25 February 2007

A One-Dog Kind of Night

A year under our belts already! The most amazing thing about my group that arrived together is that not one of us has dropped out yet for any reason.

Time is flying, classes are going, and even the teachers have begun to get interested now that we have started to offer some teacher training once a week. I highly doubt the majority of them will ever actually apply their new knowledge, but maybe we can figure out a couple tricks to help them out in their daily lives. We had another club interchange, hosting another volunteer and her kids in our community the other weekend. I got to be host of two volunteers, one teenage girl, and one of the volunteer's dogs. My bed held me, another volunteer, and the dog. In the spare room bed mattress on the floor. How that happened I'm still trying to figure out.

During another med mission down south this past week, I got to see operations on cataracts and prostates, as well as try to hand out very large and ugly glasses to people who needed them. Appearances are so important here that even poverty doesn't stop shame, and some people who were packed off with their glasses that were probably the only pair with the prescription they actually needed you knew were never going to use them. The group of doctors, nurses, and support staff that came were a fun crew of mostly doctor or nurse couples. We dragged one or two out into the streets to have adventures with us, going for runs out of the city and trying some (safe) street food.

Upon arriving at my house this past week, my elderly neighbor told me that I'd missed out on the youth mass this week that they had especially to give prizes. I had won one of the titles: Most Athletic. A direct result of me going with a group to the Virgen de Las Piedras, the long hike to the statue in the cave far away. When we got there the priest proposed doing pushups, which quickly turned into a contest... that I won somehow, beating all the boys with something like 50 pushups in a row. The best part: after arriving and doing the contest, everyone wanted to get back home. Forget about praying or reflecting in this journey! We booked it back.

1 Comments:

At 8:56 PM, Blogger Luke said...

Becky~ Quite fun to read of your adventures. I got back to cold Minnesota a week and a half ago. It's great to be home. I was greeted by 22 inches of new snow that next day. School was canceled and everyone went sledding. Thanks so much for being such a great host in the DR. It definately made the highlight of the trip. I'll shoot you another note soon. Gotta run to golf practice (indoor of course).

 

Post a Comment

<< Home