Missin' the DR!

I've been back for almost a week now. A very cold, snowy/rainy week that makes me REALLY miss the Dominican sunshine. But I spent a nice weekend with the kids, and got to see my brother and my sister and her family. And now it's back to the grind.

But not really. I'm now in Dublin, GA on my first assignment as a locum tenens ER doctor. It's a fairly small town on I-16 about halfway between Atlanta and Savannah. I haven't seen much of the town as it's been drizzling most of the time I've been here, but the hotel is nice and the hospital seems good so far. The little bit of time I've spent actually working in the ER (as opposed to orienting and memorizing a billion passwords) has been pretty slow. They keep telling me it'll pick up, and I believe them, but so far so good.

The picture on this post is of an absolutely adorable little girl that was being seen by one of the other docs on the mission in the exam space next to me. She kept trying to escape while her family members were being seen, so I scooped her up and kept her out of trouble for the couple of minutes I could keep her restrained. Thank heaven for little girls!

Cabarete

Cabarete is possibly the best place in the world to learn kiteboarding, and in this picture you can see that it's caught on. The breeze is plentiful and consistent, and often parallels the shore, which I'm told is optimal for kiteboarding. Windsurfers and small boat sailors also abound here. Cabarete is, in fact, home to many expats who come to kiteboard or windsurf or just vacation and never go home. It's very affordable, depending on the accommodations you desire, English is pretty prevalent, and I never really felt unsafe (with the exception of the previously noted Stupid Gringo Tricks). I would recommend it as a vacation destination in addition to a great place to stay during a medical mission.

Civil unrest

We observed the situation in this picture on our last day of clinic in Pancho Mateo. Some of the Dominicans had piled tires in the road and set them on fire, completely blocking the road to vehicular traffic. Our program directors were told it was a protest over the condition of the roads, and I can attest to the need for civic improvements in that regard. Of course setting tires on fire and blocking the roads makes little sense as a means of protest, but perhaps it accomplished its desired end, as three days later when I returned to Pancho Mateo a load or two of crushed concrete had been delivered and spread on a main thoroughfare in town. Perhaps it was just coincidence but one has to wonder. Fortunately our trucks were on the right side of the blockade or we would've had to wait until the fire was extinguished. Two days before and we would've been blocked in on our way back from Negro Melo and Severet.

Ninth inning

I took this picture in Pancho Mateo, the largest and poorest of the villages we serve here. I found it interesting, and sad, that kids will find some place and some way to play baseball even in the poorest conditions.

It is, truly, the ninth inning. I'm typing on the iPad on the patio of my room just minutes before Rob comes to get me to have lunch with our friend Mike before we go straight to the airport. This morning we've been catching the last few rays and soaking up one final bit of warmth and sunshine before we go back to the freezing cold that's blanketed the US this week. I will miss this warmth until it finds us in south Alabama in April or so.

But more than that I will miss the people and the atmosphere and the laid back and casual attitudes that dominate the Caribbean. We complain about "island time" often; about the inability of the people here to be on time and take obligations seriously, but I'll take island time. I won't say it's worry free here, but when I'm here my worries and cares seem so far away.

But I miss my family and friends in the States. I think I hear Rob coming now. I'll be home soon.

Guagua ride

I know the word "guagua" seems kind of funny but after you've said "Donde es la guagua por Puerta Plata" 18,000 times it kind of grows on you.

Remember when I posted yesterday that guaguas are usually packed, often with fat, smelly people? This picture is from my ride to Mt. Isabella yesterday morning and gives you an idea of how many people they'll pack into a guagua, and I've seen it worse. For instance yesterday afternoon on the way home when there were 18 riders plus the driver crammed into the poor little guagua when, by far, the smelliest person on it was me. Yes, I emerged from the mountain jungle on top of Mt. Isabella covered in mud, sweat and a little blood and felt sorry for the poor people who had to be near me on the cable car and the guagua.

Oh, and you may notice in the pic that the side door is open. That's the standard here. They NEVER close that door and there's often a little kid hanging half out of it. At times it's a little troubling to go careening around some corner with nothing between you and a fall down the cliff, but you get used to it.

Oh, and speaking of rounding corners, I learned from the Jamaican version of a guagua many years ago on a med school rotation there (where the people were far more obese) the importance of claiming and preserving your turf when on public transportation. When going around sharp turns these big mommas will use the centripetal force to slide you right down the bench seat and, once there, will leave you crammed into the side of the van with your elbow shoved into your ear and no room to breathe. Personal space is an unexplored concept in the Caribbean, so when the van turns the other way grab all you can and hang on to it for dear life. Literally.

I'm headed off to do home visits. Buenos Dias de Cabarete, Puerta Plata, Republica Dominica.

I'm goin' down!

Here's a pic of the descent in the cable car, taken as soon as we got out of cloud cover (about halfway down). The city of Puerto Plata is laid out before us.

The North Face

Today I wrote a whole chapter to my new book "Stupid Gringo Tricks and How To Survive Them". Yes, I went for my hike up Mt Isabella de Torres. It was about an hour ride from the condo to the foot of the mountain and I rode a guagua, the public transportation minivans that carry passengers around the Dominican Republic for ridiculously low prices. The down side is they're usually packed full, often with fat or smelly people (see the next few posts before you laugh). But the trip this morning was uneventful, and the driver was good enough to drop me off at the cable car station that houses the cable car that ascends the mountain to the peak, as I intended to try to hike up on trails they use to maintain the cables.

Before I even got out of the guagua I was set upon by a young Dominican named Tito who wanted to be my guide. He told me that although most people (gringo tourists) want to ride the cable car up and either ride or hike down, that he could show me where to hike up the mountain. I thought it might be a good idea to have an experienced guide show me the ropes, so I paid him and off we went.

Ha! Tito had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA where he was going, and had a horrible sense of direction to boot. So after wandering around about a third of the way up the mountain on various paths we gave up and just started heading off trail in the general direction of the peak, all the while trying to maintain some semblance of proximity to the cables.

Well. It was no hike. It was a freakin' mountain climbing expedition. We went places goats coudn't go! For the rest of of the ascent we climbed using our hands as much as our feet. And about the time I started to really feel the effects of the altitude (Mt Isabella is 800 meters/2500ft high) we started hitting sheer rock faces (read small cliffs) that we couldn't get around. So we went over them. Talk about tired, using a high percentage of upper body strength at altitude was KILLING ME! And about half the times I'd grab a rock or tree root I would pull back an arm covered with ants. The other half of the time I'd grab the stalk of this peculiar plant that grows between craggy rocks that has thorns on its stalk and itchy, stinging thistle-like leaves. So I was pretty beat up when we hit the toughest one. It was sheer vertical cliff, anywhere from 12 to 25 feet high with a paucity of places to get a secure hold with hand or foot, and was flanked by obstacles we couldn't get around. I didn't think we could safely get over it when I realized it was 3pm. We had been on the "trail" for four hours, and would lose sunlight in about two hours, especially since we had moved around to the eastern side of the mountain. But I knew we were close to the top, and turning back really wasn't an option and I got really worried that we could get stuck on this mountain for the night. It prompted me to take a chance on scaling the cliff at one of its lower points where there were some thick vines to climb with. Tito, being 27 and weighing all of 120lbs soaking wet, scampered up like he was some kind of monkey. But for me it was a little problematic. Although it was touch and go and completely exhausted me, I managed to haul my big fat butt over the edge and sat panting and groaning like I was dying. But I was, in fact, quite relieved that we made it past that obstacle and hopeful we could now reach the summit without further ado.

And indeed, after another half mile of crawling/climbing I heard Tito exclaim rather gleefully "It's here!" what he had, in fact, found was the road that went down the south side of the mountain, and we emerged onto the road with only about a quarter mile to hike up and ride the cable car down.

And so it was that I, with the "help" of my new friend Tito, defied all the odds of striking out on my own in a foreign country to climb the North Face of Mount Isabella de Torres despite being told to just take the cable car or drive up the south side and managed to live to blog about it. See the pic above of me and Tito in front of the statue that is a replica of the one in Rio de Janiero. And yes, we were so high that, on a humid day like today, the summit was in the clouds. Now, I'm taking a Motrin and going to bed. I have home visits to do tomorrow before THE BALL GAME!!!

Venus, the goddess of beauty and love

Yes, Nicole is Venus (Meg is Athena, goddess of wisdom and Justin, er, I mean justice). She is Meg's partner in crime, the other International Program Director. In addition to being an outstanding writer (she's an English major, read the HHI blog) and phenomenal organizer, Nicole is a terrific motivator and one of the sweetest and most compassionate people I know. AND she puts up with all my special requests and hardly ever snaps at me about it. BUT... I hope she's learned better than to double dog dare me to dance on the bar because I don't think the bar can take my weight again and I KNOW nobody ever wants to see me dance again. This summer she'll be moving on to graduate school, and I'll look forward to seeing what the future holds for her.

I'm still trying to get caught up, but it's about time for dinner. More mañana.

Sent from my iPad

Mi amigos

These two characters are Megan Schultz and Rob Plankenhorn, both veterans of the September trip. Meg is one of the International Program Directors for Health Horizons International (www.hhidr.org), spending a year between the third and fourth years of med school to apply her substantial skills to help solve the medical problems of the people here. In case it isn't abundantly clear, this is a SUBSTANTIAL sacrifice by someone who could easily be finishing med school and moving on in a lucrative career had she not felt compelled to follow her heart of gold to Puerto Plata. In addition to bailing me out of medical quandaries too numerous to count, Meg has become a good personal friend, someone who has earned both my respect and affection.

Rob. Well, what can I say about Rob. Rob is kind of what I want to be when I grow up. Rob was an Olympic canoer (the iPad tried to spell check that word to "canker" lol) and had a very successful career doing businessy things that I'm far too simple to understand, and has pretty much retired to doing mission work. Rob's done missions all over the place and has a wealth of experience that I'm trying to harvest when I ask his advice about where I should go next. But more, Rob's been a great friend and drinkin' buddy on these trips, and we have a great time together.

There's more to come. Be patient, I'm working on it.

Sent from my iPad

Mission accomplished!

I apologize for not having blogged much on this trip so far. The Internet is slow and unreliable here, and it's been an exercise in frustration trying to get anything loaded, especially pictures. But now that the mission is over I have some time to dedicate to blogging, and I'll try to get caught up.

Yes, the mission trip ended today. As we loaded the trucks one of the other guests at the hotel asked if it was a bittersweet moment, and one would think it should be, but for me the bitter far outweighs the sweet. I love what we do here, and I love the people I meet. I really don't want to go home.

And fortunately I don't have to. I'm staying here until Wednesday to tie up some loose ends, explore the country and get some rest before I head back to the real world. The picture on this post is the view from my friend Rob Plankenhorn's balcony at the condo in Cabarete where he and I have moved in (no, my room isn't beachside and doesn't have this view). It's right in the heart of the really touristy section of Cabarete, and it's pretty sweet.

I have big plans for the rest of the week. Tomorrow I'll catch a bus to Puerto Plata, the city near our base of operations, where I'm meeting some of the students who are also hanging around for a few days. We're going to try to hike Mt. Isabel if we can find a trail up. I expect the adventure will tie up almost all of tomorrow. Monday I'll be making some follow up visits of patients we saw this week and watching my Auburn Tigers kick the crap out of Oregon for the BCS national championship. Tuesday I'm going to lay low for some water activities- diving, sailing, maybe try a little paddle boarding or windsurfing. Then Wednesday I fly home, Thursday get Clay and Friday get Christina for the weekend. In my spare time I plan to eat and breathe. I can sleep when I'm dead.

I'll try to get some more pics posted before going out for dinner. Hasta la vista!

Sent from my iPad

Coconut Palms Resort

Here's a nice little pic of the pool tonight where I'm blogging on my iPad. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

First day of clinic

Yesterday was technically an off day, but a few of us stayed at the resort to sort out our medications and organize the pharmacy. But despite our best efforts our first day of clinic was less efficient than we would've liked, mostly because of delays getting through the pharmacy. Tonight we did a better job getting organized, and I expect things will go more smoothly tomorrow. But it was still a great day and we got a lot accomplished. I didn't really have time to take any pictures today, but I hope to remedy that tomorrow. I'm pretty tired tonight, and I plan to get up early in the morning for a long run, so I'll call it a night and try to post more tomorrow.

Mt. Isabella de Torres

Sunday we flew around Mt Isabella on our approach to Puerto Plata. What a beautiful view. I hope to climb Mt. Isabella next week when the mission is over but finding a trail has been problematic so far. 

*** I apologize for this picture not posting. I'm working on it.***

It's been great seeing some of my friends from the September mission, and also meeting some new people. This is a large trip- 28 volunteers, many of whom are physician assistant students from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut or community health students from Tufts University in Boston. I've enjoyed meeting them and hearing their stories.

The hotel is fantastic- Coconut Palms Resort. My room has a great ocean view. I'm not sure how to link on the blog using an iPad, but Google it if you're interested. I'll post a pic when the sun comes back.

It's time to sort meds. The dark spot of the trip so far is that customs confiscated one of the bags of medications we brought into the country worth over $1000. We're still hoping to recover it tomorrow, but regardless, the meds we have now need to be organized. More tomorrow from the balmy (wearing shorts and a T shirt at poolside) Caribbean. 

Sent from my iPad

Tropical paradise

Pretty view from 30,000ft, huh?

***UPDATE: I looked it up. These islands are Norman's Cay, Long Cay and Highborne Cay from bottom to top, respectively.***

A room with a view

This is the view from the foot of my bed looking north over the Caribbean Sea. Things could be worse.

I ran about four miles on a path near the beach on Monday, and it felt good to be running after a holiday hiatus. I plan to try to run every other day or so. My run on Monday was interesting in that I ran past an abandoned resort construction site. It looked as if everything was essentially built, but the developer ran out of money before the interior construction could be started. I can only imagine the broken dreams that accompanied giving up on building the resort, not to mention the enormous amount of capital that must have been invested to get the project as far as it went, only to give up when success seemed so close.

I'm still trying to catch up from a busy couple of days since arriving, so I'll move on to today's post.

Flight group

The intrepid adventurers of American Airlines flight 979, David, Maria and myself as we prepare to board. David flew first class, but was noble enough to mingle with the commoners before ascending to his lofty seat.

We'll be there soon!

My oh Miami

Flyin' into Miami over the 'Glades!

Lines, lines and more lines

But I've made it through all of them in good time, and now I'm killing time in the T terminal waiting and waiting and waiting...

Little sister

Yes here she is in all her glory, my hero for the day, my little sister Elizabeth, who was gracious enough to let me come to her home well past 11pm, give me a warm and comfortable place to sleep and park my truck for ten days and, most of all, get up in time to have me at the airport at 6:15am. So, I knew I would have to sneak a quick pic against her wishes this morning if I was going to share her with all of you in Blogland. I know, I know, I'm an S.O.B. for doing that after all she's done for me in the last 12 hours, but I'm bored in the airport and I just can't help myself :-) Thanks lil' sister!

Happy New Year!

Yes, it's been two months since I blogged. Yes, I got bored with it. But tomorrow I'm going back to the Dominican Republic for another mission trip with Health Horizons International, so I'll crank it back up. It's been a really busy but productive holiday season, especially today. I was on the road for about six hours getting the kids back to their respective mothers and putting myself in position to be at the airport in six hours. I'm crashing at my sister's in Buckhead tonight so my drive in the morning will be short. I'm excited but I'm also tired, so I guess I'd better get some sleep. My next post will be from the airport!