Hi Everyone!
Three weeks have passed and I don't really know where the time went. We were just talking about how in a week from now we will back in the classroom. This will definitely be a crazy thing since we haven't been in the classroom for the last nine months!
Anyways, last week finished off smoothly in the clinics. We have been treating a lot of patients and trying to take lots of pictures so that we can include them in our charla and make thank you cards for all the people that have been working with us. You wouldn't think this would be much of a challenge, but when you are so focused on treating patients, it's actually work to remember to pull out the camera. On a high note, one of the patients that we have been seeing for the last 2 1/2 weeks made a bracelet for me that has my name engraved on a piece of metal. The awesome thing is that he engraved the name Julia on the bracelet. It definitely made my day. Another high note was actually on Friday when the patient that was a victim of a police brutality in the U.S. said goodbye. We aren't working in the clinics next Friday because we are doing service in an orphanage so last Friday was the last time we would be seeing him. To my surprise, he was so, so, so appreciative of our efforts. He just kept telling us thank you for helping him with the services that he was unable to get during his time in the U.S. I only hope the physical therapists at my clinic will take away some of the information we present in the charla on Tuesday so that they can help people like this one patient.
Of course, the highlight of the past few days has been our trip to the beach. We stayed in a very nice, all-inclusive hotel right on the ocean. You would think this would be an expensive weekend, but in fact the D.R. is extremely affordable! According to our program director, Julie, that has been to this hotel every year for the past 5 years, our hotel usually has a private beach of it's own. We don't know exactly what happened, maybe global warming or something, but there was definitely no private beach. The ocean waters came right up to the rocks at the base of our hotel. It was still beautiful and the crashing waves were very impressive on the rocks, but we just had to walk a little ways down to the next beach. Unfortunately, this beach was also closed because of the strong tides. Since this was a private beach as well, they don't allow anyone in the waters at all. This was definitely sad news since it was hot, humid, and very sunny! On Saturday we compromised and just ran back and forth between the beach and the pool to try to stay cool. However, Ryan and I decided to brave the local transportation to ride down to the public beach that was about 15 minutes away. I was definitely nervous because you never know about these guaguas. You just randomly stand on the side of the road until one comes along. Then they shove you in a van with a ton of other people. The scary part is that we didn't really know when to get off because there aren't scheduled stops. You just say "aqui por favor" when you want him to stop, and he pulls over, and you jump out. Needless to say, I was very proud of Ryan and myself when we successfully found our way to the beack and back using our beginning spanish skills. It was definitely worth the trip too. The beach was huge with plenty of space and tons of water to swim in. The only downfall was that we stuck out like a soar thumb because Sunday is the Dominican's day to play so the beach was full of mostly Dominicans. We had fun though soaking up the sun, doing a little shopping, and having some pizza...definitely a nice change from the rice and beans we've been having.
One small pleasure that I have definitely missed is dish soap. My waterbottle has been in great need of a good washing and today I found out one of my classmates had brought some. I felt like I won the lottery. Yay for clean water! I am very excited to have some ice cold water back in the states, because here it is warm all the time from sitting in the water machine.
Everyone is now safely back at the ILAC center and we are gearing up for week four. This week will be another busy one and I'm sure we'll be hopping on the plane before we know it. I am still amazed at how time flies.
Alright, time to run. I miss you all and can't wait to see the family in Omaha...it's only a few short weeks away. :)
Hasta Luego
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