It's a Good Friday!

One week ago today my Dad arrived in the DR.  I've had both of my parents here now for a week (mom has been here for two) and it's been awesome living here through their eyes, so to speak.  

Mom and I finished up with the Rhodes team and headed in last Friday morning with a friend (lil Monchi) who we dropped off in the capital.  We DID make a stop to visit Baby Nicole in Bastidaaaaaa though.  She remains somewhat reluctant to have anything to do with me.  :)  But it's ALWAYS heavenly to see that sweet face.   And her mama was happy to give me some mani and mangos!  Awesome!

This is about how she feels when I try to hold her!  ;)

However, DulceMaria is a bit more willing to sit on my lap!  She did pee on me a little bit but it was okay.

Her beautiful sibs!

We picked up my Dad around 1:30, grabbed some pizza in the airport, and headed to Boca Chica to Rita's Refuge (just always a favorite!) to settle in by the Caribbean.   Dad sat outside on the balcony for a long time taking in the blue blue water and palm trees.   It was the first time I've been with my parents since last June so we talked and talked and chatted and chatted.   Did a little poolside snooze and headed across the street to Neptune's for a glamorous dinner.   Boca Chica is such a city of contrasts.  In most ways it's just a pit....but there are a few little treasures here and I'm glad we've found them.

On Saturday we went for a long walk on the beach and then drove by the Phillies Academy and watched some young hopefuls play ball for a few moments.  It's always cool wondering if the next Pujols is playing right before our eyes.  :)   We headed down to Faro de Colon and then the Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo and visited the First Cathedral and Conde Street before heading back to San Juan in early afternoon.

Oh and San Juan.....I love San Juan.

We visited a baseball practice, the market and the orphanage and Corbano Sur.  We participated in a fogata (bonfire) in the streets and played a bunch of dominos.   

Kari making hot chocolate at the bonfire.  YUM!

On Tuesday we drove to Barahona to the El Quemaito beach with Kari and her friend Andrea.   It was chill and beautiful.  We sat by the water and ate fried fish and Kari and I played dominos with some locals.

And Wednesday was El Cercado.  How awesome having my folks hang out with my "second family" here!  We sat in the patio, shelled granules, and of course, Laura and I threw down some dominos with the fam.  Great times!  We also stopped by the clinic and visited some other friends in town.

Eating chenchen in Cercado on the patio= heavenly!

Spent Thursday here in San Juan again.   I got up and headed to the kitchen and spent some morning hours shelling granules with Margo and the crew.  Shelling grandules is one of the most relaxing communal activities.  You sit down with folks and just shell.    And grandules are beautiful.

We will spend this weekend puttering around San Juan.  We visited friends last night and ate WAY too much food.   Today we will walk to the cathedral and think about Jesus.   We will remember Good Friday and how meaningful it is.  We will read the chapters in the Bible about His death and we will wait for Sunday and the resurrection.    I will think about the grandules and how the new peas spring from their pod....the newness of bright green LIFE and how Jesus IS life for me.   I will remember how it feels to just SIT with folks shelling grandules quietly, our hands mixing in the bowls.    We will wait quietly for the Savior today.  Still.  

Mimes and Mangos and Moms, oh my.....

My mom is here and it's kinda the best thing EVER.  

We are hanging out with the Rhodes team from North Carolina going to the barrios this week and it's just been awesome.  I mean, I am a little tired since this is our 12th team in 13 weeks but overall feeling pretty darn grateful that I get to be here and do this.   Last week was the Nelson team going to the barrios as well and before that...an AMAZING week of surgery with the one and only Greg Pomeroy and his fantastic ortho crew.    I think I am still spinning from the wealth of knowledge that I garnered on foot and ankle surgery!  

Anyway- it's been a great winter.  I look back and wonder exactly what I have done.   Not sure.   I've seen lots of surgery, I've been to lots of barrios to help with clinics, I've folded lots of scrubs and reorganized the med room a few times  (:)).   I've held hands and wiped noses and written vitals and made kajillions of copies of charting forms, barrio intake forms, etc.   It's just part of my life here.   Really...what I've done is had the opportunity to participate in watching lives change, whether through a life changing surgery...... or a life changing mission trip... or maybe just watching a really cool nurse love on some new nurses and teach them how to start IVs safely.   Being part of the stuff that happens here is the best!

Speaking of cool stuff- Mom and I (and the team) went to a concert at Central Mennonite here in San Juan on Sunday evening.  The worship team (who are AMAZING) was working on a demo CD and taping the concert there ,etc.    Nef sang with them and from the second they started singing...I think I was transported to one of those rare moments in which you just are seriously WORSHIPING for real.  And feeling like you and Jesus are just RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER.   I loved it and I'm still humming the songs that they sang.   There WAS a mime, which was a bit scary since mimes just WIG me out.  Mimes are an essential part of nearly every church production that I've have attended.   Dominicans love mimes.  And I am frightened by them...but growing accustomed to it by now.  Mimes and clowns and puppets.   Completely utilized whenever they can be.   It' s just good to have a heads up that there COULD be a mime when you show up for a service.

Yet other cultural stuff I am learning about.....  If you have enough swagger, you can certainly wear socks with your flip-flops and be cool.   If you are bathing/showering with warm water, you really aren't clean.  You have to bathe with COLD water to be clean (I'm still trying to figure this out?).   You should NOT drink milk at night, that is ridiculous.    If you haven't eaten rice for lunch... you really haven't eaten.   You should shower BEFORE and AFTER working out/running.   You should NEVER eat and drink together.  Drink AFTER you finish eating.  All the juice that I make (me..personally) is only good for diabetics and NEVER has enough sugar in it.   Oh and all homemade juices should have vanilla added ("do you mean you don't KNOW that?").   You throw water on people on their birthdays and sometimes even flour and eggs.    You should NEVER call someone a clown (in spanish) to their face- it's super offensive (oops!).   And the list goes on and on.    It's actually hilarious.

So I am working on the running too.  Trying to keep up with the old exercise since ya know, I'm 40 and all and basically falling apart at the seams.  I think 5 minutes after I turned 40, I talked to the orthos who were in town and we figured out that I have bursitis in my left shoulder.  Ummmm hello- I turned 40 and got like an old person problem.  BURSITIS?  What is THAT?   But I do my exercises and got a steroid injection and I will march onward.   But the running...ufffff.  The running.   I run with Monchi and we plug in my earphones together ( one in his ear and one in mine) and run in sync and that is how I do it.   I kinda can't do it without either of those things and while it isn't getting one bit easier.......I MIGHT be whining less.... maybe.  I watch his feet and heave and plod and try to stay in pace.  And then I fuss and sniffle about how I'm probably dying and can't go on another minute and all that.   And there is some gentle (and ungentle) encouragement and pulling and pushing.   And then jumping up and down with joy when it's over "you did it you did it you did it!!!!".    And then a stretching routine and then home, sweaty and happy.   And I am grateful.  Grateful for this "Dominican hijo mio" who helps me out without a whimper, grateful for the mountains around us as we head for Mogollon in our "ruta",  grateful for the waving and cheering (maybe sneering?) as we pass by, grateful that I get this opportunity.  Just grateful.

Hanging out at the park last weekend, I learned a couple other phrases of Dominicanisms.  Coolness- I love learning stuff like that.  But the one that stuck with me is something that I like to say in English too.   I like to say "but then again, we are always on the journey".  And basically Chino told me the same in Spanish...that folks can say "siempre la historia continua"...that things keep going on.   And I love it.  Feeling like I'm IN that, the story that always continues.   And I love my story (for the most part) and seeing where Jesus and I are going.   And here's a shout out to those who are and have been praying for me....THANK YOU!  With Jesus, siempre la historia continua....

Haciendo gira

Running around.  Haciendo gira.  Feels like that.   

When teams are in town the days blur together and I can't seem to remember what exactly I've been doing. But for sure I've BEEN hacienda gira and it's all been good.    I did indeed turn 40 and since then, it's been all downhill.  

Last Friday (the 3rd) Dan, Kari, Laura, Monchi, Chino and me piled into the gray truck and drove to El Club, outside of Las Matas to celebrate 40 years en serio.   El Club is the Mac Daddy pool experience.  There is a monster pool, a playground, restaurant,  dance floor, booming music, stunning gardens, view to kill for, and DOMINO tables.  We had chicken fights in the water, played dominos, lounged by the pool, threw tennis balls at each other, ate ice cream, took underwater photos, and generally carried on like 4 year olds.   When we got home, we put on birthday hats and ate birthday cake.  It was epic.  

And on Sunday I was invited to the front of the church and serenaded by Nef and my sweet little congregation.  Have I mentioned how much I like my church?   To be quite honest, I'm not even sure what the name of my church is.  I just tell folks that I goto Nef's church.   My church is made up mostly of sweet little ladies, unruly children, and other folks who genuinely love Jesus and each other.   During one of the songs of worship, we get up and go around hugging EVERYONE else and wishing them God's blessings.   It feels good.  It feels right.  And I'm starting to learn some of the songs in spanish.  

This week was full of busy surgeons performing tonsillectomies and hernias and all that jazz.   I love when there are ENT's in town because we have lots of kiddies.   I must admit, I was nervous because we were scheduled to have 3 DIFFERENT groups in town this past week, 2 barrio teams and 1 surgical team.   I thought we'd get our butts kicked...and maybe we did... in a way.  But I saw Jesus in huge ways this week.  I saw lots of Americans get their worlds rocked.  I saw them soaking in this life,  sharing with the gente (people) here, coming ALIVE, pouring themselves into serving.   It made me relive my first mission trip again...seeing how big our world is....how insignificant we can be..and yet.... how God has us all in the palm on His hand.   As Kari said.....we were CREATED to do this stuff, to love each other and Him...serving, going wide open.    I loved it.   Took me back to a little girl in Haiti...Milla with fathoms of stories in her eyes... a little one who grabbed my heart...an experience that planted a love for international missions in me.   I remember feeling the way that lots of these guys feel... like I never wanted to leave and that I was DIFFERENT because of this experience.   It was just cool.    I think all 4 of us were reliving stuff through them.   And we were sorry to see them go and hoping to see them again, just like we are every week when the teams pack up and leave us.   

And I remember the patients.   I remember little K.  K was 4 and from the Haitian border, speaking more Creole than Spanish.  His parents showed up on Monday afternoon, when our schedule was already booked for the week.   But he really NEEDED to have surgery.   And I looked at them, so hopeful, and I just wished we could do something.   And lo and behold, someone cancelled for Tuesday afternoon and I ran out to the waiting room and they were still there.   So I asked them if they could find a place to stay in San Juan, that maybe K could be our first patient in the morning.  And they beamed and thought they could.   So Tuesday morning bright and early, K was our first surgery of the day.  And he didn't just need his tonsils out.  He also had a boil on his face that the surgeon was able to open up and treat.  And then after his surgery Dr. Sandy saw him in his office and treated him for the hongos (fungus) that he had all over his head.   And I stood in the office and watched his Dad struggle not to cry and say "I just don't know how in the world we can ever thank you".    I share these things because I want you guys to know what you are doing when you support me and the rest of the folks at Solid Rock.   It's because of K that I want to be here... K and all the others that I love.    I doubt I'll see him again but I remember him and his Dad and Mom.   I remember the patient we took care of that probably has lymphoma and might not get better.   And the woman who came in from the campos to have a horrible lesion removed from her face.   I remember our kind doctors who take TIME to talk to these guys, who offer them hope and a kind hand.  It means a lot, ya know.  I am always honored to work with these folks...who take a week off from their lives in the State and come down here to sweat and search for the right surgical instruments and take cold showers and eat lots of rice and beans and work their butts off.    

And this weekend Laura and I basically gutted my room and did a massive cleaning/reorganizing.  Sue Eby will be here in less than 3 weeks and my room needs to be TIGHT.  :)   Curtains washed, floor scrubbed by hand,  drawers reorganized, lots of stuff chucked or "redistributed".   Sick amounts of laundry completed.    And a bit of clean up around the Guesthouse too.   And then tacos with nos hijos Friday and some dominos throw downs.    And Saturday..well, Saturday was a quick visit to Baby Nicole who is ONE YEAR OLD.  Holy buckets.  She's still petrified of me, shrieking whenever I get too close and clinging to her mama.  But she's more beautiful than ever.  And her ornery older brothers are the cutest things, shouting "Nicole!" and "Laura" when we pull up next to their house.  And we sip juice with them and talk with the crew and her mama and hear the neighborhood news.    Back at the Guesthouse at 4,  Chino and Monchi show up and we start working in the med room, putting away about 120 pairs of scrubs, hanging out more laundry, reorganizing a bunch of meds and prepping for the next barrio trip, making a run to the dump, cutting up fruit,  getting ready for the team coming tomorrow.   And ohhhhhh I made hummus for dinner which was a big hit.  Egg salad, hummus, fresh veggies, avocado, some really good pumpkin cake dessert thing that Laura whipped up...... delish.    

And of course the newest member of our family was running around at our feet the entire time.  Pipi the peep has joined the Solid Rock staff here.   He was a gift to Kari from Wilmer our neighbor friend...and while we aren't sure how long Pipi will last with two dogs on the grounds, he IS really cute.   Monchi built him a house out of a cardboard box but Pipi isn't a big fan of his own house.    He just likes to run around the kitchen and squawk and follow Laura around.   He's enamored with Laura and sits on her flip-flops whenever he can.   We continually yell at each other not to step or stomp on him and I'm not exactly sure what we will do with him when there are teams here but he's had a great life at least for 2 days here.   

So here's to chickens and kids with boils on their faces and huge tonsils and eating hummus and seeing Jesus in all of it.   Here's to dancing bachata in the kitchen and hearing Happy Birthday at my church and holding hands with some folks who we can't fix.   Here's to praying with our patients and crying with our friends and watching some wide eyed college kids CHANGE right in front of my face.   Here's to watching Dan and Kari and Laura love on each other and me.  Here's to folding scrubs with Monchi and Chino and here's to my parents showing up here in less than a MONTH.  Here's to my LIFE- it's so full I can hardly stand it.  

Here is Pipi in all his glory...

and his beautifully constructed home...built by Monchy.

Baby Nicole.  One Year Old.  Goodness Gracious.

She can even sit in her own chair now.

Me and her and her ornery bros.  

Ahhh a weekend in the life.  Look at all those scrubs that need to be folded.  Booooooooo...

Here's how we get pure water.  We have a filter/ultraviolet system.  

Weird fruit in the DR.  It's called mamon and it's actually pretty good.  Another gift from Wilmer.

A rainy view from the balcony.

Laura and Pipi.  I think it's love.  

Here's what 40 looks like!

So far, 40 looks like fun!  Laura dove on me in my bed at midnight to wish me Happy Birthday and then in the morning she had a SWEEEEETTTT banner over our potty for me to see when I woke up.....

I headed to the kitchen where Dan and Kari had a lil Happy Birthday fanciness going on...and an AWESOME prayer with the group.  SOOOO cool!

Below is the awesome group in town!  SOOOOOO funnnn!

Me, Kari, and Cora!  What a treat to have these gals with me...

Um and here is me and Dan....  His hair is the best ever!  I can't believe I get to work with someone who is as cool as Dan.  For reals.  (Do you think he's reading this?)

So right when breakfast was almost over...the door opened up and guess who walked in?  Yup- BABY NICOLE and mama Martina!  And they didn't even know it was my birthday.  What a sweet surprise!

Then it was off to the barrios (a place called La Ranchito) with Nef and the crew.....

Fun bus ride!  This team is really ministering to the communities here.....lots of medicines and love...but most importantly- LOTS of Jesus!  It's the best!

Lunchtime at the barrios

Sleepy time on the way back to the Guesthouse.  But they DID sing various versions of Happy Birthday songs on the bus to me..... in spanish.  WAAAAAAYyyyyyyy!

When I finally got to my room around 8 or 9 pm- I found these presents (boxes of cards from home) on my bed.  They were from home and Cathy Case had brought them like 2 weeks ago when she was here.   I can't believe everyone hid this from me for 2 weeks- I was SOOOo surprised and EXCITED!  I stayed up til 11:30 reading my cards.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude to have such an amazing church, family and friends that are SO supportive of me.  What a treat!  

And um yeah- no celebration is complete without hanging out with my Dominican hijos Monchi and Chino.....

And Lauritaaaaaaa.....mi pana full.

40 means having an excuse to wear pajama pants (it's SOOOO Domininican anyway) and pretend I'm athletic or something.  Actually, Monchi made me do this.

Dominos.  Nuff said.  It's how we roll, even at 40.

Sooooo how do I feel?  I feel great.  I feel loved.  I certainly don't feel like I've lived 40 years here on the old planet earth.  I feel grateful.   I feel excited for what's next.  I feel like I am exactly where God wants me at this very minute, in this time and in this place.  I feel like I have the greatest support system ever known to man.   I feel like Jesus Christ is still the One, He's still got me in the palm of His Hand, trying to help me along poco a poco.    I feel blessed.  I still feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world- I get to do this amazing stuff in this amazing place with amazing people.....and yeah- there's hard days and tears and all that jazz.  But I'm not alone.  I've NEVER been alone.   God is here with me.  He's Big- He's ON IT.. and we're doing this together.    Amen.  Y Amen.

Bewildering

Friday- I'm not sure if it's because I don't feel like I've slept in a hundred years or if time really IS blowing by me....but I think maybe the last 2 weeks have been a blur.  A wonderful awesome fantastic blur of surgery and kicking' teams.    

I'm trying hard to breathe between one team leaving yesterday (Friday) and another arriving today (Saturday). Uffffff.  Breathe.    Dios is IN control.   :)

A highlight was having my friend Cathy here with me the week before last.    She's a rocking PACU nurse and then treated me to a weekend at the beach in Juan Dolio.  It was soooo fun to have her.   I learned a lot watching her in PACU too.  That's one of the cool things about this gig- I'm always learning.   ANNNNDDD how cool IS it to share a place that I LOVE with a dear friend.  I love seeing it through other folks' eyes.

The last two weeks have rocked with General Surgeons and Ortho docs and a Gyn from Spartanburg and Roanoke.  Some new faces, some old faces- all in all just buckets of fun.   Hernias, hydroceles, circs, arms, hands, all kinds of surgery.   And we throw in some softball on Monday nights, dinner at Bienvenida's Restaurant on Wednesdays, AMAZING sponsor/student reunions on Thursday nights...and it's all around BUSY.  Plus Market runs, the flag raising at a local school...and all the rest that encompasses a week at Solid Rock Guesthouse.    Dan and Kari and I (and Laura when she is in town!) are having a blast.   I think I actually got to SEE Kari on Friday when we sat for 3 hours waiting for a pedicure downtown.   Sometimes the 3 of us pass like ships in the night- craziness.   We laughed in the grocery story buying extra forks which were plucked out of a cardboard box crammed with random silverware on the floor.   We snorted giggles plucking oatmeal from the shelve that HAD NOT been nibbled on by critters.   We stared in awe at the stunningly beautiful Dominican girls getting all kinds of gorgeous at the salon.  One lady actually grabbed my hair in her hand and made this painful grimace like "oh why....what a pity!".    I was actually proud that I had WASHED my hair today but of course unless it's streaming perfectly straight down my back..it's not "done" like it should be.  Sigh.   I am a fail at Dominican hair.

I've again, as always, met the most amazing patients.   Hugs, kisses, love and adoration.  One of our barrio teams was in Baby Nicole's town last Monday and they came back to report that her mama brought her to the team and recounted with great pride the day of her birth.   Oh my heart.   How full.   It's almost been a year.   She'll be one on in less than 2 weeks.   A year.  Baby girl.   Best.  Day.  Ever.    The team thought she was adorable too!   And the handing off of the black plastic bags full of potatoes or oranges or beans continues.    It's sacred, really, the giving here.   I feel so full.   So tired, so overwhelmed, so loved.    I love cruising through the streets and KNOWING folks that I see.   I spent a good hour today (Friday) with Bartolo the Concho Driver looking for a guy that needs some paperwork that I have.   After scouring 3 baseball fields, his home and local neighborhood, we returned home unsuccessful.   However- everyone has been alerted that we have what he needs and I fully expect him to show up any minute now.  It's kinda how things work here sometimes.   (Saturday- PS- he showed at 9 last night.  YAYYYYYY)

There's some tough stuff too.   One of the kids in the Nutrition program is STRUGGLING.  And it's more than malnutrition now.  He's sick.  Really sick.   And he was here and stayed 10 days in the clinic and it's hard to see.   And another patient didn't show up for surgery so I went to pick her up and it turned out that after we waited a long time for her to get ready and get everything set for surgery...that she was denied the surgery and hadn't wanted it in the first place.  It was my pushy american nature of going to find her that forced her into my truck and back to the clinic.    Humbling.    I felt terrible.  I still do.   Sometimes I feel like I get the teeniest grasp on the culture here and then the other shoe falls off and I realize that although I LOVE it here so much, I'm always the outsider.   I wasn't BORN here.   I don't get the inside jokes.   I still struggle with the language and sometimes what I think I SHOULD do.   But there are moments.   Moments when stuff clicks and I DO get it.  Moments when I throw out some spanish street words and they make sense to more than just me.   Moments when I slice up the garlic and onion and cilantro and oil and toss it in the black metal pot and it smells JUST like it's supposed to for the rice.   Moments on the back of the moto cruising through neighborhoods and ballfields searching for my friend and laughing when everyone points us somewhere else.    I AM an outsider....but I'm so glad I'm here!  

And the big 4-0 arrives on Tuesday.   I feel fine.  I'm not scared.  I'm looking forward to next weekend when we celebrate.   YAYYYYYYYYYYYY.  Here's to another year of living la vida locaaaaaa.    Tan buenaaaaa eso.

Holy Buckets!!!

Saturday:  I can hear the bachata in the barrio behind my window and some kid cracking a whip.   It whistles really hard through the air and it IS a pretty cool thing to see=....ya know...playing with whips and all.   I saw some other kids walking on stilts in the street last night.   It's a trip noticing what is considered entertainment or toys for kids here....stilts...whips...garbage bags and sticks refashioned as kites.   This week a girl brought her baby to the clinic and I noticed her baby was carrying around pieces of a broken glass bottle TO PLAY WITH.   I encouraged the mother to throw it away.....reminding her that shards of glass can like...CUT people.  Sheesh.   I like seeing the street ball that the kids play..... mop or broom handles for bats and bottle/milk container caps for balls.   There's a name for that kind of street ball but I can't remember it right now.

So I can shower in cold water without blinking and I can wait to drink until after I eat and I can pee in the most ungainly locals and places;   I can understand a lot of conversations and I can almost rap to some dembow if you catch me in the right mood.    I can play dominos, albeit poorly...and I made rice TWICE this week.   So, am I Dominican yet?   Yeahhhhhh well not quite, although I WAS diagnosed with parasites on Monday.  Yay for ascaris.   Turns out that all that talking I did in the barrios about washing my hands, wearing my shoes, and eating cooked food came right back to get me.   However, I am fully recovered and shameless about promoting ways to avoid parasites.

Great surgical team this past week- yay for Spartanburg.  And arriving tonight is the second half of Spartanburg.   It's always fun having folks arrive that you remember from last year so I'm looking forward to hanging out with a great crew again.  And of course in-between the surgeries are precious moments.... holding sweet babies,  catching up with returning patients in the waiting room,   laughing with Dr. Sandy and the Dominican nurses,  hanging out with Nef and our other wonderful translators.

Last Sunday was J's birthday.  So Chino and I dropped off some birthday cake on the way home from church.    I wonder if anyone else knew..or remembered.  I just know there was a big fat grin on his face when we pulled up.  17 years old.  Wow.    I'm hoping he can come with us to church tomorrow too.  We love this church.   It feels like everyone there just LOVES each other.  We sing and then between some songs we walk around and HUG each other (like EVERYBODY does!)  or shake hands or just say DIOS TE BENDIGA.  And I feel loved there.   And there are always a bunch of neighborhood kids running around sometimes misbehaving and they are so wonderfully loved and hugged and encouraged there.  Of course it helps that Nef can translate everything for me.  Ohhhh to understand!   It's a beautiful thing.   So I'm hoping that J will go with Chino and me tomorrow and I can sit proudly with my two Dominican hijos.   And then my dear friend Cathy is arriving with the group!  Oh to see the wonderful faces from home!  I just can't wait!   It's going to be a great week!

Yesterday I went running at the track.  Running is always a strong word for what I do but anyway- it's the effort that counts.  And I ran with Monchi.  Who is a REAL runner.  We went to the track via moto, cruising the back roads.   We ran side by side, with one of my ear plugs in my ear and the other in his- the Dominican rap blasting.   And we chatted up his friends there.  And some 7 year old kid held his keys and my phone in the middle of the field while we ran.   And I looked around at the big and serious baseball players who were strutting around, stretching and working out.  And the families who were laughing together as they walked around the track.  And the runners, the SERIOUS runners there who seemingly go forEVER who lapped us like a million times.   And everyone else who just seemed to be having a great time- the trainers- the 9 years olds who still have their baseball uniforms on and are headed home- the teenage girls eyeing up the fellas- just everyone.  And me and Monchi.   Me plodding on and him slowing down for me, saying "vamamos Nicol..vamamos!  Let's Go!".  Uffff.  I'm part of this.  And it's thrilling.   It's still thrilling, driving home on a moto with the sweat drying off of me, my hair all KINDA crazy, the music still thumping (one in my ear and one in his!),  the endorphins jumping, feeling SO much better than I did a couple hours ago.   Glad that I'm here.  Glad I've got sweet friends who love me and push me an extra lap or so.   Glad I'm headed home and I'll eat some rice (that I made) and crack up with my pals a couple more times, howling with Dan over funny sitcoms, giving my poor frente high blood pressure when I screw up AGAIN on my domino play, doing our thing.

And tomorrow it begins again.  New team.  New folks.  And some familiar faces too.  Here we go!