Photos and a prayer request

Finally, I have managed to get some photos uploaded. I hope the internet connection holds up long enough for this to work! Sorry for those of you who have had to prod me for pictures.
Here is a photo of Fr. O'Hare, Tom Brock and I when they came to pick me up from the capital.






This morning, after 7am Mass in Banica with the choir, I caught a ride to Sabana Cruz in the truck to attend the 8:30am Mass. Father wanted me to meet the people of that community. The camion starts empty and picks up people from the campos on the way to Sabana Cruz, about 10 minutes away. After Mass, it then drops them off on the way back. is picture of me and the campesinos of Sabana Cruz. Maria Altagracia, the young girl with pink pants made it her job to hold on to me in case I should fall. Guess it was obvious I hadn't ridden on the back of the truck on these Dominican roads before! She was very kind about it though, and we shared some laughs.

Please keep Luisa in your prayers. She is the girl in the bottom left of the photo with the lollipop. We dropped her off, and as she was leaving (with her parents, I think) on a motorcycle, the motorcycle fell sideways and landed on top of her. Father went and grabbed her, and we headed straight to the hospital. She was bleeding quite a lot and was unconscious. She has a broken leg and her head is very swollen, and I think she lost some teeth. But she is going to be fine, I am told. It was so providential that it all happened when the church truck was right there to take her straight to the hospital. Anyway, please say a prayer for her...it was quite a morning!

Banica...Day 3!

After months of preparation, I am finally in Banica! It's so amazing ot finally be here...and I am so grateful to my parents, my friends, all of those who donated, and everyone who encouraged me and helped make this possible. THANK YOU!

Over the past two days, I have managed to get my room all unpacked and organized. On Saturday, Fr. OHare, Tom Brock and two of the parish staff members came to pick me up from Gertrudis' house. I said goodbye to my wonderful host family and after a brief photo shoot (pictures coming soon) we headed for Banica. We arrived in Banica at 5:15pm and I had just enough time to get all of my things into my room and freshen up before 6pm Mass. After Mass, Fr. OHare announced that I had arrived and I was able to meet and greet many of the women who help out with altar-guild type stuff. They are so sweet! There is one woman who every day since then has told me thank you for coming. Sunday morning I joined the choir for their cursory review of the songs before 7am Mass.

One of my first jobs while I am here, will be to lead the rehearsals and help the choir learn new songs, and sing well during the liturgies. This is a telling bit of news for you because...Any of you who know me, know that my musical talent is quite lacking and though I can read music, I would never think of singing in, much less leading a choir in the States. But that's the thing...I can read music. Here, whatever little you have is something that you can give. So starting tomorrow I will be working with the choir. My other project now is just getting familiar with the curriculum that we use to teach the Mass classes and the sacramental prep classes. The formation classes are fairly basic (starting with "Quien es Dios?") and all oral. Everyone is literate at least at some level, but the most effective way of teaching is still orally and with pictures. My Spanish is improving day by day, and right now my big focuses are 1) understanding the way people speak in Banica, where the Spanish is quite a bit different and 2) expanding my vocabulary.

Yesterday evening all of the Americans had dinner together at the parish (pizza, french fries, carrot cake...all homemade). I am really going to enjoy how fresh all the food is here. Everything was picked that day or the day before, and we make almost everything from scratch. It's great news to me since I had just finished reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and was ready to start eating fresh, local foods! There is no other kind here (of course, I can always get my Dorito fix if I really need it).

Right now internet is down at the parish because one of the recent storms has moved the very finicky dish out of kilter with the sattelite. In order to use the internet I have to trek up to the volunteer center...but at least we have access! If I don't update for a while, you know why...but I will try to be good!

Overall, I'm excited to be here, and can't wait to jump in. I'm also looking forward to becoming more accustomed to having bugs around. Right now using the latrine elevates my blood pressure to dangerous levels. The first night there was a huge, nasty black spider and a roach with wings. But I came out unscathed. Other than that, there have been no other scary things. Those of you who have been worried about storms...know that in Banica we are surrounded by huge mountain ranges, which basically protect us from the bad weather. Thanks be to God!

A los que madruga, Dios le ayuda!

I know this blog doesn't look very nice. If anyone wants to tell me how to fix it, feel free!!

So I've been here for five days in Santo Domingo. Not that much has happened, but I wanted to email in case after Josephina comes this weekend we don't have power for a while :-) We had a bunch of rain and wind from Hannah that passed through Tuesday night and yesterday that flooded the streets and all classes were canceled in, I think, the entire country. In Santo Domingo, they don't really get full blown hurricanes, but it did rain a good deal. Everything is fine though, and we already have power and water back, so don't worry!

My first week here has been amazing! I arrived on Sunday and met my host family for my three weeks in Santo Domingo. Dominicans are SO welcoming! Gertrudis (my host mom) is renowned for her cooking, which always makes me feel like I'm home, and she always tells me to eat more or I might get too thin...haha) Fr OHare and the principal of the school in Banica came to visit the day I arrived, which I really appreciated. Thankfully, I have my own room and bathroom, which is such a blessing and I have a lot of privacy for studying, praying etc... The only bad part is that because it's so private and there is only one window which I keep shut, what I intend as a short nap can turn into a two hour one!

The school is walking distance and I walk there and back every day. Gertrudis says it is safe, but people (especially the men) might make comments or try to get you to come over. They are harmless, and you are supposed to just keep walking normally. I'm still working on this! Monday was my first day of school and when I got there, there was a birthday card and some Hershey kisses from Michell, Fr. Murphy and Fr. OHare so I've been enjoying that little piece of home (along with the goldfish and **who can guess this?** fruit snacks which I brought as my comfort food when I'm homesick...haha).

My "profesoras" are two young women who are devout Catholics so I am able to learn a lot from them in conversation class that is going to be helpful when I am actually teaching catechism in Spanish. They both have a lot of personality, and bright, wonderful smiles that always brighten my day! Because of the storm yesterday, there was no class. But I didn't find this out until I had walked to school in the rain. Oh well! That's part of what they mean when they say Dominicans are laid back! Instead, the owner of the school took one of the other students and I out for coffee. Certain people on this email list, I know, would love the coffee here. The owner of the school is Italian and drinks 4 cups of coffee a day!

One of my favorite phrases that I have learned so far is the subject of this email... God helps those who get up early. Of course it is MUCH better in Spanish because it rhymes and here you grow up hearing it in the mornings when you are tired and want to sleep more. So far its been easy to get up because I've been so excited for the day and about learning more Spanish (ok, I'm a dork), but I know that it will get harder so I will try to tell myself this!

Interestingly, people often ask how long I will be here and I tell them that I will be in the capital for three weeks and then go to Banica. Nobody knows where Banica is, so I have to tell them it is in Elias Pina (the region/county) near Haiti. The city dwellers here just can't even imagine going all the way out there...for a year no less, and they all pretty much think I'm crazy.

I'll blog again again when I get to Banica in a two weeks, if not before. If you would like to keep up with this blog, please also send me your email so that I can send you email updates if I can't blog!


Que Dios te bendiga y la Virgen te cuide,

Saman-ta (That's my name here...)