Blogs from Santiago, Dominican Republic, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Heading back from Jarabocoa to ILAC for the third week in the DR brought a sense of home and comfort. We had all settled in quite nicely to our own double bunk beds, a workout routine of running around the sand track in the evenings, and our consistent 730AM, noon, and 6PM meals followed by reading and dominos. The weather was a tropical breeze with warm sunny days, cool evenings, and even chilly nights. Everyone found a routine at their clinic sites and shared their patient stories daily at meal times. Conveniences that are more often than not a necesity in the United States don't exist in developing countries. Most people have cell phones and some sort of motor vehicle usually a motorcycle. Never do people have machines to wash dishes and clothes. The social system ... read more

Week 2 proved to be the light at the end of the tunnel. We all were battling upset stomachs, struggling to learn the language, and learning about all of the bugs and the type of bites that left you looking as if you had contracted some sort of disease. This week was a shortened week as we only had 3 days in the clinic and then we would be off to an outdoor adventure resort called Rancho Baugiate in Jarabacoa where Jurassic Park was filmed. Hallelujah! We had all become familiar with the transportation by now and had ventured out a few times to try out the restaurants and enjoy the culture. The downtown area of Santiago was very nice and the food was delicious. It felt good to shower thoroughly and put on something other ... read more

I have complained a lot while I've been here in the Dominican. I’ve missed my family and my boyfriend like CRAZY. I’ve missed being able to choose what I want to eat for meals and when I want to eat. I’ve missed food from home-A LOT. But I expected that when it came time to say goodbye I would be a sad because I’ve made some INCREDIBLE friends here and my family has been really, really wonderful. I cried for the first time after saying goodbye to our friend Katy on the 13th. Luckily, then I was with 5 other girls who stopped in the middle of the sidewalk for a group hug. (See what I mean about incredible friends?) I thought maybe that would be it since whenever I have thought about saying goodbye no ... read more

This will be of interest to you all, I think. Guess what sat out on the counter from about, I'm guessing 1 pm, when lunch was over, til about 7 pm, when I had dinner. If you guessed the ground meat that I ate for dinner, you would be correct. Guess what sits out on the counter at night to thaw. If you guessed ground meat, you would again be correct. My dinner tonight was carrot-rice, which also sat out, (and I didn't eat because I can't eat any more rice, unless it is white rice with lime, then it is ok. But carrot-rice, or corn-rice or "Chinese"-rice or any other kind of rice is no go joe) and I think it was ground beef today, with some kind of seasoning in it, and it ... read more

So for breakfast today, I had a pancake with syrup and my mom put cinnamon on the table for it (not cinnamon sugar so i didn't use it), and she put the cinnamon out in two containers, and then she had also set out a mug of hot milk, so i was just going to avoid the milk, but, i was getting so thirsty, cuz I didn't love the pancake, so I was needing something to wash it down with. So I sipped the hot milk once, and it wasn't that bad, just kinda no taste, really. And then a little later, she came out with sugar and told me, "Here is some sugar for your cocoa." Turns out, the second container of cinnamon, the one in a dish, not in a sprinkling container (like that ... read more