Lots to Say

Hola Todos,

I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to write. I've been extremely busy with writing papers, presentations, and traveling too. :) . Here's some pictures of my latest adventures. A while back I was able to go with a friend to 27 Charcos which means 27 Waterfalls. You pay for a guide, helmet, and life jacket. YOu hike thru rivers and literally swim and climb small waterfalls. it was AMAZING! our guide actually invited me back and he paid for me to go on all 27 Charcos with him. The first time I went with a friend of mine we only went on 7 out of the 27. I definitely took advantage of the chance to jump off on of them that was about 40 ft high. It was an amazing adrenaline rush.

So....my crazy cat is missing. We at first thought he found a girlfriend but he's been missing for 2 weeks now. Ok, this is sad but partly funny....but our mom said Haitians actually eat cats. There are a lot of haitians that live in my neighborhood. I'll let you put 2 and 2 together. pobrecito mimi fifi! it's not everyday your cat gets eaten by the neighbors...

I've gotten to go to a professional bball game. Yisette and I actually met one of the players outside of a dance club. I felt so privileged to be talking to a pro player. Guess how much tickets cost? $2 for general admission. $6 for the nice nice seats. that's freakin amazing! but the dominican republic is smart (i hope you can sense my sarcasm here...) by the fact they don't sell tickets by seat numbers. oh no....they just keep selling tickets, more tickets, until there is literally nowhere to stand and watch the game lol. good thinking, eh?! not....plus ashlie, i thought of you when watching them. you would've screamed at them so much they missed a lot of passes. our fox team could play these guys and prolly beat them if that tells you anything about the skill level. not exactly your typical NBA game but hey, at least i've been able to watch basketball in the DR since I'm missing it at fox. how are they doing, by the way?

Last weekend we went on an excursion to Samana. We stayed in a very very very nice hotel (it actually looked american and actually had a butt washer that me and yisette thought was a urinal). we hung out at the beach, went dancing that night, and then went whalewatching on a boat the next day. too bad half of our group got seasick on the boat. i don't know how i managed to miss out on the seasickness. almost all of our group even took dromamine (the med that helps with motion sickness). We also went on another horseback tour and swam at the waterfall in the picture. I actually got to swim under the waterfall and there was a cave under it too. I felt like I was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Hey...I'm in a caribbean, aren't I?!

2 weeks ago Pedro, my host brother that actually lives in New York, came to visit. He's actually a really popular DJ here and spun at carnaval and at another dance club--tribeca. so he invited me and yisette to go and he played in a cueva/cave (that's what they're called the dance places in the street in carnaval). we got freakin VIP bracelets from him for free! everyone knows him. get this...his stage name is bling bling but is spelled blin blin lol. he's really nice, fun, friendly, and outgoing. i wished he lived here so we can all hang out but he doesn't. and just to clear things up before all the questions come, no he's not available. he's getting married next summer to a really cute dominican girl. He's the one in the picture above. The cueva is the picture above with all the people in it.

The orphanage has been very frustrating. None of the kids are doing their homework anymore, and half the time aren't even ready when I come. " i couldn't do my hw because i didn't have a pencil." they lose things all the time but this is the system that is VERY common down here. nobody cares about education. they kind of treat us like a joke. but Claudia are trying to keep hope and simply lower our expectations of what the kids absorb and learn with our time there. So far, I have seen a huge amount of progress with Yoanni whom I wrote the encouragement letter to. Praise God!!

I have officially rode on my first motorcycle and it happened to be in the dom republic!! it was amazing. my friend/guide anthony from the 27 charcos took me on his motorcycle.

That's all for now, ciao, Natalie

Prayer Requests:

1. hope for my orphanage and having them absorb something that Claudia and I are teaching them

2. still with self-control with dominican guys. it's my hardest battle down here.

3. christian fellowship--i have none

4. praise: i found a church awhile back that i go every wed and sun for. it's really awesome and the preacher speaks passionately from the Bible, not just "Christian topics" if you know what I mean.

5. a girl on our trip got Dengae fever and for her recooperation