attack of the flies: about a year and a half ago i went down to the friends of the orphans office in mesa because i was considering volunteering at nph for a year. i went and had a meeting with jim hoyt, regional director, whom i had worked with at st. pats. i had been sponsoring a kid in the dominican through friends of the orphans for about a year, so i kinda had it in the back of my head that that was the home i would want to volunteer at. but, without saying that i sat down with jim just to get his thoughts, opinions and advice on possibly being a volunteer. he told me a lot of what being a volunteer means and that i would have to learn spanish and this and that. and i asked him if he prefers any homes over the others... he talked about mexico and how it was his favorite home because he spends the most time there and about haiti and how it might be hard with the creole. he mentioned a few other homes and their positives/negatives, but never mentioned the dominican... so i said, "what about the dr?". and his first response was... "there are a lot of flies." now it was kinda a joke and he went on to talk a little bit more about the home... but in all my time here i have noticed some flies here and there, but i've never considered them a huge problem.... until now!!! oh my gosh, i don't know what happened this month... but there are soooooo many flies! it is crazy! i finally understand what he was talking about... they are everywhere! and they are super annoying! i know it sounds petty... i mean they are only flies... we have frogs in the bathroom, ants running over the tables, counters and beds, huge cockroaches and tarantulas, mosquitos, and i've even gotten used to the mice that run across the kitchen floor while you are cooking... but i have found none of these as annoying as the flies! i don't know what it is, but there are just hundreds of them everywhere you go and they are like weird flies. they don't just buzz around your head... they like to land on your lips, or go into your ear, or your nose and they are all over all the food we try to eat. and in the special needs house we don't have screens on the windows (because the kids have broken them all) so the fly problem is like times 100 in there. we have these fly catcher things that hang from the ceiling and they seriously fill up like everyday... i don't know where they all come from! i don't know... maybe God is giving me once last test in my patience before i leave... or maybe making sure that i come home and don't decide to stay longer! i don't know, but... ahhhh!
weekend retreat: despite the irritation of the flies, i had a very nice weekend. we had the opportunity to go on a volunteer retreat, where we met up with a couple volunteers from different organizations in the dr and we all spend the weekend talking, reflecting and sharing our experiences with each other. it was very different from any retreat i've ever been on, very quiet and laid back and there were only about 12 of us, but it was very nice. friday night we traveled to this place outside of santo domingo called las alcorizos, where there is a program run by some nuns from the states called "fe y alegrÃa" (faith and happiness) they basically run a school for poor children from the batey. (it's a really cool organization and they also look for year long volunteers from the states... check it out http://fi.feyalegria.org/) the head nun, sr. anita, was just great. she is this little old nun who has been in this country for 14 years and is just hilarious, with this awesome dry, sarcastic humor. she kept us all laughing all weekend. then on saturday morning we got up and took a bus about 2 hours west to a town called villa fundación, where we arrived at another nun's house, where there is also a small retreat center, where we stayed and had our retreat. this place was very cool... it was very different than anywhere i have been in the dr. it is like a very dry area of the dr... very different atmosphere... almost like a desert. there were even cactus! i felt like i was home! and the day was nice... we had good food and got to spend a lot of time talking and reflecting on our time here... which was especially nice considering my time is coming to a close. it was also nice to get to meet people who are volunteering in the dominican in different ways and compare experiences with them. on sunday, we woke up and had a word and communion service (we couldn't have mass because there are no priests) overlooking this beautiful valley. it was really nice. and sr. anita played the guitar for us! then we all headed to this town called las salinas, where there is a beach. it wasn't your typical beautiful, white sand dominican beach, but it was really nice. and the best part was that there were all these amazing starfish! we spent practically the whole afternoon like little kids looking for and taking pictures with starfish... it was really fun! "be happy in the moment. that's enough. each moment is all we need, not more. be happy now and if you show through your actions that you love others, you'll give them happiness too. the world would be a much better place if everyone smiled more - so smile, be cheerful, be joyous that God loves you." - mother teresa
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