AHHH! I
literally have one week left in the DR! Where did the time go?!?! For real. I
am experiencing so many different emotions right now, I can’t even figure them
all out, much less write them all down. Becoming so close and opening yourself
up so much for so long sure does make this goodbye thing tougher than I could
have ever imagined…
Anyways,
if there’s one thing I’ve learned here, it’s that life goes on. With so many
people in so many different (and often difficult situations), there are always
a million things going on. Here’s a glace at the last couple weeks!
High School Graduation
On
Saturday, June 6th, we had 6 different kids graduate from high
school from the private school in San Pedro. What an accomplishment! In a country
with such a poor education system, high school graduation is a HUGE deal! We
had a fun time celebrating with the kids on their huge success!
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| Yup. That's totally a diploma! |
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| Each kid was walked in by their graduation sponsor! |
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| Smile for the camera! |
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| The European smiling like an American and the Americans smiling like Europeans! |
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| Nearly all of the grads had a family member attend the ceremony...super special! |
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| AND...Madelon's sister, Hannah, visted!! |
San Juan Day Trip
So long
story short, we have a group of about 30 kids who come from the San Juan area,
near the Haiti border. Most of these kids actually lived in an orphanage that
adopted out prior to coming here. Each summer we take a daytrip over there to
allow the kids to spend some time with their families if they are able to. Last
Tuesday, the 9th, we all boarded the bus at 5:00am and were off. We
spent nearly the entire day driving making quick stop after quick stop. Our
longest stop was actually at the orphanage where these kids used to live. There
were so many babies everywhere…it was such a cool experience! The hardest part
of the day was saying goodbye to a couple of my girls and my family’s godson.
There was certainly a tear or two shed, but we’re all at peace of mind knowing
that the kids are overjoyed to be able to spend some time with their family.
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| Visiting the home of one of our families of 5! |
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| Here's the crew! |
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| Saying bye to my family's godson and his sister while at the San Juan orphanage! |
Adios Avriel!
This was
a tough one! After over a year and a half with a crazy twin/sister/best friend
connection, Avriel finished her time up as a NPH-DR volunteer just in time to
get back to the states for a friends wedding. We were able to celebrate her
time here in a big way with all of the kids and volunteers this past weekend,
but it was still tough to say goodbye on Monday morning! I wish you the best of
luck, Av, and can’t wait to see you soon!
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| Volunteer pic...the new and the old! |
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| Las americanas! |
Soccer Game
Thanks to
Christian, we’ve had three teams of kids participating in a summer soccer
league. While it’s coming to an end soon meaning that semifinals and finals are
in full swing. I accompanied along to see the girls’ semifinal game this past
Monday at the nearby complejo and
guess what, the girls won!! It was a blast!
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| Team meeting with Christian! |
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| Get it, girl! |
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| Fan section! |
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| The younger boys played too! |
Visiting Tia Magali
I also got the chance to
visit one of the caregivers in Santa Ana, Tia Magali. She invited me over to
her house this past weekend and we spent a morning together running some
errands, dancing bachata and making a delicious lunch. It was a fun chance to
hang out without being surrounded by 20 crazy teenage girl (even though they
were pretty much all we talked about!)
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| Tia, me and her bff, Juanita! |
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| Yep. I was forced to eat all of that. Talk about a food coma! |
Well, that’s about it for
these past couple weeks. Our second set of high schoolers will graduate from
their public school in a few days. Fortunately, I’m still keeping quite busy
with all sorts of trip prep for the kids who are traveling to the states and of
course, spending as much time with Santa Ana as is humanly possible. Sending
all my love to those back home!
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| Saying adios! |
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| Hasta luego chica...keep writing! |
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| My uncle's sponsored child with our family newsletter (only Mages' will understand this one!) |
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| DJ and I had quite the tarantula kill the other night!! (For the record, it crumples up once it's dead, so it was actually way bigger than it appears here..) |
1 comment:
Enjoy your last days there!! Who is going to the states and what part??
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