Day 6

September 10, 2010

Today was a great way to end my first week of work in Santo Domingo. Teresa had a meeting with SeNaSa, the national health insurance system here and I was able to tag along with her. At the meeting they spoke about maternal mortality which is something Project HOPE has been focusing a lot of time and resources on lately. The meeting went very well and Teresa walked out of the building extremely happy. Again, I am still in the process of researching and learning about all of the different agencies here so I will post more details about the relationships in the future. The meeting took place in a fancy new building and I think it has only been open for a couple of weeks. So remember the note about the electricity problems here? Taking an elevator is never smart here. I took the elevator downstairs to get something from Teresa’s car and the power went out for about 30 seconds or so and it was dark and scary and I ended up in the basement. Most big buildings like that have generators so I wasn’t too scared but I took the stairs the next time.

The best part of the day: grocery shopping. We went to this huge supermarket here and it was awesome. It is a big, modern store and had everything. My aunt told me that I could find the foreigners grocery store here but this was way more than I bargained for. I actually learned that it wasn’t open yet when she was here in 2006. I was happy when I found Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water but then I hit the jackpot: a whole section of Gluten Free food! They had so many brands that I love. I found my cereal, pasta, bread, cereal bars, cake mix (not necessary but a nice treat to bake for the family) and some other delicious things. I also found my Greek yogurt that I love and a few other comforts from home. The store had many American brands and a variety of organic food too. It felt like I was in NJ in a supermarket which is strange compared to where I was the day before in Herrera at the clinic. Shopping in that supermarket further displays the huge gap between the rich and the poor here. I purchased ¼ of a shopping cart of food for $100 (USD). Note: gluten free food is very expensive. In Herrera, where the clinic is, people are very poor and would probably never imagine shopping in a store like that.

I am excited for the weekend and the ability to sleep later than 6:30am. (I am writing this at 1:30am so maybe I will sleep until 8:30am) Teresa and I are going to have one hour of Spanish lessons and one hour of English lessons tomorrow while the kids have their piano and guitar lessons. I can’t wait!

Fun Facts:
1. There were so many different types of meat available at the grocery store. I do not know anything about purchasing meat (Englander family) so it was quite interesting to see such a variety. There were many animals that I recognized in the meat case so that was a bit frightening. I do not like when my chicken looks like a bald chicken. I like my chicken in breast form, cleaned and ready to eat (free of hormones or antibiotics of course).

2. They sell long bars of detergent for washing clothes. Picture a 15in rectangular waxy looking item. I will have to take a picture because I had no idea what it was when Teresa picked it up.

3. I ate pork two times so far thinking that it was chicken. Again with the problems with meat.

4. The kids have bowling birthday parties here too. Cynthia went to one today and I was kind of jealous.

5. Many of the traffic lights do not work here so everyone just drives to drive in a busy intersection at the same time.

6. Happy Birthday, Grandma! =] (September 10)

Peace,
Jaclyn

SeNaSa