DR day 2

Hello again from the DR. As I write this I am sitting in a rocking chair on the second floor balcony of the monastery watching the rain come pouring down over the mountains.  Storms always make me pause and consider the greatness of God. Us humans we are so helpless against the forces of nature. It’s only by God’s powerful hand that we are sustained.

Today was a great day. I was assigned to clinic #1 in a little village about 15 minutes from the monastery. Another bonus for today was that I got the Internet to work enough to talk to my mom briefly in the morning. I was so tired I went to bed at 8pm last night and didn’t wake up till 7am.  Needless to say, I had a lot more energy today then yesterday. Today we held the clinic in someone’s house, literally. This woman was gracious enough to open her home to the entire community. I ran triage again. Today was a bit smoother because we were outside and had more space. We saw around 120 Pts. We worked straight from 9:30-5:00 with only at 15 break at 1:40 for lunch. There were so many babies! Every adult had at least one kid with them and some had as many as four. They were so cute.

One thing I was really thinking about one of the principles from the book I was reading. Avoid paternalism. The book also discusses how poverty is more then just lack of material things. Poverty also involves emotions such as shame, hopelessness, and inferiority.  All day long I was asking myself “ Do I see these people as inferior?” Am I treating them as if they are inferior?”

Dinner tonight was amazing. Salad, white rice, meatballs, corn fritters and avocado. At first I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with the avocado, but someone suggested smashing it up in the rice. Let me tell you, best decision I’ve made in a while. It tasted so good. I love trying new food. It’s one of my favorite things about traveling. 

Tonight was amazing. After dinner I played a couple rounds of dominos, then I went over to hang out with the students who were doing a little dancing under the patio. I love dancing, but I never feel as culturally awkward as when I’m around latin styles of dance. To be perfectly honest, I just can’t get my body to move correctly to make it look natural.

I left that about 10 to go to bed. However, As I was walking I ran into two of the guys on our trip and we ended up talking about God until Midnight. It was the most fun I had in a while.

Most of the time these days, I exist in a little bubble. I go to school, I go to work, I go to church. I tend to interact with the same people everyday. It was so nice to talk about God with new people. After awhile, one of the guy left and was replaced by a reformed Jewish girl. We had a great conversation. I feel like I really learned a lot about her perspective.