SARAH SAYS
Today was good. The batey we visited was considerably smaller than the other ones we had gone to, and there were a lot more children. I personally was in charge of distributing glasses and checking vision. Because this job required a person who had some Spanish skills, the dentist that joined us from the hospital came and helped me (except the dentist didn't speak English either, she just understood what I was trying to do). I had a sheet that reminded me how to say things like “Do you need glasses to see close up or far away” and “is that better or worse” but I was still struggling to communicate. Additionally, this batey had more Creole speakers, and not even the dentist knew how to speak Creole. Doing this job I experienced the language barrier stronger than before, and it was difficult but a good experience. We had a huge bag of glasses for both reading and for seeing distance, but it was tough to find the right glasses for distance because they were all assorted together and we had no way of knowing what the prescriptions were, so we had to try a pair, see the person's disappointed face, and try a different pair. I remember specifically one man who tried 10 or 15 different pairs and we were starting to get discouraged that none of the glasses were working, and then we found one pair and the man stood up and started looking around him and touching everything, saying “wow, wow.” He told the dentist something, beaming, and I assume it was something like “Whoa, I can see now” and the dentist told me that he meant “Muchas Gracias.” After the long struggle to find him glasses, it was very satisfying to see him so happy that we found him the right pair. The End.
Dominique:
Today we split up the day with work and play. For the first part of the day we went to a smaller batey, and after we went to the resort Molly and Joe stay at to go to the beach. The batey we went to today was smaller than usual, and there were a lot more kids than in the other ones. Today it was my job to scribe for Gigi because I speak Spanish and it was easier for her. I thought I was going to understand a lot more than I did, and it was because there were more people who spoke Creole than Spanish. I did not scribe for too long because after I came back from a quick bathroom break (in the expansive sugar cane field) Gigi had left with Jennifer to make a house call to a patient who couldn't move. I was sitting around and was helping with miscellaneous jobs when this little boy dropped his toy car and I picked it up for him. He was so adorable I asked the mother if I could pick him up. I was carrying him around and Shyloe decided to give him a candy. We gave him a sour patch, and his face was priceless; he clearly did not like the candy. We felt bad that he didn't like it, but we sent him off with another toy so that he wouldn't hold it against us that we gave him some food that he didn't like. After that, Gigi came back and I scribed for her again. We kept going for a little while, and then we packed up and left to the hotel. After unpacking everything, we all got our swimsuits and towels and headed off to the beach. It was gorgeous. The water was really nice, and there was just enough wind to cool us down and not chill us. After a while of swimming and tanning, Bladimir and Manuel (the two translators with us) decided to start a game of futbol. We played in the sand, team Spanish-speaking versus team English-speaking. Rebecca and I were on the team with Bladimir and Manuel because I am Guatemalan and Rebecca is half Chilean. We played a great game, and team English-speaking ended up winning. It felt nice playing soccer again after I dropped it after freshman year, and it was a great energy release. After the game we had another two hours or so of relaxation, and then we packed up and left. We came back to the hotel to eat dinner, and had a really nice dinner and bonding games with the entire group. We had an early curfew because we had had a long day and were going to get up early to go to breakfast at Trigo de Oro and get scrumptious chocolate croissants. Side note; we have been experiencing little blackouts every once in a while and I have been grateful not to be stuck in the shower when that happens. Thank you to everyone who reads this and donated/spent time/made an effort/made this trip possible. This has been a great experience and I am grateful. Shout out to Carlos and Luz Avila, and Ann Rheault. Love you guys!!!1!
Anonymous Sounds like you are helping so many people and having fun at the same time! Thanks for keeping us up to date and we are all looking forward to your return! Safe travels to all.
The Tammaros