Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Med Mission-Monte Cristi

**Kinda new at this blog thing, so be patient.

Fellow PCV's
A few days after completing the one year in country (Aug 17).  Sitting in the breeze using my project partners internet.  Merengue playing from the neighbors house.  Lunch composed of locrio de longaniza y cerdo, fried plantains and a pasta tuna salad.

Last week I was in Monte Cristi, a province in the northern part of the country that shares part of the border with Haiti.  Very dessert-like topography.  But still diverse with it's beaches, mangroves and large mountain rocks.  It's like Florida meets, California, meets New Mexico or something, haha.

Interpreting for Doctor Ash


I was in Monte Cristi with a few other volunteers working at a med mission hosted by Timmy Global in the US http://www.timmyglobalhealth.org/ and Banelino in the DR http://www.banelino.com/es/.  After a long day of interpreting at the med mission, a few volunteer's and I went to the beach.  Morro Beach is totally not what you would expect from your 'screen saver' tropical island.  The waves were rough, the sand was a red-ish tint.  It felt like both the sky and the waves we're coming towards me, while the tall rocks on either side were closing in.
Morro Beach


Working at the med mission was inspiring.  I was very proud of the students form Wash U in Missouri and Colorado State University who dedicated one week before the start of the school year to taste a little bit of what it's like live in the DR.  At the second to last group dinner, I commended the students as well as expressed my appreciation to the doctors on the trip that gave up their salary, family and comforts of life in the US to work with people who seldom to never visit a physician.

Highlights of the week were:
1.  Pretending to be otters in the mangroves with the college students.  2. Snorkeling for the first time ever.  3.  Taking two small pieces of the new herb that practically makes you inmortal, 'Moringa,' with 10 year old boys.
Playing 'otters' in the mangroves

Well, that's it for the first one!!






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