Today was the last day of school for the kids in Monte Plata. It was pretty quite since the kids that were here were here to take tests.
It's been an interesting week with moving into Rebekahs house behind the school and having the girls gone. In addition Rebelah's parents had come from California on Friday and then on Sunday they took off to a resort with Rebekah leaving me in charge of the house and Nadelli and Alba, the two girls that live with Rebekah. Since it was finals week there wasn't much work for me to do at the school so I got to sleep in in the mornings which as refreshing. With being in charge of the house I was in charge of cooking. Much of my cooking experience involves taking something from the freezer and putting it in the oven or microwave, which I quickly discovered is a luxory. The girls thankfully know how to cook, so the have been teaching me how to make Dominican food. I now know how to cook rice, chicken, fried plantains, and fried salami (I contributed some of my cooking knowledge and we had grilled cheese as well). It has been a lot of fun with the girls laughing and joking as well as learning more about the culture. The girls informed that once you can cook you can get married. Along with that they thought it would be funny to choose my future husband for me and plan my wedding. They haven't found a suitable husband yet but it's led to quite a few laughs. Then on Wednesday at church which is prayer night I was praying with one if the housemoms and was quite surprised when she started praying that my brother would find a wife (yes Nathan she thinks you need a wife). I was even more surprised when she started praying for my future husband and then I realized they just really want people to get married.
After Rebekah returned from her time with her parents she left for the airport for a short trip to the states leaving me in charge of the driving. I almost had to take her to the airport but thankfully she was able to find someone to take her which I was very grateful for since driving on the highway here is a lot more daunting than the highway in the states especially since lines and signs on the road mean nothing to the drivers and I'm not certain I would have been able to get back from the airport. I ended up going along for the ride and almost found myself driving home when I thought the driver asked if I knew how to drive when he asked do you want to drive. Thankfully I was able to figure out what was going on before I was in the drivers seat.
I have driven all over Monte Plata just in trying to get out to the orphanage since it's customary to give people that you know rides if you know them and Alba and Nadelli know a lot of people. With that I have been able to see many neighborhoods that I have never seen before. As well as almost run over some dogs and chickens.
What I always enjoy seeing is Alba's tender heart. Alba lives with Rebekah because she didn't have the best homelife which is like a lot of kids in Monte Plata so when she saw one of the of the kindergartners from the school playing marbles outside in the dirt today with her ten year old brother Alba realized that her mom had left early this morning for the capitol to work and that her dad was nonexistent she brought the little girl back to our house to spend the day with us. The girls hair was in need of washing so Alba washed her hair and put braids in it and then they joined us for lunch and we'll take her home after church is done and hopefully her mom will be home. I love that Alba saw a need and took the little girl in for the day.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The girls have gone
The girls took off this morning around 4:30. I mustered up enough energy to wave them a friendly goodbye and went back to sleep. I vaguely remember Sarah giving me a high five through my mosquito net. Our time together was really good. We were able to have a lot of fun at the orphanage as well as have some great Bible study times with the kids eager to participate.
I spent this morning sleeping and washing sheets and towels. Rebekahs parents are here visiting her and it's been a lot of fun getting to know them. I moved my massive suitcases into rebekahs house today as well and spent some time getting organized, but I'm glad to be living with her and the girls and having a good time.
The political scene has still not settled here in Monte Plata. We found out on Monday who won but then the next day we found out there had been some cheating so there were riots in the center of town and threats to burn down the town and a continous stream of canon-sounding fireworks that many times seem to be going off right beside the house. We still don't know who won.
It's been a really hot day today but things seem to be cooling off which means rain is probably on it's way.
We're having dinner tonight out at casa monte plata ( the orphanage) and I'm secretly hoping for some fried chicken specifically Juana's fried chicken but I'm sure whatever it is will be great.
I spent this morning sleeping and washing sheets and towels. Rebekahs parents are here visiting her and it's been a lot of fun getting to know them. I moved my massive suitcases into rebekahs house today as well and spent some time getting organized, but I'm glad to be living with her and the girls and having a good time.
The political scene has still not settled here in Monte Plata. We found out on Monday who won but then the next day we found out there had been some cheating so there were riots in the center of town and threats to burn down the town and a continous stream of canon-sounding fireworks that many times seem to be going off right beside the house. We still don't know who won.
It's been a really hot day today but things seem to be cooling off which means rain is probably on it's way.
We're having dinner tonight out at casa monte plata ( the orphanage) and I'm secretly hoping for some fried chicken specifically Juana's fried chicken but I'm sure whatever it is will be great.
Monday, May 17, 2010
The catfish won
We took Faith to the airport this morning at 3:30 am. We were all pretty tired but Rebekah and all of us girls decided we would go along. We spent last night outside playing cards and looking at the stars. While we were doing this we saw flashes and heard a noise that sounded like a canon a few seconds later. We had no idea how much celebrating they were about to do.
We went to sleep still hearing the loud canon noise making fireworks but the intervals of quiet were enough to get some rest. That was until about 2 am when people started shouting and "singing" and shooting more of their fire works off. This carried on for a while and after a while it seemed the celebration had ended. By that time it was time to get up and take Faith to the airport, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed up to Rebekahs house and headed out for the airport. On our way out we avoided the center of town as much as possible and as we drove we saw random drunk people walking around town, which seemed ridiculous since it was 3:30 in the morning.
We got Faith safely to the airport and on our way back we asked one of the tollbooth workers who had won the major part of the election. We found out it was the one whose opposition had made a song about how he was a catfish and was a "sucker" and had the song played throughout town blasting from speakers held in the back of various trucks. When we returned it was five in the morning and people were still out. We thought maybe we would have a quiet morning, but so far it has been louder than it was last night and for much more time. People have been yelling, there has been what seems like consistent car horn honking and loud music and fireworks that seem to be going off right outside our door (they are very loud). Hopefully things will eventualy quite down.
Yesterday we had a very relaxed day. There was no church so in the morning we had a time of worship and sharing and praying. It was very refreshing to rest. We then had some delicious pancakes for lucnch with chocolate chips and peanut butter and honey instead of syrup. We then had some fun time playing around on the basketball court. We played soccer with two little goals and an exercise ball. We had quite an audience as we played. Apparently we were quite enertaining. That game wore us out and my body is pretty sore today.
Today we slept for a while after returning from the airport and this afternoon we will be heading out to start our vacation Bible school activities with the kids at the orphanage. Today we'll be talking about the birth of Jesus and when he was a kid and the kids will be doing dramas which we will record on our cameras to make a movie that we will watch at the end of the week.
Everythings been going really well and the kids seem to be enjoying having us here.
We went to sleep still hearing the loud canon noise making fireworks but the intervals of quiet were enough to get some rest. That was until about 2 am when people started shouting and "singing" and shooting more of their fire works off. This carried on for a while and after a while it seemed the celebration had ended. By that time it was time to get up and take Faith to the airport, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed up to Rebekahs house and headed out for the airport. On our way out we avoided the center of town as much as possible and as we drove we saw random drunk people walking around town, which seemed ridiculous since it was 3:30 in the morning.
We got Faith safely to the airport and on our way back we asked one of the tollbooth workers who had won the major part of the election. We found out it was the one whose opposition had made a song about how he was a catfish and was a "sucker" and had the song played throughout town blasting from speakers held in the back of various trucks. When we returned it was five in the morning and people were still out. We thought maybe we would have a quiet morning, but so far it has been louder than it was last night and for much more time. People have been yelling, there has been what seems like consistent car horn honking and loud music and fireworks that seem to be going off right outside our door (they are very loud). Hopefully things will eventualy quite down.
Yesterday we had a very relaxed day. There was no church so in the morning we had a time of worship and sharing and praying. It was very refreshing to rest. We then had some delicious pancakes for lucnch with chocolate chips and peanut butter and honey instead of syrup. We then had some fun time playing around on the basketball court. We played soccer with two little goals and an exercise ball. We had quite an audience as we played. Apparently we were quite enertaining. That game wore us out and my body is pretty sore today.
Today we slept for a while after returning from the airport and this afternoon we will be heading out to start our vacation Bible school activities with the kids at the orphanage. Today we'll be talking about the birth of Jesus and when he was a kid and the kids will be doing dramas which we will record on our cameras to make a movie that we will watch at the end of the week.
Everythings been going really well and the kids seem to be enjoying having us here.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Elections
The streets have been pretty crazy the last few days here. All the public schools are closed and there are random parades that block the streets and intersections with people, cars, and motorcylcles waving flags for their favorite candidate. It is not like in the states at all. Elections I believe are on Sunday but apparently the stores will be closed from tomorrow morning until Monday afternoon possibly Tuesday. Even Sundays church service is cancelled. We've been told to not walk anywhere around town on Saturday or Sunday, but to stay on the school grounds. If this makes you worried don't be we're perfectly safe.
Our time here has been going so well. We had a lovely trip to the waterfall on a beautiful day and got to have some fun swimming and relaxing. We also baked chocolate chip cookies with the orphanage kids yesterday which we're gone pretty much as soon as they were cool enough to be eaten. The kids really love the baking activities and the girls are loving playing with the kids and talking with them.
We also get to be at school while the kids are at school so we've been able to play with the kids at recess and they love to play with our hair or play duck duck goose or take pictures. We were talking about the differences today between this school and the schools in the states, which resulted from the gym teacher/recess watcher pulling out these massive gloves made from foam and tape which were supposed to be some form of boxing gloves. The kids loved standing up on a bench and seeing who could push the other off as they boxed all while being carefully supervised of course. The kids from kindergarten up to eighth grade we're participating in this. I think the purpose of it was to prevent other fights from breaking out since had already been two fights that day that I had seen. What made this scene even better was that after the younger ones' recess was over and the older kids came out the eighth grade teacher and one of the girls that helps in the kitchen had a little boxing match which thecteacher lost. Even Faith was able to participate (she lost). We tried to imagine if something like that were to ever happen in the states.
After our fun morning of boxing matches we went to the orphanage to have an ice cream party with the kids. Every kid had ice cream and was finished with seconds in a half hour. I asked Dominga (one of the house moms) to share her testimony with the girls. She has such an amazing testimony of God's patience with her when she turned her back on God and how he wauted until she returned to Him and God's provision for her and her family when she was a single mom and God's leading her to come to Casa Monte Plata, the orphanage. I'm hoping the girls will get to hear more testimonies from the housemoms who are amazing women of God and huge blessings.
Tomorrow we'll be going out to camp with the kids from the orphanage to play some sports and maybe do some swimming in the river. Things are starting to get pretty loud here and fireworks that sound like canons are going off. I need to go get ready for Friday night church now.
Our time here has been going so well. We had a lovely trip to the waterfall on a beautiful day and got to have some fun swimming and relaxing. We also baked chocolate chip cookies with the orphanage kids yesterday which we're gone pretty much as soon as they were cool enough to be eaten. The kids really love the baking activities and the girls are loving playing with the kids and talking with them.
We also get to be at school while the kids are at school so we've been able to play with the kids at recess and they love to play with our hair or play duck duck goose or take pictures. We were talking about the differences today between this school and the schools in the states, which resulted from the gym teacher/recess watcher pulling out these massive gloves made from foam and tape which were supposed to be some form of boxing gloves. The kids loved standing up on a bench and seeing who could push the other off as they boxed all while being carefully supervised of course. The kids from kindergarten up to eighth grade we're participating in this. I think the purpose of it was to prevent other fights from breaking out since had already been two fights that day that I had seen. What made this scene even better was that after the younger ones' recess was over and the older kids came out the eighth grade teacher and one of the girls that helps in the kitchen had a little boxing match which thecteacher lost. Even Faith was able to participate (she lost). We tried to imagine if something like that were to ever happen in the states.
After our fun morning of boxing matches we went to the orphanage to have an ice cream party with the kids. Every kid had ice cream and was finished with seconds in a half hour. I asked Dominga (one of the house moms) to share her testimony with the girls. She has such an amazing testimony of God's patience with her when she turned her back on God and how he wauted until she returned to Him and God's provision for her and her family when she was a single mom and God's leading her to come to Casa Monte Plata, the orphanage. I'm hoping the girls will get to hear more testimonies from the housemoms who are amazing women of God and huge blessings.
Tomorrow we'll be going out to camp with the kids from the orphanage to play some sports and maybe do some swimming in the river. Things are starting to get pretty loud here and fireworks that sound like canons are going off. I need to go get ready for Friday night church now.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day 3
Well we have been in Monte Plata three days now. We had a little mishap with faith missing her flight Monday morning but thankfully she was able to catch another flight and get into Santo Domingo ahead of us.
We spent our first day here resting and getting settled and Rebekah ( the missionary ) made us a nice potato casserole for dinner and after that we were feeling the early morning wake up that we had so we went to bed pretty early.
Yesterday we slept in a little and then spent some time talkin with rebekah about our plans for the time the girls are here. I then took the the girls around town for a good dose of Dominican culture. We took a trip to the bank to exchange money and then to the grocery store to spend the money that we exchanged.
The girls were able to experience some nice Dominican food which included yellow rice with some pork mixed in and a salad, which I did not partake of.
Later in the afternoon we headed out to casa monte plata to make some no bake cookies with the kids. The girls soon found out that the kids like to eat the ingredients just as much as the actual cookies. One of the kids got quite a surprise when she took a little cocoa to eat thinking it was chocolate. Apparently her face was quite comical.
After our time at the orphanage we came back to help rebekah do pedicures with the eighth grade girls. I'm not the best nail painter so I felt bad for the girls who had to have their nails painted by me. We also got to eat some cookies and drink green apple pop which essentially is an apple jolly rancher in liquid form.
This morning we've been in the computer lab making copies and typing final exams.
We'll be going to the waterfall this afternoon and we're all pretty excited about getting in the water and getting some relief from the heat. That's all for now.
We spent our first day here resting and getting settled and Rebekah ( the missionary ) made us a nice potato casserole for dinner and after that we were feeling the early morning wake up that we had so we went to bed pretty early.
Yesterday we slept in a little and then spent some time talkin with rebekah about our plans for the time the girls are here. I then took the the girls around town for a good dose of Dominican culture. We took a trip to the bank to exchange money and then to the grocery store to spend the money that we exchanged.
The girls were able to experience some nice Dominican food which included yellow rice with some pork mixed in and a salad, which I did not partake of.
Later in the afternoon we headed out to casa monte plata to make some no bake cookies with the kids. The girls soon found out that the kids like to eat the ingredients just as much as the actual cookies. One of the kids got quite a surprise when she took a little cocoa to eat thinking it was chocolate. Apparently her face was quite comical.
After our time at the orphanage we came back to help rebekah do pedicures with the eighth grade girls. I'm not the best nail painter so I felt bad for the girls who had to have their nails painted by me. We also got to eat some cookies and drink green apple pop which essentially is an apple jolly rancher in liquid form.
This morning we've been in the computer lab making copies and typing final exams.
We'll be going to the waterfall this afternoon and we're all pretty excited about getting in the water and getting some relief from the heat. That's all for now.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Hey everybody!
Well, I have had a few complaints in the past few years (mostly from my parents) about a lack of communication, so in order to hopefully be a good communicator, I decided I would do a little blog during my time in the Dominican Republic this summer.
Sarah, Ashley, Faith, and I will be taking off really early tomorrow morning to begin our journey down to Monte Plata. I am so excited to finally be able to take some people with me and let them experience this place that I have called home my last couple summers. Faith will be down there with us for a week since her work only allowed her that time to be with us, but Sarah and Ashley will be with me for two weeks. We've spent a lot of time preparing and planning and praying for this trip and I know everyone's pretty excited about going. After the girls leave I will stay there until August, which will be the longest time I will have spent there, but I am so excited to be staying for a while.
The girls and I will be doing a lot of fun activities while we're there like baking classes and vacation Bible school stuff and a waterfall trip and many other things and hopefully being a blessing to those down there and a witness of who God is.
Some things you can be praying for as we get ready to go and while we're there are:
-Safety (travelling and being there)
-Unity
-Good communication
-Open hearts (both our own and the people there)
-Health (that everyone remains healthy)
-that God would be the center of all we do
As I said, I will try to update this as much as possible, but I make no guarantees.
Sarah, Ashley, Faith, and I will be taking off really early tomorrow morning to begin our journey down to Monte Plata. I am so excited to finally be able to take some people with me and let them experience this place that I have called home my last couple summers. Faith will be down there with us for a week since her work only allowed her that time to be with us, but Sarah and Ashley will be with me for two weeks. We've spent a lot of time preparing and planning and praying for this trip and I know everyone's pretty excited about going. After the girls leave I will stay there until August, which will be the longest time I will have spent there, but I am so excited to be staying for a while.
The girls and I will be doing a lot of fun activities while we're there like baking classes and vacation Bible school stuff and a waterfall trip and many other things and hopefully being a blessing to those down there and a witness of who God is.
Some things you can be praying for as we get ready to go and while we're there are:
-Safety (travelling and being there)
-Unity
-Good communication
-Open hearts (both our own and the people there)
-Health (that everyone remains healthy)
-that God would be the center of all we do
As I said, I will try to update this as much as possible, but I make no guarantees.
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