Pizza, Padrinos, and Puppies!

On the malecon with my Yudelkis, Daniela, and Erika!

Here we are again almost at the end of the month…time flies! The last week has been busy as usual and lots of fun! 

As far as my house goes, my birthday present to my girls is always a trip to San Pedro complete with pica pollo (fried chicken) or pizza. So I took my October birthdays (Erika and Daniela) into town this past Friday along with Yudelkis (a good behavior reward). It was a lot of fun! We started out by getting some food (two of the girls actually picked pizza over pica pollo much to my surprise) and then we did a little shopping and most exciting of all, we went on some motos. Yudelkis and Daniela are pretty familiar with how things work in the city, but for Erika it was a learning experience…it was her first time on a moto! At first, she was scared and wasn’t even sure how to get on. But by her second ride, she was really enjoying it! We also made spaghetti as a house last weekend as a reward for good behavior! 

Yudelkis and Daniela dancing an impromptu bachata!

Me and Erika on the moto!

Daniela, Avriel, Erika, Yudelkis, and me!

Anita was in charge of making the spaghetti!

Katerin helped out too!

As far as work in the office goes, we have been working SUPER hard on getting all of the Christmas cards out to the different countries and we are now just about ready to send them off. We are also preparing for a big benefit/gala that will be taking place in the capital this coming Tuesday. We are hoping to get lots of local sponsors this way! It’s a pretty big undertaking and it’s giving me and Avriel lots of flashbacks to the big international meeting that took place here this past February as we’re preparing brochures, videos, donations forms, and other materials. We’re really hoping for a good turnout and fun night! Part of the program includes our dance group doing a baile, which is always a lot of fun! We also just had a visit from the International Women’s Club in Santo Domingo. As a group, they sponsor ten kids here and some individuals sponsors kids besides that. It was a morning of getting to know NPH for them and visiting with their godchildren…a good time was had by all!

Estrellita and Darlyn with their madrina!

These are three of our newest arrivals along with the lady who brought them here!

The International Women's Club with all their godchildren!

In other news, we found some puppies!! This past weekend, we were walking along the road to the nearby batey when all of a sudden we heard some loud whines and whimpers coming from the ditch. Much to our surprise, out hop four tiny puppies. Sadly, it’s an NPH rule that no dogs are allowed inside here :( The next day, we went back looking for them with bread and water (after another volunteer saw them on an early morning run) only to find out that they were gone. Soon after returning from this failed attempt at locating them, we hear that one of the older boys found a puppy. And sure enough, it was one of our puppies! He hid it here at NPH for a night, but a secret like that (esp. one that is so loud and smelly) is hard to keep when you live with 200+ people. So since Monday, this puppy (which has since been given the name Estrella) has been living in a box right outside the front gate. The kids (and me and Avriel) check on it every couple hours and give it lots to eat and drink (although if you ask me, hot chocolate and rice might not be the best choices for a puppy, but whatever). And today, Luis found ANOTHER puppy when he was leaving school in San Pedro. So now we’re up to two!

The makeshift shelter right outside the front gate...I kid you not, a new piece of furniture is added daily.

The puppies! Nala is the brown and white one and Estrella is the tiny black one!

So as usual lots has been happening here. This Sunday marks Visitor Day once again and it will be my fourth Visitor Day here (they happen every 3 months). These are always days that I have to mentally prepare for as they are VERY difficult for a lot of the kids (and consequently, for us volunteers as well). And then November is upon us and I get to go home on vacations. 21 days and counting!! Also, I’ve starting applying to grad school…I’m so torn between being 110% immersed in what I’m doing here while also attempting to think of the future and eventually leaving my time as a volunteer at NPH (NOT a pleasant thought, but a reality nonetheless!) ¡Hasta la próxima!

Nelly, me, and Av at the beach in Boca Chica on our weekend off!