On the Mend... again

So I got sick... again. I think it was the same thing but it came back with a vengeance. I have no idea what is getting to me down here, but it is getting to me bad. It's all good though, just keep pushing through and trying to not let it ruin the experience, but it has cut into my work schedule and I've only been at work 6 days out of the last 2 weeks, ridiculous. Nothing else has really been going on down here other than I agreed to house sit for one of the Americans that lives down here and I swear her cat is the devil cat, last night I went to give it treats because it just looked pissed off and it bit my hand. Seriously cat, die.

So because it has kind of been the trend that everything stops working on me down here, my headphones broke the other day so I figured I needed to buy some more. The only place in town to do that is the Jumbo which is all the way across town and becuase I had some time to kill, I decided to walk all the way over there, not sure if that was a good idea or not because I definitely ended up in the completely wrong place and it took me about twice as long as it should have. But it was well worth it because when I got there it was like a little Oasis. Dominos. Air Conditioning. Things were in order. I was in awe and I think I will be finding myself at the Jumbo much more often.

As for this weekend, I think I'm going to get to go to the beach again, that is if my immune system allows me. Should be good to spend some time with some of the interns who head back to the states on Tuesday. Crazy, a lot of them start leaving this coming week, which is weird because it means that my trip is going by that fast and my time down here is coming to an end that much faster too. I need to try and really savor the time I have down here because it's going to be up before I know it.

I think that's really all I have for now... other than we figured out last night that our host mom smokes week and she was SO high when we got back to the house last night... oh my gosh, one of the funniest, most ridiculous experiences of my life. But I must say, dinner was pretty good haha.

Lo Siento

So I was informed that my posts might be a little long... to that I apologize, just trying to give everyone the full spectrum of what it's like down here in the DR. I'll try and be slightly more succinct with my posts from here on out.

So today I got to see the Dominican Republic I thought of before I came here. We made a home visit with the clinic and wow, it was pretty intense. These homes were literally scraps put together and had more people living in them than you could imagine, and there were a lot of them. It was really tough going and seeing that but it made it all the better when you realize how these people are still so happy despite having so little. We cared for our patient by giving some simple meds and making sure he was ok. When we were getting back in the car we saw some kids playing baseball with a rock and a tree branch, but they were having a blast, they know no different and they love it. I can't say anything other than: encouraging.

Despite the good afternoon, the morning was frustrating with Spansih barked at me to finish up a project I'm working on to prepare the presentation for newborn care. Definitely did not enjoy it, and definitely do not enjoy that person at work. Think I'll be avoiding her, and seeing as she works in the same office as the girl who stalks me, it should be a bit easier to avoid in general haha. Ok so I haven't been quite as succinct as I wanted, but it was a good day, got in a good run and then did a good workout afterward. Needed it.

Oh and I found out that I will unfortunately not be living with the person who I thought I was going to be living with, so if anyone in the DFW area is looking for a roommate, let me know!

Traffic Laws- Nonexistant

So today I get on a bus to go out to the house where I am going to be house-sitting this weekend (long story, it's kind of lame) and when I get on the bus, not only are we going down a one way in the wrong direction, but the driver has a giant beer in his hand. Apparently that isn't really even frowned upon and I am sitting here dying laughing at the thought that I might die on this "bus" if you can even call it that. Needless to say, I drew some slightly unwanted attention, but it was funny. As for house-sitting, one of the American doctors working in the clinic where I am is going to LA for a week and asked me to stay at her house to watch her cat. Like really, your freaking cat. And I didn't even want to do it, not in the slightest, but she guilt tripped me like you wouldn't even know, I think worse than even my parents could do. If I weren't so frustrated by it, I'd be impressed. Oh well.

Other than that, just another day around here. Went for a run around lunch time and it was kind of hot and I don't know how many people looked at me and yelled "loco" but it's whatever, it was a good run nonetheless. I also got called "quatro ojos" which I found to be absolutely hilarious that the joke 4 eyes spans the cultures haha. Can't really be mad about that, just a good story to take home.

Finding myself thinking more and more about how much time I have left and I'm trying to make it pass faster, which is in fact making it pass slower. I don't even really know why it's crossing my mind like that. I'm really enjoying my time here, and I'm really liking what I'm doing, I guess there's just something about home that I miss. This is really stretching me because I am such a home body and getting used to being else where, especially with a language barrier is tough. But hey, this is an experience I will most definitely keep with me for a very long time.

No Complaints

So the end of the week went a lot better, I started feeling better and got back to work. Not too much was going on, but we worked on a presentation to teach some of the small "campos" as they call them here, just like a very small town, how to care for newborns and overall health of a baby. Just made some posters for them and we'll actually give the presentations all throughout August and I'm going to get to be a part of them because I'll still be around, which should be fun.

Then Friday came along and I got to head out of work a little early to leave for Santo Domingo with the other interns and we had such a fun weekend. We just hung around one of their apartments on Friday night and then Saturday wandered the capital and then went to a cockfight. Oh my gosh, that was INTENSE... I'm pretty sure it's the Dominican version of horse races, or at least this place was. It was pretty like high class almost, with some people who you could tell were high rollers throwing around some mad cash, ridiculous. Haha but definitely an experience.

Got some good beach time in today because it was freaking amazing outside. Definitely needed it because it rained all week last week, which definitely sucked. So after a long weekend of very little sleep, a lot of sun, and no showering, I'm going to shower and hit the sack early tonight to get back to the grind tomorrow. Looking forward to work, should be a fun week, hoping to get out in the fields as much as I can.

Oh and I would like to add that if people could be praying for my time down here that it will be cherished and that I can really learn from this experience. I find myself going through waves where I am loving the culture and where I am really wanting to be home. I know I have a lot that I am kind of anxious for when I get home and I am eager to get certain things taken care of and I have that looming in the back of my mind a lot. I want to try and push that out of mind as much as I can so that I really can just get the most out of this experience as possible.

Good (?) Day

Haha today was definitely a day to blog about. So I wake up this morning, feeling just about 100% which I was really happy about but then I see that it's raining outside and if you know anything about me, you know I really hate rain. Well the way I feel about rain doesn't even compare to the way the Dominicans feel about the rain. It's ridiculous, they actually think that you'll automatically get Gripe (flu) if you even walk in the rain. The ladies that run the place where I stay almost wouldn't let me walk to work haha, but after much persistance, I was allowed to carry on with my day. Then I get to work to see that the place is basically closed down because of the rain. No one wants to leave, partially because they think they'll like die, and partially because in some places it legit is really hard to leave their houses because of all the water in the streets that isn't easily cleared, which is kind of sad. It would be really hard if your day had to just halt because of a little bit of rain, especially in a tropical climate. It's like the way Texans react to snow, and then putting Texas in the Midwest or something.

But in the short amount of time I did spend at work, I finally came to the conclusion that I am quite certain I have a stalker, or at least a girl at work that gives me way too much attention. And by that I mean she refers to me as baby, strokes my face, my bad, and runs her fingers through my hair everytime she passes by me. She also calls and texts me daily and even showed up where I live last week. So I just had to block her on Facebook and will be having a talk with the superviser here at the clinic tomorrow. I've told her to stop and all and given her the cold shoulder but I was just told today that in the Dominican culture, instead of that being taken as "stop" it can often be taken as "you need to try harder" and well Rossy is seems to be quite the seasoned vet at trying harder haha. My gosh, but oh well, I guess it's something to laugh about haha.

I also finally felt well enough to go on a little run today. Wasn't anything long, but felt good to at least get my heart rate up a little bit and do a little something, because I have certainly been sitting around and being lazy for far too long. I need to be careful though because that isn't really going to help my cause with all the freaking weight I'm losing down here. It really is ridiculous, I can't wait to just feast when I get home haha. And Chipotle, I just can't wait for Chipotle. :)

I then spend the later part of the day in Esperanza's Microfinancing office where I got to hang out with some of the other American interns here and then did my first grocery shopping in the DR. Definitely some good times haha, I'm getting pretty good at living here, or so I'm telling myself. Thank you Wednesday, July 21st for providing some entertainment for me.

Until I have more interesting stories -- JJ

Better Day

So today I woke up after a wonderful 9 hours of sleep. It was definitely the most I've gotten since I've been down here and I really needed it after a day of feeling absolutely miserable and no sleep the night before. Today I felt much better and had a low grade fever at best so I think it's safe to say I don't have Dengue and will hopefully be completely better and back to work tomorrow. I dind't work again, so today I just sat around and read a lot and actually got a nice 2 hour nap or so in, which I am definitely not complaining about. I think getting sick was good, because even though I felt horrible yesterday I made it through and if I can make it through a day feeling like that, I can make it through anything so I think that really may have helped make it feel like the next month + or so not seem so daunting.

On a better note, I got through a good portion of the book of Matthew today and it was great. I'm really taking it in and I just love reading the teachings that Jesus, himself gave. It's so awesome to see the love he has not only for his disciples but all the people and how it is because of the faith the people have in Jesus that he is healing them and their loved ones. I made it a goal to study and really learn and absorb as much of the New Testament while I'm down here. I want to read through it straight all at the same time with no breaks to really get a better picture of how the teachings of the different Apostles relate to one another and how I can learn from what they all have to offer. I am really pumped for it and it makes the down time I have here much better and it's going to make this trip even greater.

I hope all is well back at home and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting back to work in the morning, I should be in the Physical Therapy unit in the morning and probably helping prepare presentations for the "rural medicine" programs they have to teach the people who live in the outer parts of the country better general health.

Until then, I'm out.

Bitter end to a Great Weekend

This past weekend, one of the other interns who is here working alongside the same organization I am here with had her family here in the Dominican Republic. They invited us out to stay with them at Casa de Campo, which is a pretty incredible resort-type place here in the Dominican. Went out Saturday and did some snorkling, got some good beach time and pretty much got caught in a monsoon on the ride back to the resort, which was probably one of the craziest, most fun experiences of my life. We had one of the ladies on the boat going around and pouring everyone mixed shots in the middle of this ridiculous storm and we were all taking them together, definitely made the best of that. Spent the rest of the weekend relaxing in air conditioning and taking the first hot shower since I've been here. I then came back and though that it was going to just be back to the grind for me this week, but instead, I didn't sleep at all last night, woke up with a fever and felt like someone took a baseball bat to my entire body. Good thing I'm working in the clinic, so I walked over there which was one of the more miserable experiences of my life and found out there is a chance I have Dengue fever, awesome. Just awesome. But at least I had a good weekend, and now I'm bed-ridden and trying to pass my time.

But on a better note, I got some good time to sit down and read my Bible and if anything, it'll be good to use this time to rely on Christ to get me through, because honestly I don't think I've ever felt quite this sick in my life (including going through the Swine last year). But I'm putting my hope in Him and trusting I'll get through this, though having all the people I work with over at the clinic joking around with me telling me not to die isn't really helping too much. Hope all is well back in the States, and please pray that whatever I have passes quickly.

Getting Started

So I'm down here in The Dominican Republic and I wanted to get a blog going so people can follow and read as they please so you can keep up with how the trip is going. I figured this a really good way for you to get the day to day stuff that is going on because when I get home and people as how the trip went, I probably won't have much to say to really get the full idea across unless we talked everyday. I'll chime in when I can and go from there.