Un poco mas...

So, we managed to get the kids to the eye doctor. I am not completely satisfied with the results. The doctor said it was just allergies, gave them some drops, and then said they needed to see an allergist. The allerigist is in Santiago which is a couple hours away. I will see them again in a week if not sooner on the sea walk and hopefully the drops will have helped. I kinda laughed b/c the doctor asked him if there are any dogs, cats or other animals around. Um, has he stepped out of his office? There are dogs and cats and cows and chickens and horses everywhere. Not to mention this is a super poor area with dirty nasty water that the kids get into, as well as people in an out all the time and a constant breeze by the water. Oh well...what can you do? Just your best...

I leave a week from tomorrow and have mixed emotions about it. There are things I hate here, but there are more that I love. I don't ever see myself living in another country long term, but I can definately see myself going where I am needed for a few months at a time. Coming here for a month has been one of the best decisions of my life. It has streched me and molded me in ways I was not expecting. I highly doubt this will be my last trip back...

It was a good spanish day. I was able to navigate with the doctor, mom, receptionist, moto drivers for all, as well as have full fun conversations with the kids at school. As always, the guagua was an adventure. I told the cobrador about five times where we wanted off. When it was missed and I yelled "Aqui, donde puede!" and he ignored me, the entire van yelled in unison "Aqui!Aqui!" In a strange way I felt protected. I always feel like the stupid gringa, but they were helping us! A guy told me to not pay the full amount for the ride since the guy dropped us off further from our stop. I told him I didn't know how to fight in spanish. He said, "You know plenty. Don't pay the full amount, the cobrador can fight with me about it." I thought that was kinda sweet.

Hope you enjoyed a few more pictures that I forgot yesterday.

Surroundings...

Here's a little taste of what life looks like down here...








This is actually the best looking dog of all the mangy mutts down here

And no lie, I watched a man not only go down the road in a horse and buggy with motos and cars, but he also parallel parked the horse with the buggy attached. I must say, that's the first time I have seen that.

Sharla, Shara and I went for a run/walk on the Malacon (Sea walk) where we met two boys who live in a poor poor area. They were there collecting trash that they can use as toys for the other kids in their neighborhood. One of the little boys eyes look awful. We rode with them to their house full of 10 kids. We decided that Shara and I are going back in the morning to take the little boy to the doctor. It's probably something very easy to fix. His eyes are a weird irritated color, but not red, sometimes itch, but hurt all the time and give him headaches. I would assume that it was just sand in his eye, but he has it ALL the time and his brother does too...interesting, hopefully we figure something out tomorrow.

Ladies and Gentlemen! The Greatest Show On Earth!

That's right! 3 American women, 2 Haitian twins and 1 Moscow Circus in the Dominican Republic. Does life get better? Seriously though, it was so much more fun than I was expecting. Isaak and Jakob LOVED it! We walked there and got a ride home. The boys went straight to sleep...our plan worked perfectly. I was highly impressed. Everything you hope to see at a Circus, we saw, but it was better. The acrobats and tight rope walkers made me extremely nervous. And the contortionist was amazing...no human should be able to bend like that. I loved seeing the giraffe, tigers and bear. No lions though... Passing a cow on the way to the circus, because who doesn't pass at least one cow everydayHolding Jakob when he got tired of walking. We went from back to side to other side to front to shoulders

Isaak and Jakob so into it. Very glad we took them!




Woman balancing on tight ropers head, next was with a 10ft pole, next was one foot and then he went uphill with her on his head still!
This is sign language for "Wow!" We did this to Isaak a lot tonight. Sorry about my appearance...it was super hot and humid in the tent.

Honestly, who sees a circus when they are in a third world country?

Gringo Day!

It was a very American day today. I had pancakes and eggs for breakfast. I talked to my family via Skype, so it was like I was there. We took the twins to the store to pick up some very American foods such as oreo's, lay's, and coca lite (Diet Coke). The boys did awesome and loved looking around the store. A little later I ended up getting my first Moto burn...I'm an idiot. How many times have I gotten on and off a moto or my Dad's motorcycle and never even come close? I heard the sizzle of flesh in my head and pulled back quickly. However, it still got me and I have a couple blisters. It looks and feels way better than I thought it would. It only stung for an hour or two, now I forget it's there. Praise God! Here's what it looks like now and hoping that it doesn't look worse by morning.Tonight was Gringo Night. We had some other gringo's over to hang out. We ate hamburgers, cheetos, sunchips, pasta salad and bread! It was wonderful and everyone had fun playing apples to apples and catch phrase. The two haitians you see are the two children that live with Rachel.Alright, it's now 9pm and dark and I am tired...I'm going to watch a couple episodes of The Office and call it a night.

I need Thee every hour...

The past two days have been ones of much needed tranquility. I woke up to rain...ahh, finally, the Earth had cooled off. The group of people I share life with down here are some of the most interesting and genuine people I have ever met and had the privilege of serving with. We are able to be vulnerable with each other and carry each others burdens. It's a sense of community I have craved and missed for a while now since I am away from my house church. We literally spent hours in prayer yesterday, but they felt like minutes. It was such a sweet time. This is the type of community we long for and what a blessing to get to experience it.

I went to Pancho Mateo with some girls yesterday as well. I love this place. It was so fun to get to see the little ones 6 months later. They've changed! Life goes on. I love hearing little kids yell "Laura! Laura!" with their little spanish accents. When I started walking out to catch a moto, the little girls followed me. Oh My, please don't tempt me, I would bring them all home in a split second. Check out the little girls holding onto barbed wire.

Angry baby before in November...

Angry baby now...

Super cutie before...
Super cutie now...

I am doing much better now, but last weekend as I sat in the house by myself taking care of twins, I worked myself into being slightly homesick. Thankfully, this was fixed as soon as I was able to hear my parents voice and see them on the computer screen. Who knew what a voice could do! You have to be here to understand, but nothing here is convienent. Travel, food, heat, communication, electricty...it all takes a lot of effort. Nothing is easy, it's not that it's hard, it's just not what you're used to. It starts to wear on you and then one child comes up, hugs you, grabs your hand and says your name. That's it. That's all you need. You see instanty why you are here when you could be somewhere else where you are comfortable. But I don't need comfort, I just need to know that I am doing what I am called to do. I just need to know that I am being obedient and recognizing that God is so much bigger than me and that he has a specific purpose for me while I am here. It's not to heal every kid and solve every medical problem. I can't do it. But I can show Jesus to these children and their families. I can use the skill that God has given me.

Kara, Cara, Robin and I decided to go to cabarete to get a room and go dancing. Little did we know that since today is the national election that the world stopped at midnight. We went to LAX and chatted for a while before making our way to Ohno's to dance. We were thinking the party was just getting started and danced for one song (Outkast's Hey Ya) when they turned on all the lights and said to go home. All day there has been no music or alcohol...not that I care about the alcohol, but it just makes me laugh that for 24 hrs you can't buy any. Needless to say, our girls night out turned into a going to bed earlier than expected night. We did have a sweet room though. The window was HUGE and faced the ocean with palm trees. The bed could have fit all of us, but there was another room with 2 twins and another table and chairs. Not to mention a bathroom and small kitchen...all for the price of $28 a person. Would have only been $15 if we didn't want air...we did and we all got the best sleep we've gotten in a while, and we woke up to the Ocean yet still in an air conditioned room. Kara is displaying the massive window, while Robin and Cara chat outside

On a sad note, last night while we were walking around waiting to go back to the room we spotted two OLD men with two YOUNG dominican women who were obviously prostitues. This is common in Sosua, but the first time I saw it in Cabarete. It made me so sad. The two men said "Good Luck!" to each other as they parted ways with the girls. I just wanted to grab these women and tell them, 'You are so much better than this! Your life could be so different! Let me tell you about what could be yours!' But I didn't. I'm kinda mad at myself for not making an effort. It took me by surprise and I didn't react quick enough. This only reminds me that I am always to be on guard,with sure footing, ready to react. I hope to see the girls again, not at night, but at some point where I could get to know them as a person.

On a random note, Kara and I on the guagua again sitting perfectly uncomfortable. It's quiet. It's crowded. Out of nowhere, this woman in the very back starts belting out a ballad for the whole van to hear. What in the world? Singing is so serious here. It would be like an RTA being double stuffed and then some woman singing as loud as she could "Wind Beneath My Wings". Weird.

And this made me laugh...

Vaca Santa! Holy Cow!

What do you do when you meet a cow? This was exactly my predicament the other day on the way to school. I was by myself and on my way to school via the ever-so-lovely cow path. I was trying to avoid the presents that the cows had left and was very focused on it. I started to hop up this 2 ft ledge when I find that I am 3 ft away from a giant cow with giant horns, face to face. I have never been in this situation before and my first thought was "Holy Cow!" I wanted to take a picture but feared that the flash would cause him to charge and knock me into the gifts I had so desperately avoided. Then I started getting nervous b/c I had no idea how to get past. The cow must have known this and had the typical thought that I feel I get often..."stupid gringa" b/c he literally shook his head and moved to the side to allow me to pass. Thank you Senor Vaca! I also crossed paths with about a half a dozen chickens and a tied up horse.

The following may have happened the same day, I can't remember. I hop on the guagua and tell the cobrador (the guy you pay and determines stops) "Monte Llano, a silencio" which is the name of the town and street that I want to get off on. He replies, "Oh si, no problema" I am becoming increasingly proud of myself for being able to get around the country and feel quite satisfied that I am not going to have to be surveying like an eagle. Guess what...three stops later the guy gets off...HE WAS NOT THE COBRADOR! He totally played along though. Oh well, I still made it. And I am sure he thought, "stupid gringa."

Today while Kara and I were on a guagua bus, I felt like you could buy the most important things in life. A guy had a huge display of sunglasses and cell phone carriers that he was going to sell, the lady next to me had a huge bag of potato chips to sell and the old man in front of me had a handful and bag full of bras...the Latifah brand...I didn't even know she had a line of bras for well endowed woman to buy. Only in the DR would you go to a corner to buy a bra.

Last week at our karaoke adventure, David tried numerous times to get the servers attention, but to no avail. I did the unthinkable...I hissed at the guy...AND he came right over. I hate the hissing! It just seems so disrespectful and demeaning, but I never say anything b/c it's their culture and they do it ALL the time. I can't believe I did it though, I guess I just hear it a lot. When in Rome...

Luis Miguel's foot is back to normal size. Two if the boys eyes were red and swollen. It looked like they had been in a fight, but they said their eyes were itching. The only thing they had in common is that both had been in toxic river in the last 24 hours. I gave them some benedryl and warned them they will get sleepy...they were both out of it by the end of class and it was cute. The kids were very funny today. I will leave you with some pictures. The one where cara is hugging the kid is funny b/c this kid talks nonstop even when you aren't paying attention, so she hugged him hoping he would think it was weird and pause his string of words...it didn't work, he kept on going.

Big Medical Day...

So, Jenny had a c-section last night and it was my pleasure to go check on her this morning at the hospital. They had told her she might be able to go home this afternoon...I highly encouraged her to convince them to let her stay an extra night. She is more than just a postpartum mom, she just had major abdominal surgury. The way they do things is so weird here, even over 24 hrs later she still hadn't had anything to eat or drink and was barely walking around. Other than starving, she is doing great and the incision actually looked 10x better than what i was expecting. I'll check on her again tomorrow. I only got to hold him for a second but it really made me miss all the little babies I hold all the time at home...He is the wonderfully handsome Diego Miguel Morel...

I get to school and Luis Miguel, the head full of fungus kid, is limping around on a foot twice the normal size. He kept telling me nothing happened. I am assuming this is in part because I force him to take an antifungal pill everyday that he always chews instead of swallows and he is sure I will have nothing nice to do to him....and he's right. Thankfully Robin got the story and he stepped on a nail. So, I walk myself to his house, talk to his mom, who agrees to whatever treatment I decide, drop him back off at school and then go to the pharmacy to buy a tetanus shot. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I got to give my first shot down here. Oh, how I have missed it! He totally freaked out, as would I, but after he got a sucker from Camille and was pacified quickly. I cleaned his foot out even though I couldn't see a fresh entry site. He said it happened in the morning and that he stepped on a nail. I thought it looked like a bee sting and tried to save him a stick, but he stuck by his guns and I can't take the chance of him getting all tetnified on me.

In the midst of all this another child comes up with a swollen thumb where he cut it with a kitchen knife. Much to my dismay, it happened on Sunday and already had a scab. He will have a scar, it could have used a couple of stitches...and no, I would not have sutured, I would have taken him to the doctor for that...or Darren, the suture king, if he were able to be here. Here's what it looked like...it looked worse in 3D

After school we all came home to get ready for Kate's Birthday Party at Agualina. Such a great time! Here is a picture of the staff...not the greatest, but atleast you can see who I share my life with here.

Alright, that's it for now. Tomorrow I am going to try and post about my funny adventures this week.