(Some) People Always Leave

Quick update: Camp starts on Tuesday so we have just been preparing like mad to get things ready. Lots of painting, moving things to the field and really getting down to the knitty-gritty of actually planning things to do! We have finally gotten some good weather again which has led to a rare sunburn for me, on my shoulders. I got my first haircut in the DR; I went by myself and managed to communicate with Spanish and actions what I wanted haha.. I'm pretty impressed by myself. Carissa and I went around town to get some more clothes cause weve been getting ours super dirty. Recently, we've been hanging out at the park like locals at night and I've found chinola juice... SOOO good (passion fruit juice) from Chori Pan!

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So I watched One Tree hill growing up and Peyton always mentioned that people always leave. In her life, there was never a constant figure. Her mom died at a young age, her dad works in a different town and when her birth mother came to find her, she shortly died of cancer. People always left her -- people always leave.

Here in Cabrera, I've noticed a similar phenomenon. Surely, no one can really stay in the same place all their lives but the Dominican Republic seems to be a temporary stopping zone, or if you've planned to settle down here.. there are still reasons to leave.

Currently, we are sort of in a transition zone between the year-long volunteers leaving because school is over and the new volunteers arriving for camp. In fact, new volunteers arrive tomorrow! My house is getting 3 volunteers tomorrow, and one on Saturday.. I am super excited for the weekend to say the least. It is going to be fun, fun, fun, fun. (Sorry, I just had to make that reference) But since Dan's departure last Sunday, it seems like everyone is on the move. We rented a villa the other week for the night to have a quick get-together with all our friends. Honestly, aside from the Dominicans... everyone at that party was getting ready to leave. We still have 2 more months but we will also leave.

The teachers at a local school, ARC, normally stay for one year. Some like Anthony and Fiona & Kim and Shara move on and start their own projects here from a perceived need after having spent some time in this community. They have started schools here respectively. But many of the teachers leave after one year, minus Justin who has been here for 3 years. What is most surprising for me and really the purpose of writing this blog is the harsh reality of life in Cabrera.

Kim and Shara have a pre-school here. Justin has been here fore 3 years and plans to return in the fall to teach once again. Yet Kim and Justin are heading to the states, Justin leaves tomorrow and Kim leaves soon. We may thing it is to go on vacation but that definitely is not the case. They're both going back to the states to make money. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Teachers here do not make enough money, even if they are foreigners. Their desire to engage in this community is what keeps them here, not the heap-loads of money they make as a foreigner teaching English.

I still do not really understand this concept but it seems to me that teachers should be ale to make a decent living. Yet teachers need to go home to make money so they can last another year here. How is it possible, then, to provide quality education to children if the town which they are serving barely provides enough for them to support themselves?

Dan probably would have liked to stay for a little longer but he had to go home to make money before another other similar experiences. I will leave in 2 months to finish my education, presumably to get a good job and make money. It seems that our world revolves around money and I guess that is why we must leave.

On the other hand, it is nearly impossible for Dominicans to leave the country, or so I've heard. Some say it is extremely hard to obtain a passport, others say it is the visa that is hard to get. Whatever the case, they are somewhat trapped in the world even if they have the means to go elsewhere. People always leave... or at least some of us do.