Dia de Duarte

Today was a national holiday here in the Dominican Republic. One of the "founding fathers" of the country is honored today and so there was no school. We decided to go to a batey and do some activities with kids there in the morning. We headed out to Batey Isabel and hoped there would be kids. We hadn't set anything up since I was unable to get ahold of Dr. Garcia to get a contact's phone number. We pulled up and there were lots of kids hanging out and several practicing baseball. We quickly had several children interested in what was going on. I got off the bus and said hello to Dulce who is one of the ladies that I've met through Dr. Garcia.

They opened the church for us and we started our activities. One group did recreation outside. They had cones and a basketball and did "bowling". The kids loved this. Typically Dominicans are not good at standing in lines, but the kids were staying in line in anticipation of their next bowl! They also did an obstacle course which was funny. They had to spin on the bat, run through cones, balance a ball in a cup on a paddle, and then run back. Of course they cheated multiple times as is the norm in this country!

The other two groups were inside the church. One was bracelet making and the other reading. Bracelet making was a hit. They don't get much access to these types of things so they were making 2-3 bracelets each as fast as they could! Reading went over well too. They read to the kids in small groups and then let the kids read the book themselves. I sat down with a little girl probably about 7-8 years old and she read a Dora book to me. She read very quietly but did a great job! I also read Where the Wild Thing Are to 3-4 other little girls that came in late and had nothing to do.

I recognized several people from being there multiple times with Dr. Garcia. To my surprise, there was a little 2 month old boy that I know from my favorite batey, Jaramillo. He was there with his cousin and I asked her why he was there. Apparently she lives in Isabel and was just watching after him. She is probably 8-9 years old! I took him from her so that she could go make a bracelet, such a sacrifice I know! :) He was cooing and laughing at one point, he is so cute!

We headed back and as we were leaving they were asking when we were going to return and if we were coming back tomorrow. These kids are so well behaved and just love the attention and extra goodies!

This afternoon was a beach day for the crew. We made our fun day today instead of Friday since there was no school. It was nice hanging out on the beach for a couple of hours. I spoke with Dorothy who is a traveler of 20-30 years and had a nice conversation with her.

I spent some time with the kids after the beach. They painted the basketball court today but ran out of paint so only 3/4 of it is painted and it is 3 different colors, each 1/4 different. Hopefully they'll finish the rest tomorrow. I'll have to get a picture of it to show on here.

I played with Luis Alberto in the park area. He wanted to show me how he could climb across the monkey bars by himself. Keep in mind these monkey bars are above 7 feet off the ground! Just this weekend he was using Mike to help him across so he has made some progress. He went back and forth across them probably 15-20 times! He would try new hand placements to impress me and even tried going backwards, but needed a little help from me. I went across twice upon his request and thought my hand were going to split open! I don't know how they do it! I guess he weighs a little less than me! One of my favorite parts was when I told him to count as he went across, but in English. He did. One, two, three, four, seven, eight, nine, ten! Pretty good for a 5 year old Spanish speaker, huh!?

Monday nights means movie night. We watched Enchanted with the kids and I sat with Luis Alberto in my lap. In the beginning of the movie it is a cartoon and the prince and princess go riding off into the sunset. It looks like it could be the end but the scene then changes. I whispered to him, it is over (it had only been maybe 5 minutes) and he asked, "is there another movie"? Oh the innocence of young kids! I love it!

Tomorrow the volunteers are going to be teaching at the English Institute but I'll be staying back here working on orientation for our health clinics in the spring! I have a link to the awesome video that Bryson made from our first week of health clinics. Here is the YouTube video link. Enjoy! I think it is great, better than what pictures could have told. See how many times you can find me! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/orphanageoutreach?m=Mg==&p=Ng==

I'll post up some pictures from today at some point tomorrow. Off to bed for now!