Gringos vs. Dominicanos!

At 5pm on Fridays, the ILAC staff love to play sports in the backyard. Today we played volleyball in the rain! My team won the first two games, but sadly enough, when we split into gringos vs. dominicanos, we LOST! Needless to say, it was a blast.

More videos from Kate

Kate made two other videos that are pretty funny!

The first one is a guided tour of the ILAC center, where we live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnakuLJ33iY&feature=related

The second video has clips from our adventures the first month or so here before the immersion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqLbxZlPfA&feature=related

ENJOY!

Kate's video from the first immersion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbELwnb4Zn0

Check out Kate Dorman's video from our first 10-day immersion in a campo called Hato Viejo. I'm helping mix cement in one clip! At the end of the video, Kate gives a tour of her campo family's home.

The immersion was Feb. 6-16, 2010.

I'm working on making a few videos too, so hopefully those will be up soon!

27 Charcos! (waterfalls)

The group with our "guia" (guide), Cecilio "El Gato" (the cat) at the beginning of our hike!

Our emotions as we began to climb waterfall numero UNO!

Jumping from the 27th waterfall!

Cecilio: "What did I tell you about walking on the GREEN ROCKS!?" Too late...

Our battle wounds... Katie had yet to get hurt!

27 Charcos

Becca, Katie, and I under a waterfall!

The five of us hanging out on the edge of a waterfall, waiting for instructions from Cecilio on how to slide down and not get hurt!

1, 2, 3, JUMP right in the middle and look out for rocks!

Waterfall 8... a jump off a cliff 23 feet high!

The group with Cecilio at the end. Exhaustion +battle scars + satisfaction = perfection.

the boat ride that wasn't exactly from heaven :)

A video I took when we were on the small fishing boat in search of whales... what an adventure!

whale watching at its finest

After the adventure (4 hours later): wet, starving, cold, salty, sick to our stomachs...

During the adventure (right after we left): still excited, positive, embarrassed but interested...

Before the adventure: excited, cheerful, curious

La Playita

A video of the most beautiful beach I have ever been to! One of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the entire Caribbean :)

Las Galeras

This video was taken on the beach of Las Galeras on the first night in the Samana Peninsula... a 5 minute walk from our little hotel!

Spring Break oh10 - everthing under $10!

Becca, Kristina, Melissa

Playita Beach, Las Galeras, Samana Peninsula, Republica Dominicana

February 23, 2010

Can we just bathe in the GLORIOUSNESS of this picture? I want to go back again and never leave!

Ash Wednesday Reflection

We went on a 2-day retreat in a small mountain village, Juncalito, after the 10-day immersion in Hato Viejo.

What would I have been doing if I were celebrating Ash Wednesday in Omaha at Creighton?

For Ash Wednesday, we had a special prayer service on our retreat. We all sat ourtside in plastic chairs (a Dominican staple) in a circle. There were little kids running around, crickets chirping, dogs barking.

We had two readings (Joel and Corinthians) and a gospel reading (Matthew), all read by students. Themes were about how "now is an acceptable time" and about how we need to pray and fast in secret. God will see what is hidden and knows what is in the depths of our hearts and will reward us in Heaven.

After the readings, Kyle (our program director) led a reflection. Usually during Lent, we tend to focus on the glorious resurrection and the special significance it has for us. But Kyle talked about how it is especially fitting for us to reflect on Jesus' crucifixion as we are witnessing what Brackley (a book we're reading in class) calls the "crucified people of today," especially after having just been on our first immersion in Hato Viejo. We've just witnessed firsthand what it means to be poor, living under sub-standard conditions for humans, facing corruption, disrespect, and injustice every single day. These people are surely crucified and marginalized today in the same way Jesus was back then.

Question now is this: What will our response be?

One comment that stood out by a student was that often times we are considered the "hands and feet of God on this earth," but we forget really easily that Jesus' hands and feet were pierced. Thus, ours will be, too. Jesus faced immense suffering, rejection, and pain, and if we're following in His footsteps, we can expect that our journeys will not be easy. We'll carry our own crosses, just like He did, and face our own burdens and trials.

This comes to no surprise, as I analyze how I'm feeling right now. Conflicted, torn, emotional, sad, confused, reflective, guilty, helpless, impatient, restless, annoyed... these are all things I've been feeling, as have others in my group. I miss living in the campo so much and long to be back in a simple environment. I miss the language, my family and all my new friends, the relaxed, joyful lifestyle. I don't want the burden of having so much material goods. With excess materials comes excess troubles and worries and concerns. It's all so unnecessary for a happy life!

"I will lift my eyes to the healer of the hurt I hold inside. I will lift my eyes to the maker of the mountains I cannot climb." ("I Will Lift My Eyes," Bebo Norman)

There is so much noise in our lives. Physical noise sure - dogs fighting, crickets chirping, construction, loud Dominicans, kids yelling, roosters crowing... But I'm talking about spiritual, mental, "worldly noise" - having so many worries about the future, gossip, hateful thoughts and talk, materialism, plans, wealth. Everything just seems so trivial right now. (Especially school and the 20-page paper coming up in Kyle's class!) Trying to discern a major, figure out classes for the fall, summer plans for class and work... What is my vocation in life and how am I going to respond to what I'm witnessing here this semester? What is God saying to me?

"One the road marked with suffering; though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your Name." ("Blessed Be Your Name," Matt Redman)

After we reflected, we did petitions, said the Our Father, and gave eachother the Sign of Peace. Last, we annointed eachother with ashes, which was really cool because usually the priest or someone else annoints you. But we got to annoint eachother and pass around the cup of ashes. And, the ashes were actually burnt banana leaves that Kyle and some students had made earlier that afternoon. It was beautiful to do this service here in the mountains and to be able to use the banana leaves because these trees are everywhere in the DR. They are a source of nourishment for the Dominicans and for us.

When we made the sign of the cross on each other's foreheads, we said:

"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

What am I going to do with this gift of life God has given me?

What am I going to do or not do this Lenten season to grow closer to Christ and others?

How am I going to respond to the crucified people I am living amongst and serving here in the Dominican Republic?

How am I going to respond to God's call to get free to love and to serve?

How can I re-prioritize my life to more fully live in solidarity through simplicity and humility?

Good questions...

Gentle Restlessness

"It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness;

He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you;

He is the beauty to which you are so attracted;

it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise;

it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life;

it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society."

Pope John Paul II



Couldn't have said it better myself.

Even in the desert... God remains

This is my prayer in the desert.
When all that's within me feels dry.
This is my prayer in the hunger and need.
My God is the God who provides.

And this is my prayer in the fire.
In weakness or trial or pain.
There is a faith proved of more worth than gold.
So refine me Lord through the flames.

And I will bring praise.
I will bring praise.
No weapon formed against me shall remain.

I will rejoice.
I will declare.
God is my victory and He is here.

And this is my prayer in the battle.
When triumph is still on its way.
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ.
So firm on his promise I'll stand.

I will bring praise.
I will bring praise.
No weapon formed against me shall remain.

I will rejoice.
I will declare.
God is my victory and He is here.

All of my life.
In every season.
You are still God.
I have a reason to sing.
I have a reason to worship.

I will bring praise.
I will bring praise.
No weapon formed against me shall remain.

I will rejoice.
I will declare.
God is my victory and He is here.

And this is my prayer in the harvest.
Where favor and providence flow.
I know I'm filled to be emptied again.
The seed I've received I will sow.

"The Desert Song" by Hillsong United

I heard this song live about a month ago at the Passion 2010 Conference in Atlanta, GA, a Christian conference for college students worldwide...there were over 23,000 students there, and they raised over $1 million in cash donations to 10+ international causes ranging from clean water projects to sex trafficking border patrol outposts.

This song by Hillsong United has been on my mind all day.

Here, I come face to face with pain, suffering, and death. Every single day.

After being here for two days, there was a record-breaking earthquake in Haiti, where over 150,000 people died in a matter of minutes.

Two weeks ago in St. Louis, my great Aunt died.

Monday, a previously perfectly healthy Creighton senior fainted, had a heart attack (from a pulmonary embolism) and passed away yesterday morning.

Tuesday, two American friends of Padre Bill (the chaplain here) flew in their personal helicopter from the US to land in our backyard at ILAC. They loaded it up with supplies and flew to Haiti the same day. They returned yesterday to get more supplies. I stood there and watched them take off to head back to the border. This morning, I woke up to hear that their plane had crashed into the mountains close to Dajabon, a border town that is one of the poorest villages in the world. Both men died. We had mass for them this afternoon in the chapel.

Meanwhile, I am confronted by my daily experiences in the DR with suffering, sickness, lack of sanitation, electricity, and health care, malnutrition, corrupt government, racism, even a lack of basic clothing. Jeffery, my 6-year old Haitian buddy at my service site, ran around the other day with his caked-in-mud thumb in his mouth, wearing pants two sizes too big and no belt or undies, with his little black butt hanging out.

I know people who are injured, pregnant, in physical pain, grieving, and are lost in their faith.

There are children in the DR and other developing countries that die every day from diarrhea. Not even kidding. Do people understand how preventable that is?

To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements would cost us only $13 billion, what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year. That is so messed up!

"Street crime and terrorism -- real evils, to be sure -- dominate the news. Meanwhile, poverty kills many times their victims" Dean Brackley, The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times

In a world consumed by so much evil, where is God?

What can I say?
What can I do?
But offer this heart,
Oh God,
Completely to you.

"I'll Stand" by Hillsong United

In class, we're discussing hard questions like this one. As Christians -- as humans -- we're called to contemplate the real world, its sin, and our part in it. We're called seek it out and understand it, not to run. We're called to face it, not to hide. In order to become more fully human, we have to come to terms with the evil in our world.

But how? I feel like the 39th witness in the murder of Kitty Genovese (1964), just another person in the crowd who feels like she doesn't know how or have the ability to make a difference.

"Responding to massive injustice according to each one's calling is the price of being human, and Christian, today. Those looking for a privatized spirituality to shelter them from a violent world have come to the wrong place... These turbulent times disclose our need for a discipline of the spirit. To respond to our world we must get free to love. That involves personal transformation, which includes coming to terms with evil in the world and in ourselves, accepting forgiveness and changing." Dean Brackley, The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times

Today was the end of our first of three 3-week sessions of classes. I cannot believe I've been here for a month... time has absolutely flown by. My microfinance elective class is over, along with a temporary break from all forms of homework and studying. Woo!

Tomorrow, Comunidad Nueve (our group) starts a new chapter, our first immersion experience... 10 days of living and serving in solidarity with Dominican campesinos, or famers. We're heading about 45 minutes away to a Campo Urbana, a poor urban community, called Hato Viejo. The community has about 500 families and it is surrounded by rice patties! Starting tomorrow night, we will be living one-on-one with a family - our second moms, dads, brothers, and sisters. During the day, we're completing projects as a group to serve the needs of the Hato Viejo community, such as building latrines, putting in concrete floors, putting a roof on a house, and building a house for a family of four. We eat meals together during the day and spend nights hanging out with our families... talking, sitting around in plastic chairs, dancing, dominoes.

I think I'm most excited to get away from school and ILAC and the bustle of life here, just to go relax and be with the people in the campo. I can't wait to live with them and get to know my family and be completely immersed in the culture. Because as much as I love ILAC and Santiago, we're still somewhat in our little Creighton bubble where we have internet and class and speak English with our friends. In the campo, we'll be speaking Spanish 95% of the day, there will be no internet, no technology, hardly any toilets, electricity, and shower water... I'm going to become a pro at bucket showers, I hear! I'm really excited to just be. To live in the moment and have no other cares in the world but being present to those I'm serving and living with.

We'll be in Hato Viejo for 10 days, and then we go immediately into a two day retreat to reflect and process everything. After that, we have our spring break! (A little early, I know.) Some people's families are coming to visit, but my family isn't coming until Easter break, so I'm going to travel around the DR a little with some of the girls in my group... should be pretty awesome! Whale watching, 27 waterfalls, Carnaval celebrations (DR independence day, Feb. 27), beach, etc. Yay! We don't start second session classes again until March 1 :)

So that was a lot of information... but there's a lot going on here, a lot to think about! I miss everyone a lot and I hope things are going well in the states... try to keep warm!!! That's all for now.


Melissa


In my life, be lifted high.
In our world, be lifted high.
In our love, be lifted high.

"Came to My Rescue," Hillsong United

Microfinance!

Microfinance class is going really well! It's a ton of work, but very interesting. We're studying the impact microfinance has on health, including going into CienFuegos (a slum of Santiago) and interviewing families who have received microcredit and the officers that do the lending. Pretty cool! This picture is from the day we had our first interview last weekend. We have our second interview tomorrow! And we get treated to ice cream after every interview...one of the best parts! :)

Orientation Week Complete!

I can't believe I've been here for over a week now. Orientation is officially over! It was a very exciting, busy, and fun week, but also emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausting. We had many orientation talks and sessions, as well as trips into town to explore museums, local department and grocery stores, and to learn how to navigate the public transportation. I officially feel comfortable using a "gua-gua", a public van that you can ride all over town for only 20 pesos! My first time on my own in a gua-gua, I was one of 25 passengers... traffic and driving regulations are so different here - there are none! It's definitely a thrill, to say the least... :)

Throughout the semester, I will be volunteering at one particular service site every Monday and Wednesday morning. I am responsible for paying for and managing transportation to and from my site, so that I serve four or more hours a week. During orientation, our group visited all of the potential service sites. They consist of an orphanage for mentally, psychologically, and physically handicapped children (Hogar Lubi); a tutoring program for neighborhood children (Sala de Tarea); a daycare/soup kitchen for neighborhood children before they go to school (Caritas in Licey); a daycare/soup kitchen for children in the poorest slum in Santiago (Caritas in Cien Fuegos); a hospice/nursing home for the elderly of Santiago (Hospicio); a public school in the slum (Santa Lucia in Cien Fuegos); and a pre-school for Haitian refugee children (the Batey). In spending time at these sites this week, my strength, energy, and faith were all put to the test! Ever since I arrived, I had been asking God to work in my heart and humble me and open my eyes... and He definitely did this week... didn't waste any time! I love it though. I'm already learning and growing so much.

Although I already got sick and it has been an overcast and rainy week, we ended orientation with a bang! We took a day trip to Playa Grande, a beach on the north coast. To get there, we had to go through many streetside campos and slums in the northern mountain range of the DR. It was about a 2 hour drive and despite rain the whole way, the clouds parted and we got enough sun to all get sufficiently and unexpectedly sunburnt! I felt like I was in paradise - it was surreal how beautiful the beach was and how crazy it felt to be standing in the sand on an island in 80 degree weather in January when I would have usually been sitting in Brandeis, eating mediocre food in Omaha with 6 foot high snow drifts... I am very lucky!

Today was our first day of service and class. This morning I went to the Caritas in Cien Fuegos (100 Fires). Cien Fuegos is one of the poorest slums in Santiago, who hardly ever see "gringos" or Americanos. I wanted to check out the Caritas in Cien Fuegos because it reminded me a lot of La Colonia in Reynosa, Mexico, where I served for two mission trips with Cor Jesu my junior and senior years of high school. I longed to be back in that environment, serving that community. I spent my morning washing plastic chairs, cleaning, cooking, talking with the women in charge, and playing with the children at the daycare. Games like hopscotch, Down by the Banks, Duck, Duck, Goose, and makeshift baseball games (really stickball or handball) are big hits with the kids here! I haven't decided if this is the place I'll serve all semester or if I'll try someplace new Wenesday before I settle down at one site.

First classes today went really well... but I realize now that they weren't kidding when I heard that the academics were just as rigorous in this program! I have TONS to do already... and it's crazy to think we leave for our 10-day campo immersion after just three weeks of classes! I'm in group three for Spanish class (the most advanced), so we'll see how that goes... I have lots of projects, presentations, and cool assignments to get started on - it's definitely going to be a busy but meaningful class! I also had my first Microfinance class tonight for two hours - this one is just a three-week course. It's a very informal seminar course taught by my microfinance teacher, Juli-Ann Gasper and her sister, Jean Holt. Jean is working on her Masters in Public Health, so we're doing lots of research and interviews with local businesses and families to look at the relationship between microfinance/microenterprise/microcredit and public health! The first class was long, but very interesting, so I'm really looking forward to it. Lots of work in the next three weeks though; we start our interviewing this weekend!

Thought for the day:

"Muestra tu Bondad." Show your Goodness. God made us good and He calls us to show this to the world each and every day, in our own unique way. This is a phrase that Padre Bill, the Jesuit priest who lives at ILAC and serves as the chaplain, is very passionate about. He preached about it last week at church and he reminds us of it often! They have t-shirts with this mantra on them and they are selling like crazy at ILAC with students and staff... I want to get mine!

Casitas!

So this is a "casita"... baby casa... mini house that visitors, friends, and family can stay in! $33 per person, per night on site at ILAC... if you want, come visit me! There's plenty here, calling your name! It's surreal how beautiful everything is here... nature, architecture, people... God is clearly at work!

The "backyard"

These pictures are taken from kind of the "backyard" I guess, outside of the ILAC courtyard. We have the field (where we took the Pi Phi video) and then there's a track around it and a greenhouse, the "tetanus" gym, and rows of corn and plantains and banana trees out back! It looks like it was straight out of a magazine...

My gorgeous home for the next four months...

Top two pictures: views from the patio out into the backyard! The whole center is open air -- no windows! It is so incredibly beautiful.

The picture to the left is the Mission's church, right in the heart of the ILAC center. It was still decorated from the Christmas season when I took this picture. We've had mass once last weekend and daily morning prayer services/reflections in the church with Padre Bill this week.

ILAC Center -- my new home!

The first picture is the sign outside the ILAC center gates. The second picture is the bus that picked us up on the first night at the airport! It's ILAC's main bus. ILAC stands for the Institute of Latin American Concern; it's spanish counterpart is the CESI center, Centro de Educacion para la Salud Integral. ILAC was founded in the 1970's by Jesuit priests and is an international, Christian, Ignatian-inspired mission where Dominicans are employed and come in and out throughout the week; it serves the local community in Licey and all of Santiago, and has a clinic to promote preventative health and treat medical needs. It is a collaborative healthcare and educational organization that exists to promote the integral well-being and spiritual health of all its participants.

Orientation Week is HALF over already!

It's weird how the days are jam packed but seem to be long and go really slow... yet we've only been here for 4 days and it seems as if it's been much longer than that.

Orientation has gone really well. We've had spanish classes every day so our professor can split us up into three groups depending on our skill level. In class the past two days, we've learned the vocab for playing dominoes (a very popular game here!), sang songs in spanish, and learned the two main dances here: La Bachata y El Merengue. They are so fun! Tonight, we had a huge barbeque/dance in the dining hall with the Encuentro group and the 20+ Dominican staff members here... it was so fun! We danced for over an hour after dinner... with fellow students and Dominicans! It has been so fun to learn a new dance; we are all really excited to go out throughout the semester so we can dance more at restaurants and bars that have live music!

As many of you know, Haiti experienced the most massive earthquake in its history a few days ago... I encourage you to keep Haiti and the people it affected in your thoughts and prayers... tonight at dinner, Padre Bill (the Jesuit priest who is the chaplain at ILAC) mentioned that although they don't know yet, estimates say that more than half a million Haitians have died from the quake. Unfortunately, Haiti doesn't have national building codes, and so many of the structures, including a major hospital, government buildings, and the president's palace. Although we are hundreds of miles away from Port-au-Prince, Haiti (where the earthquake's epicenter was near), we definitely felt its tremors. I was sitting in a chair reading a book on the patio and Camille was reading on the couch next to me and I though someone was shaking my chair from behind and so I stopped reading and turned around and no one was there. Camille looked up and then I realized the entire concrete structure of the ILAC center was gently swaying back and forth. It felt like I was on a cruise ship, with the constant movement below, almost to the point of motion sickness or feeling dizzy. The floor was literally rumbling underneath me and the lights were all swinging back and forth. Although it seemed like it lasted longer, it really was proabably less than a minute or so. So it was definitely eye opening and cool to have experienced, but a little scary too...thank you to everyone for all your prayers and concern.

Let's see... what have I been up to in the past few days? We've had many talks and discussions as part of our orientation... student life, how to play Dominican dominoes (a huge pasttime in the campos, especially), rules of ILAC, how to become culturally intelligent, introduction to our microfinance course, spanish classes, EDP course (Encuentro Dominicano Program course: history, theology, and economy of the DR and the Caribbean) introduction, reflections on "who am I?" and more.

We have started exploring the different service sites within Santiago this week. There are about 7 or so to pick from; we're visiting each of them this week and then starting next week, we will decide which one we want to serve at twice a week for the whole semester. Yesterday, my group went to the first site, Caritas, which was a soup kitchen/daycare for younger children to hang out at before they head to school in the afternoon. They love playing with my hair or riding piggyback or on my shoulders... also big into playing baseball as best as they can, usually with a cheap whiffle ball and using their hands as a bat. It was a great morning. After lunch, we went out to Centro Leon, an art museum. The cool part about the museum was that there is a cigar factory there too, so we got a tour and watched how they make cigars and smell the leaves and everything! Only a few of the guys actually bought some cigars, haha. It was cool though. And it was funny, they had a vending machine outside the factory and the museum for El Presidente, the most popular beer here... everything is just so lax!

Yesterday was also Peter's 20th birthday, so we all went out for the first time on our own - 20 of us in 4 taxis! We had to figure out how to get phone cards to apply to the ILAC cell phones and how to communicat with the taxi drivers to get to and from our destination! It was definitely an adventure. We ended up at a nice restaurant/bar with an outdoor patio... it was so fun!

Small world actually... many groups from Creighton and other areas use the ILAC center and come down for mission trips and medical clinics, etc. When we came down on Saturday, a group of CU Law students were here. Today, a group of orthopedic surgeons came down... and one of the doctors is my doctor who I saw for the pain in my knees about a month ago! Small world, he'll be down here for 10 days... he said they'll service 75+ patients a day and do hundreds of surgeries. He said if I wanted to help translate for the doctors and Dominicn patients, he'd love my help... and if I want to be an orthopedic surgeon, he'd pull some strings for me! Too bad Caitlin Chrystal isn't here :(

We've had lots of rain and drizzle the past few days, but I think it's finally clearing up! It's been 70s and rainy, and yet the Dominicans call this weather "cold"! I'm just happy for the green trees and flowering plants and humidity. Anyway, tomorrow we're going to more service sites... should be a great day! Hope all is well with family and friends... miss you all!

Melissa

Wild About Pi Phi

Video from the 7 Pi Phis in the DR to the Pi Phis at Creighton in Omaha going through recruitment right now!!!

WE'RE HERE!!!

So we've been here for a few days... and it's already ten times more awesome than I expected.

The weather is absolutely beautiful... it's hard to imagine a foot of snow and slush when it's 85 and breezy here. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else right now. All the missing luggage of people in my group has been delivered, we're unpacked and settled in, got a tour of the ILAC center, and even got to explore Licey (the neighborhood we live in) and the city of Santiago.

We had our first spanish mass with the community yesterday -- I followed most of it! At least, the parts I wasn't nodding off... I'm so exhausted! It was SO funny -- during the homily, a giant green lizard began crawling up the wall behind the altar... we were all secretly laughing... it kept going up and down the wall!

Sleeping has been interesting... not only do we sleep under mosquito nets (which aren't nearly as bad as I'd expected), but I cannot sleep without ear plugs... the whole center is open air - I haven't seen hardly any windows. So, we can hear everything going on in the rooms next to us, the courtyard of the ILAC center, the cars and motos driving down the gravel roads, the neighbors and their children, the seemingly millions of stray neighborhood dogs barking, and even music blasting from far off. It has definitely been an adjustment!

The food is very different, but so great! Fresh pineapple is a staple at every meal (MMM!) as are beans and rice, of course. I tend to pass over the meats, surprising as it is. But I tried pork (I think?) at lunch yesterday and it was decent... For the times I'm hungry between meals, I have scooby doo fruit snacks, and my favorite pretzels and poptarts, of course. My suitcase was 5 pounds overweight, so I got rid of some clothes, not the food! Haha.

Also, one of the big problems here is electricity... so far, the power has gone out both nights we've been here... a recurrent event here, I hear. The system has become a sort of monopoly, so it is corrupt, and on top of that, many people neglect to pay their bills. So, flashlights are a must because I've had to shower in the dark twice now! Side note: Dad, DEFINITELY a smart move to get the bigger, more durable one!

Today we had our first spanish class -- I really like our professor. He's a native and teaches at a local university and school. Should be interesting! This week we have a bunch of orientation activities... talks, visiting service sites, settling in more. Then we start classes and service sites next Monday. I hear we're going to the beach this Saturday... and the high is supposed to be 87?! The beaches we usually go to are an hour to an hour and a half away.

We've had lots of down time so far in between meals and activities... lots of group bonding, playing hearts, beginning to read school books, eating, dominoes, working out in the "tetanus gym" (of the workout machines and weights that exist, about 99% are rusty...)

That's all I can think of for now.

Thought for the day: "If you want peace, work for justice."

Hola from Santiago, Dominican Republic!