Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Home Again
It's Sunday evening, the 23rd of August. I'm back home, safe and sound, in my family's house in the States, still reeling from my full and crazy weekend. It all seems so surreal...
I'm still exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally. It's so strange to be home where everything is so familiar yet so changed. Or maybe it's just me who has changed. I look out my window and can't get over how beautiful my Indiana countryside is, but I find myself still looking for those Dominican mountains. I've had such a fun day with my family and friends here, but I can't help desperately missing my SI family and friends. I'm torn and disoriented, happy and sad, surrounded and lonely, comfortable and uncomfortable, wanting to share with someone but perhaps not yet. And just exhausted. I need sleep. Ah, re-entry just sucks. Things will get better for sure, after I've had a lot more sleep and maybe a good cry.
Tomorrow morning I'll be starting to get into the old routine again and I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to it. I've missed the seasonal rhythms of the farm and home and am actually looking forward to tractors, dairy cows, and phyiscal labor again. I'll also be starting my junior year of college and aside from the fact that I'm still so tired, I feel mentally ready to hit the books.
It's going to be a full fall with work, school, a trip to Montana with Adrienne, hopefully a trip to Chicago with some of the summer interns, Lisa and Katrina going to several Civil War re-enactments, Katrina auditioning for a drama that rehearses in Kalamazoo, Mom and Dad's schedules, and whatever else pops up (something ALWAYS pops up). But I'm looking forward to it and know I will cherish these last several months with all of us at home. It will probably be the last time we will all live together.
I'll work on posting my final SI project (a short promotional video) sometime in the next couple of days.
I'm still exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally. It's so strange to be home where everything is so familiar yet so changed. Or maybe it's just me who has changed. I look out my window and can't get over how beautiful my Indiana countryside is, but I find myself still looking for those Dominican mountains. I've had such a fun day with my family and friends here, but I can't help desperately missing my SI family and friends. I'm torn and disoriented, happy and sad, surrounded and lonely, comfortable and uncomfortable, wanting to share with someone but perhaps not yet. And just exhausted. I need sleep. Ah, re-entry just sucks. Things will get better for sure, after I've had a lot more sleep and maybe a good cry.
Tomorrow morning I'll be starting to get into the old routine again and I have to admit I'm kind of looking forward to it. I've missed the seasonal rhythms of the farm and home and am actually looking forward to tractors, dairy cows, and phyiscal labor again. I'll also be starting my junior year of college and aside from the fact that I'm still so tired, I feel mentally ready to hit the books.
It's going to be a full fall with work, school, a trip to Montana with Adrienne, hopefully a trip to Chicago with some of the summer interns, Lisa and Katrina going to several Civil War re-enactments, Katrina auditioning for a drama that rehearses in Kalamazoo, Mom and Dad's schedules, and whatever else pops up (something ALWAYS pops up). But I'm looking forward to it and know I will cherish these last several months with all of us at home. It will probably be the last time we will all live together.
I'll work on posting my final SI project (a short promotional video) sometime in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
4...3...2...1...
I'm in the middle of my final week. Just four more days. *sigh* I get choked up every time I think about it. I feel like there are so many things I need to do before I leave but my brain is flying in a million directions and I'm having a hard time focusing on anything or thinking things through. I know there will be things I'll forget to do...
These past two-three weeks have been very hard for me. I knew all summer that this end-of-year stuff was coming and thought I was processing things ok and that I was mentally and emotionally prepared...until it actually arrived. The day the rest of the interns left was my first emotional jolt and the hardest day of my entire year here so far. I cried like a baby and eventually couldn't stand to be on the base; everything was so creepy and empty and quiet and sad. In the afternoon I went to town looking for a diversion and ended up going shopping, and then later that evening Jess and Katie were so sweet and invited me to go watch their volleyball tournament. I was so thankful for that!
Then the next day was the day we single SI girls left for our beach stay. Jess, Katie, myself, Arlene, Amy Green, and Amy Babb had reserved two little beach condos for a whole week and I can't say enough about how wonderful it was! There couldn't possibly be a better way to end the summer! The place we stayed at was called The Nanny (below are a few pictures) and it was such a quiet and peaceful place to unwind and refocus. We spent our 5 1/2 days there eating, sleeping, reading, journaling, walking the beach, watching the kite surfers (Cabarete is a famous beach for kite surfing), and just enjoying each others' company. It was the perfect environment for me to sit and process the experiences of my past year and to just pray and think.
In my re-entry processing and thinking through the past year I was reminded of some blog posts written by other North American staff members that stood out to me when I initially read them. They gave me a lot of food for thought and I feel like they expressed some of my own thoughts and experiences so well that I'm just going to quote them. So, the following excerpts in quotation marks are not my words, but I echo their sentiments.
These past two-three weeks have been very hard for me. I knew all summer that this end-of-year stuff was coming and thought I was processing things ok and that I was mentally and emotionally prepared...until it actually arrived. The day the rest of the interns left was my first emotional jolt and the hardest day of my entire year here so far. I cried like a baby and eventually couldn't stand to be on the base; everything was so creepy and empty and quiet and sad. In the afternoon I went to town looking for a diversion and ended up going shopping, and then later that evening Jess and Katie were so sweet and invited me to go watch their volleyball tournament. I was so thankful for that!
Then the next day was the day we single SI girls left for our beach stay. Jess, Katie, myself, Arlene, Amy Green, and Amy Babb had reserved two little beach condos for a whole week and I can't say enough about how wonderful it was! There couldn't possibly be a better way to end the summer! The place we stayed at was called The Nanny (below are a few pictures) and it was such a quiet and peaceful place to unwind and refocus. We spent our 5 1/2 days there eating, sleeping, reading, journaling, walking the beach, watching the kite surfers (Cabarete is a famous beach for kite surfing), and just enjoying each others' company. It was the perfect environment for me to sit and process the experiences of my past year and to just pray and think.
In my re-entry processing and thinking through the past year I was reminded of some blog posts written by other North American staff members that stood out to me when I initially read them. They gave me a lot of food for thought and I feel like they expressed some of my own thoughts and experiences so well that I'm just going to quote them. So, the following excerpts in quotation marks are not my words, but I echo their sentiments.
One experience of the past year that has definitely opened my eyes has been, in the words of Ryan and Caroline Holloway, what it is to: "...be a minority (or more maybe accurately...an immigrant). It's one of those things I've always thought about as probably being tough...and it really is. Either people really are staring at me, or I'm just paranoid that they are because I know I stick out. It sort of feels like my privacy is being invaded while I'm in public because I don't blend in. I was thinking...is part of the reason that races in the US often settle together because they don't want to feel like that all the time?
...be assumed to be rich because I'm white. First, White and American are the same thing, and second American means rich. The funny thing is that we're probably average middle class here. Now they don't have a big middle class, but that's where we'd fit. My thought is this...It feels uncomfortable and even a little hurtful when people assume we're rich, I bet it's way worse to be assumed to be poor."
And this post by my amazing friend Amy Babb (we get to fly out together, which is SO NICE) that she posted six weeks before we were to fly home actually made me cry. I have nothing to add to it; although it's from her own experiences, I understand it and it speaks my heart as well:
"It's a rainy Saturday morning and I am sitting on my bed in my robe looking out the open door to a moss and lichen-covered tree filled with limes. I ache sometimes when I catch these glimpses of exquisite beauty, knowing that soon and very soon I will not have the privilege of seeing this same view again.
I am leaving 6 weeks from today. Writing it gives me a suffocated feeling.
I am going back to America, LAND that I LOOOOVE (from the mountains, to the valleys...) and I often ask my God
WHY?
because I basically have the most awesome life ever. I get to look out my bedroom door at lime trees; listen to children laughing while the rooster crows atop his perch on Ysidro's lawn mower. I get to roll my rumbly old jeep down the ragged road of El Callejon, crammed with 6 or 7 people, a lunch box and some water jugs while kids run toward us calling out my name, "EMI!!!" I get to spend hours mixing paint colors, encouraging muralists to keep on painting amid the heat and bugs and rain and dirt. I get to take profound truths leaving in Spanish from Francisco's lips, translate them and send them on to English hearing ears, watching eyes widen or close depending on how the words are received in the hearts.
Martina squeezes me tight in the mornings on my way to the breakfast line. Natan rolls his eyes and shakes his head, not quite ready to greet the day with cheer (or my smile).
I have an incredible life.
Only 6 more weeks of Chinola juice. 6 more weeks of Sancocho. 6 more weeks of dodging motorcycles, of passionate worship, of kisses on the cheeks, of brightly color-coordinated women and waxed and preened men, of copy shops being out of paper and grocery stores being out of bread, of ice cream shops being out of ice cream and restaurants being out of cheese.
6 more weeks of junky old pick-ups loudly selling mattresses, platanos (a do' peso') and mother-in-laws.
And 6 more weeks of my beautiful friends.
I am leaving 6 weeks from today. Writing it gives me a suffocated feeling.
I am going back to America, LAND that I LOOOOVE (from the mountains, to the valleys...) and I often ask my God
WHY?
because I basically have the most awesome life ever. I get to look out my bedroom door at lime trees; listen to children laughing while the rooster crows atop his perch on Ysidro's lawn mower. I get to roll my rumbly old jeep down the ragged road of El Callejon, crammed with 6 or 7 people, a lunch box and some water jugs while kids run toward us calling out my name, "EMI!!!" I get to spend hours mixing paint colors, encouraging muralists to keep on painting amid the heat and bugs and rain and dirt. I get to take profound truths leaving in Spanish from Francisco's lips, translate them and send them on to English hearing ears, watching eyes widen or close depending on how the words are received in the hearts.
Martina squeezes me tight in the mornings on my way to the breakfast line. Natan rolls his eyes and shakes his head, not quite ready to greet the day with cheer (or my smile).
I have an incredible life.
Only 6 more weeks of Chinola juice. 6 more weeks of Sancocho. 6 more weeks of dodging motorcycles, of passionate worship, of kisses on the cheeks, of brightly color-coordinated women and waxed and preened men, of copy shops being out of paper and grocery stores being out of bread, of ice cream shops being out of ice cream and restaurants being out of cheese.
6 more weeks of junky old pick-ups loudly selling mattresses, platanos (a do' peso') and mother-in-laws.
And 6 more weeks of my beautiful friends.
O Jarabacoa, what am I going to do without you? I have loved you and I have hated you and I have laughed at you and also with you. I have cried with you, turned my back on you, invited you back in and spilled my heart onto you. I will never be the same."
Thank you, God, for such an incredible year of growth and blessings, of challenging experiences, of wonderful people who touched my heart, of laughter and tears, of learning to love life and learning to live to love for Your name's sake. I, too, will never be the same.
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
-Ephesians 3:14-21
Monday, August 3, 2009
a REALLY ugly spider
I saw my first tarantula this morning lying by the side of the road when Sarah and I were taking our early morning run. It was dead (thank the Lord) and being eaten by ants, but still disgustingly fascinating. Tarantulas are not common up here in Jarabacoa because of the altitude; it get's too cold in the winter. But in other parts of the island there's an abundance (ick!).
Here's a belly-up shot:
I flipped it with a stick (wouldn't touch it if you paid me!) to give it a more life-like pose lol. It was surprisingly heavy! Gross!
Here's a belly-up shot:
I flipped it with a stick (wouldn't touch it if you paid me!) to give it a more life-like pose lol. It was surprisingly heavy! Gross!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Resort Photos
Well, as promised, here are the photos!
This was definitely my favorite pool. It was joined to a bar at one end (the gazebo-looking thing at the far end) so we could sit IN the water on concrete barstools while we sipped pina coladas and coco locos! So fun!
This woman was making beautiful glass figurines outside of the buffet restaurant:
SI here in the D.R. is so amazing; they give the interns a weekend getaway trip to a beach resort between teams. So Ben, Karissa, Dan, Jack, Laura, Maryann, Alicia, Josh, Sarah and myself, as well as our team directors Josh and Vicki Mathews, Jeff, and Bobbie spent June 27-29 in Puerto Plata at a resort called Hacienda Lifestyle. It was SO WONDERFUL and RELAXING! It was such a beautiful place with a great atmosphere. We did nothing but swim, walk the beach, eat, read, sleep, and just chat and hang out. Lol, two nights was barely enough; for me, the perfect vacation is complete when I'm bored with sitting around and doing nothing and I feel de-stressed and relaxed to my very core. The more stressed I was before, the longer it takes me to unwind and rejuvenate myself. But we did have a FANTASTIC time!
Laura, Sarah, Jeff, Alicia, Vicki, and Josh M. enjoying the sun and sea breeze:
Nearest to farthest: Karissa, Laura, Jack, Alicia, Bobbie, and Sarah baking in the sun:
One of the many gorgeous views of the ocean from the resort:
This was definitely my favorite pool. It was joined to a bar at one end (the gazebo-looking thing at the far end) so we could sit IN the water on concrete barstools while we sipped pina coladas and coco locos! So fun!
Left to right: Laura, Bobbie, Jeff, Jack, me, and Maryann.
Same pool, different angle. Jeff, Karissa, Bobbie, and Laura.
Sarah playing intern Josh's guitar above the beach:
Another view of the pools and bar:
Maryann, Karissa, Laura, Bobbie, and me at the buffet restaurant. The food there was AMAZING, let me tell you!
They put some of the fruit and bread scraps outside in this feeder to feed the birds:
Another view of the beach in the evening:
A truly amazing sunset!
This woman was making beautiful glass figurines outside of the buffet restaurant:
One of my favorite things we did was have a time of praise and worship on the beach late Sunday night. The ocean at night is so beautiful! The beach was technically closed (so there was no one else there--yay!) but no one came and yelled at us, so I guess it was ok lol.
These pictures are terrible, but I don't have anything better.
Goofy pictures in front of a fountain. Lol, good times, good times!
Monday, July 13, 2009
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.
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 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.
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