4th of July

Our 4th of July celebrations consisted of a trip to Cabarete. The cover band for U2 apparently dresses like them and sings all their songs...I don't know, it's what they say. Anyhow, it was fun to sit on the beach and spend time with friends and listen to what mostly sounded and looked like U2. There were even some fireworks, but no smoking tanks or growing caterpillars or spinning flowers.

Photo update

Since it's been awhile since posting, thought I'd update with some photos. The above is a day-outing to Seahorse Ranch where we got to play in the pools and relax for the day. Also, a beautiful Sosua sunset.

A church trip to take part in their week-long conference...it was directed towards youth and the theme was "Dating". It's been interesing learning about Dominican dating!!

And of course, Princesa!!! She is so great and has such personality. She parrots back everything her mom says to her and has learned to do all sorts of things. One of our teacher aids, Nati, is heading to Santo Domingo to study and this was her last day at school before heading off to the big city!

It's a miracle

I've been on my computer since the wee hours of the morning. It's actually a miracle. I think I've gotten rid of the virus, and somehow been able to find all the files. Yes, this is to include all of my music and photos!!! I've had to reinstall all of the programs to manage them, but I'm still beside myself that they were somewhere hidden on my computer. I'm back to blogging folks.

Virus

I've found it. It's name is about.brontok and it's the virus that has made my computer unhappy...and me. I'm using something to remove it now so hopefully we'll be back in business soon. Why have anit-virus software if it doesn't stop the viruses???

Things are not well on the computer front...I'm still having problems and will post again someday, I promise!

Mangos

It's mango season, my favorite fruit time of the year. We were at the store tonight and came across these mangos. Now, they are ridiculous, right? I can't actually believe the size...I have helped birth babies smaller than this thing. Do you know how much it cost? 15 pesos, less than 50 cents. What a deal.

Our kids

The good news though is that we're back in school now for our summer program. The kids are more amazing than ever and I realize now just how much I missed them. Their smiles and braids and headaches and tummy aches...I love every part of it. We are still growing by the day in regards to plans and changes at the school and look forward to what awaits us.

When??

Still sorting things out on the good old computer. I promise I'll be a good blogger again someday when I can upload photos and work the programs again. Please don't stop checking. :)

itunes

So does anyone know if itunes is deleted if it's possible to ever get back all the songs that were in the library?? I fear the answer is no.

Computer

So my computer had a virus. It seems to be better now, although everything had to get deleted and reinstalled which is proving to be...fun. Anyhow, I'm back and happy that my computer was revive-able and got cleaned out.

Computer

My computer is broken. If I haven't emailed you back, now you know why. Candace is nice and is letting me borrow hers. Computer is going to the doctor today to see if it is save-able. What was that someone once said about backing-up my things? Oh, that I should do it in case my computer broke sometime...hmmm.

Basketball

Sorry for the complete lack of posting. I've been very un-interesting lately as we are on break from school and all I've been doing is boring work. We did go to a basketball game last night where a group of gringos along with some Dominicans from church played the local Montellano team. Gringos lost but it was still a fun game to be at.

Writing

I was sorting through some old boxes the other day and came across this:

Jessi Dixon
January 16, 1989

My dream is...to be a nurse and help sick people get well and work at the hospitle. I would like everybody be friends, have no rich or poor, have no hunger, have no murders, or suiside, have all smart, no teasing, hitting, kicking, punching, or in other words, no fighting. We all agree on the same Saturdy cartoons. Have all kids go to school. Have no child abuse, no anger, no crying. There would be no drugs and acahol and smoking. THE END (exact spelling and punctuation)

So who would've thought that 9 year old would someday really be a nurse after working in the hospital, would hate the differences between the rich and poor, would be working amongst hunger and need. The Saturday cartoons aren't so pertinent, but the "all kids go to school" is what we're working on. Oh the dreams of kids.

Chivo

I ate goat for the first time yesterday. Not one of the cute ones that run and jump and play though. Yah. I ate goat.

Circus!!!

That's right! Direct from Russia, the Moscow Circus made an appearance right here in Puerto Plata! We got to see a giraffe, a bear, and tigers, along with acrobats, motorcyclists in a big circle cage...and Russian mullets! It was an amazing night and I officially LOVE the circus. We didn't even know it was the final night, but the next day they were all packed up and gone. So, so happy to have been a part of the Moscow circus!

Our babies

It's been awhile since we've had a baby update! All our little ones are doing amazingly well. Princesa turned one in February and is talking and walking and has one massive personality. Suzana, whose mother died of AIDS the day after her birth, is thriving and growing so much. She is now seemingly normal size and weight for her age and has a caregiver who loves her so much, along with her 4 siblings. Jessica, who I didn't get a photo of, is also doing well. She has bigger cheeks every day and loves everyone. I can't wait to see each of these girls in school with us someday, with their little uniforms and backpacks...it'll be great!

Mother's Day

Yesterday was a special (and crazy busy!) day at the Park Care Center. The kids all came in for their last day and to share a day with their mother's for Mother's Day. They came in at noon and had a special lunch and received gift bags of clothes and candy then went home to get their moms. The entire group watched the kids perform dramas and skits and songs they have worked so hard on for weeks. Then the moms got a special snack and were accompanied home by their children who also had a special gift for them...a craft they had made in the previous weeks. It was also a testament of how much we are growing, as kids literally poured out of our cafeteria and had to set up more tables outside! All good problems to have though, we are so thankful to see each one of these guys there!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day singing by the kids...doesn't get much better than this!

And I'm back...

It is so nice to be back. Despite today being the hottest day in a long time, it's great to be here again. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to school on Monday after I had a little taste of seeing the kids again with a quick trip to the village on Friday. We've had a fun few days here, playing at the beach at night and then went to Seahorse Ranch today for lunch and a "Glamour Shots" time! Our first summer team has just arrived which means more construction and changes are ahead for the school!

It's hot

"Feels like" temperature for today, with humidity and all is 113. What will August be like??!!!

Phoenix

I had the chance to spend 2 nights with my college roommate in Phoenix on my way back to the DR. It was such an amazing time after not seeing each other for 1.5 years. We went to the best Mexican food ever, Ajo Al's with her mom and sister-in-law, we went shopping and did more eating out...but mostly we just talked (and talked and talked). It was a special time to see her and I'm thankful I got to be there!

Friends

Got to have dinner with my girlfriends from high school tonight, Jen, Jenny, and Bethany. It's incredible that after 10 years we can still be in touch and get together like the good old days. Even with all the changes, it's nice to have someone that knows you from such a long time ago.

Soccer

We went to Salem today to watch Emily play in her soccer game. It was COLD but really fun to see her in action. It's still hard to believe that somewhere along the way she became a girl, a young lady even. We followed the game with pizza and donuts, which made braving the cold worth it!

More Oregon

Family and Spring flowers...does it get better than that?? (oh yah, and I got short hair again!)

Basil

The other best part of being home? My cat!

The family

The best part of being home? My family!

Family time

I'm safe and sound in Oregon. It's so nice to be here and to enjoy springtime and all the flowers and blossoms that I haven't seen in years...but mostly just to be with my family. I had to show them how rice was really made last night (with a plastic bag, that is). John and Rachel and the kids came up to stay the night which is always fun. Time always seems to go by so quickly though, it's already been 2 days! So many things to do still, like eating and shopping, got to take advantage of all the States has to offer!

United States

Just enjoying some of the finer parts of the US! We've been to Starbucks, Walmart, the waterslide...and have seen the tulips coming out! There are some really great things about being back!

Um, where am I?

So we arrived at our Kids Alive conference in Wisconsin yesterday. This is what we woke up to!!!! I don't think my sandals and skirts are going to be enough.

Manitos Limpias

If nothing else, we have clean hands at school now! We have started using hand sanitizer before meals (breakfast and lunch) at the school. I'm hoping to see less colds and flus, fungus, and all sorts of things they are spreading around. I was able to go through the classrooms and talk to the kids about germs and parasites and diseases and why we were doing this. It's so great to be a part of things moving forward, growth, change...I hope this makes a difference for the kids too!

Dentist visit

Yesterday definitely counts as one of my favorite days here! We had the opportunity to take 5 kids to the dentist for the first time. Everyday I get kids in the office with mouth pain, and after having a look inside their mouths I just see teeth that are rotten and missing and rough. Well we're about to change those things because we now have a dentist that wants to see ALL of our kids!!! It was incredible taking the kids out yesterday, spending time with them in a new setting, and knowing that we are really and truly meeting their needs. We go back next week to work on their teeth again...some had up to 9 cavities. The dentist also wants to come regularly to our school to check and work on each kid, so we're starting to look for and try to get a hold of dental equipment and supplies. It's amazing to be apart of the changes and growth that is happening. I love, just love, these kids!

Huh?

So our gua-gua is a little dirty, not uncommon when you drive through the cane fields everday. The kids often use the outside as their drawing board, leaving all kinds of words and pictures for us. But the other day I just couldn't stop looking at what they had written. John + Rachel = (heart). Why's that weird? John's my brother, Rachel is his wife! I don't know where they pulled these names from and why (they're not Dominican or Haitian names), but it's good to know that my brother and his wife should be in love for a long time!

Mmmmm!!!

Ever cooked 250 hot dogs? We did!!! Saturday we had a Field Day and hot dog lunch afterwards with the kids and a work team that was here. It was a special day with the kids and the team, fun to see everyone enjoying their time together. I love the opportunity we have with teams to share our kids...it is so amazing to see the connections that are made and the bonds that can happen in just a few days. That is one of the many joys of this job! And hot dogs...another perk!

Santo Domingo

On Monday, Candace and I made a trip to Santo Domingo! My mom's friend Ron, from high school, was here visiting for a few days while doing some training with the Coast Guard. We got on the bus in Puerto Plata for what we were told was a 2.5 hour trip. 4 hours later we stepped off the bus in Santo Domingo and were greeting by what seemed like North America. There were skyscrapers and lots of people and shopping malls...and the best part of all-Taco Bell! Nacho cheese Chalupas made the 4 hour journey worth it alone! So we walked through the city down to the boardwalk for about 2 hours and met up with Ron. It was great to see him again and to feel so welcomed, like we were high school friends!! We're definitely looking forward to our next trip to Santo Domingo when we can spend more time and see more of the city...and Taco Bell again!

Juancito

Little Juancito doesn't have anymore fevers, no more AIDS, no more hunger, his cough is gone and he's talking all the time. Juancito died yesterday and so today I am thankful that he is free from all the things that hurt him here...that makes my heart hurt a little less . I am glad he got to be with his family during these days and am reassured that not taking him in was the right decision as I know how advanced his illness was now. It's another reminder of the fragility of where we are and the things that surround us. I wish it could have been better for Juancito, that he could've had the right treatment, the right care, the right everything, but those are things I can't change. I'm thankful for his little monkey hugs and cuddles that made my days better and know that he's having a better day today free from all his hurts. (See post from March 2 for more info on him)

Easter

I'm still American and I like to dye Easter eggs. Yesterday we had friends over and colored Easter eggs in the afternoon. It was hard explaining exactly WHY we dye Easter eggs, I had to make up some story about the Easter bunny and leaving eggs around for the kids to find and then realized...I don't know why the bunny is leaving eggs...you're right, it makes no sense at all. Anyhow, we had fun dying eggs though and then had a dinner of them aftewards! Some traditions I'm just not willing to let go of!

Safari day

It was Semana Santa (Holy Week) this past week which meant lots of outings and hanging out. On Saturday, 31 of us piled into a Safari truck and went to the river then to the church retreat for the afternoon. It was an amazing day! We brought a big lunch of rice and potato salad and swam in the river, sang songs in the safari truck and got to spend time together!

The family photo

Dear Mom,

I LOVE getting mail from you, it is what I look forward to. Your notes, mail from home, treats...it makes my day. Just wanted to let you know though that I probably have enough family photos for the moment. It's just that I have one in every room, every classroom, the kitchen, bathroom, the ceiling, and the fishtank and I'm running out of places to put them! I love that you include a photo with each mailing, it makes me smile to open the envelope and see yet another family photo! I love you.

Jessi :)

Santiago sleepover

I went to Santiago on Monday night to stay with one of my friends from Montellano. Perla is going to university there now and so I got to see her new apt and roommates, friends and university. It was a really nice time to be with her and she was so proud of it all.

And then I became more Dominican. Perla put my hair in a "tubey" which is wrapping your hair around your head to sleep at night. This keeps their straightened hair straight for the next day...obviously something I was in need of. Still fun though, even if my hair was the same as if I hadn't tubey'ed.

Ojo Rojo

I got pink eye. Itchy, red, burny, eyelids stuck together like a newborn baby kitten. It's gone now...a few days of antibiotic drops sorted me out. I'm glad.

Classrooms, Phase 1

We are officially growing! We now have 6 classrooms ready and being used (1 still as an office). The school is beautiful and it seems to change overnight. It's nice to look back at the photos of what we used to be like before we had 231 kids! The expansion continues as we are into construction on the next 2 classrooms, then hoping to get a basketball court, a parking lot, eventually an office block...and then go upstairs on the classrooms for a total of 12 rooms full of kids (maybe about 500-ish!) Big dreams but it'll be here before we know it.

Bathrooms

Hard to believe how far we've come!!! How easy it is to forget that we used to just be one building of 4 classrooms. Here's a look at the befores/afters of our newly finished bathrooms!

New bathrooms have 3 stalls in each boys/girls side, 3 sinks, 2 showers, running water, the boys get a urinal...it is AMAZING!!! What a difference this will continue to make for us.

Little man

My life has been changed forever by a little guy named Juancito. He's 5, maybe 6-no one seems to really know. He likes to cuddle. He holds on like a little monkey. He throws really good tantrums. He doesn't speak to white people. His eyes are amazingly big and beautiful. He wears the same clothes everyday. He has a horrible cough. He always has a fever. He is extremely malnourished (under the 3rd percentile on all my charts). His mom died of AIDS 2 years ago. He tested positive for HIV after that.

He breaks my heart because I want to help him and don't know how. Is it more of a help to leave him with whatever family and structure he has or to try to meet his medical and physical needs by bringing him to our house? He's extremely sick right now, possibly due to AIDS, so is it better to have family take care of him? Do we risk taking him in during his last days...days he could have spent with his family? But what if he is just sick and needs some intensive care that we could offer him? His dad said that today he's so sick he's refusing food.

It's all so hard to take in. It's hard because I want to take him in. I want to make it all better and my heart hurts because I can't make it better. I can't make him better. I can't take his AIDS away or his cough (TB??) or his fevers. I hurt because he must feel miserable. I hurt because he doesn't deserve this. Oh, little Juancito, what I would do to just take it all away.

I tell these stories not to dramatize life here, not to publicize the bad, not to take advantage of these kids, but to open eyes to another world. A world where HIV positive kids can go for years without receiving any medications because they aren't sick enough. A world where the realities of death and poverty and sickness and hungry kids are in your face daily. A world I have come to love and embrace and a world that continues to challenge me. It's a world that, even with the hurts, I am thankful to be a part of.

Birthday

The BIG birthday has come on gone...I turned 28 on the 28th, in year 2008. Candace sorted out an amazing taco dinner and birthday cake with friends!!

Flowers

Are these not the most amazing flowers ever??!! Birds of Paradise are about the weirdest and coolest flower, huh? Alberto (Dominican dad) came over with a huge bouquet this morning-I ended up with two vases full of flowers!

Wildlife

Just a little moth that flew into the house the other night...and stuck around for a few days. The problem with these things is that they have bodies-like a real body with arms and legs and they make loud fluttering noises when they fly. I'm glad he's gone.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

These people make my days brighter.

We took a trip to the beach the other night and got to sit and chat and enjoy one of the great parts of the Dominican Republic...the beach.

Heart Day

Happy Day of Love and Friendship! I like that translation better than the simple, Happy Valentine's Day. Anyhow, we had a special day with the kids and we got to see lots of smiles. We started after lunch with the kids handing out chocolates to each other where they had to hug and hand-off the chocolate...it was amazing! So many laughs and giggles as the names were called. All the kids camed dressed in skirts and dresses and some boys even had ties on! Each kid then was given a bag with underwear and socks (thanks Derek and Dan) and some toys or shoes.

I love these days. To see the kids excited about a bag of clothes, running it home, it's special. I mean, these days I get excited about getting a bag of clothes, but I can't say at 4 and 5 years old I would have been too thrilled. These kids are incredible. I will never stop saying that. My love grows more for them each day, with each second I have with them. Sometimes I just sit staring at them, amazed at each one of their lives.

Later on I had friends over for a Valentine's dinner. We had lasagna (American style) and some vegetable made-up thing and garlic bread...it was a really nice night, one that I've needed! We played Apples to Apples (in Spanish) all evening and ate heart cakes that my mom sent!

Gifts!

Thanks mom!!! I got Chai tea and Cheetos and Valentines treats and chocolates and Splenda and Taco Bell sauce and Skittles...today was a GREAT day!!!

Hurts

The office and nursing/mini-hospital continue strong as organizing is done and boxes fall into place.

Sometimes I wonder how much my heart can be broken, when the realities will stop, when I won't hurt because of what these kids come from. One of the kids came in the other day because he was dizzy and tired and light-headed. We talked about the things that he eats. He doesn't eat when he's not at school, if he does it is very little. His head hurts because of this. My heart hurts because of this.

How can I make this better? Am I helping? Am I doing anything here? When will it ever end? Why do they grow up like this when I got to grow up like I did? So I wrap my arms around him, love him, and look forward to seeing him at school each day when I know his tummy will be filled. Then I step back from it all and try to take it all in. It is too much to take in sometimes, when the daily realities sometimes just become normal, when it doesn't shock me as much as it ought to.

I know that we are making a difference, I see it in their smiles, in their lives. Sometimes I'd just rather forget though about poverty, hunger, pain...especially when it is in regards to our kids.

Tea time

One of my favorite drinks here is tea. Tea from leaves. Of course all tea comes from leaves, but it generally comes dried in a nice little pouch that you soak in your water in the cup. Here it is different. You go outside, collect leaves from trees (orange, lime, mango, pine-just kidding!), rinse them off, throw it in a pot with cinnamon and boil them. It is amazing. With lots of sugar, there really isn't anything better. I've learned to make lots of teas, as there is a tea for any ailment. One with passionfruit and lime and cinnamon for colds, one with celery and allspice and cinnamon for bad tummies...I love learning these things. And it's only slightly off-putting to see all the leaves in the pot!