arrived, we were going to another doctor who also had a lab as part of his clinic. We found that the test results of the lab were not reliable.
IMSS
This stands for INSTITUTO MEXICANO DEL SEGURO SOCIAL. This is a government run health care and social pension plan. By law, all employers of full time employees are supposed to pay the fees for this plan. Large companies with strong unions pretty much do so. I won’t get into the pension part because the 2 can be separated. Ordinary Mexicans can also join and pay the fees themselves. The fees, depending on age, are relatively modest. For example, for children the annual fee is a little more than 1200 pesos; adults in their 20s are just under 1500 pesos. [The exchange rate is currently just under 8.5 pesos per Canadian dollar; thus, multiply the pesos by .085 to get the amount in dollars. 1200 pesos is just about Can $100] However, huge numbers of Mexicans are self employed in effect (like our gardener and maid) and can’t afford or decide not to get IMSS. Letitia did not have IMSS; Rosendo does but doesn't seem to use it.
With IMSS, one must go to IMSS doctors, pharmacies, dentists and hospitals. What we have been told is that the doctors and other practitioners are well trained and pretty much comparable to those in private practice, but offices and facilities are crowded and there can be considerable waits. Also, the hospitals tend to be understaffed, facilities not as clean as we are used to and often patients have to rely on family to provide food and some care. Recently, Rosendo asked for a loan of 1500 pesos because he needed some dental work (we have made loans before and he pays us back 100 pesos per week). When we asked about IMSS, Rosendo said that he would have to wait too long and he prefers the private system. For Letitia, the 4000 pesos for herself and her 2 children is too much. We have decided (sharing with Sonia) to pay for Letitia and her kids. It is not too much anyway because last year when she had doctor bills and medicines for her kids, we gave her over 2000 pesos extra to help.
IMSS is available to non-citizens like us. Cost per year for those over 60 is 3325 pesos or just over $300. Many expats here apply for and get IMSS as insurance, even if they don’t expect to use it. Some have used it and say that they received good care. We have decided not to get it because, unless we were really in dire straights, we would not use it. At any rate, IMSS made health care available for large numbers of working class Mexicans.
Civic Hospital in Guadalajara
This is where Barb toured on Friday. It is a modern hospital run by the University of Guadalajara and is a teaching hospital for its medical schools. It serves the very poor who have no resources, mostly from Guadalajara, but also other areas of Jalisco State. It receives money from the federal government as well as the local municipalities in Guadalajara. The ladies were especially visiting the wards for women who have just given birth. These women are impoverished and malnourished and often very young. As a result, quite a few had lost their babies. Others were clearly not interested in their babies (one can speculate why). Twice a year the women in this group bring layettes for the women with babies (blankets and other basics to take their babies home) and some basic toiletries for the women who have lost their babies. There is also a new, small burn unit; previously, the Shriners had assisted sending burned children to a Shriners’ Hospital in Texas; however, last year because of financial problems, that hospital closed. The women take teddy bears and stuffed toys for the kids in the burn unit. This hospital then helps some of the people who would otherwise have no health care.
Rural clinics
From the newspaper, we learned that Jalisco State operates a number of small clinics in remote rural areas. These are staffed by interns completing their medical training and are often very isolated. They were in the news because many of the interns are women and at least one had been attacked and raped. Again, these provide some medical care for those who would have none. Even these do not provide care for all the population. Some Indians live in very remote areas in the mountains with only narrow paths to get access. These people keep to themselves, have very little material goods (often inadequate food) and have to rely on themselves.
This health care ‘system’ shows the reality of Mexico. In the cities especially, Mexico is very much a ‘developed nation’ comparable to others in this category. However, some other areas (although these are shrinking) are like ‘developing nations’ or even more subsistence level living.
Private care
This is very comprehensive with excellent quality by and large. We go to Maskaras Clinic set up and operated by Dr. Garcia. There is a dental office and an extensive list of specialists from Guadalajara who come out regularly, often weekly. The clinic has both a pharmacy and laboratory as adjuncts. They even have 2 beds for overnight hospital care. I used it when I was suffering from dehydration last year. One can get almost any kind of specialist and test, often the next day. Last year when I mentioned that I had not had my prostate checked even though the PSA had been rising., Dr. Garcia had me in to Guadalajara for ultrasound and biopsy the very next morning. The equipment used by the specialists is the latest and many of the doctors have had training in the US or Canada. Most have their specialist certification from the relevant American association. The private hospitals are modern; people who have used them say that the facilities and service is more like a hotel than a hospital. Again, almost all get certified by American boards. The private health care and hospitals serve wealthy and well -to-do Mexicans, ex-pats like us and growing numbers of ‘medical tourists’ (mostly from the US some flown down by insurance companies). Costs are just a fraction of what they are in the US. That being said, just as in Canada and the US, not all doctors or facilities are equally good. Initially when we arrived, we were going to another doctor who also had a lab as part of his clinic. We found that the test results of the lab were not reliable.
IMSS
This stands for INSTITUTO MEXICANO DEL SEGURO SOCIAL. This is a government run health care and social pension plan. By law, all employers of full time employees are supposed to pay the fees for this plan. Large companies with strong unions pretty much do so. I won’t get into the pension part because the 2 can be separated. Ordinary Mexicans can also join and pay the fees themselves. The fees, depending on age, are relatively modest. For example, for children the annual fee is a little more than 1200 pesos; adults in their 20s are just under 1500 pesos. [The exchange rate is currently just under 8.5 pesos per Canadian dollar; thus, multiply the pesos by .085 to get the amount in dollars. 1200 pesos is just about Can $100] However, huge numbers of Mexicans are self employed in effect (like our gardener and maid) and can’t afford or decide not to get IMSS. Letitia did not have IMSS; Rosendo does but doesn't seem to use it.
With IMSS, one must go to IMSS doctors, pharmacies, dentists and hospitals. What we have been told is that the doctors and other practitioners are well trained and pretty much comparable to those in private practice, but offices and facilities are crowded and there can be considerable waits. Also, the hospitals tend to be understaffed, facilities not as clean as we are used to and often patients have to rely on family to provide food and some care. Recently, Rosendo asked for a loan of 1500 pesos because he needed some dental work (we have made loans before and he pays us back 100 pesos per week). When we asked about IMSS, Rosendo said that he would have to wait too long and he prefers the private system. For Letitia, the 4000 pesos for herself and her 2 children is too much. We have decided (sharing with Sonia) to pay for Letitia and her kids. It is not too much anyway because last year when she had doctor bills and medicines for her kids, we gave her over 2000 pesos extra to help.
IMSS is available to non-citizens like us. Cost per year for those over 60 is 3325 pesos or just over $300. Many expats here apply for and get IMSS as insurance, even if they don’t expect to use it. Some have used it and say that they received good care. We have decided not to get it because, unless we were really in dire straights, we would not use it. At any rate, IMSS made health care available for large numbers of working class Mexicans.
Civic Hospital in Guadalajara
This is where Barb toured on Friday. It is a modern hospital run by the University of Guadalajara and is a teaching hospital for its medical schools. It serves the very poor who have no resources, mostly from Guadalajara, but also other areas of Jalisco State. It receives money from the federal government as well as the local municipalities in Guadalajara. The ladies were especially visiting the wards for women who have just given birth. These women are impoverished and malnourished and often very young. As a result, quite a few had lost their babies. Others were clearly not interested in their babies (one can speculate why). Twice a year the women in this group bring layettes for the women with babies (blankets and other basics to take their babies home) and some basic toiletries for the women who have lost their babies. There is also a new, small burn unit; previously, the Shriners had assisted sending burned children to a Shriners’ Hospital in Texas; however, last year because of financial problems, that hospital closed. The women take teddy bears and stuffed toys for the kids in the burn unit. This hospital then helps some of the people who would otherwise have no health care.
Rural clinics
From the newspaper, we learned that Jalisco State operates a number of small clinics in remote rural areas. These are staffed by interns completing their medical training and are often very isolated. They were in the news because many of the interns are women and at least one had been attacked and raped. Again, these provide some medical care for those who would have none. Even these do not provide care for all the population. Some Indians live in very remote areas in the mountains with only narrow paths to get access. These people keep to themselves, have very little material goods (often inadequate food) and have to rely on themselves.
This health care ‘system’ shows the reality of Mexico. In the cities especially, Mexico is very much a ‘developed nation’ comparable to others in this category. However, some other areas (although these are shrinking) are like ‘developing nations’ or even more subsistence level living.
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