Kelly in DR - Tuna Flavored Potatoes

Hello and Happy Day to you all!

What a fun filled day. I thought I’d write a quick email to fill you in. It’s Tuesday – rice, beans and tuna flavored potato day. YUM!

During preschool the kids were CRAZY wild and out of control. But, by the end we were playing outside and they were mostly behaving themselves. We had a good time chasing each other around.

Lunch was good, then I came back and took a quick nap before a 1:00 meeting. I love sleeping here. Somehow my body has an internal clock that just won’t quit! I wake up EVERY morning at 5:57. Why? I don’t know. Yes, I usually roll over (carefully since I sleep on the top bunk) and go back to sleep. Then, in the afternoon, if I look at my watch and have time for a nap, I take one. If I have 1 hour, I sleep for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Today I only had 10 minutes before my meeting, so I closed my eyes and woke up at 1:00 on the nose! It’s really weird, and I don’t know why it’s happening, but hey, I’ll take it!

I have been taking care of Orlandi in the afternoons. Orlandi is the daughter of the principal at the school. He is here all day and Orlandi has nothing to do in the afternoons. So, they bring her to my house (usually at the end of one of my naps) and we hang out until it’s time for the workshop and then she comes to my workshop. I think she is about 5. She is adorable and an absolute kick in the pants.

Anyway, I had to talk to Marijo today about buying paint for the mural that lines the inside wall of the orphanage. So, Orlandi and I started walking towards the office (about a 5-7 minute walk from my volunteer house) and we stopped by the swings to swing for a bit. We then continued on our way – stopping to pick flowers, balance on the curb, and do other 5 year old things.

We get to the office to find that Marijo wasn’t there. So, we walk another 5 minutes to her house. I was going to just give her the paint list, but she was going into San Pedro anyway and offered to take me with her and we’d do the paint thing together.

We went to the paint store, Jumbo, got gas, and then went to this DELICIOUS frozen yogurt place. I had no idea that they had frozen yogurt here. But, they do. You pick out 3 fruits (which are cut up and frozen) and then they blend it together into yogurt. Fantastic. Today is Marijo’s birthday so I bought her yogurt for her and we sat and enjoyed a frozen yogurt.

Today is Imry’s last night. So, when I got home I ate some Top Ramen, then went over to the other house to wish him bon voyage. We stacked up a bunch of Oreos and put a candle on top. He was happy.

Then, we all decided to walk over to Marijo’s house and surprise her by singing happy birthday. SO, we got our flashlights, put on our shoes, and 16 of us headed over to Marijo’s house. Along the way, Dominique (Swiss Dentist) found a plant that feels EXACTLY like a spider. So, she would randomly walk up behind someone and touch them with it. She got me first. I screamed like a school girl and was batting away what I thought was a tarantula.

Then, she got Kelly Q. She touched her neck and Kelly bent over, screamed and ran trying to brush off the tarantula she thought was crawling on her neck. SO, all during the long walk to Marijo’s everyone kept screaming out thinking a tarantula was on them. It was awesome.

So, we finally got there, and sang Happy Birthday to Marijo in 7 different languages. She was at Kiran’s house, so he came out and offered everyone an Oreo and we stood around for a minute and chatted then we left.

It was a fun night. I love random stuff like this. If I were at home, I would have been sitting alone, on the internet, or stressing over something, or thinking about something. But here, I love my reality. My reality is that I work, I sleep when I’m tired, I eat when I’m hungry, I stay up as late as I want (because I can always nap the next day), I hang out with the tias, the kids all know my name so if I’m walking and they want to play catch, swing on the swings, or spin a top on the ground, I just stop and do whatever. I love that I have no distractions other than to “be.” If someone is going somewhere and I want to go, I do. If I don’t, then I don’t. If I am asleep, and someone wants to talk to me, they just come to my window and wake me up. Then, we chat. We’re all here together. We are all in the same boat, and we are all taking each day as it comes. I need to remember this when I get home. Be present. Or, as Garth said in Wayne’s World “Live in the now.”

So, right now, I’m sitting on the porch. It’s 10:30pm. There is no power, so it’s dark – with the exception of the porch light that runs on an inverter, and the glow of computer screens. Janvier has his bachata music on. Susana and Christian are speaking in Spanish about something, and Monica and I are checking email. I love this life.

On a funny note, here are some Dominican beliefs. The folks here do believe these are TRUE…

1) If kids play in the water, they will get the flu.
2) If you are losing your hair it’s because a centipede is in your bed eating it
3) If you work too hard you will get sick (this is actually true I think)
4) If you are sick, water with lemon will cure ANYTHING

I am signing off. Love you all, Kelly