Med Mission Week

So thats where ive been this past week, Santo Domingo. Ive been participating in a med mission specializing in ear reconstruction. The perks were amazing. We got to stay in an amazing hotel. We were taken out to dinner every day for lunch and dinner, and not to just any old place, to AMAZING resteraunts. Just a preview of some of the food i had..... Angus beef tenderloin with melted gorgonzola cheese on top, Veal scaloppine, Beef Filete, Smoked pork chops, etc. Needless to say it was incredible! AND i did not have any intestinal distress!! Big week!

As far as the work went.....We worked for our food and accomodations. We put in five 13 hour days in a row. I have never worked so hard for so long. We were running back and forth between the operatin room and the post-op. I was removing IV`s and discharging patients with instructions on how to mantain their scars....Laura eat your heart out...haha. I got to scrub in on surgeries, holding peoples ears that were dangling by a thread as the surging dug for a hole. I got to fill needles with local anesthesia. We had a lot of responsibility, more than i ever would have in the US, lol. Our main responsibility was to translate for everyone, doctors, nurses, etc-It was a mind changing experience, though. The dominicans were so patient and soo appreciateve of the service we offered. It was refreshing to see the family element. Whoel families rallying behind their children as they came to and from surgery. To see their eyes light up as their little girl/boy was wheeled into post-op, still half asleep. The families would stay for hours. There were tears, hugs, laughter all that junk. The medical team that we assisted was incredible. 3 dedicated surgeons, and a handful of nursing staff. They were all super nice, and patient. They also paid for all of our meals, lol. Days were rough, and it felt liek we never got a break, literally we took 10 minutes for lunch. But, at the end of the day when you've worked your butt off for something bigger than yourself, it feels pretty good. It was miserable, exhausting, stressfull, mentally tiresome, but i wouldnt trade any second of it for anything else. This is the best thing i do here.

Also, on a more selfish note, i won 6000 pesos in the casino while in Santo Domingo. I keep winning, lol.....

So im back home now. Back to high schools and prisons, lol. Quite a change of pace, but im ready to be back-

Love and miss you guys tons. My parents are coming in 2 weeks!!!

Me Fui

Sorry for the last gap in posts. I recently told you had a super fast internet card, well it was taken back by the original owner, so i dont have it anymore. Back to the ol 30 minutes of internet a day thing. Which i am kind of glad about. The internet took up probably 80 percent of my time in the US, rendering me useless to the outside world. Without i have had a chance to rediscover so many other things like reading, hanging out with neighbors, traveling, working more. Its a releif to not have internet constantly at my fingertips, although sometimes it would be nice...lol

Anyways, im here in the computer lab trying to continue formatting all the computers. Its such a pain in the butt! But what else do i have to do, i have precious little electricity so i have to bag em out as quickly as i can.

Im leaving for La Capital tomorrow for the next 10 days. I will be on another medical mission. This one is ear reconstruction and its going to be intense. Aside from all the administrative duties that we have, we will also be taking dominican patients into the pre-op rooms, prepping them for surgeries, outfittin gthem with sterilized gowns and such, then walking them into the surgery room, translating between the doctor and anesthesiologist, and then wheeling the patient into post op and waiting for them to wake up to offer support and care, lol. It sognna be an adventure, but we get to stay at a super fancy hotel with AC and hot water, TV and a full service gym. Everything is paid for, so for the next 10 days i will not be paying a single peso for anything....love it.

Anyways, thats about it, gotta get back to work. Tenga un buen dia, adios

Everything's better out of a tin cup.

So my friend is letting me borrow her Internet card for an undefined period of time until she gets a new computer. Basically, it means i get rapid fast internet all the time now, which is awesome.
So, not a lot going on since Monti Cristi, just been working like a fool. Long stressful days. It's nice having something to fill my time though. I feel like im contributing, lol. So here are a few things ive been up to:
1. English Classes: We are the end of our second week and everyone seems to be enjoying the class. We play lots of games that incorporate english vocab and stuff like that. Its a very interactive class, had our first pop quiz the other day and everyone seemed to do well, so i think were on track. We played jeopardy with numbers the other day and it turned into a battle royal. Both sides were standing and shouting, the game ended in a tie, and they were not having that. Someone was going to win, but it worked out for me because i could just say, "Everybody is a winner, yay!" Dominicans don't like that very much....noted.
2. Juvenile Detention Center: Probably the most difficult thing i've involved myself in. The kids are so rowdy, they always stray off task, never pay attention, its a chore just trying to get them to stay in their seats. But every now and then you get through to a kid, and it makes all the crap worth it. Like today, i was teaching out of a program called Typing Master Pro, and there was this one kid, Joheidy (no its not a misspelling), and i tried to explain the program, then he explained he didn't know how to read. I just assume that 16 year old kids know how to read, but its not always the case here. He struggled a lot at first with the program, but i just sat with him and tried to explain it in other terms, and eventually he was getting better. I could see his progress, he was so excited kept telling me to come over and see how well he was doing. By the end of class he could manage the entire middle of the key board, which is huge for a kid that can't read. Oh, it was just the greatest feeling in the world. To see a kid be proud of himself in something he should be proud of. He just kept getting better, by the end of class he didnt want to leave. Ive come to realize that these kids sometimes just need someone to encourage them or give them a pat on the back, some kind of shove. Its been difficult finding a teaching style, and its difficult having patience with these kids, but its probably the most rewarding thing ive done so far.
3. Medical Missions: I have another med mission on the 17th of september, so next week. Its about 9 days, im pretty pumped. Stay in a Hotel, everything is payed for. Ill be working my butt off, but ill get some nice accommodations.

On cultural note, Dominican children have no grasp on the fact that i speak english as a primary language. They know i dont speak spanish well, and then when i start speaking english to them, they are stunned....like they assume im just stuck in the middle of a few languages, but dont really speak any of them well.......guess you had to be here, lol.
Anyways thats about it for now, im gonna ty to attach some pics for you guys. The picture of the truck is the what we rode in the back of for 45 minutes down a mountain, lol.
Buen provecho

Monti Cristi

So here are some photos of Monti Cristi, and the beautiful beach we went to. Life is rough....

Stuff

So, sorry for the gap between blogs. But, i have been a busy bee (yea i said it), for the past few days. My classes started Monday. Planning these suckers and making it worthwhile for these students is a lot of work. I have a new found respect for teachers now, lol. I have one class and its takin up all my time, lol. Anyways, my class is going really well all 20 kids have come to every class, which i know that doesnt sound like a big deal to you, but in a culture where people dont go anywhere when its either 1. Friday or 2. Raining , it saying a lot. We’re having fun. They seem realy excited, i had them make their first oral presentation in class on Friday, Show and tell, 5 sentences about yourself and the object you brought with the formato f
My name is
I am from the
I am a
This is a
It is
It is from
Pretty difficult, but they nailed it. I was so proud! I made books for them, i do handouts, games, everything. Its a fun class.
The detention center has been going well also. Im going to be teaching four classes their now, lol. 2 on wed. 2 on thursday. My plate is slowly filling up, lol. One of the kids was released the other day, 2 more new ones came in.

Ive been pretty busy with Medical Mission staff too, since i am a new chairman. Lots of emailing, lol. I have a lot going on right now. No worries, though, because tomorrow im going to the Beach in Monti Cristi! A new Group of volunteers is here, so were gonna go see what the deal is and have some fun. I cant beleive ive been here for 6 months.

Anyways, thats about it for now. Hablamos muchachos