Tres Dias Libres!

I apologize in advance if this post is a little long. Since the next group does not arrive until tomorrow, us lucky interns had Wednesday through Friday to travel, and I haven't been near a computer since Tuesday morning!

On Tuesday night, Robin, Grace, Barrett, Drew, Brad and I took a bus to Santiago. We arrived at the Hub, where we stayed the past four nights. The Hub is a Christian hostel that generally houses Peace Corps volunteers and is currently being run by Ben White, who is a friend of Makarios. This place definitely has a hippie feel to it, with quotes painted all over the walls, but it a nice, comfortable house with a great library. Not long after we got there, Constance and Holly brought in MK, Barrett's girlfriend who surprised him by coming here. He started yelling; it was a great surprise that we all got to be in on!

Wednesday morning we headed out on a different bus to Llano de Perez to 27 Charcos--that means 27 Waterfalls. What happens is two guides take you out into the mountains and you climb through streams and rivers, up ledges and dirt and rocks and waterfalls, and then head back and jump off of or slide down all 27 waterfalls. This is the most amazing thing I think I have done so far in my life I think. It's so frustrating to write about; no words can describe how much fun we had and how much beauty we saw. It took us close to five hours to get through the whole thing and our guides were great--they would literally pull us up if we had trouble climbing, and one of the guides even gave Holly a piggyback ride for half the walk back just because her shoes were too slippery. Let me interject right here and say thanks to Jordan and Mom for talking me into buying a pair of Chacos! I didn't fall once even though I climbed up tons of steep and slippery rocks. We took a cheap disposable camera with us, and I hope the pictures do it justice. We swam through caves and got to witness firsthand God's amazing creation!

Parents, you may not like this as much, but I definitely had a close call on one of the jumps. We all wore helmets and life vests, and since I love thrills and felt pretty confident jumping off of these ledges into the water, I went first often. Well, one of the first waterfalls was one that you couldn't just step off of, because the rocks jutted out further than the ledge below. I don't know what happened, but I guess I needed to watch somebody do it first because I jumped out WAY too close to the rocks. Everyone thought that I was going to clip my ankle on my way down! Don't worry, the only thing that happened is that I face-planted a little when I hit the water, so now I have a cut under my lip. Aside from a few bruises and being a little sore the next day, I would do that whole thing again in a split second. It was breathtaking!

Thursday was a big tourist day for us. Brad, Drew, Barrett, MK and I took a bus out to Santo Domingo, the capital of the DR. When I say that we took a bus out there, I don't mean all together. Sure, we thought we were all getting on the same bus, and we all had tickets for the same bus, but Barrett ran to buy some fruit just minutes before the bus arrived and Drew and MK went to look for him as Brad and I got on the bus, and then I watched as the bus pulled away with my friends still on the curb! Santo Domingo is a two hour trip and the next bus would not be arriving for another hour, and we were running late in the first place (we weren't getting to the city until after 1 -- we aren't morning people!), so things were looking pretty interesting. It turns out that another bus ended up getting to the station in Santiago just ten minutes after the one Brad and I were on left, so the stragglers hopped that one and we met up in Santo Domingo. Good thing, since none of us have cell phones!

We took a taxi into the colonial part of Santo Domingo, on the way passing the capitol building (it's pink!). I didn't realize how much American history lies here in the DR. We saw the first church of the Americas, what is known as the first street of the Americas (called "Calle de las Damas," or "Street of the Women"), the Alcazar de Colon (Christopher Columbus's Fortress), and other various sites dedicated to Dominican history. I don't think I was prepared for all the cool things I got to see. It ended up being a great day, complete with a couple of terrible American movies on our charter bus back!

Friday has to be one of the wildest days of my life! Mondays and Fridays are market days at the Haitian border, so basically everyone can make a mad dash across during the day. All I had was a paper copy of my passport, but we were told that wouldn't be an issue as long as we just tried to blend in walking across (Yeah right. Blend in? A bunch of gringos crossing into Haiti?) We left in the morning for Dajabon, a Dominican border town. The feel there is instantly different, already overwhelming. People are lining the streets selling goods, with blue tarps hung across the walkways to provide some shade. Walking was tight; people pushing wheelbarrows will run into your heels yelling "Permiso!" to get through. It reminded me of my time in Morocco; not asthetically but in the smells and the heat--the smell of the spices made me remember how sick I felt during my trip there last year!

We made sure to get in pairs and then went to cross the border. I went across first, with Drew following behind and Barrett and MK behind him. You cross over a long bridge lined with armed UN officers who seemed like they could not care less what you were doing. We set foot in Haiti and thought we were free until a Haitian man ran up to us and made us turn around. The odd thing was that he was simply wearing a straw hat and a University of Miami t-shirt and he wasn't armed. We think it's because we were white and they wanted to try to make us pay, or that they were telling us it was unsafe. Meanwhile, the other four people from our group got through without a hitch.

Back in Dajabon we ended up running into two girls who stayed with us at the Hub who are volunteering with the Peace Corps. Molly speaks great Creole and said she would sweet talk the man and get us across. Unfortunately, he insisted that those of us with passports (or paper copies of passports) go stamp our passports on the DR side and then come back across. Drew, Molly, and Tildon waited with him, while MK, Barrett, and I walked over. I spoke with one of the guards who said it was no problem, he'd even stamp my copy, for $25 a person. No, not pesos, like we thought at first, but dollars. So I said no way and we headed back to Haiti. Well, the Miami man had a change of heart because he had let the other three in, so a bunch of Haitians guided us over to them where we stood around for a while and talked. It was so funny; none of them meant us harm, they were just completely curious about us. Honestly, there was not even a single Dominican across the border, much less any Americans. It is absolutely shocking to see the change in the landscape just crossing over the line between the DR and Haiti. It is desolate there, stricken with poverty. A few of us speculated that this was a glimpse of how the rural areas in Africa look.

Crossing back over, we cross a river that is now called the "Massacre River," because during Trujillo's reign, he demanded that all Haitians trying to cross over into the DR be killed, and with machetes, not guns. Thousands died in that river; it was haunting to see it. I felt a burden going back into the DR, as it is absolutely rich compared to Haiti. I can't even imagine being back in the US after seeing it. Taking the bus back, we were stopped at least five or six times by armed guards who would get on the bus and check to make sure there were no Haitians on board.

So I am back, safe and resting in Puerto Plata. I am so thankful that I got to see all that I saw this week!


With some guards in Santo Domingo


The First Church of the New World, Santo Domingo


Crossing into Haiti from the DR


Drew, Rebecca, Barrett, MK, and our crazy friend in Haiti! My favorite photo.


The "Massacre River" separating the Dominican Republic and Haiti

Pictures if you don't have Facebook

The Makarios house!


Most of the interns and staff in Cabarete on Saturday
From left to right: Constance, Chris, Barrett, Leticia, Brad, Holly, me, Alexia, and Grace! Not pictured: Robin, Drew, Johanna, Camille, Jennie, Miguel, and Sharla of course! (Okay, so a lot of people are missing)


The time the boys decided they needed to take pictures without their shirts on. Barrett, Blake, Drew, Brad


Everybody on the roof! We used a self timer.

Monday

Today was one of the most different days I have had, but it was just as good as all the others.

A couple days ago, Jennie found an old man in the Haitian side of Pancho Mateo who was basically wasting away in his own filth. Makarios is not an organization that does any sort of medical missions, but when we see a desperate need, we help where we can. So today a few of us took the tough task of cleaning out this man's small tin home, basically by throwing out all his clothes and mattresses and pretty much everything in there, as a lot of it was covered in feces. We fed him a protein drink and water, because apparently he did not eat unless the neighbors (some of which are his own family members) had extra. He could barely hold his head up to drink from the straw yet devoured two drinks worth. We bathed him (he had no clothes, just a towel covering him) and cleaned his floor. We have a bed for him and a new chair and are bringing him sheets and a set of clothes tomorrow. This man seems near death but at least we can give him his dignity back.

The great thing is, as I was bathing this man, I didn't feel grossed out or miserable. I truly felt the joy that I think is only possible to feel when you finally die to yourself and live for others. It may have been the most humbling experience of my life up to this point. I am so thankful for it. Now reflecting back on that moment, it is apparent to me that this act of dying to myself daily is something that I want to implement in my life back in Austin. I don't want to be the same. I want that moment to be in my mind and I want to be that for the people I love and serve them the way I served an old man I don't even know.

In the afternoon I made my first trip to Chichigua. This village is tiny, much smaller than Pancho Mateo, and completely Haitian. It was harder for me because the children spoke more Creole than Spanish so they were not as easy to communicate with, but just as loving. Camille had class and they all sang "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" in Spanish and I loved it. One of the neatest things was meeting Jaina. She has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, but Camille carried her inside for class and I got to sit with her and help her participate. I don't think she understands Spanish, which made me want to learn Creole right then and there.

Although I loved the Austin Stone group and miss having lots of people here, it is great to be here and spending time with the other interns and to have a little peace and quiet. Although I was thinking about it today; it is never truly quiet here in the DR. There's always some sort of noise, whether it be a motocoche, a rooster, or some Reggaeton music blasting somewhere in the neighborhood. But I love it!

Weekend

The interns went with the Austin Stone group to Cabarete on Saturday. It was another relaxing day on the beach (man, life can be tough here!). Well, when I say relaxing, I am not including our trip on the guagua, where we fit 23 people into the smallest van I have been in yet! It was one that should have fit maybe 11, but was actually smaller than the last one we were in that was crowded. Grace got a picture, so hopefully I can post it soon. The trip to Cabarete is longer than our usual public transportation trips so we spent a good 30 or 40 minutes stuffed in there.

I don't know if I have mentioned the German bakery, but the German bakery in Cabarete is fabulous. And cheap. Each time we go, we get the most amazing pastries. So once we got to town, we immediately went to the German bakery and ate, then straight to the beach. I made the conscious mistake of not wearing much sunscreen in order to get some color on my fair skin, completely disregarding the way kids crawl all over me. So tomorrow I might have to suffer a little bit with my sunburned skin in the villages. That was bad deciscion number one. Bad decision number two involved an attempt at windsurfing. Standing on the board is easy, but trying to point the sail in the right direction is much harder. Let's just say I fell forward at one point and I have a bruise on my face that may or may not develop into a black eye. I will keep you posted on that. But the night finished with several of us sleeping on the roof after the Austin Stone group had their last devotions here and prayed for the staff staying. It was neat to have them lay hands on us.

Today started off great in that we went to church in Monte Llano and they asked us to sing for them. We got to go on stage and sing "Amazing Grace" and "I Love You Lord" and honestly, I was choked up singing. It was one of the coolest experiences. We serve a God that is bigger than our language barriers, and the people in this church truly worship. They sing without inhibition and they more than welcomed us, a bunch of Americans, most of whom did not understand a word, into their church. After, as many as possible greeted us with handshakes and kisses on the cheek. What a blessing!

The Austin Stone group left for Santiago after church because they are flying out in the morning, and the interns and staff came back to the Makarios house and had time to relax, dance, hang out, eat breakfast for dinner, and pray and love each other. It was awesome! Rose's pancakes tasted like funnel cake, I kid you not. I also got to video chat with Whitney for over an hour! That was just what I needed. It was great just to see her and Esco and her room and it made me excited for when I'm home. However, I'm in no rush. These past 11 days have flown by! It's unbelievable! By the way, our dance party was sweet. Lots of Michael Jackson.

My Babies

Here are some pictures from Pancho Mateo. The little girl in the last picture is named Melisa and she is one of the girls who is attached at the hip to me. The other two pictures basically describe my life in Pancho Mateo.

Casual Friday

I have a pretty urgent prayer request. Sharla has come into contact with a woman who is dying of AIDS. She has six kids ranging from the age of 18 months to 14 years old and it is possible that we might be taking them in for the summer if she passes away. If we did do this, we would only be caring for them until we found a family for them. Nothing is certain, as Sharla is still getting all the facts and we aren't sure how urgent the woman's need is. She has a husband who is also dying of AIDS. Please pray for guidance for Sharla and the Makarios staff in getting the correct information and for what this might look like for the rest of the summer and for Makarios. This may not be the only possibility for the woman, as she is seeking out other possibilities for her children, so pray for her and for God's will with these children.

Today was a great day! Barrett, Grace and I took public transportation to the village, as usual. Let's just say, our guagua experience was my favorite so far. They piled 20 people into a van that should have only seated 11 or 12 at the most. I was pretty much sitting on a Haitian man's lap. We could not stop laughing.

We had our second day of Camp Pancho Mateo today, and I would say it was another success! Of course, it was still organized chaos, but a success nonetheless. The best part about the kids is that when we pray, they repeat every word you say. I loved it! After we prayed, we sang several songs--the Spanish versions of "Father Abraham" and the song that goes, "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart" among others. They absolutely love to sing and they already knew all the songs so that was great. We taught them this rap that Barrett had made up and they danced around to it and that moment is probably one of my favorites so far!

We had some Bible stories to read them so I split into a smaller group with about six kids and read to them. God blessed that time because I was able to communicate with them and they understood and quickly answered some of the questions I asked them about Jesus.

Oh, and it was SO HOT! I'm getting used to it.
This is the view from our roof.

Camp Pancho Mateo

Today has been an abnormally hot and humid day. I mean, we are all pretty used to the heat, but this is just ridiculous. Sweat is dripping down my forehead and I'm just sitting here. To make matters worse, it is about to start raining, which means the group can't do devotionals on the roof and we can't sleep up there!

We had a lot of fun though in Pancho Mateo. The interns and I took public transportation guaguas to Montellano (the village next to Pancho Mateo, basically) and then walked to the village. This can be a long walk but Luz, our housekeeper, lives in Montellano and right across the street from a little shop with awesome juice, Colmado Luis. We got juice and then found a short cut through the river into Pancho Mateo which was very exciting!

In the morning we just hung out and played with kids in Pancho Mateo. It was a great feeling to have a couple kids come up and greet me by name and then drag me into la cancha (the basketball court) and tell their friends, "Rebecca's here! Rebecca's here!" We went to El Campito for lunch, which is pretty far outside of the village, but it's very authentic and Dominican. When we came back, we started the first day of Camp Pancho Mateo, an attempt to have a little bit of structured play and Bible teaching. It was hard! We wanted to have a kind of "bird" theme--we used the verse from Matthew 6: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more evaluable than they?" and simplified it, then described it and played games involving it, such as a "verse scramble" and we made birds out of paper bags. It was difficult for me to correctly explain what I wanted to about the verse, but I think we got the message across in general. The paper bag craft was fun but it was frustrating to see some of these kids, completely ungrateful and demanding more and more from us: they didn't have enough feathers, or their bird's eyes were crooked, just normal kid stuff. It's hard when you put a lot of work into something not to get frustrated, but I know that they don't understand and all I can do is love them. Overall, I think our first day turned out to be a success!

I'm more worn out than normal! This is going to be a tiring, but wonderful summer! Pray again for health and for us to not grow tired and weary and to realize that we are simply serving the Lord and that's what matters.

Sick Day

We had a day to sleep in today which was wonderful. I got to get up late (although I am waking up with the sun now anyway), sit on the roof and spend some time reading the word and praying for everyone here and back home.

However, my headache was worse than before, so I took some of Holly's migraine medicine, and because of that we thought I should just sleep on it for awhile and give my headache a day to heal. I'm glad I did because I was out for four hours straight with people coming in and out of my room! I was upset about this though because I really wanted to be in the village. All of the Austin Stone group girls were going there to play games with the kids and I just didn't want to stay back. Overall it was a good thing. When the group came back they told me that some kids were asking for me by name! Pretty amazing since I had only been to Pancho Mateo twice. How well are they going to know me in two months!

The other big thing about yesterday is that I learned to do a few things. Those of you who know me (all of you) know that I can hardly cook a Hot Pocket. Well, I was on breakfast duty and was assigned the seemingly easy task of cutting the papaya and cantelope, and of course I had no idea how to go about doing it! But I learned, and now I feel confident that I can cut most any fruit. Since I stayed back during the day, I helped Rose prepare dinner as well. We cooked stir fry, and I cannot believe I cooked chicken and vegetables and it actually tasted good! I want to bring my skills home but who knows.

A lot of people are getting sick so please be praying for the health of the group and of the interns. Pray that my headaches stop!

Loving it!

I am in such a good mood and I think that's because, for one, God has answered even some of the smallest prayers I have had, and also because I opened my e-mail to e-mails from several roommates. It's such a blessing to have friends back home who I truly love and trust and pray for me and I cannot wait to get back to them!

It has been less than a week and I already feel more comfortable speaking. I'm starting to love Pancho Mateo and I find it pretty easy to talk to kids and somewhat less difficult to talk to adults. Today we sat in at least three different people's homes. One woman who runs a small little shop where we get juice from insisted we come inside so we just sat in her living room and drank our juice while she kept working. When we got up to leave, she said, "This is your house!" I just love little things like that.

One of the hardest things I have seen so far I saw in Pancho Mateo today. There is a man who is paralyzed because he fell from a tree about fourteen years ago. He lies on his front porch on his stomach in a cot because recently he has contracted what his family believes is amoebic dysentary, which basically means he has some sort of parasite that is stopping him from keeping any of his food down. The way they "treat" this is pretty much to give him diapers, and they claim that the diapers gave him what is now keeping him from lying on his back--this huge sore/rash on his lower back. The worst part was that he was literally all bones. By far this is the skinniest man I have ever seen--there is no way that he is that thin just because of a recent sickness; it looks like years of undernourishment. It doesn't make sense though because both his father and sister were caring for him constantly. The sore on his back looks like those that are common for AIDS victims, so we think that it might be something more than just dysentary that is affecting him. Luckily, there are some American doctors around that we might be able to get in contact with, just to bring a fresh opinion as he has already been to the hospital here in town.

The old woman that Chris, Holly and I talked to yesterday let Barrett, Leticia and I sit on her porch to eat our lunches today. She had at least five other family members sitting around, and this woman just starts praying out loud. For at least five minutes, maybe more. I mean, she prayed for EVERYTHING. Her family, the world, the country, her village. It was amazing. I have never prayed like that. I can't even describe it, this poor woman with such faith. I hope I get to spend more time with her!

I have a pretty bad headache. If you are praying for my team and me, please pray that we will continue to build our community and to love and serve each other as a family. Pray for our group from the Austin Stone that is here this week, that God would be teaching and using them! And pray that God would keep me healthy and motivated and spending time with him, because I am going to crash if I don't!

Finally, some pictures! They are (1) the view from my balcony at the Makarios house, (2) a child in Pancho Mateo doing what every kid does outside the school house, (3) a view of the river that the villagers bathe, wash clothes and dishes, and throw their trash and sewage in, (4) me taking a nap next to the basketball court with some girls, (5) and me with some kids from Pancho Mateo and Sara, Rose's daughter. I'm putting all my pictures up on Facebook so feel free to look at those as well. Mom and Dad, this would be a good time to get Facebook!

Pancho Mateo, Day One

So, now that I am living at the Makarios house and the Austin Stone group is here, I am learning more and more what my summer will look like. Last night, after our fifth power outage, my roommates (Holly and Laticia) and I decided to sleep with some of the other female interns on the roof. Let's just say, that is the best idea we have ever had. First of all, it's beautiful up there. To the north is the ocean and to the south is Mt. Isabela, which is a sight to see. Secondly, it's COOL. No joke, Holly got up in the middle of the night and got us one of those hotel blankets, like the pink ones I used to have. It was incredible!

We woke up for breakfast at 7:30 and then it was time to get situated into the guaguas to head to the villages. Guagua is the word for van, which includes both our Makarios vans and public transportation vans, which are a whole different, completely awesome story. (See the end of the post)

So, if you read about guaguas, stuffing 40 people in two vans is a task. We did it though, and I made my first trip to Pancho Mateo. Today I was getting to know the village, but I get to do something very special that I am both a little nervous and extremely excited about while I'm there. One of the interns, Chris, is in graduate school at Clark in Massachusetts getting an a grad degree in something like international development (I forget the exact name). He is here this summer, living with a family in Montellano (Luz, our housekeeper, is who he lives with), and interning with Makarios to fulfill a degree requirement. So while he is here, he is conducting a survey and study of the people in the villages Makarios works in, mainly Pancho Mateo and Chichigua. He is trying to find out people's opinions of us and other "gringo" presences in the villages -- because there are a lot more than you'd think! He is asking them about the new education center we are building in Tamarindo as well. So my job is to help him, to listen to the people and ask questions as well so he is not alone and it is not as awkward.

We started that today, and had this great conversation with an old Dominican woman and half her relatives. Dominicans are some of the most hospitable people in the world. They immediately offer you their chairs to sit in on the porch and coffee if they have any (which they oftentimes don't since in these villages they have so little) even if you can't speak your language.

I was really nervous about doing this and talking to adults, just because Dominican Spanish is so different, but God really blessed today! Plus I still got to wander around and hold lots and lots of cute kids that are starving for attention. The Austin Stone group is split into three groups. Half of the girls go with Camille to help with her classes that she teaches in Spanish in the villages. Half go with Alexia to help with English camp. (Alexia and Camille are the two teachers who have been here the past year with Makarios.) The guys are all out at the site working on building the education center, which is one of our main projects for the summer.

The village was so amazing to walk through. It really is amazing how much we take for granted just at the Makarios house (I'm typing on a laptop that is connected to the wireless internet, for one) and these kids and families literally have nothing. Children are naked or wearing their one pair of clothes and some have scabies and other ailments, yet they are all so excited to see "gringos" everywhere and want to hug us and be held by us and sometimes kick us, which is okay too.

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PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN THE DR:

These consist of old vans, sometimes 15 passenger, sometimes more the size of a small school bus, sometimes smaller. They run on the same route up and down the autopista, but you just stand on the side of the road and flag them down, as one of the workers is standing in the open doorway looking for passengers. Then you yell at them when you want them to stop and get out--this can sometimes be a disaster, as we found out. And you can fit a ridiculous amount of people into a guagua. Other interns have seen 30 people squished into a 15-passenger guagua. The other option for public transportation is the motocoche. These are small motorbikes that two people can fit its driver and then two more people. I got thrown onto one with Johanna, another intern, on the way to lunch one day in Cabarete. It was awesome, but I kept wondering what would happen if we crashed. Don't worry Daddy, it didn't go too fast!

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I'll post more pictures soon -- I have lots of cute Haitian and Dominicans.

Pray for continued confidence in being in the villages and that God would use us in big ways and in the way he has planned because I have no idea how that will look but I'm excited!

Finally, a few pictures!

The first three pictures are from San Juan Adentro, outside of Santiago. The little girls with me in the third picture are Nini and Rosalina, Ruben's daughters.

The last two pictures are from Cabarete, where I have been the past three days and why I haven't been posting. We had a staff retreat and it is absolutely beautiful there! Cabarete is famous for kitesurfing. In fact, the world championship will be held there in just a week or two. We stayed at a VERY nice hotel, Agualina, that had AIR CONDITIONING! It was awesome. But the best part was getting to know the rest of the staff and interns. I am so excited to know them better and I truly believe that the Lord brought us together for big things.

I am now at the Makarios house in Puerto Plata. We live in a very nice neighborhood, but that doesn't mean that we haven't lost power four times today, because we have! The Austin Stone group is here, which is very exciting, but I am tired and should sleep because tomorrow is my first day out in the villages.

El Campo

Let me tell you, the rules for driving in the Dominican Republic are, if you get there first, it's your turn. And the roads are bumpy. Every moment is an adventure here. I can understand and speak some, but Dominican Spanish is very fast, and very hard to understand! I know that with time I'll get better.

I woke up around 10 a.m. this morning and Ruben came and picked me up to take me to his farm. Ruben drives a Toyota truck that seats five, but today it seated seven, including eight-month-old twins. Wistli, a Haitian man who works on the Makarios farm, has two adorable twins, Nefti and Neftali. Unfortunately, they were very sick. So today I went to the doctor, the supermarket, and the countryside.

I have never been so humbled in my life. This country is so poor and I got to spend time with familes who had nothing yet were living richly. I have everything and am nothing like them.

Let me tell you a little bit about Ruben. He is 55 and a native Dominican but lived for thirty years in the US. He became a Christian at 26, where he says his life "really began." He became a monk for awhile, actually a Franciscan, and lived basically as a poor man for the Lord. But Ruben felt called back to his home country and so he came back here. Over the next several years until now, he adopted three boys, got married to a woman who had a son, and had two little daughters. Naomi, who is three and goes by Niní, and Rosalina, who is four, took up most of my time today. They took me into their room and showed me every single doll they had (most of which had no clothes and were missing at least one leg).

Ruben's farm is absolutely amazing. It took an hour to get about twenty minutes away because of how rough the roads are, but I got to see the most beautiful view. Ana Maria, Ruben's wife, prepared me a Dominican meal which was delicious, and the farm has all kinds of wonderful fruit growing. I got to sit in his hammock for about an hour with Niní and Rosalina and it was great--I told Ruben I could stay there forever and he said I could as long as I helped his wife around the house!

Ruben's kids took me around to meet all the neighbors. They are all so hospitable, offering chairs and insisting you sit down and offering coffee. Not to mention that everything is so green, and so beautiful.

I am back at the White's house for the night. Oh, and I got to meet Jacob and Isaac, the Haitian twins that Sharla is in the process of adopting! Isaac is almost completely deaf and so they are teaching them sign language in addition to Spanish, English, and possibly Creole. I can't wait to post pictures.

Pray for safety in traveling, because tomorrow Sharla and I are headed to Puerto Plata, where the Makarios house is, in the morning! Also be praying for our staff retreat this weekend and for God to direct us for the summer. Pray that I don't lose heart with my Spanish but that the Lord will give me the strength and confidence to speak!

Love you guys!

Day One

I got to the airport this morning in Austin just before 5 a.m., only to find out that my flight was cancelled from Miami to Santiago! I was supposed to fly from Austin to Chicago, Chicago to Miami, and finally Miami to Santiago, but American Airlines was able to find me new flights from Austin to Dallas to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and THEN to Santiago!

What was weird was that the man sitting next to me on my flight to Puerto Rico turned out to be a man studying theology at Dallas Theological Seminary who was getting married in Puerto Rico this Saturday. We got to talk about what I was doing in the Dominican and I got to help him with his very basic Spanish workbook. Had I not been on that flight, I would have never gotten to have that conversation.

After a three hour layover in San Juan, I got on a very small, very Dominican American Eagle flight to Santiago. The plane was old and tiny and hot and everyone was yelling on the plane so I got a little nervous. But I got here without a hitch, all my luggage was waiting for me, and now I am at the White's house! Ruben, who runs the Makarios farm, picked me up, and his little daughters are three and four years old and already have put their fingers all over my computer screen. I love them instantly though!

I wish I could have taken pictures, but it was dark when I got here and slightly rainy. Pictures to come!