today was one of those days...

that i could've really, really used a hug or two from some of my kiddos and seen one of these precious little faces:

i said goodbye to my best friend // sweet brother for two full years today,

and it was really, really hard.

but you know what?

i'm so grateful he's bringing so much sunshine to the {already sunny} state of hawaii.

i've enjoyed his cheer for the past nineteen years; i guess it's time i share him with the rest of the world. 

just like my bebes from around the globe have shared their sunshine with me, time and time again.

today i'm...

missing these bebes like crazy.

take me back to the DR right now, por favor.

the sun sets on la republica dominicana.

as i walked down to la playa, i caught a glimpse of the sun setting behind el callejón,
casting the most magical of sunsets across the sky.
and it struck me just how eye-opening, how real this whole adventure has been.
and that my time on this island is nearing an end.

time moves in a really strange way here.
it almost stands still, but then it passes swiftly at the same time.
in some ways, i feel as if i have been here forever.

my life in the states seems so different,
as i've grown accustomed to applying bug spray immediately following showers,
bachata music blasting from every tienda at all hours of the day,
the cadence of dominican speech,
and the sticky, sticky heat.

although i do miss friends, family, and many of the american conveniences,
i do not feel entirely ready to leave yet.

i spent my final nights here with the wonderful group of people i've worked with at DREAM,
chatting on the beach,
dancing bachata at the discoteca,
and eating some of the most inventive dishes known to mankind (moringa-infused restaurant, anyone?)

these people have such unique and diverse backgrounds,
and i've learned so much from all of them.
they have really enriched my experience here in the dominican republic.

is it too early to say that i already want to return?

post script: can you believe those babies?! just a few more of the most darling human beings on the planet...

the endless summer.

"i loove you! i want to ser* your girlfriend!" 

was the phrase yelled to us by a group of dominican niños from a palm tree on the beach this evening. 

well, they gave it a good effort, right? 

the kids here are hilarious/awesome/everything great.

my new favorite activity has been letting them show me around their callejón.

they showed me where to pick the best guayaba,
their chihuahuas who live on the roof,
and how to do cannonballs in the nearby rio.

when i'm hanging out with them, it feels like summer will never end.

*ser= "to be" in spanish; thus, these darling little boys were trying to say, "i want to be your boyfriend." things just got a little lost in translation. 

caraballo.

no matter how many international films i've watched, global health reports i've studied, development books i've read, or how informed i've chosen to make myself, there is nothing like real-life experience.

a real-life experience with people who live every day in poverty, who know nothing else.

today, we went to caraballo, a little batey about an hour's drive away from cabarete. 

and after spending only a few hours there, i feel as if am a changed person. 

i've come into contact with poverty, with extreme suffering, with pain.

and sure, i've seen it a lot in films and on the news and in books. 

but never in my life have i come into contact with it in such a manner, 

spent time with an entire community living in such dire circumstances.

historically, the bateys of cuba and the dominican republic are sugar-cane-centered communities that house many immigrants from haiti who come to harvest every year. 

well, the sugar cane factory in caraballo has been shut down for a decade,

so this very remote community has virtually no source of income.

it is filled with a combination of haitians and dominicans,

and it is suffering immensely. 

one-roomed shacks made out of scrap metal serve as houses.

trash is everywhere. 

pigs, horses, goats, chickens run around with barely-clothed children. 

remains of once-successful humanitarian efforts litter the community. 

a single room serves as a bedroom, living room, and shop for a family of (soon-to-be) four. 

and it doesn't stop there. 

but though their living conditions are bleak, 

the people of this little batey are so, so kind.

and the children? where do i even begin...

i spent the afternoon sharing secrets with my new little amiga, 

playing soccer with the sweetest child on the planet, elso, and his buddies,

exchanging contact information with a group of the nicest teenage boys,

and filming the music class in DREAM's montessori preschool.

when i think about all of the inequalities out there,

the huge disparities between what i have been blessed with and what many in the world are lacking,

my heart physically aches.

thinking about my experiences today literally brings me to tears. 

but i am thankful for my experiences.

they have re-ignited my humanitarian flame

and will hopefully serve as a reminder of all i need to be constantly grateful for in my life.

i feel as if i can't really articulate what i'm trying to say in an eloquent manner,
so i'll stop writing before i get too ramble-y.
but if you're in an air-conditioned home reading this, with a full belly and clean clothes on your body,
please take a second to be grateful for what you have.

an afternoon con los niños.

i feel like the learning curve here in the dominican republic is a little large. 

i mean, it just takes a bit of adjustment, especially from my insect-free, air-conditioned life in the states.

add some tropical hurricanes in the mix, and the learning curve gets a liiiittle steeper. 

due to a lack of sleep last night (thanks to aforementioned hurricane and my 82,038 mosquito picos (bites), i was a little cranky today. 

it was so hot and humid, i was sleep deprived, and i was itchy everywhere. 

but then i got to spend some time with these little chicos, and everything changed.

they are so innocent, well-behaved, and sweet. 

we played with little plastic animalitos, sang, and practiced writing letters and numbers. 

and they loooved posing for the camera and seeing their faces pop up on my little playback screen... so darling. 

i've got a lot to learn, and sometimes it's hard, 

but these little kids make it worth it.

p.s. aren't they beautiful? don't worry, i have más y más y más where that came from! 

meet oro.

this is my neighbor, oro. 

she is seventy years old and has approximately four teeth. 

she has lived on this side of the island her entire life, 

dances in the streets to the music in her head,

kisses me on the cheek every time she sees me,

and calls me "mi corazón."

she also keeps watch over my casita while i'm gone,

speaks a mile-and-a-half a minute,
gives me necklaces to give to my papá,

and slices me fresh mango from the tree while i read on the porch.

i sure will miss her when i leave.

bienvenidos a la republica.

welp, i made it. 

i'm all settled into a little casita at the end of calle uno here in my little community, and life is great.

i've spent the past day or so just getting used to everything and soaking up the culture, so to speak. 

i am still a bit out of it from all of the travel, so this is all going to be a bit stream-of-consciousness. ...just a fair warning!
here are my observations so far:

the food: considering there are literally two things i can eat from the mercados here, i've become okay with the fact that i'll probably live off of my stash of kid's cliff bars, fruit (soo much fresh fruita!), and "la bandera", the typical dominican plate. 

la bandera is a lot like its tico cousin, casado. a biiiig plate of grilled chicken, salad, rice, & beans. and you remember how much i loved casado? needless to say, i could eat this stuff every single day.

the sights: this place is beautiful! so many colors, everywhere i turn. an aesthetic dream of sorts. it's a unique mixture of culture; there's cabarete, a more developed little beach town that is very clearly geared toward everything touristy, and then you take one left turn down the callejón, and you're inside my little community. this is a much more accurate portrayal of what real life in the DR is like... little family-owned shops, a variety of housing (from small, furnished apartments and casitas to wooden shacks), trash on the streets, chickens and feral dogs running around everywhere. 

the people: they are so great. it's clear that life isn't the easiest down here, but the people are so kind. as i walked into cabarete for the first time yesterday, a little girl, clad in a spiderman backpack, clutching onto her mom's back on the back of a moto as she rode into town, stared at me over her shoulder with the sweetest smile. about ten feet further down the road, she started waving. and my heart melted right then and there.

that being said, as a blonde, white american, it's safe to say that i am a bit of a rarity around these parts. i made a lot of "friends" yesterday, mostly in the form of... "ey, baybee... you look like you need a guy like me. want to ride my moto?" and i don't exaggerate; this happened at least eight times an hour. 

the language: okay, is this real spanish?! the sweetest women, muñeca and oro, live next door to me here. i thought i was doing all right with my spanish skills, until oro started talking. bless her little heart, i just nod and smile half of the time she's talking to me. though she made sure i understood her clearly when reminding me to be home before dark. i'm loving all of the chances i have to speak spanish, but seriously, sometimes i think i'm actually in cuba.

the organization: the DREAM project is really, really cool. i didn't fully know what to expect from them before i arrived, but after learning more about their work and seeing the center, i am impressed. i am anxious to learn more and start taking more photos tomorrow as school begins! 

sorry for the novel. sometimes, i just get a little verbose. and today, i embraced that. 

whirlwinding.

as i sit in jfk airport at 6:13 a.m. on a monday morning in august, 

halfway through a diet dr. pepper and more than a little bit drowsy, 

i think about the past few weeks. 

the undoubtedly bed-bug infested, harder-than-the-floor bed i slept in last night in queens,

the recent hectic (but awesome) wedding weekend in washington state (including my first time crafting a legitimate bridal bouquet and a beautiful shoot in a wheat field), 

the soreness that won't seem to leave my muscles, post workout/boating/move, 

the new apartment that awaits me in utah, only 1/3 of the way unpacked, 

the adventures with friends, 

the finals and upcoming scholastic endeavors that await with a new semester,

and alll the work. 

it has all been so crazy.

i know i've said it before, but i really have never slept so many four-hours-of-sleep nights in my life. 

but you know what? 

i wouldn't change it. 

i've made some incredible friends and wonderful memories.

i got some more schooling under my belt.

and i got to work with these wonderful people (among many, many others):

and now i'm off! again.

this time, i'm headed to the dominican republic to do a different kind of photography work. 

and i really cannot wait. 

i'm so grateful to have all of these excellent opportunities. 

see you in a few weeks, america!

www.annagleavephotography.com