My Very Long Dominican Post

I attempted to post this in the DR, but it didn't work. Everything was in Spanish and mine was in English and it didn't merge very well. I will post all here, I hope it is not too long to enjoy. It begins with July 9,2009

We landed in the Dominican Republic approximately 1:20 pm on July 9, 2009. Our day actually began at 2 am as we drove to Orlando to catch our flight to the Republica Dominicana via Miami. MIA is not one of my favorite airports. When MIA is the first place we land when returning to the states, it never feels like home, more like you are still in South America. This time we were heading in the other direction and we had a little time to kill. We logged onto facebook to let everyone know our status, did a little texting and set out to find Starbucks. The garbage lady, and I am not being unkind, that was her job told us it was at gate 36, downstairs. I was a little nervous about leaving the area and not getting back in so I asked someone else, who, consequently, did not speak English very well. He said “Don’t have Starbucks here”. Briana really wanted a Starbucks so I checked with the garbage lady again and she didn’t understand why I was asking again, but she told me again. We checked the wall and gate 36 was still in the yellow area so we wouldn’t be leaving the safe area.

Before I left the states, I emailed Andres with the time we would be arriving. I did not receive a reply. Since I am always worried about something, I was slightly concerned that there would be someone there to meet us. He was there with a crowd and that was a blessing.

The area around the airport was different from other places I have been. At one point we actually saw the ocean. There didn’t seem to be as many people. We arrived safely at the Herreras and had a snack, some of the best pineapple I have ever eating. We fellowshipped then took a little nap. Jimmy and Andreas borrowed a van to get us around in. We went for a ride, this is when all the excitement began. Now things were looking like South America….mass chaos. People everywhere walking, riding bikes, mopeds in cars and busses. Andres was driving in all this mess while texting. Jimmy said he was driving his truck, which is standard, while texting. Now that is skill. We went to the supermercado. It was more like Walmart, they sold everything. We stopped for gas. Here gas is $5. They put gas in the tank and there is another tank in the back of the car. It looks like a propane tank, you fill up that tank with cheaper propane like stuff and if I understand correctly, you alternate the two. I am sure that would fit right in with our cap and trade. It would be all cap and no trade.

We made it back to the Herreras and had the best meal. Mercedes made arroz y habechuela y carne. Fue muy bien. Briana even approved.

Tomorrow we will see our friends in La Vega. Andres had set up a visit to Casa de Campo where Sammy Sosa and J Lo have houses.

July 10, 2009

I have coined a new phrase, “When in La Romana, do as the La Romanans”. It was quite an interesting day. We left this morning at 8 am for La Vega to see our friends the Brockells. They are missionaries there. La Vega was about 3 ½ hours away. Almost exactly midway was the capital, Santa Domingo. It is a very large city. One very interesting sight was a Nissan dealership with a huge sign on the building that said “Big Blow Out Sale”. A Japanese dealership with and advertisement in English, go figure. You never can tell what you will see in a third world country. We stopped on the way to use the bathroom and of course we got a snack. It is a wonder that everyone here isn’t obese, food is central to their culture. We had an interesting cheese and crackers which were actually more like garlic toast.

La Romana is on the coast but it is impressive that not very far away are the mountains. They were beautiful.. We met up with our friends and ate at a Dominican restaurant. Afterwards we went for ice cream. Crossing the street is always an adventure for an American. In the United States, the pedestrian has the right of way, well here they are on the bottom of the totem pole. The motorcycle has the right of way. We were crossing the street and one turned the corner and BARELY missed Joanna and actually touched Briana when I reached for Joanna to get her out of the way. The guy on the motorcycle yelled “ te cuidado, mi amor tea mo” as he zoomed by. In English it sounds like this “watch out, my love, I love you”. Steve and Julia showed us their church and then we went back to the house and fellowshipped. They had a friend from the states visiting with her son. It was his birthday and we made a cake for him.

Andres wanted to leave so we could be back in familiar territory by dark. The car wouldn’t start, it was out of gas. Yesterday I explained the gas ordeal. It took some time, but we got the car started and were on our way. He took us home a different way from the way we came. We went through the city in Santa Domingo. We ended up in quite a traffic jam, all due to a stinky garbage truck. Traffic in South America is interesting at best, but when there is a problem, it is really something else. We were completely stopped and this bus was driving towards us and it didn’t appear that it was going to stop. Thankfully it did or I would be smooshed.

We were almost home and I thought we were lost. I had just seen the La Romana sign. We turned in the other direction and drove through a town. Andres asked directions a few times and we ended up at Amable in San Pedro, Sammy Sosa’s hometown. We ate pastele en hoja. When Mercedes told me the name I thought she said “pastele enojada” which means mad.. It is made with platanos and chicken; it was pretty good with ketchup on it. After a few interesting encounters with the locals, we made it back to the road to La Romana. I am glad we had Andres and Mercedes today, we would have really stood out by ourselves. I have been forced to speak my horrendous Spanish, hopefully it will improve. I am also learning to roll with the punches just a little more.

July 13, 2009

I skipped a couple of days on the blog, not because they were uneventful, but just not as many events and I was very tired when we got home. Here things get going a little later, consequently, things end later. This is almost opposite of how our days go at home, but….when in La Romana…..

Saturday, we went to La Playa. It is very beautiful. Different from ours in that it is in the Caribbean and the water is green. The water is also much warmer than our Atlantic. It is very interesting; there is only a small area that is available for the Dominicanos. Most of the beach is owned by the wealthy or hotels. We did walk in that area to take pictures. We were stopped by a couple that asked us in English to take their picture. They were not Gringos, but they knew to speak to us in English. We came home and ate and fellowshipped again. Mercedes made the best fish and potato salad. Jimmy ate at least 5 pounds of it.

Sunday morning we were at Iglesia Biblica Cristiano. Jimmy preached in the main service. That evening we were at there mission church. I have never in my life, heard music so loud. I thing young man in charge had the same solution for all problems, turn it up louder. Afterwards, we ate more authentic Dominican food, Keepers ( I am spelling it like it sounds because I don’t know how it is spelled), and empanadas. The restaurant we ate at was owned by a couple, the husband was Arabic and the wife was Dominican. The wife spoke to us, her name was Yolanda.

Today, we were at Compassion International. Jimmy taught the older kids, the age range was 13-19. This group was very helpful with his Spanish. It was a lot of fun for him. Briana and I were on the internet finally, and the teacher of the young ones came to us and said we were teaching that class, here is the lesson. She handed it to Briana. It was about Joseph, only I didn’t understand exactly where in the story they were. I saw the word esclava and thought it was the word for imprisoned which is encarsa. (I am sure I did not spell that word correctly) Well, Joseph was imprisoned and enslaved. I was supposed to tell about being a slave and I told about Joseph in prison. No problem, the kids told the story because it was basically a review anyway. Briana was translating but I was able to tell some in Spanish, it was humorous, the parts I did know in Spanish I still paused for Briana to speak so she just repeated what I had said in Spanish.

Finally, we went to the park and played games with the kids. Jimmy made a ton of balloons for them. There were even adults that hung around to watch. I am not sure what the rest of the day will be like but we will see.

July 14, 2009

Today was a day of opposites. I will explain later but I must tell a story from Sunday that I forgot to tell. After the morning service, we took church to one of the ladies in the church that could not attend the service. Her name was Rosa. She had ice on her leg and it was wrapped. I thought that was the problem. In actuality, she had cancer of the spine and had received treatments but the cancer was still there. Rosa was so happy to see us. Joyful would definitely be an adjective to describe her, albeit, not adequate enough. Andres had Jimmy share words of comfort and Mercedes sang for her. It was such a blessing to see the happiness of this family in a not so happy situation.

Now to today. Briana and I had a little better idea of what was expected of us. We actually had a written lesson, in Spanish of course. The plan was for me to teach in English and Briana translate in Spanish. They thought it would be good for the kids to hear English. These kids were the rowdiest kids I have ever dealt with before. I don’t think they have any discipline in their lives. I think they are much more comfortable with chaos than I am. The ministry the Herreras work with is Compassion International. It is really a very good program. They reach out into the poor community and evangelize. I received a lot of hugs.

From there we went to have lunch at one of the deacon’s homes. I always get a little nervous eating and drinking in the city, but we have done so much of this here that I just received it with thanksgiving. They were so excited to fellowship with us. The one thing that stands out here is the conveniences we have in America that are not here. Andres and Mercedes house is nice for here but things like flushing toilets, water pressure, washing dishes, electricity, they aren’t the same. We Americans are very spoiled. These people that shared with us today live in a home that is very poor by American standards. They had no electricity; there were lights that were powered by batteries. Even in the home we are staying in, they loose electricity, but fortunately they have the batteries for those times too.

After lunch we went to Casa de Campa. This is the place where Sammy Sosa and J Lo have a house. We did not go to that part, we went to a very scenic area, walked hundreds of stairs down a mountain to a lake and back up again. This area was built in the 70’s but looks ancient. Sammy Sosa and Michael Jackson both had weddings here. There was a huge ampitheatre.

I believe this evening is prayer meeting. I have just found out that I need to share a devotional tomorrow evening. I guess Briana will be translating once again. She asked me not to use any words she didn’t know so that will limit me a little.

July 16, 2009

When we leave a country, I always wonder if we will be remembered. As we left the Herreras, I think we were remembered BEFORE we arrived. This is a very special family and we were treated royally. They were genuinely sad to see us leave and even though I miss my girls in Los Estados Unidos, I will truly miss the Dominican Republic. Andres and Mercedes are a family serving the Lord in the same manner we are. We gave Andres the nickname El Presidente. Everywhere we went he knew several people. Often we would stop while driving down the road to talk to people. Mercedes gift is definitely serving. She cared for us like we were her own children. Manuel, the serious one, practiced his English with us. He is a caring intelligent young man, pasturing a small flock and leading his family to serve the Lord. Erika is a gifted lady, using her skills to guide the less fortunate through Compassion International. She misses her brothers a lot. Andresito is a much loved little boy who I am certain will grow to know Jesus Christ. What a blessing this family has been. As I sit 38,000 feet in the air, it doesn’t matter if I will be remembered; I have been blessed by a family who I will always remember. In total, we spoke and shared seven times, Jimmy 4 and Briana and I 3 times. It was a short week packed with activity.