I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep you guys updated about my totally awesome life here in Santo Domingo for this past week. I've been super busy, and enjoying everything I can. I can't believe that it's already been 5 weeks and I'll be back in the States tomorrow. I just finished packing, and it was quite depressing to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be going home. BUT, I absolutely love it here and there are many things that I'm going to miss. We're having a big barbecue tonight (although I'm sure there won't actually be any BBQ), and I just know I'm going to cry. It sucks having to say bye to all of these people who truly have become my family. Not only that, it's going to be hard having to wake up everyday in Texas - where the closest PRETTY beach is more than a 10 minute drive. What am I going to do without white sandy beaches, palm trees, and umbrella drinks?!
Anyway, I don't want to spend any more time on my computer - I wanna cherish the last few hours I have here. On that note, I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my crazy time here in the Dominican. Love you all and hope to see you soon! xoxo
Monday, June 25, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Días 27 y 28
I can't believe it - our last week en el hospital!
Since it's our last week, we pretty much get to go wherever we want. We start off by heading to surgery, but there really isn't anything that we haven't seen. Sadly, radiology was the same as well. After this less than memorable day, we pretty much want to just end our work week today. I mean, why keep going back to a place where we don't get to do anything anyway!
Thank goodness we actually did go back on Tuesday - one of the best work days in a long time! We went to surgery, only because we knew one of our favorite doctors, Carlos, would be there. He has been doing his rotations en quemado, but he was going to cirugía to help with some reconstructive surgery for the burn victims. Entonces, we get there and find him in quirofano 6, helping another doctor with something we had never seen before. This little child was born with 6 fingers on each hand as well as 6 toes on one of her feet. We were under the impression that there weren't actually any bones in the extra phalanges, because the doctor simply cut them off...with scissors. During this whole procedure, we were talking to and getting to know the doctor a little better. We simply asked him if we could help out with the next procedures, and he told us absolutely! There were 3 surgeries coming up, each of which required a skin graft - and there are 3 of us. How perfect!? I won't bore you with all of the gory details, but to sum it up: each of the 3 children had burns of different sizes and severities, and each had a skin graft taken from their thigh to be used to replace the damaged skin of the burn. All of us got to help out in different ways, whether it was holding tools or body parts or severing nerve endings. It was pretty cool to watch and help with. I had never seen a skin graft before, but you know those things you use to cut slices of cheese - the ones that you usually use on velveta? Well, that's what it reminded me of - just shaving off a thin layer of skin from the leg. Pretty crazy!
After work, we decided to head up to the park to play kickball and/or frisbee. Well since there are only 6 of us, we asked the local kids to play with us. Naturally, they said no. Instead, they asked us to play fútbol with them. Those of you hat know me pretty well, know that I am absolutely awful at soccer. Luckily, I didn't get hit in the face or anything too bad - just took one in the chest that wasn't exactly pain free. But, it was a lot of fun and we're thinking about going to play with them again tonight (Thursday)!
Since it's our last week, we pretty much get to go wherever we want. We start off by heading to surgery, but there really isn't anything that we haven't seen. Sadly, radiology was the same as well. After this less than memorable day, we pretty much want to just end our work week today. I mean, why keep going back to a place where we don't get to do anything anyway!
Thank goodness we actually did go back on Tuesday - one of the best work days in a long time! We went to surgery, only because we knew one of our favorite doctors, Carlos, would be there. He has been doing his rotations en quemado, but he was going to cirugía to help with some reconstructive surgery for the burn victims. Entonces, we get there and find him in quirofano 6, helping another doctor with something we had never seen before. This little child was born with 6 fingers on each hand as well as 6 toes on one of her feet. We were under the impression that there weren't actually any bones in the extra phalanges, because the doctor simply cut them off...with scissors. During this whole procedure, we were talking to and getting to know the doctor a little better. We simply asked him if we could help out with the next procedures, and he told us absolutely! There were 3 surgeries coming up, each of which required a skin graft - and there are 3 of us. How perfect!? I won't bore you with all of the gory details, but to sum it up: each of the 3 children had burns of different sizes and severities, and each had a skin graft taken from their thigh to be used to replace the damaged skin of the burn. All of us got to help out in different ways, whether it was holding tools or body parts or severing nerve endings. It was pretty cool to watch and help with. I had never seen a skin graft before, but you know those things you use to cut slices of cheese - the ones that you usually use on velveta? Well, that's what it reminded me of - just shaving off a thin layer of skin from the leg. Pretty crazy!
After work, we decided to head up to the park to play kickball and/or frisbee. Well since there are only 6 of us, we asked the local kids to play with us. Naturally, they said no. Instead, they asked us to play fútbol with them. Those of you hat know me pretty well, know that I am absolutely awful at soccer. Luckily, I didn't get hit in the face or anything too bad - just took one in the chest that wasn't exactly pain free. But, it was a lot of fun and we're thinking about going to play with them again tonight (Thursday)!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Día 26
I finally got to go to church!
Like all new things in this country, church was quite an experience. First of all, the Church is usually a place where I feel like I always fit in. Well, I seriously felt so out of place. As usual, people were staring at us and whispering about us. On top of that, Mass started a las doce, but when we got there 5 minutes before, the church was hardly full at all. Me and Christina were super confused, but just waited for the mass to begin. Well once it started (which was surprisingly on time), people were still showing up - all the way until after the Gospel was over! I honestly couldn't believe it! Entonces, I know all of the responses throughout mass, but since everyone around me was saying everything in Spanish, it made it super difficult to focus on what I was saying - what I know by heart in English. Mass continues, and it comes time to offer peace to those around you. It was like a 10 minute party, no joke. Everyone was walking around the church, catching up with friends, having conversations, etc. After that, once it was time for communion, it was like a "free-for-all". There is usually some form of order when people receive the host, but it was kind of like, "If you want Jesus, go get you some Jesus!" People would just get up and rush to the line to receive the host, but then others just sat there and looked around for this 10 minute process. Also, there is typically wine that comes with the host - nope. Only for the Priest. It was just all a very strange experience.
The rest of our afternoon was quite relaxing. We went to the Blue Mall and saw Madagascar 3 - in Spanish! Honestly, I think it was funnier in Spanish than it would have been in English. Things don't exactly translate perfectly to Spanish, and it was pretty evident. But very funny! After that, we treated ourselves to and expensive dinner at a Spanish restaurant - mostly a Tapas Bar. Check it out!
Like all new things in this country, church was quite an experience. First of all, the Church is usually a place where I feel like I always fit in. Well, I seriously felt so out of place. As usual, people were staring at us and whispering about us. On top of that, Mass started a las doce, but when we got there 5 minutes before, the church was hardly full at all. Me and Christina were super confused, but just waited for the mass to begin. Well once it started (which was surprisingly on time), people were still showing up - all the way until after the Gospel was over! I honestly couldn't believe it! Entonces, I know all of the responses throughout mass, but since everyone around me was saying everything in Spanish, it made it super difficult to focus on what I was saying - what I know by heart in English. Mass continues, and it comes time to offer peace to those around you. It was like a 10 minute party, no joke. Everyone was walking around the church, catching up with friends, having conversations, etc. After that, once it was time for communion, it was like a "free-for-all". There is usually some form of order when people receive the host, but it was kind of like, "If you want Jesus, go get you some Jesus!" People would just get up and rush to the line to receive the host, but then others just sat there and looked around for this 10 minute process. Also, there is typically wine that comes with the host - nope. Only for the Priest. It was just all a very strange experience.
The rest of our afternoon was quite relaxing. We went to the Blue Mall and saw Madagascar 3 - in Spanish! Honestly, I think it was funnier in Spanish than it would have been in English. Things don't exactly translate perfectly to Spanish, and it was pretty evident. But very funny! After that, we treated ourselves to and expensive dinner at a Spanish restaurant - mostly a Tapas Bar. Check it out!
Día 25
Unlike Friday, Saturday was "blog-worthy!"
We got up around 9 on Saturday and wanted to head to La Zona Colonial to do some shopping. We went when we first got to the Dominican, but Aaron didn't get to come with us the first time and he really wanted to check it out. Well, I don't know if you guys have ever been to Chinatown, but this was like the Dominican version of that. Tons of shops with people yelling at you and telling you "we give you good price", and asking you to come see what else they have upstairs, blah blah blah. It was very overwhelming, to say the least! We pretty much got out of that area as fast as we could, and headed to the La Primera Catedral de las Americas (The First Cathedral of the Americas). I have never really been disrespected at a church, but there's a first time for everything. Last time we went to the Cathedral, we didn't have to pay for the skirts to cover our legs. Well, this guy was clearly doing anything he could for money. We walk up to get our skirts, and he just looks away from us as if we aren't good enough. A staring contest ensues, and a few minutes later he shoves the skirts in our face and tells us, "three skirts, three dollars." We look at each other, look at him, and explain that we didn't have to pay last time and refuse to pay this time. He repeats the price, and we decide that it's simply not worth the fight or the money. How unfortunate though, I mean...this is a church!
Anyway, we head over to a local restaurant en la plaza and had a nice three hour lunch. Our group just hung out and talked about our trip thus far - favorite experiences, what we'll miss the most, what we won't miss, etc. Well, I would have to say that my most favorite experience was when we went to the mountains, to Jarabacoa. It was just a beautiful city, and an extremely tranquillo (tranquil/peaceful) getaway. I'll miss the easy going way of life the most, by far. Everything here is just "fly by the seat of your pants", no schedules, nothing is ever on time. It truly is island time, and I surprisingly love it. I won't be ready to go back to the fast paced life of the US - always having to be on time...ahh! BUT, on the other hand, I will be ready to be back in a country where people aren't always staring at you. I almost have to give them credit for how much they can stare, and honestly not care that they're staring. Usually when you're staring at someone and they look at you, you'll look away. Not here. They seriously just keep staring until you look away. Pretty impressive actually!
A few weeks back, we bought tickets for a concert, and it was that night! Funny story - we asked our taxi driver what time the concert started. Well, he says "Juan Luis, well he is Christian. He say he start at 8, he start at 8. He no es Dominicana, he is Christian. So he start at 8." We were all just taken aback - their perception of things is just so funny to us! But anyway, we head to the house to get ready for the Juan Luis Guerra concert, and head over around 530 or so. We didn't have seats, only tickets for standing room en el terrano, which was actually the best idea ever. It ended up starting to pour down rain (like border-line-hurricance!), but that didn't stop us or the locals from singing and dancing until the rain got to be too much. The equipment wasn't exactly working properly, so we figured it was time to go. Well, our ride wasn't going to get there for about 20 or 30 minutes, so we headed to the park to pass the time. So I decided to go down the slide - naturally I went down a little to fast and of course fell straight on my butt and ended up covering myself in dirt. Typical me. But, other than that, it was an amazing experience! I mean, how often do you get to see the most famous Dominican artist in his own country!?
We got up around 9 on Saturday and wanted to head to La Zona Colonial to do some shopping. We went when we first got to the Dominican, but Aaron didn't get to come with us the first time and he really wanted to check it out. Well, I don't know if you guys have ever been to Chinatown, but this was like the Dominican version of that. Tons of shops with people yelling at you and telling you "we give you good price", and asking you to come see what else they have upstairs, blah blah blah. It was very overwhelming, to say the least! We pretty much got out of that area as fast as we could, and headed to the La Primera Catedral de las Americas (The First Cathedral of the Americas). I have never really been disrespected at a church, but there's a first time for everything. Last time we went to the Cathedral, we didn't have to pay for the skirts to cover our legs. Well, this guy was clearly doing anything he could for money. We walk up to get our skirts, and he just looks away from us as if we aren't good enough. A staring contest ensues, and a few minutes later he shoves the skirts in our face and tells us, "three skirts, three dollars." We look at each other, look at him, and explain that we didn't have to pay last time and refuse to pay this time. He repeats the price, and we decide that it's simply not worth the fight or the money. How unfortunate though, I mean...this is a church!
Anyway, we head over to a local restaurant en la plaza and had a nice three hour lunch. Our group just hung out and talked about our trip thus far - favorite experiences, what we'll miss the most, what we won't miss, etc. Well, I would have to say that my most favorite experience was when we went to the mountains, to Jarabacoa. It was just a beautiful city, and an extremely tranquillo (tranquil/peaceful) getaway. I'll miss the easy going way of life the most, by far. Everything here is just "fly by the seat of your pants", no schedules, nothing is ever on time. It truly is island time, and I surprisingly love it. I won't be ready to go back to the fast paced life of the US - always having to be on time...ahh! BUT, on the other hand, I will be ready to be back in a country where people aren't always staring at you. I almost have to give them credit for how much they can stare, and honestly not care that they're staring. Usually when you're staring at someone and they look at you, you'll look away. Not here. They seriously just keep staring until you look away. Pretty impressive actually!
A few weeks back, we bought tickets for a concert, and it was that night! Funny story - we asked our taxi driver what time the concert started. Well, he says "Juan Luis, well he is Christian. He say he start at 8, he start at 8. He no es Dominicana, he is Christian. So he start at 8." We were all just taken aback - their perception of things is just so funny to us! But anyway, we head to the house to get ready for the Juan Luis Guerra concert, and head over around 530 or so. We didn't have seats, only tickets for standing room en el terrano, which was actually the best idea ever. It ended up starting to pour down rain (like border-line-hurricance!), but that didn't stop us or the locals from singing and dancing until the rain got to be too much. The equipment wasn't exactly working properly, so we figured it was time to go. Well, our ride wasn't going to get there for about 20 or 30 minutes, so we headed to the park to pass the time. So I decided to go down the slide - naturally I went down a little to fast and of course fell straight on my butt and ended up covering myself in dirt. Typical me. But, other than that, it was an amazing experience! I mean, how often do you get to see the most famous Dominican artist in his own country!?
Monday, June 18, 2012
Día 24
Friday - just one of those days.
I don't honestly have much to say about Friday, except than it was less than memorable. Things here in the Dominican are kind of just becoming a way of life. Nothing really surprises me anymore, you know? It's weird - I've only been here a month but yet things just feel so natural. Honestly, it's going to be a culture shock going back to America. There are so many parts of this culture that I've grown accustomed to, and I don't know how it'll be without that. Even though I can't bring the Dominican home with me, there are many parts of the culture that I won't be able to get rid of. Mostly it'll be the language - I will definitely be speaking Spanglish!
Anyway, there was really nothing "blog-worthy" on Friday. Sorry to disappoint!
I don't honestly have much to say about Friday, except than it was less than memorable. Things here in the Dominican are kind of just becoming a way of life. Nothing really surprises me anymore, you know? It's weird - I've only been here a month but yet things just feel so natural. Honestly, it's going to be a culture shock going back to America. There are so many parts of this culture that I've grown accustomed to, and I don't know how it'll be without that. Even though I can't bring the Dominican home with me, there are many parts of the culture that I won't be able to get rid of. Mostly it'll be the language - I will definitely be speaking Spanglish!
Anyway, there was really nothing "blog-worthy" on Friday. Sorry to disappoint!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Días 22 y 23
Ayer, muy mal. Pero hoy, mucho mejor. (Yesterday, very bad. But today, much better.)
Literally, we sat in a hallway for two and half hours. Just sitting there, waiting for our doctor to show up. It was absolutely ridiculous. Then, when she finally did show up, she just pawned us off on some other doctors who clearly didn't want us around. We followed them for about an hour and a half on "grand rounds", but it mainly consisted of them going to whatever room and checking out whatever patients they pleased. There was no real method to their madness, and I felt like they didn't know or care if we were there or not. When we were finally done and went back to "our" doctor, she briefly talked to us about leukemia for a little while longer and then called it a day. Yes, I'm very lucky to have this experience, but it does nothing for me if I'm just sitting in a hallway learning absolutely nothing?
Last night wasn't so bad though! We went for a run around the park, and instead of going home, we hung out and watched some of the softball games that were going on. For a while, we were standing awkwardly outside of the field. The dads that were playing were nice enough to offer us their chairs by the field, so we went around and ended up watching them play for the next two hours! We found out that all of their kids are in a baseball league, and that all of the dads play together every Wednesday. They invited us back next week, so we'll be there cheering on Los Padres!
Back to work today, and we ended up actually working - finally! We first went to oncología, but when we could find out doctor nowhere, but ditched and went back to radiology. We didn't want to sit around for another 2 hours waiting for her to show up. Well, today we asked if we could actually help out with the patients and luckily Jose said yes! Anytime a patient would come in for a CT scan or MRI, we got to take them to the bed and actually position the machines to complete whatever particular scan they needed. After that, he taught us how to work the computer and prepare the actual print-outs of the scans! Although it wasn't much, it was still something! Sadly, the day flew by - but we plan on returning tomorrow for sure.
Tonight, me and my roommate Christina are making dinner for all of our friends as well as our host mom! She cooks for us all day, every day, and we decided that she deserved a night off. We're making chicken parmesan, green beans, and pasta salad. And of course, a yummy cake for dessert! Other than that, no big plans. Maybe watching some more baseball, but we'll be heading to bed early I'm sure. Pues, necesito una siesta. Hasta mañana! (Well, I need a nap. See you tomorrow!)
Literally, we sat in a hallway for two and half hours. Just sitting there, waiting for our doctor to show up. It was absolutely ridiculous. Then, when she finally did show up, she just pawned us off on some other doctors who clearly didn't want us around. We followed them for about an hour and a half on "grand rounds", but it mainly consisted of them going to whatever room and checking out whatever patients they pleased. There was no real method to their madness, and I felt like they didn't know or care if we were there or not. When we were finally done and went back to "our" doctor, she briefly talked to us about leukemia for a little while longer and then called it a day. Yes, I'm very lucky to have this experience, but it does nothing for me if I'm just sitting in a hallway learning absolutely nothing?
Last night wasn't so bad though! We went for a run around the park, and instead of going home, we hung out and watched some of the softball games that were going on. For a while, we were standing awkwardly outside of the field. The dads that were playing were nice enough to offer us their chairs by the field, so we went around and ended up watching them play for the next two hours! We found out that all of their kids are in a baseball league, and that all of the dads play together every Wednesday. They invited us back next week, so we'll be there cheering on Los Padres!
Back to work today, and we ended up actually working - finally! We first went to oncología, but when we could find out doctor nowhere, but ditched and went back to radiology. We didn't want to sit around for another 2 hours waiting for her to show up. Well, today we asked if we could actually help out with the patients and luckily Jose said yes! Anytime a patient would come in for a CT scan or MRI, we got to take them to the bed and actually position the machines to complete whatever particular scan they needed. After that, he taught us how to work the computer and prepare the actual print-outs of the scans! Although it wasn't much, it was still something! Sadly, the day flew by - but we plan on returning tomorrow for sure.
Tonight, me and my roommate Christina are making dinner for all of our friends as well as our host mom! She cooks for us all day, every day, and we decided that she deserved a night off. We're making chicken parmesan, green beans, and pasta salad. And of course, a yummy cake for dessert! Other than that, no big plans. Maybe watching some more baseball, but we'll be heading to bed early I'm sure. Pues, necesito una siesta. Hasta mañana! (Well, I need a nap. See you tomorrow!)
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Días 20 y 21
I'm sorry I haven't been writing as much lately, I've just been having trouble finding what to say.
My first few weeks here were super exciting and we learned so many new things, but lately it just hasn't been the same. We have moved on to a new department - oncología (oncology) - but it's not what I expected I guess. I had hoped that we would be able to see more cases and patients, but the cancer wing here is rather small. On top of that, they don't have the money for expensive treatments nor do they have a large knowledge base about different types of cancer. When they see a case they've never seen before, they have to consult doctors and hospitals in the United States, and as you can imagine, that takes a lot of time and money. These past few days, we've been learning the basics of cancer - where it comes from, how it starts, why it spreads to quickly, etc. Tomorrow, we'll be learning in-depth about leukemia (which is very common in children). We have to do some research before tomorrow, so that we know the basics, but I'm very excited to hear about the most common cases here in the DR and how they treat them with such limited funds.
Being in the hospital every day, and seeing how little so many people have, makes me want to give all of my time and money to them. I've even been considering coming back and living here for a few months after I graduate. I really do love it here, but more than that, I want to do anything I can to help these people. Whether it's just coming to the hospital and playing with the children, or coming back 15 years from now and opening up my own clinic. It's going to be very hard for me to go home. It's difficult seeing so many rich people who do absolutely nothing with their money - except blow it all on themselves. There are families in this country who won't eat for days or weeks at a time, just to save money so they can afford transportation to the hospital. I feel even more guilty when I don't finish a meal here - I wish I could save it all and give it to those less fortunate.
I know that I am blessed to live in a country like America, and every day I thank God for all of my blessings. But, I'm even more blessed to be here, right now, in this country. There is so much on my mind and in my heart, but I've just been at a loss for words. I don't know how much I'll have to say these next few days, but I'll do my best to put all of these feelings into writing - and writing that will make sense to all of you. I just ask that you continue to pray for those less fortunate than you, and I pray that all of you will be fortunate enough to stumble upon an opportunity in which you can make a lasting impact on someone else's life. Dios de bendiga.
My first few weeks here were super exciting and we learned so many new things, but lately it just hasn't been the same. We have moved on to a new department - oncología (oncology) - but it's not what I expected I guess. I had hoped that we would be able to see more cases and patients, but the cancer wing here is rather small. On top of that, they don't have the money for expensive treatments nor do they have a large knowledge base about different types of cancer. When they see a case they've never seen before, they have to consult doctors and hospitals in the United States, and as you can imagine, that takes a lot of time and money. These past few days, we've been learning the basics of cancer - where it comes from, how it starts, why it spreads to quickly, etc. Tomorrow, we'll be learning in-depth about leukemia (which is very common in children). We have to do some research before tomorrow, so that we know the basics, but I'm very excited to hear about the most common cases here in the DR and how they treat them with such limited funds.
Being in the hospital every day, and seeing how little so many people have, makes me want to give all of my time and money to them. I've even been considering coming back and living here for a few months after I graduate. I really do love it here, but more than that, I want to do anything I can to help these people. Whether it's just coming to the hospital and playing with the children, or coming back 15 years from now and opening up my own clinic. It's going to be very hard for me to go home. It's difficult seeing so many rich people who do absolutely nothing with their money - except blow it all on themselves. There are families in this country who won't eat for days or weeks at a time, just to save money so they can afford transportation to the hospital. I feel even more guilty when I don't finish a meal here - I wish I could save it all and give it to those less fortunate.
I know that I am blessed to live in a country like America, and every day I thank God for all of my blessings. But, I'm even more blessed to be here, right now, in this country. There is so much on my mind and in my heart, but I've just been at a loss for words. I don't know how much I'll have to say these next few days, but I'll do my best to put all of these feelings into writing - and writing that will make sense to all of you. I just ask that you continue to pray for those less fortunate than you, and I pray that all of you will be fortunate enough to stumble upon an opportunity in which you can make a lasting impact on someone else's life. Dios de bendiga.
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