Kj'sTravels: Let the good times roll

Whew talk about a fast week!! I am now sitting on the porch and looking out on the lagoon, realizing that even though I anticipated this adventure going by quickly, I can't believe that its wrapping up in a week and two days ;( This past week flew by because I had my brother David Taylor here visiting me, it was his 30th birthday so we spent the whole 3.5 days he was here just Going! We did Monkey Jungle Zip line, massages on the beach, fresh pineapple for lunch, local plates of Dominican food, small jam sessions with Lauren Hill, volleyball with kids we passed on the streets, volunteering at the clinic where Taylor got to do Dentistry in Flip flops ;), dancing, more beaches, food and lots of fun. After hosting visitors I always wonder if they enjoyed themselves and had a good time, with my brother I assume he did, I know I had a great time having him here! JT took me to a new beach on Monday that was absolutely beautiful! It felt like a secret beach because there were only about 15 people there, it was in a half enclosed bay area and it was only about the size of a football field long. The water was crystal clear, there were random white ceramic heads on the cliffs, and shade for our hot tired bodies; I was in LOVE with this beach! I also was the assessor at the Transformation house on Monday for the Dr and had some of the kids who loved me but one little girl was screaming bloody murder when I looked at her ha her mom said that she doesn't like white people ;) Off to school with the 6-14 yr olds in Sociales (Social Studies) where such a wide range of children presents with a lot of challenges from the start. Half of them are still learning to read while the other half could care less about reading and more about the person of opposite sex sitting across from them... quite interesting to say the least. There are 3 different groups so most of the young ones are together but it's amazing to see the wide range of abilities. I mostly work as a teachers aide, hand out supplies, hold maps, and help the ones who can't spell/write yet to work on their projects... Honestly I LOVE it! Just being able to work close with children who have so little in life but appreciate what help and attention they get is a blessing to me. Some of these children can go days without hearing they are cared for and loved from their parents/caregivers. It is not uncommon for the children here to cling onto us volunteers because we hug them back and adore them, I was sad to have to tell two of the older girls yesterday that I am not staying for summer camp, I may be needing to figure out how to make it back here to be a counselor next year for five weeks.... Just saying... ;) This week we went out for Thai food up in the mountains as a thank you to the volunteers at DREAM and also this weekend we are driving out to Samana, a town where the director has a bed and breakfast she is letting us stay at. I hear from everyone that it has the MOST BEAUTIFUL beaches and is absolutely breath taking... we shall see, I am so excited, we leave tomorrow morning at 7 am! Another slightly exciting thing this week: JT, Maria, Hannah, and I are going to go to Puerto Rico next weekend for the last week here and figured out where we are going to stay....... COUCH SURFING!!!! We have contacted a fellow CSfer, he has a pimped out house right in Old San Juan and is more than happy to host all four of us for FREE!!!! Wahhhhhhooooooo we are so excited, Hannah is hesitant we might be axed up, but mostly we are excited ha ha ha I will update after the weekend, stay tuned.... Kj