Brave face

Less than a week! Oh my gosh how has 4 months gone by so quickly! I can’t believe this is really the end of my time here. While I am so excited to go home I am so sad to be leaving.

While there has been so many volunteers here and people always surrounding me Maria and Lauren coming back into town to join me and Emily in my final two weeks has been really nice! It is great to finish on the same note that I started on and it reminds me of everything I have been through here having them back.

It’s been to long since the last time I blogged to give you a day by day but there was two things that I did in the last week and a half that were new. Firstly I drove a moto, which for your information, if you had the same question my mother had, there was no beer involved but poor Nelly needed one watching me drive his moto. The second thing I did this week was I went to church. Though it was supposedly a Catholic church it did not resemble anything I was familiar with. It was a two hour ordeal with the priest yelling into the microphone for the entire time and I didn’t understand a word of it. But hey, I did it!

I feel so connected with this place and more and more every day and can’t imagine leaving. I know the kids at camp and why they have the behavioural issues they have. I know how to handle all of the kid’s different needs and make them all enjoy their time at camp. I know what ‘fun’ is in the eyes of Dominican children (primarily dances that include a lot of bum shaking) but I have also gained their respect to have them sing songs like The Lion Sleeps Tonight acapella with a harmony.

I feel like I have only just started to understand the daily struggles people face here and only just getting involved in their lives and trying to make them better. I have been hanging out with the family of one of my friends, Nelly, quite a lot and seeing exactly how they live has been devastating. They live in what we might use as an authentic camping house half concrete and half wood with a tin roof leaving large visible holes in the walls and ceiling that allow rain to enter. They have hardly any furniture, no running water inside, an outside bathroom and no real kitchen. The three kids are Luiskin, Luigina and Joelson they are 13, 7 and 5 respectively with Nelly and the father of the three kids, Luis living there. The first time I went there I took a deck of Uno cards I had inherited and gave it to them. We were playing and I had Joelson on my lap and I told him to lay a yellow card only to learn that he didn’t know his colours or numbers at the age of 5. Needless to say the Uno cards became a numbers and colours lesson. The more I spent time with them the more I saw just how difficult their lives are.  While Luis works incredibly long hours at a gas station and Nelly stays home to take care of the kids, but making ends meet is still tough.

I wanted to do something to help but didn’t know what and felt much like a spoiled princess who could only solve problems by throwing money at it, which I didn’t want to do and which they would never accept. Instead I asked Nelly to make some souvenirs for me. I don’t want to give away the surprise for those of you getting one, but they turned out so great that he started making them and selling them to all of the volunteers, which has been amazing for their whole family!

I have learned so much here about the community around me, about myself and about the life I want to lead. I have been so blessed in my time here to have met such amazing people who have helped me in so many ways. Nelly’s family has opened my eyes to so many things and given me more than they will ever know. I owe so much to Shawn and Kelly’s family for adopting me and giving me the parent-like advice I need, for loving on me and praying for me when I didn’t know I needed a prayer. To Lauren and Emily I thank them for their down-to-earthness and being my friends through it all.  I thank Mercedes who loved and fed me despite not being able to speak to me for the first two months. To all the other people who have come in and out of my life in the time I have been here you have all taught me something and made my time here a richer experience. To all the kids who have pushed me to my limits, forced me to learn Spanish, shared their stories and let me into their lives and hearts. Lastly to Anthony and Fiona who have had brought me here, welcomed me and my ideas into their work. I am grateful to everyone here and all the people at home who have supported me by praying, thinking and writing to me.

The only thing I need now is a brave face to get through the next week with as few tears as possible as I tell all these people in life just how much they mean to me. See you all soon!

Bittersweet

Oh my gosh 18 days!

I feel like I am just finally finding my groove with the camp and getting comfortable with everything and now I have such little time left. I know it's been a while since I have posted but it's only because I have been having so much fun.

We had the Olympics at camp not Friday but the week before. It. Was. So. Fun.

I can't even tell you how cool it was to see the oldest kids (the greens) and the youngest kids (the reds) work together on one team and compete in events side by side. This is the team that I was assigned to and you better believe I wanted to win just as much as they all did (if not more). Unfortunately after a long hot day in the sun and many fun games we were defeated by the Yellows and Blues (wha wha).

This Olympic day marked the middle of the camp, and with it the goodbye to many of the volunteers who were here for only four weeks. It was a hard weekend of slowly saying goodbye to people and also saying hello to the volunteers who will be here for the next 4 weeks. In order to have a very dramatic goodbye we all decided to stay up and watch the sun rise. though only a few of us actually made it till dawn, it was a very anticlimactic sunrise.

The new volunteers are great and because some of them where coming Sunday night and Monday, we didn't have camp on Monday in order to plan and have orientation. So I spent the Monday volunteering with Shawn and Kelly again, which was amazing as ever.

Tuesday ended up being a rain day which made the week very short for the new volunteers first week.

The second session of camp has been off to a great start. Although I was sad to say goodbye to my partner in crime in Music, Adrienne who spoke fluent Spanish, I did get to say hello to an amazing new volunteer Caitlin. The only new challenge I face is that she doesn't speak Spanish, and now it is on me to talk to the kids and explain all the games in Spanish which I can do. My Spanish has gone through the roof from working with the kids at the camp, I only hope I don't lose it when I get home. However, this week being forced to lead the group has made me feel so much more comfortable in what I am doing and the activities I have planned. For example addressing our lack of instruments issue by drumming on Anthony's car!

I feel so close to the kids now too. They literally are all so precious and have such heavy burdens to bare that it makes all of the hard things (including the fact that I haven't hugged my mom in 100 days) worth it. They are the toughest and yet most loving kids and I hate to here their stories and see how some of them live, but it is amazing that through it all they can come to camp everyday and put a smiles on there faces.

It's an unreal experience seeing 5 year old kids who don't know their colours or numbers but know how to cook for them selves or be left alone. From the kids who don't get food in the morning, to the kids who are abused by their parents, the fact that they are so capable of being so loving with us at camp amazes me everyday, it is so bittersweet.

This weekend we had Cabreranos which is a huge festival where everyone who was ever born in Cabrera returns to party. It was so fun, there was lots of drinking and dancing. It also happened to be the grand opening of the Malecome which has been entirely transformed in the time that I have been here. It's a clift edge that meets the ocean, and has the best breeze in town. When I first got here it was a gravel narrow road but now is a wide paved dream with huge sidewalks, benches and street lights. It is sure to be the new park (where everyone goes to meet up and drink).

I can't think of what else to say, other than how much fun I am having. I love this chapter of my life and it has been tough and fun all at the same time and I know now its going to be a tough goodbye.

Lots of love!

Chantal

It’s been another week already!

I feel like I am getting more comfortable with the Gringo Mafia in town and I have really started to enjoy getting to know some of the volunteers better, and remembering why I came. I felt for a while that I was losing site of why I was here and getting caught up in meaningless drama, but this week I feel I have sorted it out as best I can. I came here because I wanted to help people and I wanted to make some friends on the way and I have reflected a lot this week about my time here, because I still have time to change things and leave with my original intentions fulfilled. I haven’t done everything right here, I have made mistakes but I have decided that I am doing the best I can if I am being true to myself, and this I know I am doing. I am no super woman but I am doing the best I can just being me.

I realize that I am being highly nostalgic (my friends at home love it when I do this!) but this week I have started to look at things and wonder if it would be the last time I was there. I know I still have 4 weeks (which will fly by) but with all of the 4 week volunteers talking about leaving this weekend, it’s hard to not think about going home. The hot shower, a toilet seat, what food I want... (It’s a vicious cycle!)

Now on to my week here, nothing to exciting happened, but I spent the week just enjoying the volunteers, the camp, the kids, and everything. Don’t get me wrong, every week has it’s challenges as did this one, but for the most part I simply enjoyed.

On Wednesday we had the hurricane Chantal winds and rain that impeded on camp and the day was spent watching the storm, playing cards and other things. Part of me was really excited to have a hurricane come but it turned out to be anti-climatic when it got downgraded back to a tropical storm. I am happy that everyone is safe and there wasn’t much damage here in town.

Thursday all the volunteers played soccer together (without kids) which was so fun. Although I didn’t play it was fun to watch.

Friday and Saturday was the usual go to the park and sit, drink, and hang out.  The last time I will be doing that with many of the volunteers that were here because they will be leaving so soon.

 

Sunday a few of us went to playa Caleton in Rio San Juan. It was lovely, as are all beaches here. Sunday night there was a surprise birthday party for Fiona at their house. It was so fun we sat by the pool and Anthony made dinner. After dinner when everyone started to depart we got back in the pool to play a highly competitive game of volleyball. It was so fun that we ended up having Emily, Kelly and Shawn jump in the pool with their clothes on.

Monday night I got a tour of this amazing palace built into the side of a clift, but guess what I didn’t have? My camera! Oh well... then I went to watch a local baseball game. It was so cool to just chill out and feel like a local, plus it is always cool to watch a game in a new culture.

These are really the only interesting things to report. However this Friday at camp there is going to be an Olympic day, so you can look forward to reading about that next week. You better believe I am excited for it!

Also my Spanish had become pretty darn good if I do say so myself! Keep in mind my vocabulary is best for working with children, but none the less I am so proud of how much I have learned in the last few weeks. The camp has pushed me outside my comfort zone and challenged me to do more.

Much love!

P.S. This post is named after to things one being the hurricane that visited this week and the other being that this storm is a small reminder of the storm my brave friend Chantal went through 5 years ago this week when she received a stem cell transplant. Happy birthday stem cells!

An emotional week

What to say... there is nothing other than the harsh truth. I lost my grandpa this week.

 

It’s been an emotional roller coaster this week. I learned Tuesday afternoon that my grandpa died. It was incredibly hard to here all the way over here. I felt so helpless and the only thing I really wanted was to hug all my family because with all of these new party-party people in my life I felt all alone.

The week felt so weird being surrounded by so many people but feeling so alone. I am thankful for the camp and all the kids that I get to have in my life here. There is no place where you can feel more loved. There are usually two kids holding my hands and one hugging me around my waist. It helps but still I felt down for the most of the week thinking about what my family was going through; arrangements, visitations, the funeral and the rest of it. I tried to keep myself as distracted as possible, so it’s been a busy week.

Monday I had camp and it was a normal day with the addition of playing soccer in the afternoon. I don’t think I mentioned that I have been helping Shawn and Kelly (the chicken coop project people, and some of my best friends here) with their soccer initiative on Monday nights. It’s a lot of fun but sometimes when they don’t have many kids come out it turns into Kelly playing soccer with the kids and Shawn and I chatting like old friends.

There was a birthday on Tuesday night, so I tried to keep my bad news to myself and the bottle of rum that was with me.  Wednesday at camp we handed out t-shirts to all the kids for the first time in Camp Esperanza history. It was amazing to see how excited the kids were to get the very own new t-shirts. They were told that they didn’t have to wear the shirts every day but I swear half of the kids are wearing them every day.

Thursday all the volunteers headed over to Anthony and Fiona’s house for an afternoon by the pool. It was a really nice time to hang out and get to know everyone a little better. That is the plus side of keeping myself so busy this week; I finally feel like I am getting to know everyone.

On Friday at camp we had a bus full of high school aged volunteers from all over the US come and volunteer for one day. It was great to have the extra help and to get new games, songs and ideas from them. We also finished the mural I started! Later we went to Lagoona Dudu to swim and jump off cliffs. I had already been and no I didn’t jump, it looked way to scary. However I did enjoy the pretty scenery, swimming in the lagoon and more socializing.

Saturday we had nothing planned and I set out to aimlessly walk around town, just as I was headed home I ran into Alyssa and Julia. I asked them where they were going as they were getting into a vehicle and they said “The Bohca, come!” This is my all time favorite beach, it spans for so far that you can go for two hour walks away from everyone and everything but come back to the middle and be in party central. Despite having my bathing suit of even a towel to sit on I jumped in and away we went.

Sunday there was another birthday, Adrienne’s. We had planned on getting this fishing boat to take us to this natural pool; I really had no idea what this would look like but agreed to it. However the seemingly endless rain this week intervened again. So instead she wanted to go to the Bohca! So I went again, but as soon as we got there black dark clouds filled the sky and it rained all day but we took cover under one of the little restaurants huts and stayed and ate and drank despite the rain. However it was a 30 minute long and wet walk back to just the gua gua plus the squishy ride home, I don’t think the others already in the gua gua wanted me in my dripping wet state to squeeze in there, but I did.  

Monday (today) at camp we did a special presentation with the oldest group of kids. We had worked on this all week and you can see the final results in the video (pending it works)! ... ok it didn't work but I will eventually get it on YouTube and share the link after stealing internet for several hours :)

 If I am being honest hearing the news at the beginning of the week was rough and talking with my family is so hard to do without just wanting to be there. However it feels surreal to think that my grandpa is really gone and really it’s hard to feel sad when he doesn’t exist in my life here. I know it will become real when I get home.

This is the part of my trip where I just want to be home, I miss my family, I want a hot shower, a toilet seat and a big chicken burger. I only have 6 more weeks which are going to fly by I am sure, but it has just been a hard week. To be honest I don’t much feel like blogging this week but having hit 1000 page views and hearing raved reviews I appreciate the support you are all showing me in being here. So I know this wasn’t my best post but I wanted to thank you all for reading. There is a few more to come!

I love you all so much!

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.