Day 9 - Wednesday

            I was sick the entire day with a stomach virus, (awful), and literally couldn’t get out of bed. Wendy and Chita made me soup and Saday made me the lemonade. They were so good to me. Lots of people stopped by to see that I was okay, which was extremely nice. The pastor called and told me to eat fruit, so Wendy made me a fruit bowl. She also gave me medicine to help with my upset stomach. The “Oracion” today was at Saday’s so I went out on the porch when everyone came over and joined them. They sang Open the Eyes of My Heart so that I could sing in English which was really nice of them. I love spending time in prayer with them, it is very refreshing. When I felt a bit better, I went with Wendy over to the Pastor’s to work on some stuff for “La Semana de los Jovenes”, or week of the children.  That was fun, and I shared with Wendy some things I learned at SB2W like the I’m Third motto and other little things. I like being able to help out in that way and spend time with her. I went back to Wendy’s to sleep for one more night because I wasn’t feeling well still. 

Day 8 - Tuesday

When I woke up today, Chita told me I was all hers, and that I could not go over to the Pastor’s because they were cleaning the house for me… I was very excited to see it and the new parts! While I hung out at Wendy’s for the morning, Johnny came over to hang out, and talked to me a lot about his story, and how he came to know Christ. He told me that he is great friends with Cheito, and when Cheito was saved, he noticed such a difference in his life. He wanted to know more. He said he got talking to the Pastor, and that the Pastor had confidence in him when nobody else did. He started to cry, and although I didn’t understand everything he was saying, I understood his tears and how he felt about his relationship with God, and the radical change it caused in his life. It was a really special time we had together. He had me videotape it so that I could share it when I get home, which I am glad about. We then went to an “Oracion” or a prayer gathering of all the younger members in the church, such as Melody, Melanie, Estelle, Saday, Ezekiel, Raphalito, Kika, Genesis, and more. It was cool to see how eager they are to grow in their faith and support one another at such a young age. Most of them are only 15 years old, and I was really moved by that. The girls needed to practice their dance for the Camboya game, so we went to the church. While we were there it started to downpour like I have never seen in my life, and continued for about two hours. I watched as a bunch of kids had a fight throwing tennis balls at one another in the street, while other people were bathing out in the rain. It was crazy! We were stuck in the church, and finally Estelle and I decided to leave. We ran to her house in the rain. I showered in Wendy’s backyard in the rain (first time for everything), and then some people came over to the house. I talked for a long while with Raphalito and one of his friends about the differences between the US and the DR. He told me how badly he wants to move to the US and go to school at PBA. It really hit home how lucky I am to live where I do and have the opportunity to study at a Christian University. I want to talk with Mark a bit about the posibillity of Raphalito coming to the US. Overall, it was an amazing day, and I never could have anticipated so many events! 

Day 7 - Monday

This morning I hung out with Saday and Estelle, and looked through some magazines with them. They were talking about wanted different types of makeup, and told me it was very expensive and they could only buy it in the capital, and that they only go to Santo Domingo once a year! I decided that I could give them each a mascara and eye liner of my own, and they were so extremely excited. It made me very appreciative of the things that I have, and the access I have to virtually anything I could ever want. I went to the Pastor’s house, and took a ride with Johnny on his motorcycle! It was so much fun! He took me on a tour of the part of Peralta that is further up the mountain, and said soon he would take me down the mountain and show me things down there. At first I was pretty nervous but it was actually really fun. When we got back, Calvin was making a door out of metal pieces for the new part of the pastor’s house. Quite the handyman, I think he knows how to do absolutely everything. I let Daicey borrow the Alchemist to read, and I hope she likes it as much as I did!

Genesis making me 'breakfast' with water (her friend to the left)

Johnny and Franchellis on the motorcycle

Calvin the toolman

Zedekias, Jonny, Myself, and a bunch of kids!

Day 6 - Sunday

The men working on the Pastor’s house are almost finished with it, which means I will be able to sleep there from now on! Very exciting! Today, I got a manicure and pedicure from Lucy and Dorca’s aunt, who paints nails for all the women in Peralta. She did an amazing job, and does it much differently than the Asians in the United States! I think it was better than any manicure or pedicure I have ever had, and it was also free! I also played some basketball today with a bunch of boys which was lots of fun. They kept calling me ‘la americana’ which I didn’t like very much. We also went to a church service at night, which wasn’t boring, just tiring to try and understand the spanish. It is very different than church I am used to, but a great place to meet more people who love the LORD. We went to the basketball games afterward which was tons of fun because the people are so into it! There are more people at these games than I expected, and they treat it like the NBA. I have a favorite team, Camboya, don’t know what it means or if that’s the correct spelling, but I can’t wait to watch the next game!

Making cement

The workers and I

The Ramirez Family, - Ezekiel and Ingrid, + Zekedias and Franchellis

Lucy and I got twin pedicures!

Coolest manicure ever!

Day 5 - Saturday

Today when I woke up it was pouring out, which was different than usual, considering it is normally extremely hot! It was cool which was nice, and I ate breakfast inside with Sarai. She put the TV on because the lights were on, and I was amazed to see her watch an entire episode of Mickey Mouse Club House. I found this very odd considering it’s a show targeted towards children, but I guess things are just different here. She also watched Spongebob, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Madagascar, for three straight hours! I was shocked! I read and sat with her, and when the rain let up, I went over to the Pastor’s house. I played with Franchellis all morning, and went over to the school to play Hula Hoop with she and Natalie. The boys there were drying off the basketball courts the same way my dad dries the tennis courts, with a broom! Afterwards I watched Franchellis get her hair redone, quite the process! Overall, a good day : )

Prayer Requests:
*Strength to finish each day (it is becoming tiring to try and communicate all day long)
*I would not get frustrated by the language barrier

Masters of the Hula Hoop

Franchellis, showing off, of course

Genesis, Baby, and Nagelli

Drying off the courts

In between stages of getting hair done!

Side view...

Day 4 - July 8th

                Today I came to the realization that for most people reading this, they don’t want a play by play of everything that I do… from now on, I’m only going to include things that are very different from the ordinary day, because one thing I have noticed is this lifestyle is all about routine. Another thing I have taken notice of is just how hard these people work at everything. The women spend the entire day preparing food for the family, and even random neighbors that stop by (and they always stop by or pass through the house). Every single thing you eat is fresh, hence the reason why it is so good. I am learning a lot about their cooking, and it’s actually a lot of fun. (Tuesday night dinners!!) After preparing all the food and serving it, they spend time thoroughly cleaning all the dishes. At first glance, when we see that the kitchen is mostly outdoors, it seems unsanitary, the way they eat and do things. However, I have never seen people clean the way they do. Today, Sarai and I cleaned all the dishes from the meal by hand. (Shout out to my roommates) It made me realize how lucky I am to have a dishwasher. I think of it as a burden to have to put the dishes in there, and even to take them out after they are clean. I also watched as three different women today did laundry. They have a small machine that is similar to a washer, but really just moves the clothes around in soapy water. They thoroughly cleaned each article of clothes by hand several times, and then found a spot for them to air dry. I was thinking about how much I love to do laundry, but the truth is, I have never really done the laundry before. I’ve simply thrown the clothes into a machine. I feel like I don’t really know the true meaning of work when I see the way the Dominicans do things. I don’t really work for anything, and today made me feel extremely fortunate, but also extremely lazy. Even though Sarai is only fifteen years old, she is wise beyond her years and an inspiration to me. I feel as if there is so much I can learn from this girl, and I am so blessed by her presence in my life right now. She is so selfless and driven, and truly exemplifies living life for Christ and placing others before herself. Truly amazing!

Ingrid doing laundry

Chita making me breakfast! She is the best Dominican Grandma I could ever ask for!

Helping Eudocia clean the house

Franchellis being her normal self

Day 3 - July 7th

Today was really cool because I got to spend the day talking with several different people, and had nice time spent with each of them. I got to spend the morning with Nelson, a member of the church who is 30 years old. His life is very sad, because he lost both of his parents at a young age, and has many younger brothers and sisters. However, he still has a love for others and the Lord like I have never before seen in someone. We had breakfast together and talked a bit, and I almost cried when I saw that he was wearing my shoes I had left over spring break! It made me so happy that what I left in Peralta went to such good use! When I went over to the pastor’s house, Eudocia (the pastor’s wife) and I spoke a lot while I ate lunch. She told me about how women in Peralta get married extremely young, and that she married Francisco when she was 18 years old. She also told me that women marry older men (the pastor is eight years older than she is). We talked about the clothing I brought to donate and how she will teach me one day to make the hot chocolate they drink. In the afternoon I spent a lot of time talking with Jacques, a man who actually speaks quite a bit of English. We practiced talking together, and I exchanged information with him. It was nice to help someone with English while he helped me with Spanish. He told me that he actually lives in Santo Domingo, and is only in Peralta for a few days. After he left I went on an outing with Wendy to another part of Peralta. She is in charge of a ministry through the church that has different branches, where women have school in the summer for young kids. It is similar to a vacation bible school, but they also learn basic things, such as the days of the week and the months of the year. It was a lot of fun to see how devoted she is to the church and the passion she has for this ministry. I came back to the pastor’s house and had dinner with Franchellis, then went back to Wendy’s and went to sleep for the night!

                Prayer Requests:

                * I would seek ways to serve the people here and offer them anything I can give

               * That I would continue to grow in my relationships here

Zedekias, Franchellis, Me, and Luciana (Daniella's little sister)

Johnny and I

Eudocia (the pastor's wife) and I

p.s. she's the coolest!

Wendy and I on the way to the meetings in a

makeshift taxi bus thing