Kids, kids, and more kids!

Thursday we got to take the younger kids form the school to the local beach in Puerto Plata with the group. It was one of our student, Ruth's birthday, so we got to celebrate her special day on the beach and the Menold girls and I made her some cards and a birthday cinnamon muffin for her birthday! Later on in the day we got to go cheer the kids on in their first soccer game of the season! Cakito and Kelvin coach the soccer teams in different villages every day and today was their first time to pay each other this season! We had the games in the play in Montellano and a lot of the kids from the neighborhood gather around to watch the kids play. Although the soccer games is when the heat becomes much more noticeable, I love getting to watch the kids play because I know that for most of them, they love playing soccer and it is their favorite thing to do. The missions team that was here this week also helped us to get the audience to cheer for the teams and make the players feel as if it were a real game and that people actually cared. It was fun because when the teams were waiting for their turn to play the game, we were also playing an unofficial game on the side of the field. They just can't get enough soccer! When we got back to the house later we had a basketball tournament with some members from the group and some members from the Makarios staff and it was a blast, although tiring!

Friday I got up with 2 other member in the group and Belize, and we decided to go for a run to the top of the mountain and to be at the top in time to watch the sun rise. I do not like running, and I am definitely not good at it, but it was so cool to get to go to the top and watch the sun come out from the very top of the mountain. It is amazingly beautiful here, and getting to see the sunrise only added more beauty. I spent the rest of the day with the group in Cabarete for their beach day. It was so fun to get to watch the Menold kids play with the kids for the group, because I know that it is hard for them to live here and not really have friends like they used to in the states. We even caught a baby octopus! 

Saturday morning the group went home and Kelsey, Imani, and I spent the day in Santiago. Santiago isn't necessarily a city for tourist, but there is definitely more wealth there and they have malls, American food chains, and even a movie theatre! We spent the day exploring the city and going to the different malls and comparing how they were similar, yet different from those in the states. We even went to go see a movie at the theatre (which was very similar to the ones we have back home) and we had the option to see it in Spanish with English subtitles, or in English with Spanish subtitles. While in Santiago Imani ran into two different groups of people that she knew and it made me think about what a small world it is when you are in a different country, visiting a city you don't even live in, and you run into people you know as if it were normal. It made me realize how easy it is to feel so at home here, like I already do. 

Today Kelsey and I spent the day relaxing at Playa Sosua with Kelvin and Belize. Kelvin and Belize got to build their first real sand castle and I introduced them to Dr. Pepper, which they both loved. Before we headed home we went for an adventure in the grocery store to get some food for the week. It was such a nice day out with the sun shining, but not too hot. The beach was so crowded and we even ran into one of Belize's friends.