to top off all that, i got news early this week that 3 boys from the orphanage are going to be sent home because of bad behavior (not one event in particular, just a series of things over time). one of the boys is nicolas... the boy i wrote about a few weeks ago... from my house. this news absolutely broke my heart, especially after how close we have gotten the past couple months. not only am i sad, but i am really, really angry. i'm angry because i think the people here are giving up on him too soon and i think that there are other options that we haven't tried. i know that his behavior is bad and he is causing problems almost every other day, and i'm not condoning them, nor suggesting that he should be excused for them, but i do think there are still things that can be done to help him. i think he could be moved into a house with older kids and stricter tias. i also think he can be taken out of the school and put out in the fields to work all day until he decides that he wants to behave. i spent 2 hours one night crying and arguing with two of the staff members. i didn't, and still don't, understand why we are giving up on this child. it was a hard couple days, with sleepless nights, wondering what i could have done more to help him and wondering where we failed him. needless to say, i was ready for the break i had coming…
cabarete: a couple weeks ago i realized that i only had 2 free weekends left and still some areas of the country that i wanted to see. so, i decided to put my last 2 free weekends together into one six-day trip (which ended up coming at a perfect time!), so i could head up and see some areas in the northern part of the country. (although this country isn't that big, it actually takes about 4-5 hours to get from the south to the north coast, so it's really too hard to do in 3 days). so, one of the new volunteers, nici, and i headed out. our first stop was a town called cabarete. it is on the north coast, about in the middle of the country (east/west-wise), and is supposedly very famous for its 
water sports, especially wind-surfing and kite-surfing. it's a cute little town with a very beautiful beach, but its very touristy. we didn’t have to speak spanish at all and people were trying to sell us stuff every other second. it was nice but i could only handle it for a few days. but nici and i decided to go with the flow and act like tourists, so we spent friday morning taking wind-surfing lessons! it was pretty fun, although i fell a lot. we took a 2-hour lesson with 1-hour of free riding, so by the end of all that i finally got the hang of it a little... but with my weak stomach i was getting so sea sick! i was glad i did it, but i think i definitely prefer snow sports to water sports... i will be so excited to get back on my snowboard next winter!
puerta plata: next stop was a town just about an hour west of cabarete, still on the north coast, called puerta plata ("silver port"). it is a much bigger town than cabarete, and not so touristy. it was founded by christopher columbus in 1493 and has a couple interesting attractions. the first day we walked around all the coast where there is an old 16th century fort that was built to protect the island from pirates and a pretty cool lighthouse that we climbed up to get a better view of the city. we also found some good food (fajitas…yay for mexican!), which was exciting, because that doesn't happen much here. the next day was my favorite part. we headed over to this flat-topped mountain called pico isabella de tours, where there is a cable car that takes you up to the top. once you reach the top, you are greeted by a huge statue of Christ the redeemer. other than that it is very green and tropical up top... i felt like i was walking around the jungle on lost! it was really cool because it gave a great view of the city and the north coast. we went up early in the morning and there were a bunch of clouds, so it kind of restricted our view for most of the time, but by the time we took the cable car back down, some of the clouds had cleared and we got a great view.
santiago: last stop was santiago, the second largest city in the dominican republic, about an hour south of puerta plata. it was very similar to the capital without all the historical sites. we walked around for a little, climbed up a tall monument dedicated to the heroes of the country, which provided a nice view of the entire city. it was originally built by the brutal dictator trujilo, who dedicated the statue to himself, but after his death it was re-dedicated. after that we shopped around a little at the outdoor markets. but after a while all the dominican souveniors start to look the same and the pesky salesmen start to get on your nerves a little, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest. which was good because it started to absolutely pour and did so for the rest of the evening, kind of limiting any more site seeing we wanted to do in the city. the next morning we hopped on the guagua (bus) and made our way back home.reflecting back: getting away for 6 days was a good way for me to get some space and think more about the situation that i described above with the boys that are going to be leaving. obviously spending a year anywhere will have it's good points and bad points... even a year in so called "normal life" will have it's ups and downs... and for me this year has been no different. the experience has been great, but it's trying at times. i think for the most part i write about the fun and cute stories and experiences i have had and i want to keep the blog positive, but i felt that it would be mis-representative of my experience here to not write about this story. the first couple days i was so angry that i questioned what i have been doing here and what we are doing here in general as an organization. but, as i was able to get away, i'm starting to realize more that it’s just part of life. there are always going to be disagreements and differences of opinions, no matter where you work or what you do. and while i really, really disagree with this decision, i don’t want it to taint the experience i’ve had here or the good things that have been done through nph over the years. i support his organization and believe in the philosophy and principles of fr. wasson (the founder), but i do have to say that i disagree and do not understand the decisions that have been made in this situation. it just breaks my heart to know that this kid who i have worked so hard with will have to go back to a family that obviously wasn’t taking care of him before. and i do know that i have to keep in mind that i am a year long volunteer and there are people here who have dedicated their lives to this organization and it’s not my place to tell them how to do things (however i have spent hours defending my point in this particular situation!). part of me says that i should just stay and be the one to start some sort of disciplinary house here for all the kids that have discipline problems… if no one else wants to/knows how to deal with them. i think that all these kids have already experienced so much pain and have already felt abandoned by their families that we can give up them too. but the other part of me knows that its time to come home. i don’t know, it’s been tough. but i think the other thing i realized is how much i have come to love and care about these kids, even after only one year. it's kinda surprising that such a short period of time can have such an effect on you. and when i arrived home from my mini vacation the first kid i was greeted by was nicolas... and i think i hugged him harder than i ever have! (when i left i wasn't sure if he'd still be here when i got back). right now i'm happy that i am here and i have the opportunity to defend him (not his actions, but the fact that he deserves that we keep trying to help him). i haven’t heard yet when the official date is that he is leaving, but i know that as long as he’s here, i'll keep pleading my case to the powers that be! please pray for him and the other 2 (miguel and eduardo) if you can!
"our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." -mlk jr.
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