A word about my name.

Most of you know me as Loree. My given name is in fact Lorena. Although my parents may not have known this when they named me after my paternal grandmother; Lorena is a Hispanic name. So, when I am in situations where people speak mostly Spanish; I am Lorena.

I tried to change over to being Lorena when I started taking nursing courses at DePauw University. Once my new classmates got to know me they invariably asked, 'Don't you have a nickname? Lorena seems too long for you. Isn't it kind of old fashioned?'

I doubt I will have any problem in Puerto Escondido being Lorena. For one thing, it isn't especially old fashioned in Spanish. And for another, I now am much older, so perhaps I have grown into it.

!Going to Mexico!

On June 3, 2009 I leave for a five week visit to the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Four of those weeks I will be involved in a service learning project through Child Family Health International (CFHI) in which I will learn and work in clinics and take some Spanish classes. The prospect of going looked a little grim a month ago, with all the news of H1N1 influenza coming up from south of the border. That seems to have passed. More later with details.
The photo on the left is an aerial view of the coastal town, Puerto Escondido, where I will be for four of the five weeks