It Starts!

  The day has come, we have broken ground on the construction area - with a bulldozer instead of just a shovel! Yeah!!  
  What a fun day. Went to the site to see work underway earlier in the day than I thought the guys would start. Four dump trucks hauling the topsoil out of the work area.

Below is a time-lapse of shots today taken in the mid morning then later in the afternoon. Starting in Far Front Corner of the Clinic footprint.

  Introduced a Laser Level for them to use - a new device in these parts! So now instead of 3 guys stringing a long line across a graded area and checking along the length of it to see how they are doing cutting the dirt, one guy can hold the laser sensor on a stick anywhere and see how they are doing. Got a slow response, but alot of "Me Gusta"s once they tried it. Fun to help.

  Went to the Clinic for lunch and ended up giving a ride to 5 friends of Laura's - here for the wedding ceremony tomorrow. She is marrying Wellington, a great Dominican guy here with a large family! So the 6 of us followed Nicole to Wellington's family home in the Barrio near the CCED school (the 1,300 student school SRI started years ago). Walked to a guy's house who sells Larimar (?) jewelry so Laura's friends could see and buy some at a great price. Then Nicole got stopped by her new father-in-law (who is Barrio mayor) and resulted in us sitting-for-a-spell (proper DR cultural expectation), went inside his home for a cup of coca-cola, then ended up inviting him to the luncheon we were there to attend so he would allow us to move on!

  Treated to a great DR luncheon - con-con I think is what its called - sort of a corn meal pudding/bread with chicken, beans, avocado, salad, etc. Just great - the corn dish cooked in a huge pot outside for several hours with fire on top also - resulting in a layer of crispy stuff ("chin-chin" I think, could have it all wrong or backwards) - kinda like my family' "mush" we fry (and has me thinking I will try to fry up some of this con-con with some syrup ... I'm distracted... Any way, a really neat DR experience for sure being treated to a wedding luncheon in a DR family home. They had a large garden out back with all sorts of vegetables, fruits, herbs, chickens, cats, dogs, kids, etc. Quite an experience.



  Ended up helping deliver tables to the wedding site, then treated to a nice dinner at Jeff and Kamanda's along with Frank, Juanita and their two young children (Braegan shared her toys very well. :)
  A very nice way to end an unusual week. 

  Thanks again for your thoughts, prayers and support. 
  It's happening.


some closer shots also ..