Countdown

Six weeks left...actually a couple of days less than six weeks. I don't really know how to process it all yet; I'm not sure what to think or how to feel. When I moved to the DR last fall I thought a year sounded like a rediculously long time, but as I approach the end of it I realize that it's not. Time has truly flown! So much has happened and so much has changed for me. And I've changed, too--probably also in ways I won't discover until I'm back on American soil for a while. I really miss the people at home but other than that I'm not at all looking forward to going back. After transitioning through the initial "excitement stage" of living in a foreign culture, then battling homesickness and loneliness for a while last winter, then finally settling into a routine and finding my niche, I've finally put down roots. Life here is the new normal, and now normal must change once again.

I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster the past month or so. The end of summer is looming so close and, while I'm really looking forward to the end of the busyness, I'm not at all looking forward to the rest of what the end of summer will bring: lots of goodbyes. This is the last outreach for interns Ben, Dan, and Karissa, which means they will be leaving in less than two weeks and the rest of the interns will head home two weeks after that. Then I will have two weeks after that to kind of recuperate and say my own goodbyes to SI staff and Jarabacoa. I know change helps a person grow and is ultimately for the good, but it really sucks right now. It even hurts.

Anyway, enough of the melancholy stuff for now. Here are a few pictures from the last outreach.

The students who worked with Caroline and Daisy at the women's center in El Callejon:

Vito, one of the team leaders, playing with some little boys at our preschool in Mata Gorda:

Art students sharing hope and the love of God through art:

Tule, one of the little boys in El Callejon asked to wash my motorcycle one day when I was in the community filming art. Ryan Holloway, who is leading the micro finance ministry, has also started a kind of financial mentorship ministry to the young boys in El Callejon to teach them how to work and wisely handle money. At first Tule was really shy about asking if he could wash my bike (it was so cute!) but he finally mustered up the courage to do it. Besides the 20 pesos we agreed on, I also gave him a 5-peso tip because he did a really good job!

I'll try to get pictures of our intern excursions up soon. SI gave us a weekend at a resort a couple of weeks ago and just this past weekend some of us went sight-seeing in Santo Domingo.