Camp David Ranch Hotel Resort Santiago

... imagine what it smells like, and what a health risk it is to live there.
I saw a little boy today.  He is 4 years old.  He lives with his parents and 4 siblings in a one-room "house" built out of rusted tin and tires.  Upon meeting him, I could tell that this child was gravely ill.  He contracted Dengue Fever over a week ago, was hospitalized, but released home.  I'm not sure ...

... only in underwear.  Sweet kids, but resorting to desperation (pinching others, manipulation, etc.) in order to get attention.  One child kept pinching the little girl I was holding!  So sad!  We will offer a health clinic to them on Thursday afternoon.  They speak mostly Creole, limited Spanish, so communication will be interesting.
We are watching Hurricane Bill, who looks like he ...

... help but think of the sign I have in our entryway "Please remove your shoes"!!!!  Yes, those of you who have removed your shoes in my entryway,are laughing.  It makes one wonder what is really important-
 Yesterday, we held a clinic.  We served about 25 people over the span of about 6 hours.  It was exhausting.  Not only was a diagnoses/treatment involved, but to try and figure out what they were saying in Spanish!!  --Aye! 
I ...

... to smile much.  He actually laughed out loud when we had some of the children "play" with a balloon.  So amazing!  At one point, I pulled a little fellow out of his crib and just held him, which was kind of tricky because his knees were contracted to the side, and almost at ninety degrees to his torso.
I am experiencing some touching moments here.  It makes me miss you all even more-
XOXOXOXX Lani

 
 

... nice Bavarian-style hotel right on the beach. The next day we took a boat from Samana Bay to Los Haitises National Park, where we explored some caves then went kayaking through the mangroves. Yesterday, we left Las Terrenas and went horseback riding to a secluded waterfall in El Limon. That was probably the most terrifying experience of the trip for me. These horses were sooo tiny and frail, I thought I was going to break my horse ...

... over, and we would rope up, and lower ourselves down. Other areas we would have to negotiate piles of boulders, or cliffs, both of which provided us the opportunity to jump into the water by as much as twenty feet. As a counterpoint, sometimes we would have to slowly advance down the river, feet in front, half-floating, half walking as there was little no no warning as to when a submerged rock would find itself in your way. The river pushed us swiftly down the river over these rocks ...

... hoisted backpacks on and set out to see the remains of the 500 year old city that poked out from the shanties and bars that were built around them. After checking out the walls and plaza that was Columbus' compound, they spotted a group of Dominicans playing baseball in the courtyard. George had gotten the idea a couple of months before, while planning the trip, to bring about 2 dozen baseballs with him to give out to little kids, with the eventual goal of playing baseball ...

... those of you who called or wrote and were concerned; I appreciate it! This past week, before all the hurricane madness, we had a camp called Celebrando el Cibao, which is a diversity camp for kids in our area, and it was awesome. Topics were covered like religion, racism, sexuality, different cultures, and I think it made a lot of the kids really think and open their eyes to different topics and ideas. We had ...

... convinced that Dominicans and Americans were different, that I did not see the Christmas lights, the Christmas music that was playing in the super-markets, the small gifts that were being passed around, or even the huge dinner on Christmas Eve which took several days to prepare. Well, right now I am at a conference in Santiago with two of the youth from my community. There are wonderful guys. Sometimes, they have a little bit more testosterone than I would ...