The DeYoung Diaries

Happy Valentines Day!!! Hope you all had a wonderfully romantic special day with your loved ones... and hope you all received my ecard with our party photos and songs on video. I was going to try to send photos and videos today by email but forgot my camera and I think card was a lot easier to download the videos.

Okay, I think Ill go reverse chronological order, since I think its a small handful who make it to the end of my emails. Since everyone wants to know, how is Dave, here is the latest scoop... He does not have dengue fever and never did. Before you sigh with relief... its because he has malaria. Yeah, like the deadly disease carried in mosquitoes that you hear about passing through Africa... that one. Since around 500 people know about it on this side of the world, and my mom has it plastered all over facebook, I think I may as well share all the details. Since we came back from the hospital last week, after 3 days of staying there "interno" being treated for dengue, his fever, migraines, chills, yellow skin, and finally convulsions got worse. I could barely walk outside my door without a million people telling me what a bad wife I was for not taking him back into the hospital, then went back to him who stubbornly insisted he was fine and would wait it out as dengue can last up to 15 days. Well finally Friday night the whole volunteer house was against him, as well as the rest of the orphanage so he finally agreed to go in. He insisted on driving, so we borrowed the orphanage truck Saturday morning to go into the clinic. They called up a team of "malaria specialists", so we went to meet them at MUSA, the public hospital. I think this is the first time I have been in a passenger seat next to him in this country driving, and while looking out the window at the bright pink and green buildings, horse and carts trotting by, old men selling fruit on the street, stray dogs, reggaeton blasting, motos weaving in and out, and children jumping up onto the windshield trying to wash and make a few cents, I flashed back to our times driving side by side in Michigan, thinking of the quiet snow sloshed highway of 69 driving home or to work. So crazy how life can change in the course of one year. I guess this is all part of the adventure though it doesnt always happen quite the way you imagine in your dreams. Okay, so anyways, we got to MUSA and the malaria specialist was waiting for us. I definitely had done my homework on dengue vs. malaria vs. hepatitus, reading online while taking care of Dave, and asked tons of questions and watched carefully through every test they did, knowing the symptoms, numbers, med names, side effects, etc. The specialist insisted I was a doctor or nurse, and asked where I studied. I told her I found all this information on the internet and she was so blown away by it. She said really, shocked as if all of her time researching was just all a waste, this information is on the internet??? How do you find it?? Did you tell Dr. Bettini that this is all on the internet?? Guess she never heard of google. Then she insisted I stop teaching then to join her malaria squad team, out combatting malaria in the bateys and villages. Ah tempting as it is, cant commit to that right now. Sooo his diagnosis came back positive and he took 7 meds and started feeling better that day (Saturday), though side effects came later, then took another 3 meds Sunday. They told us to come back Monday for the last of the treatment.... so this morning I felt I couldnt yet again leave my poor teaching assistant solo so Dave went on his own since I thought he was just getting a shot and would be okay. So around 11a.m. this morning, the whole malaria SWAT team, looking like that team out of Monsters Inc (Tracey knows exactly what Im talking about here) came with their big badges and kits, pulling everyone out of class to get finger prick tested and treated for malaria. They asked all kinds of questions, and then informed me that a man named David came from Haiti and had been infected by malaria, and since a mosquito could bite him here and carry the infection, now all 300 of us or more at NPH were at risk. I explained that this was my husband and they were especially concerned. (Though I was too busy worrying about him this past week, he was sweet, even in his sick state would run and slam the door and pick up the fly swatter swatting like crazy at anything that came in. He said "I love you too much to let you go through what Im going through"... what a sweet guy huh?) So yeah, I think the guy who hates attention definitely has gotten more then ever before, and not all positive since about 300 people, including the babies, all had to get their finger poked for him. They poked the middle finger, and it was a great scene watching the whole preschool class come out in a crying line to go home, all with their middle fingers sticking straight up to show their boo boos (wish I had my camera...). I guess Poor Dave took his nickname to a whole new level this time. But now, today, he seems to be doing better. He came in to give art lessons to Samuel today even, but is spending the rest of the time in bed. We both vowed to trying to eat and live healthier, spend our stipends on fruits and veggies since our diet is rice and beans and rice and beans and rice and beans and more rice and beans. Saturday we bought all kinds of vegetables and have been eating only veggies all weekend. Valentines dinner was a big bowl of green brocolli at the house. To try to give it some flavor we got the flashlight and snuck around in the dark through the tall grass looking on all the lime trees to snatch a piece of the kids fruit, but with no luck. It was fun though. Sound like how you spent your Valentines day??

Okay so since this email is totally out of order, that brings me to my next theme of this email - Valentines day... or as they say here The Day of Love and Friendship. Like I said, we have been doing everything hearts and valentines and friendship in my classroom this week and last - from read-alouds, to cut and paste pages, to heart cookie play-doh math, to heart collages with feathers and bows, to heart symmetry, to heart word building games and more (this is what you do when you have a modge podge class of anything and everything, in a country with no curriculum). As youll see on the videos we wore heart crowns and sang translated versions of Skidda ma rinky dinky dink and The More We Get Together and Hello Friend. We made TONS of decorations for the party, the whole room was COVERED, including handprint rose bouquets and butterflies with heart wings that said "On my wings of love, I will fly around the world and make it better" (okay the phrase sounds better in Spanish) - then we spread our "love wings" and flew around the room hugging, and using our wings to pretend to help others who were sick or in need. Simple concept, but oh so important for these little guys in a world that has been so cold to them in the past, and is so full of poverty and disease and just general need. We played games where we passed hearts in a circle to music and when the music stopped, we had to show "love and friendship" to others in the room. Oh and we had pink strawberry cake for the party, with sweet coconut in the middle, pink frosting, drizzled with strawberry sauce, then decorated in red hot candies. It was sugary SWEET! (just how the Dominican kids love it) My roommate Jose spent the night before the party baking while I sat and translated histories for him into English to send to US sponsors (seemed like I got the better end of the deal). Everyone at the party ate cake and drank red juice and ate heart suckers. A small handful of visitors came to watch our show, youll see my little Moises in the video, blind with CP, falling over while doing the skida ma rinky moves to a different song, not able to see my lead, but too cute. I think Ive mentioned him before but he found in a basket on church steps as a baby and they named him Moises, like Moses found in the basket in the bullrushes. He is about the cutest thing in the whole world too. Oh and of course youll see Rodolfo front row with crown over eyes refusing to sing because his VIP, my roomie Janvier, didnt show on time for the show. But anyways, kids will be kids, and it was a quite a bash, and hope you all enjoyed the card, let me know! :)

Okay, well like I said, most of Saturday was spent at the hospital, but that night Jose had a dinner party at the house for us (early bday because my roommate Kata is going to an Occ. Therapy conference in Mexico next week) - he cooked and cooked and cooked like crazy, and we equally ate and ate and ate like crazy. All kinds of unusual ethnic dishes I never thought Id like, wheat salad, french quiche, meat in crepes, cheese seasoned potatoes, brownie birthday cake, and much more. It was a great time, and have I mentioned I love my roommates? Weird to live so many people after 2 years married living on our own, but it is always fun living in such a multi-cultural home. Speaking of roommates, in addition to the millions of visitors in and out, I have 2 new roommates... one named Martin from Germany who works in fundraising, and a white water rafting instructor from Cali named Collin who drives trucks to and from Haiti.

Oh and I think that brings me full circle to Sunday, the real Valentines day, that I spent at the orphanage with Dave. We had a dance party on the cancha (basketball court) and there was a birthday party for all the January birthdays with a big cake (have I mentioned things are slow-paced here and often happen late?). I went to the school for a couple hours to "work" but really making valentines for our volunteer house, my little girls house Santa Ana, my beloved teaching assist. Maria, and of course most of all Dave. I made an updated version of What I love about you.... (I did this Valentines Day 7 years ago with 101 reasons but didnt come up with quite that many this time, just more lengthy quality reasons) and a photo slideshow of photos through our time together.... little did I know, he was not home in bed resting but actually up in our arts and crafts room at the same time busting out the ribbons, pastels, paints, and construction paper making me a beautiful valentine too. I think it made me more happy than any romantic dinner or jewelry or weekend away ever could have. Then we had our delicious, or should I say healthy, brocolli dinner and watched our favorite movie Elf that we found in a plastic bag in our living room.

Okay so this brings me to my "prayer child" of the week, if you have made it this far, please email me if you are willing to pray for Samuel on a regular basis. He was expelled from school in the fall for behavior and has been a part of my program ever since. He can be really tough, and spent our Valentines day party outside throwing things through the window since he wasnt allowed to come (for reason too extreme to mention in email). He has a terrible terribly sad history. Please email and let me know if you are willing to commit to praying for Samuel. I will fill you in on more details then.

Okay lots of love and peace and friendship to all, and of course many thanks for all of the prayers, love, encouragement, support, donations.... I am blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed!! Hopefully the next time I write it will be to inform you that Dave is all healed and we are back from a weekend AWAY - we live 10 minutes from the beach (by car) and have not been in over 2 months! Im so ready for it!

Love love love you all,
Kristin