Last day of school

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.