Running with the Cows

Junior on Family Day

Today I am having a bit of a dilema about which kiddie I should write about, so I am going to include a short note about two different ones! First we have Junior, the second oldest of the children here at 17 years old so not quite a kiddie. In the past month or so he has become one of my best friends out of the kids, partially just because we chat often and as he is older it is possible to have more real conversations. We have shared a lot of past stories and future hopes for life, as well as constantly joking around. Junior is currently the equivalent of a freshman in high school, and with three more years to go will finish at an age of 21. But he realizes how lucky he is to have the opportunity to stay in NPH with all his needs covered to finish school and wants to do exactly that. He hopes to be an engineer when he grows up, but his real passion and favorite passtime is music. He writes hip hop songs and sings them, and was even going to a studio a little while back to record a few things! But he doesn´t want that to be his career, because he wants to be a responsible father who gives his kids a hug everyday when they come home from school. A really great kid that one.

Antony - Looking rather angelic! (and with a pretty normal look on his face!)

The second is Antony. A boy of 6 years who arrived at the home just before I did with his 3 bothers and sisters. To put it simply, Antony is an animal, in the best possible way. I am always referring to him as a monkey because he can generally be found swinging himself all over my body as if I were a tree. His second animal like talent is the ability to make the strangest and most amazing of faces and noises. I am constantly amazed by him and we are always giggling together. A great example of how I can have good relationships with the younger kids but need some real conversation to balance it out.

Although telling you a bit about my kids is a tradition, the real inspiration for this post was to share a funny story with you. A few days ago I was headed home from hanging out with some kids as they were headed to the chapel to say the rosary when Yan Carlos, one of the older boys, came riding up on one of our many recently repared bikes.

“Who is in charge of the cows?” he asked.

“Well technically I suppose I am” I told him.

“Bueno, four of them are on the baseball field.”

And that is how an evening of chasing cows began. We went to check out the situation: which in all reality was four very content cows eating some tasty plants that don´t grow inside their fence. They had escaped through a small hole in the fence, I honestly would love to have seen them escaping because I can´t imagine them getting through the hole! The decision was made that we needed reinforcement, more people. So I conspicuously removed about half of the oldest boys house from the rosary (for which they were all eternally grateful) and we headed off to herd some cows. This section of the night was rather simple, walking/running behind and to the side of them yelling and they head away from the noises... right into their pasture. What began as me wondering how we were going to herd cows ended rather uneventfully.

Or so I thought. We returned to the chapel for the last 10 minutes or so, and while leaving with a different herd, that of children, there were a few shouts of “las vacas las vacas!!” (the cows the cows!). I turned to see the cows had not been content being returned to their grand pasture and had simply headed out again (as we sillily thought it was about to be dark and we could fix the hole in the morning). But this time they weren´t wandering to the far end of the property... they were headed towards the houses. After a bit of commotion, trying to get the kids to head home, Guzman (a man who helps in the farm by day and works at the door by night) came running rather frantically. I looked over to see the cows jogging along through the entrance to the farm... ready to move on to vegetables! This is where the hilarity of the evening came into play. Whoever happened to be standing nearby, from kids of 10 years to Guzman who is probably close to 60, all went running after the cows. Through the squash plants. Through the orchard. And in winding maddness into the pasture of the sheep! There they stayed for the night, as it was easier than moving them back to their home on the other end of the property, and we were able to rest easy, knowing there were no holes in the fence.

Change is a comin´

Before I get into any details of things that have happened these past weeks… I have some rather large news to share. Over the past two days, I´ve been learning myself how to approach the subject and have found that really the only way to do it is to come right out and say it, without a preface... My time with NPH will be coming to a close soon. I will be heading home a bit earlier than planned. Although there were always a few doubts in my head, since my first few weeks here – the past two months have provided a lot of clarity for me. My heart is not with this community, this organization, my work here – this I am sure. And as I am sure you can imagine, this is not the type of work one can succeed in half-heartedly. In reality, the reasons are countless, though this is the largest of them all as well as the most important, so I shall not bore you with a long -winded explanation. Though if anyone cares to know more, contact me!

I would also like to express the fact that by no means do I regret my decision to come here. Not only this organization, but all of my experiences in this country have opened my eyes in a way that nothing in the US ever could have. I have met some of the most amazing people, be it in passing or relationships formed over the course of my months here. I´ve listened to people share their personal experiences with the deep social/infrastructure/governmental problems that exist in this country, and I am sure in many other places around the world. I have experienced things that one cannot experience without living in another country and gaining the trust of the people there. So I will be leaving, after a few weeks in the country with my family, at the beginning of January. Who knows where life will bring me next, though currently I am hoping to find a job in Ann Arbor (of anyone knows of anything, please please let me know) – and hope that my future will bring me to other countries and cultures when time and money allows. I think one of the things making this decision has taught me most is that in life it is so important to follow your heart. The dominicans have taught me that many people in the world don´t have the ability many of us do to change our circumstances when we aren´t content with them. They have reminded me that the ability to follow ones heart should be taken advantage of.

And now I suppose for a few annecdotes, as that seems to be the simplest way to go about this.

-Just after posting my last post, I headed to a little pueblo outside of San Pedro where a fellow employee of mine has reently moved. A woman from Germany who spends half her time in this country doing outreach work with the home, and by most is considered to be more dominican than most dominicans, she really embraces the culture. Anyways, she was hosting a house warming party for herself... and what I imagined to be some NPH employess and some of her dominican friends having a few drinks and dancing for the night was so so much more. Sancocho (a traditional dominican stew) was cooking in giant pots over big fires outside when I arrived, her front yard and street filled with the classic plastic chairs and tables of this country, and already (at 4pm) a slew of people filling the house and yard. The night turned into a grand gathering of people of all nationalities, from rich europeans to haitans from the batey of 15 houses next to our home living on almost nothing. There was a folkloric dance group who came and played music and danced for us, a grand feast of sancocho, and bachata merengue and reggetone until late in the night. But the fiesta was not over that night, it continued with a trip to the beach the next day. With about 20 people piled into her very broken pickup truck (Mother, for your sake I will spare the details) – we headed to a nearby beach and planted ourselves in the shade of a grove of coconut trees to rest from a long night of dancing. And then we ate spaghetti. I learned that day that dominicans are very fond of this food as a ´beach food.´ who would have thought, right, that it makes sense to bring a giant pot full of spaghetti to the beach... but to tell you the truth, it was damn good after a long swim!

My memory is not treating me very well currently and I cannot seem to think of any other grand anecdotes to share and my motivation to write has dwindled... so I shall leave it at that. I´ll try to keep up the blog a bit over the next few weeks, continue sharing interesting anecdotes about my life here.

Photo Mania!!!

After a morning of running around San Pedro trying to find an internet cafe that could handle the largeness of my photos... I have finally posted some on facebook!! Please check out the following link to see my favorite photos from the past few months!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174951&id=7406685&l=767c33ad5a

Anecdotes

Two of our dear troublemakers, Obama to the right

Well well well, here I am writing, really unsure of where this post may take my thoughts... so I think I shall leave you with a few anecdotes about things that have happened the past few weeks. But first of all, to introduce you to someone! Today we have our beloved Obama/Persidente/Jefe as he is lovingly referred... though his real name is Jose Luis. I know I mentioned him once quite a while back and a few people have since asked me to post a photo, so I though what better way than to also tell you a bit about him. Jose Luis, to put it clearly, is one of our troublemakers. The word 'troublemaker' could be used to describe the majority of our kids, so to be one here means you really take things seriously. But despite his habits of skipping class and getting in fights, he can be a really sweet kid. He almost always has this serious look on his face like in this picture, but if you know how to work him he breaks into the most amazing smile. I've found that if I give him a serious look back for more than 30 seconds, he bursts out laughing. We've developed a bit of a friendship, but in quite the strange way. It mostly involves joking around with eachother and making faces... but hey, I'm not complaining.

And now, a few stories about the life here:
-I mentioned briefly in my last post that the boys who live in my house have been asking me for seeds lately and started planting a bit in our backyard. Well, over the past few weeks, it has turned into what one might call a full out family sized garden. Almost all of the land along the fence surrounding our backyard has turned into child sized gardens, each belonging to one of the boys in my house. I am pleasantly greeted at times with children exclaiming "la mata nacio! la mata nacio!" (the plant was born!). It seems much of the excitement has come from the kids learning that gardening is something I believe is important, as it is part of my work here... and wanting to appeal to that. It is really the first time I've felt like the kids maybe understand a bit about who I am. As for now, we have some seedlings and I'm hoping they can continue to care for them well enough to actually get some vegetables!

-My budding relationship with one of the dear old hatian men who I work with on the farm has led me to some wonderful times. If I haven't yet explained, there are 6 workers on the farm with whom I share my time there. Although I would love to say I am doing hordes of hard manual labor, I am spending a lot of time chatting (good in its own way, right?). But the good that has come from it is that I now have 2 great buddies and a few other burgeoning friendships. The two great buddies of mine are a pair of Hatian brothers, Caito and Moreno, who are in their 60s. So keen to share their knowledge of the land and of life. Caito has really taken me under his wing a bit teaching me about how the tropical plants grow and what you can do with different fruits and vegetables. He recently brought be a bag full of acidic oranges from the tree at his house, with special instructions to drink the juice of half an orange every day. No more, as they are so acidic and it can be hard on the system if you have too much. Both Caito and Moreno insist that if I continue with this, my heart will be strong and my body healthy. Funny enough, I've been drinking this juice for a week or so and during that time caught the nasty 'gripe' or cold that is going around the home. It's really knocked me out a bit the past few days, but also taught me a little something new! The first day I went to the farm to work with my cold, I told my pals upon asking how I was "well, I have gripe, so I'm a bit sick. But other than that good" Caito and Moreno replied, "well, it all depends on how you look at it. In reality, someone who doesn't have a cold is a whole lot sicker than someone who does" hmmm. And before long, I was in my housse hearing exactly the same from one of the Tias. Quite a different way of looking at things eh, but heres how they figure. When you've got a cold you're constantly coughing, sneezing, and blowing your nose. All of this is pulling all the bad things out of your body, leaving you a lot healthier. And all those without a cold still have all those things building up in their body. Maybe those of us who aren't sick just dont have that bad stuff in their, but needless to say, an interesting way of looking at things.

-A bit of the situation here is about to change as my dear partner in crime, Ingrid, has decided to move on to a new adventure. I'm sad to see her go, not only for the work we've been doing together, but also as we are very like minded and have therefore been able to share some wonderful times. But also am happy for her, as I know her heart has been calling her to somewhere else (although where has yet to be completely determined) and I know how important it can be to follow your heart. In her preparations to leave over the past few days, she has left to me what we hope to become a bit of a legacy within the volunteers. A perfect climbing tree hidden in a back corner of the property with a little perch from which you can see both the ocean and the mountains on a clear day. What has been her place of refuge to get away from the commotion of life here, a place to sit and think, will hopefully provide me with the same.

-Of course, what could be a post about life here at NPH without mention of frustration. I had a bit of a rough week trying to rest the sickness out of me, and came out of it ready to get a little bit of work done yesterday, only to feel shot down by the house director, a nun from Colombia. She made it very clear to me that she really doesn't give a darn about the program I am working on to have the kids clean up the beach for a short period of time when they go to the beach each Sunday. A simple way for them to give back to the community and learn about the problems of litter in the country (which are HUGE). It is just a rather disheartening feeling to know that almost no one in the administration cares whatsoever about environmental issues, and won't do anything to help me aside from telling me i have permission to complete projects if I do all of the work.

-Last, but definitely not least, this week has brought 5 new kids to the home, one of which is a little boy living in my house now. Sebastian, the new little guy, is incredibly sweet. Yet to be tainted by others in the house, I have nothing but great things to say about him. He seems to have taken quite greatly to me as he is always asking me when I'll be coming to the house if I see him out and about, asking me to stay just a little bit longer, and sitting with me whenever given the chance. It is a funny thing to feel like someone who has known me for all of a few days seems to care and respect me more than those who have known me for 3 months.

so there you have it, a bit of a peak into the life I've been living here at the home over the past few weeks. I know its just a few stories, but life seems to have settled into something more constant, so stories of what has happened seems to be the best way to share with you my excitements and troubles. I hope that life is bringing excitement to all of you, and wish you all a happy thanksgiving if I dont get to writing before then!

paz y amor

Fresh Mountain Air

A pretty acurate representation of my boys along with my favorite of the Tías, Marta!

I know I´ve been starting off my posts by introducing you to an individual kid, but today I think I´ll switch it up just a bit and instead introduce you to the boys of the house I spend most of my time in. The house I eat lunch and dinner with, wish the kids sweet dreams at night, take part in a bit of the discipline, and well just hang out with. We have 20 boys between the ages of 5 and 12 who are most of the newest boys in the home... though that could mean they´ve been here anywhere from a month or so to over a year. With such a broad range of ages, the atmosphere in the house is a lot different from that in many of the others. The older kids take on a lot more responsibility, cleaning after the youngsters have gone to bed, and when they are on their best behavior they can really look out after the little ones. Sometimes I´ll look up from my meal to see one of the oldest and toughest kids feeding our littlest one who sometimes needs a bit of help. Many of the boys are really interested in gardening and are always asking me to bring them seeds and help them build a garden in the backyard. As we´ve recently moved into a new house, the process is starting all over again with fresh land. I have hopes for vegetables of all kinds to be growing there! Also as they are the newbies, they aren´t all used to living in a home of people who care about them or having any sorts of rules whatsoever... so they can be really hard at times. Slowly they are getting more used to my presense and taking me a bit more seriously, but it can still really be a challenge. That said, I´ve grown to love every single one of those boys and hope my presence will help guide them in the right direction!

As for other things, this post is mostly just to share with you a bit about my last weekend off! I know I know, maybe you all want to hear about my work and the life at the home... but this is what I currently have the motivation and desire to share. About a 5 hour journey from here lies a few town scattered in the mountains loving referred to as the Dominican Alps... though without snow and anywhere near the height of the real Alps, I´m not sure I would go so far. Names aside, the mountains are a wonderfully fresh and beautiful change of climate, landscape, and pace of life from my home here close to the Carribean beaches. So off I went this past weekend with one of my fellow volunteers and another NPH employee in search of fresh mountain air, beautiful views, and best of all, trails to hike.

Although our journey ended a bit different than we had envisioned, it was a refreshing change of lifestyle from that I have here, a bit of a peak back into the life I tend to crave. Some of the trails we had heard of required paying a motoconcho (motorcycle taxi) quite a large sum of money to drive you up to the head of the trail and sit and wait for you to return. Being rather poor volunteers, we instead spent our days mostly wandering. We would set off in the direction of the mountains or a friendly looking hill to explore and just keep walking wherever the roads seemed to take us and whatever paths the roads turned into, no worries of how we would find our way back because without a doubt it always worked out. We saw the sun rise. held doves with a kind old man at his little shop. Climbed outdoor staircases to the roofs of buildings to find sprawling views of the town slowly becoming mountain. rode through mountain roads between towns in the back of pickup trucks, stopping for a potty break at someone´s home while the driver picked guavas and passing them out to all the passengers. made our way along mountain streams by wading upstream. stopped to chat with whatever people we found along the way... which led us to exciting things! From chatting came spending a little time helping some men till thier land behind a friendly old horse and sipping on homemade sugarcane wine.

The whole weekend left me feeling so refreshed and excited about what other possibilities may lay ahead of me by finding my way out of this little section of the country. Although a meager 3 days off every other weekend doesn´t allow for exploring too extensively, I´m ready to get out there and see more of what the country has to offer inland and away from the tourist filled beach towns!

I wanted to add some photos of the mountains as well, but I dont have the patience to wait for the internet right now... hopefully this week I will be putting an album on facebook and can post a link here for all to see! And before long will be coming more about the actual work I´m doing and how life is at the home of course.

Last but not least, I´ve been feeling a tad bit homesick the past week or so, which in turn has me thinking of all of you, my beloved family and friends. I would love to hear a bit about what you´re up to, so when you get a chance shoot me an email and update me on your life! It would be ever so appreciated J

Redefining Family

Luis Arturo, mi hermanito

Today I want to introduce you all to Luis Arturo. Despite being adorable and having a really lovable attitude once getting to know him, Arturo (as he is known because there is another Luis in his house) is also the child that my parents are sponsoring. Side Note: all the kids here have between 6 and 8 Padrinos, or Godparents, who pay to support them. Although the money all goes into one pot for the home, the kids get letters and photos and things from their Padrinos and are always writing back to them. It is pretty amazing the love and appreciation some of them have for people they´ve never met. Anyways, I´ve been spending a lot of time with Arturo the past few weeks as I think of him a bit like a little brother... he even answers to hermanito when I see him (spanish for little brother). He can be a bit finicky, and somethings standoffish... but when he is ready to play with you – its hours of hugging and laughing and all sorts of wonderful things. I think as he is getting more accostomed to my presence as well, the standoffishness is fading. At only 2 years old, I´m excited to see him grow up over the years J

MMMMM Cucumber! We have an abundance of cucumbers coming out of our greenhouse (we´ve passed 1000 harvested a few weeks ago), and the kids enjoy eating them whole in the afternons!

One of the boys in my house wanted hearts and the word ´familia´(family) painted on both arms when we were face painting!

A few of you may be wondering why I would title a post ´Redefining Family.´ Especially if you know how strong of a role my family plays in my life, with a pretty clearly defined definition. Well here it is, yesterday was Dia de Familia here at the home. An interesting concept for me as we are a home for orphaned and abandoned children. If they have family that exists, for me there better be a gosh darn good reason for them to be here instead of with those families. I had a few doubts throughout the day as many of the families appeared not to have insufficient money to take care of children, in fact many had numerous other children with them (be them cousins, children born after our kids were brough here, whatever). Those who I saw interacting treated the children well, and many children were so sad to see them go at the end of the day. I guess I just need to remind myself that we have trained social workers and psychologists that investigate every situation and make the decisions of who comes to the home. They must have good reason!

Danilo, one of the older boys serving up pizza made by the leadership group and sold to the families. They were making money to feed their chickens!

The day consisted of the families of about half of the children coming to visit, bringing parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, nephews – a whole slew of people – dressed in their best, with gifts and food from outside for the kids. There were events all day, kids were sitting in the shade of trees spending time with their families, the Tias were sharing information about the kids lives with them – almost like mothers bragging with report cards and all, and there was also a whole lot of dissipointed/upset/lonely children. It was so interesting to see adults walking around and instantly being able to determine who they belong to. My favorite was when one of our sets of twins were walking with their father, all looking almost identical aside from the years aging the fathers face.

I spent quite a large part of the day painting the faces of kids who didnt have family there to keep them occupied, chatting about life and things. This is where the idea of redefining family comes in. I´ve always been amazed at the ability of one of my fellow volunteers, an ex-pequeño from the home in Haiti, to talk about his NPH family. Always in the form of brothers and sisters. Though he clarifies whether he is talking about an NPH brother or a blood brother – the sentiments are the same, the feeling of family never changes. I spent a lot of my day talking to those children, especially those who are newer to the home, about the idea of an NPH family. The fact that there are so many people here within these walls who love and care for them, the fact that no matter what family exists for them outside of the walls, they will always have their family here. These are some of the ideas I feel are so important for the children to be shown and told often as to help create those sentiments.

We had a retreat for the volunteers a few weeks ago and spent a lot of time thinking about various goals we have for our time here. One of the things I thought about was the importance of family in my life and how I can help the children to redefine the word and create that same sense of family importance with their fellow pequeños, tias, and all the others here. I know this weekend was just a start but I hope that by providing an example and talking with the kids, I can help to inspire that sentiment in them.

Tia Morena and Alberto (both from my house) showing that feeling of NPH family and dancing in the park to a bit of bachata!

In other news, I´ve really starting my work in the farm! I´m spending about 10 hours there every week working lots with plant reproduction as well as helping with the classes taught there. In these classes the kids each have their own row in the garden where they can grow and care for whatever they please as well as their own fruit tree to care for. As with everything here, it doesnt always work out perfectly, but it has been really exciting to see the kids who get into it. Last week I helped one of the boys harvest pounds and pounds of peanuts!!! It was the first time I had ever seen them growing and had me really excited. I´m also learning a lot from the Hatian workers we have there. I love the Hatian people, they are so kind and ready to share their knowlege. Slowly I´m learning the processes for planting and caring for plantains, bananas, yuca, batata (similar to a sweet potato but white in color, and different in shape), and many other tropical fruits and vegetables!

I think thats about it for now, I´m feeling more settled in a routine and work here, sometimes I can´t even figure how how the weeks are passing they go so fast, I feel like I´m living my life here not just visiting some foreign place. And this weekend, it´s off to visit a little town in the mountains and do a bit of exploring!

Birding Expert visits NPH-DR

Below is an article that I wrote for NPH publications... just thought I would share it with you!

Birding Expert visits NPH-DR

This week, numerous children here at the NPH home in the Dominican Republic had the opportunity to learn a little more about the birds around the property on which our home lies. As a part of the Naturalismo y El Medio Ambiente (Naturalism and the Environment) course taught to students fourth grade and down, each class spent an hour attempting to quietly walk through less developed areas of the property, taking notice of the perches, flight, and sounds of nearby birds.

It all began with a visit from bird expert and owner of Tody Tours (a bird tour company here in the DR), Kate Wallace. Kate led bird walks around our property this Monday for both the second and fourth grade classes, lovingly sharing her knowledge of Dominican birds with the children. At one point, she even had all of the children laying in the grass playing dead to see if the vulture above would believe they were food!

Kate also lead an early morning bird walk for some of the older children with specific interest in the topic. As the sun was rising and the tropical air was still brisk, the group was able to see and hear many more of the property´s numerous bird species. From this walk has stemmed the start of a bird club here at the home, who will be creating posters to help teach the rest of the children to identify our many birds, and sharing their excitement with fellow pequeños!

The events of the week were organized by Project Green volunteers Christina Carson and Ingrid Hannan with help from employee Marijo Rozycki who hope it will spark continued interest in appreciation for the wild birds and animals of our home.

Photo Mania!

Just thought that I would put up a few photos from my weekend off for you all! My camera had a bit of a problem and I spent a month waiting for a part to be shipped here to fi it... so finally having it back had me playing photographer all weekend!

The view from the window of the 19th floor high class apartment were we spent a few nights in the capitol (belonging to a donor who kindly welcomes poor volunteers into her home)

Rusting car weaiting to be loved

My fellow project green volunteer, Ingrid, adventuring in a Santo Domingo park

colorful buildings are never far from sight here! something i love about this country

we stumbled upon a little barrio in the city, and in turn this oven

More to come soon! As many of you know, photography as recently become a passion of mine... id love your feedback!

Sending Down My Roots And Spreading My Branches

It’s amazing how the time passes in my dear home here in the Dominican Republic. For me, it seems only yesterday that I was posting photos and sharing my excitement about various adventures had… yet a week has passed and so many things have happened, so many things have changed. It’s been quite the rollercoaster and quite the journey the past few weeks… and I’ve come out of it with a bit of a change in my job and a new outlook on my time here. And that is all to come in this addition! But first, I’ve been thinking about ways I could start my blog entries, and what I’ve come to is this – I shall begin each entry introducing you to one of the kids here. A little about who they are, a little about my relationship with them, and hopefully a photo as well. And soon you’ll know a little more about a lot of my kids!

I love this photo of him because it shows that exact moment when he is about to burst into a big smile from his often serious look!

So, without delay – meet Jonathan, a boy of 8 years who lives in my house of new arrivals. Some of you may remember a story from another entry about the boy who had refused to talk to me for my first few weeks here, and one day drew him sticking his tongue out at me and me crying on the chalkboard, then let me play with him all afternoon… this is that boy. And since then we have created quite an interesting relationship. Jonathan is still a bit of a trouble for me as he can be so incredibly loving and friendly one minute, and after one little thing happens he can be upset with me for the rest of the day. But when times are good between us, they really are great. If given a task, he is willing to help me with whatever little thing I need. He will sit with me for hours coloring. He gets really excited when I am coming to his class to teach my course. He is in a place where sitting to talk, playing kids games, and hugging are all accepted as great ways to pass the time. And best of all, if he is in a bit of a bad mood, it can often be completely turned around with something as simple as a hug and a little tickling (definitely not true for most of the kids).

And here is that great big smile!

Let me know what you think of this plan, and I’ll decide whether to continue with it or not! And now for some bullets/stories of what I’ve been up to!

-First of all, my work. A few of you might be aware of the somewhat crazy rollercoaster of events related to my actual work since I’ve been here. Essentially, in true Dominican fashion, no real solid work was planned for the three “Proyecto Verde” volunteers before we arrived… and everyone (including us) seemed to have a bit of a different idea as to what our job was going to be. So now, two months into my year here, a solid plan has been created! First, I am going to get involved in the farm project started by the couple of Spanish agronomists! For now, I’ll start spending a few mornings and a few afternoons with them each week, helping out and hopefully learning a lot about how their farm functions (and how the heck growing works in a tropical climate)! They’ll be leaving in a few months, and hopefully then I’ll be able to help take a little more responsibility alongside the Haitian they are training to take over. I’ve also taken on the responsibility of overseeing the care of our animals, which includes 2 sheep, 6 pigs, 4 cows, 1 bull, and a slew of chickens all belonging to various kids. I find this rather amusing as I have net to zero knowledge of exactly what farm animals need – so aside from keeping them fed, watered, and clean… ill be learning the ropes! And learning the ropes includes everything from ensuring they get their vaccinations to helping move the cows from one pasture to the other! In addition to this, I’ll be continuing with the younger kids classes, planning environment related excursions, and implementing a program in which when kids go to the beach they’ll spend a half an hour or so picking up a bit of garbage!

Reading the following section of a poem by Tibetan Activist Tenzin Tsundue helped me to look at my work here in a new way. I’m living in a borrowed garden, my time here is finite. But I still have the opportunity to send down roots through all the difficulties, to reach for goals that may be a little out of reach, and to leave behind a strong presence, a healthy plant.

Though in a borrowed garden
you grow, grow well my sister.

Send your roots
through the bricks,
stones, tiles and sand.
Spread your branches wide
and rise
above the hedges high.

-Another REALLY exciting project Ingrid and I are just beginning to plan is the idea of bringing some of the kids to the market in san Pedro to sell some of the food they have grown themselves here on the terreno. This past weekend we went to the market early Saturday morning to check it out and talk to those in charge. It is your typical Dominican market (not a tourist market, a solid, almost nothing but food, market), with the streets outside filled with vendors selling fruit and veggies and an indoor area here more established vendors have their own little store. And in the center of the indoor part is a huge area for the selling of meat. In every direction you look there are tables of dead animals. Whole and waiting to be butchered, every part you could possibly make use of laying out for purchase, heads, feet, intestines, everything. For those of you who know how queasy raw meat makes me… I’m sure you can figure out how I felt hanging out in this room waiting for our friend Tomas to make his purchases. A man with a mountain of chickens, quickly breaking their legs, taking out the insides and setting them on the table, and tossing the rest in a bucket to be bought noticed me watching his smooth movements and couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to purchase some of his chicken. That’s besides the point – the managers of the market are wonderfully kind and excited for us to start selling! Now to work out the details and get approval from the director.

- Just one other story of life at the home this past week for you! The discussion has been going on of moving the location of the kids homes and moving the children in a few of the coed homes around so that we would have the 6 houses on one side of the park/basketball court be all girls and the 6 on the other side be all boys. I think it was mostly decided but nothing had been finalized… until last Friday. As with anything here, rumors get out and people talk. So without any final decision ever being made, the Tias got it in their heads that they were supposed to move last Friday. The house director started her morning that day seeing the contents of 4 houses slowly being moved across the park! It turned into a crazy hectic day of moving every last thing in all of those 4 homes… including any and all things that are Exactly the same in both houses, and with no plan of how to execute the move whatsoever. Kids were carrying piles of mattresses on their heads, and bed frames in wheelbarrows! Despite the hecticness of the move, and my want for the kids to have more contact with kids of the other sex to create brother/sister relationships (which by looking at the relationship I have with my on brother I’m sure you can tell are important to me), I’m also content with the move. My boys have moved into a home with a beautiful view over the wall of rolling hills scattered with trees and a nice view of our farm, they are excited to have a covered porch in the back, and although a neighborhood filled with boys is a bit overwhelming, they are getting more interaction with the older boys who hopefully will be good role models for them!

My work noted on the NPH website!!

Just a quick note to inform you all that there is a story on the NPH website about the beach clean up day Ingrid and I organized! I as so happy to find it today hen i stopped by the website looking for something for work!

Check it out here:
http://www.nph.org/
there is a link to the story on the main page!

Beaches Batays and Bienvenidos

Disclaimer: This looks REALLY long because of all the photos... it is in fact long, but not overwhelmingly! so don't be scared, read on!

A nice opening of Antony and Antonio playing around one evening

So my infrequent writing has created a problem for me in that whenever I do sit down to write something, I am such a loss for what I should write in that there are so so so many things to choose from and I know that if I included even half of them, you would all be bored to tears by the time you could read it all! So for the sake of your boredom, I think I ill keep it to just a few stories

But first a bit of an overview – As before, every day is still quite the rollercoaster. For the sake of openness, I admit the fact that almost every day the thought of going home has crossed my mind. It can really be a rough life here in the sense that I am always trying to figure out exactly what my place is within the home and almost nothing can be done without at least a bit of frustration. That said, although the frustration and difficulties at times seem to outweigh the other stuff, some moments of the day are one hundred percent joy and happiness. Excitement and fun. Our classes are continuing slowly but surely, having only one hour with each class each week means we teach just about the same lesson 6 times during the week – so by the end of the week we’re experts at it! Lucky kids ho get us last ☺ Yesterday we got the wonderful news that we will be getting our very own classroom to teach in!!!!! You couldn’t believe how excited we are to decorate our area, set up the room in the way that we want, have our very own rules of the room and so many other things!!! Hopefully we’ll be getting some keys to the room and can get to work setting things up to teach in there! I’ve also been spending a TON of my time preparing for a big fun event we have coming this Sunday! It is the day of san Francisco who is the patron saint of all things natural, so there will be a bunch of fun things during the day including all the kids dressing up a bit, bringing out our horse and cart, eating lunch in our new park, and a treasure hunt… all themed toward the natural world.

Antony, one of the boys in my house planting tomatoes in the back yard

And now for a few stories… notable events in the past two weeks!

-I can’t believe I haven’t written since this as it seems like it was ages ago, but we took close to 30 of the kids of all ages to a beach cleanup one Saturday – it was an international event in which people all over the world were cleaning the beach that day, and recording what sort of trash was picked up so that the organization can then work to address diminishing the trash coming from those sources. Despite some typical Dominican experiences in the morning, it was a great day! It felt so great to have planned our first excursion and for everything to have gone pretty smoothly. Plus to be taking the children out of the home to do something good for the community and to open their eyes to the amount of litter in their country – because it is truly amazing. We’re hoping to plan lots of other events that involve both some service to the community and exposure to the natural world!

-Three new volunteers arrived this weekend, which has been oh so exciting! They are a guy from Spain and two girls from Switzerland and Germany. It is so grand to have some new faces and more importantly a wonderfully excited and fun group! Last night we went out to Batay Montecristi – a small village of about 300 people that is a twenty minute walk from here. YOWZA! It was such a grand night of dancing and fun! We have a volunteer who grew up in the home in Haiti and is no lie one of the best dancers I have EVER seen! He spends much of his free time learning Michael Jackson dances and could really give MJ a run for his money. To say the least – he gave it his all last night! Although most of the night, as always, was dedicated to dancing bachata (the dance of the DR); at one point most of the 15-30 year olds in the batay along with all of us were around the dance floor with a few in the middle at a time dancing some seriousness to reggaeton – words can’t describe it but it as like something from a movie! I’m hoping the night was a sign of what is to come this year in our free time!!

-Today Ingrid and I tagged along for part of the new volunteers’ orientation for which they were going on an excursion to visit a few Batays. First for clarification – a Batay is what most of the small villages here are known as. I’ve heard the translation as a Haitian migrant camp but was also told that they are simply the areas built up to house the workers of the sugar cane industry. That said, the people there never actually own the land they live on and most live in homes that in the states would not even be considered houses. It as such an inspiring afternoon as we were able to see the countryside I have been imagining exists here but have yet to see much of. Miles of sugar cane fields seeming to end in the far off mountains, winding roads through beautifully vegetated areas thriving in the tropical sun and moisture, a river with beautiful sloping green banks!!!!!! Of course all of this was simply seen from the back of the pickup truck on the drives between the batays. These themselves were interesting in that we could see a bit more of the life of your typical rural Dominican. Living in either a small room as a part of a building having just one long row of doors to single rooms each holding an entire family or in homes built of whatever materials could be found at the time – tin, cardboard, bricks, fences of plants (which to me are beautiful). We even visited the area’s premier homemade booze ‘factory.’ A small room in a shack of tin in which a charismatic old man had set up 6 or so little contraptions to make this alcohol (Tricoline sp?). These were jerryrigged charcoal fires with old metal cans on top and a home invented system of collecting the boiled off alcohol in a small plastic container, transferring it bit by bit into reused plastic gallon jugs. (lots of boiling liquids in plastic..mmm) That gallon container will cost you the equivalent of 8 dollars and the man insisted it as at least 50% abv… or more. I tasted a bit and it as surprisingly good, made of sugar cane juice with a really distinct flavor.

sugar cane and dirt roads all the way to the mountains


Nothing like having a cold one on the hood of the truck in the middle of nowhere.
(Jose, the volunteer from Spain, and Ingrid)

-As for the kids (because after all, that is why I am here, right) though days bring so many challenges – mostly in the school but in the homes as well – I am getting more and more comfortable with a lot of them. I’m starting to feel much more accepted in my house (the tia even called me ‘mi hija’ or ‘my daughter’ today which really touched me). The kids pick on me like I am an older sister or something, and seem to be slowly feeling comfortable with my presence. They worry when I don’t show up for lunch or dinner and never fail to express their sadness when I am not around much for a day. One of my favorite kids, Jose, who is new to the home since I have been here, will come up to me if I haven’t been to a meal or more and tell me that my food is piling up in the house and I better come quick because I have a lot of food to get through. I love that he thinks every meal I don’t eat is waiting for me, even though in reality as long as I tell the tia I won’t be there no food I even put aside for me (although at times I forget or don’t realize I won’t be there). He always looks so worried for me, thinking there I no way I could possibly eat all that food in one sitting. And here are some of those kids :)

Jose - the new boy who is always warning me about my food piling up

Jhon Luis - probably the most beautiful boy in the home, but oh so shy

I suppose I should leave you with a few parting words of wisdom. This quote recently fell into my life while I as reading the Life of Pi and has forced me to think about my reasons for doing what I do… something that can be both very inspiring and troubling. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

“Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they’ve known for a great unknown beyond the horizon? ... Why enter this jungle of foreignness where everything is new, strange, and difficult?”

And I leave you with a kiss from Sebastian, a favorite in my house for his amazing personality!

This is my life

‘The only thing constant in the world is change. That’s why today I take life as it comes.’

-India.Arie

I was listening to some music the other day and I found this opening line to a song rather inspiring. Change seems to be one of the most common themes present in my life as I am living it right now - just about nothing is the same as it was a month ago. Every day brings new challenges (as well as some challenges that never seem to go away) as well as surprising and exciting new things. My mood is constantly changing, life is like a rollercoaster, always shifting. So to take life as it comes, dealing with each issue and excitement as they arrive seems like some of the best advice I could receive here.

All of that said, I thought I would start with a bit about what my life looks like now that im a little settled into a routine. Of course no day is the same but there is a bit of order. I get up in the morning around 7 and have a breakfast of fruit (we go shopping every Monday and I buy almost nothing but mounds of delicious cheap mangos) and sometimes bread and coffee with the others who live in my house (there are 7 volunteers in this house). We then work from 8am to 12:30pm, which consists of countless numbers of things. Lots of brainstorming and meeting with people to talk about future plans as well as teaching 5 hours a week on a regular schedule (more about that later) and planning for the classes and excursions. From 12:30 to 2pm we break for lunch. I usually go straight to Santa Rosa (the house I eat with) and spend most of the time there playing things such as a hand slapping game similar to ‘down by the banks’. I love the ability of boys between the ages of 6 and 11 to play this game. They would be content to do it all day long. The work day then continues from 2-4, though often we end up working until closer to 5 depending on the day and what we have going on. After work, it is a bit of a free for all usually taking a little bit of time to myself and spending most of the time playing with the kiddies. After dinner at around 7, the kids in my house go straight to bed so I have the rest of the night to hang out with the volunteers and do whatever else needs to be done. It sounds pretty relaxed but I usually end up being pretty hectically busy from 8am to 7:30pm.

As for the classes, Ingrid and I began teaching this week and have taught a lesson in 3 of our 5 classes so far. We go into the school and teach for an hour when the classes would normally be having their science like class. First of all, what the heck are we teaching about? In true Dominican fashion, we’re honestly planning it week by week aside from having selected a number of themes we want to cover. We’ve named our class “Naturalismo y el Medio Ambiente” (naturalism and the environment) and hope to accomplish three main things throughout the year. For the kids to understand the process of food growing from seed to table, for the kids to gain a greater appreciation of the natural world, and for them to understand a bit of the interconnections between the human and natural world. It might be a bit of high hopes, especially for the last goal, but why not aim a little high? Our first week, as with so many things here, has been up and down. We taught the second graders first, and although it was hectic, we felt somewhat accomplished afterwards. Today on the other hand left us feeling rather defeated. We had our second to youngest group, pre-primario, who we’ve realized we can only do really really really basic things with and who had some trouble participating in class. This afternoon we taught the third graders, who we were warned are the worst class in the school… and well – the warnings couldn’t even prepare us for the class. We spent most of the hour trying to get them to sit in their seats and stop yelling and fighting… and despite all of our efforts, there wasn’t a single time when every student was in their seat or when no one was talking over us. We could barely get through one part of our lesson plan and left wondering how we will ever be able to teach them anything. Marijo insists it gets better as they gain respect for us as teachers, but it is still very very disheartening. I don’t think words could really describe the atmosphere, we were both completely amazed when we left.

In other exciting news, we’ve been planning a beach clean up for this Saturday as a part of an international day to clean up the shorelines! I’m pretty excited to bring the kids to do that as it will be sort of a fun excursion, yet also showing them the extent to which littering is polluting their country. Ingrid and I are really hoping to focus on taking the kids off of the terreno and using excursions as a teaching method… although planning requires a lot I think it will be very valuable for them!

I feel like I could write forever, and each time I sit down to write, the things I am lacking are so much greater than the things that I have included. But I don’t want to overbear y’all with too many words. In a perfect world, I would write shorter things a little more frequently… but business doesn’t quite allow for that. We shall see!

Looking Up

Hello All! I havent got much time to write, but I wanted to just mention something really quickly! I know my last post was quite a downer, and have been feeling a lot more content lately. I guess I just wanted you to know that things are looking up! Frustrations still exist, and I know they will all year but I'm learning to believe in myself a bit more and think i will be able to persevere!

I had a busy week, full of lots of exciting planning and preparations. Ingrid and I will be starting classes on Monday with the little ones. I'm going to the beach tomorrow with the boys in my house. all good things! I plan to write in depth something this coming week about all that is actually going on!

peace and love
C

A few frustrations

In preparing to come here, I read a few places about the processes people tend to go through when moving into a foreign culture – especially in relation to doing volunteer type work. I was never sure of how much truth they held… but now I am starting to notice one of the things mentioned in my own experiences. I had read of the ‘honeymoon period’ in which when you first arrive in a new culture/place/etc everything is exciting and new, so you tend to notice only the good parts of your experiences and overlook the things that might be more difficult/frustrating/troubling. Looking back, I can see that period… and now I can see that it has ended! I think I have reached what might be one of the harder points of my experience.

I am settled enough that the place is no longer new and most of the people I have at least a little knowledge of, but not settled enough to feel completely comfortable with my surroundings. I’ve started to notice a lot of trends in the way things work here, many of which are so different from anything I am used to, making day-to-day life at times a little troubling. For example, nothing here is planned until the very last minute or not at all. Something that usually I am pretty comfortable with, I enjoy types of spontaneity. But when it means that a meeting doesn’t have any sort of agenda and they people there don’t know much about why they are there, then the meeting just starts with no explanation and everyone is talking about completely unrelated things for a few hours, moving us backwards instead of forwards… it makes me feel as though nothing will every be accomplished sometimes.

Although I really do like a lot of the boys in my house, they can be little snots quite often as well. I know I mentioned the constant hitting and yelling. This week especially, it seems to have erupted to a whole new level. Kids are fighting to a point that one will get hurt, and from what I can see there isn’t always much consequence from the Tias. To make it worse, whenever they are allowed to watch TV and there is WWF style wrestling on, they are watching it. Some of them are as young as 5 years old, and to be allowed to watch such violent TV… its no wonder they are always fighting! I’m at a loss for what to do, as I don’t feel I am established enough to suggest to the Tias how to take care of their kids and most of the kids don’t listen to white people as a rule – so just laugh when I scold them.


As for my work, it is moving really really slowly. On a day to day basis, I keep myself busy but often it is with little things that don’t necessarily relate to the reasons I came here. Ingrid and I both understood that we were coming for a big reason to work in the garden and teach the kids about gardening, helping to set up a program in which they each have their own space. Well since we were hired, a couple from Spain has come and taken over the farm, doing exactly that with the kids. We’re now left with the little ones who they began working with but said they couldn’t handle because they were too badly behaved. I am very excited for our project with them! We will be teaching during school, partially in the classroom and partially in a new little garden we are just starting to prepare. We both have some great ideas as far as bringing other environmental issues into the class and hopefully it will go somewhat smoothly! We've had a meeting with the teachers we'll be working with and they were all very inviting of our ideas. I think that meeting has been one of the most hopeful experiences I've had as far as work is concerned since getting here!

I hate to sound like such a downer in a lot of this post, but I have definitely hit a point where I know it is going to be sort of rough going for the next month or more. From what all the volunteers who have been here for a while say, everyone goes through this for a while... and no one ever feels content or like they are actually accomplishing something until being here for a few months. Although that is a hard way to look at it, it gives me a lot of hope for the year!

Last of all, thanks so much to those of you who have been emailing and who have sent mail, although sometimes it takes me a bit to get back to you, know that I really appreciate it. As for everyone else, I would love to hear how things are going wherever you might be in life! Emails and letters are greatly appreciated :)

A Few Photos

I´ll be writing again soon, but just thought I would put up a few photos of my new home and the kids who are quickly becoming my own :) Of course this is just a taste, and now that I´ve found a computer capable of uploading my photos, there will surely be more to come!

A few of the kids homes. There are 12 all together for the kids along with 3 more that look the same and are used for the volunteers and visitors, all painted in similar bright colors!

One of the boys in my house, Angel. He acts pretty tough sometimes, but he is a total sweetheart, lives up to his name, and wants to be ¨Papa Dios¨ (God) when he grows up!

Sebastian, one of my absolute favorites. Such Such Such a wonderful kid

Some of the ¨Babies¨although they aren´t really. They love to make this face every time I see them. Adorable.

Another one of the kiddies in the baby house :)

Beginning my work... slowly.

It seems the 'real' life has started here as I began work this week and will soon be much much busier than I was last week when some of my larger worries were which children I would play with. This week i will be assembling a bunch of information for a huge group of volunteers that come from Canada each year. This year they have chosen to focus their efforts here on agriculture, so we've got all sorts of things planned for them. Marijo and i now need to write up all the exact plans with costs etc for all the projects. Seeing as though I've never built/designed anything in my life and have no clue about irrigation it is hilarious to think I am taking all the measurements etc to plan those things. Hopefully I can do it all correctly :)

I'm just setting back in as I had this past weekend off and went to the beach with a few other volunteers for saturday and sunday. It was great to get away although it also made me realize how little money I have to get around the country. This island is way more expensive than I had thought it would be! There is a beach town that is pretty close to San Pedro and an italian woman who runs an indian themed hostel there and gives us a bit of a deal as she things we're doing good work here. It was nice to be reminded if my adventures earlier this summer.

I feel as though I'm getting through to many more of the kids in my house as i get to know them a bit better. There are still a few who stay pretty distant and will never initiate conversation, but time will likely solve those problems. The boys in my house are such a wonderful age as they still want to play silly hand slapping games, hug me, and the younger ones want to be held from time to time. But the older ones are boys that are quickly growing up a bit. My favorite is a little boy named Antony who just arrived a week or so before me. He is absolutely adorable, and that prefect age where he can be both like a toddler as well as acting a bit older at times. That said, he still has his share of problems. My first week, there were only a few days he didnt erupt into tears for an extended period of time after some seemingly meaningless thing happened. I'm curios to know what his life was like before coming to NPH with his little brother and sister (his brother is maybe even cuter than him and just so so sweet, but hes in one of the younger houses). There are also a few boys in my house who have some problems and can only say a few words. They can be a lot of fun as they have their own way of communicating with me, hand gestures and miscellaneous noises. One, Luis Alberto, has become quite fond of me and is always finding ways to try and communicate with me.

In general the children here are just so full of life. The dominican way is to play music so loud conversation cannot be had, and to dance like no other. Sometimes they will bring out the big speakers and play music on the concha (baseball court) and all the children will be dancing. To see pairs of little boys and girls dancing the bachata (a dominican style of music/dance) is just so wonderful. I've learned a little myself at the batey last week and am growing to love it... and the dance is so easy that a few songs in I was pretty comfortable with it. The joy of their only being one simple step!

I'll be off now, sorry for the crazily random update, but I was just writing it as it came to me :) Hope all is well with everyone at home!

My first week at NPH

Well, I've gotten the internet set up in my computer, but for now that really doesn't mean much. I'm using someone else's now that is a bit newer and gets a better signal. I think if I go to the office mine should work better though. we'll see

Ive made it through much of the first week here as I have this weekend off, meaning I also don't have to work on Friday (I think Ill go to the beach for just saturday and sunday)!! It is still going well and I haven't decided I need to go home yet, so that is good! And all said and done, things are really wonderful here. Im really seeing hoe much everyone here is like one big family and am starting to feel much more like a part of that family.

There are 2 other volunteers who got here recently too so we are doing a little orientation thing this week to help us get settled before starting work on Monday. Stangely enough, they are a married couple from Michigan! Imagine that! We typically have a bit of stuff in the morning and a bit in the afternoon with an hour and a half for lunch (as we all get here), but I spend most of that time with 'my kids' - the ones I eat with. Those little boys are winning over my heart pretty quickly! Soon I should be getting some information from the office about their stories before coming to NPH. Though it will be good to know so I can better understand why they act the way they do, it will also be really hard to know some of the horrible things that have happened to them in the past. Some of the storries I have heard already are so sad... but it makes it a lot easier knowing they are here now and have such an amazing, huge family and so many people who love them so much.

The whole orientation is sometimes a bit long/slow but overall great as it is helping me get to know how things work here (answer: slowwwwwly), where to go for help with different things, who does what, etc. Now I just need to learn the names of all 180 or so kids... I'll get back to you on that one in a month or 10!

I've also gotten to learn a bit more about what I'll be doing as my job when I'm not running around with the kids. It involves A LOT of different things including the following:
-running a program called The Growing Connection run by the UN in which the little kids will grow plants in these 'earth boxes' donated by the program and share about their experiences with other classes around the world. It's pretty interesting, look it up online!
-reviving a composting/recycling program that fell apart a few months ago
-teaching the kids/tias all about the program
-builing/arranging the building of a new area for composting (with WORMS) and reproduction of ornamental plants. And working there when its done
-arranging/planning/supervising agriculture based projects for a huge group of canadians that visit for 6 weeks in january/february
-planning fun activities for St Francis of Asissi day and Earth Day
-plenty of other things that will change all the time!

The woman I am working with, Marijo, is just SO wonderful. I think I will learn a lot from her over the year as she is just a wealth of knowledge. We're hoping to go on lots of adventures next week to places including a huge vermiculture project, a farm school, the botanical gardens, and many more I am forgetting. We shall learn all sorts of things and hopefully get some donations as well

Sorry for SUCH a long post, but a lot has happened this week and I've only included the littlest bit of it! Next time, I'll write a bit more about some of the kids :) Though, I must tell you guys, one of them looks EXACTLY like Obama!!! Almost everyone here refers to him as Obamito or El Presidente... I'll post a picture sometime, you'll be blown away!

miss you all much

so many kids!!!!

Right now I am in town (a short drive from the orphanage) and thought I would write really quickly. I haven't had the chance to set up my computer so it works with the internet at our place yet, but when it is all ready I will write more and put up some photos of my new home!

The orphanage, although a little hectic and stressful at times is really wonderful. I don't start work until next week, so I have this week to get settled, do some orientation things, and get to know the kids before they go back to school next week. I'll tell you a little about how things work there, and write more later in the week hopefully : )
At the property, there is quite a bit of space all enclosed with a wall. Outside there are a few small batays (pueblos where hatian refugees usually life) in the area and a training camp for some US baseball team (the rangers maybe?). The kids all live in seperate homes with about 15-20 kids in each along with 3 tias (they act like their mothers), 2 of which are always there. They eat with their homes, though we have a kitchen that cooks all their food. Each vounteer (and some of the employees) all have a house that they eat with. Mine is the new entrance boys. They are between the ages of 6 and 11, and can be quite a handful! Most of them haven't been at NPH for too long and still have their old habits. They aren't used to people caring for them and many have a history of abuse so they all act pretty tough. But they get soft a lot of the time and run to me for hugs :) Aside from eating meals with them, I also spend a lot of my free time there playing with them. We're supposed to spend about 2 hours with the kids every day after work. Despite their fighting sometimes, I am growing to love them all. and they are so darn CUTE!!!

All of us volunteers live in houses that are just like the kids, with a living room area, a kitchen, 2 big bedrooms, and dorm-style bathrooms. But there aren't as many of us in each house. We have 2, with 6ish in each. Though, right now they are building a new place for us to live that should be done in the next few months. We looked around inside and it is going to be like a palace compared to now!!!

Must run as others are waiting, When I get internet set up on my computer I'll write lots more and send some emails. I miss everyone!!

Rain Rain Rain!

As it is raining outside (like almost every other day), I just thought I would write a quick entry and hopefully it will have stopped by the time I finish so I can go explore!

I've been having a lot of fun thus far this week and can't believe it is almost over already! The other students at my spanish school and I have been getting out quite a bit. It is really interesting because we are all from so many different places! A few from the Unites States, and others from Amsterdam, Germany, and China. It is so fun to hear about everyone's lives and adventures! One night we went to a bar and drank rum and smoked dominican cigars (just like all the old dominican men, haha).

This is the coast in Santo Domingo, it isn't a beach and not even the Dominicans will swim in the water!

The Beach at Boca Chica

Yesterday we went to the beach at Boca Chica, which is the closest beach to Santo Domingo and where all the locals go! It was nice to go for a swim in the ocean, but there was quite a bit of trash on the beach and always people coming up to us and trying to sell us food and other things. Though at least there weren't many other tourists! After the beach, the three of us who went met up with most of the other students for dinner as it was one guy's last night in town!

Out to eat with the other students!

Tomorrow, I think I am going to go with a friend of one of the teachers at the school who is a taxi driver. He is going to take Ana ( the german girl) and I around the city to some of the places that you shouldn't go alone and where tourists never go. It should be very interesting to see! All said, I am very excited to get out of the city and settle into my new home :)

Hopefully Tropical Storm Ana continues to stear clear of the DR!

The adventure is here!

Hola Todos!

When I signed up with NPH, it seemed the time for my adventure in the DR would never come, it was like a distant dream, never to become reality. But now I can say that the 'dream' is here, and it IS reality. I live in the Dominican Republic... though right now it mostly seems like a vacation. For now, I am in the capital, Santo Domingo, taking an intensive spanish class to brush up on the bit of spanish I do know in hopes for easier learning when I arrive at the orphanage. Staying at a small Aparta-hotel (a hotel with apartment style rooms, so I have an absolutely tiny kitchen area, and some other things a hotel room wouldn't) and have quite a bit of free time!

I arrived yesterday, and just after landing the skies errupted in what I would consider torrential downpour (though someone today told me that was pretty normal for mid-August). My drive from the airrport to my hotel consisted mostly of the driver trying to avoid really deep areas and sticking to where there was only an inch or so of water on the roads!! Mucho Agua!!!! Notable moment of the drive was when we decided to stop for a beer (or 'una fria' as it is known here), and when I started to get ready to get out of the car into the downpour, he said in spanish "no no, you wait here." I was a little confused, but a few minutes later, he appeared with a pint-sized bottle of Presidente (the national beer, as I am told) already opened and 2 small cups. We shared the beer throughout the rest of the drive. Completely normal in the dominican he told me... though it sure seemed strange!

Today, I had classes all morning and for a little while in the afteroon. The school is pretty small, and all of the people there are super nice. As traveling alone is a little strange to me, it will be nice to see the same people every day there! There are only 3 students in my class and the teacher is wonderful, always telling us little side notes about dominican life and how the language is different here.

This afternoon I decided it would be best to do a little exploring on my own. It was wonderful to be able to move at my own pace and not feel rushed when I wanted to stop and play taking photos along the way! I walked to the Zona Colonial, the very first colonial settlement in the Americas (the DR is the very first place that Christopher Colombus stopped). All of the buildings were hundreds of years old, and the atmosphere very calm. I wandered around not knowing exactly what everything was for a while, but stopping at the national cathedral (the first cathedral in the americas), a few parks, and a fort! Before long, I stumbled upon the national 'cemetary.' It was inside of an old building that orriginally was a church, and here I found a nice man who led me around the rest of the places of interest in the colonial area, telling me about each place we went. Best of all, he did it all in slow, simple spanish giving me a great chance to practice! We saw lots of things such as the palace where Colombus's brother lived, the house of Hernando Cortez, the ruins of a monastary and a hospital, the oldest street in the Americas (photo above), and much much more! Not long after this, it started raining as I began my walk home. Knowing a little about the system of transportation here, I hitched a ride in a 'guagua' which is a taxi type car that drives up and down any given street, with the driver waving his hand out the window, honking, and slowing a bit for anyone on the side of the street who looks like they need a ride. you just hop in, tell him the street you want to get off at, and for only 50 centsish you get to where you need to go! It was so easy!

I walked a few blocks home as my street becomes one way just before my hotel, and bought a pineapple along the way from the back of a truck! The man selling them was sitting inside and had me stand with my umbrella covering him while he cut it up for my with a machete! it is so delicious and so cheap compared to at home.

life is good :) the people here are so nice, it feels very safe, and I cannot wait to get more off the beaten path and to the orphanage! More at the end of the week