A Day in the Life

So I thought I'd give you all a taste of what a typical day is like for us in Santiago, Dominican Republic during the week. I start off each morning going to the hospital de los ninos. To get there, we have to take a gua gua (a big van in which you basically try to squeeze as many people as you can in there-I think our record was 27 people in one van- there is no such thing as personal space in the DR) and take a car in which you also have to squeeze as many people in as possible. Each day at the hospital is a little different. Today we went into the burn unit and I got to play with a 9 year old girl with a burn wound (it's really important to keep moving if you have a burn otherwise you might develop contractures of your skin). From there we went to the orthopedic unit and had the kids there 'play' with us in order to keep them moving, yet still abiding by fracture and weight bearing status. Lastly we went to the neurological unit in which we daily work with a 14 year old boy who has a tumor in his pons (aka part of the brainstem). When we first saw him, he couldnt move half of his body. It's so cool because each time we see him, he can do a little more. Now he can walk and he starting to use his arm. His mom gives us hugs and tells us that she thanks God that he sent us here.
Afternoons are filled with various other cultural experiences or services. Yesterday, I stayed 'home' and people from the surrounding community came in with various PT needs. Today, we're going to a museum of the history of the Dominican.
Since yesterday was my birthday, we went out shopping and then went to an 'American' western restaurant. It was decorated like a saloon, had John Wayne cutouts all around, and the servers were all dressed like cowboys. It was really fun.
I'm feeling a LOT better now. Thanks all for your prayers and comments. It really makes me feel closer to home :)