We woke up today excited as usual! I especially remember feeling nervous and thrilled at the same time.This is the first day I get to experience going to med clinic. The drive to the Batey was long and I could feel myself getting more anxious as we grew closer. When we pulled into the Batey and started to set up, everything started to feel real. I was doing blood pressure and didn’t know how I would interact with the Spanish speaking patients, or if I’d even be able to take the right blood pressure. But those fears had to go away once the patients started coming in. My very first patient was an older woman she spoke no English and I started to ask her the only things I knew. “ hola, commo esta?” She replied “moi bien” and then I started taking her blood pressure. I messed up the first try and started to retake it; when I was finished she motioned her hand going up, and what I assumed as her asking if she had high blood pressure. I shake my head no and she laughed then motioned to her neck being cut I shake my head no aggressively this time assuming she was thinking she was going to die because of this unknown scenario,She laughed again and stood up to take me hand. After a firm handshake she blew me a kiss and Told the group“ Muchas gracis” over and over again. Even this small gesture really opened my eyes to the world around me. Even though the work throughout the day was hard the experiences with the people made it all worth while.The new friends I made in the Dominican Republic make the trip amazing and such an exciting experience. We finished the day by heading to the beach where we got to see a beautiful sunset!
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