A wedding and a root canal

A blog post by Melissa. Last week we were in LA for Seth and Ngoc's wedding (Seth=Adam's cousin). The Halperns had a strong presence in the wedding festivities. At the rehearsal dinner, five people from Adam's family gave toasts out of nine toasts (in case you're wondering there are five people in Adam's family). Then we were the only ones who signed up to entertain the bride and groom. We read them limericks. What happened? Did we scare everyone away? The wedding was beautiful, atop a hill in Malibu overlooking the Pacific. Seth and Ngoc did it their own way, incorporating spiritual beliefs from several different religions and personal vows. It all played out beautifully.

The wedding was a great chance to catch up with Adam's family and meet member's from Beth's side of the family. The day after Seth's wedding, Beth's cousin Bernie took us for a hike with a view of downtown LA, then he and his wife Sandy had us over for bagels and lox, which you might be surprised to find out there is not a lot of in the DR. It was DELICIOUS.

The next day, Adam and I left for Seattle and had time for dinner with his Aunt Margaret and Uncle Sid that evening. We know that their days are limited and we were happy that we both got to spend more time with them. Ron and Lois hosted us at their place and stayed up late talking with us to catch up. The next morning, I had my long awaited root canal, which was painful but also a relief after a two month long toothache. The dentist commented that he, too, had been in the DR at a resort playing golf. The whole conversation at the dentist's office was a bit surreal. The price of my procedure was several times what a sugar cane worker makes annually in the DR.

I was in Seattle less than 24 hours and right after the root canal, Adam and I headed south. He went to Olympia, while I drove on to Oregon to see my side of the family. I was even able to get in a "water kids" class with my niece.

Emma was ready for her dips when she put on her goggles.

After brief visits with family,we were back in LA, boarding the plane to The DR. I thought about all the places we have seen in such a short time. We started our journey on April 13th. Ten flights later we have been to Germany, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, the Dominican Republic, the US then back to the DR. People seem to want the same basic things, like peace, safety, good health and a community where they can thrive. Our ability to achieve these things is mainly (with exceptions, of course) on where we are born and who our parents are. Does that mean that people in this world with safety, peace and a community have an obligation to raise up others around them up? And if not, why not? I don't really have any answers to this, but since it's impossible to help everyone, I think about people I have helped and people I have not. How did I make distinctions about who was deserving and undeserving of my support? All social workers wrestle with these questions day in and day out, but there are no logical answers. Adam and I have met many people who inspired us and made us ask questions of ourselves and how we want to live our lives. During our journey, life was made so much simpler just by having easy access to clean water, and this is simply not a reality for the Bedouin we met, and for so many people in the Dominican Republic.

As we move on to the next phase of this trip, which is to volunteer work for the next 8 months, I will take people's stories with me. With any hope, I will learn from them.