In Kelly's own words....(sorry no pictures yet)....
Hello Everyone!
Well, I made it to the Dominican Republic in one piece. LONG flights but everything was mostly on time and I got in around 11:30 pm, DR time. Made it through customs, changed some money and made it to the parking lot where I met up with David and Henry. Henry is one of the drivers for NPH and David is a 1 year volunteer who is here until August 18th.
Henry dropped me off in front of my new house and David showed me my room, bathroom, etc. I’m trying to attach the photos of my house to this email. We’ll see if it works.
We turned on the lights and cockroaches went EVERYWHERE. Now, I know what you’re thinking… Those giant cockroaches that you saw on Fear Factor… no worries, they are quite small and harmless. They are in my bags, clothes, and just about everywhere. Since they don’t bite, I’m pretty much ok with them. I’m just extra careful about shaking out my clothing before putting it on.
So, I woke up around 6, the sun is BRIGHT here. (I’ve already got a sunburn and I was only outside for maybe a few hours in total). So, I walked over and had breakfast in the “long term” volunteer house. There are 2 houses. One for 1 year volunteers and one for us “summer” volunteers. Had some cornflakes and then Anne took me on a tour of the grounds.
The school is 2 stories, and all the classes face inwards. The windows are typical Latin American windows in that they are just slats that turn horizontal to let air and sun in. So, imagine 160 kids, inside 1 tile building (that echoes) and everyone learning, talking, etc. It was quite noisy but the kids seem to do just fine!
I’ll be eating in Casa Santa Ana. It’s a girls house with 16 2nd through 4th graders. The girls are very sweet and they love attention, so we sat and talked while lunch was being prepared. It was… you guessed it! Rice and beans. Damn, I do love rice and beans. I’ve tried making them at home, and it just doesn’t taste the same.
Speaking of talking… my Spanish is labored to say the least. There is Dominican Spanish that is spoken all over the orphanage. It is a little jumbled, very quickly spoken and they don’t say any “s” sounds. SO, it takes me a while to understand what they are saying. THEN, in my house I am staying with 2 girls from Spain. So, at home I speak Castellano – which is also quite different. Then, I spent the morning with the gardeners who are Hatian and they speak Dominican Spanish but I had trouble understanding them. There are volunteers from all over the world. Holland, Mexico, US, Haiti, and another couple European countries. I thought I was fluent in Spanish, but when it is spoken with all these different dialects, accents, etc…. I sort of am having a hard time.
I’ve been completely overwhelmed since I got here. There is a lot to see, and a lot to become accustomed to. As the newest volunteer, I do feel out of place, and out of sorts. It’s kind of like a first day on a job, where you don’t really know what your job is, you think you understand the language, but you really don’t, and have a lot of down time to think about home, etc. So… Slightly rough transition, but I’m hoping to settle in soon.
I took 2 naps yesterday and then fell asleep (after a movie “Buscando Nemo”) at 11:00. I slept ALL night. I think I’m still tired from my trip AND the heat is draining. I sweat ALL the time. It’s not like at home where you sweat from your armpits… it’s a whole body thing… it’s real attractive! Hee, hee, hee. Ok, power is out. My computer is running low. I’ll try again later.
Ok – Just woke up from another nap. Great way to spend time without power!Oh! I almost forgot! I’ve killed 2 tarantulas so far… Normally, I am a live and let live sort of person. But, call me crazy, poisonous spiders in my bedroom and bathroom must go. Yes, I took a photo.
So, back to the sweating… It’s remarkably hot. I have taken my first cold shower and it wasn’t that bad. It is SO hot that it (almost) feels refreshing. I mean, when you first step in, it takes your breath away, but as soon as you step out you’re sweating again, so it’s not so bad. In fact, I sweat when I am SITTING! Ha, gross. Everyone else seems to have adjusted, so I am sure I will too. I drank about 2 gallons of water today. Good thing it’s not cold water because I chug it so fast I’d get a brain freeze.
Last night I went to the supermarket with Henry, David, the other Kelly (who got here 2 weeks ago) and the nuns. We dropped the nuns off in San Pedro so they could do their mass, then we went to the store. I bought crackers, cereal and milk and some fig newtons. Exciting, yes, I know. OH, and a couple more bottles of water to refill with the water here. My hairspray bottle opened in my luggage and ruined my nalgene bottle… So much for that! So, I bought regular bottled water and will be refilling those.
Today I cleaned the bathroom, and swept all the dead bugs off the floor. It feels a little better in here.
Well, I should sign off for now. You are probably bored from reading this long email anyway. I don’t have a real job yet. Summer session starts on July7th and runs through the 8th of August. So… until then I’ll be planning what to do. I’ll have the 2 – 4 year olds in the morning and the 1st graders in the afternoons with some special events in the evenings at 4pm. So, lots to plan for since there is really nothing in existence yet.
Ok, talk to you all soon!
Kelly
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