week 17: a little less homesick (october 6 - october 12)

family time: well the best part of this week was getting to spend time with my mom and drew who came to spend their october break with me! last weekend they got to see a little bit of the orphanage, but this week we headed to the capital to do a little sight seeing. we stayed at a little place in santo domingo and spent some time walking around the old colonial zone. we also did a little shopping and bartering at the local market place. it was fun to see my mom and drew experience the craziness that is the dominican republic... the crazy cabs and gua-guas and just the laid-back, no worries attitude this country has about everything! we tried to eat at the taco bell for drew, but it was closed (which is probably good since taco bell is a little shady in our country, i'm not sure how it would be here). we then spent one night in juan dolio and got to relax a little on the beach and eat some pizza. we then came back to the orphanage so they could spend a little more time with the kids before they had to go. it was really cute because the kids loved them. my mom was playing pogs and pushing kids on the swings and drew was giving piggy back rides and playing soccer. it was a little crazy because the kids get so excited and can be really overwhelming, plus they just keep speaking in spanish and my mom and drew couldn't understand them (i usually can't understand them)... but all in all it was really fun. the kids get so excited to have visitors and i think my mom and drew had fun too. thanks for coming guys!

con-con: i've always been pretty easily amused with the little things in life (especially when they are concerning food) and here it is no different. so i think i explained the food system here, but basically there is a kitchen that makes the food for everyone and we eat rice pretty much every day... so we have this huge rice cooker thing that makes enough rice for everyone (kids, tias, office workers, volunteers, etc)... over 200 people. so the thing i have come to love is this stuff the kids call "con-con"... and basically what happens is all the rice on the bottom gets stuck the bottom of the big cooking device and it gets really crispy. plus it's where all the oil sits, so it's just this big layer of burnt rice that is stuck on the bottom. so the chef scrapes it all out with a big spatula and gives a little to every house in their bucket of rice. so every day it's a battle in all the houses to see who gets the con-con. seriously, i know what you're thinking... burnt rice? it doesn't sound good and maybe my standards have seriously lowered since i got here, but it's sooo good. it's crunchy and buttery and salty and delicious! i love it and i'm so excited when i get to eat it! i am going to have to talk to the chef before i leave and get con-con cooking lessons so i can make it at home.

"find your delight in the Lord, who will give you your heart's desire." - psalm 37:4