When I last wrote the latest group had arrived and was settling in....and they were amazing. We didn't have a TON of GYN surgery but we did a LOT of organizing in the scary room upstairs and the awesome barrio teams not only saw lots of patients but they did a great job in the med room reorganizing some things as well. I love it when teams here "get it" and this team totally "got it". It was neat to see them interact with the folks here, especially with their sponsor kids on the last night at the Fiesta Party. And there were some great patients that got some extra lovin' too and that was cool.
On Friday in fact, I drove to the capital with one of the docs to fed ex some special labs to the States. That was definitely a first for me, especially driving OFF THE MAIN ROAD in the capital. But we did great and now I know where Fed Ex is and I figured a few road things out which was cool. For some reason I absolutely LOVE driving in this country. It's always kinda like taking an adrenaline shot and a bit life-threatening to boot but viewing the world behind the wheels of one of our trucks is also always an adventure.
The other great thing about Friday was that after I went with our team to the Capella Resort to verify that they had arrived safely and could check in, I headed to Boca Chica and checked into Rita's Refugio (my fav spot in BC) to wait for Sue Eby to arrive. And sure enough, after a few delays in Miami, she entered the Dominican Republic at approximately 8:30 pm, plenty of enough time for me to chow down on ice cream and pico pollo at the airport. YUM.
And then there was Sue. So, it's beyond cool to have my mom here with me in a place that I adore. There were/are so many things I want to show her. We crashed pretty soon Friday night but were up early Saturday morning. I had my fantasy baseball draft at 8:15 in the morning on Saturday so we sat over delish toast and coffee while I drafted (first time for fantasy baseball- so far totally LOVE it but still don't completely understand the scoring section.....hmmmmmm) . Then we went for a walk on the beach in BC. BC is basically a pit- full of prostitutes and drugs and bad news. However, the beach (even with the view of the oil refinery) CAN be nice and it's shallow and local and there were mangos there which basically trumped everything else. And we were happy and took pix and enjoyed the warm sunshine.
Then we packed up and set sail for San Pedro to visit Zaidy and baby Jose Alfredo. He's SO CUTE! Zaidy met us at McDonalds and we walked back to her apartment and hung out with them over lunch. She made us arroz and habichuelassssss....delish!
Then back to Boca Chica we went for some chill time at the pool and then a delish dinner at Neptuno's across the street. Oh and of course I made sure I drove her by the Phillies academy- SWWEEETTT. They were playing a game and I was insanely jealous- but only a few more days til the Fightin Phils kick off the season.....
Sunday morning after another fab breakfast of tostado y cafe- we set sail for the capital. I was a bit nervous heading to the Zona Colonial for the first time but we were armed with a city map and cruised right on up to the cathedral and Conde- the first cathedral in the Americas and a cool shopping street to boot. It IS just beautiful and was nice to meander around for a while while the city was still waking up.
And then we were off to San Juan- heading west west west.... Praise Jesus this time I didn't miss either of the roads in Bani or Azua...and there was even some toilet paper at the rest stop. Good times- Sue was impressed. We stopped in Bastida looking for Julian but he was nowhere to be found...so we visited Baby Nicole instead. Her mother was BEAMING when she saw me and ran to get the baby for me. She is SO CUTE! And her siblings came grinning and running to fuss over us as well. Oh how I love la gente. I'm bummed that we didn't see Julian though- I think of him often and wonder how he is doing. Oh that he is living abundantly- ojala.
And suddenly we were here. Here at the Guesthouse. Chilling with Dan and Kari under the pavilion gazebo thing. It's almost surreal- Sue Eby is in the DR. And we hung for a while, grubbed on some leftovers...and then set sail for church in Pueblo Nuevo at the orphanage. Excellent to see the fellas, excellent to see Celeste and Danilo, excellent to help hand out the empanadas that the crew got to have for dinner, excellent to hear Mary preach and hear Euclides, Ronny, Nelson and some others sing. Really good night.
Monday found us helping to clean up in the kitchen a bit. Kari and Margo and Rosa are revamping and power cleaning the kitchen and dining room so we helped a bit with that and then went out to the orphanage again to hang with the fellas. Mom got to sit in on an English class- awesome! I'm always so proud of the progress that the students are making. It's exciting to see. And then of course Sue was playing sidewalk chalk with one of the little guys- so stinkin cute!
We went to Bartolo and Anyellina's house next to visit with Anyi and the girls. Such a great time hanging out...and Mom and little Barmady hit it off!
And now no Monday is complete without a softball game. We sat with Kari to cheer Dan and his new cronies on. Monday MIGHT be my favorite day of the week (ummmm well, maybe except Fridays...:)).
Tuesday we cleaned a bit more around the Guesthouse, hit up the market in San Juan, and then went to Danilo and Celeste's home for lunch. Oh yum- as always! Stopped in at Kristen and Miguel's to admire their patio and then out to eat at Bocconcinos for girls night with Kari! YAYYYYYY....
And Wednesday- ahhhh I should let the photos do the talking. Wednesday we went to Playa Quemaito in Barahona with Dan and Kari, Miguel and Kristen and their girls Tika and Nicole. BEAUTIFUL! However, I returned home with a RED back looking like a gringo for sure!
Thursday and Friday we went to El Cercado. Ahhhh Cercado. I wish I could describe how I feel when I'm there. There is a a certain slowing down of life in El C- a sweetness. The mountains all around us- la loma- bright bright sky- happy beautiful familiar faces- stopping in the streets to greet friends and strangers. I love my friends and family there. And how cool for Sue to experience it too. Guayaba juice, la bandera, sweet bananas, sitting out on the patio, walking to visit folks, checking out the market. Wow. I always love to come and I hate to leave.
Returned last night to San Juan. Feeling a little tight- knowing I'm outta here in another week. Holding my breath a little bit hoping time will somehow slow down, knowing I'm about to collide worlds again...and hoping that I process INTENTIONALLY during this time. Not gonna lie- nervous- in total denial- can't believe this time is coming to an end. I keep telling folks that I know I'll be back but just not sure when? Oh man- I don't even want to think about it.
Mom and I spent today around the Guesthouse. She worked in the flower beds for about 80 hours and I worked in the med room and then did some time in the scary room. There is major hope up there now (and a few dead rats too). If I could get the lapy aisle whipped into shape, we'd be in total business. We made a dump run (that's an educational experience in these parts), stopped into the orphanage to visit and watch them play some games, and then chilled out tonight.
And it's April. The good news is that baseball has begun. More good news is that I love my peeps the whole world over...and I'm looking forward to seeing some that I haven't seen in a while. But I hate goodbyes here. Y entonces, I'm sticking with nos vemos..... or hasta luego.... I'm holding on, holding it in, but holding up my hands in surrender that I can stroll outta here without boo-hooing away at some point. :)
Life is beautiful. Dios te bendiga. Amen.
Holy long post girl. whew! Glad Sue Eby is rallying in the DR. How fun and special. Looking forward to seeing your sweet face soon. loves. mis.
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