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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Zoom-Zoom-Zoom-Zoom


Whew! What a week it has been! To sum up, it has been go-go-go. We’ll take it from the top…

So I am working on a couple trips as the resident visa and trip expert (yeah right), one being a trip for six to the states this coming fall. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a fundraising tour so the kids will be expected to perform (i.e. dance and sing) as well as give their testimonies in English. We did a big long audition process back in March and now the six that were chosen/that earned it are working on preparing their dances (along with the two back-ups). They practice every Tuesday with our dance professor for an hour!

Yeah boys!
Practicing the bachata in parejas! 
...And here's the merengue!
Eso....gotta love the mirrors in the dance studio!

On Friday, we had our first Earth Fair! It was a Marijo project where she got pretty much everyone at NPH involved from the volunteers to the school to the tias. It turned out to be a lot of fun and as one of the kids exclaimed “It feels like a real fair!” Each grade in school had a table and we walked around checking out each other’s stuff. Then I stayed afterwards with some of my girls on consequence to clean the multiusos (much to their dismay)…busy busy busy!
 
9th grade's table!
Jesus (on the left) is our newest...here he's eating popcorn with his new friends, Maicol and Jofran!
Here's the fair!
Fausto as a farmer!
Yesenia and Jaydy as plantains!
Saturday was all of the April birthday festivities! We started off the day with a shopping outing to San Pedro. I spent my time with Anita who was beyond thrilled to go spend her 150 pesos (approx. $4). We also bought gifts for the special needs house and baby house. And I took lots of pics!
Alejandro, Fausto and Yomerkis headed into Iberia!
Darlyn, Ernito and Junior Olivo!
The twins (obviously) Jose and Josecito!
Anita with her new friend, hehe...
Twins Leonela and Lionardo plus Tia Virginia!
Olivo with his prized cookies!
The whole crew!
Anita and I on the bus!
Later in the afternoon, we had the actual birthday party! Since it was nice out, we decided to switch it up and do it in the park instead of one of the houses. It was a big success! There was a little mix-up with the birthday cakes and some problems with ants, but in the end, everyone got some cake and went home satisfied! Plus we got some fabulous photos!
Saul, our youngest, turned 3...how adorable!
Feliz cumpleanyos!
Another million-dollar photo!
Here's the crew!
Time to chow down on that yummy cake!
Sunday was Visitor Day (my 6th and most likely last one!) We had an unusually high turnout which was great! All of the kids except for one who have left the home within the last year were able to make it, which was fantastic! Since we are at an all-time low for number of volunteers (just 8 of us right now), we were busier than ever running around doing activities…I was in charge of Giant Jenga and the music in the park! At 2:00pm, there was a talent show for all the visitors as well! Besides that, I fit in an English lesson with Wilson and then we ended the night with a showing of my new favorite movie, Pitch Perfect, in Santa Ana! (If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know where I got my blog title this time!) Talk about a LONG day!
The volunteer crew (plus 2!) 
Giant Jenga!
Franklin and Josi...first sibling pic I have of the two together! (And yes, I did bribe Josi!)
Yocattia came to visit much to the girls' delight!
Milagros and me...her laugh kills me!
Me, Erika, and Nelly!
Chandaille, Belkis, and Maria del Carmen!
Typical Lucy...
Monday happened to be Worker Day meaning there was no school or office…woohoo! I got to spend the entire day with the girls. We started off the morning doing a Zumba dance CD on the back terrace and then spent the entire afternoon riding bikes! We went to the nearby batey, Monte Cristy, to play some basketball and just hang out in the park there for a change of pace. Of course, we also made our rounds and visited all of the NPH workers and professors from there as well. We finished off the afternoon by returning to NPH and teaching the three girls from my house who couldn’t go because they don’t know how to ride bike as well as my tia how to ride. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun! After a good hour and a half, Carmencita caught on along with her “teacher”, Belkis…I was actually so proud of them it brought a tear to my eye!
The crew all ready to go!
Yomerkis and Fausto!
In the park in the batey with Maria del Carmen and Erika!
Headed back to NPH!
Carmencita and Belkis!
All of Carmencita's hard work paid off!
Katerin teaching Erika!
And some final random pics from the week!
Found these sisters sitting in the park together and happened to have my camera! 
Belkis had a new hair-do!
Nana and me!
Santa Ana tranquila....

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

It’s Been a Fun-Filled Few Days…


Selfy at the front gate!

So much has been going on lately, it’s hard to believe that it has only been a week since I last blogged! Fortunately, a lot of this stuff recently has been FUN!!

To begin with…BEACH time!
I mentioned this last week, but Santa Ana got the opportunity to go the beach last Saturday. Most eventful part of the morning: Anita stepping on a sea urchin and getting 5 spikes stuck up her toe. Yes, a mini-operation to remove them went down right there on the beach.
Chandaille and Anita (prior to the sea urchin incident!)
Carmencita and me!
Me and Madelon!
…And pooltime!
There is nearby pool that NPH has a membership too. We took the 15 kids who had made it to the final round of the USA trip competition there one afternoon as a reward for their hard work…

Playing keep-away with the ball...girls against boys!
Luis Manuel!
Wislina, me, and Estrella!
What a cutie, Mr. Mello! 
Talk about paradise!
And Ricardito!
And then us volunteers went on our weekend off to soak up the rays…
Nap in the sun!
Chillaxing!
Water slide time!
The sugar cane fields are on fire!
There has been an unreal amount of burning fields around here lately. From what I understand, after harvesting sugar cane, they burn the fields before replanting again. At night, you can almost always see a big fire somewhere off in the distance and there’s constantly ashes and soot flying around, not to mention the smell of burning. They just burned the sugar cane field across the street (or better stated, across the ‘dirt path’) from us, so the path leading to NPH looks a bit different with all of the black vegetation now…
Pre-burn...
...and post-burn...
Birthday outing for Santa Ana!
As an overdue birthday gift, I took both Lucy and Cristal to San Pedro for pica pollo (fried chicken…a Dominican delicacy, no joke) and some shopping! It was also quite the learning experience since these two girls have been at NPH for nearly 10 years each! We went on the public guagua (bus) and on motoconchos (motorcycle taxis). Madelon and Chandaille (the Haitian girl who is living in Santa Ana currently) tagged along as well and we had a great time!
Naturally Lucy wouldn't look at the camera... 
Pica pollo!! (3 pieces each, WHOA!)
Visiting Franyersy and Yocattia!
Yesterday, Avriel and I decided to take advantage of a day off to go to the capital and visit two of the kids who left NPH last summer and are now living with their family, one of which was a girl in my house. This is the second time we have gone and visited since they left, and this time, they seemed to be doing much better! We went straight to the barrio where they live…which is well-known for being one of the most dangerous and poorest barrios in the capital (and country for that matter). It was quite an eye-opening experience to say the least…they literally live on a hill where houses are stacked on top of each other. We climbed and weaved our way through the stairs up to the house where they live with quite a few family members…I don’t even know how they all fit! Needless to say, I think we covered some territory where relatively few foreigners have ever stepped foot before. After spending a little time there, we took the metro to a nearby mall to window-shop and get some pizza, our treat. It was really good to catch up with them and remind them of how many people care for them! An afternoon well spent for sure…
This is the view as you walk into the barrio...their house is towards the top in the middle...
At the metro station!
Franyersy and I walking towards the pizza place...he's turned into a man...he's so big!
The girls :)
The whole crew (minus Avriel who was taking the photo!)
Franyersy and Avriel!
Looking over the photo album we gave them!
Hasta luego! Love these two...
Volunteer Supper
One of the great things about making all sorts of connections throughout the country for fundraising and sponsorship, etc. etc. is that we meet some pretty generous people! On Sunday night, all of us volunteers were invited to dine at Pat E’ Palo in Santo Domingo, an amazing 5-star restaurant in the middle of Zona Colonial! Muchas gracias!! We really enjoyed the break from rice and beans! 
Avriel and I!
Guillermo, Christian, and Nelly!
Me and the Mad-machine...
And a couple last pics from the week...
Being doormen with Chico...
We're getting to know the goats that are always grazing on the road in front of NPH...we have even affectionately named the pregnant one 'Beach Ball...'
And last but not the least, the MAD snake I found slithering it's way into our kitchen first thing on Friday morning...thank you Leuris for coming to the rescue!!