Imperial Valley in the Fall

Banana in Brawley, CA

I'm sitting here on a Friday night in the trailer on the property of Pioneers Memorial hospital in Brawley, CA. It's less of a trailer and more of a temporary classroom. I'm drinking a winter lager that my classmate left in the fridge (thx Jen), watching muted football on my iPad (Go Ducks), reflecting on the fact that I will be leaving this area in one week's time, most likely never to return, at least for a long time. I arrived here 6 weeks ago expecting the worse. My classmates prepared me for that, unfortunately. But as the daughter of two small town Illinoisan's, whose summer vacations frequently involved making nostalgic pilgrimmages to the lot where my father's childhood home stood before it burned down in a mysterious insurance claim fire, just to stand there and take a picture in front of the remaining lopsided garage, I like to think I know a thing or two about small towns. From the beginning, my comfort with small towns has made this experience not just more bearable, but enjoyable to the point where I think it's my favorite part of PA school. And honestly the happiest I've felt in the last few years. The Imperial Valley, the area in which Brawley is located, has surprised me in many ways.

Two bananas in Brawley. Found near car by Pioneers Hospital.

My first surprise came the dark Sunday night when I drove in and passed the "Welcome to Brawley" sign. It said: "population: 25 thousand and change". I guess I didn't do a simple thing like Google the town in which I would be staying for two months, but by the way people described it, I was picturing our trailer, the hospital, a walmart and a hitching post and that's it. I was thinking maybe, 3 to 5,000 people tops, but 25K??? That's not even small! That's not a village, not a burg, not a middle of nowhere, that's a town! Like it has to have a mayor and a functioning city government and a high school or two! I came to learn that the Imperial Valley is home to close to 300,000 people over its tons of a square miles. And Mexicali, the border town that is a stone's throw away in Mexico, is a city of >1million people. There's lives here. Entire generations of families in fact. Old people, young people, tons of screaming babies. It may not be New York, NY or Palo Alto, CA for Christ's sake, but people live entire lives here, without ever having Philz coffee, or Salt & Straw Ice Cream, and they survive and even flourish.

I was going to write about other surprising things about the Imperial Valley. That its population is >90% latino. That's likely not surprising, because if you look on a map and see its proximity to Mexico, then it makes a lot of sense. Spanish is often spoken first in an interaction here. And I imagine if you really didn't speak any at all, you'd be missing part of the Imperial Valley magic. I was going to talk about its land, about the Salton Sea, the Sonoran desert, the national parks and vacation destinations that line its perimeter. I was going to write about immigration, and border patrol, and how there's a detention center not far from here. That it's been surprising that I've heard very little about the immigration debate, or about President Trump for that matter.

Bananas in Brawley. Across from Wal Mart Super Center

I have a lot to say on that matter. But instead, I'll write about the old lady who had pneumonia once more than a year ago, and now comes in every week just to have the doctor use his stethoscope to listen to her breath. The appointment is just labeled "lung check" in the day's schedule, and everyone knows what that means. The man dying in the ICU, whose family agonized about whether their decisions would be the ones he'd want for himself. And then huddling around him continuously, for 3 days while he took his last peaceful breaths. There's the woman who cried when she found out she didn't have TB. And the countless patients who, when you tell them their lab results, say "Gracias a Dios" after each one. There's the older man, who genuinely asked me after a recent hospitalization, "what will I do the next time, when I can't breath?". The people I've met are the kindest, most earnest, most faith-abiding citizens I know. They go through things together, as one unit. They take care of their parents the one day, and their grandchildren the next. They have the utmost respect for people with authority. To the point where I worry they could be taken advantage of like they have been, and continue to be, in every societal, governmental and historical instance until now. But the healthcare providers I've met have my complete trust. Of course there's a financial bottom line, but they put people's wellbeing above or at least next to that bottom line. The patients light up when their doctor walks in the room. The patients have their trust too.

I'm so impressed with the Imperial Valley. Other than being cussed out in the landromat parking lot once for taking a parking spot (we didn't even see the other car....) everyone has been extremely welcoming and curious about why we are here. Patients are not just forgiving of my Spanish, but they teach me new words or the right pronunciations all the time. They bring in fruits, or chocolate or bread. They crossstich signs that say "God Bless our Doctor". Everyone seems to put everyone else before themselves. I want to live in a place like that.

Bananas in Brawley: Hospital parking lot between the electric vehicle charging and the daycare

It's true that the main Imperial Valley towns aren't that scenic. They're full of small strip malls, and overflowing dumpsters, and more often than not this rank smell of manure emanating from the slow moving sludgey river nearby. The downtowns are boarded up, not bustling. People's favorite restaurants are Panera and Olive Garden. The super Wal Mart is the busiest place in town. On paper, there's a lot to criticize or be weary of. But spending three minutes with a elderly patient who has every chronic condition known to man, and seeing HER tell the DOCTOR "Dios la vendiga" at the end of an appointment really has made me shift perspective on where charm comes from anyway.

Banana in Brawley: Same banana as by Wal Mart Supercenter, this time with sunset