We have two lizards residing in our laundry room and a larger one that scurries along the long wall of our kitchen/dining area/living room and hides behind the hutch and picture frames. The two in my laundry room are bright green.
~~Now before you all go 'ew!" remember this--
Lizards eat mosquitos
Mosquitos spread Dengue Fever
I have had Dengue Fever (also known as 'break-bone fever')
I don't want it again! EVER!
So, lizards are our friends;
I want them; I welcome them!~~
Our laundry room runs across the back of our apartment. The bottom third of the outside wall is cinder block, top two thirds is a big screen with security bars, which allows for lots of breezes but also can heat up the apartment when the afternoon sun pours in. So, we have 4 inexpensive roll-up blinds that we use.
Usually I roll them back up in the evening to allow the cooler breezes in, but on occasion I forget. (imagine that!) I just went in to roll them up and almost caught Kermit, the larger of the two green ones in it. Fortunately, he scurried off in time. He's now on the end wall above my open shelves watching me when I enter.
These little guys are fast. Trying to catch one is nigh unto impossible! Except for the other day....I went in to take some things off the clothes lines, grabbed a clothes pin and about had a heart attack when I felt something soft in my hand. My first thought was "OH NO! NOT another baby tarantula!" I let out a yelp, and tossed it. Only to find it was "Big Green," the little 2" guy. But he was fine...the next morning he was jumping from clothes pin to clothes pin, (literally!) and I've seen him sense, too.
I don't think they'll ever come when I call, but for now they bring a little fun.
Today is my rest day. Tuesdays and Thursdays I am generally in our clinic running the pharmacy. I love it, but it is exhausting! The clinic is open from 8-5 with an hour for lunch mas o menos (usually mas!) Yesterday in 7 hours the doctor saw 33 patients and I filled 138 prescriptions.
Our scripts include tylenol, motrin, aspirins, vitamins, cough medicine, and antacids, along with regular 'pharmacy' items. Other than lunch I never sit, because of the constant nature of gathering meds off shelves, and other factors.
But it is a challenge, and I love it. I can't go out with the groups, as it is too taxing on me physically and I constantly end up sick and down for 1 or 2 weeks or more. But with the pharmacy I can truly be a part of the ministry. I truly thank the LORD for allowing me to serve this way...it's something that is needed and I love doing it! But if you think of it, pray for me on those days!
On a lighter note, I will leave you with this....
A woman was weed'whacking her yard when she accidentally cut off the tail of her cat, who had been napping under a bush. She gatherd up her cat and the tail, grabbed her car keys and headed off to Walmart.
Walmart!?!?!
Why Walmart????
HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We all know Walmart is the largest retailer in the world!
Have a delightful day!
~~anna~~
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Life in this here island....
Well I guess it's way past time for an update....sorry, but life has been happening :)
On January 25th I flew to Lynchburg, due to the generosity of a dear sister in Christ who thought I should be there for Shiloh's 4th birthday. this dear sister purchased round trip airfare from Santo Domingo to Lynchburg! I got to go for two weeks! Had a grand time. So wonderful to spend lots of time with all three grandkids and Shan, too! Only thing that would have been better is if David and Lyndie could have been there, too!
Shiloh was sick almost the entire two weeks. She recovered some on the 2nd weekend I was there, then that Monday afternoon (actually on her birthday) she came down with something else. Samuel was sick part of the time; Stephan was home on an 'ice day'...so there was lots of time together. Loads of pictures and memories.
Throw in a few trips to Jcrew outlet with Shan's 30% discount on top of their clearance prices and I got some good deals! Her Goodwill is incredible, so I have laid in a fair supply of paperbacks to read here.
Of course, there was lots of coffee drinking and classic movie watching with Shan, too! When she picks you up at the airport and your first stop is Barnes and Noble, how much better can it get? esp since they had some clearance tables of odds'n'ends.
This week Tim, Evelyn, Bob and I made a trip to Las Terrenas on the northern coast. What a trip it was! Bob had gone online and found an incredible deal at an All Inclusive resort, Viva Wyndham in Las Terrenas. It was gorgeous! On Tuesday we travelled 1 1/2 hours to Samana Bay to go whale watching. Samana isn't that far from Las terrenas, but the road winds thru the mountains...quite the trip on not very well maintained roads! Once in Samana we had reservations on a 50 foot boat with a tour guide that has been doing this for over 25 years.
We SAW WHALES! really! In a distance, but some pretty close. Regulations require that the boat stay 150 feet from any whales, but that was close enough! In the distance we saw a whale actually jump in the air! We saw whale tail fins flap above water. Unfortunately, when you see the tail that means it's getting ready to submerge for a while. But then we saw a pod of 5 whales! By the way, these were humbpack whales. Hard to describe the feeling of really seeing these creatures in their natural habitat.
The seas were a bit rough....glad we opted for the 50 foot boat. Next time, I will skip the fresh papaya before that type of boat ride. It was delicious at breakfast, not so appetizing when it went flying over the edge of the boat later!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This part will possibly show you how our life here is different. Last Sunday Bob spoke at a small church in San Pedro called "Juan 3:16". After church we stopped at Jumbo to get snacks for our trip the next day. Jumbo is a very nice grocery store, very clean and very well stocked. Just the inventory isn't always the same from week to week. On occasion we have found liquid flavored cremora there. Pricier than in the States, but we have finally concluded along with the other SCORE missionaries "We don't live in the States!"
Small treats go a l-o-n-g way here! We have all learned also that if you see something you need, if you have the funds buy it then because more than likely it won't still be there when you return next time. So, Sunday as we were in the coffee aisle, I once again checked out the powdered cremoras. I stood there staring in amazement! They had the small containers of flavored cremora. Food Club brand, but it was still flavored cremora~~Hazelnut & Amaretto!!!! YES! Near jumping for joy. It has been years since we have had any flavored powdered cremora in a store here. One glance at Bob who said "It's here. get it!" So, three Hazelnut and 2 Amaretto containers jumped into our cart.
Well then we ran into Veronica (single SCORE missionary) and a friend who is visiting with her. They were marvelling at some item that they had found. We went on our separate ways. A few minutes later Bob and I came around the corner in the dairy aisle and there were the two of them again. They were pointing at something very excitedly! YES! Liquid flavored cremora! Amaretto and Irish Cream and this time it was name brand International Delight. You would have thought we had just discovered the cure for the common cold with all the rejoicing and merry making! Bob and I had discussed before whether or not we could freeze it for future use, so, he just said "Get what you want and freeze what you can't use right away."
So, now I added three of each flavor into our cart! We may not see these items again for months, if at all!
Well then Andres and Johnanna (another young SCORE missionary couple) came around the corner. Andres grew up in Argentina; Johanna is from Costa Rica. They were excited because Andres had discovered his favorite cookies from Argentina and they were actually cheaper here! We tried to entice them into our cremora find, but Johanna said "When you are used to Costa Rican coffee, you don't need to flavor it!" I've had CR coffee and she's right!
Well, Thursday on the way back from Las Terrenas, we stopped at La Sirena in San Franciso de Macoris. Andres and Johanna had told us about it. Beautiful store, great prices and they had some 2x1 sales. AND they were actually 2 for 1 deals! Other grocery stores advertise 2x1, but that means buy 2 get the 3rd free! La Sirena had Irish Cream powdered creamer. So, we are now well stocked in flavored creamer. Will let you know ~d about the freezing results on the liquid version. ~d, if I find your cinnamon vanilla, should I get you some?
Oh, the other thing La Sirena had that I have NEVER EVER seen here was Crystal Light iced tea on-the-go packets. With all the bottled water we drink, having flavor packets is wonderful. Those packets are so easy to carry in my purse or Bob's backpack. But I am dependent on people bringing them from the States or buying them when we are home. I have NEVER seen them here. Funny thing is that they were cheaper than what I paid in the States! Go figure! They just didn't have green tea which I prefer, but, hey! beggars can't be choosers!
Oh, one other fun little thing that would never happen in the States~~ on Monday when we started our trip, we decided to fill our gas tank so we didn't arrive on empty. Well all the gas stations had attendants but none of the pumps were open. After the third attempt Bob finally asked what was going on. As we suspected a 'huelga'. The government sets the price for gas every Friday, but they have decided to cut the subsidies to the stations, so the owners all got together and the entire country's gas stations closed for 6 hours to make their point to the government. At noon they were all doing business.
Thursday was a 24 hour huelga by all the public health doctors to get their concerns voiced to the government. It's election year (May 16th) so huelgas should become more frequent. They are generally non-violent, but not usually have a couple of 'hot spots'.
So, this should catch you up on our life here in the Dominican Republic. It's still pretty pleasant temperatures; right now it's almost 1:30 in the afternoon and I have no fans operating! If it would just stay like this....
love,
~~anna~~
On January 25th I flew to Lynchburg, due to the generosity of a dear sister in Christ who thought I should be there for Shiloh's 4th birthday. this dear sister purchased round trip airfare from Santo Domingo to Lynchburg! I got to go for two weeks! Had a grand time. So wonderful to spend lots of time with all three grandkids and Shan, too! Only thing that would have been better is if David and Lyndie could have been there, too!
Shiloh was sick almost the entire two weeks. She recovered some on the 2nd weekend I was there, then that Monday afternoon (actually on her birthday) she came down with something else. Samuel was sick part of the time; Stephan was home on an 'ice day'...so there was lots of time together. Loads of pictures and memories.
Throw in a few trips to Jcrew outlet with Shan's 30% discount on top of their clearance prices and I got some good deals! Her Goodwill is incredible, so I have laid in a fair supply of paperbacks to read here.
Of course, there was lots of coffee drinking and classic movie watching with Shan, too! When she picks you up at the airport and your first stop is Barnes and Noble, how much better can it get? esp since they had some clearance tables of odds'n'ends.
This week Tim, Evelyn, Bob and I made a trip to Las Terrenas on the northern coast. What a trip it was! Bob had gone online and found an incredible deal at an All Inclusive resort, Viva Wyndham in Las Terrenas. It was gorgeous! On Tuesday we travelled 1 1/2 hours to Samana Bay to go whale watching. Samana isn't that far from Las terrenas, but the road winds thru the mountains...quite the trip on not very well maintained roads! Once in Samana we had reservations on a 50 foot boat with a tour guide that has been doing this for over 25 years.
We SAW WHALES! really! In a distance, but some pretty close. Regulations require that the boat stay 150 feet from any whales, but that was close enough! In the distance we saw a whale actually jump in the air! We saw whale tail fins flap above water. Unfortunately, when you see the tail that means it's getting ready to submerge for a while. But then we saw a pod of 5 whales! By the way, these were humbpack whales. Hard to describe the feeling of really seeing these creatures in their natural habitat.
The seas were a bit rough....glad we opted for the 50 foot boat. Next time, I will skip the fresh papaya before that type of boat ride. It was delicious at breakfast, not so appetizing when it went flying over the edge of the boat later!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This part will possibly show you how our life here is different. Last Sunday Bob spoke at a small church in San Pedro called "Juan 3:16". After church we stopped at Jumbo to get snacks for our trip the next day. Jumbo is a very nice grocery store, very clean and very well stocked. Just the inventory isn't always the same from week to week. On occasion we have found liquid flavored cremora there. Pricier than in the States, but we have finally concluded along with the other SCORE missionaries "We don't live in the States!"
Small treats go a l-o-n-g way here! We have all learned also that if you see something you need, if you have the funds buy it then because more than likely it won't still be there when you return next time. So, Sunday as we were in the coffee aisle, I once again checked out the powdered cremoras. I stood there staring in amazement! They had the small containers of flavored cremora. Food Club brand, but it was still flavored cremora~~Hazelnut & Amaretto!!!! YES! Near jumping for joy. It has been years since we have had any flavored powdered cremora in a store here. One glance at Bob who said "It's here. get it!" So, three Hazelnut and 2 Amaretto containers jumped into our cart.
Well then we ran into Veronica (single SCORE missionary) and a friend who is visiting with her. They were marvelling at some item that they had found. We went on our separate ways. A few minutes later Bob and I came around the corner in the dairy aisle and there were the two of them again. They were pointing at something very excitedly! YES! Liquid flavored cremora! Amaretto and Irish Cream and this time it was name brand International Delight. You would have thought we had just discovered the cure for the common cold with all the rejoicing and merry making! Bob and I had discussed before whether or not we could freeze it for future use, so, he just said "Get what you want and freeze what you can't use right away."
So, now I added three of each flavor into our cart! We may not see these items again for months, if at all!
Well then Andres and Johnanna (another young SCORE missionary couple) came around the corner. Andres grew up in Argentina; Johanna is from Costa Rica. They were excited because Andres had discovered his favorite cookies from Argentina and they were actually cheaper here! We tried to entice them into our cremora find, but Johanna said "When you are used to Costa Rican coffee, you don't need to flavor it!" I've had CR coffee and she's right!
Well, Thursday on the way back from Las Terrenas, we stopped at La Sirena in San Franciso de Macoris. Andres and Johanna had told us about it. Beautiful store, great prices and they had some 2x1 sales. AND they were actually 2 for 1 deals! Other grocery stores advertise 2x1, but that means buy 2 get the 3rd free! La Sirena had Irish Cream powdered creamer. So, we are now well stocked in flavored creamer. Will let you know ~d about the freezing results on the liquid version. ~d, if I find your cinnamon vanilla, should I get you some?
Oh, the other thing La Sirena had that I have NEVER EVER seen here was Crystal Light iced tea on-the-go packets. With all the bottled water we drink, having flavor packets is wonderful. Those packets are so easy to carry in my purse or Bob's backpack. But I am dependent on people bringing them from the States or buying them when we are home. I have NEVER seen them here. Funny thing is that they were cheaper than what I paid in the States! Go figure! They just didn't have green tea which I prefer, but, hey! beggars can't be choosers!
Oh, one other fun little thing that would never happen in the States~~ on Monday when we started our trip, we decided to fill our gas tank so we didn't arrive on empty. Well all the gas stations had attendants but none of the pumps were open. After the third attempt Bob finally asked what was going on. As we suspected a 'huelga'. The government sets the price for gas every Friday, but they have decided to cut the subsidies to the stations, so the owners all got together and the entire country's gas stations closed for 6 hours to make their point to the government. At noon they were all doing business.
Thursday was a 24 hour huelga by all the public health doctors to get their concerns voiced to the government. It's election year (May 16th) so huelgas should become more frequent. They are generally non-violent, but not usually have a couple of 'hot spots'.
So, this should catch you up on our life here in the Dominican Republic. It's still pretty pleasant temperatures; right now it's almost 1:30 in the afternoon and I have no fans operating! If it would just stay like this....
love,
~~anna~~
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