There have been two major events since I arrived on the island: intern retreat and campamento!
the campamento crew!
I must have perfectly timed my arrival because not even two weeks in, I, my boss’s daughter, and the other two interns were making the two-hour trip to the coast for a beach getaway.
The idea behind the retreat was to build friendships, have time off, brainstorm ways the internship program can grow, and enjoy this beautiful island. I can confirm that the trip was successful on all fronts. It is an experience I look back on with gratitude.
Some highlights include paddle boarding during sunset (I saw a green sea turtle!), swimming in the ocean, laughing with the other interns, cooking dinner at the house, jumping in the pool after dark, late-night chats before sleep overcame us, and other little moments of joy that only I get to keep. Truly, what a good time.
doing some office work in the mountains! The girls painted our faces with butterflies.
It is so rare and beautiful to me that we all get to be together, and I get to be with them. I get to be here, and I pray that this outlook never fades or eludes me. It is necessary and essential to view things this way, but it is not the easiest thing to believe every day. Two of the interns that I spent the last few weeks laughing and hanging out with are now back in the States. Circumstances have changed, and that is okay. Joy is a discipline; contentment is a discipline.
the beach at cabarete
I am glad to be here. It is also challenging to be here, and the whiplash of both of these things being true tires me out occasionally. One moment can be very light, and then the next moment, there is a stinging reminder that the world is so broken, too—these are harsh realities that I must keep close to my chest. It’s just how it is.
Around my fourth week here, we loaded up the vans and drove to Puerto Plata for summer campamento. This is THE event on the New Hope Girls calendar. A recurring team from Florida comes down to the DR every year (this year, with a team of 25, which puts us at a 1-to-1 ratio for New Hope Girl to US volunteer). This is a big help and an exciting thing! This is the ninth year of campamento.
the hike — we explored some caves beforehand!
Basically, campamento is a kid vacation! The girls get to explore their beautiful island home and, for some, see the ocean and beach for the first time. We stay at a small campground in the mountains, where there are many potholes, free-range cattle, stars, almond trees, and mosquitos. Many volleyball games are played, and daily dancing in the gazebo is a must.
Some highlights include the beaches in Cabarete, a 6km hike, a trip to the colmado, banana boating, cliff jumping at Lagoon Dudu, feeding a cow, the girls teaching me how to harvest raw almonds (the trick: a good, pointed rock and a hard surface), making journal art, braiding hair, night chats in the Bigs dorm (12-16 age range), impromptu English lessons with the Littles, and more.
I would, however, be remiss if I did not mention that, by the end of camp, 30 girls were sharing one toilet and two showers because the water was out in 2/4 cabins, there were multiple rat spottings in the dorms (they skidder on the wall’s ledges inside the dorm. This made my top bunk experience quite thrilling) and that nearly all the adults had either food poisoning, nausea, headache, aches, chills, fever, or all of the above (for me, all of the above). But hey…we still had a blast! Nothing could stop us.
It’s both. There’s thankfulness in mealtimes, joy in dancing, bliss in shell hunting, and relief in sleep. I would not change it, but I want to challenge the idea that everything is always paradise here. This is a real place, one far from the lush, abounding resources and vacation homes of Punta Cana that most Americans associate with Caribbean life. I see here that where there is beauty, but there are also destroyers of beauty…but that’s not the end of the cycle. New Hope Girls exist to break cycles, and I am proud that I get to be a part of that.
our trusty safari van
Lagoon dudu. I got to jump into it!