Day 18- Burritos, Lemonade, and Soccer

I was too tired yesterday to take time and properly write about my day and so I will do so right now at 7am.

Yesterday I was sent to another one of EPMHMR's clinic. As I walked into a room already filled with people, I couldn't help but smile because these were the same people I had attended the employee orientation and they all greeted me with smiles. I waited for the person I was going to shadow in a room with the new employees. Finally, a man named Andy shows up and we exit the building with another employee, Angel. (He also attended the orientation with me).

Andy's job was to check in on patients, which entails spending a total of 3.5 hours with them per month. The first person we drove and picked up was a man named John (for confidentiality purposes), who is diagnosed with schizophrenia and is also diagnosed with retardation. We rode to a mall called "Cafe Plaza." We walked around the whole mall, which wasn't too big. Angel suggested to go into Radio Shack because John had mentioned that his batteries had died. And so the quest for RECHARGEABLE batteries was on. We compared prices and saw what would be best and told John to keep this in mind for next time.

As we continued our walk throughout the mall, we also stopped into a place that sold Mexico jerseys. Yesterday, more than ever...I wanted one because I had seen my first goal when Mexico played against France. The end score was 2-0, Mexico winning. Soccer is such a big deal here and especially if Mexico is playing. Also, I never realized how hard it is to make a goal. It wasn't until the second half of the game and 10 minutes into it that a goal was made.

Anyhow, back to John. We eventually came back to where we entered the mall, also known as the food court. Since John loves a certain Mexican spot in the mall, he ordered a burrito with Andy’s help. As we sat down with the food, I couldn’t help but notice what seemed like an officer floating. Maintaining, my stare, I realized he was a MALL COP. Yes, like the one in the movies. I honestly did not know that they existed. I could not help but to stare the whole time he was circling the food court. It was the funniest thing ever.

We all returned to the car. Andy dropped John off at downtown since he likes to hang out there. We all said good-bye just like we said hello, with a firm handshake.
After lunch, we rode to pick up another patient named Tony (for confidentiality purposes) who was also diagnosed with schizophrenia. My interaction with Tony was little to none simply because he spoke only Spanish and my Spanish skills are limiting.

We took Tony to this HUGEEEE Mexican grocery store, expect when I entered, I felt like I had just entered a carnival. It was so colorful with decorations hanging from every part of the wall. The store had sections for different kinds of food, smoothie stands, statutes and an eating area. All this in a grocery store. I felt like a child in a candy store, wanting to try everything I set my eyes on.

Tony ordered lemonade and cake and we sat down for a bit. We then continued to walk around this monumental grocery store and exited. I had left the carnival. We dropped Tony off and in our way back, we passed by an Indian Reservation! It’s the only one in El Paso and the tribe is called the Tiguas. I was so excited because touring a reservation is definitely on my “to- do” list. Andy was telling me how the reservation is independent territory. This tribe has their own schools, police, church, everything. I would love to visit their churches. Maybe next weekend.