A Picture A Day - Mexico in February 2010 - February 11th

Compared to America, with a variety of major cities each specializing in something different, Mexico is much more concentrated. There are three major cities in the country: Mexico City in the center, Guadalajara a few hours west, and Monterrey way to the north. In addition to being its nation's capital as well as perhaps the de facto capital of Latin America, D.F. is the nation's leader in business, universities, media, entertainment, sports, politics, and, naturally as the capital, government institutions. Nearly all my classmates from my program at Tec work for the federal government, including at the Bank of Mexico, the consumer protection agency, the Health Department, the House of Representatives, and even the President's office!

There are several government health institutions near my house, including the National Cancer Institute.



You can tell that this is a new facility. Given the numerous problems Mexico faces, it can be easy to overlook the progress the country is making. I learned a lot about this institute by watching a really powerful video Lance Armstrong made. The video is titled 'Stigma & Silence: Global Perceptions of Cancer'. I really hope you watch it, it's about nine minutes long and definitely worth seeing. It was really interesting to learn about how Mexican culture reacts to cancer. Lance came to Mexico last year and had a meeting with President Felipe Calderon to discuss the progress Mexico making is making to battle and treat cancer. Here's a short video of Lance talking about his trip to Mexico. I really admire President Calderon. He's making the tough and painful choices Mexico needs to make to be a greater country, and I can tell he is extremely sincere in the work e does.

A classmate of mine from North Park University, Peder, still just 23, has been receiving chemotherapy for about a year now, and had more chemotherapy treatment this week. Please keep Peder in your prayers.

Here's the link to the rest of the album.