Live Simply So That Others May Simply Live (Part 3)

Jenna with Jose Louis

Miguel et Werqin
Miguel and Nino Miguel

Ola Mi Amo Miguel

The week was one of multiple lingual blunders. Telling Alberto where to find the little goats room was the first of many. Later on in the week I gave counting a try and said ten and little boys instead of ten and nine more commonly known as 19, everyone laughed at me. On another occasion while building the house I asked who’s beer it was, saying cervesa instead of casa, everyone laughed at me and then when we were drinking they kept asking me if I wanted another casa. The biggest blunder I made was when I left, I was saying goodbye to the people I had coffee with, and while explaining I would be back in a year I told them I would be with them in 1 ass, the word for year is very close to the word for ass and they were to polite to say anything but Candis told me my mistake after was certainly noticed. I certainly had my fair share of embarrassment trying to speak Spanish but I am actually quite proud of how much I learned in just a week, and one night it was suggested that I might have been the linguistic MIP of the trip. Regardless of whether or not I learned the most I certainly talked the most and I am sure no one will dispute that.

Don’t Cry For Me El Rifle

Leaving el Rifle was almost unbearable, saying goodbye to the people was heartbreaking, leaving toys for the children made me feel I had not brought enough, sorting clothes made me angry that we found out only at the last minute we could have brought an extra suitcase each and walking past all we have accomplished made me just want to finish ten more houses. The pictures were no reconstruction of the mountains seen or moments shared, the week was far too short, and I remember riding down the mountain in the bed of the truck feeling it all had drifted by far too fast for my liking. You are left with the feeling that you almost learned something very special but did not quite get it. Once we got back to San Jose De Ocoa I could already feel everything slipping away from me. Things were already moving to quickly, less strangers were saying hello in the street, no one asked me to sit down outside and speak with them. I was a tourist and it felt horrible. I had seen something spectacular but only a glimpse and then it had been taken away from me. After all I had seen and learned I could take with me such precious little of it home with me. As hard as it was to leave I know that I will return and am comforted.

The road up the mountain was lined with them
De Montanias
Mas Montanias
Elian
What did the Big Tomato say to the little one?

Ninya

The man who would not let us leave without taking a bucket of his beans and three of his children back to our casa.

I remember sitting at the work site one day thinking about my life and what I was doing, recalling my father tell me stories of fleeing Uganda to England and landing with nothing, depending completely on the charity of strangers to get settled and be able to stand on his own two feet. It dawned on me that the only reason I was here was because at some point in time someone did something to help my father’s family and get them on their feet when they had nothing, and here I was helping a family get something they needed to continue their lives, and a sense of completeness came over me. I did not feel proud or that I was doing something good or noble, I just felt I was doing something that I should be doing and it fit into my life well. It was hard to describe.

You may have noticed my journal starts of very time orientated and sort of fizzles into random happenings and points of view. There is a reason, it’s because as time passed by in el Rifle it became less and less important. You go to sleep when you are tired, you wake up when you are done sleeping, you drink a beer someone hands you one, you eat when in front of a table and food, you work when supplies arrive, you take a break when someone takes your place, you take someone’s place when they need a break, you write when a pen and paper are handy, you play when children are around, and you have a good time when friends around (which is always). Not one of us had a watch for the entire trip, and as soon as we were in el rifle we did not need one at anytime (whatever time it might have been). Even if we had concerned ourselves with time it would have hardly been of use to us. Anything that is supposed to happen at a particular time will almost certainly not happen for at least 2 hours after said time, 11 becomes 1, 3 becomes 5 and so on. And so it becomes of no use to anyone to ask when we are going to eat, or what time supplies will arrive or any question concerning time in general, because your answers will be we eat after we wake up, and we wake up after we sleep and we sleep after we are tired and so on and so forth. Things that in happening cause other things to happen tend to cause other things to happen, and so when they happen almost always ends up being after whatever is to happen before finishes happening. This in turn explains the downward spiral of organization of my journal.

The home I will always miss

And so I ended up on the plane with the sense of great accomplishment and also loss, there is something great we all left behind in Dominican that is just a by-product of a simpler way of life. And what John told us to think about really sunk in with me “Live simply so that others may simply live.” And thus the journal, I hope it acts in some small way to inspire you to do anything to contribute to these remarkable people and people like them, who gain so much from even the slightest act of charity. I hope you realize that regardless of what you did, by going on the trip, by donating, coming to support Ramshead fundraisers, buying something from the bake sale, or even just reading this blog you have contributed to something that is worth much more than the sum of its parts. It is easy to overlook yourself when you give your money or toys or time and it just gets taken and you never hear about it again but you do not realize how much the smallest thing you have done for DREAMS@MAC has made a very real difference in the life of someone else in the world. I hope that this journal will give you a glimpse of the difference you are making..

As for me, I am planning to return with DREAMS as soon as I can (probably February during reading week). Until then I will be here, hopefully more actively preparing for the trip, and certainly saying hello to strangers on the street, crossing the street when I can instead of when the sign tells me to, stopping to talk to someone I see in student centre, appreciating time spent with friends and family, and every once in a while allowing myself to forget everything around me and enjoy something simple.

The view I ranting about and as amazing as this picture is it is not even close to the real thing.