Back in the Swing of Things

I am better!! I actually started feeling better Monday, but still spent the whole day resting, and I have been slowly recovering since then, and almost feel back to full health again! I have no idea how I got sick or why it was such a rough 24 hours, but I’m just glad it passed quickly and we didn’t have to go to the clinic.

We arrived Tuesday (June 15, over two weeks ago now!) to Santo Domingo and stayed there for 2 days in a nice hotel and had orientation sessions during the day with the students. Then we came to Jarabacoa, which is where we will be for the summer. It's about 3 hours from the coast, in a valley in the mountains, about 4000 ft elevation, so the weather is great! Except that it has rained every single day since we've been here, but I guess we are on a Caribbean island :)

(a true Dominican with my grocery sack to protect my hair :))

We are living with a host family who is super sweet and takes great care of us. The main lady is a woman about 55 and her 30 year old son lives with her, along with his 2 year old son for most of the week. Since we’ve arrived, her other daughter and granddaughter have been visiting, and we think they are leaving this weekend. So needless to say, it’s a packed house. The house is a tiny 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 story house, and is cozy, but it is definitely taking some getting used to for Justin and I, since we have very little privacy. Our room is literally a foot from the kitchen, and about 4 feet from the two other rooms. We definitely miss our own space. So while we love being fed three meals a day and having a great place to rest our heads, it has been challenging as a married couple to really feel at home here.

Justin and I are really excited to be here, he's doing great at his job so far. There's about 20 students, and we've spent most of our days so far with them learning about the country, getting them started on their research projects, and helping them learn the town. We have also gone on multiple field trips to visit different health facilities as most of the student’s research projects will regard health in the DR. It has been really interesting to see the differences in health systems. Once again, I see how blessed we are to live in America.

It is a bit harder for me being here, as I don’t feel as purposeful as Justin, and so it has been harder for me to adjust. I was actually very surprised at this since I’ve already lived in a foreign country, but each experience is new and not like the last. But it’s been getting better, and I feel so lucky just to have a relaxing summer in a beautiful country speaking Spanish and just loving on my husband as he strives to do his job well.

On a final note, the DR is a developing nation, so many of the comforts from back home are gone. It is definitely hard, but I believe it’s good to be reminded that all we need is the Lord and we truly don’t deserve anything. One of the hardest things for me has been cold showers…it sucks every time, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. But hey, at least our house has a shower and I don’t have to use a bucket J

Another thing, the power and water goes out at least once every 24 hours. There are so many reasons for this, most just being that conservation isn’t common knowledge here. This is an adventure, especially when you wake up in the middle of the night sweating because your fan has gone off. No fun.

Trash. There is really little to no system of trash pickup here, so where anyone’s trash goes, who really knows. A lot goes in the street, in the river, and just piled up in people’s backyards. I’m pretty sure somebody picks up my host family’s trash once every couple of weeks, but there is no dump (much less landfill) in town, so who knows. Once again, makes us appreciate home.