"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”

Perspective. What is a perspective? To put it simply, it's, "the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc" But, how do we then gain perspective? I believe we are who we are for a reason- we are who we are from past experiences. They build us who we are as people and give us a perspective on our life in which we may have not known before. Being here, this whole experience, is about perspective. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and this is how it came about:



I was talking to one of my best friends and he told me that one of his friends came home after having a bad day. This friend works with kids and the kids weren't listening, being rude, etc. My response: tell him one of my kids died today and shut up.  Heavy, right? Well, think about it- yes, some days are harder than others, but in perspective, I'm sure they could be a lot worse. A child dying is the hardest thing to hear, but it's a reality. It's a hard reality to grasp. 

I have hard days, days where I'm just done and need it to be over, and I am 100% guilty of it. But how do I change this? How do I put this into perspective? Here, kids die, people are sick, and the overall living condition is poor. It's a 3rd world country, but that doesn't take away from the richness of the culture. People literally have nothing, but they are always willing to offer something, from a cup of coffee, to the simple words of, "God Bless You". It's as simple as that. Put it into perspective, change the outlook, go back to home base and really think about your roots. It's not about material things, but rather the gestures and action one makes, such as inviting them for a cup of coffee, "God Bless You", or even a simple smile. 

Kristen and I were talking about this the other night, things here are just not real. Not real meaning, we are two american girls, from suburbia Minnesota on this adventure, but an adventure to us is reality to many. For example, walking to Batey Nuevo (right outside NPH walls) and seeing kids run around naked, men working for hours in sugar cane fields for minimum wage, pigs and goats tied to a tree, it's just unreal. Unreal to me how these people live, get up every day with a big smile on their face, and make the best of it. They do what they need to to live, and if that means a smile, then that's everything. Kristen and I then continued to talk about how it's going to be when we return. It's just not going to be the same, ever. And I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but I do know, the perspective of hearing about someone having a bad day because the kids were tough won't be as big of a deal when a kid dies. Here, you have to feel out the feeling and I get that. And I'm not going to tell a person that my day was worse than yours, no. A bad day is a bad day, but it's what you make of it. 

Lance Armstrong once said, "I take nothing for granted. I now only have good days, or great days." The emotions here are extreme because it's a completely different perspective on life for me.  It's about making that 'bad' day into a good day and turning the good day into a great day. Perspective. Because in the end, it could be a hell of a lot worse.  

Yohan & Esteban

Dance off at the Batey 

  Get it Martín

Early morning races! 

People do mistake us for twins. Thoughts? 

Girl's night

wojo

Wow, what an experience this has been for these past 3 months. Looking back, it has gone by fast. Each day feels like a week, but those weeks go by faster than you can imagine. I never get bored, always something to do, and writing this blog gives me the chance sit down and process everything. Process my experience and share it with you.  This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Las Galeras. It’s on the eastern peninsula of the island the pictures I have doesn’t even begin depict how beautiful it was. Kristen and I went and after coming back on Sunday, I have never felt so relaxed, recharged, and motivated to come back to work. 

I am sure some of you are wondering about the title, ‘wojo’. Well to top the weekend off, I had a chance to talk to a friend from Regis. Her name, well, nickname, is Wojo and she & I met this last year on a alternative spring break trip with Regis to the Dominican Republic. She was a freshman, taking a dive into this trip, completely immersing herself with a people she barely knew, a new culture, and little did she know how much she was going to grow because of it. She has one of the most genuine, charasmatic, and loving attitude’s I have come across, it is 100% contagious. While we were talking, she told me something that has really stuck with me, “Madelon, how can someone with absolutely nothing, have so much care for one person? In regards to the differences between first and third worlds. She then went on and shared, regardless of which country we are in, it’s simple and very basic. “As simple as, “how are you?” how are you? Then the question is, how is there so much genuine care for someone that you met for a few days during a spring break trip?” Maintaining a relationship, staying in contact, but in reality, you never know if you’ll be able to see them again. But, the admirable thing about Wojo, is her motivation to take what she learned, and make life wherever she goes. To take and use those basic things, the questions of ‘how are you?’ and apply them into her every day life. To be the person she is because of one experience and to take that one experience with her for the rest of her life. Essentially, people come and go in our lives all the time, but for some reason, we choose to continue relationships with people, but have you ever asked yourself, “why?”  I’m not sure I can even answer that. There are so many variables, but it’s such a simple question, which then goes back to the basics of asking someone, ‘how are you?’ It was such a rich conversation and started my week of great. 

Avriel & I are now work out instructors for the Tías (caretakers for the children). We have class twice a week and it is just a riot. We shake it, move it, and the translation of, “You can do it!” Doesn’t sound as well/ cheerleader-esque in Spanish as it does in English, so we choose to say it in English. hello- YOU CAN DO IT! *clapclapbigsmile* just screams peppyness, does it not?  We have so much fun and it’s really fun to spend time with the tías while the kids are at school. 

Aside from all of that, here are some pictures since the last post. Lots of activities this weekend- We are making Donuts, which will be a huge treat since none of the boys have ever done anything remotely like it before and Saturday we are going on a bike ride to MonteCristi (nearby Batey) to play some basketball and hang out. Sunday, we are having a team (family) building day! Which I am TOTALLY stoked for. We are waking up early, going for a run, making a family breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and fresh fruit, doing team building games in the afternoon, i.e. the human knot, etc, and movie in the afternoon. My house really needs it. We have had a lot of behavioral issues and doing this, I think it will really give the boys an extra push to come together. BUT- the best part of this weekend is, the helpers in my house (2 older boys live in the house, helping the caretakers, and being an example for the boys) are leading it! They are the ones who came up with the idea, they are the ones who want to work together and become a family. I think it's great because if you think about it, I am the volunteer. They aren't going to listen to me as well as they are going to listen to the helpers. I will post pictures in the next blog, but for now, here are some pictures of everything else!!  

Enjoy the overwhelming amount of pictures!!! 

Smerlin with his masterpiece

Preparing the dough

Excited boys!!

The frying begins!!!

Samuel & I

Francisco & I

Smerlin & I 

Yoneuris, Miguel, & Smerlin

         

Sebastian & Esteban

 

Proud owners of homemade donuts!!! So messy, so fun, and it was a first for many!!! 

Sunset in Las Galeras

Kristen & I

Bluer than blue

wait...what just happened?

whaaaaaaaaaaaat is going on? weekend off, Hurricane Isaac, internet out, and Madelon goes into town to work. let's start there.


Working at the local McDonald's trying to get work done, as Hurricane Isaac left us with no internet, I have my headphones in, music playing, focused, and typing away. As I'm working, I see out of the corner of my eye that a Dominican Man is approaching me. Thinking I was just going to get creeped on, I pretended nothing was happening. Well, when he gets to the table, he starts talking to me in  English. Perfect English. The conversations goes as follows,

"So what are you doing here?"
I work at an orphanage working with special projects and fundraising.
"Oh really? I really admire people like you, coming down here and helping. It's not easy, it's hard to leave your family and to make the commitment you do"
Thank you, I really appreciate that. That is very nice.
"Where are you from? The States?"
Yeah, I'm from Minnesota.
"Huh. That's cool. I was in the States for 25 years."
Oh, really! Doing what exactly?
"I was a Major League Baseball Player"
(Madelon's thoughts: um. what.)
Really?? That's awesome! What's your name?
"Julio Franco, and yours?"
Madelon Morin, it's great to meet you!
"It's great to meet you Madelon. Look, I have a friend in the government, and if it's okay with you, I would like to ask them to see if we can help you out in any way, through food."
Wow! That would be great. Just the fact that your even offering to just ask, means a lot.
"No problem."

Leaves.

Of course right when he left I googled him. Found out that he is kind of a big deal, no?

Well, while I was writing this yesterday, guess who shows up? The one and only Julio Cesar Franco and his body guards. I'm sitting at my table again, headphones in, and he comes up to me pulls up a chair and asks how things are going. I tell him, things are going well, I was going to call you to invite you to our home, to see what we are about, blah blah blah.
"When?"
Well, whenever you can! Whenever you are free.
"Let me talk to my friends and see what we can work out."
Avriel returns from running an errand, I tell her that she should really meet him, I'll introduce you.
We go up to their table, Julio, this is my friend, Avriel. She works at the orphanage with me.
"It's great to meet you, Avriel." (And we had somewhat of the same conversation on Friday)
Talking, Talking, Talking
"Are you guys heading out?"
Yes, we are, but let me know when would work for a visit.
Looks at his friends, "What are we doing right now? Can we come right now? Do you guys want a ride?"
So the next thing we know, Avriel and I hope in his big a** hummer and we roll up to the orphanage, meet with my boss, the National Director of the home, and have a long meeting about how Julio wants to get involved and help us out. His body guards are instantly on the phone with people in the government, education ministry, and THEN he says, let me talk to my friends, to see what they can do, I play golf with Tiger Woods a lot and I am really good friends with Michael Jordan (um. what.) and maybe they will want to get involved. So the rest of the time, we gave him a tour of the home, he met some of our kids, and seemed genuinely interested. So, we will see where it goes from here, but this whole thing is just kind of like, um..wait, what just happened? Very cool, but also excited to see what this brings to NPH. and it all started at the local McDonald's.... how about that?

Aside from that, I am sure everyone knows about Isaac. He, now he was just a gem, wasn't he? I hope everyone is safe in the States. We just got a lottt of rain and unreal wind, but all the kids are safe and that's what's most important.

Last Friday, 5 of my boys and I made Macaroni and Cheese. Not homemade, but Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, hello they are young and kids love that artificial, yellow, noodles or whatever. Anyway, they were SUPER confused were the cheese was coming from, because cheese is cheese, you see cheese, you eat cheese, cheese is not in a packet. So, when we poured in the cheese the kids where in awe on how it the magic happened. Anyway, they were licking their plates because they loved it. I mean, what kid doesn't?


Finally, I was helping some of the older kids with their homework last week, English homework, right. So, get this, the assignment was a word search, but you have to figure out the word first in order to search for it. So, the assignment gave a definition of the word, one of the definitions was something to keep you warm- first word that pops into mind? Blanket, right? NOPE. Duvet. DUVET. I mean, what? That is the DUMBEST word to learn maybe...EVER? 2. Something to hold while you are sleeping. Teddy Bear, maybe? WRONGGGGGG. cuddly toy. CUDDLY TOY. who learns that word? Who needs to learn that word? Are you kidding? DUMB. Whatever, it was fun nonetheless. And the older kid I was working with got a good laugh out of my reaction to the vocabulary they were learning. BAHA


Here are some pictures to sum up the past two weeks! Hope everyone had a safe labor day and happy first day of school to many!!!

Thank you older boys for encouraging Olivie to stick his tongue out. HAHA

Yoneuris & Sebastian going to play in the Batey! 

Basketball in the Batey! 

BYE EVERYONE! TALK TO YOU SOON!!!