Last Week in the DR!

Well, today was the day we moved out of our host families, which means my trip is coming to an end. We have one more beach trip before we leave the DR, but one week from today I will be at home in freezing cold Michigan with my family. While I am sad to leave, I am excited and ready to go home.  

Over the last couple of weeks, I haven’t had the chance to update you all on what has been happening. It’s been a time of parties and wrapping up, especially in our ministry sites. There have been some really fun events, but also sad times as we’ve had to say goodbye to Dominican friends and missionaries. Here are a few pictures to show some highlights from the last few weeks.

The winter season has arrived! It is significantly cooler and a lot of rain. I have been wearing a fleece sweatshirt and a light jacket. Even though it’s still in the 70s every day, our bodies are so used to warm weather that we think it’s cold- not really sure what’s going to happen when I get back to Michigan and have to become reacquainted with snow.

On a recent trip to “La Sirena,” a store similar to Walmart, Nikki and I were very excited to find “semi” American food! While I have gotten used to Dominican food and really like it, I still miss American food and can’t wait to enjoy it soon!

The semester students were invited to help serve at Students International’s Christmas party this year. It was hosted by the administration for all of the workers of SI. In all there were about 90 people there.  Hog roasts are a Christmas custom here in the DR, and we had four full hogs to feed all the people. It was so good!! I got the opportunity go to and see the pigs while they were roasting (this photo is about 2 hours before they were eaten!).

Sunday night we experienced a true Dominican cultural event: a baseball game!! Dominicans love their baseball. Our team, the Aguilas had a really bad game until the 8^th inning when they were down 7-0, and they came back and scored 7 runs in that innings. Unfortunately, the other team scored in the 9^th inning and won.  Nikki and I enjoyed the game because we got ice cream (actually Yogen Fruz-frozen yogurt) from Bon, my favorite ice cream place here!

This picture is from our preschool’s Christmas party on Tuesday night; this is the class I have been helping in this semester. The kids had a great time performing songs, wearing angel outfits, and the parents loved seeing their kids.  It was a fun night for all!

These last few weeks have been a good time of finishing up work in my ministry site, and hanging out with my host family, the team, and missionaries. I’m really looking forward to coming home soon, but right now I’m super excited to go to the beach for a few days and relax!!