This community is nothing like ive ever seen before. people are so social and willing to help me out, but there are also a lot of very sad things that ive been learning.

one thing that i was talking about with my roommate on the way here was the racism towards the haitains. haiti is right next store and i had heard it was a big issue here ... since it is so much poorer haitans arrive here and take the lowest jobs and are maltreated and discriminated against. its noticable here thus far because there is a home near the clinic tht is noticably so much poorer than any other, and no ones talks to the family within it. the walls are crumbliong and theres tons of trash, def. the poorest house ive ever see nin my life. supposedly no one says hi to them and the guys dont whistle at girls like the ones of spanish descent bc they arent seeing as having the right too .

its also sad to see how many people are without jobs... within the tiny community i live in ive come across so many ppl without anything. the economy is incrteddibly down here. a man as explaining the situation to me today in spanbish, it was hard to understand but he was sayng it has a lot to do with the US which i completely understand due to studying the country in the past. a lot of ppl turn to alcohol and drugs... definitly not the majority but a few. one guy who speaks like lil wayne in english to me whenever i walk by is obviously one of the ones who has turned to drugs and my roommate told me today he has 3 kids...

anyways, im really happy im learning so much even though it is sad and volunteering at the preschool today with the 3 and 4 year olds was awesome. they were so cute, i was in charge of a station where we ran around a small track and oplayed red light green light. it was done in the beginning o the day to wear them out and it was a good idea!!! they were a lot easier to handle the rest of the day.

tomorrow ill be helping with them again, latre this week with older kids and with youth groups in the afternoons!! im really excited.

Paz, Kelly