Hey guys,
As I finish up my time here in the Dominican Republic, I decided to write a blog giving you a few of my favorite memories of the DR. So, here we go!
· Riding in the back of a pickup with all of our luggage to our ministry site, El Circado!
· Finding out that our house sits right on a major intersection of the town and that there is loud traffic that goes by All Night
· Realizing the beauty of the countryside in the mountains of the DR
· Finding out that the main means of transportation in our town alternates between motorcycle and horse
· Talking to the people and finding out how friendly everyone is (the wonderful lady pictured below is named Sandra and she was so sweet to us during our time there – she even made us lunch one time!)
· Hiking up a local mountain and admiring the beauty of God’s creation
· Enjoying the delicious food served to us by the locals
· Speaking of food – buying a live chicken from the market, killing it, de-feathering it, and cooking it into a stew (Don’t worry, I won’t include pictures of this)
· No American showers – options are a bucket shower or taking your shampoo and soap down to the local river to wash (The bucket showers are actually incredibly refreshing on a hot day!)
· Riding on the back of a motorcycle for an hour through a thunderstorm to get to the nearest ATM
· Getting dropped off in San Juan with my teammate Anthony. We had no idea where we were so we just hopped on the nearest motorcycle taxi and said “Miguel” (we didn’t have the address to where we were staying) and somehow we arrived at where we needed to be
· Going camping along a mountain river – to get there we had to hike 4 miles and cross several rivers along the way
· Fitting 14 guys in one very small SUV for an hour drive (definitely got cozy there!)
· Shopping for groceries on market day
· One of the people we visited was named Fabio. It turned out he owned a huge garden and took me back there and cut down several large sugar canes and avocados for me and my team
Anyways, these are some of the many events that were memorable for me. So far, I have loved this adventure that God has brought me into. It’s been so cool to be able to serve my Creator in this beautiful country.
So the next country on the list is Haiti! We’re leaving this Monday at 5am for a 7 hour bus ride to Port-au-Prince where we’ll be working for the next month. I’m eager to see what’s in store for us. Stay tuned for more adventures and pictures.
I just wanted to end with a quick word of thanks to all my wonderful supporters. You all have been such a blessing to me and have enabled me to go on this amazing adventure. I wish I could thank each of you in person but unfortunately I won’t be able to until I get back. Until then, knowing that I am so grateful to you all for believing in me and what I’m doing.
God Bless,
– Kevin Gottlieb
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