Our “to do” list was long today. It ranged from meeting with Sister Fifi for her insight on camp to getting girls to finish their projects to to printing individual photos to being ready for Mass at 3. We did most of it!
Dominoes
The meeting with Sister Fifi went well. We learned a lot about the girls we got closer to over the week. She also talked about how camp was part of the Hogar. The girls really look forward to camp all year. The Sisters really appreciate the Church of Saint Edward and all the past travelers!
Mass to celebrate the Feast day was at another Carmelite Order – a contemplative order. The wear full habits and only have visitors on Sunday afternoons and some special days like today. Surprise! We also met seminarians and a priest from Wisconsin!
The Party Started with Bon ice cream. We also had chips and pizzaOur Lady of Mount CarmelThe AlterSisters’ Embroidery Work
No pics during Mass. We greeted the Sisters after Mass. They stayed separated from us, and were charming.
Contemplative Nuns Stay Separate and Like to Visit Three GraduatesGraduates with the SistersThis year gift bags included cards from parishioners and friendsThe Whole Group
Despite tears, it was a fun party!
We look forward to returning next year!
Thank you for reading and thank you for all your support!!
Campamento Group Picture 2022on the church stepsThe BasilicaSister Fifi led the girls in prayers and songsThe AltarMy seatmate, wearing a coat because of the cold bus AC – like the rest of the girls
We finished with lunch at the Carmelite community in La Romana. We were hosted by a 93 year old Sister who was very sharp! but was camera shy. They made us grilled chicken, empanadas, rice, and pasta salad. Jean and I got to visit with Sisters We just met and who we’ve known for a while. Maria is a Noviciate who lived at the hogar all last year and ran camp last year! It was fun to catch up with her. She took and sent the pics for the 2021 blog! Sister Joani, whom we met ~10 years ago when she first went to Africa. She runs a home in the Ivory Coast. They have several around the world. She’s returning. Pray for her and all the Sisters.
Another very full day! We discussed Luke’s Annunciation story and how it related to our own lives. We also brought back Digi Si Señor – a wonderful bilingual song.
We continued with English lessons – very popular this year – and two crafts: the traditional frame and some dolls with children’s rights. Scroll down for pictures. I wish I had a picture of the model. it was about 8 dots of alternating colors. Boring! They were very creative.
A 2021 Graduate returned!
We visited two families. It was very challenging to see such poverty. Like Sonia Sotomayor says in her autobiography, no one expects much froma poor neighborhood. These people are truly destitute and the girls are brilliant and full of potential. No pictures or names. Both parents were obviously mentally ill and neither girl will return during break. We’re glad the girls didn’t join us this time. Very disturbing.
We also stopped at our favorite coffee factory. $4.71/pound of fresh coffee! It’s always a delicious stop.
Finally we stopped at the school the Sisters. Sister Carmen the director gave us a tour. It’s beautiful – the best in Azua. It was a hopeful way to end our afternoon.
Our driver took us on an adventure to Barahona. It is truly beautiful. We started at the “magnetic pole” in Barahona. I’ll post a video when we’re home, but if you google Barahona magnetic pole, you’ll see videos. There was a boy on the side of the road who unknowingly debunked the myth. We had a good time though and this destination was up in the mountains. Next the Larimar Museum where we learned a little and bought jewelry. Then to Playo Patos “Ducks Beach” which is beautiful, but we were greeted by police at the parking lot telling us the waves were dangerous and while we could see the beach and take pictures, we couldn’t even put our feet in the water. The beach had a river than feeds into it. We dipped our feet in that cold water.
We had a typical Dominican lunch, then headed back. On the way back we stopped at another beach that we could swim at.
When we got back to Azua, before returning home, we stopped by the athletic facility. Super nice! Everything was outside including of course a baseball stadium, also basketball , volleyball, soccer, tennis, and a big track. It was hopping. Very cool to see so many people involved. We even saw some little kids getting batting coaching. Neither Jeanie nor I had seen this before. It’s very impressive.
After dinner the oldest girls were psyched to present their drama of Naomi and Ruth. As usual they did a beautiful job!
Today’s story was Naomi and Ruth, a story about two widows – mother and her daughter in law, who stayed together despite a famine and other hardships. it’s a great story. There are few women and even fewer women named in the Bible, so they were very important people. Ruth was a Moabite – a foreigner. She and Boaz had a son and their great-great-great (or more?) grandson became King David, the greatest king of Isreal.
“Friends stick together” craftSpot It!Spot It!The poolJohanna/Jeane arrives!!Jeane and Sister Maria
Every camp is different and this is no exception. Excuse me, but I am the most proficient Spanish speaker here as of now. And that’s not because daily Duolingo plus tutoring has made me very good. Sister Fifi asked the girls to cooperate and help. They really srepped up today. Jeane, a real bilingual speaker, will join Tuesday.
Our Woman of Faith
Four girls took turns reading a children’s book about Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She was born into poverty, only spoke Spanish in kindergarten, had diabetes (which could not be managed easily in those days. She learned to give Bertram shots.). Despite these and more obstacles, she grew to be a Supreme Court Justice. Her mom worked 2 jobs to put her and her brother through Catholic school. She always made the most of opportunities presented to her. Side bite: the audio version of her Sotomayor is excellent. Rita Moreno reads it. Here were two of our readers.
Math
For math we broke into two groups instead of four, then gave out appropriate coloring worksheets. They happily went about adding, multiplying, and coloring!
English
For four groups, four travelers each had an English/Spanish children’s book. They read the story in Spanish, then we went pahe by page and read in English. Each age-group were game for this activity. They were proud to share the phrases they learned with Sister Carmen at our evening circle.
Craft
Here’s the craft. The older girls helped The youngers one they were done.
Every camp is unique and this is no exception. To summarize the travel was classic Summer of 2022 “The Summer of Travel Chaos.” But the greeting at the Hogar and our feelings were more vibrant than ever.
TravelSummer 2022
Travel around July 4th seemed especially brutal this year. The airlines responded to Covid-related pause in travel, and therefore revenue, with furloughed workers and early retirements. This left us with a shortage of pilots and other staff when travel did resume. So there were many (1,000’s?) of canceled flights and delays all over the country. I felt pretty good about our plans, because we weren’t traveling on a holiday weekend.
Travelers on the American Airlines route were notified yesterday afternoon that they’d arrive 4 hours late. Not the best news, but we can make it work. Feeling confident in good old Delta, it’ll be ok to get there before the two new travelers arrive. Nope, our flight was delayed, so we wouldn’t make the connection to SDQ, so we were rerouted to JFK, the SDQ. There must have been a shortage of baggage handlers too, because once we boarded the plane to SDQ we sat 1 1/2 hours until the unaccompanied baggage was removed. We arrived at SDQ at 1 AM. We were the last customers of the night so the workers, always pleasant, moved us along much more quickly than ever before. We got super lucky with our taxi driver – the best I’ve had in Santo Domingo. He was safe and charged us a reasonable, agreed upon fare. Sister Mayra stayed up for us when we arrived at 2 AM! What a Saint. We slept well.
Jen and Ella arrive earlier Saturday at 6. They’ve got to experience the Sister’s warmth and patience and great food.
Sunday
We started with prayer and breakfast with the Sisters. More were there than usual – from Columbia, Argentina, and others who are there for professional development. I started to feel the different world of Campamento – a retreat from the real world with prayer and song and few worries. Sister Grace (49 years in NYC, English speaker!!) and Sister Mayra led us to Mass at the closest parish. The gospel was The Good Samaritan – always an inspiration.
After stopping at the grocery store and packing the guagua, we headed to Azua with Sister Grace and Sister Mayra, who now live at the home.
With Sister Mayra and Sister Grace. We should have taken this whole dressed for church!! Jeane, co-leader and Spanish speaker is joining us Tuesday.
We stopped in Bani at La Sirena (The Mermaid) for some groceries and cold Cokes made with sugar to power us for the final hour. And we stopped at the Payless there to make sure they had the shoes the girls need for their school uniform. Yes! And tomorrow is the last day of their “buy 2 get 1 free” sale.
Campamento Welcome
After waiting 2 years and 1 day (with the travel delays) the welcome was heartfelt and exciting. They played a past theme song “Try Anything” by Shakira from Zootopia. The girls are a lot taller and the new ones are adorable. The new travelers liked the unbridled excitement and warm welcome. No one had their cameras out.
Campamento 2023 