(almost) free day

Today we had an almost free day, so I went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning. This was the same dentist who'd sent me to the ENT last week - while she was evaluating my canker sores she also remarked that my teeth could use a cleaning, which I sheepishly accepted (hey, no insurance = no dental care). On the plus side, teeth cleaning here is 600 pesos, roughly $40. I figured it was a good deal.

After almost an hour of metal instruments buzzing and straining my jaw open, she pronounced my teeth clean (using the same mouth probe to show me the view). She then announced that I had slight gingivitis (as evidenced by my gums bleeding slightly during the procedure) and several cavities. I was not happy about that. Each cavity would be 500 pesos to fill, which is still steep for me despite the peso pricing.

She also showed a slideshow replete with gruesome pictures (such as the following), illustrating the advanced effects of several teeth diseases...



I decided to go back later this week to fill my biggest cavity, and then to just adopt the new teethbrushing way she taught me - brush from gum to edge of teeth (as opposed to across the teeth), both on the outer surface and inner surface, then brush in a circular motion on the tops of the molars, then brush across the upper mouth cavity and tongue. And hopefully after every meal time...

After teeth cleaning came a celebratory lunch at none other than El Quinque. I decided to attempt solid food, having swallowed some mashed potatoes and rice last night.

Cris and I went in soon after the restaurant opened, and though there was a bit of a wait, everything was freshly made, like the strawberry vinaigrette that came with the salad.



For the main course I had spaghetti bolognese, one of my favorite meals ever. The noodles were cooked (and oiled) perfectly.



In the afternoon we all had Spanish class. I missed the last two because I couldn't talk so there was not much of a point. Felt bad about it, so I went today despite not being able to say much. We went over more recipe words, using an iPad app called Buena Mesa (which I would recommend to anyone who likes to cook Latin and can read Spanish). We also read an article on chiles. I learned that the "salt, chile, lime" combination that's ubiquitous to Mexican food uses the chiltepín chile, which in its usual powder form is known as piquín. So that was cool.

After class got my laundry back from the launderers - they charge by the kilo, 15 pesos per kilo to wash/dry/fold!