The One with Ayuda in Rosarito, Mexico

Chris had the opportunity to head down to Mexico to give some dental treatment to children. I asked (okay, begged) him to take some pictures of his trip and this is what he brought back. Since I don't know anything about what he did or dental terms, I asked him to write this post, so take it away Chris!

Ayuda is a program started at USC to provide free dental care for children in need. They hold clinics around Southern California throughout the year and take one or two international trips annually.

Rosarito. Very Slumdog Millionare-ish.

Heading into the local elementary school the first morning to get the clinic set up.

Is this the school mascot?

(almost) Dr. Evans, D.D.S.

The Ayuda program has all the equipment necessary to provide portable dental care wherever they go. Chairs, drills, hand-held x-rays, and even sterilization equipment.

One afternoon I was in charge of giving all the injections before patients were taken to a chair for their fillings. This lady does not look too pleased! (But the little boy behind her is sure getting a kick out of it!)

The clinic in action.

Getting approval from the supervising dentists.

And here I am torturing, I mean, helping a little girl. Mwahaha.

The entire group.

We stayed in these nice homes right on the beach and some of my fellow classmates enjoyed surfing. I stayed inside and watched football with some other guys.

One night at dinner, we saw these awesome glowing, neon blue waves. It's caused by something called "red tide" and the algae that get stirred up during it have bioilluminescent capabilities. This is not my video, but pretty much exactly what we saw:

Back to Paige - Looks like a fun and worthwhile trip! But I'm very glad to have my better half home :)