Vacation Week >>>May 19-26

Vacation time ... a few pics from our week away from the orphanage ... we started in Monte Cristi (2 nights) and went along the North Coast to Cabarete beach for 2 nights, Puerto Plata for 2 nights and Santiago for 1 night. Lots of sun, ocean waves, pool time, good food & drinks!

The pool waterfall at our resort in Puerto Plata

Pistons Game Slumber Party at our resort in Puerto Plata

Kim and I on the beach in Puerto Plata
Me, Kim and Bryan- poolside at the Viva Resort in Puerto Plata

Dinner at the Ibiza Restaraunt in Puerto Plata ... it was delicious!

Bryan and dad racing at Fun City

Bryan @ Fun City go-cart park

Me, Grandma and mom in the Villa Taina pool

Hotel Villa Taina, our hotel for 2 nights on Cabarete Beach

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE! Kim waking up to some coffee at our outdoor Cabarete hotel breakfast buffet

Kim and dad on the beach patio outside of our hotel in Cabarete

Bryan, dad, and Kim playing volleyball in Cabarete

Mom, Grandma and our boat driver on the way out to the island of of Monte Cristi

Kids having fun!

When you have 38 brothers and sisters, might as well just run around nd have a good time!

Here are ChiChi, Jessica and Mariola

From the left: Carmelo, Jose Luis, Jaury, Jessica, Mariola, & ChiChi

CERDOS= Pigs

Our lovely neighbors! These pigs live right next door to the orphanage and we give food scraps to the owners for them everyday.

a few of the happy faces here at the orphanage ...

Some nice pics of some of the kids around the orphanage ... we have a lot of photogenic faces here!

Here's- William

Andres ... aka "Tineo" ... aka "Mafli" ...he has a lot of nick names!

Cristopher ... who prefers to spell his name with a PH even though it is really spelled with an F in Spanish ... he says the PH is more "beautiful" :)

Jazmin ... the oldest girl that lives here ...age 17, a Senior in High School

Carlos ...alos one of our 5th grade English school students

Manuel

Jessica ... who just got an A %97 on the last test at the English school ... she is our youngest student there ...8 years old ... the majority of the students are 5th graders. ...she is one smart galleta (cookie).

Argenis

Raileni

Estrella, the orphanage dog, at the ice cream shop in town!

Santiago Airport

These 2 pics are pretty accurate views of what the airport looks like on any given afternoon ... its busy, its tropical- lots of palm trees and most of it, minus baggage claim and customs, is open to the outdoor air. There are also restaurants on a small 2nd floor.

more pics of the ISLAND

The island off of Monte Cristi ... we plan on going for the 3rd time since January later this week. Here I am on our last trip there.

A view of El Moro from the island
The beach side

A view of us on the beach side

Games Night!

Wednesday evening was "Game Night" this week ... here is Jessica making a Domino line-up with Jenga blocks ... the Jenga blocks are rarely used to play Jenga here, the kids like to build with them and create other things more.

Jessica's domino rally

Carmelo building with Jenga blocks

Ariel and Argenis playing checkers
One of our volunteers, Katrina, and Rafael playing checkers

Jennifer- coloring ... she can't write her name yet, but she does know how to hold a marker the right way!

...after being here for 4 months it really seems like she's grown up a lot!

Raileni,Yenny and Jennifer coloring on the floor

This week @ school ...

Our group this week is teaching in one of the nearby public schools ... here are some of the action shots of them on recess with the kids ... jump rop was a hit!

Morning Fishing

A fishing boat heading out from Monte Cristi in the early morning hours on Tuesday. We were hiking up little El Moro mountian with the group that is here this week and this is the view from above. Since this town is right on the ocean, fishing is a common job for a lot of people.

Domingo & Pluto

Here are a few pics of Domingo with the new dog-Pluto, who is big enough to run around outside with the kids now! So far he's been a really good dog, and unlike the other dog here (Estrella) who only eats meat and bones, this dog will eat anything- rice, meat, veggies, cheese, you name it.