With real hope that today is the final manana I am writing this entry on my laptop with the plan to copy it to my blog when I have internet later this evening. I’m currently waiting for the internet, and I’m scared. If he shows up, I’m alone and worried he won’t be able to understand me or I won’t be able to understand him. Milagros had to run to verizon to pick up her cell phone. I’ve got the plan that if we have communication problems I can call neftali the guy at verizon for help.

I’ve been excited recently because I’ve found myself having “real” conversations with milagros. My spanish is improving and also milagros and I have found ways to communicate despite my horrible spanish. We’ve had conversations about life here, about how we like to be busy, about the differences between the dominican and the states, about poverty….it’s crazy and cool to be able to talk about real things. I think she understands me and I think I understand her, but I’m not sure.

Funny thing. I had a dream a week or so that I got a job somehow working as a walmart greeter in a spanish speaking country. I remember being really worried I wouldn’t know the right things to say. I practiced saying “buenos dias” y “bienvenidos” a lot.

We just had a visit with a patient and it was great. It lasted about an hour. The patient is on medicine and she appears to be doing better. We had an education about VIH talk and about nutrition. Also we talked about some of what’s going on in her life, etc. I don’t know. I felt energized by the visit.

The kids at the gomera have taken to screaming everytime I show up. They keep changing what they call me. At first it was the gringa, but the name have slowly morphed into nicer things until now they all start screaming and running after me when I leave my apartment yelling “bonita”. The second littlest one likes playing peekaboo with me, and I gave them some oreos to share today.

When I first got here it wasn’t that hot (okay….so it was hot, but I wasn’t spending my days being uncomfortable). It’s really morphed into being incredibly hot. I’ve found that when it’s hot I really don’t enjoy the power cuts. No power means no fan. I don’t sleep incredibly well when I’m hot, so definitely could tell the three hours from 1-4 last night when there was no power, and the four hours it cut out this afternoon were hot; however, it’s back and I am fully enjoying the fan blowing on me at full blast. Women walk around here with umbrellas to block the sun. well, I’m going to go back to waiting for this internet guy to show.

Oh also as far as plans go. We get to go back to samana next week. We’re going to organize some sort of community meeting there. I’m excited to see what happens. Watching milagros in samana there is great because she seems so at home there. She spent a year working there and really mobilized the community for their health. She later wants to go back for something like five days to organize the youth to do a play which educates the community on VIH and how it’s spread. Samana is an exciting place.