Jarabacoa, Clases, Etc.

Aug 23 2009

Hey guys! Hope all is well back in Michigan if you guys are still there! Just thought I would tell you guys whats been going on so far since I last blog. Yesterday was really interesting because we went to Jarabacoa, a city in the Dominican Alps. In Jarabacoa we meet Stacy’s and Jen’s families and got to tour Jarabacoa a bit more and see where they lived and studied for the summer program. It is completely different from Santiago in so many ways. It’s a little slower paced, less people, more relaxed but also more impoverished. But seeing this is what really gets me interested in the social factors of public health and how education is taught in these regions regarding health issues. Hopefully we’ll be able to go back and see more of Jarabacoa and really get a good idea of what those cities in the “campos” are like.

Anyway, besides seeing Jarabacoa we also went to the Salto de Jimenoa which is about 20 minutes outside of Jarabacoa. The Salto de Jimenoa is basically a huge waterfall with an area to swim in the runoff area of the waterfall. I’ve got some pictures I’ll put up later when I have more time to do so. Anyway, we were told that there was a path you could take from the Salto de Jimenoa to the other waterfall about 40 minutes away. Well that’s a story in and of itself. Haha, what happened is that we got separated and sort of lost. :( It was like a movie, a bit of a disaster, but a happy ending. We climbed all the way up to a green water tank which took about 50 minutes to do so, and realized that we had no idea where to go, since Stacy, who took the path before, had been separated from us. So it was just a Dominican student, David, Kelly and I waiting for any kind of signal from the girls. Well, no signal came and it started to rain! We had no choice but to climb down the hardest path I had ever climbed up on. I slipped a bunch of times and have a bunch of scars right now, but I can say it was a definite interesting experience. A bit like Man vs. Wild except I really had no idea how to survive like Bear Grills. But I’m alive, a few scars, and a bit more confident in the Dominican wild! Haha. Anyway, today I’m just relaxing after yesterday’s adventure and just enjoying the company of my family. Tomorrow I get to choose my classes, and I think I’m going to take the Balie class! Just have to figure if any of my friends in our group are going to take it as well! Anyway, that’s all for now guys! Hope you guys are getting ready for classes, school, internships or any other thing that might be going on in your lives! Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you guys on the flip side! :)

Aug 25

Hey guys, what’s up? Hope all is well. Its been a pretty sweet couple of days. Sunday was really awesome cause David, Stacy and I just bought a couple of beers walked to El Monumento. That was really cool, we just walked around enjoying the Dominican culture as much as possible and just talking about plans for the future. Maybe a wee bit cheesy but still it was pretty fun. That night was just a calm night watching the Miss Universe competition at my house with my host family. Stacy, David and Mollie came over and we made bets on who we thought would win. Unfortunately Miss Dominican Republic came in at second place! Apparently one of our new Dominican friends is friends with Miss Dominican Republic, so maybe I could comfort her! Hahah, jk, but maybe I’ll meet her later. Probably not, but one can hope.

Anyway, yesterday we picked our classes! I’ve already decided which classes I’m going to take. I’m so far taking 13 credits, which include: Contemporary Hispanic Literature, Medical Sociology, Community Medicine, and a Dance class! I know! The dance class, I figured since other people were also interested in taking it, I should take it and maybe learn how to dance. Not all of us are in the same class, but we’re all in different sections together. So that was cool to finally get our classes picked out and ready to go. After that we got to go to a Jazz concert at the Gran Teatro de Cibao. It was just a like a really nice bar where we got to hear some really interesting experimental jazz. It was a really cool experience, apparently they do that every Monday, so I think I’ll definitely go back to listen to that sweet music. Otherwise things have been pretty slow since classes have started yet, but I’m sure next week will be a lot busier. Well thanks guys for reading and I’ll write another blog when more exciting things start happening. Nos vemos chavos! Saludos de Santiago.

Aug 26

Today has been really interesting. We had to get up early like around 7, and be at PUCMM at 8 so that we could go to a poorer region of the Santiago municipal. We got to go Pequeños Pasitos which is an clinic for the poor region of the outside rural areas of Santiago. The group that runs this clinic is called the Mother’s Wish Foundation. They have a website if you’d like to see it; www.motherwish.org They said they have pictures and describe what they do. It was really awesome to see what they’re doing for the poorer parts of the Dominican Republic. We meet the founders of the clinic and they gave us a tour and told us that this is where we’ll be having class (our Medical Community class) every Tuesday. So that was really awesome to hear, that we’ll be able to work with the community to really understand how education, prevention and medicine works in these rural areas. It was really incredible to see how this clinic works, its ins and outs. Diego (Jim actually-they can’t pronounce Jim here in DR haha) So anyway, he was telling us about the problems they face in their clinic and the towns they provide health services to. They have issues with water, which is a huge area for study, also with STIs, pregnancies, vaccinations and Dengue. Although I don’t want to be a doctor, seeing more of this clinic and what they’re doing, I feel like working as a doctor would be really beneficial, yet I feel like if I do research or become the middle man between these clinics and the goverments in which the clinics reside in, so much more could be done to help these people. Seeing this type of community, even just once, has made me more motivated to help doing what I can. I’m very excited for this class to start in order for us to really understand what needs to be done to make these types of clinics even better and more efficient. This is what I hope to do one day, but hopefully these next four months will really help me figure out what I want to do as a career. Otherwise, we’re making dinner tonight, everybody in our group has been at me for a long time to make my salsa verde, only thing is they don’t have tomatillos here, so I’m planning on making some salsa roja and una salsa de mango. Should be good, since we got some peppers from the campo of the clinic outside of Santiago. Everybody seems really excited for it. :) Anyway, just thought I’d share some thoughts about today’s experience. I’m really excited to get out there and really help out with the community. Hope all is well you guys! Enjoy your last couple of days of summer! We start classes tomorrow! Que chulo! Pues, nos vemos chavos, que tengas una buena noche. Ciao.