Friday May 6th
Friday we were all packed and ready to go! I had originally planned to drive my truck so I would have room for everyone's luggage, however, enough changed in Josh's work schedule we decided it would be better if we took two cars down instead of my truck. BUT we fit everything into Andrea's car (barely!) and we headed to Vegas.
Bonnie's parents were so awesome and let all of us stay at their house. I think there were 10 of us there. They even made us dinner! And had breakfast stuff for us to pack. There were suitcases everywhere. We were shuffling things around trying to make all our suitcases under 50 pounds. It must not have been totally accurate because mine was 52 pounds but they let it go.
Saturday May 7th
This was a REALLY long day! We got up at 3:00 a.m. and headed to the airport. We met the rest of the group (Rural Health Scholars) and began the process of getting on an airplane. We all had to check baggage, make it through security and get on the plane by 6 a.m. There were 32 of us. Thankfully the airport wasn't too busy that early in the morning. I always tell people that 5 a.m. (or anything before 7 or 8 really) isn't a time of day. That was especially true today!
We flew to JFK (5 1/2 hour flight) where we had an hour to make our next flight. We pretty much ran. When we got to our next gate I had just enough time to go to the bathroom and buy a bag of cashews and a Dr. Pepper before boarding our next flight to the DR! Most people slept part to all of the way on both flights...not me. I sat with my eyes closed for a few hours but that doesn't count. I did a little studying for the CFRN and listened to a book on Audible for the rest of the flights.
When we tried to land in Santo Domingo it was really stormy and a little bumpy coming in. It didn't bother me because I'm so used to the heat waves coming off the sandstone in Page all summer long but it made some of the students a little nervous/nauseous. We were coming down through thick dark clouds and I kept thinking we have to be close but we never broke out of the clouds and sure enough the engines roared back up and we started to lift again. This freaked a few of them out and I explained a missed approach to them and that the pilots have to be able to see the ground at a certain height or they have to go around and try again. We did figure 8s in the sky for about 30 minutes before coming back in and landing safely. I had one student throwing up and about 5-8 more that were really really pale by the time we landed.
Once we landed we had to go through customs. You have to pay $10 to enter the country and they give you a little receipt. Then you go through customs, answer their questions, get your fingerprints done and get your passport stamped. That took quite awhile. Then we got our luggage and met our Laura from Solid Rock out in the main part of the airport. She had bought pizza and coke and so we all got to sit down and finally get something that looked like a meal for the first time that day (It was about 8 or 9 pm Eastern time)!
Then we loaded all our stuff up into the buses and started the trip to where we stayed the night. It should've only taken 1.5 hours to get there but it had flooded and there were lakes in the streets so it took about 2. The Dominican's drive like crazy people and it was an eye opening experience for sure! They pass all over the place whether you should or not and there are motorcycles everywhere! There were also no seat belts in the bus! The students told me later they were just praying that if we got in a wreck that I wouldn't get hurt so I could save them all, ha ha.
We got to the place where we were staying around 11 pm. They had some left over food for us. I wish I'd taken more pictures but I guess I was too tired! I think it was kind of similar to where we were going in purpose. There is a school there for kids and people come and stay there while they do humanitarian work. One of the guys who works there told us that he travels 2 hours a day one way to attend school (a university) and then works and this place at night. It was really hot and humid and I had a hard time going to sleep at first. We had to be up pretty early for breakfast and to head to San Juan De La Maguana.
This guy travels by bus 2 hours every day back and forth to work here and then to go into the city and go to school
Sunday May 8th-Mother's Day
We got up and they had breakfast for us. We ate and got ready to go. My girls (Can I call them my girls??? They're my nursing students, they're all girls and I just freaking love them) all told me Happy Mother's day and gave me a card and some chocolate. Aren't they the sweetest!
We got on the bus and traveled to San Juan. Again the bus ride was a whole new experience in driving for us and a little sketchy! Passing on double yellows, motorcycles weaving! But the ride out there was beautiful. It's such a beautiful place. We stopped half way there for a bathroom break, which I passed on but Laura got on the bus and told us if we ever wanted to go to the bathroom we couldn't be shy and we'd have to be aggressive....lines don't really exist in the DR. I guess when you stood up you could see over the wall and chat with the person next to you and don't mind all the people who open the door while you're in there to see if it's empty!
When we got to the Solid Rock Guest house we were given our room assignments (since I'm a teacher I guess I get my own room!) and we were able to settle in for a bit. (And apply lots of bug lotion--they have Zika here!) Then we met in the main dining area and got a little orientation to the guest house, Solid Rock, what we'd be doing and the town. After that we started sorting our donations into days and putting our medications away and bagging up vitamins, ibuprofen and tylenol into baggies of 30 with instructions on them.
After we got done getting ready for our clinics we had some free time to explore before dinner at 6. So we headed into town (with Macy because she speaks Spanish!). By the way, it's rainy season so it rained every afternoon, including this one.
There's a banana tree in the yard if you can find it
There were a ton of unfinished houses. Part would be lived in the other unfinished
This guy is riding with his umbrella :)
Dinner was tacos. They said we'd start eating Dominican food tomorrow. The Dominican food was awesome though and you can find their recipes under Solid Rock International on pinterest. I was able to get some wifi and tell Josh and the boys I made it. The rooms aren't as hot here because they have screen windows with shutters so you can open them all up and get some air flow but I think I only used my blanket one night the whole time. They also have some fans. I should've taken more pics of the room....like the awesome shower!
We all get to take turns helping with the dishes. It's quite the process because you have to rinse and then wash and then wash them in bleach water so we don't get sick from the water.
My room.
I had a hard time going to sleep most nights, maybe because of jet lag or I'm just used to staying up late, I don't know. But we got up early every morning. So I showered and laid in bed until I fell asleep!
They took us to a church service Sunday evening. It was all in Spanish and it's hard to tell when they're praying (they don't do it like we do!) So we were glad Macy was there to tell us when they were praying. They played christian rock music for the first 30-40 minutes then the pastor spoke. He talked some in English so we'd know what was going on. It was fun. I wish I'd known what they were saying more though. There was a cute blind old woman who would dance and sing along she was so cute.
On our way to church....we just ride in the back of trucks....it's fine.
We don't know the guy in this picture, he just jumped in! lol
We were ready to go do some clinics!
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