Doin' the Math

Euriel just paid his entrance fee into Preparatoria (High School) and he got this prep test for the test he'll have to take some time this summer. I think it's only to give him an idea of what the test will be like so memorizing it (20-25 pages) is out of the question. That "simplify" the equation was the first that really stumped me and even though they have answers in the back, it made no sense. It's been too long since I've done the kind of math you only run into in school. I'll have to look for examples on the Internet.

This test has a some reading comprehension but also conditional situations very much like Math but not really. Like logic I guess. Some of those made my head spin but partly because they were in Spanish. Also two very difficult pages of English. The English they teach here is very limited and I doubt they get much conversation or heavy reading experience. Don't know how they are going to read a long paragraph, understand it and answer questions ??? Students put up little English sayings on Bulletin Boards at the school and all are humorous and they had time to research those.

Front page of study guide from Internet

College Board - Puerto Rico y America Latina

As I go through this test and make notes I have to make sure he can't just shake his head YES and move on. He has been a little lazy in school and has not asked me for English help or much of anything else unless it needs the Internet. I mark the multiple choice questions but he is going to get a WHY and EXPLAIN IT. Within the next week I'll sit down with him and see if his brain is a total vacuum or has absorbed some of it. Crossed fingers. What is a disabled kid gonna do if he can't finish school.

Link to Prep Test for High School in Mexico - PDF file

A sick 9 year old neighbor

I have a sick 9 year old neighbor and I hope if it's as serious as it sounds we've caught it in time. Her dad worked for me about a year building my house and the whole family and I spend a lot of time together. She has always been extremely thin but with lots of energy and good in school. A little over a month ago she started getting depressed, not playing much and having crying spells. Mom was worried and asked me about doctors and I thought of Dr Rosa who has an office in town but also works at the free clinic where we live.

Dr Rosa sent us for blood tests at the local lab and was unhappy with the results so we went to the Cihuatlan lab a few days later. The diagnosis is that she has an imbalance of white blood cells which can be caused by a number of things including leukemia. Dr Rosa said she needed to have a blood marrow test at a hospital in Guadalajara. That would have been a very time consuming and expensive trip so we decided to get a second opinion.

Today we went to Doctor Crespo in Barra de Navidad because he was the only one I could think of and the family only uses Centro de Salud or Seguro Popular. Mom and sister in law immediately said he was expensive but I was driving so we went. Very nice doctor and he spent about a half hour talking, examining and going over her blood tests. His opinion was the same but referred us to the State Cancer Clinic in Colima which will be a much quicker and less expensive trip. He even told us how to get in without an appointment ... and charged us nothing. We'll drive up later in the week.

Yari on the beach

Yari, mom and baby