It's the most wonderful time of the year :)

Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! Malygayan Pasko! 

I am home and trying to stay warm in Northern Virginia now - a strange change of pace from Banica. Christmas is probably the most beautiful time of year to come back home...maybe Fourth of July...but Christmas is pretty darn great. It's so beautiful because all of the lights are up, it's nice and chilly, you can smell fire places burning, and everyone (unless they are cramming their shopping in) it a little bit nicer. It's odd to be back form Banica though. More than anything - I miss the people! Last night I has a text message from one of the girls that I used to work with (one of the college students) and she texted me from Banica! How crazy?! 

But being home with family and loved ones feels better than ever! Merry Christmas!

Santa Domingo!

Wow! I am in the capital now to catch my early morning flight tomorrow. What a whirlwind! I am in a bit of culture shock with all of the buildings and cars and electricity after living in the campos for months haha. I am at a mall down the street from Sister Bab's house and will head to the airport at 4am tomorrow morning. Staying goodbye to the people in Banica was very hard: Keeton, Fr. O'Hare, Leon, Judy and Reyderson, Simona my students, everyone! So hard! They are all in my prayers and I cannot thank them enough for all of their LOVE!

I can hardly believe that in 24 hours I will be back in the US! Home will feel so great!

Keep me in your prayers please :)

Spider!

Last night I had a terrifying encounter with A SPIDER! This thing was HUGE, larger than my hand, and I was absolutely terrified. I had just finished showering up and was walking back to my room in my PJ's when I opened a drawer and out crawled this huge (not so) friend. I jumped on top of my bed and said, "ok...I am going to kill it!" and that failed. The thing came crawling towards me and I jumped back on my bed and just started screaming. Oris, one of the college students who stays in Banica to work Sunday-Tuesday as a joven missionero, came running into my room to ask what was wrong. She started killing it as we knocked just about everything off of my dresser and kept yelling "kill it!", "I think it is dead!", "ahhhh is it dead?" and before we knew it Simona was running across the street to see what was wrong with four friends. Too funny! There I was standing on top of my bed in my PJ's screaming over a huge spider. Gross! Spiders are GROSS! Back in the beginning of November I got bit by one and it hurt haha so I was not about to have that happen again. IT was while I was sleeping though and just swelled up and was painful.

Falling asleep last night was a little rough haha but I think I was safe!

1 Week

Woah! This time, next week, I will be in America? Crazy how travel works isn't it? The next days in Banica will be filled with my lasts: last Magdalena groups, last masses here, last dinners, last teaching days, last CCD classes. I am getting antsy to be home with my loved ones for Christmas but I know that I need to soak up every joy and blessing that I can here in these next 7 days.

Today will be my last Friday Magdalena group and we are having a going away dinner, tomorrow will be my last CCD class in Banica (and I will be listening to the Army v. Navy game too - GO NAVY!), Sunday through Tuesday afternoon will be my last "whirlwind" which includes SO many things but the schedule is so busy that I lose my mind those days haha, Tuesday night will be my going away dinner at Mari's house, and Wednesday will be my last full day in Banica. Wednesday will also include my last day in the Colegio teaching, my last Magdalena group of all, and my last dinner with my host mama Simona. I've got to pack up on Wednesday too because Thursday morning I leave for the capital. Banica is far removed from...well...everything hahahaha  so the trek to the capital will be too much to do on Friday morning for an early departure. I will be staying in the capital on Thursday with Sister Babs (a religious sister who runs a home for people who need medical help) and will head to the airport early Friday morning.

God is good and I know that everything will work out :) I know I am in for a great Christmas. This time away from my home and family and loved ones has really helped me appreciate their love so much more. I am so incredibly blessed to have the family, friends, boyfriends, and support that I do! I love you all!

Trip Day!

Hey Blog World,

I hope everyone is bundled up and enjoying winter as Christmas draws near! So today was a trip day for my Magdalenas (high school girls youth group). There were 50 girls today and some of the girls in the group were unable to make it because of family commitments or being sick or studying in the university. We went to the beautiful cathedral in San Juan which is about an hour away and took a tour of the church with a worker names Javier who knows Fr. O'Hare. After the tour we had a religious sister with a Fransican order in the capital come to speak. She is wonderful and spoke to the girls about prayer and the different forms and the importance of it. I loved how she so simply helped the girls realize that God already knows what it on their hearts...we just have to talk about it with him....figure things out...dive deeper! After lunch we took photos and brought out picnic lunch out to the park outside of the cathedral. Nuri, the cook at The Center, prepared us a big cooler of juice, lollipops, and billions of sandwiches! After lunch we headed over to the local university so that the girls could see it. We encouraged them to really look into it because the school is really pretty and they can commute twice a week from Banica (an hour + away). Sadly, a lot of these girls just do not have the money to be able to go. The school itself is public and therefore free...but you still have to pay for your transportation and books and it is just no feasible unless they get a scholarship. The church provides several scholarships and we are always looking for more donors. Check out www.banicamission.com for more information if you would like to help out! I know that once I have a full time job, this is going to be one of the first things I donate to, helping one of these girls go to college. Once we finished up we boarded the bus and headed back in time to teach CCD classes in Banica. We've got 50 girls this year and many wonderful little helpers - wowzers!

But the importance of college here is HUGE! Sadly, getting "married" when you are 15 to a man who is twice you are is very normal. It is one of the things that we are trying to STOP with groups like Magdalena's. We try and build up their self confidence and faith so that they realize their potential. It's my dream that they all are able to study in the university one day! However, some girls do end up getting married, and I was sad to miss three Magdalena's on the trip. Three girls, two 14 and one 15, were "married" (aka moved in with an older man) two weeks ago and did not go. Many say that it is rebellion to their abusive fathers and other say it is love...either way it breaks my heart...they are still girls. Value your education yall ;) it's worth a whole lot.