Humanitarian Service Week!

Kids playing on the street next to
Alexa's house (on the left).

Alexa and Jocelyn.

 So much has been going on during the last two weeks!  The girls have been not so busy teaching due to school testing and vacation, but they have found ways to use their time! They attended a semi-pro soccer game and were treated to pictures with the players, kisses on checks,  and invites to the beach after party, which they politely declined!

 The girls also went to a place called "27 Waterfall", which is exactly that, 27 waterfalls connected by narrow rivers surrounded by rock walls.  They had a lot of fun.

A starving dog that the girls
have adopted and feed
regularly.  He just wants
to be loved!

Eggplant growing in the
front yard!

The girls also volunteered at a nursing home for senior citizens.  They helped feed them lunch, then went around holding hands, rubbing arms, and giving them a bit of love.  Alexa is so good at this, she loves elderly people and they can feel that.  They just melt under her touch!  She introduced them to Snapchat and the funny faces she could make on them with it!  Definitely a third world care center though -- not the best conditions she says.

They also volunteered at a local hospital.  They delivered clothes to the various patients and sang songs to the families.  She said that all the women were in one big room, all the men in another, the children in another, and the babies in another.  Not at all like the hospitals in America.  The mothers loved to have their newborns held and one even tried to offer the girls the opportunity to be godparents if they would take the baby to America.  Be glad you live where you do!

BBQ on the beach!

Alexa says this jam is
oh so good!

The kids are always out on the street
wanting the teachers to play with
them.  Alexa has such a big heart!

Fruits, and Dogs, and Beaches, Oh My!

 Alexa has been in the Dominican Republic for 1 month!  Time flies!  She has seen and experienced so much just in these last four weeks.  This is a picture of the house she and all the teachers live in.  There is a gated cement fence around the whole house, with a locked gate.  This keeps out stray dogs, children, and other curious residents.  Most days children will come to the gates and call out for the teachers to come play with them.  At night the starving stray dogs will try to squeeze between the bars to get

to the garbage.  These dogs are bone thin and whine and cry in hunger.  Alexa often takes pity on them and throws them hot dogs.  When the girls want to buy fresh fruit they can walk down the street to the fruit trucks, which are actual trucks filled with all kinds of tropical fruit.  Many mornings a truck will bring a giant bunch of bananas to the street outside their house and the girls can come out and purchase bananas fresh from the tree.

The seller will cut off what they want right there! Alexa says they taste so good -- the fruit is sweeter and more delicious in the DR!  This little girl, one of Alexa's students, is standing outside her home holding her sibling.

This past weekend a group of 8 girls took a taxi, then a guagua (like a large van, crammed full of people) to Cabarete Beach, about an hours journey from home.  She said it was the best beach so far!  They enjoyed a delicious lunch with milkshakes!  The tropical smoothies are always a big hit when it is hot, which is always!  I have looked at the temperature in  Puerto Plata and the low is always a balmy 75 degrees, with the highs ranging from 80 to 100 degrees, with a realfeel far higher!  Hot and humid!

 Last night the townspeople lined the streets with candles to commemorate a 40 year man who was shot and killed.  She said it looked really cool.

This was the view the girls were treated to on their guagua ride home from the beach!

A Little R&R in SOSUA!

                                        

           

The teachers had a four day weekend last week so they decided to do some sightseeing.  Alexa and 3 of her friends made arrangements to spend three nights at a beach front, all-inclusive resort in the town of Sosua.  The resort was Casa Marina Beach Resort and is located on the Northern shore of the Dominican Republic.  They had a great time!  They enjoyed air conditioning, unlimited Pina Colada's (virgin, of course!), white sandy beaches, air conditioning, kayaking, lounging on the pool deck reading a good book, food and snacks whenever they wanted, and did I forget to mention air conditioning???

Alexa especially enjoyed holding and feeding Mary the monkey!  This was one of the highlights!

 When Monday came the vacation was over and they were back to teaching! A couple of the school kids brought Alexa a pretty flower and helped her put it in her hair. She also introduced the kids to Pop Rocks --- it was funny to see their faces and reactions to all the popping going on in their mouths!