San Jose Calderas

Nestled in the mountains, between the volcanoes is a very small pueblo called San Jose Calderas. The pueblo is about the size of six city blocks and this is a generous estimate. I am living here in the house of Dona Eulalia, alongside her children and their families. There is courtyard surrounded by a few different structures; kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom, sinks for washing, the kitchen of her daughter Estelle, and in the next two neighboring houses live more extended family, in a similar sort of set up. The courtyard is always occupied with kids, chickens, kittens or dogs, but usually all of the above. The turkeys that live outside of my bedroom window gobble, smell funny and sometimes come up to the pebbled glass and seem to be leering at me. There were four pigs when I arrived, but now there is only one. 

I have been here for just over a week, but a lot has happened in this short amount of time. 

On Sunday I attended a birthday party for a one year old and ate tres leches cake. There was a crowd of people and three pinatas, and when one of them was smashed open, both the kids and the adults scrambled for the candy that flew every which way. On Christmas eve a semi-truck drove into town with clowns, a fairy and Santa riding in the back, handing out a toy to every kid in town. Everyone came running out of their houses and into the street, and the line twisted quite a ways back. In the mid-morning we made prenatal visits in a pueblo on a mountain and I was surprised and very impressed to see the 70-something-year-old Dona Eulalia hopping over rocks and sliding down the steep and dusty parts of the mountain side. The sun was shining, big fluffy white clouds passed in front of the volcanoes, and the rows and rows of farmed land on the hillside resembled a large green and earth colored tejido (woven) cloth. We climbed down the mountain which took about an hour and Dona Eulalia pulled massive orange carrots out of the ground to cook for lunch and showed me a few of the different medicinal herbs that grow in the campo (countryside.) There are many that I have never seen before and some others that I am familiar with. The midwives use Chamomile and Lavender most frequently, which grows rampant on the hillsides.

The people of Calderas celebrated the night of Christmas Eve with massive bonfires in the street, music and the setting off of hundreds of firecrackers. We made tamales, drank hot chocolate and set of 'vocansetes' which are little firecrackers, that are all the kids can think or talk about.

On Wednesday night Dona Eulalia and I were called to a birth at a house just half a block up the hill from us. We arrived around eleven, but it looked like it would be quite a while and so we returned home to sleep a bit more. At 2 am the family called and said we should hurry and that the baby was coming. We dashed out the door, up the little hill, through the gate and into the bedroom, to find a surprised looking mother on her knees, her mother and father in-law helping to support her, her baby born just moments earlier. Having rapidly bounded out, he made a soft landing on a pile of blankets on the floor below, lying there looking a bit surprised as well, opening and closing his eyes and fists and crying loud and strong. 

This afternoon I attended a second birth with another midwife Carolina, who is the daughter of Dona Eulalia. This birth happened quite quickly as well. We arrived at the house and were there for less than an hour when the mother Enia gave three good pushes and out came the baby; a girl, born squeaky clean and easy going, and seemingly not too offended by a bath and being dressed in baby clothes. 

In this first week I have learned quite a few new things; how to clamp and cut the umbilical cord, how to tie a shawl on my back and carry a baby in it, and how to make tortillas ( though I am no good at this at all.)  I'd like to learn how to balance a basket on my head while carrying a baby, which is something that all of the women seem capable of--but this may be a little ambitious.

*There are more photos I wanted to include with this post, but the internet is slow. So sit tight 'till Sunday!

Carolina the midwife