First few days of the DR

Currently I'm sitting in an air conditioned restaurant enjoying some sweet tea and quiet. This is quite the contrast from my 11 days in the heat of the Dominican Republic. There was no air conditioning and no quiet while in a poor community giving out free eye exams and glasses, doing health clinics, playing with children and installing a water purifier.

My first two days were spent being the organizer/bouncer of the vision clinic in a community called Heina Abajo. I had a chance to speak a lot of spanish while in the DR but during these times my comprehension was at an all time low. I must admit that at times my frustration got the best of me. Later in day two I realized that no one could understand me if I spoke english so when anger began to rise I would just "express myself" in english. Many of the older women were very sympathetic to my stress and when I began "expressing myself" they would pray for me. No joke, they would just start praying in spanish. It was an interesting contrast.

Day three I got dehydrated and barfed. That's pretty much all I did. But I saw some beautiful qualtities of care that the Dominican people have. My helpers from the past two days, sat with me, held back my hair and took care of me. There were several others that cared for me by giving me water, gatorade or offering to take me to the hospital. I hardly knew these people and they truly cared for me(despite my grossness).

I'm going to split up the trip into a few posts. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!