Jan 2007

Okay...so if you couldn't tell by the lack of postings- classes have started!! They definitely weren't not kidding about the intensity of the classes down here! We have to read a ton and I have already written like 5 papers. I am in the 2nd week of the first of 3 three week sessions. Hopefully that makes sense. Each of the 3 week sessions we have a professor from Creighton fly down to teach a class and this time we are taking a social work class called 'Children and Poverty'- I have a whole new respect for you April! It is really interesting but a lot of work!
But don't worry...its not all work! This past weekend a group of us went down to Sousa and spent the night in a really nice hotel and then spent all day saturday at the most beautiful beach!! I will have to post pictures soon! So it was a lot of fun and it was a good chance for all of us to get to know everyone better. I really like everyone down here, it is a good mix of people and I think it it going to make this semester that much better.
Oh and I did finally decide on a service site, man its been awhile since I've written. I've decided on Caritas which is a feeding program for poor children. I really like it. The kids are wonderful and they get so happy when we come. It is run by 3 nuns from Spain who are adorable. So we serve the children lunch (which sadly may be their only meal for the day) and then we just spend time playing with them. The are all soo cute! So I go there with my friends Seamus and Marie which is a good group. We try and make it over there after classes at least three times a week. So it was a tough decision of where to go and I was debating between there and Hospicio but I knew that deep down I wanted to work with kids. So it has proven to be good choice thus far.
So all in all, things have been busy but really good! I am continually amazed at the beauty of this country and the welcoming spirit of the people!
Next weekend we are off to Santo Domingo! I'm excited for that, I just have to get through this week of studies!
Love and miss you all! God Bless!
Caitlin

Today was so much fun!!! We went on a scavenger hunt all around the city of Santiago. They divided us up into 5 groups and it was a race. We had to take gua-guas and taxis and walk, even in the pouring rain. We bartered for pinas (pinapples) and had to barter for clothing and see who brought back the ugliest piece of clothing (My group won by the way with a pair of leopard pants! they were sick!) and we had to buy icecream and we were led to our Spanish teacher's house- Edwin- he's awesome! Its so cool here how you really get to know your professors and how you hang out with them. Then we all met back up for dinner, the whole scavenger hunt took about 5 hrs. We got to use our Spanish a lot and really learn our way around. While we were waiting for the other groups we went to a casino (you only have to be 18 here) my friends Kate and Steve actually won some good money! Dinner took about 3 hours, they are very leisure here unlike the chop-chop attitude in the states. The group is so much fun and we are all getting to know eachother better by the day! Tonight we are all going dancing thanks to the great marange y salsa dance lessons we had last night! And tomorrow we are going to la playa (the beach) so that should be a good time. The weather is gorgeous except for the occasional rainstorm. Things are great here! Hope you are all doing well!!
God Bless.
Caitlin

So today I would say was the first day that I really got a feel for life here. As part of one of the classes that I am taking there is a service component. We have the opportunity to pick from one of five sights from which we want to volunteer on a weekly basis. Today we got to go and visit 3 of them. But in order to get there you have to take the "gua-guas" which are ridiculous! It costs 13 pesos to ride them and if you don't have the exact change theres a good chance you will just pay with what you have even if its 20 pesos or whatever. But anyways they are PACKED!!! There is no such thing as personal space on the gua-guas, it is just like a mini van only you can eaisly cram in upward towards 20-25 people. The door remains open the entire ride and the workers hang off the side, only haning on the roof, looking for potential riders and then they just simply hit the roof twice and the driver pulls over no matter where and then they attempt to cram yet another passenger. It is crazy! But it is so much fun at the same time!!! And a great opportunity to use the language. The city is a bit intimidating and it is going to take a lot of practice being able to be independent and get around in it. So anyways, we arrived at the first sight "Hospicio San Vincente de Paul" which is a hospice for the old and infirmed. A wonderful cute little "moneja" or nun took us around and introduced us to the guests. They were so happy to see us and loved to talk to us. It was a wonderful place, but people who go there obviously go there to die and that would be very hard for me if I made connections with them and lost them. Then we went to "Hogar Luby" which was one of the most profound experiences of my entire life. It is an orphange but it is for mentaly and physically disabled children. Some of the children have to be tied down to there cribs so they don't hurt themselves. And some of them are so mal-nurished that you can practically see their bones through their skin. It is really hard to even try to explain the experience with words. The volunteers there are incredible people. Most of the kids were just simply abandoned and if it weren't for Hogar Luby they would have no place to go. It was really hard to experience this first hand and you just feel so helpless, but just simply being there and offering a loving touch means so much. So that was def. an amazing site but I don't know if I will pick that one, you have to be a really really strong person to handle it. Then finally we went to "Sala de Tarea" which is a program to help school aged kids fill in the gaps in their educations. It is a great program that helps them on their school work and even teach them english a bit and just be there and build relationships with the children. So we have 2 more sites to visit these next few days and then we pick where we want to go by Sunday and then we will go there on a weekly basis. So everything is quite the experience and it is hard to take it all in at times but through patience and prayer I have no doubt that God will reveal to me where I am meant to be. Wow long entry! If you made it all the way through- muy bien! Well thats it for now. God Bless.
Caitlin

Four cities. Three flights. Crazy airports. Heavy luggage. I made it! It was quite the day yesterday trying to make all my connections and finding my way through new airports. It was stressful at times- especially the Miami airport! But I made it. We arrived in Santiago late last night to the wonderful humidity! We awoke this morning to pouring rain, but everything here at the center is beautiful! The trees are gorgeous and the greens and colors are so vibrant. I'm living with three other girls in a room with bunk beds and desks and we have our own bathroom which is nice. We sleep under misquito nets and the entire center is open to the outside with no screens or anything in the windows. All of the people are so nice, especially the staff at the center. We went to a spanish mass in the chapel this morning and that was really awesome, at least I can kind of follow the spanish since I'm familiar with the mass. So everyting is great thus far! Well that's all for now. Hope everything is going well for you all! love and miss you! God Bless.
Caitlin

As I am in the Dominican Republic for the semester, I am going to keep this website for you all to follow me on my journey. I hope to post often and let you know how things are going with me. There will be pictures also posted to go along with the experiences. You can subscribe to the webpage and then leave comments and messages. Please pray for me! God Bless.