A Day in the Life with Tatiana, PSYDEH’s Field Team Trainer

A Day in the Life with Tatiana, PSYDEH’s Field Team Trainer

Written by Tatiana Salazar Jimenez

Wednesday, March 13, the adventure begins! We were supposed to meet at 9 in the morning, but by a twist of fate, the old VW Beetle broke down for an hour right at the entrance of Tenango! With our bags packed and the Beetle loaded, we continued our journey towards distant lands, beyond a sea of mountains! On the road, as in life, there will always be ups and downs, turning right, turning left, moving forward, moving backward, and as Thali says, “a yearly recalibration of our center won’t hurt.”

Once in San Esteban and after the workshop, we were delighted to be adopted and shown off around the town as the long-lost daughters of Doña Sabi. We must’ve had hunger written all over our faces because the baker even gave us free bread to munch on! After devouring the pork cracklings in a sauce that our adoptive mother had prepared to rescue us from malnutrition, we bathed like cats with the baby wipes that Thali had procured for us.

In the evening, while Thali and Doña Sabi were deep in gossip, Ale and Tatiana were already snoring. Out of the blue and with no context, Tatiana announces in the middle of the night, “The mouth is an intimate part of the body,” which became a running joke and an easy target for teasing for the rest of the trip. 

After having coffee and morning bread the next day, we gathered the partners for the planned discussion. It seems the town of San Esteban was unimpressed with our gathering since three buses simultaneously decided to make more noise than a concert!

After all that, we started the journey back, and since SOMEONE had gobbled up too many bean-stuffed tortillas, the Beetle just couldn’t handle the load! Midway through the journey, the Beetle got stuck in the mud, andsince what goes up must come down, with the help of Ale and Thali’s torrential efforts, we got out to push. Wedging branches under the tires to see if it would help it move forward, a thanks to Ale who kindly acquiesced, “just so you don’t feel bad,” when I handed her a stone that was of no use at all.

Thirty minutes later, with us pushing and, with Jorge on the pedal, not a single car passed by! But thanks to the problem-solving women (and Jorge), the Beetle was freed! Later on the trip, when Thali got out, in the middle of the road, the Beetle refused to start back up, but after saying a quick Our Father, it sprang back to life! Arriving at Casa Siempre Viva, our adventure came to an end, except for Jorge and the Beetle, who still had plenty of road ahead of them. Thanks to life, for the resilience of the Beetle and the wisdom of its driver, although we arrived with some bruises, we made it nearly intact.

Thanks for reading,

Tatiana