The Invasion

Well it has been a while; I think I might forget how to do this. This has been the craziest week(s) even though it has been somewhat non-exciting week(s). 

After my dad left I had two families here for a 5 days. This meant 9 people living in my 4 bedroom house with people sleeping in the living room and all over the place. Having had this house to myself for 2 months I was well accustomed to having things my ways. However with this being said if I was going to take on any 9 people again it would definitely be these 9. The family consisted of Tim and Ingrid and their daughter Tahlaya (14), Martha and her three kids Gabriella (11), Valentino (15) and Massimo (17) and lastly they brought their aunt Michelle.

The family came for the week to help us build and fix up the camp to get ready for the start of camp. To kick off their being here we went out for a nice big lunch and I took them to a restaurant and stayed to eat with them. Unfortunately I was really sick after eating there and I was out for three days. These days were spent lying in bed wanting my mommy and wishing to be home (not my shining moment here). All good things to those who wait, and surely I am back to full health.

I was able to help at the camp for the better half of the week building fences, painting the camp sign, building soccer goals and burning scrap leaves (in 38 degree weather, not so fun). I also spent all my nights working on braiding bracelets for all of the kids at camp! It was a busy week but we got the camp ready!

Before the family left my home other summer volunteers were already pouring in, starting with Teesh (last summer returning volunteer) and Sophie (who lost her case on a bus from the airport). These two were both from England and are my roommates, so naturally I will be coming home from the DR with a British accent. It was crazy with these two here because Sophie lost her case (notice my very British choice of words) but we did find it! In a matter of three days I said goodbye to the family and the boys that reminded me so much of my brother and hello to the 16 new volunteers and Mercedes four grandchildren who have all come crowding into my quite little life.

It feels like a bit of a circus act in my house. Not only do I have 3 new roommates I have four kids all over the house and Mercedes living here now too. Now here is the real kicker, because there is so many of us, naturally, we need a cook, so the cook and her two daughters are always here too! And then we are the volunteer house, so there is usually a gringo mafia on my front porch. My only sorrow is the loss of my rights to one of the (my) rocking chairs out front.

So the reason I give you for being such a bad blogger is this; I have been busy getting everyone settled. I have shown people where to get money, get phones, get shoes, go to camp and get back to their own houses. I have been picking them up touring them around and dropping them off and it has been highly stressful for me but everyone has mostly figured things out for themselves now. In fact the majority are off to Cabrette for the weekend and this is giving me the silence and freedom to blog.

Camp started on Tuesday and it’s been a crazy first week of learning how to teach for me. We had 220 kids register! We had a lot of official business to take care of and not a lot of structured activity time. On Thursday we had a ribbon cutting ceremony with the mayor and we were on the news from Nagua to Rio San Juan, the first time in Camp Esperanza history.

I am working with Adrienne in the music and dance centre for the next 4 weeks (well only 3 more now). I can’t tell you how extremely hard it is to plan activities for kids from 4 to 16 years old. The 16 year olds it can be hard to keep them engaged where as the 4 year olds most of them have never been in a structured environment before. All of this, plus I am only beginning to realize just how little Spanish I can speak! Thank God Adrienne speaks Spanish otherwise all hell would break lose...

Anyways I am slowly adjusting to doing everything with my gringo mafia trailing behind. However for the most part I am happy to pretend I still have the life I had two weeks ago and be on my own.

Only some of my new Gringo Mafia members

I am thinking a lot about my family this week after hearing my grandpa is really ill. I have decided to stay full well knowing that I may never see him again. It’s not the ideal situation but he and all of my family want me to stay and finish what I am doing here. I know that many tears have been shed and many more will come but when I said goodbye to him two months ago in full health he told me, "don’t forget you are a Crevits and where you come from; that we are good people." I hold these words dear to me now having not realized what they meant two months ago. I am here and I am working hard to do good and it’s about more than just who I am it’s about where I come from. I am thinking of all my family here this week and missing you all dearly!

Full Circle

Where to start... 

Well it has been a crazy week and a half with my dad coming and going. My dad gave me a run for my money for the first half of the week running all over the place but by the end of the week I had him on island time; sleeping in, going to the beach and being lazy. I was so happy he came and would love to share every detail but I fear that would take me all day, so here are the highlights (trust me this IS the brief version). 

I met my dad at the airport and when I saw him I started crying I was so happy that he was here! He rented a little car for the week and, while I had known for a while, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to drive. It’s a little crazy here with more motos than cars and very few signs or rules, motos can pass you on either side at any time. So I drove, all week long, and I am proud of how well I did and even he was happy to have such a good chauffer.  

To set the tone for the week on the first night my dad was here he became best friends with the owners of my two favourite bars Manny’s and Drink Together and needless to say we went to each several times during the week. My dad was living the vacation lifestyle drinking all the time and eating well at restaurants, I think I was just along for the ride. Let’s be honest though, it was a vacation for me too, taking a break from traditional Dominican food, cooking a little for us, buying groceries and eating out were all exciting stuff for me.  

 

The first full day my dad was here he woke me up really early (8:15, ugh!) We made breakfast and then took a little hike to the sualtadaro (a waterfall near my house) and further to La Hotel Catalina. Though not a huge hike to the sualtadaro we climbed down the hill and walked up the river to reach the waterfall where we went swimming at the bottom of the waterfall. Then we hiked up the rocky terrain mountain side to the hotel where we had a drink and went swimming. Then we hiked down and went to Orchid Bay a nearby beach and meet up with the Lauren (the fulltime teacher) and her friends that were here on vacation for the week Marie and Jude (also Canadian!) and hung out with them for the rest of the night. 

The next day we (I) drove to Puerto Plata and we went to 27 Waterfalls. This is a tourist attraction that I had been dying to do and there is no better time than when you have a car and someone else’s wallet (thanks dad!). This is just what it sounds like, there are 27 waterfalls that you jump, slide and swim down. My dad not big on swimming and always afraid of getting hurt was not so gung-hoe about it but we did 12 of the 27 we both loved it. It was amazing it looked like something out of a movie. We had our own private tour guide and really didn’t run into any other tourists while we were there which was nice. The tour guide took our camera, kept it dry and took all the pictures for us; it was really nice because we didn’t have to worry about.  It was so fun and not scary at all. On our way back to Cabrera we stopped in Cabrete which is an up and coming tourist spot for young people with tons of water sports and bars on the beach. It was nice to go to the big city and see the lights (not that big, really just more hotels and tourists) as a mix up from what I am used to, but I like my little town just fine thanks.

The next day was really great! As I had mentioned before I felt that I could be doing more here and I found another organization to work with. Shawn and Kelly are two of the nicest people here; they have their own organization which works with extremely poor people and they do sustainability projects. So Shawn and Kelly had some missionaries down volunteering for a few days and we teamed up with them for the day to help them with their chicken coop projects. The 5 Missionaries that were here are the biggest guys in all of Cabrera and my dad (6.3 feet and no slim Jim) looked small next to them. We all toured around to work on some chicken coops doing some painting. It was really eye opening for me but I was really glad I could share the experience with my dad because I have always had a passion to help people and it has been really misunderstood in my family. Having my dad with me on this dad was great and I only hope he understands better now why I want to help people having seen poverty in this way. Our encounter with seeing how one family in particular lives in someone else’s abandoned house with no doors, windows floors or anything, no chairs, no beds nothing. Yet despite the despairing conditions the happiness and the laughter that they all have amazes me, and it was a fun day. 

The next day we went to Dudu a lagoon not far from where I live. At Dudu you can jump off the cliff or zip line into the water but to be honest neither looked safe and I had heard horror stories about other volunteers getting really injured. Needless to say, we passed with neither of us being good swimmers (and lifejackets being a crazy thing to ask for) but we did watched Marie and Jude jump. Then we went to a goodbye party which turned into everyone wanting to go out that night in the park. So yes I went to a nightclub with my dad (that would be a bad never have I ever question haha) but it was all in good fun. I watched my dad fail at dancing the bachacha (which made my night).

Ah finally, the old man let me relax (he even slept past me)! We had breakfast at noon and went to the beach at one with the new volunteer Dominique who had just arrived. On Monday it rained all day so we watched two movies on my little computer and went to the school for an hour to paint some tables. Oh how I love the island life!

On Tuesday it was goodbye day. We got up and drove to the airport with Marie and Jude who happened to be on the same flight as my dad. My tears at the beginning of the week in excitement to see my dad were long forgotten as we went to say goodbye and my dad cried like I had never seen him cry. We had come full circle. I wasn’t sad to see him go because having him here and being able to show him everything I have learned, everything I have done, all the good people I have met and all the Spanish I know, I realized just how much it all was. I don’t think I have ever made him this proud and I don’t think he can deny that I am not a little girl anymore; I am all grown up now. Having him here somehow made me a lot more confident in everything I am doing here. So I wasn’t sad that he was leaving because I know he is proud of me being here and knowing that makes everything a little easier.

Thanks for everything this week dad, I love you.

School's Out

Hello to the homeland!

It has been a strange week here and while I feel I have not much to share I figure it is best to share now as my dad is coming tomorrow (excited beyond what words can describe) and I don’t foresee a blog post while he is here (but a long one once he is gone).  As I was saying it has been a strange week…

Monday we had classes although because the kids had taken their exams and had their end of year dance ( which was so fun, see prom king queen and princesses and prince pictures)  so we simply reviewed the marked exams. 

 

On Tuesday we had an Olympics day (more pictures) and I was miraculously good at this game considering my zero hand eye coordination, but I won two games on my first throw (and the crowd goes wild!!). I think I impressed the kids as much as I impressed myself.

Then on Wednesday we went to the beach, see pictures of the students piled into the back of the mystery machine (aka huge orange truck).

 Then Thursday was a holiday here, they day of Corpris Cristi (I think).

Friday we had report card day where parents could come and talk to teachers about their kids progress and get their report cards (really nothing like a report card, more of a hand written note than anything). So the teachers all hung out at the school all day and waited for parents to come but by 2:30 we moved to the pool and got out some cocktails, made some food. We had teachers from another school come before you know it I was playing the ball toss game from the Olympics day very competitively with my boss, it was so fun. It was probably the equivalent of playing beer pong with my boss at home (not something I would typically do) however I felt if I declined in this case he would be seriously disappointed in me. Later we moved into the house and made tacos (yum!) and again got competitive playing wii bowling. It was such a fun night though and my boss was pretty drunk and told me how I was doing such a good job (which you know is the truth because he was drunk) but it was so good to hear.

My friend Emily has gone home for two weeks and now I am living alone now. I have people who are very worried about me and come visit me or call me every day. I don’t mind being alone but while having no work this week I am really glad my dad is coming, I have so many plans for us for the week and I am taking a break from having my meals made for me which will be nice but I have a friend who is going to cook one traditional meal for us when my dad is here.

In other news my Spanish has improved and my Oreo consumption has dwindled.

Much love, 
Elle