Mi corazon es aqui...

I have recently begun to realize that my time here is coming to an end...at least for now. I have learned so much about myself while being here. I have made friends I'll never forget and I've done things I wouldn't have normally had the chance to do. Here are a few reasons why I love the DR.


1. I have 43 kids to play with all the time.

2. I walk out of my room every morning to a beautiful sunrise and a view of El Morro.

3. Nyerka and I now practice ninja moves in the kitchen...when she isn't cooking of course.

4. Moni takes meals seriously...watching her run down people on the basketball court is truly entertaining. We all got lectured (in Spanish) about coming to dinner on time.

5. On a given night, you can see 25 shooting stars on the roof.

6. Edison screaming songs in church and then drooling during the sermon is priceless.

7. Getting up at 530 is worth it when running with Eliezer, Kelvin, Leonel, Jochi, Jose Luis, Kristopher, Edwin, Ariel, Freddy, Argenis, Juary, Marcos, Edison, Domingo, Moncho, and Carmello.

8. Watching their antics along the way is even better.

9. Fighting with Nena for no reason is a daily occurrence. She is such a joy in my life.

10. Seeing Jose Luis' smile everday could lighten up anyone's mood.

11. Wondering what outfit Luz Maria will come out with each day is interesting. (i.e., sweat shirt and pj pants in midsummer with her insect boots) Cutest 5 yr old there is.

12. Laying on the basketball court and having the little girls throw a giant frog on me and run away screaming and laughing.

13. The twins' laugh and voice.

14. Junior calling me his novia shortly followed by taking a chunk out of my shoulder.

15. Rocking Luis Alberto asleep.

16. Having David jump into my laugh with his precious smile asking me to tickle him.

17. Chi Chi's sweet dance moves.

18. Leonel learning funny English phrases.

19. Jochi's Spanglish...(i.e., Pastor, Sara esta singing musica del world)

20. Tito being so bad yet so adorable.

21. Going to Batey Waltario and Isabel

22. Reading with ten little girls on your lap.

23. Helping teach Goanni to read.

24. Marcos teaching me basketball.

25. Manuel, Odalis, Marcos, Manuel, Edwinson, Erickson, and Ariel all make my life.

26. Frozen jugo de manzana.

27. Running and passing giant pigs, a cow, goats and sheep is now something I don't even think twice about.

28. Listening to a church revival and a discotec at the same time right outside my window.

29. Watching 5-6 people drive away on one motorcycle.

30. Limoncillos.

31. Rocking out on the bus with Richard.

32. Having Peguero help me ALL the time. He's the best.

33. Playing assassins with the interns.

34. Having worship on the roof.

35. The workers at the grocery store singing about Americans. (Pa mangar mi visa)

36. Music- Dominican, Enrique, Michael Jackson, Justin Beiber and Glee.

37. White rice and chicken ALL the time.

38. Mexican night.

39. Culture days.

40. Having kids in the community yell your name while you are walking through town.

41. Colmados

42. Siestas

43. Playa Popa with the kids. In fact any beach day with the kids.

44. Talking to Negra, Dani and Gio before separation time.

45. Laying on the mesita with the best kids ever.

46. Cool breezes on a hot day.

47. Tarantula hunting with the little kids.

48. Cafe y chocolate malteadas.

49. Camp songs that get stuck in your head for days. (i.e., bananas, boom chica boom, martian...)

50. Coming here to change lives and make an impact but having my world turned upside down by a culture and people I have fallen in love with.

Yo quiero mucho agua...

Well yesterday was my birthday. Here in the Dominican Republic they have a tradition of dumping cold water on you on your special day. I'm not really a big fan of birthdays because I don't like being the center of attention. I was however really excited when I realized I got to spend my birthday here. I wanted to be with the kids all day and I wanted to be drenched. Well that didn't go as planned. For culture day we were going to Santo Domingo (the capitol of the DR) which is an all day event. When I realized I wouldn't see the kids I was so bummed. We got up at 4:30 to leave at 5am for the day. NOT a morning person. I started walking for the bus and ran into Bryson. Not fully awake yet, he started to say good morning and he pretended he was going to dump water on me. It was way too early to be wet especially with a 5 hour bus ride. Santo Domingo was a lot of fun. I had gone a month ago so it was still pretty fresh in my mind. I spent most of the day with Heather and Bryson walking around the Calle. Julie got mad at me last time for not going into the Cathedral so I made sure I did that this time. It was really pretty. For lunch we went to Pizza Hut and then had Baskin Robins (thanks Bryson for my ice cream!). It's weird to eat American food now. When we were loading the bus to leave Santo Domingo, Taylor soaked me with water. Dustin had done it a little bit before her but he only did a little bit which was nice. We stopped on our way back home in Santiago and had dinner at McDonalds. So weird to have so much American food. My stomach was not impressed by my poor food decisions. I used to make fun of my Dominican friends when they'd help us with camp they'd get sick off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and they complained about not having rice. I get upset now too when rice is not part of the meal. When we returned from Santo Domingo we did closing and I got another good soaking. Gotta love the DR.

Sunrises are truly a gift from God...

Well I started slacking with the updates sorry. Two weeks ago we went to Batey Madre. The people there were so appreciative for the camp we put on. We usually only go out for a day or two when we do camp there but this time we spent the whole week. They loved it. It's amazing how eager they were to learn. Mothers who were 15 and 16 years old brought their infants with them so they could participate. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that some of these girls have children. They love learning though so hopefully there was a spark placed in them last week.

This past week we went to Manzanillo which is where Orphanage Outreach first began. OO is trying to do more outreach there. The kids were so excited. The bus pulled up and they run towards it chanting their team names for the week. It's such an awesome feeling to see their faces lit up. I really started thinking about all kinds of ways to reach out to the community there. So many ideas...


On a different note I got to spend some extra time with some great boys this week. Yesterday Steph and I got up super early to run with some of the boys who live here. I've learned here that I am not a morning person. We walked over to the orphanage a little before 6 and waited for them to come out. Slowly they came out one by one. First came Edwin (14ish)- who randomly walked around the field for a little while, then Jochi (16) and Kristopher (17ish) who chatted with us for a little bit. Jose Luis (13) came out next with his bright smile that could turn anyone's bad day right around. He is such an amazing kid. Marcos (16) soon followed after. Then finally out came Argenis (15ish) Kelvin (17), Leonel (19), and Eliezer. By this time I laid down on the patio and was practically back to sleep. We made our way to the gate and the boys started their stretching routine which was quite entertaining. We then realized Leonel didn't make it to the gate so we waited for him for a little bit. He had forgotten his water bottle (he's gonna need that later). So we start down the rocky road and within 10 minutes needed to stop. Leonel and I walked for a bit while the others ran ahead. I got to chat with him for a little bit about what he wants to do with his life. He then thought it would be a good idea to take some random road that was supposed to put us ahead of the rest of the group...didn't happen. Not much of a short cut. So we run to the end of the street and then stop for a bit again because his back started cramping. He needed his water but forgot he handed it off to Eliezer to hold for him. Woops. So we walk for a while and then see Marcos who had quit running. We caught up to him and then Odalis (18) comes out of nowhere and is practically sprinting to catch up with the rest of the group. Apparently he was really late so they left him. Leonel decided he wanted to sit at the benches and wait for everyone to come so Marcos and I walked to the bridge to meet up with everyone else. Marcos and I haven't really spent much time together. I tried to talk to him using the Spanish I know but we didn't get very far. I felt like he had a lot of stuff he was holding in. When I'm in these situations with the kids I usually try to talk to them about their future. He didn't really have much he wanted to share so we moved into hobbies. I couldn't make this kid crack for anything. Finally we met up with the rest of the group and Eliezer went to take Leonel his water. I think Marcos was relieved to have his other buddies back. I really want to get to know him though. I've kind of neglected that because the other kids were so much easier to break into. He's a bit deeper. We waited on the bridge for just a bit longer to watch the sunrise. GORGEOUS!! And then we headed back to meet Leonel in Eliezer. The thing I love about these boys most is that they are such a reminder of my brothers just in a different culture. Randomly Jochi, Kelvin and Kristopher stopped and started climbing trees to get grapes, Jose Luis decided to go running for the ocean and jump in, and the rest of them looked at the others as if they were all crazy. Overall it was a good morning. Best of all, Marcos gave me a nickname. The nickname is bamba which means peanut butter BUT here nicknames are a big deal. I broke down a wall with him and I will continue to try for the remainder of my time here.

Raining again...

Yesterday afternoon in the Batey was great. My new friend was there with his little brother who I love already and my old friend from Batey Woltario came by. He seems to show up in all kinds of random places that we are at. Camp went so well. Rotations were much smoother and the older boys seemed to have chilled out some. My favorite little kid ever followed me around and helped me tell the groups to switch. He's smart for a three year old haha. I got his older brother to help me ring the bell too. It's too high for me to reach and he's a giant so it worked out. He was so excited that I had given him something to do. He's too old to participate in camp but loved that I included him. His face lit up and he took his responsibility so seriously. He got so excited and rang the bell early but it didn't matter because the face he had on while ringing that bell is something i'll never forget.
Last night we had dinner early so we could go on the sunset hike/swim. I took the new volunteers up the mountain for a quick hike and then we ran down for some body surfing. The waves have been awesome these last few weeks so of course we all had a great time.
This morning I woke up feeling sick. Here comes the gripe (cold). Bryson hooked me up with some Vitamin C energizer something or other that got me through camp in the afternoon. Camp this morning went smooth as usual. A woman who I'd met earlier this week brought me the best present ever. FRESH MANGOS!!!!!! So excited : )
When we got back from camp this morning I took a nice little siesta hoping that between that and Bryson's remedy I'd be good to go. At the Batey I played soccer with the two boys groups and hung out with my little friend. He wasn't there when we first got there and so I was kind of sad. His brother ran up to me and told me he was in school. Then I saw him running across the field. He ran right up to me and jumped up in my arms. Most precious kid ever. His brother laughed a lot, went and did the bell for me, and then told me he had to go get ready for baseball. Sure enough in the middle of our soccer game a baseball game started. Woops. It worked out though. I took the little one to go read for a bit and he loved FROGGY. We will probably have to read it again tomorrow.
As soon as we got home I went straight to bed thinking I could get a quick nap in before dinner. Somehow the dinner bells got mixed up and so I got up early and went out to watch the boys play basketball. Then it started to rain and hasn't let up yet. Tonight was activity night with the kids but when I went to go get them Pastor said no. So I sat in there with them instead. We had so much fun. Nena told me three bible stories...Adam and Eve, Noah, and the Creation story. It was so funny. Mini culto again haha. And we sang every song I've ever learned here too. Domingo then tried to tell me a joke but there were too many words I was unsure of so I just laughed when he did. I love going over there with them. They all try to pile in my lap and it's just the best feeling. Up until Junior starts biting. Then it turns ugly quickly. They are my sweet little angels though. After story time little Nicole and the twins did my hair for me. Four and five year olds have quite an imagination let me tell you. Gio laughed a lot at me tonight. He always tries to keep the children from piling on me but I never mind it. That's about all that happened here tonight. Sad that tomorrow is our last day of camp in the Batey but hopefully I'll get to go again soon.

Batey Isabella y Kilometer 13

Camp yesterday was great! I love taking camp to different places and that's what we are doing this week. In the morning we do camp at Kilometer 13 which is a small school off the highway. The kids are really well behaved and excited to learn. I read with one of the younger boys today who had a bilingual book and he wanted me to read in Spanish while he read in English. It was cool to see that. Most kids are intimidated by things they don't know.
After we have camp in the morning we head back for lunch and siesta. Yesterday during siesta I played a quick one on one game with Jochi. He of course won but I think I'm going to surprise him one of these days. We only had time for one game and then had to leave for Batey Isabella. Batey Isabella is on the same road as my favorite Batey Woltario. I LOVE THE BATEYES. Most of you are aware of that already. Some people hate going because of the misbehaved children, lack of cleanliness, and lack of structure but I thrive there for some reason. The kids get sooooo excited when the bus pulls in. It's almost like Disney is coming to town. They love it. It is definitely very crazy and hectic but the kids have so much fun. Once we get them divided into their groups we sing random camp songs. They love the banana song especially when they get to go bananas. We try to keep camp for kids ages 6-12 but sometimes the older kids and adults want to participate too. There was one kid probably 16 years old who had his younger brother (6ish) with him. He couldn't get the little boy to play so instantly the little one became my special friend. I grabbed him up and he helped me run camp. He loved it. The older brother kept checking on him and laughing when he saw the little boy with me. I'm excited to head back this afternoon.
Going to the Bateyes is probably one of my favorite things to do here. God has really placed a special place in my heart for them. I would live there in a heartbeat if I could. The song God of this city by Chris Tomlin always comes to my mind while I'm there. It's amazing how you can always find him even in the worst of places. They have almost nothing but yet can be so content and so giving. I love seeing their excitement when we come to play or read with them. The adults too. If we all could only love even those that people view as "unloved." our world would be so different. Love one, change a life. Love ALL, change the WORLD!

Romans 12:13
When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

And it's raining...

Today has been a day for rain. It has rained off and on through the week but not like today. I love the rain. Sundays are mainly filled with orientations regarding OO and camp. While the volunteers were finishing up their planning for camp, I went and saw the kiddos. The little girls were all cute in their Sunday dresses and David and Tito looked so spiffy in their dress shirts. I just love it. I stopped by to say hey to Marcos and Odalis at the mesita and then all of a sudden Marcos took off running for the covering underneath the stairs of the education center. I wondered for a few seconds on what he was doing and then it started to downpour. He laughed because by the time Odalis and I made it to the stairs we were pretty wet. To pass the time the boys decided to rap. It was the funiest thing I had seen in a while. Marcos even busted out some English raps. Pretty skilled. At one point Bryson came out of nowhere with Mineli, Checa and Lisy also looking for shelter. I think he realized it was too crowded and then tried to carry all of them to the Comodor. So funny. Once the rain let up Odalis and I played 3 one on one games. He won all of them. Marcos hurt his ankle yesterday so he watched and announced are game. To give you an idea of how that went..."And Sara has the ball and she shoots and she misses just like she always does." Thanks Coach. And my other favorite..."Wow she finally made a shot." After those games ended me Odalis and Whit were on a team against Steph, Leonel and Moncho. They won all three games. Leonel is a beast. I played with Jochi earlier and could maybe take him if I work harder. He won both games but it was close both times. It doesn't help that he has a good foot on me. I'm so glad he and I are friends again. That was a long three months of the silent treatment. The rest of the day was pretty chill. I just went to check on my babies that didn't go to church and I think I caused a disaster. I think Negra was trying to have them sit calmly and wait for dinner. I walked in and then jumped all over me. I told Negra sorry and made a quick exit. She laughed. She and Gio are trying to teach me new words in Spanish. I couldn't remember rainbow and that one was just last night. Oh well...maybe one day.
To catch up from Friday...after lunch we went for icecream, checked out the Cuban museum, got a tour of this shipwreck salvage project which was pretty cool and then finally to the beach. The waves were so crazy. Carlos, who we had met one other time at the beach, was there and joined us for body surfing. We had a really good time. After the beach we headed back and got ready for PIZZA night. I love going to the pizzeria. It's so fun to get to go out at night.
Saturday was pretty low key. Usually a day of chores and catching up on rest. I spent the morning out with the kids and catching up with Eliezer. I'm so glad he's decided to stay long term. It's going to be fun having him around. Junior and baby Nicole came and sat with us while Luz Maria and Goanni did my hair. It was just an all around good morning. In the afternoon Bryson took us to the beach with the kids in the back of the truck (my favorite thing here). They unfortunately remembered the game I played with them last week that involved swimming under water with them on my back. Very tiring but so fun. Yasmin and I played tag for a while too. She's absolutely crazy in the water. She and Indiana teamed up on me for a while too. We have been in an on going battle since Noche Especial. I'm always tickling them and they tackled me at that sleepover and tickled me until I couldn't breathe. Such a fun night. I got them back in the end and now they are always tag teaming me especially at the beach. Domingo and I did handstands for a little while until Jose Luis brought me Junior so we could teach him to swim again. Not anywhere near as successful as least week but it's progress. We got back a little before dinner time and so after showering we went back over and played random games on the basketball court. Carlos from the beach showed up and we played one on one for a little while. He kept trying to teach me some weird game and I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought I got what he said but then he kept yelling no at me so no clue what that was about. We still had fun. I played moster with the twins and Lisy for a little bit before separation time and then said goodnight to the little monkeys. The weekend was pretty good overall as usual.
This week we are going to Kilometer 13 and a Batey for camp. I love the Bateyes. This week will be great.

Ice please...

Monday was day one of English camp/Extreme Makeover at the Institute. In the morning we had about 25 kids maybe. Because we had so few kids, some of the volunteers jumped in to the cleaning that needed to be done. We also had an announcer drive around and advertise camp for us hoping that would increase our numbers. After camp was over half the group drove home on the bus and the other half wanted to walk so I went with them. It's always fun to see people in the community especially when they start getting to know you. Camp in the afternoon had a dramatic change. After the announcement we had over 100 kids join us. It was intense. When we got back after camp everyone was so exhausted so we all just kinda chilled with the kids. While we were playing volleyball the kids told me Eliezer was back. He came over about a month ago with his sister in law and loved it. He's such an awesome person. I'm really excited he's sticking around for a while. That evening we watched Rusty with the kids. Tuesday and Wednesday went the same. Around 25 kids in the morning and then 100 plus in the afternoon. Coco asked me to stop and get ice one afternoon before camp which was enternaing. I accomplished it though. I got back on the bus and everyone cheered. Talk about awkward. It was funny. It's funny how much I'm learning without even realizing it. We went to Lilo's (grocery store) Tuesday night and I was able to ask the employees random questions that volunteers were asking me. It seems like it was just yesterday I was freaking out over how to order ice cream with Elizabeth in the airport.
In the evenings we've still been sticking with basketball and volleyball. Tuesday night before separation time we hung out on the basketball court. The power had been acting funky so it was relatively dark. I sat down for a it to watch the younger boys play basketball and Nena came up and sat on my lap and fell asleep instantly. She hadn't done that for a long time. Meri came and sat with us too. My sweet little angels. Culto was cancelled Wednesday so we extended the activity night with the kids and watched Peter Pan. I had Nena with me for most of the movie of course and then around 20 minutes before the movie ended Luz Maria came and found me and wanted to sit with us. That's probably a record for her to have still been awake that long. She's usually out by the first 10 minutes. Nena scooted over so they each had one of my legs and 5 minutes before the movie ended Luz Maria was out. It's times like those that make me so happy here. Yesterday we had camp again all day and got back around 4:45 for game time. Ariel taught us some Spainsh for a while which was entertaining. I watched the boys play basketball for a little while and then Amaury (Marcos' brother) and I played before dinner. After dinner Steph and I jumped in with the bog dogs. For the first game it was me, Eliezer, and Leonel. Steph played with Odalis and Manuel. We won the first game and then started game two. I switched to play with Eliezer and Marcos and then Steph played with Manuel and Odalis. It's fun to play with them but sometimes deadly. I had my first knockout by my own team mate. I decided rebounding is too dangerous for me when I'm playing with the big boys. I actually hit the ground last night which was rather entertaining because all the boys came to make sure I was ok and I couldn't stop laughing. After our games we had an intern meeting upstairs with Canadian chocolate so everyone was a little crazy. We are going through this book called the greatness guide and the chapter was on taking risks. Ironincally enough that's what I've been thinking about for the last two weeks. So many decisions to make.
Welp time to get ready for the rest of Culture day. We checked out the clock tower, an art gallery, a cemetary, and la playa granja. Next to icecream, the cuban museum, and the BEACH! Wohoo.