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!