A Stones Throw Away

I have always wandered to what international standard is the stones throw measurement  If someone else can throw a stone farther than me can I personally say it is a stones throw away? Am i lying? Are there increments like if you can't reach the area with a single stone would it be a stones throw and then another smaller stone thrown at half-power? Then there is the "oh its just a hop, skip and a jump away". Who gets around like that? Spitting distance? When did actual units of measure become irrelevant?

The FIMRC executive board came down to check out Project Restauracion! Meredith, Stacy, Vik, Vikas and Panya came down and got to see the goings on here in town. Needless to say it took their breath away :)  It was actually a lot less stressful than I imagined. Even though these 5 members of the board were some of the most professionally successful, intelligent and competent people I have met, they managed to not make me feel like an idiot. It felt a lot more like hanging out with some good friends, than actually working. Momma always said, "Love what you do and you will never work a day in your life".

Anyways, I am officially a legal resident of the Dominican Republic for the next 30 days. I am flying home this weekend and wanted to make sure everything is legit for Airport customs. I have been living here without residency for some time now (shhhh), and today I crossed into Haiti at the official checkpoint in Dajabon for the first time. They charged me $25 dollars for the time spent here "illegally", then another 20 dollars just to enter Haiti. Then I entered Haiti, and they charged me another $5 dollars to get my passport stamped (finally got it!). So, I am finally in Haiti, and since i paid $45 dollars to walk into the poorest country in the western hemisphere (where is that money going by the way?) I decided to take a little walk. I was able to use the 2 phrases of Haitian Kreyol that I remember, "Dlo"(water) and "Konbye sa koute" (how much does it cost). I wandered around for a little bit and eventually found myself in an orphanage run by an American NGO. It was quite impressive. After i finished my dlo (just like it sounds) I headed back to the land of plenty. They charged me $10 dollars to leave Haiti, then another $20 spot to re-enter the DR (tourist visa, good for 30 days). All the while there are motorcycle taxis offering to take me to the customs house, which is literally (here we go) a stones throw away. Is anyone really that lazy? $75 dollars is still better than $2,000 and a year long wait for a green card plus multiple trips to Santo Domingo. Ill take it.

I am always blown away at the stark contrast in geography between these two countries. On the ride back to Restauracion I couldn't help but notice all the lush vegetation, well built homes (mostly), happy, healthy children playing in the street (get out of the street). In Haiti it is like a dream where you wander around waiting for it to end, because you know no one really lives like that. It is unfortunate, but at the same time there are over 10,000 NGO's operating in the country. That is a higher concentration of international aid than any other country on earth, and yet the misery continues. Chew on that one.

Well, those are all my thoughts for now. Heading home in a few days! Judging by how sick my body got from being exposed to air conditioning for one night with the board, i feel like i will be setting the tent up in the backyard.

Here is a really cool picture of an old lady selling fried goods. Had to put a picture in here somewhere.

Yes!

What happened to Willi?

So, Willi was taken to Haiti. No one knows why or by whom, but the Aunt that raises him simply stated that "they" took Willi to Haiti and he is no longer here. Very strange situation........

On a brighter note, i went to visit one potential site for our latrine project and snapped this gem of a photo:

.......HAHAHAHA!! Look at that babies face. Babies are already the number one thing on earth that make me laugh uncontrollably  but LOOK at his FACE! It is like a mixture of crippling fear/constipation/confusion. Everyone else is clearly captivated with something else, but this baby is no fool. Its like a death-lock his eyes are open so wide mouth open a just a scoach. I also heard him layout a pretty sweet fart that was muffled by the girls arm, which was hilarious. Overall, it was probably one of the best moments of my life. The little things, i guess :)

After that thorough analysis of startled baby farts (HAHAHA!!) some serious work was had this past weekend. Dr. Lesly (diabetes specialist) came up and we had a seminar in Valle Nuevo in which 15 patients participated. Blood sugar/pressure testing afterword revealed 3 patients who may have undiagnosed high blood pressure. I keep looking up at the photo of the baby as i write this and burst into fits of chuckles. A few more charlas in the schools went successfully and a pretty good Superman Club rounded out the busy weekend.

The main point of this blog was to show you guys this photo. So there it is. Print it out and put it in your office, bathroom, kitchen, study anywhere where you need to be reminded of the hilarity of the smallest things in life.