A great day at NPH!

Summary of my life: “I travel a lot I hate having my life disrupted by routine” - Caskie Stinnett

     Yesterday, October 22, 2012 was my best day yet at NPH-DR.  It was such a good day that even when things went badly I still maintained my smile.  Yesterday so many good things happened starting from the fact that one of my co-workers told me that I have “saved the 8^th grade,” by individually tutoring one of her problem students.  Unfortunately, one of the 8^th grade boys cannot focus and often distracts others when he is with his classmates however, when I work with him, he is always well behaved and does the work that I assign to him.  Therefore, as a favor, my colleague asked me to work with him one-on-one so that he will not take away from the other students’ learning experience.  I did just that, and it was amazing to see him sit still and do the work that he told his teacher that he would never do because he hated the subject.  I am realizing that all he needs is a little one-on-one time and he can do anything!  Continuing on one of the girls from my house, Santa Clara, who has always been very quiet and whom I have never really heard speak, spoke yesterday!  She was asking me questions about my day and telling me about hers.  I could not believe it.  I have literally only heard her speak a few sentences since I arrived here, 4 months ago, but today we had a conversation.  Also, another girl from my house, who is always a little hard to get along with, kissed me on the cheek yesterday!  She even hugged me and sat on my lap when normally she ignores me or speaks badly about me in the house.  I was so surprised by her actions but I just took it all in and enjoyed the time that we had together.  To top it off one of the boys, from the older kid’s house, would usually calls me mean names and always makes fun of me was nice to me yesterday.  He walked up to me with a huge smile and gave me a fist pound and said “Maya ¿somos amigos, verdad?” (Maya we are friends right?).  I was so excited that I returned the fist pound and responded, “¡Claro que sí! ¡Seremos amigos para siempre!”  (Yes of course, we will be friends forever!).  I think yesterday was a good day for both the kids and for myself.  Now that I have been in the Dominican Republic for four months, to date, I think the kids are now more accustomed to me being present in their lives daily as I am with them.  I also think I am starting not to let things get to me as much as I did in the beginning.  One thing that the kids love to do is push your buttons. Thus, they tease or make fun of the volunteers but I feel that they do this out of love and wanting attention.  Now that I have learned this and other ways to relate to them, I think this maybe the reason that yesterday was such a great day!  I plan to continue going on like this so there can be more great days to come.

     The first picture on my blog is of a young boy who is my favorite kid at NPH-DR.  He and I are basically one!  It all started the first time I ever set foot in his house, Santa Lucia, which is the baby house where the youngest kids live.  No one knew me then but within 2 seconds of seeing me this adorable young boy ran up to me and grabbed my leg.  He showed me around the house even though he still does not have the sufficient vocabulary to describe everything in the house, I felt instantly welcome.  Since then when I come into his house or when I go to visit him during recess at school he always stops what he is doing yells “MAYA,” and does a waddle run over to me and jumps into my arms.  I love this little guy and he puts a smile on my face everyday.  When he first came to NPH he was very ill and malnourished; he also had trouble speaking and could not walk.  Now he has done a complete 360 and is always running and speaking to me.  His smile also lights up any room that he enters and puts mine to shame!  I love that he is such a happy kid and am always so excited to see him each day.  I always think of how fortunate I am to spend an entire year with such wonderful kid.

     One lesson that I have to continuously remember but have carried with me from college is using my resources.  I feel that often times we as human beings just want to do things ourselves or we feel that we must do things alone.  Perhaps if we ask someone to help us they will say no and we don’t want to feel that rejection leading us not to ask at all.  Or maybe we feel that we do not want to be a burden to someone else so thus we let the weight of the task fall on our shoulders.  However, I am continuing to learn that it does not have to be that way and that there are so many people around that can help us and that is what resources are for, to be used!  For example, in college, at first I was to proud to go and ask for help but then as I struggled with some courses I quickly learned that tutors, going to teacher’s office hours and asking friends for help really helped me see improvements in my grades.  As for being here, a lot of times I have struggled with some of the things the kids do or say.  However, I am learning that the tías, administration and other volunteers can be great support and really helpful in my time of need.  I guess what I am learning is not to be to proud to ask for help sometimes because I have found that others are more than willing to lend me a hand when needed.

     Finally, just through the tutoring program I have really learned how important reading really can be.  I know that the old adage states that reading is fundamental but I really never noticed that until I encountered students that struggle with reading.  I have noticed that without being able to read it really can limit one’s capacity to express one’s self.  As I talked to a good friend of mine, who is currently finishing her year of service with Teach for America, she reminded me that reading gives you the ability to connect with the world around you and without such a vital tool it limits one’s capacities.  As I work more and more with different students in the tutoring program I find that I am able to provide them with this special tool.  I do this by teaching them new words that they have never encountered before and giving them a new way to connect with the world around them.

Dominican Memories!

I am finally there :)

     After living in NPH-DR for 3 months and 2 weeks to date I have finally gotten to the point where I can say anything at any time in any place.  When I first arrived I was very nervous to speak Spanish to people that I had never met before especially because they had had a life of practice with the language and I only a few years.  Therefore, I did not speak much in the beginning, I spoke really low or fast because I had not built the confidence I needed to speak the language.  However, now I have seen tremendous growth in my language speaking ability and my nervousness when speaking has vanished.  I feel that I can finally be myself in Spanish!  My personality has always included me telling a lot of jokes and enjoying making people laugh.  During my arrival here I felt that that part was stripped away from me and I could not express the real Maya because I was unsure of myself.  Now, I definitely feel confident and I can be who I am and express all the things that I want in Spanish.  I feel that I am 90% there because I can also understand mostly anything that the natives say to me as well.  This is really great because language is such a powerful tool in communicating and expressing one’s self and when I felt that I did not have that tool it was very challenging to navigate in the Dominican Republic.  Now I feel overjoyed with my progress and am excited for each day as I grow, learn more and as my Spanish improves little by little.

     Continuing off of the fact that I feel a lot more comfortable expressing myself in Spanish, it is also great that I have become integrated in the community because now many Dominicans recognize me.  I have a favorite pizza place, traditional Dominican food store, hamburger place and post office, which I am a frequent visitor.  The workers at these places have started to recognize me and most know me by face and others by name as well.  They have become “amigos míos” (my friends) and I am always excited to greet them, as they are to greet me and me and to receive more of my business.  It is also great because they have been really helpful whenever I have needed help or was unsure about things in the city.  They are always more than willing to help me and it feels great to have older Dominican friends looking out for me.

     Finally, another lesson that I have learned from being here is not being afraid to make mistakes.  I know that this is probably a lesson that we all have learned from our parents by the age of eight but this lesson can really go along way.  I feel that it can be really hard to be bold enough to step out of your comfort zone and make mistakes.  For me, always speaking a language that is not my native tongue in a foreign country has been a challenge.  One mistake that I have made, for example, is asking someone if they were pregnant when I intended to ask them if they were embarrassed.  I used a false cognate because the words for “embarrassed” in English sounds similar to the word for “pregnant” in Spanish thus it is easy to get them confused and mixed up.  However, I love that we can all laugh about these moments and move on.  Also, these moments are what actually make me learn Spanish a lot better and a lot quicker.  I know that I don’t want to make these same mistakes over again so I am extra careful and cautious that I use the right verbs with the right conjugation so that these slip-ups don’t happen again.  I feel that when we don’t take these steps and make these mistakes we stunt our on growth.  We do not enable ourselves to learn more and to feel okay with being uncomfortable.  I feel that this lesson also parallels with my experience in the classroom when I attended the University of Michigan.  A lot of times I would raise my hand hoping that what I was saying was the right answer or that I wouldn’t ask a question that I should have already know the answer to.  I quickly learned that the moments where I made mistakes where when I learned the most in the class.  The mistakes I make in the Spanish language and in my classes at the university are the things that stick with me the most and what I have ultimately learned the most from.