Si Dios Quiere Part 2

We left for our campo of Venue early the next morning. It was two hours to the North of the ILAC center. The ride there was shaky because after the first hour we began to climb up very steep hills to get to the mountainside where we would be staying. I was scared for my life when we started up the very narrow and windy road to the top of the mountain. I swear the bus was almost vertical during that trip. We arrived at the campo site and began to unload the bus and carry our supplies for the week into Venue. As I walked down the steep hill I looked around me at the village that would be our home for the next week, and I was amazed. We were told that we might be taking bucket showers because there wasn’t running water, but it wasn’t bad at all. The main part of the village that we stayed in had several houses that were spread around. Everyone in this part of the village was related by blood or by marriage. Our mom during the trip was Adita, she lived outside of the village and she walked to all of the parts of Venue every day. We received our housing assignments for the week, and went to our homes to meet the families that we would be living with. Our mom also ran a store in the village that people could buy snacks and treats from. After, we met them we had lunch and went off for our first day of work.

Blue floor we layed for son and his mom.

The work that we were brought to do in Venue was concrete floor laying and planting Cocoa. A typical day would start off with us laying concrete floors and end with us planting cocoa plants. Laying the concrete was back breaking work. The concrete was mixed in the street and then we carried buckets of it to the houses that needed the new floors. Something that I thought was very cool was after we layed the floor, professionals would come a spread a mixture of colored powder and concrete together to create a colored floor. I thought this was something so neat, because when I heard that we were going to be laying concrete floors, I thought of the gray concrete floors, not about making them aesthetically pleasing. We layed several floors throughout the week, and every person that we layed a floor for was a person who was in need and deserving of it. We layed a floor for a deaf woman who was unable to afford getting her floor replaced. She was a very sweet woman. The one that touched me the most was when we helped a woman’s son lay a floor for her. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and the son wanted to lay the floor for her so that she could have a smooth floor to walk on. He amazed me by how hard he worked to lay the floor for his mother. He was putting all of the rest of us to shame. I admired his dedication, after we finished with the floor; he bought us all a couple of two liters to share. Our guide said that he had probably used his life savings to get his mother that new floor. Late, we found out that he had a mental disability, but you never would have guessed it with his interactions with us and how hard he worked. That memory will always stick with me.

Cocoa plant that has been freshly opened.

In the afternoon we would plant cocoa plants on the mountainside. The way that we planted things there was not orderly; it was just wherever there was space that is where we would plant the cocoa. The first day our planting site was an hour hike away from our campo. I lost my shoe in the mud that day, and I dug around in the mud for it and had to have one of the other Rockhurst students help me dig it out. We hiked and hiked to get to the first location. The kids were running in front of us like it was nothing, while we were panting trying to keep up with them. Once we reached our site, we began to plant the cocoa. The kids showed us how to pick ripe cocoa and crack it open. You could eat the beans in the cocoa, but it is super bitter. Later during our week we would go and see where the cocoa is dried before it gets shipped out to become chocolate. The mountain where we were planting the cocoa at was very steep. There were little fire ant hills everywhere, and it became a rite of passage to get bitten by them at least once while we were planting cocoa. The rest of the week flew by, as we worked during the morning through the afternoon. Then we hung out with our families at night.

Drying area for the cocoa.

On our last night in Venue, the village threw us a goodbye party. They played music and we danced most of the night away. It was a really fun visit and a good way to end the trip. I can honestly say that I laughed, thought, and cried during my time there. Our week ended sooner than I would have liked. The day after our farewell party we left and headed back to the ILAC center. The ride on the way back was just as scary as the ride up. When we got back to the ILAC center we all showered and then went out into the town to visit an orphanage and go souvenir shopping. The orphanage was also another unique experience. The orphanage there was filled with people who were seen as burdens to their families. Not because their parents had died and they couldn’t go anywhere else. I was happy to see that they had found somewhere to care for them, but still there weren’t enough caretakers there. It pulled at my heart strings and I wanted to be able to do more for them than just visit and interact with them. After we left the orphanage we went souvenir shopping and I felt weird going from the sadness I felt from the orphanage to become an American tourist. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I really hope that everyone takes advantage of the opportunity that Rockhurst offers to go and help others and become servant leaders.

Si Dios Quiere Part 1

ILAC center that we stayed at our first two days.

Over Spring Break I went to the Dominican Republic. I was so pumped for his trip and I couldn’t wait to be off. We left early on Saturday morning and began our journey. There were ten Rockhurst students that went on the trip with two faculty members. I was excited to create new friendships with some of the people that I did not know that well from campus. I could not sit well the whole way there I was excited to get there and to begin working and helping. We traveled for six hours on the plan and had several hours of lay overs. We arrived in the DR at night and went through customs to get into the country. Andy the head coordinator with the Institute of Latin American Concern or ILAC came and picked us up from the airport. We rolled all of the windows down in the van on our way to the ILAC center and it was nice feeling the fresh air flowing across my face after the stagnant air of the plan. We had a light dinner when we arrived at the ILAC center, and got a brief rundown of how the weekend would look. I was excited that we were finally there, after we were excused for dinner I explored the center with a few others on the trip. The center was really pretty, and even though it was dark outside, I could tell that it was a very relaxing and calming place.

                The next morning we got up and went through orientation that gave us a brief introduction of the Dominican culture. The orientation was important because it gave me a better understanding of the culture that we were going to be living in for a week. Something that stuck with me was that in the Dominican culture, it is more important to stop and talk to someone as opposed to being on time. I loved this about the culture, because this is something that I always do, my friends have even given me the nickname of “chatty Cathy” because I always stop and talk to people. Another interesting fact, and one of my favorite parts is the saying “Si Dios Quiere,” which means “If God Wills It” or “If God Wants It”. Dominicans say this is all the time, especially when saying see you later, or good night. It simply means that none of us knows what the future holds and it’s up to God if I will see them the next day or not. Some people might think that this is morbid, but I see it as a way to trust that what happens is supposed to happen according to God’s plan.

After the orientation we went to mass. It was interesting being a part of their worship, especially since it was in rapid Spanish. I am not Catholic, so I was already confused about the service then adding the language barrier to the service made it an interesting thing to take part in. After, mass we went into the city and explored.  We took a guagua which is a bus that can take you into the city from the country side. Since it was Sunday everything was closed in the city except for chain stores. So we couldn’t go into some of the more cultural stores.  We went back to ILAC that night and repacked our clothing and care items to take to the campo with us. We would be leaving in the morning to start our week of service. I could not wait to get started!

Groundbreaking for Arrupe

                “Grant me, O Lord to see everything now with new eyes, to discern and test the spirits…” Pedro Arrupe. On Friday afternoon, the first cut into the ground for the new building at Rockhurst began. The day was perfect and for me it seemed like a really nice beginning to a new building. I can only hope that the same sun will be out and shining for the grand opening of Arrupe Hall, unlike the grand opening of Rockhurst high school. When they opened the doors of Sedgewick hall, it was pouring rain for the first day. I am bummed that I won’t be taking classes in Arrupe Hall unless I end up going to grad school here. So, that is a tempting factor to come here for PT school, of course that wouldn’t be the only reason, but it would be nice to take classes for the first time in the building.

                The ceremony was really fun and it was nice seeing all of the people in the community coming out to see the ceremonial event. The joke was cracked many times that it took us 100 years to break ground and a new academic building. All of this is part of a twenty year plan at Rockhurst. I really can’t wait to come back twenty years from now to see all of the changes that have been made to enhance the student experience here at Rockhurst. I already love the campus, but I can see the positive difference that this would create in the community here at Rockhurst. It makes me sad to see my days at Rockhurst closing, and seeing the new beginnings that are sprouting up all around campus. I know when I am older and God willing I will walk the halls of all these buildings again and see how the final plan turned out!

What Are You Going to Do After your Graduate?

   

That is the question I have been getting lately. What are you going to do after you graduate? I don’t know that was the question of the century for the longest time. I feel like by now I should be like all of my friends and know what I am going to do, who I am going to work for, where I am going to go to school. There are so many things happening right now. Not only am I supposed to be figuring out all of that stuff I am also supposed to be keeping up with all of my school work, RA duties, ambassador duties, and enjoy my last semester. All of those commitments make it difficult to look for jobs on top of it. However, that’s not something that I can just push off until later. So, like any good student I went to the career center and asked for advice. I was amazed by all the different opportunities that they suggested for me. I know that after I left my head was swimming with all of the different things that I could do with my life next year. I know that I want to grad school, and I think I want to go for physical therapy, but I know that right now I can’t afford it, so it was nice to talk to them about different things that I would be able to do to make my application look even better since I am taking the year off. When I was getting interviews to different jobs, I went to the career center again to ask about dress attire, for a dinner interview and what I should do if it I haven’t heard back from a job in a while. They did a lot to soothe my troubled mind about what my options were and could be for next year. I am happy to say that I have found and accepted a job that I feel very lucky to have found and been offered. Who knows, I may have found my niche in a different career field from physical therapy. So, next time someone asks, I can proudly tell them my plan and look like I have a thing or two figured out in my crazy world right now. I am really happy that the career center was there to work with me. I wish that I had used them as a source more often than just this year. I feel like they are an underutilized resource on campus even though they have so much to offer.

Photo Citation: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/UnderstandingTheRecruitingProcessAfterGrad-175x300.jpg  

Dear Dominican Republic, I Can't Wait to Meet You!

Spring Break is less than two weeks away and I am excited and nervous, anxious, and ready to go! Very soon I will be in the Dominican Republic helping to construct buildings, and working in coffee fields to set up a sustainable way for the Dominicans to continue a profitable business when we leave. There have been several meetings so far that have been prepping me for our departure. The first one was a time where I got to meet the group of ten people that I will be going with and we just chatted about our expectations and our personality types and how all of our differences are going to help make this trip that much better. Every day of the trip we will be doing prayer and reflection; we each have one of the core values that we will represent on our day. My partner and I were given cura personalis or care for the whole person. I think that this will be fun to do some sort of reflection on in the morning time because the whole point of the trip is to help someone else, and to understand them. Not to put them as person of their circumstances, but as a human being who is striving to be beyond their circumstances. I really hope this trip will help me to act more in line with this value, because it is one that I have never been quite sure how I can express it or how I can be better at it, and I think this trip will help me explore that more. I am excited for the experiences and hard labor that will be coming from this week and the insight that I hope to gain from it. I encourage everyone to try to go on one of these trips, to get out of your comfort zone and open your mind to the different things that are happening in the world around us. For me that is what I have been challenged to do ever since I have come to Rockhurst. To challenge my preconceived ideas and to think through them to new insights, and new reasons for how everything works.  

Photo Citation: http://tarletonphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/galleries/post-45/full/ILAC_Dominican%20Republic05.jpg 

Love Your Letters!

Valentine’s day was on a Friday this year, and as president of Order of Omega I wanted to try to do a Greek unity event on that day. So, we sponsored a wear your letters day, where faculty, staff, students, and anyone else that goes to Rockhurst or was on campus could wear their Greek letters. I think that it went pretty well, for it being the first time and I hope that we can keep up the tradition that around Valentine’s day that everyone will be invited to wear their letters. I think that it was really cool getting to see everyone in their letters. I almost felt like I was in a buzz feed titled, “Teachers That Were Greek!” I am looking forward to more things that we can do on campus this semester for Order of Omega. I want it to become a stronger organization here on campus. It makes me excited and gives me chills to think of a future where all the Greeks on campus will work together to accomplish something that we were not able to accomplish before. I think that were are starting to head in that direction! Next time that there is a letters day I want to include people who are in the Greek Honor societies, like the business fraternity, pre-med fraternity, the Spanish and French honor societies. It is a rare and amazing thing that we have so many men and women that are making themselves better men and women for others and I think that this is another way to be able to express that through the club and organizations that they are in. It is such a diverse community at Rockhurst and I am going to miss that a lot once I graduate, it is rapidly approaching and I am getting nervous as we approach under 90 days until graduation.

Picture Source: http://images2.fanpop.com/image/answers/83000/83744_1266090452577_319_206.jpg

The Best Day is a Snow Day!

 It’s been a while since I have blogged, so there is a lot to catch you all up on! One thing at a time though. As a senior I have been praying to have at least one snow day this year. You may be wondering why, but I think it’s really simple. This is the last year that I can just enjoy the day without worrying about the consequences of not going to my job, or if I am still going to be expected to go in. I don’t have to think about if the day off will count as vacation time or use up my sick days. Nope, I just get to chill out and take care of business. Which I did let me tell you! There was a huge snow ball fight on Lower Burke and I went down there and had a grand old time pelting people with snowballs, and getting my fair share of them in the face. After playing in the snow some more, I went to Starbucks on campus and got hot chocolate and went back to my room to, catch up on a lot of Residence Life work that I was a little behind on, as well as planning stuff out for the rest of the semester, so I could have adequate time to prepare everything. I got a lot accomplished on that first snow day, but I could not help hoping for one more. I did not want to be greedy though, so I did not bank on it, but it happened anyways! Two snow days, I could not have asked for more in my last semester here at Rockhurst. I used my second day to socialize and get ready for class the rest of the week. It was really nice only having to go to school for two more days that week. Since, my wish for a snow day was granted two fold, I am not banking on any more, but I think that would be awesome if we did get another one!