Matum Hotel And Casino Santiago

... aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried,
And for those who must,
For those we never give up on
And for those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother,
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
 -----by Marian Wright Edelman 

... this is my first, "I'm really homesick, and am admitting it to the world" blog since arriving here.  I'm hoping that I continue to stay busy, as that makes the days seem shorter :)
I'm attaching a group picture.  This picture was taken after the Campo clinic and education session.  Yes, we are really as tired as we look!
Please feel free to drop me an email and let me know how you all are doing.
Adios,
Love,
Lani

... so inspiring to see them gather to celebrate. Dancing, singing, lots of tambourines and drums. The children are so happy.  I spent a portion of one evening teaching four of them English.  They thought English words sounded funny, and they would laugh, which would make me laugh.  I loved that moment-
Attached, are pics of the Campo experience.  Look how happy these people are.
I'm glad to be back down from the "mountains", just ...

... cuatro, finale!"  He shook his head no, then I said, "finale, no o si?!"  That's final, no or yes?  Sale (sale)!!!!   Gracias!  I'm so proud of that!  We won :)
 Getting ready for Spanish class again.  This is the last day of orientation.  The next few weeks will be filled with patients and families, orphanages, and people who are in dire need of healthcare. I need to take a deep breath-
Hope all of you are well-
Love,
Lani

... the man asked me if I was pregnant...and I was like No?! So I looked down at my basket & couldnt find anything that signified me being pregnant...no pickles no chips. Then he pointed to the sign above my head that said priority line with a handicapped sign & a pregnant woman. Apparently that question is not inappropriate here in this culture. And that was my trip to La Sirena.

... the streets were clogged with 'chimi' stands, basically just like American hot dog stands but for Dominican-style hamburgers. You get a side of ecoli with each sandwich, free of charge. Crammed in between the chimi stands were tricked out Fiats and Hondas that were laden with enormous speakers, the owners blasting the loudest, most repetitive music on the planet at full volume, with perhaps only a half a block distance separating the cars from each other. They created a cacophony of ...

... without much time to catch their connecting flight to Orlando. They were ushered onto the plane being told there were only two seats left, walked all the way to the back, and discovered each seat filled with a disgruntled passenger, and had to get off the plane. This threw a screw into the plans, as the flights were planned with a great deal of precision so that the group would all arrive at the Santo Domingo airport within 20 minutes of each other. American Airlines got three ...

... away as Puerto Plata, and it is quite an international assemblage: one from Norway, two from Sweden, three from Russia, a couple from France. My raft was composed entirely of Americans, with a couple from St. Paul, Minnesota, joining Joe and I. One of our number relaxed at the ranch, one went "canyoning" (rappelling down waterfalls), and two of us went rafting. I have to say without hesitation that this rafting trip was one of the best of any river I have experienced in the ...

... the scariest thing I have ever done in my life, but I made the jump, and luckily avoided the rocks. It was intense, but worth it!! The way down the falls was great. We got to jump down pretty much all of them, and some we were able to slide down. We swam in the pools and through the canyons, and it was incredible. I wanted to take my camera, but since it's not waterproof, I opted against it. If you want to check out the site, go to www.27charcos.com.

... the cooking. I guess it is a good thing that I am helping and not doing the cooking all by myself. Yes, I have been in this country for 15 months, but I have yet to learn how to make some of the wonderful foods that have such flavor. It is just for the youth and later we are going to have some cake and drinks and the local club with a little music on the side. I can plan as much as I would like to, but who knows how it will turn-out. I went out with a ...