Felizidades el Dia de Gracias!

First of all I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon with my "Dominican Family".  Chuck fried a Turkey, and some of us others chipped in for to make the other fixin's.  Meal was great and the company was just as good!  (Momma, you would be proud to know that I made everyone at the table say one thing they were thankful for, just like we do at home!)  

Things are changing around the Jungle.  Megan is finally getting settled in, and doing very well!  Kory, the volunteer from Canada has returned to the tundra. (I'm sure glad I will be here through the worst of the winter!) So Meg and I are working just the 2 of us until the new volunteer arrives on Dec. 4. The baby monkeys are almost 2 months old now, and they are starting to venture off the backs of their momma's.  It is darling to see them climbing on their own and wandering around!  And we are all anxiously awaiting the approaching "high season".  I'm looking forward to being busy as the days go by more quickly that way and also hopefully making some more money in tips.   Chuck & Candy pleasantly surprised me with a raise, which was very much appreciated!  Chuck said that they were very pleased with the way I have become part of the team and the hard work that I've put in.  I have never accepted compliments well, but this was nice to hear!  It is such a different work environment down here.  And its been a little hard for me to adjust tot he "island time" mentality even at work!  Everything is much more laid back and slow paced, and being a type A perfectionist like I am, its been hard for me to slow down and accept that things will get done in their own time.  I'm constantly having to remind myself, "It's not wrong, its just different!"  

I have been going to the gym the past week or so after work!  I pay 100 RD ($2.50 US) for my day pass and even get to use the machines with electricity upstairs!  I've actually really enjoyed it!  I'm no gym rat by any means, but it does make ya feel good to do some exercise!  

Well, sorry I dont have much more to report!  Other than I'm getting very excited to have my family here in January!  

XOXO

Continued Discovery & Growth

I know its been a long time, (I feel like the last 5 blogs have started this way!)  I apologize!    I wont make any promises this time as I have in the past.  Lets face it, I'm not great at keeping y'all up dated!  BUT, here's the latest!

I have recently decided that I am going to extend my stay until March.  I'm approaching 5 months in DR, cant believe its been that long already!  As I look back on the last 5 months, I'm extremely humbled by so many different things; experiences, personal growth, opportunities, relationships.

I want to start by thanking my amazing parents, for making this a possibility for me, and for always supporting me in my frantic and crazy life!  You have truly been a blessing to me in so many ways, I cant even begin to express my gratitude.

I have had so many wonderful experiences here, things I will forever remember!  I have been pushed out of my comfort zone in so many ways, trying new foods, riding on motos, meeting new people, showering (& toileting) with out running water, cooking for 7-10 hungry men. (I have finally been told by the guys that I can cook rice like a Haitan! I was pumped about that.. cuz boyyyy their rice is gooood!)  I'm continually humbled by the everyday life of the Dominican & Haitian people.  They live with so little and work so hard!  At least once a day I see men in their 70's or 80's walking miles to and from work with machete in hand, a sign that they are likely doing hard physical labor.  Likely these men are only bringing home a few hundred pesos for the whole days work.  That's the equivalent of no more than $3-8 US Dollars.  I cant imagine supporting a family and in most of their cases a "grand" family on that amount of money.  But they are happy!  They have no worries about paying the car payments and credit card bills.  They live in the moment and for today, enjoying every minute of it.

I also want to thank the friends I've made here.  And thank them for their honesty.  As I've said before I have had a lot of personal growth as a result of my time here.  And a lot of that has to do with the genuine relationships we've made and the honesty of the people I call my family here!  A close friend from home brought to my attention that I have spent much of my life running from something.  It was hard for me to hear, but the more that I thought about it, he was right.  I'm not sure if I'm running form or searching for something, but I know that my time in the DR has helped me to clear my head, and discover more about myself and my crazy quirks.  I'm hoping that my remaining months here will be filled with just as fun, excitement and personal change as the last 5 have been.

It is a sad for me to think about spending Thanksgiving and Christmas away from my family again, as I did this for many years in Georgia, but I am looking forward to celebrating the Holidays with my "Jungle Family".

Please pray for the next few months, we are approaching high season and from what I hear things get CRAZY at the Jungle.  But more importantly pray for my continued growth & discovery.

Haiti, Lightning, and Mini Monkeys

WOW!!
Haiti~
I think most of you know that I was asked to go along with (what I thought was) a team of Dentists on a trip to Haiti...  I was honored to be asked to go along and was really excited to see more of this beautiful island! The trip was definitely a test of my patience!  It turns out that the "team" was a group of 3 men that were on a bit of a vacation, but also wanted to stop at an orphanage in Haiti that the Dentist had done some work at. In typical Doctor fashion, he wanted to be on a tight schedule for most of the trip, but down here everyone is on island time, so its tough to keep a strict schedule.  I was able to enjoy my time at Danita's Children, the orphanage, and met some amazing people from the states that are working for Danita!  Was very nice to spend some time with english speaking kids my age that understand what a privileged life we live in the U.S.

I was able to see the Citadel in Cap Haitan, Haiti.  It is the fort that the Haitans built after their revolution from France.  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/180  Check it out!  Amazing to see the history of this place!

Lightning~
My sister, Megan, arrived just before I left for Haiti!  Its been so nice to have her here.  I was worried that because Megan and I haven't been extremely close that she would feel like I was a bother, or wouldnt want me helping her get settled in.  But everything has gone smoothly.  Until this past Saturday.  We had a terrible thunderstorm, which is common down here for this time of year.  But the Lightning was unlike any I've seen before!  Megan asked me if she could use the stove in a lightning storm, and being that our stove is gas, I said of course! As soon as she lifted the metal grate to light the burner, the house was struck by lightning!  Megan received all the shock and immediately fell to the floor!  Lesly and I took her to the emergency room shortly after.  She was admitted to the hospital for observation and just got out today!  She has a little bit of nerve damage in her right hand and the reflexes in her legs are slow, but she is so lucky to not have been hurt worse!

Mini-Monkeys
We have babies!!  Momma #1 of 7 just gave birth to a little one last night!  I will try to post pictures soon!

Mucho Tiempo (It's been a while)!!

First, I want to say I'm sorry I haven't blogged in such a long time!

Second, I'm going to do my best to update you on whats happened here at MJ!  Since I blogged last, Tim came to visit for a week, and so did my Poppi!  Enjoyed the time with both of them.  Got to relax quite a bit on the beach with Tim and then got to spend some time outside of the Jungle with Poppi! Was very nice to see both of them!  Next week Megan, my sister will join me at MJ!  I'm very excited to get to share the experience with her, but I have to keep reminding myself this whole thing was her idea first!

Ok, so the big news!  I know I had mentioned that I was thinking about staying longer, and I have now decided to stay through January for sure.  I'm hoping that Dad can get my car sold to pay off some of that debt, and I'm currently looking for another income here in DR to continue to pay my bills at home.  Not only are the bills at home an issue, but also insurance will be a hurdle to over come also, as I turn 26 in October and will no longer be able to be on my family's plan.  SO!  Prayers for these 2 things would be much appreciated.  I am truly learning so much about my self and enjoying the simplicity in life here, but I need to be sure that my finances and health are taken care of. (Obviously!)

As far as MJ goes, we've had a lot going on!  We have 6 pregnant monkeys, due anytime in the next few weeks.  We have recently received 4 new dental chairs and equipment for the clinic so we are in tip-top shape there.  It is currently low season, so we have had lots of projects going on, repairs & improvements! Along with the good, we've had some not so good also.  Kory crashed our moto, which is the only means of transportation we have, besides paying for a taxi or mototaxi.  So I've been spending MOST of my time in the Jungle as it gets expensive to go into town by mototaxi.  Hoping this will be fixed up by the end of the week, but who knows!

About a month ago now, Chuck had to let his cow farmer go, as he was selling Chucks cattle for his own profit with out Chuck knowing.  With this we found out that a lot of the families in the area  were involved in the cattle sales.  These are families that the Ritzens have helped in numerous ways, provided jobs to many of them in the past, paid for the children to go to school, even bought Christmas presents for most of them, so it was clearly hard for them to find out that they had been essentially stealing from them in such a way.  Hard to believe that someone could take advantage of a couple that has done so much good for them and the area!

On a better note, Candy has been training me on some of the book work and office side of things involved with the business, such as payroll and inventory.  Because of this, Chuck & Candy were able to take some time off to relax at their Florida home.  This was much deserved by them!!  Things have gone fine at the Jungle, but I must say I look forward to their return.

Last night we had a Haitian man hobble up our driveway with a LARGE laceration on his heel.  He explained that he had caught his foot in the spokes of a moto 2 days prior.  (He was illegally crossing the border with 5 people on the bike)  I found out shortly after he arrived, that he is a cousin of one of our farm workers.  His foot was visibly severely infected and needed immediate attention.  I drove him to the CMC Emergency Room, where he was quickly turned away because he had no documents or insurance.  They suggested he go to Puerto Plata to the larger hospital for surgery.  I talked with Chuck on the phone and he said to pay for his cab to the other Hospital.  Pele, our farm worker, and the cousin got a cab and went to Puerto Plata.  I found out this morning that the hospital there did nothing but clean out the wound and give him a shot of antibiotics.  It kills me to know that just because this man does not have proper documents that he is denied proper medical care.  I know first hand health care in the states is an issue and hard to come by,  but at least we are give proper emergency care when its needed!

I'm continuing to practice my Spanish and feel like I'm getting pretty good.  I can understand or at least follow along with most conversations at the jungle, work related and not!  I'm also try to learn Creol, which is the Haitians native language.  It has been a little challenging to try to remember both, but I think its possible!  Chuck has offered to send me to Haiti with a team of medical staff next week, as the Monkey Jungle Representative.   :)  I look forward to seeing the country and more of the island!  So many of my close friends here are Haitian and I am honored to get the chance to see their homeland!

Alright, enough for now!  Back to work at the Jungle today!

Saturday Clinic & New Opportunites

I was fortunate enough to spend my Saturday in the Dental Clinic, as we have a volunteer that has taken over the work in the Pharmacy.  I worked with quite a few of the docs this week.  Dr. Gerry, the lead dentist, who I had worked with before, was just over seeing everything.  We had 2 visiting Dentists, one of which was a Pediatric Dentist (which was perfect for the mustard seed kids).  So I spent the morning working with Clari the Dominican Dentist, and then helped to keep the Mustard Seed crew calm while Dr. Juan Carlos worked on their teeth.  WOW!  Sure is hard to reason with a child with disabilities that doesn’t speak your language.  But just goes to show that a smile and soft touch can go a long ways!  Every one of the patients were so thankful for the work we did.  Sure is rewarding to give such a small thing for such tremendous appreciation. 

                During my lunch break, Cole a good friend of Chuck’s that I’ve gotten to know as he comes to MJ quite often, asked me to represent his company at a Bizarre next Saturday in Cabarette.  Cole has started a company called Cambio, which is change in espanol.  He has hired families that live in the dump to make a line of leather products such as bracelets, iPhone cases, wallets, wristlet purses, etc.  The products are amazing, and the organization behind it just as great!  Anyway, I have sold quite a few of the products here at MJ, so Cole asked me to sit at the Cambio table in Cabarette at the Bizarre on Saturday, sounds like it is similar to an art show.  So I’m looking forward to that!  It will give me a chance to meet more people in the area, and also practice my Spanish! 

                Saturday afternoon after work, Chuck had a talk with me about a new possibility for MJ.  He has toyed with the idea of adding horseback riding to the MJ experience for quite some time, and heard that I grew up riding horses.  Chuck asked if I would be interested in helping to lead the horseback riding tours.  Of course this is something I’d love to do!  Spend my days riding through the mountains of the Dominican Republic??  How could you turn that down!  Chuck and I spoke with some of the locals and are hoping that we can pay them to use their horses for a while.  They will bring their horses to the Jungle in the morning, and we’ll use them for trail rides around the farm.  Then at the end of the day we’ll pay the owners for their use.  I love the way Chuck tries to help the people that live in this area with this type of arrangements.  He often does things in this way to help benefit not only his attraction, but the people in the area as well! 

                Saturday night, we went into Cabarette.  It was Kori, Denson (Eddy Murphy) and Me.  We met up with Stephan (Wesley Snipes) and 2 girls we had met that had been to MJ that week.  We went to our regular place; Kahuna’s and had a few drinks on the beach.  Found out when we got there that they were having “Oil Wrestling”.  Yes this is just what you’d think it is.  Girls half naked in a blow up swimming pool covered in oil, wrestling.  I was less than thrilled, but the guys sure enjoyed it.  After the wrestling match, we went to Onno, the popular dance club.  Danced a little bit, this of course makes you sweaty.  So I decided it would be great to jump in the ocean before we went home.  Well, the swimming in our clothes was fun, but the cab ride home covered in sand in a wet dress, wasn’t so much fun!!  Over all though it was a great evening out!  

Mustard Seed & Hog Roast

Wow!  So much to write about!  We had a team of medical students here volunteering for part of the week in the clinics.  We were able to see around 500 patients in 3 days.  So cool to see so many people being treated for so many things in such a short amount of time.  One of the patients was a 3 month old little boy who born 2 months premature.  His urethra is coming out the bottom of his pe-pe.  He will require surgery by an urologist.  The boy’s father did not have the money for the surgery or even a consultation with the specialist, so Chuck is paying for the medical care and gave the father a job working at MJ to pay off part of the cost.  We have a new member of the team!  Enok is a haitan, speaks great English, and seems to fit right in with the rest of the guys!  So awesome to be working for such a caring Man.  Chuck and Candy have been so wonderful to me!  (More on that later!)

One day while the students were here, Candy and I got to go with four of them to Mustard Seed Orphanage.  This is an orphanage that specializes in children with disabilities, mostly Cerebral Palsy.  I don’t even know where to start telling you about this experience.  As most of you know I spent a lot of time when I was growing up at Opportunity Village as both my parents worked there and and then I worked there through much of high school and college.  So I was thrilled to be able to join the team at Mustard Seed.  The Children were absolutely beautiful.  Every one of them were very clean and well taken care of which was great to see!  I was so worried on the way there that a third facility like this in a third world country would be absolutely pitiful!  But it was a wonderful place.  Each child got was evaluated and treated for anything they needed.  We left quite a few antibiotics for the kids, for upper respiratory crud, and a few creams for skin rashes.  One little boy needed the most medical care.  He was a thumb sucker and had sucked his thumb so much that it was raw.  He had rubbed it clear down to the muscle.  He also had a large soar on his leg from a fall and a small amount of skin break down on his back as the poor boy could hardly move from his CP.

Part of the evaluation for the kids included examining their teeth and triaging who needed to be seen by our dental team the following Saturday.  We booked appointments for five of the kids to come see the dentist that next weekend.  Obviously I was sad to leave the kiddos, but looked forward to seeing some of them on Saturday Clinic.

The last day that the doctors were here, Friday, we had a hog roast.  Yes, full blown pig laid out on the BBQ, head and all.  Don’t get me wrong the pork at the end of the day was wonderful, but I sure had a hard time getting the raw, slaughtered pig image out of my head.  Chuck made baked beans and cole slaw.  He mixed up some Rum Punch and bought one drink for every one of us staff.  Sure was aa fun afternoon.  

Little of This, Little of That

             Injuries: So I didn’t talk about all my injuries until now for a few reasons.  One, I know my mother is at home worried and missing me already, but also because I’m a little embarrassed by my own clumsiness!  But now!  Its almost comical, so I decided I better share with everyone how horribly accident prone I am in this country!  The first week I was here I got some scratches on my hands from the monkeys while feeding.  My first thought was, dang! That is definitely gonna scar (I scar very easily) but oh well, it will be a reminder of an amazing summer!  Shortly after the many scratches on my hand, I was riding the moped with Manuel, and we fell.  DON’T WORRY!  We were going very slow and just kind of laid it down in a gravel driveway.  But this too added to my injuries, my knee was bruised and scraped up pretty good, and my same hand now had scrapes on my palm as well!  Somehow in the process of the bike falling I also got a cut on my left middle toe.  No big deal, just a little blood, cleaned right up and went on with my evening.  About 2 days later, I was walking down the hill from my house to the apartment and stumbled, and stubbed (I’m almost sure broke) my toe.  It was black and blue right away, and I had a nice limp to go along with it for about a week.  It is still quite soar, but the pretty colors are gone.  Now, that was my first good “trip”.Since then I have tripped on numerous things, its almost twice a day that I step wrong, and stumble, even just on regular flat ground!  This past week, I finally got up enough courage to get on a moto bike after dumping the moped.  I rode with Pierre just form my house out the gate and into the MJ gate about ½ min up the road.  When I got off, I hit my calf on the hot muffler and now have a LARGE blister that I’m nursing.  So again, walking with a limp!  I’m loving my stay in DR, but if this keeps up I may come home in pieces!

                Baseball: Sunday nights in our neighborhood (if you can call it that) the guys get together and play softball.  I had told Lesly that I enjoyed watching baseball, so he and I rode down the hill to the little snack shack at the corner and grabbed some drinks and then walked over to the “ball field”  We had to climb through a fence to get in, it wasn’t until the game was almost over and the cows wandered into the outfield that I realized we were sitting in the cow pasture!  Was cool to see everyone from the area together, cheering for their friends, sitting around joking with each other!  There was two teams, one was obviously the favorite!  They didn’t have matching uniforms or even very impressive equipment, but they were sure having fun!  It was a little awkward to be not only one of very few females there watching, but the only Gringa!  Everyone stared of course!  (I’m getting used to that though, it happens everywhere!)

                Out & About: Sunday night after the baseball game, a group of us planned to go out for the evening.  I was excited to go and then realized I had to get back on a bike to get into town!  This time with THREE people!  So let me just paint the picture for you all!  The road we live on is HORRIBLE!  Extremely rocky, full of pot holes, curvy, hilly!  Its nuts!  So not only is it hard to navigate, but we had 3 of us crammed on one little dirt bike.  I chose to take the middle cuz I knew there was no way my butt would stay on the back of the seat!  I made it into town w/ out dying, and of course thanked Denson for keeping me safe.  We got to the Pizza place and Pierre was about to park his bike when the Police pulled up and started questioning him.  Haitans in the DR are discriminated against pretty badly.  Pierre of course is a Haitan, so the police took his bike for the night and claimed he didn’t have the proper paperwork.  This wasn’t true, but Pierre said he wasn’t willing to pay the $ they asked for just to get his bike back because he knew $ was all they were after.  So after we ate our Pizza in Sosua, we all got a cab to Cabarette.  We piled 7 people, along with the driver into a little tiny car.  What an experience.  We had a few drinks and then went dancing.  WOW!!  I’m such a white girl!  Everyone down here has great rhythm, and hips like Shakira.  But I sure had fun! 

Monday, yesterday, was my day off!  Lesly and I went to the beach in Sosua. (Again, 3 people on a bike, Me, Lesly & the driver)  I of course wanted lots of Sun, but in the words of Lesly “I’m black man, I don’t need more black!”  So we got chairs, one in the shade and mine in the sun and just hung out for the day.  Sosua beach is extremely relaxing.  There were a few locals there, but not many others, so I napped in the sun most of the afternoon.  I made dinner for everyone when we got back from the beach.  Pele is and I did some Spanish/English learning and we played cards for the rest of the evening.  It was a great day off! 

The next day (yesterday) I was back to MJ and had a pretty quick and easy day.  Still really enjoying my job!  :)

Casa-Tesoro De Dios (The Orphanage)

Casa-Tesoro De Dios

Today was my day off.  I was fortunate enough to go to the orphanage that my Dad and siblings worked on in March.  The owner of the place, Pastor Joel, and I had talked on facebook and he agreed to come pick me up from Monkey Jungle.  He arrived with his son around 10:30 to get me.  I was anxious about meeting him, and all the kids as well.  I had heard such good things about this man from my family, but its always a little scary to meet someone new for the first time, especially in a third world country, & when your n ot fluent in the language!

                Pastor Joel was very nice!  Drove like a crazy man, which most locals do!  (On a side note, one thing I’ve noticed every time I get in the car with someone local, is that their gas gage is ALWAYS on E!  I first thought it was because of the price of gas being so high, but I have learned that 97% of the gages down here don’t work!  So when the gage says E, they may have a full tank!  I just don’t look anymore!)  Anyway, we made it to the orphanage safely and I was immediately greeted by many of the children.  All of them were absolutely beautiful!  I fell in love right away.  I had told Pastor Joel that I wanted to meet Daniel, a boy that my father had met and is hoping to bring to the United States to live with our family for a while.  Pastor Joel introduced us right away!  He is an amazing young man.  He spent all afternoon doing work (hard physical labor) around the orphanage cutting the grass with a machete, building a new shed for the pig, etc. 

                The thing that touched me the most was how happy these children are with so little.  Some of them didn’t even have shoes on, most had non-matching clothes, and were playing with things like a flat basketball, and yet they were so content!  I had been thinking lately that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have children, but after this experience, I truly feel it would be a waste for me to not share the many blessings and lessons I’ve received and learned from my parents.  I have decided I WILL adopt some day.

                I spent the afternoon with the kids, let the girls paint my finger nails, played with the pupp, ate lunch and then it was time to head back to Monkey Jungle.  On the way, Pastor Joel stopped to see a few of his friends, which was about every block.  This man knew everyone in town!  The final stop we made was to have his tires replaced.  (MJ is a long ways up a really rough road) This was quite an experience in itself!  We pull off the side of the busy road, the only road between the two towns.  The little shack like building next to us is a tire shop.  They send four guys to the car with a jack and start changing tires right in the middle of the road.  It was nuts!  After the craziness was over I returned to MJ, and thanked Pastor Joel for everything!

Sorry I cant upload pictures!  I will continue to try!

Dominoes, Dinner & Down Pours

Sorry it been so long since I've blogged!  We have had pretty horrible internet connection!  I finally feel like I'm settled and enjoying myself.  Not so homesick!  I'm beginning to think I wouldn't be opposed to staying a while longer.  Lots to think about there!  I have really started to fall in love with this country and the people here!  I've met so many good people that are so content and happy with what they have!  It has been so eye opening to me to see the way they live and how much they enjoy each day.  There is truly something to be learned from the simplicity in life!

Each day after work, I walk over the hill to the house thinking "It's gonna be another long night of nothing to do."  But find myself enjoying most of my evenings.  We've done all kinds of things to keep busy; played dominoes & cards, watched movies, compared Bible verses in different language Bibles (that was awesome!)  Even had a little jungle concert, with empty water jugs as bongos!  I guess I'm getting used to the jungle, and really starting to feel at home!  One of my favorite parts of the evening is dinner.  We have been eating dinner with the Zip Line boys!  I have really enjoyed seeing the different things they prepare and trying the different foods, but its also been fun to sit down at the table each night as our own little "family" and enjoy meals, make fun of each other, and tell stories of growing up!  Lesly made the first meal I tried.  When I got to the apartments he was boiling bananas on the stove, and had some sort of red sauce he was mixing in another pot.  I could not figure out how he was going to turn this into something edible.  He added a can of tuna to the red sauce and then cut up his boiled bananas and put the sauce over it.  I was a little nervous about trying it because of the strange combo!  But it was GOOD!!!  The bananas were just like potatoes! The next night Pele made an amazing rice dish with a chicken and onions sauce! I don't question their food choices anymore!

Tonight, I'm making buscuits & gravy!  And Banana bread for breakfast tomorrow!  Its been pouring rain all day so this should be a good warm meal to fill our bellies before a few games of cards!

We have had lots of rain lately, and today and tomorrow are expecting a tropical storm/hurricane Chantal to hit the island.  So we are preparing for flooding!  The temperature has dropped quite a bit, I even wore pants and a jacket today!  But its a nice change!

Gelato in the Park

Today I got to go into Puerto Plata with Candy.  We went to the local market, and picked up some fresh fruits & veggies and lots of nuts and seeds for the animals at the Jungle.  We did a little running around picking up other various things for MJ.  As a treat around lunch time Candy took me to her favorite ice cream parlor.  It is a little Gelato place in the town square, so we got to enjoy fresh gelato in the park.  I got mango, which was of course amazing because it is mango season right now!  :)

After our little treat it was back to business.  She showed me around some of the area, told me what places are safe to visit alone, which was very nice!  Then it was back to the jungle!  Was a long day, but nice to change things up and not do the everyday, routine type things.

Gelato in the Park

Today I got to go into Puerto Plata with Candy.  We went to the local market, and picked up some fresh fruits & veggies and lots of nuts and seeds for the animals at the Jungle.  We did a little running around picking up other various things for MJ.  As a treat around lunch time Candy took me to her favorite ice cream parlor.  It is a little Gelato place in the town square, so we got to enjoy fresh gelato in the park.  I got mango, which was of course amazing because it is mango season right now!  :)

After our little treat it was back to business.  She showed me around some of the area, told me what places are safe to visit alone, which was very nice!  Then it was back to the jungle!  Was a long day, but nice to change things up and not do the everyday, routine type things.

Fillings, Extractions, Root Canals, & Dr Gerry

Yesterday, Saturday was my second day working when the clinics were open.  I sure enjoyed it more than last week.  I got to work in the dental clinic with the main Dentist.  His name is Dr. Gerry.  Almost every patient needed a filling, a tooth removed, or a root canal.  I really enjoyed being able to help with the procedures.  And of course the patients were very appreciative of the work we did.  

Because I've obviously never done dental work, Dr. Gerry had to tell me what to do, and which instruments he needed for different things.  I felt like I was in his way the whole time, and was nervous about doing the right thing...

At lunch, Gerry's wife came up to me and said that he was very impressed by me.  She said that he was hard to work with "He's particular" were her exact words, and it takes the right person to work with him.  I was glad that I was keeping up with his expectations.  I found out later from Chuck, the owner of MJ, that Dr. Gerry requested to work with me over his normal assistant, who just happened to be gone yesterday.  So I will now be in the Dental clinic each Saturday!  :)  Chuck gave me 2 scrub tops with the MJ emblem embroidered on them to wear for the summer, so I'm officially an MJ dental assistant! 

Today was my day off, didnt do much!  Slept in, went into town and got some groceries.  This next week is the start of high season, so we're supposed to be pretty busy!  Gonna get to bed early tonight to get ready for the week ahead!  Sure missing home and Clear Lake for the 4th of July!  

Settling In...

Getting settled in has been a little bit difficult for me.  There are so many comforts from home that I'm missing.  The past few days have been a little hard, as I've come down off the high of arriving and am realizing how much I miss from home!  I'm sure this will pass!

Yesterday was my second day off.  My spanish is still not great, so I was very nervous about going into town by myself, but really wanted some time away from MJ and the nearly empty house.  I asked Lesly to call a taxi for a ride to the beach.  He had the day off also, so he said he might meet up with me later.  I was nervous about riding into town with a stranger who I can barely communicate with.  I have been to Cabarete a few times now, once with my family in December, and then last Saturday night when the whole debacle with the car happened.  So I knew I would be more comfortable when I made it there safely.  

The taxi driver's english was as good as my spanish, so we were able to use our Spanglish and communicate pretty well.  His name was Miguel, and he only had 4 fingers on one hand.  He joked about his wife cutting it off when she was mad at him.  Haha, was nice to have a few laughs to get rid of my nerves.  He dropped me off at the bank in town and asked when I'd like to be picked up.  Because I dont have a phone here, I couldnt call for a ride.  We agreed he would pick me up around 2 o'clock at the same place.  

I got to the beach and had a pancake breakfast.  Then parked it on my lounge chair to enjoy the sun!  I had my book and sunscreen, I was set!!  Was nice to relax, but weird to be on the beach alone.  Lesly did come around 1:00, so we sat and talked for a little while!  Its tough when neither one of us know much of eachother's language.  He speaks Creole, I speak English, and both speak a little Spanish.  You have to get creative with hand gestures and word choice thats for sure! 

One of the things I'm finding amazing is how quickly the locals pick up on other languages!  I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, and can barely remember any of it.  They'll tell me a word and I can repeat it 5-6 times, and still not remember it very shortly after.  If they ask me how to say something, even FULL sentences, I'll tell them once, and they will remember it completely!  And many of the zip line guys are Haitan, so they speak Creole, Spanish, English, some of them French and more!  Sure makes me feel like a stupid American!!

Anyway, back to the beach!  At 2:30, it started to rain so  we packed up and headed back to the bank.  Miguel, the taxi driver, was there waiting!  He gave Lesly a ride back to Sosua and took me back to MJ!  The day was great!  I showered and laid down for a nap.  

When I woke up I went down the apartments to play some Dominoes with the zip line guys!  This has become a nightly thing!  Not much else to do, so I'm getting pretty good at Dominoes!

Anyway, not much else to share for now! 

Lessons Learned

Day 7, My first day off!

Yesterday was Saturday, which means the clinics were open.  We served 133 patients.  I was assigned to work in the pharmacy.  Wow!!  What a difference from the states.  Pills are counted and put into small plastic baggies, then you take a little white label, and write the name of the med, and the directions on how to take it and stick it to the front of the bag.  Liquid medications for children are dispensed in empty plastic water bottles.  I was SHOCKED!  But it was very humbling to see all these people being treated for free because of all the work I had was able to do the week prior.  Chuck & Candy have an amazing organization set up here!

Being it was Saturday night, AND pay day, the zip line boys were all going out for the night.  They asked us to come along.  Because Manuel and I were both fairly busy all afternoon, Kori made arrangements with the guys for transportation and where we'd go.  Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the Dominican culture isn't as trust worthy as it may be in Canada or the States.  He paid $35 to "rent" a car for 24 hours, which was supposed to be brought back to our place at 9pm.  Manuel and I quickly explained to him that its not a good idea to pay ahead, and we shouldn't count on the car showing up.  Around 9:15 when the car didn't show, we decided we'd better make other arrangements.  This was when we realized we didn't even have a phone that we could call for a cab or to make other plans! Needless to say, Manuel and I were not extremely pleased with Kori.  But it is what it is, so we were preparing to hunker down for the night.  Then Manuel suggested we ask Pele, one of the farm hands that lives below us, if we could borrow his phone and then we'd ask him to come along with us for dinner and we'd pay.  Pele of course thought this was a great trade, and we called for a cab. He was to arrive in 20 min.

No joke, 2 minutes later the car shows up the Kori had planned for.  After much debate, we decided to call the cab and let him know we had found a ride.  We all piled into a minivan and made the trip down the hill.  When we got to Cabarete, we went to a restaurant on the beach.  It is actually a place I had eaten with my family in December.  Great place, owned by a Canadian, called Kahuna's.  We got a table, ordered some drinks and had a good time goofing around.  We got our bill and Manuel, Kori & I started to get out our money to pay for our drinks, food and for Pele.  The guy that Kori had made arrangements with and the driver had both had drinks, and at this point decided to tell us that they didn't have any money.  They were expecting us to pay.  WHOA!! Wait a second!  Manuel and I were already feeling like we got taken advantage of and now this?!  It ended up that we covered the extra on the bill and we decided to go home.

On the walk back to the car, Manuel again tried to explain to Kori why he and I were upset.  The car ride home was fairly quiet. When we got back to the house, Pele thanked us for everything, and went to his apartment, we all headed to bed.

Sunday, today, is my day off so I was able to sleep in this morning!  Was great.  I got up and straightened up my room.  Made my bed up, swept my bed room, and straightened up my clothes.  Living out of a suit case, its tough to keep things organized!   So it was nice to have the time to fold clothes back up and straighten up some.  I'm finding it hard to keep myself busy on my day off.  Gonna do some reading and sun bathing this afternoon I hope.  It is definitely humbling to realize how spoiled we are in the states with TV, air conditioning, game systems, cars & transportation, etc.

Sipp Lyne!

Wow!!  Day 5 was great!

Woke up feeling well rested, took my daily cold shower, and headed out to meet Candy at "the Jungle".  Candy and I did the first feeding of the monkeys.  I love to go in with Candy, because she knows each one of them by name! And they LOVE her!  We had a few tourists this morning, but the afternoon was a little slow which meant...

I got to zip line for the first time at MJ today!  Akon, Wesley Snipes, and Usher took me and a group of visitors.  The course here at MJ is much safer than the course I did in December when we were here.  The course is 5500 ft long, 7 stations.  One of which is a 50 foot free fall into a cave.  I was freaked out!  You sit down on the edge of a platform and basically scoot your butt off the edge.  I was having a hard time actually getting myself to do it, so Usher, his real name is Leslie, 6'3" 250lb. Haitan, picked me up and dropped me!  I could have KILLED him!  My stomach was in my throat, but it was pretty awesome!  On the last line, #7, Wesley Snipes, his name is Steph, told me I didnt have a choice but to go upside down!  He attached our harnesses and went with me while I hung upside down, and he flipped me back over when we got to the end!  That was CRAZY!  I probably wont do that again!

After zip lining, I did the final monkey feeding then we closed up shop for the day!

Wanna give out a special shout to my sister Whitney, she turns 20 today! :)

I've been missing you like Candy...

Day 4

            Today, Chuck's (the owner of JM) wife Candy arrived.  She had been in the states having eye surgery.  It was so nice to finally meet her and learn the "proper" way to do so many things!  Chuck did his best to train us, but she really knows ALL the details of "The Jungle"! 

            Candy LOVES the monkeys, they are definitely her babies, and they definitely missed their Momma! I was fortunate enough to get to spend the day with her, learning all of her tricks and tips about how to care for the animals and how to bond with many of them as well!  As goofy & wild as Chuck is, Candy is just as calm & sweet!  Was nice to have her around to keep things calm when we got busy!  

            Not sure if I've written about the other volunteers yet or not.  Manuel is 
Venezuelan, but lives in Toronto, Canada.  His spanish is impeccable.  Even 
the locals ask where he's from because they speak "jungle spanish" and his is
very proper.  Kori is from Calgary, Canada.  He got in 2 days ago and has jumped
 right in.  So I'm stuck with two Canadians for the summer, Eh?

            The boys did some zip lining today with some groups, and I was able to 
work the bar. Which was fun.  I've never "bar tended" (if you can call it that) or even 
weighted tables!  My extent of this kind of work was the concession stand in high 
school!  And don’t get me wrong this is very similar, but I don't count AMERICAN 
change well, but now I have to count US Dollars AND Dominican Pesos.  Oooofta! 
It gets a little rough!  It has been so neat for me to meet all the tourist and find out
where people are from and what their stories are.  One of the zip line groups had a
lady who was slightly disabled.  She walked with canes and had significant braces 
on her legs. She was able to zip line with the help of Leslie (one of the "zip 
line boys") and also even walked into the Jungle (which is lots of stairs)!  Zip 
Lining was on her bucket list, so she was thrilled to complete the course!  This is 
the stuff that will be so rewarding all summer long; seeing people enjoy what I get
to do every day.  I’m feeling very fortunate to be here.  

            Last night we walked down from the house were staying in to the apartments 
that the "zip line boys" live in. and spent a little time with them.  They listen to US
music, but its older stuff that I listened to in high school, even middle school!  So it 
was fun to know the songs and jam out with them to the "oldies" for me!

            I should probably explain that Chuck gives all the "zip line boys" (who 
are local Dominicans or Haitans) what he calls monkey names.  Michael 
Jackson, Eddie Murphy, Akon, Wesley Snipes, etc.  So if I ever refer to one 
of them, NO the celebrity is not here! Although, a few big namers have been; 
Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith! 

            The clinics are open on Saturdays, so I'm very anxiously awaiting Sabado.  Working hard on learning spanish words here and there!  Chuck says they serve about 150 people on a Saturday, that’s including medical and dental work.  The last 2 Saturdays they had to turn away 60 people.  I'm sure it’s going to be a very over whelming and humbling experience.  

Welcome to The Jungle!

Wow!  What a whirl wind the last few days have been!

On Saturday, my cousin got married, I was supposed to meet my family at the wedding at 4pm.  Tim and I took off around 1, so should have had plenty of time! I was set to fly out to DR the next morning at 6:25am, had all my bags packed and was ready to go!  I thought!!! After a few mishaps on the drive up, I realized I didnt have my purse, which of course had everything important, passport, medicines, travel money, you know all the stuff you CANT leave behind!  Unfortunately, I realized this around 2:30, so there was no way to turn around and get my purse and make it to the wedding also.  :(

We turned around, I got my purse and we hit the road again, enjoyed a nice dinner and then met my family at the reception!  Spent my last night in the states enjoying Margaritas and Bowling!  Was up pretty late and then after about 2 hours of sleep, the alarm went off to head to the airport!

My flight was pretty awesome!  I was fortunate enough to fly first class, was served two full, hot meals, booze, and multiple soft drinks!  As I'm on the flight thinking about the fact that I'll be landing in a 3rd world country, I definitely was feeling like a spoiled rotten American!  When I landed in DR, got my bag, came out of the Airport and met Chuck.  He is the owner of Monkey Jungle.  Great guy, from Tennessee, very welcoming and easy to get along with.  He and I waited for Manuel, the other volunteer.  He is Venezuelan, but was raised in Canada, so he speaks english, spanish, and some french!  So he has been a huge help today as I know almost NO spanish!  Chuck took us to the grocery store, and we picked up a few things for snacks.  Then it was off to The Jungle!

We are living in a home built on the land but off the main "campus".  It is just up the hill (which means lots of walking, which will be great for my summer weight loss program!)  I have my own room, with a KING size bed!  Nuts!!  and my own bathroom.  Only problem with the bathroom so far, is no Hot Water!!  Showers are very quick, but obviously greatly appreciated!  Anyway, after arriving at our casa, Manuel and I did a little unpacking and I laid down to "nap".  Woke up the next morning!!

We start our work day at 8am.  Just so happens that Chuck, the owner, had to take some of the staff to Sosua (into town) this morning.  So it was up to Manuel and I to open the place.  I was a little nervous, but some of the other locals who are on staff here helped quite a bit!  The day went smooth, we had a couple monkey tours, but no zip liners!  Chuck said the tips Manuel and I made was a record, so I guess we're doing something right!

Tomorrow is another day, another cold shower, and more monkey fun!  Hopefully more Spanish for this girl!

The Begining...

April 3 of 2012, I was living in Augusta, GA.  I got a phone call from my mother, while I was home on my lunch break, that my grandmother had been hit by a car while walking home from the bank.  She was being taken into surgery immediately in hopes to relieve pressure and swelling around her brain.  A few hours later, back at work, I got another call that the surgery was unsuccessful and she hadn't made it through.  I was shattered, broken, lost, and alone!  I wanted nothing more but to get on the next flight out of town and be at home, in Iowa, with my family.  I had no idea at that point what an amazing blessing my grandmothers death would be!

I did fly home that evening and spent the next week with my family and friends, celebrating what an amazing person, an Angel really, my grandmother was!  I returned to the south, and over the next few months life changed quite a bit.  Due to other circumstances, I made the decision to  moved back to Iowa in August 2012. 

Later that year, as Christmas got closer, a holiday we had spent every year at Grandma's, Dad decided that we should have a "completely different Christmas".  He began the planning and research and ended up booking a trip to the Dominican Republic.  I was very excited to spend some time in "Paradise" with my immediate family.  We had never been able to take vacations like this while I was growing up, and I had spent the last 4 years living 23 hours away from my family, so I was not only looking forward to the once in a life time opportunity to travel, but also to spending time with the people I love (& at times dislike) so much! :)

The trip was life changing!  Not only for Me and my family, but we were able to make numerous connections that truly have changed our lives, and I feel the lives of local Dominicans as well.  We were blessed to use money that my Dad inherited from Grandma's passing to sponsor an event called "12 Days of Christmas", which is held at a restaurant just around the corner from the home we stayed at in DR.  Local orphan children are brought into town to this restaurant and served a traditional Dominican meal, Santa Clause comes and gives out gifts, games are played, pinata is hit, its over all an amazing day for these children who truly have only each other!

At this event our family met Pastor Joel, who runs an orphanage in Puerto Plata, DR.  He invited my family to come visit the orphanage and spend an afternoon with the kids! Because I had to return to the U.S. for work, I wasn't able to make the visit with my parents and sisters.  But I heard all about it when they returned home!  It was very clear that a forever connection was made that day!
 
In March, my Dad, Brother, Sister and a good friend of our family returned to DR and the orphanage.  They spent a week there, and were able to start a second story addition to expand the living area for the kids.  It was on this trip that my Dad, Brother & Sister heard about and got to visit Monkey Jungle. When they returned home, they told me about the summer "internship" opportunity, and all about what the facility does, I was immediately interested!

Monkey Jungle is a medical/dental clinic in Sosua, Puerto Plata, DR, which is funded by a tourist Zip Line attraction and Monkey Tour.  I have always enjoyed the medical field and have always hoped to do some type of missions work, so after hearing all that Monkey Jungle does, it seemed like a great opportunity & fit for me. I decided I was going to take the plunge!  I knew I had a limited amount of time before I turn 26 in October, and would no longer be able to be on my parents insurance, which as a diabetic, I cant go with out.  So this was it, I booked my ticket, and I would leave June 16!

Now my departure is just 12 days away!  The packing is overwhelming, my Spanish has not improved at all,  and I've made new friends in Clear Lake & reconnected with so many people that I know its going to be hard to leave.  BUT, I know this will be an opportunity I will never regret!  Gramaudie always encouraged us grand kids to do what made us happy!  And she was such an amazing example of giving, and caring for others, I only hope that I can be half of the woman she was!  I look forward to bringing a little piece of Maudie to the DR again with me! 

I will continue to blog over the Summer, in hopes to share my adventures with y'all!!  I'm sure its going to one heck of a journey!  :)