March 4th: Pandas and Kittens and Other Stuff

Hey, how are you all doing? Glad to hear it. Here's an update for ya.

On Saturday, my parents and I went with a group from the embassy to a hotel/beach called Moulin Sur Mer. It's about two hours north of where we live in Tabarre, and WOW what a bus ride it was. We drove out of the city and into these- I hestitate to call them barren wastelands but that's kind of what they were- where it was just dusty fields stretching on one side and the mountains rising on the other. We passed some villages that were made up of metal shacks, goats and chickens running free, the washing hanging from thin wires. After about 45 minutes, we could catch a glimpse of the Caribbean. The farther we drove, the more the countryside changed. So much was green, banana and coconut farms, mango trees, bougainvillea vine spilling everywhere. When we finally got to the hotel, it was about ten o'clock. We laid around on the beach the whole day, and I got the worst sunglasses tan I've ever had. I resemble a panda and that's not really an exaggeration.

Sunday was a bit more serious but still fun. Mum and I went with three other friends to Sens Universale, an orphanage in Petyonville. We didn't go for long, but it was wonderful. This orphanage is bigger than the first one I went to, with many more children. Our friends K and S brought nail polish to use with the older girls, and I helped them. It was hilarious because all the girls were crowding around us, piling their hands on top of each other. I had my nails painted kind of a garish pink by one little girl who kept exclaiming "tres belle, tres belle!" (very beautiful, very beautiful). They also seemed to like playing with my hair- it was like a full on beauty parlour. The kids were wonderful, so happy to see us and so sweet. It's experiences like that that make me fully appreciate this gap year. If I hadn't taken it, I would never have seen and done these things.

Today was one of my REBUILD Globally days. W and I are working on the garden, so today we did a ton of weeding and raking the garden plot. Basically I spent the morning rolling around in the dirt. Our plan is to plant peppers, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and some herbs for a "salsa garden". In addition, we're going to work with some of the young adults that come on Saturdays to make planters out of these old paint cans that are scattered around the property. Most are rusty and dented, but I figure if we can sand and paint them, we can use them to hold plants. I'm really excited about that particular project, since it was my idea and I think it can really work.
Also at RG today, I met two of the kittens that live on the property. There are about seven more, but the two white ones are being "held" for embassy families that are interested in owning a cat. Cutest kittens ever.

In other news, I got a job offer to work at the embassy for the summer! I will be the assistant to the Community Liasion Officer. I'm in the process of getting a security clearance so hopefully that won't take too long. Some of the summer interns didn't receive their clearance until after they returned to the States, so here's hoping that it doesn't take that long.

Went out tonight with W and a friend from REBUILD, also W. He's a pretty cool cat, born in the DR but lives in Haiti, speakes Creole, French, Spanish, Portuguese and- of all things- Russian. The two W's and I went to one of the UN bases and had pizza and played pool. It was a really nice evening, a good way to spend a Monday night.

That's all for now, folks, a tapioca pudding cup is calling my name and I'm afraid that if I don't eat it, someone else will. Ta ta.