A typical day last week:

                                                           NICOLE-Middle-The translator.

                                                          kid caught cheating on eye exam.

                                                              bebe being shown by student doc Josh

----exhuasted

4 Clinic days included a wake up with the sunrise, ready, set to go at 7:15 to have devotions as a team. Then, eat breakfast before heading in our bus with our favorite bus driver for the clinic to be there by 8AM sharp to start the day strong. Once settled, if there were not already patients lined up, we would meet to pray as a huge team including: Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra Dominican Doctors and Student Doctors, Christian High School translators, local church young men from Iglesia Comunidad Multicultural there to help translate and connect our patients to the church that made all of this possible, and Dr. Pederson (missionary dr) who was the big link in the chain connecting Liberty to the church for this inter-cultural event.  Then the day would proceed with our patients; each student doctor paired to interview every patient in one of the two nonAC/non-ventilated/windowless rooms and then proceed to present the case to one of our doctors who would then see the patient. We would break around 2PM for lunch and proceed shortly to finish off the day by around 5PM. A few days we got to help serve the local children dinner because their families could not afford to feed them. We sang songs for them about Jesus, we laughed and played games and were awe-struck at the beautiful faces showing pure joy in the midst of a so-called impoverished land. We climbed the bus home to recount the events of the day marveling at God's work happening all around us.  Dinner was served by the same tender-hearted cooks who made us breakfast everyday. We ate yucca (better than potatoes!) and sausage with sauce on one particular night- might have been my favorite meal.  We then proceeded with some impromptu worship or games, bonding and getting to know each other before the inevitable and treasured sleep time. I know it all sounds like kumbaya, but it turned out to be a week that we will all never forget, we all agreed, like a sliver of heaven, it makes me even that more excited to see what it will all truly be like: "every tribe, every nation, every tongue declares His Glory!"

Never have I felt God saying "yes, you will be a missionary doctor." This trip was not an all-around aha moment, but more of a solidification that I do not want that trip to be my last in medically helping those in much more need than those here in the comfy USA.

I found myself having moments of quiet contemplation in the hot, sweaty afternoons and on bus rides about either all the crazy, sad stories from our patients or memories that came back to me I did not know I had from the DRC days. I couldn't describe the feeling to anyone and it is difficult to write about, but all I know is that it has always been easy for me to drop and pickup in some new unexplored town with either mom or dad or Josh nowadays never really giving time for reflection or contemplation.

I was triggered by the body odor stench, the 98 humidity, and the blinding white teeth of a Haitian women reminding me of something all too familiar. A friendly Mbote came to my lips as I recalled saying Hi to Fifi before running off with Theo, Eva, and dad to school. As I now look back on the week, I wondered why I felt an extra bond with the cook named Evelyne who I quickly jumped up from the table to help do dishes with. She was all too surprised by my eagerness and we exchanged friendly body language and some broken french with her African sounding Creole. God allowed something neat to happen, the second day of clinic my partner and I were just finishing our first patient of the day when the nurse navigator handed us #2. She looked way too familiar to me as I read her paper allowed "Evelyne?!" I exclaimed, "Soy Sarah" and she smiled the best smile in the DR. I immediately asked my favorite translator, Nicole (we grew so close she came back on day 4 and we got an extra day with her!!! )  "ask her what she's here for please..." as we took our seats in our little circle.

She explained "I am pregnant with my second." I was elated, this meant we (meaning I!) got to show her her baby on Ultrasound!!! No one in this town has money enough to check their baby out on a Ultrasound, in fact not even our friendly Dominican friends knew how to navigate an Ultrasound. One time I got asked to perform ultrasound on a patient that wasn't even mine because she was pregnant and the DR Dr. had never done one before so I gladly taught her how to do it. We had brought our battery/portable one with us from the states... $10,000?

Anyways, Evelyne wanting to know when her baby would come was about 3 months off when she tried to remember the date of her last period, so we gladly exclaimed "you are due June 21st!"- seeing how big the baby was on ultrasound and she was happy to know. The little baby's heart beat like little blinking eyes- lub dub lub dub. so cute and exciting to see...Once you spot it you can safely say baby is VIABLE :)

One other highlight for me was doing some serious OMT on not just my patients but the Dominican Drs patients (they had no clue how to) AND some Dominican doctors and student doctors!!! It was amazing to watch and explain what we were doing with our hands to help the body's innate ability to heal itself and to observe the doctors eyes widen as they watched countless patients get up from the table with a sigh of relief and happy smile. My translator Nicole wanted me to treat her so bad, the last day I did a new technique my colleague Mark taught me and the result was AUDIBLE. Loud and satisfying, Nicole said that was what her back had been needing.

 Josh got in on the fun, I watched as he performed some himself as he has felt some OMT I have gotten to perform on him, our preceptors keep telling us, the best way to learn is to feel it as the patient does, he has caught on fast. If you don't get to hear from him directly I will say he was doing all kinds of things there. First and foremost he was in charge of all the keys, to where we slept and the house, etc. He also did do OMT, performed ear irrigations (I was sad I didn't get to do any of those, the most satisfying feeling). Also examined countless patients eyes to help find the reading glasses for them, made sure they were not cheating to get the pair they thought were "prettiest" not the glasses they actually needed. Speaking a ton of Spanish to all and any he encountered. Helped with the pharmacy distributing, helped colleagues with multiple cases, hearing hearts, lungs, etc.

 It was a privilege being on the trip with and experiencing it all together with him, I know I have said a lot but to me, it all is still so hard to describe. I could keep going and going for daysssss.
That about does it tonight, pray that I can somehow jump back into the reality of boards and continued school madness...

                                 church time at ICM

           THE Dr. Bogacz, Preceptor of all preceptors

Tammy-nurse navigator, Edmund-french/creole speaking translator

 Sabrina was my partner all week!

Chef Evelyne in brown (right)

Here's me. Hehe

Getting a Blog does not mean your life is going downhill

Today,

I got up at the usual 6:15 in the morning and woke up to "Without Love" by the Original Soundtrack from Hairspray. Ever since I got my iHome for Christmas I have enjoyed waking up to a different song every day! Technology is a wonderful thing. It's a great song too. By the way, I thoroughly enjoy many different types of Musicals and Broadways. At the moment I am listening to Defying Gravity by Idina Menzel from the Musical Wicked. I am absolutely in love with her voice and the musical and it's a dream of mine to go see the Real-deal Broadway in NY someday soon. So anyways, Music has recently been a huge part of my everyday thoughts and life. It must have something to do with how I have had such a wretched time of trying to make friends in this "new" school I go to now. However, after more than halfway through the school-year, I am beginning to feel a lot more accepted and feel like I have real, legit friends. But it took quite some time. So music was an easy way to escape, as sad as that might sound. I listen to all types. And at the pool today, (we have a really nice Community pool in a sweet little neighborhood) I decided to listen to a style I haven't listened to in a while: Christian-Contemporary. And boy, was I glad I did. My brother and I are going to a Mark Schultz and Point of Grace with a cool Youth Group around here. So, I thought I better get familiar with Mark because I hadn't heard him before. So I listened to him for about an hour and really enjoyed it. Then, listened to some good 'ol Point of Grace. That was one of the first groups I was allowed to listen to as a girl. And then later didn't like them, (thought I was too cool for them) but now I'm likin' 'em all over again. I guess I'm blabbering about music more than my day, but how interesting could a teenage girl's normal day be? I have to stop now. Stop.

Hi there!

Good Afternoon!

I'm new at this so bear with me. I really don't know what to write for the first time, but I made this for a friend who wants to hear from me. Well, at the moment I am not supposed to be on here. Homework for the moment did not sound like the best thing to do. However, I have to finish it someday and since today is Sunday, I will have to write here another day.

Farewell.