Allow me to vent a bit...

You can skip this blog if you don't want to hear me complain, but there are a few things here that are driving me crazy.

For starters, I'm not sure if it is the students, the locals or a combination of both, but the litter here is insane. I am always coming out to the deck to study and the students eat lunch out here and leave their junk on the table or on the ground. I don't know if they are just from priviladged families that have maids to pick up after them or maybe they just feel that they are above putting their stuff in the trash. Whatever it is, I would really like to think that these people will fail out of medical school, because I don't want that type of person being a doctor. Maybe that is a little harsh, but I see doctors as being servants of others...and if you can't pick up your own trash, you cannot possibly serve other people.

Next on my list...facilities here. Wes was calculating the money that this school brings in and there is no reason that the restrooms are second to hiding behind a rock! Not sure where all the money is going because they are not upgrading anything here. Maybe they are funneling the cash to the Bahamas since they are now creating a school there and will probably eventually have all the students there instead of here. Hope the Bahama students appreciate the sacrifices we are making here!

Ok, last on my list of rants...my house...or shack...whatever you want to call it. I am wondering if it will ever be fixed. Just when you think progress is being made, things come to a stand still and no one will show up to work. We call it "Dominican Time". That is how things roll here. We have a new leak in our ceiling, the tile is still not fixed in our bathroom from the repair guy breaking it while fixing the last leak. Our toilet leaks...still. Even after lowering the level of the water in the tank (that was the solution from the landlord before), we still end up with water on our floor. I think it is the actual valve from the floor to the tank. But no one will fix anything until something explodes and there is an emergency. Furniture here is the most uncomfortable I have ever felt. I would kill for a recliner at this point. If you are wondering what our couch is like (if you want to call it a couch), just take a rough sheet and spread it over a nice soft rock. That seems to be what all furniture here feels like. Not sure what they use for cushions, but it reminds me of dead cockroach shells...

Anyway, I am done complaining (for now)...just needed to vent a bit. I am glad that I am here in school, but I really am looking forward to a nice bed to sleep in along with other ammenities that we took for granted back in the states. I guess the silver lining is, this is teaching us to appreciate the little things in life...like comfort. We will be a much more thankful family in the long run...just today...we were thankful that the bread for our sandwiches was just hard and stale and not moldy yet.

Here is a lovely picture so you don't think it is all bad here... :)