Sorry

I´m over blogging. So...if you want to, just talk to me when I get home. It will be soon, 2 weeks!

All is beyond well.
Jamie.

Time is Passing Quickly!!!

I don’t wanna leavvvveeee! I know I have to and I know that it will be fun when I’m home, but I’m pretty bummed about leaving my kids and the families for 2 whole months! Granted I still have a few weeks here and boy am I trying to make the most of them. But, let’s see, what happened this week. Ha a lot.

            First of all, one of the kids in our class has been out for 2 whole weeks with some kind of sickness. The exact cause is unknown, lost in translation. I hope he is okay, he is one of the smart ones. His mother is a teacher in El Estretcho where they live.  Thoughts for him.

            Secondly, let’s talk Halloween. Anna, Loryn and I, being the young fun women we are, slightly missed that we weren’t home to party for Halloween. They don’t celebrate Halloween here, or I should say most don’t because apparently there was a huge Halloween party that we didn’t get the memo about, so we brought Halloween to the Dominican. Using face paint that we had left over from carnivals with the kids and 700 pesos worth of candy Anna and I painted our faces and went around Pueblo Nuevo delivering candy in costume. I was a vampire; Anna was a butterfly. It was soooo fun. The kids and adults got a huge kick out of it and we looked like some crazy Americans that day! Not the best constructed costumes ever—didn’t have much to work with—but they got the point. J Too fun. Then to top off our Halloween, Chris, Anna and I drove into town for dinner at an American restaurant we sometimes go to (Steve’s) to deliver candy to the yachters there who wouldn’t need much explanation. Lots of looks, lots of fun.

            Thirdly, Wednesday was hands down one of my top five favorite nights here. Every Wednesday at this one bar they have Dominican karaoke so we set off to do that. It was me, Chris, Anna, the parents of one of the kids in my class (Yolanda y Boho) and the 18 year old kid that I tutor, Ney. Well I guess that Wednesday it was some holiday, day of the dead or something else I don’t know (so much for them not celebrating Halloween) so karaoke was not happening. So we drove into Luperon to find something to do—nothing. We drove into El Estretcho to find something to do—nothing. (We don’t get out much so we were a bit desperate.) We finally stopped at a supermarket in La Sabana to regroup and decide what we wanted to do. Well like every super market here, there was music, chairs and beer. So we stayed. In the Dominican Republic people gather at supermarkets as a social endevour, however, for a Wednesday night we were semi responsible for getting the party rolling. So between 3 boys and 3 girls, we danced the night away until they closed. I don’t know if I can go back to American dancing after living down here. My favorite style of dance is Merengue because it is easy for me to do, but Bachata is cool too. The Mambo and I are not friends because I look stupid doing it and can’t keep up with my partner’s lead.

            Fourthly, I just wanna say that I absolutely adore my afternoon class in Pueblo Nuevo with the preteens. Doing that class makes me know that I want to teach for the rest of my life--and not to preschoolers. Yesterday 4 of my students came over to my house after class to learn more English. Their desire to learn really made me feel good. I am so nervous about my students English for the two months we are all gone. If they don’t practice then we will have to start over…not completely over, but still take a leap back. We’ll see, only time will tell.

            Fifthly, I found out that dating is impossible here. The mindsets about it are too different.

Welp, that’s all. I have an awesome week ahead of me. More on that next week.

Happy Halloween!

We are officially landowners! The founder of the mission has made it a goal for the past ten years to own our own piece of property in the Dominican and after a LOT of trial and error the time has finally come and we own an absolutely gorgeous piece of land that’s all ours. I have no idea when we will begin to build shelters and the kitchen considering the land was the majority of our savings, but within the next year surely. How exciting! ¡Que Bueno! So now Bill can finally go home in peace knowing all the property stuff is settled. Now it is time to start fundraising like mad men. (And women J)

Anna came down this week and will be staying with us the next month. She’s a sweet girl from Connecticut who will be composing a booklet/brochure about the families of the kids in our school who people can sponsor. Hopefully this booklet will help us to gain sponsorships on an annual basis. Hopefully. Bill is seriously pushing for more consistent money flow for the program, which is necessary. But yeah Anna seems super energetic and my plan is to teach her how to ride the motorcycle and hopefully learn to ride the bike with her on the back of it. That would be beneficial for both of us.

I really feel like I have a place down here. More and more people are inviting me over for dinner, giving me fruits or other little gifts and shouting my name in the street as opposed to Loryn’s, which is great! I actually have my own presence and it is exciting. I am getting very sentimental about leaving, but I know I’ll be back. My latest internal dilemma has been whether or not I want to postpone graduate school to stay down here longer…and more permanently. It is so meaningful to be here. It makes your whole life make sense; it is hard to see myself returning home for good. I don’t know; I need to see how I feel when I go home. Suggestions on this topic would be magical, considering that no one has bothered to give me any feedback on my blog lately! J But I will keep writing because this stuff matters.

Oh and my leg is healing very nicely from my bike accident. Once the bruising is gone I don’t even think I will have scars from this one! Adios!

Take care, God Bless.

Jamie

“…Because I know it’s my destiny to leave more than a trace of myself in this place. I wanna do something that matters, say something different, something that sets the whole world on its ear. I wanna do something better with the time I’ve been given. I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life. And leave nothing less than something that says I was here…”                                    ---Lady Antebellum

Some More Stuff

This week has been pretty eventful as well; it was both fun and folly. But anyways, it was Loryn’s birthday this week. She turned 28 and down here the people act as if she’s an “old maid”. I always remind them that in the states that it is not as unusual as here to not have a spouse, boyfriend or children at that age. And occasionally I jokingly remind them that she is too busy doing God’s work to mingle with Dominicanos. So on her birthday we decorated the preschool with balloons (which is always a chaotic and special treat for the kids) and had a big pink cake, which read “Felicidades Prof Lorin”…pretty cute. And then we all went to Sandra’s house in El Canal that night for Birthday dinner and played cards. Slightly sad I won’t be celebrating my birthday down here because I will already be in the states Oh well.

So now that it’s the home stretch of my trip I’m filled with mixed emotions. When I think of going home it is the same feeling you get when you are anticipating a trip to Disney World. However, I keep thinking about everything I’m going to miss here and how two months is a long time to be gone from here. What about the kids English? What about my Spanish?..eek! But, knowing the Dominicans as I do, they will welcome me right back as if I never left. When groups of Americans come down for a week to build houses the families here talk about them and brag about them as if they had known them for years! Relationships are very important down here. And it is important, while you are here, to maintain them or they get fussy about it. “Why haven’t you visited?” etc etc. Unlike most of them I have a job that I am busy with so its difficult for them to understand that there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

However! I did visit Roseanna’s baby boy (the one I first met while he was still attached to his mother) and he looks big and healthy. I’m thrilled, although, they haven’t named him yet. Not positive, but in some cultures they wait to name the baby until they know it will survive. This may be her mindset because she had previously lost a baby shortly after birth however some people, when I’ve asked, just say she’s weird. Ha. Everyone has their reasons for the things we do.

Yesterday I went horseback riding with Chris and he showed me the most beautiful view that I’ve seen since I’ve been here. We were on top of a small hill/mountain on a farm overlooking the Luperon harbor. Ah! So pretty at that time of day too! Lovely. Also that day, in the morning, Bill, Chris, Loryn and I walked the property that we are buying for the Project. Finally after 10 years Bill’s mission project will have its own land to stand on. The problem is, however, that it eliminates most of our budget and everyone is on pins and needles right now. We. Need. Money. You wanna help? That’s how, write a check. Tithe 10% of your paycheck as the Bible says to and give it to us! ……Okay okay, yes that’s a little extreme for most. We are only a humble organization and need any and all help we can get. Only three people live in the Dominican right now, before me only two. That’s how small the organization in country is, but the work we do is substantial. If my blog followers ever get the chance they should check out the Village Mountain Mission website to get a better idea of what it is I’m doing here.

I’d like to dedicate this blog to the Northland HS Band Family of my generation, Andrew Brennen and the late Aaron Miller. You have been in my thoughts consistently within these last two weeks and you are in my prayers.

Ask and You Shall Receive!

Welp, be careful what you wish for! This week definitely made up for the “boring” week I had last week. It started on Sunday…or should I say about 3:45 AM Monday morning. I got a knock on my door…it was Elba, granddaughter of the woman I share a house with..and all I could comprehend half asleep (and in Spanish) was “necesitamos tu carro”….”Roseanna”….”bebe, ahora…”. And that was all I needed, a woman in my village, Roseanna (mother of Angel—my favorite preschooler) was having her baby and needed a ride to the hospital. Naturally I assumed she was in labor, but nope! As a group of men carried her to the car I quickly realized --after seeing the umbilical attached to a small blanket as well as her coo-cah—that she had already had her baby in her house, which she had done with all of her kids because she doesn’t like doctors. So I had a baby straight out the womb exposed in this BEYOND SUCIO (dirty) station wagon. I drove her to the hospital in Luperon without incident and Chris brought her and the baby home that afternoon. The baby is gorgeous…he is the 5^th child for Roseanna…4^th boy in a row. Poor Mamita (the oldest and only girl.) J

This is one of those times in my life where I feel like I was put in the right place at the right time. That baby was sent to us the week Loryn was in the states and I had her car in my village (we live in different villages) Any other time and there wouldn’t have been transportation available for who knows how long on account of how late it was and how we live in the boonies. Perfect timing God, rock on! J

So anyways, it was the second week without Loryn at the preschool and it did not go as smoothly as the first week. I will credit that to two things. 1.) I work better with Sujer and this was her week off, so it was Suni in her stead. And 2.) There was electricity Monday and Tuesday night, meaning the students most likely stayed up as long as the electricity was on, leaving them cranky. Oh and let’s not forget, the car is out of commission once again. This time it is transmission. Although I must say, I’m learning quite a bit about cars these days. It’s time for the mission to kick fundraising into high gear to get a new car down here. Maybe a safe one? Who knows, just a thought. And a muffler would be nice too! Throw in some seat belts and we will have struck gold! So as of now Chris is responsible for picking up all the kids for school in his truck. No one is happy about it.

Good-ish news: after the title/deal for the first property for the mission fell through we have since found a new property that Bill says would be perfect. The problem: our financial security is in jeopardy because down here it is a gamble to get a title. So you wanna put money down to secure that the property goes to you, but if the title falls through in the end you will lose what you put down and can get screwed. The reason it is so difficult is because here property remains “in the family” so more often than not the land is divided/owned by multiple family members who may or may not be available or willing to sign over a title. We’ll see. God willing it all works out.

A bunch of other stuff happened this week, but its Dominican gossip and personal stuff which would be difficult to explain and be boring for you so I’ll nix it. But believe you me, this week was eventful. I have a headache now. Ha… But seriously, I have a headache, so I’m gonna go. Love you all! Take care.

<3 James

I'm sorry Buckeyes

I really don't have much to report/don't feel like blogging today so I'll just sum up some things.
Loryn has been gone this past week and this coming week so I have been flying solo with the preschool class with the exception of Suni and Sujer who rotate helping at the school. No blood, same old same old. Except on Tuesday the car got two flat tires, but since then its been fine (knock on wood.) Also this week Bill (my boss) has been here and he pimped out the motorcycle so I'm excited to get back to driving that. He also got a chance to peek into my English class in the afternoons and said he was pretty excited about what I was doing with the older kids. He asks me to speak at the board meeting in December which I'm pretty excited about :)
Let's see...I am pretty upset when I think about how badly the buckeyes are doing back at home..ugh. But other than that my life is stellar. Sorry it was a pretty timid week so I don't have much to report...to me I'm getting into such a routine that nothing specific stands out to talk about like it did in the beginning. lol.
So hopefully I'll have more to report next week.
God Bless, Jamie.

Ït´s my life....and it´s now or never.

Ït is very difficult to only blog once a week, because so much happens here over the course of a week that in order to get it all in I have to half ass it. So when I get home, you can get details from me :) As an update for you...I have officially decided to sign on for the second half of the school year. I will be coming back January-May in 2012. (For those who don´t know I will be home in December and for about half of January.)
I must say that things have really turned around for me here. I feel a part of Pueblo Nuevo (the village I live in) and I would say I have a live here now. In the beginning I felt very frustrated and alone; the first few weeks were definitely an adapatation period for me. But now! Now I am speaking Spanish-- badly-- enough that I am able to hold conversations. I also spend less and less time by myself because I am developing new relationships everyday. (Here people are incredibly offended if you don´t visit and maintain relationships..this in itself is a job!) One woman, Carmen, scolded me for not coming to visit as often as I was...I was at her house three times that week.
I have three solid Dominican amigos who are all my age, Elba, Freddie and Josie...I play cards with them and hang out at night. Last night was especially fun, but I will save those stories for another day. I am very happy with my housing arrangements, it feels like the right place for me to be. I love my village although I do get the occasional sketch-ball trying to marry me.
Let´s see...the 29th I attended what would be similar to a big cookout at a woman´s house to celebrate Santo Miguel (Saint Michael). There was a lot of food, a lot of prayer. I was glad I was invited to be involved although I was late because I had to teach. Oh yeah! The teaching! I started teaching solo in the Pueblo Nuevo school in the afternoons Tuesday and Thursday. So far it has been lovely...the teacher isn´t even there when I am teaching. I think that reflects poorly on her, but it is not a big deal because I enjoy having my own authority in my classroom. I was super nervous the first day, but it came surprisingly natural to me. Tuesday was the day that I realized whole-heartedly that teaching is what I want to be doing with my life. It truly is the gateway to success in all aspects of life. Although, with the kids here it is disheartening to me that I can only give them a small piece of myself...and that after this year I will be gone. I wish there was more I could do, but I am so looking forward to eventually continuing my own education in the states. I also feel bad that I can only reach certain students (those who attend in the afternoons). Already I have had siblings of my students who attend in the morning ask why they can´t learn English too..heart breaking.
And sorry for getting emotional, but while we are talking about heart breaking issues...I discovered this week that my favorite student in the preschool may have HIV. We want conformation from our American doctor who works with us, but that will have to wait. I hope we are incorrect.
Anyways....I´m gonna get off here..we are going to the river later and I have a lot of stuff to do before then. Adios! Take care.

James