Birthday Weekend

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve shared what’s happening here in the Dominican Republic, so I thought I’d share some pictures from my ministry site and my birthday weekend when  my mom came and surprised me. Pictures can show and explain more than words!

The teacher I help, Carolina, and some of the precious little ones I get to spend time with at my site.

 

Julia, a student from Lift who spent two weeks with us, and I reviewing the alphabet with the students

 

  My mom’s favorite part of her day at my ministry site: seeing the kids sit on “half tires” in the ground and brush their teeth. Some of the boys made it a game by trying to spit their water through the fence and hit the chickens on the other side.

Marjory, an adorable three year old at the preschool

 

View of Jarabacoa from up in the mountain

 

Fresh fruit and vegetable market in town

 

 

Picco Pollo- the “fast food” restaurant of the Dominican Republic. We always eat fried chicken strips with really good sweet and sour sauce and friend green bananas. So good!

My mom was only here for three days, but it was a great time catching up with her and letting her see my world!

The Beginning of Ministry Sites

Last week was a great week trying to get accustomed to ministry sites. I am working in a preschool in “El Callejon” with some really great ladies. From nine to one the kids are there for class, and we are still trying to figure out what our days will look like after the kids leave for the day. One day we helped clean and organize the school, another we talked with one of the teachers for the afternoon just getting to know her, and some afternoons we don’t really do much of anything. This has been interesting for the Americans at the site because our work ethic is “to do” all the time, when that is not how Dominicans normally operate.  Luckily, we were warned about this before we started and were kind of expecting it.

Friday, a group from New York arrived and will be staying for two weeks.  They are students our age, who are participating in a semester long, leadership program. For the next two weeks, we will be having students from that team with us at our ministry sites, and we will be working as “go-between” people for the students and missionaries at the sites.  We had a great time last night getting to know them at a “Culture Party,” where we learned to dance the Merengue, played a fun game called “Don Ramon,” and tried Dominican “delicacies.” It’s going to be great working with them, and continue to get to know them!