A day in the life..Un dia en mi vida

This is the third time I am trying to post here and if it doesn't work I think I give up.  Yes, here is a day in my life, although I can't say this is a normal day since I don't really know what normal is.  Everything can change in the BLINK of an eye.  
However, my day starts at 6:35 when the alarm goes off.  Freezing cold shower.  Ready in 10 minutes.  Check email, facebook, Philly Daily News.   Spring training is now 17 days away.  YAY.   Here I am on my bed in Room 16 with Baby Mac.

Next up, at 7:00 I head downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast with the group and the cooollllleeeesssttt jjjjeeeeffffffeeeees ever, Joe and Shannon.  They rock.

At breakfast I begin drinking the first of many many cups of coffee here.  Dominican coffee is just the greatest!

I head back to my room and respond to some emails, do some planning, clean up a little and head to the laundry room to start a load of laundry.   At 8:00 I bid goodbye to this team, which is kinda sad, because they were awesome and accomplished SO much this week and I hope I get to see them again!   In the Guesthouse, I give Margo a hug.  Margo has been working here in the kitchen and cleaning the rooms for 10 YEARS.  She knows EVERYTHING about this place.

I sort through some of the stuff that the group donated, hang my laundry outside...and head to the clinic to check things out.  Here is my first view coming into the side door of the clinic...there are lots of patients waiting for their consultations.

I head back to the OR area and look for Livida.  She is the head nurse here and she knows EVERYTHING about this clinic.

Ernesto does a little bit of everything here.  He is insanely patient with me, especially as I struggle with the autoclave.  I'm petrified of that thing!   And Lily is another one of the wonderful nurses here!

Angel fixes things.  He knows how to fix EVERYTHING.

I love scrubbing in surgery with Dr. Sandy Valdez (this is him and his lovely family).   He and Dr. Cacece have been SOOO kind to me and I feel like I am learning BUCKETS from them about surg. and some great spanish tips too.  

After scoping the clinic scene, I prepare to ascend to the Scary Room.  It's at the top of the stairs.... the double black doors.

This is what I see when I open the doors (after I scope it on the quick side for rats...)

I spent my mornings here when there is no surgical team, organizing (I know you can't tell but there is a small method to my madness), blasting my IPOD, and dancing around boxes upon boxes and bags upon bags.

Can you see me in this shot?

Sometimes I find some interesting stuff in here.....hmmmm

And sometimes....it's OVERWHELMING!   But I DO love it!

When I'm wearing the bedpan on my head...it's time to bail on the Scary Room.

And off I go.  The original plan for today involved me running errands with the Blue Truck.  However, someone else got to it first.  RATS!  So... the plan changes.  I don't have pix of it but I hopped a moto taxi and headed to the bank because I need money for tomorrow.  And then my driver takes me to Danilo and Celeste's house, where I eat a fantastic lunch and catch up with them for a couple hours and hand off some paperwork for my bosses.    I phone Bartolo, my main concho man..and he picks me up and returns me to the Guesthouse.    Grrrrr still no Blue Truck.   I decide I will attempt another chore.  I will try the leafblower per Joe's instructions.  

Leaf blowing was an epic fail.  Just epic.  The leaves definitely were uncontrollable and possibly worse than when I started.  However- I feel good that I attempted the task and will work on appropriate apologies for when Joe returns.  

So it's Dinner time and the blue truck has JUST NOW returned.   I don't know if I'll be quite able to run my errands at this hour but I do have time to run over some upcoming schedules with the Director here.  YAY...some paperwork that is now completed!

Tonight- I will chill out and prep for the next group, which arrives tomorrow NIGHT.  I'm headed to Barahona tomorrow with 2 women who are spending another week here and Olvis and Jon, two of our interpreters.   We are going to check out the larimar mines and hopefully the beach.  Barahona is VERY high on my list of things that I want to see in this country so I'm psyched!   And now- I'll retrieve my clothes, which hopefully are dry after hanging on the line all day.   I'll grab a snack in the kitchen and maybe go visiting friends tonight or check in on the MG crowd.    I'll maybe listen to the music blasting from the disco across the street or spy on the neighbors from my window or catch a baseball game or chat up the guards.  Who knows?   Tranki tranki....

We have 3 surgical teams coming...the first one tomorrow night.  And so this quiet time will come to an end.  I will spend my entire days in the clinic for the next 3 weeks, running around, searching for things, hopefully helping translate,  checking on patients, generally being a "go-fer".   I dig it.     I love it.   I'm happy.  

My new devotional, Jesus Calling,  had this to say this morning:  "As you gaze at me through the eyes of your heart, you can see the world around you from My perspective.  The fact that I AM WITH YOU makes every moment of your life meaningful".     It feels meaningful to me, when I'm getting hugs from the clinic crew, laughing with Joe and Shannon, dancing in the Scary Room, on the back of the moto,  when I'm sitting quietly with friends, texting in spanish, eating rice, checking out my new pedicure, watching parcheesi games.   It all feels meaningful.   It feels RIGHT.

And there's a day in my life.  Let's see what tomorrow holds.   Vamos a la playaaaaaaaaa....