The Background Fulbright Project: Luisa

I have taken on the task of helping my grandmother, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Before Fulbright started, I decided to move in with her instead of my father/step-mom hoping I would gain more independence and have to figure out more things for myself without their help. I had heard my grandmother had a few issues here and there, but nothing noteworthy or apparent in the first few months after my arrival. That was until she started repeating herself, losing her money, and other people's money, confusing one day with another, missing bill payments, pills she had to take, and re-buying things she already had at home. In addition to her memory issues, she has aggressive vertigo episodes daily that leave her unable to leave home for the day. It's tough. Adding fuel to the fire we also had to move to a different house at the end of November which has only increased the mental fog and confusion. To this day she briefly thinks we're going to the old house on our way back from a doctor's appointment. I think we all experience similar things once in a while, maybe more often now post-pandemic. However, she told the doctor that today was a Friday, in May (it was a Tuesday in February).

Just like anyone else she had a whole life before these afflictions started. She worked from a very young age, helping her dad charge people as they came in to see the cock fights in his ring, stopping those who didn't pay, and grabbing them by the shirt as she has told the story, several times. Later she worked as a taxi dispatcher, had her sandwich shop, managed bank accounts for people who had left for the US, raised 5 kids, and drove up and down the city for years in a car called Ruby (although it wasn't red), charging rent for those abroad, paying their bills, delivering money to people, watching over renovations, you name it. She also raised me when I lived here, and riding around in Ruby listening to ballads and accompanying her on errands all over the city after school was part of my routine. The lady is tough as nails and very independent, setting a great example for me. But this is also why she doesn't listen to me sometimes when I try to help.

It's hard to see her now and realize that she's still there. Her condition is not as bad as it sounds, she can function in her daily tasks without a problem. She cooks, cleans, and takes care of her dog, all before the vertigo takes over. Sometimes she even helps with my hair.

Although it took a while, most issues with the house have been addressed (there is no running water in this neighborhood on Mondays and Fridays! We had to get a tank set up for that, replace doorknobs, and re-do some plumbing). Now we have reached a place where I can manage her bank accounts online, manage other people's businesses for her, order her medicine, refill the automatic pill box I got her, and give her an allowance (that we always fight about because she doesn't think it's enough). More recently we have started making trips to doctors again to slow the progression of her memory loss and get a hold of the vertigo so that she's able to go visit people and engage with the world throughout the day. Most days she feels too dizzy to leave the house alone and before I leave I need her to be able to engage in community again. It's easier to lose track of the days when you haven't spoken to anyone in real life and do the same things at home every day. I'm even in conversation with the local church so they can host BINGO and card games twice a week because, as we all know, interacting with other people and doing new things is the sauce of life. I thank God for the opportunity to help set her up for this new lifestyle and to give back a sliver of the work she put into laying down the first few bricks for who I am today.

I know I shouldn't be, but I feel ashamed about being unable to do this and Fulbright work concurrently. Truth is, after a day of appointments I am drained: keeping track of the next appointment, new prescriptions, new tests that have to get done, calling the insurance company to make sure it's all covered, making sure she can afford co-pays, and making sure she drinks water because she doesn't drink any!? Let alone setting out time to practice the accordion or work on the 100 things I always have going on like she did when she was younger. I'll admit, at first, it seemed easier to focus on her than on the piles of survey data that needed to be digitized, but the work is calling! I have enlisted Jonas' help to help me digitize and I hope that by the end of the month, I will have all the data and all the charts.

By the way, one of the four schools is already digitized and charted! You can take a look here at the results from a specialized high school. In the meantime I'll share with you my favorite moment with these girls: In a group discussion, I asked them to name someone recently 'famous' in STEM, to which the answers were Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs. I asked if anyone could name a woman and received a pointed and curious "Well what is wrong with women looking up to men or being inspired to follow a career in their footsteps?". I love a 'stirring the pot' moment, it was a genuinely good question. After asking the question back to them, letting it sit with them that no one could name a woman, we all realized that it seemed like they didn't have a choice in the matter because no one had talked to them about women in STEM. In addition to not having the choice, we spoke about how it can be rewarding to see someone like you in a position you hope to achieve, it takes less imagination. My work is truly rewarding, and it shows in moments like this where I get to share about women they can see themselves in. Although many of these girls were already interested in STEM (thanks to being at a specialized high school), they get to see what's missing and possibly demand it in the future. Maybe they'll now have more intention, and become inspiration for other girls to follow.