The adventures are never ending

I am so in love with helping out at the orphanage. The kids there will always run over to the gate to let me in each one will come say hi and give me a hug and I love being able to sit and talk with them. Well at least I try and talk to them, my spanish still isn't that great. Part of the time I’ll sit with some of the girls that are between 10-20 years old and talk with them, let them play with my hair, and relax a little. One time when I went a girl even came over to paint my nails, it may have been bright green but I left it on for as long as it would last. Other parts of my visit I will have some fun with all the younger kids. I’ll play with them on the swing set, they love getting pushed and going really high. We play going down the slide and the girls love taking photo shoots up on the top of the swing set. Along with the orphanage I help out with an after school program once a week. All the kids will first have to do their homework, which I help with. They always refer to me as teacher and I like it because it makes me feel all grown up:). After they do all their homework they hangout in side in the lounge area or go play games out side. They love futbol (soccer), passing the ball back and forth, 4square a bunch more.

Classes are still going very well for me. I don't really think that my spanish is immensely improving but I think it may be a tiny bit better than when I got here. When I think really hard of what I want to say I can make a little sense but when the Dominicans talk I never understand it. There was one time though I was telling this girl about what this food was and I was trying to say french fries and could only think of the word papas fritas, which is french fries in spanish. With class we've gone on a bunch of little excursions lately to places like the Hospedaje, which is a huge very un-clean out door market, the fire station, and the grocery store. Visiting the Hospedaje made me went to be a vegetarian and I have a hard time eating any meet now. While there we watched a man, whiteout gloves or a hairnet or a clean space, slit a chickens throat and toss him into boiling water to rid him of his feathers. He was then thrown in the grinder, taken out and cut into pieces. The scariest part is thats what could be in the supermarket as well.

This saturday night was the first time I went to church here. My mom came to tell me they were going and I jumped at the chance to ask if I could come. We got there took a seat and church soon started up. It was a little longer than I was used to about an hour and a half but it was so nice to be able to experience church here. I may not of understood what the gospel was about that night but everything besides the language was the same as church in  Boothbay. 

This past weekend on sunday I met up with Laura, our family friend, Evelyn’s, niece. She came by my house and picked me up with her mom and three of her friends. We took a trip down to the town Jarabacoa and had a lot of fun. When we first got there we all went to church, this was my second day in a row going to church which I didn't mind at all. After church we took a little hike down to a waterfall that was right behind the church. This was the first freezing water I have been in here in the DR. It was so much fun playing around in the water in the middle of this beautiful location. We then left and stopped by a resort area where we got to go for a swim in their pools. The water was just as cold there too, but cold water here is always a godsend in the heat here. We were all getting a little hungry and headed to this little place to eat on the street. I had rice, chicken, a fried plantain, and some potato salad, it was all delicious. Our last stop was at a little hangout spot they owned. Im not sure exactly what it was called but they had a big speaker for music and some outdoor stairs up to a little out door loft with a pool table. We hung out there for a little bit playing pool and dominos. After that they brought me home. I had such a great day. Laura and her mom were very loving and extremely friendly, her friends were extremely friendly as well. I had been talking to Laura ever since I had gotten to the DR and it was so great to finally meet her! I can’t wait for the next time I get to see her. 

For the past week it has rained everyday sometime after 3. No just a little drizzle but the loudest thunder storms I've ever heard. Theres always crazy amounts of crashing thunder that are so loud it makes me jump a little. There was recently a hurricane in Puerto Rico so we are getting a little of the after math from that storm. I don’t mind it though I've always loved thunder storms and they do make it a tiny bit cooler at night. 

Next weekend we will be taking a trip down to Santo Domingo for the weekend and exploring everything down there and it will be considered our culture class of the week.