A year of adventures in Banica...

Mountain Excursion and Banica Business

2009-12-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks I was able to make an overnight trip to some of the more remote campos of Pedro Santana. I brought a traveling Christmas catechesis kit which consistent of laminated images of the Annunciation and the Birth of Jesus, various images of Mary with Child and a kids song "Yo Tengo Un Amigo Que Me Ama." Here I am leading a game before we settle down for the class. The kids are absolutely beautiful.
We slept in the chapel in Sierrecita and walked each day to the various visits. One of the main concerns up in the mountains is destruction of the environment. The people need to make a living, but there is no flat ground. They end up burning hillsides so they can plant crops for a few years until all of the top soil runs off and they must burn more hillside. Its not a sustainable way of life, but the government is not doing anything to help them. They only have schools because our bishop has built them in each village. Hopefully some new iniciatives can take hold like fruit orchards or peanut crops which are less taxing on the soil.
Please pray for two of my students from Los Memisos who will be baptized on December 14th as well as several from Higuerito who will hopefully be receiving their first Communions soon. This weekend they will be making their first Confession!

The past month in pictures.

2009-11-04T04:43:00.000-08:00

Me with my students in Higuerito. Working with the Teresitas on an art project. The Teresitas with their finished products - Jesus actually moves over the water! A very glorious Wednesday included Potato Cheese Soup for dinner. A "Rights of the Child" mural in Elias Pina. At the market in Elias Pina. A rainbow over Banica's school. The volunteers (minus Brendan) at the waterfall in El Morro. The Rio Artibonito at an overlook east of Pedro Santana on the way home.

Te doy lo que tengo

2009-10-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

¹Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. ²And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.³When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.⁴But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!" ⁵And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.⁶But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!" ⁷And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

Acts 3

This Scripture explains for me what being a missionary means. We do not have silver and gold, but we have much more that that; we possess Jesus Christ who has given himself completely to us. We cannot make hunger, illness, ignorance here disappear. But we can bring a spiritual richness that comes with knowing Jesus Christ. Lord, by our hands, in your name, may their hearts be strengthened!

Las Fiestas Patronales

2009-10-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Every year thousands of pilgrims descend on Banica from all over the country: Santo Domingo, San Juan de la Maguana, Comendador, Elias Pina, Pedro Santana...all over! They come to pay their respects to St Francis of Assisi on his feast day, October 4th. "Patronales" time begins on the 24th of May with the feast of Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy). This is also when they begin the novena to St Francis. We have a procession from the church with the statue of St Francis up to the cave (about a mile and a half away). The people of Pedro Santana process with St Joseph, their patron saint, to meet us and we walk the last stretch together. You can see above a snapshot of the procession with both saints, the priests and people of both parishes. The school in Los Memisos closed the on the 25th for patronales (very early!) and by the 30th all the schools were out for the fiestas. Each night the 3rd order Franciscans offer prayers and the novena in honor of St Francis as the "fiesta" organizers set up a huge stage in the middle of the street with a truck load of speakers. From the 2nd to the 4th we had live bands - all for free. Joe Veras, specializing in Bachata was on Friday. On Saturday we had Omega, which is a very popular merengue band here. The streets were PACKED so much that we could barely move! Last night we had Felix D'Olio, my personal favorite, who sings mostly bachata but also some baladas. We took advantage of the fiesta to have a little fun ourselves. Maureen, Jimena and I got all dressed up and we had a great time!
On the day of the 4th the pilgrims (and our two most enthusiastic missionaries, Isaac and Brendan) hike up for Mass at the cave at 7am (1.5 miles plus a climb up) with the bishop of our diocese here. Pilgrims go up to the cave and often spread ashes and dirt on their faces or hands. You'll see a picture of that above as well. After the Mass at the cave there is a final Mass with the bishop again at the church followed by another short procession with St Francis.
Today everything is on its way back to normal, but first there was the counting to get out of the way. The pilgrims donated in total over $4000 to our parish during these days. That's a lot of coins!
In short, Patronales is a blessing and a cross. Days and nights of continual activity with little rest and little sleep. Loud music playing to all hours in the streets and crowds and crowds at church and at the concerts. Jimena and I live on the same street where they set up the stage and the truck of speakers. Motorcycles and cars racing dangerously down our little town's overloaded streets is a big safety problem. There is also the disappointment and sometimes anger in seeing a misguided devotion to St Francis that places him above God, and a lack of respect for the Eucharist. the Mass and the sanctuary. But there is real faith here and many of the pilgrims and baniqueros alike are richly blessed through St Francis' intercession. In fact, I trust that St Francis, in his humility, will truly lead those faithful pilgrims to Christ rather than take the inordinate devotion they try to give him for himself. It's a great big party, everyone has family in town and there is much joy. I myself enjoyed the music and festivities and admiring what faith I did witness. Music, piety and partying mix here in a way we never experience in the States.

St Francis, pray for us!

Fall Happenings

2009-09-21T12:52:00.001-07:00

We've hardly stopped moving and doing in the past three weeks (except of course, for the time we set aside each morning for prayer). The sports league, organized and led by Mairin and Brendan, started a couple weeks ago with a kickball game. This week the girls did basketball and the boys did soccer. Since sports are a great way to teach virtue, we are trying to use the league to instill good sportsmanship. We've had a few fights and some pouting and stomping of feet among the boys, and the girls seem to be ultra-competitive, so I guess we have our work cut out for us!
After sports league on Wednesdays and Fridays we have a hour tutoring session for about 10 kids who are students at our parish colegio (elementary - 8th grade) school who need extra help in reading and writing. Most of these students came from the public school and were not able to learn to read and write well there. Now in the colegio, they have some catch-up work to do and we are trying to help as best we can. We've divided the group of kids by skill level and topics/skills they need to work on and are usually able to work with them in a 2-1 kid-missionary ratio :-)
Teresitas has more than 20 girls this year ages 7-13. We meet on Saturdays at 10am. We start with a game, then study the Bible (this week we learned how to look up verses in the Bible) and then Jimena teaches them a song (and often a dance) that we all learn. It's a lot of fun and the girls really enjoy it. It is supposed to be an evangelization tool and the girls really love it. But these girls really need prayers because many of them do not go to Mass. One of the most important rules is that in order to be a member, one must go to Mass weekly. Many of the girls have made this commitment and fulfill it, but others are struggling. Please pray for them so that they can build good habits young!
This week there was a bit of a scare. A rain storm caused 4 light poles to come crashing down in Banica, one right in front of my house. Thankfully no one was harmed as far as I know. The poles were replaced with new, cement ones the very next day! So maybe that wouldn't seem so miraculous in Virginia...but I was absolutely blown away. As a friend here put it: "Las cosas estan malas aqui, pero cuando quieren trabajar, saben trabajar."
Saturday afternoons we often have free for a trip to the river and when we can we snag a moment, we try to explore. I showed the group the Haitian "fort" and the river canoe crossing. Here are the ladies on the road to the Haitian fort.
Miss you all, but having a great time! Praised be Jesus Christ!

From One to Five!

2009-09-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Four new volunteers have now joined me here in Banica. We picked them up in the capital on the 25th of August in the capital where I snapped a picture of their plane. Here is a picture of all of us near the "Welcome to Banica" sign at the entrance to our pueblo. Now that they've been here a couple weeks, we have all settled into a routine and our projects have gotten underway. Mairin and Brendan (shown below working on lesson plans) are teaching English at the parish school and have organized a sports league for the school kids. Today was the first day of the girls' sports league and more than 30 kids came! Jimena, who is Peruvian and already fluent in Spanish, and I have been focusing on catechesis in the campos and are leading the Teresitas (with Mairin's help) and a Bible study for young women. Isaac is giving piano lessons to six very excited youngsters, helping with catechesis and providing musical accompaniment during Sunday Mass. We also all spend time tutoring some of the local kids who need help with reading and writing twice a week. Thank you Lord for sending more generous souls to Banica!

Summer's End and a New Beginning!

2009-08-27T12:43:00.001-07:00

Summer in Banica was busy with visiting youth groups, building projects and campamentos. It was also time for visiting home and making more time for my family here in Banica. Here are a couple pictures of a campamento in Manyaya and the beautiful countryside.

We are now all settling down for the fall. Classes at the parish school began last week and the public school is working on getting started as well. As for me, I am happy to have some semblance of a routine back. I will be continue giving classes in Los Yareyes and Higuerito and will also be working in Los Memisos, a community witha fairly large school where many still need to receive baptism. Look for another update soon!

Blog Delinquency

2009-08-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've been delinquent about updating my blog this summer. Sorry! I posted some more pictures of this summer and the past year on Facebook if you would like to check those out! Please keep praying for the mission!

The Rainy Season

2009-07-10T10:51:00.001-07:00

The front and back of my house during one of the really big rains this past month. They had just cleared out some debris from a tree that had to be cut down and mistakenly placed it right in front of the door causing water to well up and flood into pretty much every room in the house. We all pitched in to mop up and made a fun time out of it all.

May is for Mary

2009-06-03T12:46:00.001-07:00

For the last day of Teresitas, the girls group we have on Monday evenings, we had a little Marian feast. We met at the parish and then all went up to el centro. The girls really enjoyed the truck ride even though they were all crammed in. We had just finished making "prayer guides" for the glorious mysteries, so we used those to help us pray the glorious mysteries. Then each girl offered a flower that she had brought to our lady. Afterwards we ate brownies and celebrated. Here you can see the girls finishing up the rosary before our lady, offering their flowers, and their happy faces afterwards. Mary looked very beautiful adorned with the gifts of her daughters!

Christ comes in the Sacraments

2009-05-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

Before I left to spend a month at home in Virginia, 22 of my students received sacraments. There were four baptisms and twenty two first communions! This was once of the best days I have had since coming to Banica because I was able to see my work bear fruit. These kids worked hard to learn their catechism and were faithful about coming to Mass, most without their parents' help. Here you see them listening and raising their hands during the homily and you can also see Aris' baptism, Pedro being confirmed and Juan Elias' first communion. I truly believe that in this one day the darkness of sin and ignorance often so present around us here in Banica was diminished by the light of Christ that began to take hold in their hearts. May the Lord guard their innocence and purity as they grow older and fill them with His Holy Spirit so that they can be little missionaries in their own families and communities.

Campamentos de Lectura

2009-05-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

After observing that many of my catechism students struggled to read and write simple sentences and understand what they read, I had asked Father O'Hare if I could organize "campamentos" to work on literacy. My original idea was to have the camps run for a week in each community. We would read books to the kids, have them practice reading and writing on their own and try to make reading a fun and positive experience. We also sang, danced and played games.
Four Banica high schoolers who needed service hours for school asked Fr. OHare to help them out. So we put them to work helping with the 'prototype' literacy campamento. We held it in mid-May in El Palital and Los Yareyes. I provided materials and then general plan and the four young ladies lead everything. Here are a few pictures of the girls and their little students. The group picture shows the "big kids" group. We had a "little kid" group as well. The kids had a great time, and it was fun to see how much they enjoyed the stories and games, and how much effort they put forth to do a good job on all the activities the girls had for them.
One of the things I really liked about the campamento we did was that it was faithful to the principle of solidarity. As much as we can, we need to let Dominicans serve and be missionaries to Dominicans. We can facilitate, but should not try to do everything. If the goal is to eventually be "self-sufficient" the people themselves need to know that evangelizing isn't just for Americans and/or foreign missionary priests, nuns and volunteers. I think in many ways a Dominican educated in his faith and close to Christ could do so much more because he would not be an outsider.
From this experience I realized that our literacy efforts would probably be more effective if they tried to do more for fewer kids rather than a little for a lot of kids. Thus, instead of planning many week-long reading camps in many different communities, I have decided to hold a three-day-a-week class in Banica for the whole month of July. We invited kids from 5th and 6th grade in the parish school who need help with reading and writing. Many of these kids came from the public schools so they are behind.

Holy Week and Easter

2009-04-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone!! Christ is Risen!! Indeed He is Risen!!

Here are some pictures from Holy Week and Easter Week, in no particular order. First, Good Friday mascaras with their whips. I think they are supposed to represents souls burning in Hell. To the right of that, me with the Haitian country side in the background (notice how barren it is). The living stations of the Cross in Banica on Good Friday. Father Murphy and Tom in the chapel at Ana Caona after our trek up the entire international highway (a little Easter Week adventure). My brother Chi with my kitten, Matiw. Monsenor Grullon and the vicar general, Fr. Miguel at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday in San Juan. Living Stations again. Our truck braving the international highway. Great views (and heights) take your breath away!

El Rio

2009-04-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

The river is a short walk from my house and this time of year its gorgeous!

Some of the kids from Amigos de Jesus and the Colegio. They had a blast!

Some pictures

2009-03-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

My Banica family: Carmen, Erbi and Glory with the cake Glory and I made for Erbi's birthday last month. That's the garden in the back where we have our chickens and we grow some tubers. It gets really hot, so if I'm home, I am usually out here! We even have a bed for nap taking outdoors :-)

Happy Vigil of St Joseph!

2009-03-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

So in honor of St Joseph you are all getting a blog. Internet has been VERY unreliable lately, and we are in fact completely without internet both at the parish and at the center until the sea can comes in from the capital. We are using the town's internet service "Linco" from time to time. Just wanted to make my excuses for those of you who feel I have been blog-deficient :-)

I have been somewhat delinquent about taking pictures, so I really have no new ones to post, but I've definitely been busy. We just finished some catechist workshops where we brought representatives from each campo together and taught the basics of the faith. At the end, everyone took an oral test to become "certified catechists." Both Fr. OHare and I weren't sure how it would turn out, and weren't expecting many people to do well...but the participants really put effort in to learn and study, and about 3/4 "passed." It was also great because it gave us a chance to bring out some members of the community who previously were not serving as catechists. One of the next projects will be to visit the catechesis classes in each campo and see how the catechists are doing and support them in any way that is needed. It's been really fun getting to know more wonderful "campo" people and see them grow in their knowledge of the faith. I really feel like we've sown seeds for these communities to reap.

On a lighter note, yesterday morning, I opened my dresser and guess what was staring at me? A mouse!! I had thought a lizard was living in my room, which I actually don't mind. But it was a mouse! Carmen (my host mom) and I took everything out from the bottom of the dresser and from under the bed and cleaned and swept high and low. Vete ratoncito!!

The parish cat has 3 kittens - her 7th or 8th litter, born on February 7th or so. The cat at the center has 4 kittens, so with 4 already grown cats between the two places and two dogs, we are again a menagerie. But it seems like people are always lining up for kittens once they are old enough to part from mama.

Lent is well in progress, accompanied by many young boys in the streets cracking whips. It's apparently a "liturgical toy" because everyone says they can only be used during Lent and Semana Santa...which as far as I can tell is a rule that is adhered to. They are LOUD and can be quite annoying. But it is an interesting phenomenon. There is apparently going ot be some sort of performance with the whips and many people with masks during Holy Week, so I am interested to see it (can't really say I am "looking forward to it"...but I am interested.)

May St Joseph guard each of us, and bring us close to Jesus!

A solid two weeks of visitors!

2009-02-18T06:06:00.000-08:00

We've had two straight weeks of visitors. Here are some photos.

Nina, a good friend, came to visit, and on the trip to pick her up from the capital, we were able to spend a day at the beach. She was also able to see first hand many of the things I have been bloggin about. Thanks for making the trip down, Nina!

I was finally able to get pictures of me doing actual work...thanks to Nina, who accompanied me to my classes last Thursday. Here is me teaching about the Annunciation in Los Yareyes.

Other recent visitors (friends of Fr OHare) snapped shots of me in the parish kitchen...I really enjoy cooking up yummy dishes and desserts...and have learned A LOT about cooking since being here.

Fr Scalia came to visit the mission early this month. Between going to the loma with Fr. Murphy, seeing Banica, the church and the parish center, spending a day in the capital, visiting my classes and hiking to the fort and the cave, we kept him busy.

All of our visitors refreshed me very much and supported me in my life here. Thank you all for coming and seeing the mission. Through your experiences here, I hope that you were richly blessed.

You Turkey!

2009-02-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

Today Mass was held up a minute or two because, unbeknownst to all, a young turkey had wandered into the sanctuary. He finally waddled out with some encouragement from Tom and Lewis, not without drawing out some early morning chuckles. Gotta love Banica!

Learning the Ten Commandments

2009-01-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

Today I must have repeated each of the commadments 1-7 about 20 times each, or more. With four classes all learning the ten commandments, I literally sound like a broken record. I have them repeat after me "primer mandamiento" ... "primer mandamiento"... "Amaras a Dios sobre todas las cosas" ... "Amaras a Dios sobre todas las cosas" and do this about 5 times for each commandment. Normal voice, whisper, loud voice, high voice etc... You'd think the kids would get bored, but they actually don't. I have noticed that they are SO much more easily entertained than US children. Probably this is because they really don't have very many toys and don't know very many games.

At the end of five repetitions, a lot of kids can say the commandment to you, but more than a few can't. This used to annoy me a GREAT deal...(why can't you just get it?!?! After five times of saying it out loud??) but really I've gotten over it. These kids really aren't accustomed to paying attention, to disciplining the mind. Many of their parents would be incapable of helping them to study, or not at home enough to have time. I guess I've received the grace of greater patience here :-) Hopefully these kids also get to receive a grace - the light of the Truth enlightening the darkness in their lives.

Words of Wisdom

2009-01-18T07:29:00.001-08:00

Hay cosas que se ven... y cosas que no se ven, pero se puede ver. Hay que ver lo que el mundo no ve, no con los ojos pero con el corazon. Para llegar al cielo, hay que pasar trabajo. El cielo - que glorioso - no se ve...pero se ve el dolor, el sufrimiento, el trabajo. La vida en la tierra es solo un ratico, un ratico viendo la felicidad eterna. Siempre vea lo que no se ve.

Some of our bishops counsels at one of the two Confirmation Masses I went to. For me were quite moving. Sorry for not translating, but its just better in Spanish.

A snapshot of life in Banica...

2009-01-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was proposed to twice (wonderful natural romanticism of Dominicans :) In the evening Tom and I prepared dinner for the bishop (enchiladas and a birthday cake). This afternoon I had a close-call/scare driving to one of my classes in the campos and had to be pulled out by a truck, then arrived to meet my class. I asked them who Jesus was and they said "a boy." Then I asked them how he was different from them who are also boys and girls. They said "he was white." So we started from scratch. Now I am off to teach the violinists about how to read music. Please pray for me!

What does Sam actually do in Banica?

2009-01-09T07:54:00.001-08:00

Some of my students and the teachers in Sabana Cruz after I gave "final exams." Ten kids from this community will receive Confirmation. Thanks be to God!

Reviewing the mysteries of the rosary with the Teresitas.

Happy Epiphany!

2009-01-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted because I've been busy! My parents came to visit Banica and see what it's all about here...and then we took a short vacation at the beach. If I can get them soon, I will post some pictures of me working with the choir, with teresitas (the girls group I lead) and with some of my students who will be confirmed in a week or two. I realize that I don't have a lot of "at work" pictures mostly because when I am working I can't take pictures!!

Here is one of me with a family I visit quite frequently (with some of the neighbor's kids too). Almost all the kids go to daily Mass and they are absolutely delightful.

In case you were wondering...

2008-12-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

tarantulas are gross.

more pictures!

2008-12-10T05:54:00.000-08:00

The whole group after dinner to celebrate Sr. Teresita's 50 years of consecrated life. (I'm taking the picture.) The Franciscan sisters serve in Pedro Santana and have done so much good for the community here. At this dinner, we not only celebrated with sister, but said goodbye. She will be going on a short vacation and then moving to a new mission in Paraguay.
The four of us American missionaries with Sr. Teresita. :-)
One of Lupo's funny moments. I love this cat!!!
Volleyball game for San Francisco Xavier day...he is the patron of our parroquial school. I am to the far right. We lost... :-(
Me with my friends Guerris and Maria at the colmado of Guerris' dad. (A colmado is like a family-run convenience store...they have them all over town.)

Ave Maria Purissima, sin pecado concebida

2008-12-08T11:24:00.001-08:00

Today is, of course, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Here it's not a Holy Day of Obligation...but it is of course still a solemnity. The title of this blog is a very common exclamation during the rosary and other prayers here ... "Hail most pure Mary, conceived without sin" ... but in Spanish it flows better.

This week I am finishing up my catechesis classes and starting tests. I have about 10-15 kids that, God willing, will be confirmed in January during the Bishop's pastoral visit. I have been reviewing like crazy with them, and hope that they will all do well on the oral exams Fr. OHare and I will give to each student individually next week. As some of the younger students don't read and write well yet (though they are in fifth grade) and even some of the eighth graders struggle, oral exams just seem like the best way to see what they really do know about the faith.

PLEASE pray for my host family...Berihuete has been in the capital for several weeks for doctor's appointments (He has been ill since March or so). Then last week he fell and hit his head while his daughter and wife were right beside. As far as I know, he will be staying in the capital for a good bit longer because he is having a lot of trouble getting around now.

Also, please keep Maria and Guerris in your prayers. They are two teachers at the parish school who will be married on December 27th here at the parish. A young couple's marriage in the Church is a rare occurence here, so we are all very excited. If you could pray, though, that their hearts be open to the grace of the sacrament and to each other...and that others will be inspired by their faith and commitment.

What else? it's guanabana season now, so I am very excited about that. If you've never tried one, I hope you get to one day. A yummy fruit good on its own or in juice! I also recently just learned from the sisters in Pedro Santana how to make pickled beets which I am anxious to try.

Hey...why don't you people leave comments. I like to read comments once in a while :-)

That's all for today. I have some pictures, but right now I am not using my own computer so I can't upload. Missing you all...please pray for me!

Pictures!

2008-11-30T09:47:00.000-08:00

The trail on the way to La Horqueta, one of the more remote campos in the San Jose parish. We had to leave the truck just after the river and hike up the last 1-2 miles. Great views. The road was originally built by the bishop, but now has deteriorated. The people in La Horqueta were a bit troubled because recent rains have harmed the bean crop. The greatest joy, though, was to witness my first marriage here. A couple in La Horqueta, after having lived together for many many years and raising six kids, they had their marriage blessed by the Church. Fr Murphy and I were both very impressed because the father remembered the birthday and year of each and every one of his children, including the one that died as a baby! (That is not very common here...especially for dads - many people dont even know their own birthdays!)

Chapel in Billiguin...a mountain town with a vibrant community. They even have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in their Church!

Me with some of the people of Pashutico...outside the chapel after Mass.
A bike without pedals or a seat and with wheelchair wheels held on by tire tubes...is still a fun toy if you are a young boy in Billiguin. They alternated between playing with this and playing baseball with a ball and stick.
Orange tree on the trail to La Horqueta.
Oscar and Anardo contemplating the assasination of Cena, our Thanksgiving turkey.

2008-11-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of my friend Francini. She is my neighbor, and almost always there to greet me when I get home. Cute and lovable! Please pray for her!

Some tidbits

2008-11-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Classes were canceled today because of a teacher meeting they were having for the whole district, but we only found out after driving all the way out to Higuerito. Oh well! Since I have some free time, I can post! Here are some little tidbits of interest from the past week or so:

1. We're having fall weather here! It was cool all day yesterday and I had to sleep with socks and a sweater! It was 62 this morning, and now its almost midday and only 67. Love it.

2. I rode a motorcycle, donning helmet and all. Now, I wasn't driving, so don't get too excited. It was loads of fun, and didn't seem nearly as dangerous as they say, especially where there are basically no other vehicles on the road and just miles of mountains. The interesting thing on a motor cycle is that going uphill is much more fun. Going downhill, you really have to work to keep from sliding forward. Motorcycles are also much smoother rides here than the trucks.

3. I successfully made yummy homemade pizza, which was our Sunday dinner.

In terms of mission work, classes are going well, though I am frustrated with lack of Mass attendance. The rule we have made is that the kids must do two things to be able to receive the Sacrament. a) pay attention in class and pass an oral test given by Fr. OHare or I, and b) go to Mass in their community when it is offered. The kids are doing well in class, and I am confident they know the basics of the faith I have been teaching. But almost no one is going to Mass! The communities were without a priest here for so long that they have little understanding of the importance of the Mass, and of the Blessed Sacrament. They would much more readily go to a prayer service or bible discussion at someone's house than come to Mass. To help encourage them, I am now attending Masses in the communities I teach on Sundays, which make for a busy day. Hopefully this greater presence and some accontability will help them.

Happy Feast of Christ the King on Sunday!!

Drying Up...

2008-11-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

We are on the edge of dry season, and dust is starting to coat EVERYTHING. It's also getting a bit cool in the mornings, which I've really been enjoying. It almost feels like a fall morning some days!

Right now Fr OHare is on a visit to the States, so Fr. Murphy, Tom and I have been holding our own. When there are only four Americans, one person's absence is really felt!

Last Monday was Dominican Constitution Day...a free day for us! I was able to explore again with Fr. Murphy some of the more remote campos of his parish. We visited Cajuelito, Arroyo Grande and El Morro and also hiked (a short distance) to the waterfall near El Morro. I also met Natividad, the young man who takes care of our four parish mules.

Which reminds me (I'm not sure why) that I haven't written about our Thanksgiving plans. One of the things I am really enjoying about being here is the fresh food. Everything is fresh...including the meat. Right now, we have a turkey living at the parish and we are fattening it up for the day of slaughter...probably the day before Thanksgiving. Turkeys can run fast and fly far, so we have to keep it tied up on a long-ish line. After several nights of successfully freeing itself to spend the night on the roof outside Fr. Murphy's room, the deacon and I finally rigged a turkey-proof line...and secured the safe keeping of our Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanks to all of you who have been sending letters. I really appreciate them.

Some Bitter...Some Sweet

2008-11-01T08:52:00.002-07:00

HAPPY ALL SAINTS DAY!!

There are some bits of news to post. The first is melancholy. Michelle, the other young woman volunteer had to return home for personal/family reasons although she had been planning on staying the year with me. I miss her! Here is a picture of Michelle and I after Mass yesterday, before she left. I'm looking forward to your visit in December, Michelle!

The kids here in Banica and in the two campos I travel to are starting to get to know me better, and I them...so it's getting easier to both discipline and motivate them. The campo kids are MUCH quieter than the Banica students. I am always trying to discipline my classes at the Banica colegio, and trying to get my campo classes to talk and answer questions so can find out what they know! I will try to upload a picture of one of the schools I teach at out in the campos and also of some of the sights here. Right now, internet is slow, so I can't.

Lastly, I tried fresh sugar cane! It's brown and kind of looks like bamboo. They remove the brown shell layer with a machete, then you bite off the cane, chew and suck out the sugar, and spit out the rest. A lot of fun!!

My room

2008-10-15T08:00:00.001-07:00

Here is a photo of my room and one of my house. I have my own door on the side. Probably the best part about it is the tree right outside which shades my entire room for most of the day, keeping things cool. A great blessing in this tropical land!!

The Patronales

2008-10-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a short log of my first experience with the Patronales, an important celebration here in Banica. The Patronales is roughly 9 days of celebration culminating in the feast of St Francis on October 4th. Everything started on the 24th of September with a procession up to a cave near Banica where many people believe St Francis appeared. Two processions (one from banica and the other from Pedro Santana) met up and processed with statues to the base of the hill leading up to the cave. The picture gives you an idea of how many people participated...and these were just locals!

Here is an image from inside the cave. People come from Banica, the surrounding campos, the capital, from places far away or even from Haiti. The pilgrims come witha promise to fulfill. Some may have promised to climb up to the cave barefoot, or to rub the dust from the cave on their faces or wear franciscan garb etc... While Banica is full of people who are in town just to see family, experience the spectacle and/or party, many do come truly as pilgrims and their faith is very moving and real. Do they love St Francis and Our Lady!! Though I did witness the danger of people honoring St Francis without giving Our Lord His due, I definitely saw that the cult of the saints is alive and well here, and something that this culture understands.

Photos and a prayer request

2008-09-28T10:30:00.002-07:00

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!

2008-09-22T13:07:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-09-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

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...)

2008-06-25T11:47:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are curious, here is a picture of the church and complex. My excitement is growing as my trip gets closer. It looks like I'll be leaving the 31st of August to begin my Spanish classes in the capital.

Blog up and running!

2008-06-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

I hope to update this blog regularly with news from my adventures in the Dominican Republic. Please pray for me as I prepare for my trip. Thanks for your support!