Dominican Republic

    I have start this by giving credit to the amazing photographer I stole all but about 5 of these pictures from, thanks Stuart!  Thursday night the big day had finally arrived.  After my yummy dinner date and cuddle sesh with the hubby, it was off to the airport.  We picked up Kristin and Stuart Anderson and were off around 9:30 pm.  I kept secretly hoping Blake would bust out a suitcase and surprise me that he was really coming.  We hugged goodbye and I was so sad to leave him!!!!  We got inside and all checked in and took off around 11:20 pm.  It was a long ride to NYC.  I read a little Harry Potter and didn't get much sleep.  We had a three hour layover which was torture and I pretty much got no sleep.  Finally on the flight to Dominican Republic I got about 2 hours sleep.  We arrived Friday morning and were all super groggy.  We had to wait about 2 hours for the rest of the people to arrive so we grabbed some lunch and chatted with the new peeps.  Once everyone was together we took a bus to our hotel.  The scenary reminded me a lot of Costa Rica.  I was pleasantly surprised with Hotel Europa, I even got warm water in the shower!!!!  I had 2 double beds all to myself haha.  We got some free time to check out the city.  The city kinda reminded me of Europe, it was so cute.   We got to go see a really cool super old cathedral:

Yes this is basically the only photo where Kristin and I look normal haha!

 Kristin and Stuart totally let me be their shadow and we had a lot of fun together, I was sooo lucky to have them with me! 

We all met back up to the hotel and walked to dinner.  We had a quick meeting and then ate a nice little buffet and had a little get to know you.... here's our table

The Thomas family, Rachel Robbins and her friend Nate (our amazing translator!)

 The crazy Canadians

 Lynne and Dr. Dale

The Willis Family

When we got back to the hotel we were all sooooo beat and ready to hit the hay.  I got to send some e-mails to let everyone know I made it and call my hubby and it was so nice to hear his voice, I was already missing him like crazy!  I read in bed for a bit and then was out cold.  Of course I forgot to bring an alarm so thank goodness I had my wake-up call from Kristin, this isn't the kind of hotel that has clocks or wake-up calls haha!

    Saturday morning we had our first clinic.  We work with a partner organization called Esperanza, which means Hope in Spanish.  They provide micro-loans to help people in poverty start businesses to provide for their family.  These people are trying to better themselves and so Esperanza offers them various benefits, like dental work.  The best words to describe our first day of clinic would be hot, sweaty, bloody, exhausting and yet somehow still full-filling.  Dominicans are so beautiful and I wanted to steal all the cute kids!

 Our amazing sterilization team who had the sickest job but did it with a smile, Robyn and Anni

These were our "trays"

I drank and drank all day and hardly peed at all because I'm sweating so much.  I will never complain about another day of work again.  We saw patients over picnic tables while they sat in plastic picnic chairs.  We had to stand over people for 8 hours with either a headlamp or a flashlight holding friend. 

 

 I love this picture of my hands!

 This is what the Doctors handpieces were connected to.  They did such amazing work and had no water or suction, wow!

Most of the village had little or no electricity so we had to bring our own generators! Way to go Jason and Cannon!

 Most of these people have never seen a dentist before but are SO brave.  The cleanings were impossibly difficult, even children.  We did the best we could with our dull instruments and no ultrasonic.  The dentists did amazing restorations and didn't even have water syringes or suction.  Yep we all only had "spit cups"......delicious!  At the end I got to help give injections for some extractions which was really fun.  This guy loved his sweet shades, but even his new tooth even more!

 These aren't my hands, but I LOVE this picture!

We did get a mid day break for lunch and had PB and Js.  We legs and back were so exhausted by the end of the day, like wow I felt like I ran a marathon!  We could not turn people away and didn't leave the sight til 7:30....we were supposed to leave at 5 or 5:30.  I could not keep my eyes open on the way home.  We took a quick shower.....or more like trickle and then loaded back in the bus.  We had a family style rotisserie chicken dinner but I didn't have much of an appetite, I just wanted my bed.  When we got home Sophie came down to my room.  Sophie is in 6th grade and lives in Pleasant Grove.   She heard I was lonely and didn't love sharing a bed with her little sister haha.  It was SOO nice to have company. She became my shadow during the trip and I love that girl to pieces!

  We watched Animal Planet in Spanish and pretended to know what they were saying haha.  We chatted for a bit before we were both out cold!

    Sunday morning I woke up and ate my own snacks and then headed off to church.  Church was in Spanish but still really amazing.  It was testimony meeting and it was so fun to see all the members bearing testimony and feeling the wonderful spirit.  Roy Hammond, the program director, bore his testimony about service and it was so moving.  He is such an amazing man.  He comes to the Dominican 3 times a year to do this, he is a living example of Christlike service.  I hope I can be half as amazing as as I grow older!  We went to the temple after.  We walked around the grounds and took some pictures.  Its so crazy when the city all around can be so run down and dirty and then bam, there is the temple in pristine condition with amazing landscaping, it is stunning!  I have no clue what happened to all those pictures so I found a picture online so you could see how beautiful it is! 

We all loaded on the bus after to head to our new hotel.  We rode on the bus for about 1 1/2 hours and then stopped for lunch.  We ate at the most gorgeous restaurant out on ocean water.  They had beach beds to lay out on and table where you could feel the ocean breeze.  Of course the menu was in Spanish and the waiters didn't speak English.  I ended up with chicken fajitas meat and mashed potatoes haha apparently in the Dominican they use mashed potatoes instead of tortillas?!?  We got back on the bus and had the LONGEST ride ever.....seriously never-ending!  My new best friend Nick (Sophie's little brother) sat with me.  He is 5 and I wanted to steal him!  The Dominicans all love his little toe-head so much!  He talked non-stop 500 miles an hour the whole time and kept me very entertained.  We also colored and play connect the dots.

Being with the kiddos made me feel like I was back home with my nieces and nephews!  We checked into the hotel and it was much nicer than our previous one, but not what you'd expect for an all-inclusive resort.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice and I was grateful for staying there, but it was definitely an adventure.   (It looks much nicer in pictures than in real life haha!)

 It was right off the beach, which was gorgeous!

We didn't always have hot water, I had no clock, some of us had cockroaches, haha made for some great stories!  I got to call my hubby that night and it was so fun to hear his voice, my little boost of energy!  We grabbed some dinner at the buffet and it was so-so at best.  I tried forever to get my shower to work but I couldn't get the water to come up so I had to cup my hands and pour water over myself for a tub/shower haha.  Lucky for us the stage was right by our rooms and they had a show every night from 10-11 and it was SOO loud!  I slept alone in my room with two beds and missed my hubby lots!

    Monday morning my wake-up from Mr. and Mrs. Anderson forgot to come haha, they didn't realize I literally had no way to tell time all week.  They came to my room to check on me.  They were all ready and I was out cold.  Thank goodness I can get ready in 0.5 seconds!  We rode the bus and then had to switch to 4X4 safari vehicles because the bus couldn't get up the beat up jungle roads haha, we were literally in the middle of nowhere!  We crossed rivers and went up into the mountains to a very remote little village.  

As soon as we got off the trucks this little girl ran up and hugged me and would not let go, so cute!

The day was so much better!  We started off each day with a few words from an Esperanza associate who had taken out a loan, a prayer and then an inspirational message from one of the dentists.  This was Dr. Schizlers day:

There was a bit of a breeze and we had the fans in much better places.  Things were so much more organized and I was in heaven!  They told us to be extra careful because the villiage had a high prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis.  Cleanings were still tough but I was feeling much better....except for my poor tummy......and having to use the nasty toilets every 15 minutes.....   Here are some cute kids waiting for their turn!

We had a power house team at our table doing cleanings.  It was me and my assistant Sophie and 2 Dominican dental students, Johanna and Eric.  I grew to love the Dominicans sooo much!

We took a lunch break and Esperanza brought us some yummy food.  

Roy and his wife Glenda, they are seriously saints!

After lunch I had a nail painting party and it was so fun, the kids were soo excited and soo stinkin cute!

 Blake was mad that I painted a little boy's nails, but he wanted it soooo bad.....and he had no pants on haha how could I say no?!?

 Seriously I really want to adopt a Dominican baby someday, they are the cutest kids I have ever seen!  It was so hard not to bring one home with me!!!!

 Kristin entertaining some cuties while they wait

 Looks at her eyes!

 Kristin had our young woman back home make bracelets for us to giveaway

 Hims was so chubby and I wanted to eat him!!!!

 I cleaned more teeth and did a few injections for the doctors.  We 4X4'd back and I got a little car sick.

I got to call Blake again and then we went to dinner at the pizza place.  It was thin-crust pizza but hurt my belly a little.  After another tub/shower I crashed hard even with the blasting music outside my room.

    Tuesday morning I got my wake up call from Kristin and Stuart right on time and so I got ready and grabbed some breakfast at the buffet.  I was SO happy to see raisin bran and milk, glorious!  We had a 1 hour bus ride and I was able to chat with a Canadian dentist, Dr. Schizler, and we told me all about Crown Council.  It is a network of dentists that work together to better their practices and they are involved in this charity group.  It's a pretty cool group!  We had another cool day which helps so much!  I watched Dr. Roy work for a bit and was in total awe!   I don't know how his body is able to take such a beating.....I think his sweet bandana he wears everyday helps!

A lot of the patients in that village had fairly clean teeth and some didn't need any work, which is pretty amazing!  Esperanza made us another yummy lunch and I chatted with Dr. Dale and Lynne while I ate. 

 Back to work again

At the end of the day a few of us went to the local hospital to take some newborn kits to the women.  There was only 2 women there and so we left the rest for them to give out as more women came.  We drove there in a little van and I got SUPER car sick!

I was so sick of my stupid shower and so I pushed and pulled everything I could find and finally figured it out haha idiot!!!  It felt so nice to finally have a real shower with warm water (even though I didn't really have any water pressure).  I went to the buffet with Kristin and Stuart and had so much mediocre food.  We stayed and chatted for a bit and then I emailed Blake.  They headed to bed and I decided to walk down to the beach, SO gorgeous!  My friends Jamie and Andreus were down there and we chatted for a bit and watched some jellyfish that were glowing in the water, it was so cool!  I went back to my room and since it was a little late it was actually quiet outside my room!  

    Wednesday morning I had some cereal at the buffet and then got on the bus.  My Dominican friend Eric sat by me on the bus and we chatted for a bit and listened to some tunes on his iPod.  We had to 4X4 to our site again.  This one was by far the most remote we went to and it was stunning!  

And yes if you were wondering this is our "office"

 When we got there I found the cutest baby girl, Raphela.  I held her forever and didn't want to ever put her down!

 Me and Rachel with our little ones

Amy gave our morning huddle inspiration about having energy and remembering to play.  That this trip isn't just about work work work, we need to have fun with the people too!  This is her cute fam who I just love to pieces!!!

 I cleaned for a while and then went our to paint nails with Abby.  She is in 2nd grade and is a Spanish immersion program.  She could have full on conversations with the people, it was unreal!!!

More cute babies!

 I got back to cleaning and was the last person finished.  It's so hard because we can't ever finish everyone and I hate telling people we are done and they can't come.  We all went home and showered and then had an awards dinner.  Roy gave a wonderful speech and then we had an awards dinner.  The awards were funny and super awesome, I won Mrs. Congeniality haha!  We went to dinner after and I ate with all the Dominicans.  They were all laughing and talking in Spanish and yes I laughed along and pretended I knew what they were talking about haha yep I'm that cool!  Some more people came over to our table and we all stayed and chatted for a long time.  I got to call my sweet hubby again, which always recharged my batteries!  Then it was off to bed.

    Thursday morning we ate breakfast and then it was off to our sight.  We took group and solo pictures before we began.  Here is our amazing group!

And my lovely solo picture:

It was another really hot day which makes things a lot harder!  We were only supposed to work a half day but again we couldn't say no to anyone and so we ended up doing a full day.

I was helping one of the students with an extraction and the numbing hadn't worked all the way, yet she did not flinch or move.  Once we noticed her tears we numbed her up all the way but wow those people were brave, they put Americans to shame.  They are so excited to get their work that they will do whatever it takes.  Another girl I helped with extractions was dying and so I held her hands and painted her nails and gave her the polish after for being so brave! After I finished I went out and jump-roped with some kids and the Dominican students it was soo much fun!

I went with a group to take some more newborn kits to a hospital and I got soooo sick again.  When we got back we all jumped straight into the pool in our scrubs to celebrate the end, it felt soo good and was so much fun!

 We went to dinner at the pizza place and then watched to show on the stage.  It was horrible broadway impressions.  The singers were mouthing words but didn't speak English and so their mouths didn't always match haha.....they also wore booby tassles and thongs in one of the songs, classy!  We stayed up chatting til midnight and I was beat!

    Friday morning I woke up early and went for a run along the beach.  I felt so sick from not working out all week and so it felt heavenly.  I watched the sunrise while I ran and it was beautiful.  I ran for an hour but I didn't pay attention when I left and I could not remember which hotel we were at haha, of course I'd get lost!  I finally found it and went to grab some breakfast.  After breakfast I changed into my suit, signed up for a massage and headed to the pool.  The pool had a gradual slope entrance and so I laid with my legs partway in the water with a towel for a pillow.  I fell asleep and it was heavenly.  I read Harry Potter for a bit and then went down to the beach with everyone.  We laid out, chatted, and looked at and the things people were selling.  At 4:00 I went to my massage.  It was a joke.  She wanted me to lay on top on the sheet butt naked with nothing covering me, I used wash cloths to cover privates b/c I wasn't cool with that.  She basically just rubbed lots of oil all over my body very fast without actually massaging.  I kept telling her despacio (slow) and mas (more) pressure.  She had kept saying ok but wouldn't change.  After 15 min of this I said terminado (finished).  I gave her a $20 and headed back to the beach, very sad.  Everyone played a game of beach volleyball.   The weather was perfect and it was sooo much fun.  I fell in the sand and got covered in sand thank to the 8 pounds of cooking oil covering my body.  I also got hit in the face haha I struggle.  It was such a fun last hurrah with everyone!  We all showered and got ready and then decided to try a restaurant outside of the hotel, but mistake.  Dinner took 3 hours and the food wasn't very good.  That night wasn't about the food though, it was about being together and reminescing about our wonderful week together.  When we got back a few of us when down to the Disco-tec down by the beach.  We danced the night away and it was SO fun.  Some of the Dominicans danced with me and taught me how to Meringue.  I love dancing soooo much!!!!!  I was exhausted when I finally got up to my room!

    Saturday morning we got up early, packed our bags, ate breakfast and got on the bus.  The ride was soooo long and uncomfortable.  We got to the airport and said our goodbyes.  I made so many wonderful friends that I will miss!  It was pouring rain and our flight kept getting pushed back.  We were supposed to have a 3 hour layover in New York and by the time we finally boarded our plane we had less than an hour to catch our next flight (and we had to go through customs), we were panicking.  The stuartess made an announcement for everyone to let us off the plane first, but of course no one listened.  We ran to customs and then had to wait over 30 min for our bags to come and we were getting sooo nervous.  We talked to an agent and told her our plane was leaving in 15 min.  She told us to leave our bags and run to the gate.  We had to run to another terminal which was pretty far and we ran soo hard!  My lungs were on fire!  We had to go back through security.  They let us to the front Kristin got searched so they told me to run and stop the plane.  I took off without shoes and ran to our gate.  I almost ate it around every corner.  The door was shut but the plane was still there.  They wouldn't open it and I started bawling, all I wanted was my husband!  I went to the desk and threw my passport at the poor guy haha I was so sad, frustrated and exhausted.  They told us the soonest they could get us was a flight the next night at 8 pm which would get in at midnight Utah time.  We did NOT want to do that but didn't have another choice.....so sad.....

We had to go back and get our bags (keep in mind we each had a bag, carry on, back pack, and 3 50 lbs bags of dirty scrubs).  We headed to our hotel, which Jetblue paid for.  Stuart's sweet dad came to the rescue and found a Delta flight at 7 am which would get us home much earlier and he booked it.  We got to our hotel a little before 11 pm and hadn't eaten since breakfast.  We ate at the only restaurants nearby which was in the hotel.  It looked like a cafeteria and was WAY expensive.  We got salads, appetizers and water......$90 later!  We crashed in our beds and had to wake up at 4:30 and start traveling all over again.  We got to the airport and I had Red Mango for breakfast.  We finally got on the plane headed for home.  I felt SO sick the whole ride, it was miserable.  My head was pounding, my stomache was churning and I thought I was gonna barf.  It was the longest ride of my life.  I wanted to cry when I finally got off.  I came down the escaltor to see my sweet husband with a welcome home wife sign.  I have never been so happy to see that handsome face.  He took me out to breakfast and then we went home and took some naps.  My house was clean, grocery shopping was done, my hubby gave me a back rub and then I got to sleep in my husbands arms.....life doesn't get better than that.

    It's hard to put into words what those 10 days meant to me.  It was extremely difficult both mentally and physically, but I grew so much.  I will never look at my job, or my life the same.  I'm so grateful I was able to be a part of that amazing journey and I will never forget it for the rest of my life!