Hodelpa Centro Plaza Santiago

... he said, "I don't have the money or the time."  It was maddening.  I truly believe in my heart that this child will not survive this illness, just because of his living situation.  It was difficult to walk away-<br>Please offer your positive thoughts, good karma, prayers, or wishful thinking to this little one tonight.  Maybe they will help.<br>Missing all of you,<br>Love,<br>Lani

Hi Everyone!<br>Very busy Monday.  We started out doing home visits with the International Child Care Center.  My group saw two children.  One child was so neurologically unstable, that he really wasn't a great candidate for "therapy" per se.  He is being raised by his grandmother/father, who told us that he has at least nine seizures a day.  In fact, while we were assessing him, he had two.  Not a pleasant sight, and as you can ...

... wear and tear from daily activities!<br>This morning we went to church, then were able to see about 10 more patients.  One patient (who lived across the river) just wanted to be able to access the community, independently.  It sounds simple, but in reality was not.  This patient has only one arm, no legs.  She mobilizes by using her hand to walk on.  She is completely independent, other than that mentioned previously.  So, you think ...

... very needed.  I have quickly learned that Dominicans do not have a sense of personal space, nor do they allow that for others.  Case in point, we were riding into the city in a Guagua, which is like a Taxi, but less expensive (about 20 cents per person).  The trade-off is that you get crammed into a minivan with 20+ other people.  I'm not kidding, and mom, I'm not telling you this to worry you, but it is so unsafe!!  Imagine a ...

I made my first trip to the supermarket today. It was quite the adventure, but I learned a lot of cultural lessons &amp; the resulting healthy food made me SO happy. I got shredded wheat &amp; whole wheat bread...which was way cheaper than the other breads...and fruit and yogurt and to curb my incessant sweet cravings, a bar of super dark chocolate. All this time I thought that the ...

... back. We had to go up and down very rocky hills on the way and my horse half-fell twice, nearly throwing me off its back. I honestly thought it was going to twist and ankle and throw me to the ground. Yesterday evening we arrived in Jarabacoa, which is a small mountain town. The scenery here is absolutely beautiful. Today we went whitewater rafting down the biggest river in the Caribbean (I can't think of the name right now). That was ...

... out of sight, and then resumed as if nothing happened. We turned in that night hoping to hear something about how the machete incident went down the next morning, and eager to get out into the jungle. The day dawned, and we prepared to go on our canyoneering outing. Check out time was never specified at our hotel, so we left our gear there, taking only the essentials (passports, wallets, etc.), and met with Negro and Juan to take us to the tour operator. We showed up early, and had time ...

... 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 ...

... ranch, a couple of us go for a hike in the neighborhood, and end up at a farm where they are growing bananas and a few hogs (smelly). We also explore the property and see the swimming pool and the obstacle course, which they are no longer using for safety reasons. All in all it has been a good day, and I'm glad we haven't let the rain deter us from having fun anyway! Nevertheless, I'm hoping for good weather for our rafting trip tomorrow! Hugs, Dan

... and that I was arranging it. She even wrote me a note that I was supposed to go and ambush unsuspecting nurses with. Instead she found that her doctor wasn't there, so she had to put up with another night on a drip. This had taken me past visiting hours so I was locked in and had to go try some Spanish on a nurse to get out. I did get pizza on the way home though.