I'll Believe And Pretend

Noviembre 5, 2013. 

Woa, wait.  A good English class in my site?? Yup! 5 people, young adults. And it was raining!! And they still came! All different (again) but I felt like it went well!

Sarah (another volunteer) came to visit also :) after class we were hanging out watching Matilda (oh yea) and the main guy from my English classes in Juananito called the DAY AFTER the class. He told me he already called a guy from a university and it was confirmed that they would make certificates and would just need my signature to make them official (boy do I feel fancy). Wow! So damn fast!

Then: MAYELIN WAS HERE!! She came to my house with Yasmin and as Yasmin stood in my door way, I saw little feet behind her. Once I saw her face, I screamed and ran and spin-hugged her up in the air. It was so good to see her! On our way up to visit my Doña and her family for lunch, I stopped and saw her mother too. They are doing well way far away which I'm glad for. The pain here was just too much.

The visit arriba was wonderful. We hung out, talked, and ate "rat poop" which is what they called cocoa pebbles hahaha. Sang. Played with a spinning toy that lights up. Etc. After we ate we went to the...

River! I bought us all soda and galleticas to eat there :) We hadn't been there in a while so it was awesome. I got a little chilly towards the end and soaked it in while happily shivering.

Then Saturday night, I introduced Sarah to the Hunger Games. Muahahaha. And I managed not to cry at the two worst parts! We headed to bed early so we could leave early for...

Monte Plata!! To visit our Doñas (!!) just for the day. But it was pouring when we woke at 5am... And with the about three hour trip one way, it wasn't worth leaving late. So we're going to try again when Sarah is visiting Cory later this month. *crosses fingers*

So Sunday I arose around 8 and while Sarah continued to sleep I listened to music and played Candy Crush haha. And discovered something I don't quite understand. I was nearly in tears every time a Christmas song came on when my music was on shuffle. Why?? I'll be home for Christmas! Oh who knows, I'm a sappy mess all the time. I should be used to that.

Then Tuesday rolls around and I headed to the Duarte to see Sarah off. Upon returning, I had to fetch two 5-gallon buckets of water from the river to make a third time doing so. I haven't had to do this before, and I will admit, I didn't like it much. It was heavy. And I was an embarrassment to all Dominicans that can carry it on their head with a towel and not spill a drop. They're so good at life. I spilled quite a bit and had it on my shoulder... Oh well. A good volunteer friend reminded me that it's a pretty awesome work out :D about 40lbs each trip! I just might start slumping to the right a bit if I have to keep this up... But! They're working on fixing the problem. They were digging and putting in a pipe and for about 5 minutes, the water was trickling in my faucet! But went away again quite quickly... 

I then went to school to get my botelón of drinking water. And ten minutes later, left crying. It was just a reminder of why I left in the first place. But the guilt for seeing all that needs to be done for these kids was overwhelming. And seeing my director give up the way she did, just...sad.  I'm going to go back tomorrow morning to talk to her though. Maybe I can just go in one day a week or something.

I then FaceTimed my dad who put everything into perspective and made me feel better like he always does. And my older brother sent me a message that made me speechless and remember to step back, be patient, and know that in time, things will come around.

After some ramen noodles, I headed to El Batey to work with my munchkins. We played bingo using 1 peso coins and they won gum that I bought for them. Not many showed up though so when I finished early, I headed out to visit the home of a boy who misses a lot of school. I had already visited his mother but I thought I'd try again. I stressed the importance of his education and how she needs to send him to school everyday. That I'm here to help him in any way I can, but I can't do anything if he's not there. I think she understood but following through will be another thing.

An older woman who lives in my neighborhood was at the house as well. She lives in a one-room wooden home with no electricity or running water. I know she has some problems mentally but we've had some good conversations before. But when I saw her, she was a mess. Upset about the community, the terrible people and the problems she has with her family. She's looking to move soon. But she was telling a story to the mother of my student and it took me a second to realize it was about me. She had been having a horrible day, no money, no food, and wasn't feeling well. I was walking by with my handful of milk cartons I had gotten from the school (whenever there's extras from breakfast and I visit, Natividad gives me some). I handed her two and she said she "saw the heavens open up" and The Lord was telling her it would all be alright. She was able to use the milk to make supper just a little bit better and she was happy the rest of the day.  I know she isn't all there, and will continue to ask me for money or milk but just a simple thing like a milk I had gotten for free made all the difference in her day. And I didn't even realize it at the time.

So that's my lesson of the day. Things are slow moving and I'm unsure if what I'm doing is enough. But Lordy if a carton of milk can do that for her? I can keep moving forward believing that though I may not always see the fruits if my labor, they're there. And even if they're not, I'm gonna pretend they are until my service is up ;)

Buenas noches.