The DeYoung Diaries: Lots of new news... new NPH home, new puppy, new illnesses, new haircut, new dance lessons....

So I thought it was about time for another update, and since I am home sick but not tired and without a TV, figured this would be an okay time (don't tell the school cause I know I should be resting but Dave got me daytime meds so I"m all hyped up :). Sick seems to be a common theme here in the DR huh? Well don't worry nothing too serious, just a bladder infection and sinus infection, and Dave is taking good care of me and I'm recovering quick. The clinic I went to last week was called the Abad Clinic - like a bad clinic right? Not a good sign. Though not quite as dirty as the public hospital in San Pedro, it was swarming with dengue filled mosquitoes and equally ill-equipped with baby food jars for collecting "samples" in their bathrooms without running water or toilet paper (hope you guessed I did take care of them at home). So a bad clinic it was - gotta love it right?

Anyways, I have a few pieces of new news to share. Probably the best one is regarding NPH... we got to visit the orphanage last weekend and got some great news. First, inspired by our little Haitian boy Alberto who passed away a couple of weeks ago, there has been a great donation to open a home at NPH DR for Haitian kids with cancer. It will be in the old visitors house next door to where we lived (where my dad and Bradley stayed when they visited) that is now not being used. Any child with cancer in Haiti will be eligible and can be taken over to our home where they will go back and forth to the capital for their radiation treatments in the new NPH van (also a new donation specially for these kids) since radiation treatments are not available at our hospital in Haiti. What an amazing gift Alberto has inspired - the gift of hope for these little ones who would never have it in Haiti, if not only time and peace to be in a safe and happy place for their last days. Their families will also be able to come and stay with them in the new home. And the person in charge of the home is.... Christelle!! (the French teacher and my close Haitian girlfriend who lost her parents and home in the earthquake, and who spent nights painting my nails all fun and crazy colors and telling me stories of her past). How amazing for an opportunity like this for her and for all these Haitian kids who are suffering, to come out of such a tradgedy. How cool is that?

Great NPH news number 2 - the new special ed. teacher for my program at the orphanage has confirmed and is flying in next week from Ireland! Though I know Maria is doing a great job, I know she is exhausted and is in way over her head between teaching 20+ spec. ed.kids and going to university, and all our kids aren't able to be seen, so this will be so so great. This woman has nine years experience teaching special ed. and volunteered at the hospital in Haiti, so she sounds like a pretty awesome fit. Which means, I will be back again at the orphanage in the next weekend or two to train her - and I'm happy with any excuse to go back.

Maria and I with Yudelkis at our end of the year ceremony - Yudelkis will be getting heart sugery in Spain :)

Great NPH news number 3 - my student Yudelkis with the fatal heart condition (some of you may remember me mentioning her in emails last year when we had a few scares when we almost lost her) has found someone to sponsor her heart surgery in Spain. So my old roommate Kristina (aka Kiwi, the actress from New Zealand) is flying with her to Spain soon for her surgery. Pray for their safety and guidance for the doctors throughout the surgery.

Other than that, in orphanage news, things are still as fun and crazy as ever. Though I forgot how HOT San Pedro is this time of year, and it was also hard being away from the kids so long, such a huge part of my heart is still there. The kids were all hard at work in a Christmas card competition (to be copied and mailed to sponsors) to win a trip to the movie theatre (some of you may remember me making hundreds of Christmas cards last year for the sponsors so this competition is a huge relief to this year's volunteers). Spent lots of great time hanging out with the kids, tias, volunteers, and of course Maria - who had all kinds of gifts and made 20 sparkly butterfly cards with the each of the kids from my class which will soon be decorating the walls of our apartment. The girls also spent a while teaching me dance routines to Waka Waka and Boom Boom Pow, because, next piece of news... I am going to be teaching dance classes starting in a couple weeks for our 7th-12th graders at JCS! Joanna (my first grade co-teacher) and I will teach dance one day a week, and will run an ESL tutoring club for early el. the other day of the week. The school has a policy everyone has to do at least one extra-curricular, which has made up a cool selection for the kids... Dance, tutoring, American football (Dave's team), basketball, soccer, piano lessons, baking class, recorders class, sculpting class, Glee club, Bible study, Gymnastics, I forget what else.... better than TV and video games though right?

Playing with Sandy this weekend in the Santa Theresa Home

Hanging out my chicas in Casa Santa Ana

Katerin in Casa Santa Ana - loves the camera!

Oh and I saved the best for last! Our new puppy!! We have a new puppy named Santa (not like Santa Clause, but rather Spanish for Saint - though so far she is definitely not living up to the name). Well she is sooooo cute, but I discovered a part of her that is not so cute at all - she has worms... runs in the family I guess haha.. but I am paranoid of getting them. She pukes them and poops them still alive and when I try to clean them up they swirl and coil all over the floor making them hard to grab. It is SO gross, and Dave and I have decided not to eat spaghetti again for a while. :) But she is very cute and sweet besides that part. (I have pics of the worms but will spare you unless you really want to see them then let me know :)

Out on the balcony of our apartment with our new puppy Santa

Some of you may have already seen my pictures on facebook of us playing at the house where we got her - a Belgian couple who has 28 dogs - 19 of which are puppies that we've been visiting and playing with every week. It is seriously like heaven there, just puppies playing and jumping on you from every which way - I can't imagine a more happy place.

This is puppy heaven! All 19 of them! 28 dogs in all!! No way not to be happy when you're here...

Well, Santa was a last minute spontaneous decision Friday night since they started giving the puppies free on Friday, which made it a late trip out for the weekend... another long story but we slept at a hostel in the colonial zone of the capital Friday night and spent hours late into the night walking the cobblestone streets and viewing the beautifully lit ancient buildings and talking and talking with our friends Mark and Kristina who we miss so much.

Wandering around the colonial zone of Santo Domingo

Anyways, I think I'm writing in circles now, it may be the meds doing that... but thanks for all the prayers, and please keep in touch with us. Oh yeah one last thing, since I'm attaching a picture - I got a $4 haircut, wash and style, and yeah I kinda have a semi-mullet now that the lady there called "layers" - a little scary, but like Dave says "It's just hair, kids are dying in Haiti ya know", so I can't get too upset about it - you can see the super chunky hair in the picture and also another one of my best teaching friend Joanna who went with me. It is a humble looking salon (probably not like one you've been to), and though I wasn't all that excited with the outcome, the lady was so nice and invited us over for woman's prayer night which we'll hopefully go to soon since she lives right around the corner from me. Oh and notice we're soaking wet - our hair wash was by pouring cold water while hanging our heads over a bucket - that's the DR for ya - gotta love it. :)