Wow! I don’t even know
where to begin to explain the last two weeks. There’s been a lot of good with a
little bad and sad mixed in. We’ve also added 11 new baby piglets to the NPH
family while having to say goodbye to one of our favorite employees who passed
away. Like I’ve mentioned before, living here in the DR with 225 kids immersed
in an entirely new culture has probably been one of the most emotional
experiences of my life! Here are some highlights:
Dia del Trabajador
May 1st is
Worker’s Day in the DR! So everyone got a day off from the office and school
(which generally actually means a day of MORE work for the volunteers!) and it
was fun to spend some extra time just hanging out with the kids! Then there was
an employee party which is always interesting to say the least…
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| Workers who have been around for all 10 years!! |
Day at the River
On our last weekend off a
couple weeks ago, us americanas
decided to take a Dominican adventure to the nearby river. It’s something we’ve
always heard about as being popular with the Dominicans and Haitians we live
amongst, so we though we’d try it out for ourselves. It was a blast!!
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| There's the rio! Aww yeah! |
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| Las americanas! |
Playa Nueva Romana Benefit
Playa Nueva Romana, an
all-inclusive hotel chain in the DR, has made a connection with NPH, so they
invited a few of us to come out to a benefit/press release they were having in
the capital. It was quite the classy affair complete with a famous TV
newscaster, a couple mimes and air conditioning that none of us are used to at
this point!
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| The whole crew! |
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| Some of the boys and Kieran! It was Melvin's bday! |
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| Debora and I! |
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| My twin and I dressed in the same colors, of course! |
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| Talk about classy! |
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| The kids were quite entertained by these 2! |
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| Great smile, Carlos! |
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| Our crew with the Playa Nueva Romana crew! |
Baby Pigs!
Last weekend we were on
and it was full of a lot of Farkle with the girls (like hours and hours of
it…you’ve never seen 6 dice that have gotten more use!) and a lot of English
lessons with some of the older kids. The most exciting even of the weekend
though were some trips to the pig pen. On Thursday, 11 new piglets were born.
So on Sunday, via 3 different trips, Avriel and I brought all of Santa Lucia,
the baby house, to go see the animals. We spent hours watching the mama pig eat
her rice and beans and the baby pigs nursing and sleeping. It was a blast!!
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| Mama and her babes! Let's hope she doesn't sit on any of them and kill them like last year! |
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| Samuel, me, and Johan...they were afraid I would let them fall in...no way! |
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| The crew from trip #2! |
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| The Santa Lucia crew from trip #3! |
Bebo
In some sad news, Bebo,
the nicest/funnest/happiest night doorman passed away on Monday. He suffered a
couple strokes about a month ago and has been in the hospital in the capital
ever since. Finally, he slipped into a coma and passed away. He and his family
lived in the nearby batey, so on Monday night, we walked over to the ‘wake’
that was held at their house once his body was transferred back here from the
capital. Then Tuesday morning consisted of the funeral and burial…
It was really quite a loss…Avriel and I especially had developed quite the relationship with Bebo and
his family. We would often bring him coffee at night when he started his shift
and when we were leaving our kids’ houses and joke around for awhile. On the cultural end of things, this was my second funeral in the
country. On the one hand, this was more of a country man’s funeral because the
wake and funeral were held in his house (rather than the funeral home in San Pedro). Literally, there were 2 tents and a
bunch of benches in front of the house where people just sat and cried and
reminisced and laughed. Then you took your turn going through the house to see
the body, say a prayer, and pass along condolences to the family. It made me
realize again how the most important thing here in this country is your
presence when big events happen. It’s never about flowers or gifts or money
whether it be a holiday a funeral or a birth….it’s always about showing your
support by being there for your neighbor, friend or family member. I really
admire that…. It’s also hard because, once again, I’ve witnessed firsthand how
someone dies much younger than they should have because of poor healthcare or
lack thereof…grrr…
Looking ahead, there’s a
lot going on! On Saturday, we celebrate Godparents Day here on site. We’ll be
having a mass, program, lunch, karaoke, and games in the park complete with
inflatable bouncy houses. It’s an event for 300 plus which means lots and lots
of prep and planning! Also, next week, my uncle Rick and cousins Chrissy and
Brianna will be in town…so I definitely plan to take off a day or two to get in
some quality time with them…I can’t wait them to show them around here! Plus
then maybe I’ll get a chance to slow down for a few minutes ;)
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| Milis and Wilson cooking together in San Matias! |
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| Mr. Marino loving the camera and showing off his toy! |
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| Another new addition to the family: a cat, Miche. |
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| Katerin with Miche! |
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| Johan discovering Miche! |
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| Chilling on the sidewalk! |
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| Johan was scared of it at first, but it didn't take long for him to warm up to it! |
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| Best. sibling. pair. ever. Nuff said :) |
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| One of our nurses little daughter. ADORABLE. |
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| Such a cutie! |
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| Some of the youngest little boys finding another use for the sand volleyball court! |
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| Samuel and Johan! Besties! |
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| Johan photo shoot! (Had to take advantage of the fact that he actually wanted his photo taken!) |
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| Mr. Samuel! |
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| Brotha from another motha! |
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| Miche is super popular!! |
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