this morning turned out to be another day in the clinic. i started the morning sitting in on a support group for HIV+ women, but the group really just turned out to be a nun talking about the importance of semana santa and serving others. it was actually interesting hearing the group talk about ways they could volunteer their time (a group of women who most of the world would think needed their time volunteered for). afterwards i saw patients. i saw a man being told he was hiv positive. i held a little baby down while we pricked her heel to test for hiv, and then i held a tiny little baby that the mother told me was three months old but that was the lightest baby i'd ever picked up. then lots of waiting....

while we were waiting a patient came back in tears because her husband had hit her. after they got her on their way to the hospital. as she left i asked consuelo if she'd be okay and her response was "i don't know".

then we came back to san pedro where we did a really sad home visit. she's mentally handicapped and has a young daughter (probably a year or two old) who's incredibly disabled. we entered her room and i can barely describe it. as i watched her in pain i was greatly saddened. her body is covered with scaley skin and she has several abcesses near her hairline and sores in other places. i helped wash her and rub lotion over mostly her whole body and drain some of her abcesses. i wasn't sure what i could do for her really, so i tried my best to give her my love through touch (as cheesy as that sounds) while rubbing lotion as gentally as i could over her body. while we were visiting her her disabled daughter had just been left between a couple of chairs in the sitting room....she layed their alone making noises. her legs and arms were incredibly skinny and she just looked so unhealthy. i went out and just rubbed her back and stomach for a while hoping i could rub off some happiness and healthiness into her.

now i'm trying to take care of some stuff in san pedro. i tried making dominican food tonight and failed misreably. tonight's a busy night in the colmado because tonight's the last night of the work week due to holy week. i went back to the colmado to say i needed food because i'd failed at my dinner. they asked me how i made my dinner and then laughed at me when i explained....then offered to make me a sandwich. so i had a wonderful sandwich for less than a dollar. wonderful.

tomorrow we head to puerto plata for the holiday.