Preparing for this trip has been one of the most exhausting, yet highly anticipated things I have done in very long. Coming in the heels of the ADA Scientific Sessions meant that we had very little time to recover from nearly a week of back-to-back meetings and sessions in Philadelphia, before it was time to get ready to fly out of the Bay Area to head to Dominican Republic and Haiti.

(left: Sean Ross, director for Big Blue Test videos; middle: Santiago; right: Andreina, co-founder and Creative Director for Diabetes Hands Foundation)
 We arrived last night and felt the warmth of the Dominican people from the moment we stepped off the plane. Two examples stood out for me:
1) We finally made our way to eat in a place close to the hotel. It was nearly midnight, yet the server greeted us with a pleasant and patient smile, as if we were the first customers of the day. You could tell he was tired (as were we) but the service he gave us was amazing!
2) After our meal, we walked to a close-by minimart (they call them "colmados" in Dominican Republic). It was past-midnight and the owner and his family were sitting outside, playing dominoes and relaxing. When we came by and saw they were closed, they asked us what we needed: "milk and water," we said. They opened the place for us to sell it to us... I was floored!

More to come in the days ahead: amazing stories of people touched by diabetes from Dominican Republic and Haiti...