#206 / 2011 June Oaxaca: Meeting the Neighbors

THE MED STUDENT
#206

Across the sidewalk, through the little blue door, lived the female med student. Her name was Leslie Meyer, a Canadian, and another long-term resident of Los Nogales. She told me she failed the Canadian medical exam and came to Mexico to study. Oaxaca has a reputable medical school.


Leslie's first duty was to become fluent enough in Spanish so she could take all the tests, plus submit essays.


She was well on her way. Visually: Petite, with a sweet intelligent face, she was not tall and her hair was down to her waist. That loopy expanse of hair made a good sweater as it tumbled around her shoulders. She swaggered, reminding me so much of myself when I was her age: brave, cocky.


Classes and studies occupied most of her time; we went out to eat a few times. She is the only person I met who actually had been assaulted. Teenagers on a scooter roared past her and snatched at her bag. She resisted. One alighted and grabbed her bag, kicked her. But she never let go and won out, with a few bruises to prove her case.


Our neighborhood is on the border of the old city. Then it gets commercial plus. And there are plenty of dark streets at night. She was mid-block without benefit of the street lamps at the corner. She said she finally keyed the guy; he hopped on the back of the scooter and was on his way.


She also had her coin purse stolen on the city bus. She was carrying it in one of those big oversized straw bags with an open top. 


Still, she knew how to take care of herself. I called her "Dr. Meyer" whenever I saw her, just to re-enforce the inevitability of her success. She has what it takes.