Things I NEVER wanted to experience in the DR and other stuff :)

Soooooo, our first teams were set to leave on Tuesday, then the rest of that day is getting all the sleeping and eating areas ready for the next round of teams. The day was going as planned and then about 5ish that afternoon things started to go down hill for me...and fast.

I was soooo feverish and felt faint/dizzy/fatigued. Left the work site to go take my temp (had to be driven back to the dorm by Luis...which by the way he has become my favorite person here! more about him in another blog to come!) I got to the staff nurse and it was confirmed, I had a fever. Then I went home, took some medicine, was in and out of sleep, THEN the "other symptoms" began. I'll spare you the details. I was in and out of sleep all night, woke up at 6am Wednesday morning with a very high temperature...was taken to get blood work done which I then passed out at the clinic...then came back to home to the iv that was waiting for me...rested a lot that day...then had a semi-ok day on thursday with the fever to return that night. whew....

just typing all that makes me tired. I am still pretty fatigued, very weak (haven't had barely any food since tuesday at lunch time) If my fever returns then I will need to go get more blood work done, if not then I just need to spend time resting and getting ready to start back to work as soon as I can. Please pray this happens quickly...being in bed for 3 1/2 days and probably more is absolutely no fun!!!

All in all my time here in the DR has been AMAZING! I had a great time with the first team. Thanks EASTVIEW for making my first team experience a great one!!!! It was a joy to share life with those people for a week and work alongside them!

Here are some things that I thought would be fun to share about my time here. Hopefully this will give you a snapshot of what living in the DR is like:

1. rooster cook-a-doodle-do at midnight on a regular basis.
2. loud music that shakes the foundation of a house is a regular occurance.
3. skim ices are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! (they are like freeze pops but sooooo much better)
4. beans and rice. eggs and chicken. need i say more?
5. squeaky doors are alarm systems.
6. horns are honked just because.
7. even if a moto driver tells you he can take you to your neighborhood doesn't actually mean he will. but the taxi driver outside of the city did make good on his promise to return us home!
8. there is a Burger King in the mall in the city and it tastes the same.
9. water is a blessing and must not be taken for granted.
10. i'm convinced that mosquitos are infatuated with me anymore because there is more tastier blood entering the country.
11. you can buy just about anything from the street vendors.
12. there is something refreshing about hanging your clothes out to dry.
13. Dominicans have an amazing way of making you feel like family.
14. EVERYONE checks on you when you are sick, numerous times a day. this made me feel very loved!
15. spanish is hard to learn when people speak fast and drop the "s" off of most words.
16. Dominican time is not like American time. ten minutes could really mean 4 days.
17. saying "hola" can bring a smile to a childs face.
18. I feel like I am in my own parade when walking down the street. Can I help it I am pasty white and blonde??? :)
19. Construction workers are FANTASTIC! They are hard workers like nothing I have ever seen before!
20. no matter what the end result is of my time here, the DR will always feel like home.