Feliz Dia de Independencia!

Before I jump ahead to the week ahead, I'll wrap up yesterday and Concordia's trip. Friday is our day off, volunteers culture/beach day. In the morning they headed out to tour around Monte Cristi and I headed to two schools to speak with the principals about coming to teach next week. The rest of the morning I helped with the OO store and played with the kids some. The team from Jaibon was at the orphanage doing a tour and I got to see Heather and Bryson again! I miss our family being all together! :(

We headed to lunch at Comedor Adela, and I came back for the afternoon to work with Dr. Sprague to finish up doing physicals on the kids. The older kids were left to be seen and they were funny making faces and obviously not interested like all the little kids were, especially the boys because of the fun cough and turn your head exam!

I spent some time helping load up bags and bags of towels, blankets, pillows, sheets, etc that were going to Jaibon for the big weeks coming up! Then I helped Moni organize the kitchen pantry as they got lots of food and supplies delivered today from Tom and Coco and their various trips last week to the capital and Santiago.

The evening consisted of dinner, finishing up 4 more physicals, and then closing. The end of closing was great! Concordia wrote a chant/song to the tune of We Will Rock You!

Here are the lyrics:

Coming from Concordia, Los Americanos, 7:45, Is the wake up call, You got breakfast at 8, pancakes on your plate, morning announcements - don't be late.

Chorus: We would like to Thank You!

On our way to school, with lesson in mind, got numbers and colors, body parts to find, teaching was a blast, went by so fast, recess is over - wish it could last.

Chorus

Back from lunch, gotta shovel a bunch, counting the sheet, in the blistering heat, playing with the kids, til 3:15, we hear yelling, as soon as we're seen.

Chorus

Walk around town, eating ice cream, grocery shopping, sunrise hiking, Karie Jody Julie, Alexandra Mike, Janet and Elizabeth, Amy and Christine.

We were sitting in a circle for closing and they had sectioned themselves off so that each 1/4 of the circle did a verse! It was hilarious! What a great group! Forgot to mention that throughout the week they clapped at the end of every meal announcements for Christine. It went from just clapping, to snapping at time, to clapping slow and building up to fast clapping, to standing ovations, to the last dinner this! SIGNS with her name on them!


After closing I came back up to my room and waited for them to finish their reflections. Rich ended up coming to our room afterwards about 11pm and hung out talking with me and Christine until about 12:30am!

They left this morning at 4:15am and I got up to see them off. They were great, we'll miss them!

But, nonetheless, a new day started today with the first group arriving around 9am! I headed out around 10pm with Karie, Alexandra, and Amy our interns to go check out the Independence Day celebrations. February 27th, 1844 was the day that the Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti. They have a big parade from the clock tower park to the gym behind a school where they have performances by different schools, groups, etc. Here are some pictures of the crowd, and several different performances. Some merengue dancing and big performance by John F. Kennedy school who every year goes all out! It was great!



We didn't get to see the parade but made it for the beginning of the celebrations in the gym. Several schools did dance routines, singing, and other public officials spoke. We sat with the kids from the orphanage that go to Dona Nena for the second half of the show and then headed back. This guy didn't before, just looked silly! Had to get a picture with him! :)

After lunch, I spent lots of time just getting stuff planned for orientation tomorrow and the week in general. Also, had to finish making a couple of beds for the teams arriving today. I took a much needed nap and then got back to work. St. Francis arrived just after dinner and we greeted them and I finished some work that I still had to do. Tonight I drew some posters of the clinic locations for tomorrow's orientation and now am waiting for the last of the volunteers to arrive about 12:45am!

Free Physicals!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/OrphanageKidsPhysicals?feat=directlink

Today we set up clinic at the orphanage, Mom and Dad's room while they were here, and did physicals on all of the orphanage kids! Dr. Sprauge and Amy, a 4th year med student, were seeing the kids just to do a general check.

We started at 9am with the English Institute kids so that they could get done in time for class. First up...Freddy! He did well, didn't talk much, but didn't refuse the testicular exam either. Then comes Moncho and Ariel. Oh boy did they refuse the exam! Only after some convincing from Zuni, the administrator did they agree to get checked. And from there on, the boys became more and more reluctant to come upstairs for their physical! Word travels fast! :)

They got through several kids this morning, about 14-15 of them. Lots of boys and lots of persuading but we made it. The kids are so funny because typically they are outgoing with their personalities, but they all become mute and shy around doctors or dentists.

In the morning, Amy was doing vitals while Dr. Sprague saw the patients. Here is Jose Luis getting his blood pressure checked!

In the afternoon, there were more kids that needed to be seen so Amy started seeing patients as well. These were all the little kids who are pretty healthy. We did hear a few heart murmurs, see a few extra digits, clean out some ear wax but all in all healthy, shy kids but nothing serious.

Not only were the kids patients, but I became a patient as well. Paola wanted to check my blood pressure for me! They loved playing with all of the gadgets.

While at first a little weary and timid, they did open up some and play just like any kids. Franchesca was ready to come upstairs everytime we opened the door and finally she got to come up. However, as soon as she came up, she was in my arms and wouldn't let go. We had to ask the psychologist that works with the kids to come up and help and she was still fearful and crying as we tried to get her height! I had to sit her in my lap to get checked out but she did great!

Luis Alberto came upstairs with his typical terrified look. I think he got scarred for life this fall after they took out two of his teeth. It took a little convincing to reassure him nothing was going to happen. He was smiling by the end. Jochi, who is 15, even kept telling me that he was scared. All she was doing was listening to his heart and lungs and he kept saying he was scared!

Ari and Arianni came upstairs together and were cute as ever. They were hopping around on one foot, entertaining themselves, stealing hand sanitizer and hamming it up as always. Arianni had this one piece outfit on that had to be taken off and so I tried to tickle her. She raised her arm for me to test and see that she was no longer ticklish! She was wrong! :)

Winston wins for best smile of the day...and ties his brother, William, for best sandal tan of the year!

La Charla!

Today was an interesting day! This morning I worked on more sorting with Amy. We sorted through the non-medicine stuff today like first aid supplies, screening supplies (thermometers, glucometers, etc.) and got the registration suitcase and pharmacy suitcase ready. We should be ready to go, at least with what we have here for now!

This afternoon, Rich started doing his riddles again with his team. He loves to do these minds game and they are so hard for me to get! Luckily some of them I already knew from the last time I was here with him and I never got them! Typically someone has to tell me the answer because I get so frustrated and my brain quits working!

I headed on the bus with Dr. Sprague, her husband and Amy to Dr. Garcia's house, dropped them off and then headed back. We had several needles/syringes that I gave to him to use out in the bateyes since we have little use for them here!

I worked this afternoon organizing things for next week, preparing packing lists, orientation, etc.

At 5pm, Dr. Garcia came to the orphanage to give a charla (a talk). I was invited to attend so I went upstairs and listened in on the talk for the adolescents! He loves talking to this age group, and he is currently taking a course on adolescents online from Chile I believe. Anyway, he started talking about how there are 3 stages of adolescents, how we are all different even though we may be the same age, etc. Then he got into the specifics of boys and girls, how there are 7 things that determine our gender, chromosomes, hormones, etc.

He showed some pictures of the Tanner stages of development with breasts and pubic hair and the look on some of the younger boys face was priceless. I tried to keep a straight face but couldn't help but smile sometimes just remembering those awkward moments and they were sitting and listening to this with their brothers and sisters!

At one point he asked how many cells we have in our body. Domingo being brave answered 40! So innocent but a little off! Moncho guessed 100, and then he explained we have millions in just one red blood cell.

The final part of his talk was about the reproductive organs. The power went out so he had just his laptop up on a chair for everyone to see. He put up a picture of the male organs and asked what it was. Domingo in the front seat right in front of the computer answered, "una media". In English, "a sock!". I about fell over laughing but couldn't laugh too hard at him, at least he was paying attention and trying to talk. No one knew what it was, even the psychologist said it looked like socks!

I was proud of the kids for being mature, there were a few grins here and there but for the most part they did really well talking about what can be an embarrasing topic.

He called on Jessica at one point asking her if the hymen was opened or closed and when she answered closed he asked her if she had started her menstrual cycle! I would have died right there in my seat! She nodded her head yes and you could tell she wished she had never spoken. Oh my, how embarrasing but no one else made any remarks! He asked her where she menstruated from and she said she didn't know. He asked Nicol and Carolina who were embarrased and didn't answer and it was kind of surprising that they didn't know. I wonder if this is common across the board or just not talked about here, especially with them not having their Moms to talk to them about such an issue!

The overall experience was great though. He ended saying he wanted to come back because he had run out of time and he said the more educated people are about sexual education, the better they can protect their bodies and make good decisions. He is a very wise person and is good at engaging all types of audiences.

For dinner, we had tostones which are fried plantains. I like these a lot, but found a new love tonight. Moni had me try some that she had in the kitchen. She had soaked them in garlic before frying them, and they were awesome! I asked for mine to be like that from now on and she said she'd make them for me! The perks of being close with the kitchen staff!

After dinner, we did some more riddles and then I headed over to play with the kids. Coral, who is 13 and has an attitude at times, came up to me and asked if Dr. Garcia was who I worked with. She then said, I like that he came, and asked if I liked it too. I responded yes and said it was very interesting and she said it was! I was glad to hear that she enjoyed it, because often times at those ages you don't listen, especially on a topic so hush-hush.

Above is a picture of Coral and her sister Mineli, taken back before the Christmas party. I played with Mineli some, watched an obstacle course race that was set up and the kids were doing, and then it was time for culto. Luis Alberto sat with me after Mineli, and Ari abandoned me.

After culto, Bebo sang a Backstreet Boys song to me in English. I love how real Dominicans are. Bebo sings about like Jo ;), he can't keep a tune but he doesn't care. He sang his heart out, totally off tune, and with an accent but he didn't care. He was proud of his knowledge of the song!

I hung out with Nicol, Carolina and Rich for a little while before separation time. Leonel was there for a bit and was genuinely concerned about Rich's hurt knee. He asked if he needed to go home immediately to get it treated! Nicol and Carolina are funny and just kept teasing him as he continued to tease back. Some volunteers really leave a lasting impression on these kids in even a short time such as 1-2 weeks! It is great to see them enjoying the friendships that they've made overtime and they remember everything, even from 2-3 years ago, and thousands of volunteers later! Here is an old picture from his first trip in 2007 when I met him for the first time with his girls, Jasmin, Carolina and Nicol!

Prep Week!

I just realized I haven't posted pictures in forever! Sorry. Here are 4 albums and the 5th link is to my Dad's pictures from Family Week!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/RainyDayActivitiesWithKids?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/JFK?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/FamilyWeek?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/ParentsWeek?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=103752266714982169905&target=ALBUM&id=5441552377285323745&authkey=Gv1sRgCKqYitqU6sOoUw&feat=email


I can't believe the big weeks as we call them are coming up starting Saturday! All fall I worked on the public health curriculum and kept thinking of the spring in the back of my mind but never really thought it would come! Now I'm not sure I'm ready! It is going to be so crazy but at the same time so awesome!

Back track a little. Sunday we had orientation day with Concordia University and spent time with the kids. Church was weird because about 5 girls were in castigo (punishment) still from last Monday and they couldn't leave their room. Not sure why they couldn't go to church because I'm sure it was not punishment for them to stay back! However, the church seemed so empty because some other kids weren't there either for some reason or another.

Monday I spent with Amy, our 4 week health intern that is a 4th year med student, and with Dr. Janet Sprague and her husband Mike Sprague joining us this week from Michigan. Unfortunately we aren't able to have a clinic this week with only one doctor so they are doing some clinic stuff and some teaching. Monday morning we headed out to tour the hospital, meet Dr. Garcia, tour the rehab center, and we went to the drug rehab center.


I went to the drug rehab center last spring but hadn't been since so I thought we'd try stopping by to see if we could check it out. They brought us into the office, had us sit down and the director spoke with us for a good 20 minutes about the center and answered our questions. They then brought us grape kool-aid, and took us into their lobby area to explain the program with a large painting they have on the wall.

It was cool stopping by there because they were excited to tell us about their program, the director is a previous addict of some sort and they are all very proud of their accomplishments and want to help others! It is a very uplifting, inspiring environment. The one in Monte Cristi houses about 20 men currently but could house up to 40. There are 43 different drug rehab centers in the country and 1 is for kids with control/temper issues and 3 for women with all different addiction problems.

In the afternoon I headed out to Batey Jaramillo (my favorite) with Amy to show her what Dr. Garcia does out there. It was a great time! All my babies that I love showed up and even a few new ones! I wish I had my camera because there was a little 2 year old that was the size of a one year old maybe, her arms were the size of my two thumbs put together, but I'd pick her up and tickle her and she had to prettiest smile and a very cute giggle!

I took my pictures from the fall and copied them and laminated them while I was home. I brought them to the people in the batey and they loved them. They'd show them to the other people and some people were asking where their picture was. Unfortunately they were there the day I took the pictures in the fall! The lady in the background was the one who kept asking me everytime if I could bring her a copy. I was happy to finally be able to bring her a picture to keep!

When I returned there was an intense game of volleyball going on, girls vs. boys. Jasmin came to visit Rich and jumped in to play. I was score keeper on the side. Rich unfortunately went down and I think he tore his ACL. He's been icing and limping around since then!

We watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua with the kids last night which they seem to enjoy a lot! I sat with Arianni who was quite squirmy!

Today was a busy day. Amy and I had to sort through all the meds we have on site and split them up equally between the four clinic weeks we are going to have! Two weeks we'll have 6-8 practicioners and 2 weeks we'll have 3-4 practicioners so we had to evenly distribute the meds according to the amount of practicioners! Let's just say we started with 90,000 Tylenol Arthritis, 6000 kids vitamins, over 56,000 adult vitamins, and 631 bottles of children's benadryl, just to name a few! It took 3 hours in the morning, until lunch, and then 3.5 hours after lunch! I could be happy if I never see Benadryl, Tylenol Arthritis, or Vitamins again! :) But the sorting will start back next Sunday when more meds arrive!!!

This afternoon was my favorite part of the week so far! I had to walk Janet and Mike in to Dr. Garcia's house. It was their turn to go out to the batey but there isn't enough space for everyone to fit, so I headed out with them, dropped them off, and walked back. The walk back was so much fun. It was blazing hot but I made several stops along the way.

First stop, 2 little boys that were saying "Americana". I stopped and chatted with them for a little bit about where they go to school, what they were going to do, and they were super shy and had to be encouraged to talk by their Mom. They were asking when the Americans were coming to teach at their schools and I told them soon!

As I passed an elderly lady and asked "are you returning" and I told her yes. People here are very observant but I guess as an American I kind of stand out! As I continued up the street I saw the sister of Tito, the boy with the cleft lip/palate from this fall. She has been asking for clothes and we've been asking for lists and I tried to stop last week but couldn't stop since I was leading a group. So, I stopped sat down with her and some family/friends while she wrote a list. Her little 18 month old boy was sitting naked on a chair with a plate of rice and beans in his lap; spoon in one hand, and holding onto his junk with the other! Classic!

From there, I headed up the street. I heard some goats and saw in front of me a guy carrying two tied up goats upside down. One kept trying to bit his shorts and had his tongue falling out of his mouth. They both were making awful crys! I asked him what he was doing and he said taking them down street.

As I continued up the street I saw my little Haitian bag girl and her two sisters standing at their gate. I love them! They are so cute! I stopped and talked to them for a bit but they are super shy. The little one, probably less than 2, was about to put her finger on my hand and not be shy when two 8-9 year old Dominican boys came up beside me to see what was going on. I told them I was talking to the girls, who then got even more shy and wouldn't talk at all. This picture was taken last fall.


As I continued on, the two little boys followed me and talked with me some. They both go to JFK where we were teaching last week. I asked what they were doing with the goats (because they were earlier walking in front of that guy) and they said they were going to kill them to sell them. As I was talking to the Haitian girls, a pig was being picked up and forced into the back of a truck. It was making some awful crying/screaming noises. In that moment, I seriously considered becoming a vegetarian because it was so awful hearing both the goats and pigs scream and see them being tortured in some ways!

The little boys stayed with me a bit, went away, and then came back. I also stopped at the shoe repair place where there are always 5-6 people hanging out and lots of kids. I said hello to them and talked with the little one for a few seconds before heading up the hill to the orphanage.

What a great walk and some good visiting with the neighbors! Wish I had brought my camera to get some great shots along the way! I came back, finished sorting meds until dinner, showered, and then hung out with the kids for a little while.

Tomorrow equals more prep for the big weeks to come!

Welcome Rich!

So today I'm at the airport and got to welcome my friend, Rich, who was here when I was an intern. He brought his college team from Concordia University in Montreal and they will be here for a week with us in Monte Cristi. I'm excited to catch up with him and hang out!


As far as the end of this past week, it went well. Wednesday we did the sunset hike like I had mentioned but it was cloudy so we didn't get to see the sunset. However, it was a great hike because I stayed in my jeans and sweatshirt and was perfectly fine. It was breezy and like fall weather. I love it! And not to mention the view is beautiful!


Here is the view with me and Dad from the previous week!

We met with Coco Wednesday night to discuss the next 6 weeks. I'll be in Monte Cristi 5/6 weeks working with health teams. One of the big weeks, where we will have 400 volunteers split between two locations, I'll move to Jaibon to do clinics there like I did in January. Sadly though, I'll be away from my roommates most of that time. Heather left today and I won't be in the same location as her for 6 weeks!!! but I still get Christine for 2 more weeks until she leaves me for 4 weeks!!! Christine, Heather, me and Bryson during parents week in Manzanillo!



However, we'll be so busy that we probably wouldn't see each other anyway! It will be fun doing clinics and getting to work with medical professionals and students!


Thursday it was misty in the morning so we were unsure of the school status. However, it was Day of the Student across the country which meant no class anyway, just parties all day long. So, we called the principal, found out there were students and headed to school. We got a ride in since the roads were so muddy! We hung out with the students, fewer than normal, and the groups did coloring and bracelet making with the students. They enjoyed a break from the teaching I think!


For the afternoon session we did an activity with the orphanage kids since the school wasn't having class again. I sat down and played cards with Arianni. It was hilarious! We were playing war but she won every hand because she is only 3 and doesn't know her numbers! Then, we played Go Fish, but she had to show me her cards and I had to show her mine to ask! How fun! She just likes to pretend like she is playing. She was giggling the whole time because she kept "winning"! I played some Old Maid with Jenny and Heather and hung out with other kids off and on as well.


Dan was a dentist here this week that did some work on some of the kids at the orphanage on Thursday instead of teaching. In the morning after returning from school, I helped hold a flashlight for him while he did some work on Freddy. Freddy who is about 11 or 12, was moaning and whining the whole time. They hate dental work here! The kids get so scared and are in a trance when they are lying on the benches. In the afternoon, I went up again to check in on him and Bryson and they brought up Luis Alberto who is 5. He had 2 teeth extracted this fall so as soon as he saw the bench and the equipment he started bawling huge puppy dog tears! I put him in my lap and then we sat him in the chair. Dan started by counting his fingers, and then counting his teeth. Everytime he'd put the little mirror in his mouth he'd freak out! But we gave him a big mirror so he could watch what was happening and when Dan wasn't trying to count, Luis Alberto would smile a big grin at himself in the mirror! So adorable! Dan decided to just clean his teeth and put flouride on to try to make it a positive experience and then in a couple of weeks when more dentists come, they can extract his rotten teeth and maybe he will go in less scared!


Thursday evening was a free evening with the kids. I don't remember what I did! Hehe.


Friday morning I ran to the salt flats with a couple of volunteers. The group wanted to go take sunrise pictures and I always like to have people to run with so we headed out while some others walked. It was a nice jog, always refreshing!


Friday is the free day for volunteers. We headed around Monte Cristi showing them the English Institute, the clock tower, and the Cuban museum and then headed back to the orphanage. We had lunch out in town and headed to the beach. It was overcast and windy so I stayed in my shorts and sweatshirt but everyone else swam. It was cool at one point there were about 20 people trying to ride a wave at the same time. Such a cool sight. It was a relaxing afternoon!

We came back and had free time with the kids again and dinner. After dinner a huge game of Knock-Out started, with about 10 people playing at some point, maybe more. I played a few rounds but got annoyed because Domingo kept knocking my ball way far away and I'm lazy! :) I spent some time just hanging out and talking with Carolina and Nicol. They are the two oldest girls at the orphanage, probably 17 and 18. I love just spending time with them because they aren't little like the other kids that most volunteers cling to, and it takes a little more to get to know them. However, I enjoy spending time with them and I know they enjoy getting to know the long-term volunteers because it is a more valuable relationship than what the one week volunteers get to experience. I also was very excited last night because they are friends with Rich who just arrived and I was so anxious for them to see him but didn't want to ruin the surprise so I didn't tell them.

I started feeling a little sick to my stomach so I laid down a little bit before closing, went to closing and then fell asleep around 9:30. I'm feeling better today, just think I was dehydrated from running and not drinking enough since it has been cooler this week!

I'm waiting the last afternoon flight to arrive, about 30 minutes, and then I'll be headed back to Monte Cristi! Last week of calmness before the storm and all the clinic craziness begins!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

So the past few days have been rainy and a bit chilly at times, but other times hot, muggy, and full of mosquitos! The other night there was a big breeze going through and it was chilly. I had taken my sweatshirt off because some of the staff from the orphanage braided my hair and I didn't want it to get messed up when I took off my sweatshirt for church. So, Luz Maria decided she wanted to wear it because it was breezy. Fits her well doesn't it??

Monday I was supposed to walk Humber College and a family of 6 in to John F. Kennedy school to teach. However, it had rained a lot that morning and was very muddy. We made the 30 minute walk into town dodging mud, getting dirty, and when we arrived, there was only 1 student at the entire school! So, needless to say we returned home, back thru the muddy streets and did an activity with the orphanage kids who also didn't go to school.

Here you can see my braids kind of. I had three on one side, two on the other and then rest of my hair pulled back into a ponytail.

We came back and had multiple activities. Play-dough, puzzles, paper airplanes, cards, bracelet making, etc. The kids enjoy doing all types of activities, typically staying at one station for 15 minutes and then getting bored and moving on. Arianni and her sister were at a table with construction paper and scissors. Some of the volunteers were cutting out shapes and they would glue them on to their paper. Arianni called me over, and gave me her artwork but instructed me to give it to Heather. What love! So, I asked her to make me one and she did. She cut out the shapes herself this time! :)

In the afternoon, it cleared up enough for the groups to go to school. I stayed back because I have the afternoons off to work, and I actually took about a 3 hour nap, dozing in and out for 30 minutes or so. It was great. I woke up at 5pm! We had some free time with the kids before dinner, and then movie night. I sat with Nena and we watched Shorts. Luz Maria lost her sandal when Bryson lifted her up and over to sit next to me and so every 10 minutes or so she'd get up and bend down to the ground whining about her lost sandal. I couldn't convince her that we would find it at the end of the movie. Surprisingly, it had fallen behind Jaury who was sitting next to me and apparently he didn't feel it on his bottom/back area. But we found it which is all that matters!

Tuesday morning the weather was clearer so we went to teach at JFK. The first session was preschool, 1-2 graders and it went well. The little Haitian bag girl was in preschool and I talked with her a little. I don't actually teach, I just walk around and make sure everything is going well and if needed help get the students back on task. They did a good job handling the classes and teaching English. We had some time for recess where a little 1st grader came up to me and stuck by my side the whole time! She had about 4 black/half rotten teeth in the front! :(

After recess, they went back to teach 3rd and 4th graders which was a little more challenging but they did a good job. We headed home in the heat and then had lunch. I again had the afternoon free so I spent several hours finishing my last public health teaching unit! I finished it and emailed them all to Tom about 15 minutes before dinner! WOOHOO! No more typing of those things!

Tuesday night is history talk for the volunteers and they watch In the Time of the Butterflies. I hung out with the kids for a while, but since the rain the mosquitos have been horrible. I was with Jessica and Jenny for a while before I had to go put on my bug spray and when I returned they were at the mesita playing cards with Karie. I played with them for about 20-30 minutes but it was so dark we could barely see the cards, and it was hard to see the rocks on the table that were being used as our "spoons". You couldn't tell if someone had taken a "spoon" (rock) because it was so dark!

Later I played some Phase 10 with Christine, Heather and Coco.

It rained all night and so our sunrise hike got cancelled, along with school. So we allowed Humber College and the family to plan for an activity with the kids. They came up with some good ideas. Eliza made a tunnel out of old boxes for the kids to crawl thru, there were paper airplanes again, musical chairs, play-dough, cards, bracelet makings, puzzles, etc. I played some L,R,C with Carolina, Nicol, Jessica and Zuni, the orphanage administrator. The kids had a good time going thru the box tunnel. Jaury would pop his head up and scare the twins and they would crack up and then do it again! There was also an empty box that I used to pull around some of the little girls, like a wagon without wheels!

After the activity ended, was one of my favorite moments of the day. I went over to the basketball court and played about 45 minutes of Knock-Out with Jessica, Zuni, Peter (the dad of the family), and several other kids. We played so many rounds and I was dirty and sweating by the end. The ball would get dirty from the court so I'd just wipe it on my jeans and was so gross by the end but I loved it!

After lunch, I showered and got ready to go out with Dr. Garcia. I arrived at his house, we drove to the Banelino office, and then he said they had called and said it was too muddy to go out to the batey. So, Coco who was in town met us at Garcia's house and we talked about the upcoming weeks and then headed to town to pay some bills and run errands.

This evening we are going to do a sunset hike since the sunrise hike got cancelled, then we'll have culto with the kids, and then we are meeting with Coco to figure out where everyone is going to be for the next 5-6 weeks. The leaders are going to be here, there and everywhere! Should be interesting!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry I haven't blogged all week. It was a busy week with my parents here but a fun week! I'll try to give a brief overview of what we did.

Monday - We took a tour of the hospital with Dr. Garcia who got to meet Dad for the first time. All leaders and their parents went with us. We walked around to all the different portions of the hospital and as we entered the ER, a man was being catherized in one of the beds! So much for privacy, oops! From there we headed to the Rehab Center, to Lilo's the grocery store, and then to get ice cream. We came back for lunch and were supposed to head out to a local school to teach for the afternoon but it was pouring rain all morning and some in the afternoon so very few students would have been at school. Here instead of snow days, they have rain days because of the muddy roads! So, many of the orphanage children didn't go to school and we decided to have an activity day with them. They came over and made some wooden airplanes and did some small sewing kits that Bryson's parents had brought. We also had reading, cards, Left, Right, Center, and Betty Spaghetti. That evening was movie night for the kids and we watched Robin Hood with them! Nena sat with me for the movie, I love that kid!

Tuesday - We headed to Jaibon to meet the boys at that orphanage and to enjoy an awesome lunch. Jaqueline, the cook, in Jaibon chops up everything fresh and makes wonderful food. We toured around a little, hung out with the boys, ate lunch, and then played with the boys again. I played with Dany for a little while tossing a ball into the spaces between the benches in their ramada area. Mom took a nap against the wall, she was a little under the weather, and doped up on drugs that made her tired. Christine's Mom cut some of the boys' hair which they enjoyed. We headed back to Monte Cristi and stopped for ice cream in Villa Vasquez. That evening was history talk/movie night so as our parents watched In the Time of the Butterflies, we hung out with the kids some.

Wednesday - We used the morning to do some planning for Thursday and then headed out to Manzanillo, a town about 1 hour away, where Orphanage Outreach was donated a house. Marge, who was a Peace Corps volunteer for many years, lives in this house and we had a picnic lunch in her back yard. Her yard is awesome with banana tree, plantain tree, lime trees, mango trees, apple banana trees, etc. It was a cool atmosphere and we enjoyed PB&J sandwiches. We headed to the park and then to the river where we could see across the river to part of Haiti, but just a beachy area. We headed back to Monte Cristi and stopped at Batey Jaramillo on the way home to show them what a batey looks like. When we got back we had some free time with the kids. Dad played basketball with some of the older kids and got a good workout in! For dinner we went out for pizza with Dr. Garcia. He, his wife, and a german exchange student living with him, joined me, Mom, Dad and Coco. It was an enjoyable dinner and he had some very nice things to say. I love that man, a very humble, awesome person.

Thursday - We headed out to Jaiqui, a poor village area, to do some activities. It was rainy that morning as well, but we headed out anyway to see if anyone would show up. The road to Jaiqui is about 6 km and all dirt roads, which meant all mud. There were a few uphill spots that we weren't sure we were going to make it up, sliding here and there but we made it. We set up shop in the church and played some left, right, center, and dominos with the men, colored with the kids, gave manicures to the women, and Christine's Mom cut a few people's hair. We spent a couple of hours there just enjoying their company. Then we headed back for lunch and had some time to plan for teaching that afternoon. We went into Ciudad de Luz, a small private school, that was started by previous OO leaders. Mom, Dad, John and I taught 4th grade. We taught the parts of the head so we had made this face with velcro pieces for the eyes, ears, etc. They had to come up and find the piece that we said in English and put it on the face. Then we had them make their own faces with button eyes, mouths, teeth, tongues, ears, and yarn hair that we had cut out for them. They enjoyed this! Afterwards, we played slap it, where they have to slap the picture on the board of the word we say in English. We stayed for recess and they were wild! The evening was free to hang out with the kids at the orphanage.

Friday - The morning was spent exploring around Monte Cristi, going to the gift shop where Mom and Dad bought me some cool paintings for my spare bedroom, and then we went to see the clock tower, the Cuban Museum, and I also got a painting from a local artist to put up in my den. It is awesome and hard to describe. I'll post a picture once I get it, he has to repaint one because the one he had hanging up he is using for an art show in NY. That afternoon we went out for lunch in town to the buffet lunch at Comedor Adela. Instead of going to the beach, we walked back, napped and then our parents helped make some beds for the teams coming in. Thanks for the help! We then just spent time hanging out with the kids before dinner. We headed out for dinner too, but before that we went up to the prison where you can see the best view of Monte Cristi. Pizza was great as always, and when we got back we had closing and birthday cake for Christine's Mom.

The week was a great week. Some highlights of playing with the kids were playing a game of pass the ball around with Mom, Jasmin and Bryson's parents, Dad doing slow death to some of the younger boys, Dad playing basketball with the older boys and beating them, Mom drawing sidewalk chalk with the kids, all the kids telling Dad he looked like Tom Eklund (the executive director of OO) all week long!, Mom sewing with Yanina, Dad playing Old Maid with me, Carolina, and John's dad Elden, etc., etc. It was a great week and I think Mom and Dad both had a great time! I took some pictures throughout the week but most of them are on Dad's computer so I'll have him send them to me so I can post some for everyone to see!

Saturday I headed in to the airport to pick up some new volunteers. We had a daughter, mother with us, a family of 6 from Boston that is sailing for a year who stopped in the DR for a week, and two college teams from Canada. I made it back to the orphanage at dinner time, hung out with the kids for a bit after dinner, and then headed to my room and went to bed at 9pm!

Today was orientation day, this morning we did introductions and then Coco and I worked on the med list for customs that she has to take to the capital tomorrow (5 hours away!) to get approved. This afternoon is more orientation and then church this evening.

Weekend Review

Pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/JaibonHairSalon?feat=directlink

Videos of Luz Maria singing http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/LuzMariaSinging?feat=directlink

This past Thursday I headed into Jaibon with Bryson for the day. He was requested to come there to take pictures of the construction that is taking place to document what is being done. They are building a second floor onto the orphanage there as well as new housing for volunteers. I just went along for the ride. Bryson wanted to stop on the way to take some pictures of the rice fields that are along the highway between Monte Cristi and Jaibon. This is a picture of one of the many rice fields, and an old abandoned rice factory in the background. It was cool to stop and get some pictures. I'd love to work out there one day (maybe about 30 minutes) to see how they harvest rice, and just to really appreciate the hard work done in the hot sun all day long! We spent most of the afternoon there and headed back after lunch.

The rest of the day and Friday was spent working and playing with the kids, as usual!
Saturday was a day of preparation for our parents to come. We had to clean up Heather's parents room, my parents' sleeping area, and our room. But, most importantly, we had to get pretty for our parents. One of the kitchen ladies put rolls in Christine's hair on Friday and asked me and Heather if we wanted to straighten our hair for our parents too. OF COURSE! Anytime someone volunteers to fix my hair nice I'll take it. A ponytail gets old sometimes! So, we showered, and went to the laundry room to get rollos put in our hair! After putting rollos in, we were set to the kids side to let Nicol put us under the big salon dryer and straighten our hair more with the straightening iron. Here I am waiting for my hair to dry. Me, Carolina and Heather are all sporting our lovely Domincan rollos.

The dryer wasn't heating up so it took a little longer than normal to dry our hair. But eventually after about 2 hours, we both had our hair straight and rolled up in our tubies to wear until we took it down. They literally twist your hair around your head and bobby pin it down, and then put a net on top to keep it in place. I wore this from about 1:00pm until 8:00pm.

As I was sitting there waiting, several of the kids kept popping in and out checking out what was going on. This little wiggle worm below was in and out of my lap several times, along with Luz Maria. They are so cute, but just can't sit still! Nicole was getting her hair washed by Coral, Jessica was doing laundry and throwing wet clothes over the cord that went to the dryer I was sitting under, and kids kept coming in and out to check on us. It was a fun afternoon!

After setting up Mom and Dad's room, which I'll post pics of later (it is a sheet fort room), I showered with a Wal-Mart bag over my head and ate dinner. Shortly after dinner we headed on the bus to Santiago to pick up our parents! We arrived about 30 minutes before they landed, and enjoyed some milkshakes! YUMMY! Then, our parents arrived! It was exciting to see everyone's parents come down the escalator and then greet them as the came outside. Here was our final product, straight hair! We were anxiously awaiting our parents! They all arrived with no complications and we headed back to the orphanage. We arrived at 12:44am and headed to bed.

This morning was orientation, introductions, and going over the basic principles and guidelines. We also took a short tour around the neighborhood of the orphanage. We stopped and talked to Pastor Ramon and he was very excited to see everyone's parents. Also, the kids were excited, some shy, and some full of questions. I think they have enjoyed getting to see our parents. After lunch, I spent a little bit of time with some of the kids and returned Nicol's tubie to her that I wore yesterday. Bryson's parents brought some cool foam stickers that they kids loved playing with! They were showing off their artwork to me as I headed to my room. This afternoon we had a special trip planned to a little island about 20 minutes by boat off the shore. We went there for a couple of hours this afternoon and enjoyed the beach! We headed back, showered, ate dinner and then spent some time with the kids. The little girls that hadn't gone to church had their dresses on and were holding each other's ties that go around their waist for their dress. They were running in a line, holding on to the person in front of them and pretending to be horses. I held on a little while and pretended to be horses with them also. Mom and Dad had a good time I think just hanging out and getting to meet some of the little girls. Arianni and Joanni were stealing our noses and eating them. Dad tooted on the bench and Arianni started saying, "Gross, It smells bad". It was pretty funny.

This evening was church with the kids. It was enjoyable but long. I had to hit Mom several times to keep her awake! Surprise! It was Odalis' birthday who turned 18 today so we got to sing Happy Birthday to him at the end.

I'll post more pictures as the week goes on. We have a fun week planned with our parents!

Dona Nena

*Note - There is another blog posted today that I wrote yesterday but couldn't post because we had no internet. Check it out, it has a great picture on it!*

Today I took a break from healthcare stuff and went to Dona Nena, the private school where the high school group of volunteers is teaching this week. This school is also where many of the orphanage children go to school. It was so much fun getting to see them in their uniforms, sitting in their seats (most of the time), and learning English. They all got excited to see me at school and at recess came out to play and hang out.

This little girl does not live at the orphanage but is in the pre-kindergarten class and was matching shapes. She was super cute so I had to get a picture of her working hard on the chalkboard.

Here in the Dominican Republic education is POOR! Children either go to school from 8am-12pm, or from 2pm-6pm. So, 4 hours a day! You can only imagine how much they learn during that period. Not to mention they get 15-20 minutes of recess and a 5-10 minute snack break built in as well. Many of the classrooms are packed full of students, some even without desks and just chairs. In this classroom to the left, there were at least 5 little kids sitting in chairs only without anything to write on. I guess in pre-kindergarten it isn't as crucial but still, at a private school you'd expect a desk for each child! Private schools here are not near as expensive as in the States however.

The kids here do have a uniform. Dona Nena has these brown jumpers with a yellow shirt, and the boys wear brown pants with a yellow top. However, the public schools all wear khaki pants or skirts, and a blue button down shirt.
Here are Luz Maria and I at recess. She came out to play for a little bit and sat with me until her teacher found her and took her back into class. I don't think she wanted to go back in, surprise. Everyday when I ask her how school was she says, MAL, which means bad! But they all say that! Once I got back from school today I laid down for just a bit. We got up early because the group went on a sunrise hike and I was going to do a beach workout, but the bus wouldn't start and by the time we got down to the beach, we only had 10 minutes to workout so we just sat and enjoyed the view instead. It was a pleasant morning at the beach watching the waves crash! Rough, I know!

After lunch, I spent some time with the kids and went to the bus station to pick up a site visitor that is in country for a couple of weeks. She wants to bring a college team down possibly to work with Orphanage Outreach, and ironically enough I actually met her in the Miami airport and gave her Coco's number to call about coming to see the orphanage. She saw our t-shirts that we wear in the airport and came over to ask questions, and now here she is.

This picture is of Nena and Nicol in their classroom. The classes are sometimes interesting because you'll see someone like Nena who is 7 years old in the 3rd grade, but also there are other children in her classroom ages 9,10, and even 14! They don't place you by age here, they place you by ability so it isn't unusual to see 12,13,14 year olds still in elementary grade levels!

This afternoon I had planned to go to Cuidad de Luz, another private school we are teaching at this week but plans changed. I got asked to go to a local pharmacy and get prices on the medications for possible purchase for our spring clinics. It was fun to go inside the pharmacy and just see the dynamics. One lady was helping me for a good 20 minutes, to find the prices, etc. She seemed slightly annoyed for a while, until I told her I would talk to Coco, who has lived here for 5 years and everyone knows, and then she smiled and gave me the phone number to call to order! :)

On the walk home today I saw this interesting sight outside of a pretty decent house. The house just recently got painted and seems to be owned by someone with a least a little money. Well, outside in her yard were several fans, a couple of toasters, and a few other random items. I assume they were for sale. Nothing like a good old fashioned yard sale, with about 15 items to sell! Hope she made some money today!

The rest of the day I spent with the kids just hanging out. They had sidewalk chalk and were drawing each other as well as other things. Indiana made a hopscotch board so she, Jessica, and I played. I was not so good!

Wednesday nights is culto night so we had a little worship service with the kids. Arianni sat in my lap and was playing with my thumbs and singing along to the music. Pastor wasn't there until the very end so Jose Luis, who is 13, lead the service asking different kids to come up and sing. It was a little more crazy than normal but he did a good job.

After culto I played with Arianni a little bit longer before coming up for the night. We kissed again, and then I pretended to eat her ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. for a good amount of time. Apparently this game hasn't gotten old yet for her! I love her so much! When I hear, "Elizamen" come out of her mouth I can't help but smile and be thankful for having her in my life!

Pictures from today - http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/DonaNena?feat=directlink

Batey Juliana

Yesterday was a fun day. I got to go back out with Dr. Garcia in the afternoon to the bateyes, like I did this fall. In the morning, I worked here cleaning my room (surprise it needed done I know), and then I logged patients from our clinic this spring. On Day #1, in Jicome we saw 221 patients, at least that got recorded! Not too shabby for 4 providers.

After lunch I spent some time hanging out with Luz Maria. She found one of the pieces from L,R,C in the dirt on the ground that apparently got lost last week sometime. Then I reviewed the hospital tour video that Bryson has put together. Looks pretty cool. If I can I'll post a link at some point.

So the Batey was an interesting excursion. When we arrived there were only about 3 people sitting around, but this was the sight we came upon. A lady was plucking this chicken to prepare for dinner! How disgusting! If I had to do that to eat chicken, I'm pretty sure I'd quickly become a vegetarian! Look how big his feet are without his feathers! Poor guy! :)

The next thing we did, since there were still only a few people, is look at Dr. Garcia's pictures from Haiti. He went over with another doctor for 2-3 days and did consulting in two different areas. He said it was tragic and terrible to see but I think he enjoyed serving the people in Haiti. He brought his computer for us to see them on, but we had to go inside the chicken lady's home to see because of the glare. At one point while going thru the slideshow I looked around and I was standing with 2 Domincians, 1 Korean volunteer, and about 6 Haitians. It was an eye openeing moment, just to be there with these people and to see the shock on their faces as the pictures scrolled through. One lady recognized several of the buildings that had been destroyed and another lady kept asking what the "tent city" places were. She didn't know or seem to understand that people were actually living in makeshift homes made out of tarps and sheet! But as I thought about it, they live in extreme poverty. They have little resources for water and food, I'm sure they don't have TV or Internet to look at CNN and all the stories and pictures. So, for them this may have been the first they had seen of the devastation that took place in their country, and probably affected their families!

Inside her home was a sight also. I wanted to take pictures but felt intrusive. In the room we were in was a pile of unripe bananas sitting in dirty water on the cement floor. In another room, which I assume was the kitchen area, was a bottle of Crisol vegetable oil opened with a funnel sitting in it, and probably a few critters and dirt! And in the bedroom was a double sized mattress with sheets, propped on cans or something to hold it up above the ground and a moto without a front tire with clothes stacked up on it. I wish I could reproduce this with solid images because it is just amazing to see how these people live, but always have a smile on their face and continue to survive!

The rest of the afternoon I helped out the nurse by vaccinating and taking blood pressures. One guy had a convenient shirt on. It had a huge rip on the side right where his deltoid was, so all Lucia (her made up Dominican name because her Korean name is too difficult to pronounce) had to do was slip the needle through the huge slit and give the shot!

As I started taking one guy’s blood pressure that had asked me, I quickly noticed it was not a onetime only deal. Everyone wanted their blood pressure checked no matter what age they were. They came over and sat down waiting to hear that they had a normal BP. I had to turn the job over to Lucia at one point because my back was hurting from leaning over! But again, just a simple thing that to us may seem crazy, but anything you can do for them they appreciate. It is almost like a game to them, they just want it done because someone is there that can do it, and everyone else is doing it! But it is such a simple task; it is enjoyable to do something so small for them!

Another great image for the afternoon, not typical in the states was a lady breastfeeding out in the open. There were easily 20-30 people hanging out waiting to see the doctor or get shots, etc and she just popped out her huge boob and starting feeding him. At one point I think her milk wasn’t coming out well so she pulled the baby off, squeezed her nipple some, and then put him back to feed again! No modesty here!

Haitian people are so beautiful and often have the most amazing smiles because their teeth show so bright in contrast to the dark color of their skin. However, typically when you take a picture of a Haitian they have a stoic look with no expression. Even in paintings that are sold around here, the Haitians are painted with no faces. Very interesting!

There were two girls, one age 11 and the other age 6 that came by and got shots and just hung out. Angelina, the 6 year old, loved seeing my pictures so she would tell me to keep taking pictures so that she could look at them. She started with her arm in her mouth, to a picture with no smile, to finally this! A HUGE SMILE!

We loaded up in the truck to leave, and since Dr. Garcia wasn’t going to be working in the bateyes the rest of the week he had these people come get their meds from his main office station not far away. They loaded up in the back of the pickup truck to catch a ride with us, but we soon noticed that we had a semi-flat tire, and a very flat tire with 20 people piled in. So, they had to get out and walk to meet us up there!

When I got back I hung out with the kids for a little while before dinner. I sat down with Jennifer on the patio to tickle her upon her request and quickly got attacked by Nena, Joanni and Franchesca, all climbing on my neck. Jennifer and I went over to the basketball court where we played a game that she made up. She placed three sticks down spaced apart. One marked where the “chicken” had to stand in front of, and the other two were where the other person had to walk into, the unsafe zone. The chicken was turned around and the other person would walk up and then the chicken would turn around and chase the other person. The best part is the first time I did it, I didn’t use my chicken arms and had to do it again with my arms under my armpits to look like a chicken!

After dinner I hung out with Jennifer again. I taught her how to say I Love You in English and she went around to several of the kids and a couple of the leaders saying “I Lub You”. It was cute! Then later I pretended to be a monster and chase her around. Right before the movie bell rang we were walking on a dirt path that she had created with her hands.

The kids watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. While they were watching the movie, Heather, Christine, Bryson and I were in the almacen (storage area) sorting the donations this team brought down. I heard several good laughs so I think they liked the movie.

Today I’ve been quite unproductive and unmotivated. The only thing I’ve done is inventory scrubs after lunch with a couple of volunteers’ help! Maybe I’ll go log some more patients from our clinic my first week back!

Here are my most recent pictures. I have a couple of videos of Luz Maria singing that I’ll try to upload soon, they just take a little longer!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/KidsPizzaAndJuliana?feat=directlink