The Dominican Republic is:
-COLOR! Bright, neon colors on finger nails, faded colors on
buildings and houses
-Markets with piles and piles of second-hand clothes to dig
through- its like they knew I was coming!
-Avocados the size of planets.
-Loud Latin music playing almost constantly; everywhere you
go (great in the day-not so much when you’re trying to sleep)
-Hot days and less breezy nights
-Siestas. Everyday. Heck yes.
-Tons of people in the streets talking, laughing pretty much
all day (except during siestas)
-The LOUDEST motorbikes you have ever heard. You can
actually feel the rumble in your stomach!
We, as a squad, spent our first 5 days in the Dominican
Republic in the Capitol city, Santo Domingo. We stayed in a Catholic “retreat
center”, next door to the cutest
Latina nuns you have ever seen!
Then I moved with 4 of the seven teams to San Juan. San Juan is a medium
sized city about 1.5 hours from the Haitian border. The 4 teams are in the
barrios (poorer communities) in the city and visiting villages near the
mountains. I’m so proud of these teams. They are jumping in and already have
awesome stories of God moving. Check out Hope’s blog “Sometimes we are the
miracle” at http://www.hopeowens.thewordrace.org/
Now I am with a team in Azua, a city on the coast in between
San Juan and Santo Domingo. It is HOT here in the day, and really feels like a
city, or more like a concrete jungle. I have yet to make it to the beach,
hopefully on a day offJ I’m getting a little claustrophobic to be honest.
But it’s been great to be with this team and see the passion they have for the
kids they work with everyday. I went out to the Barrio, Buenas Aires, with them
last night and got a taste of why they love it. Children children everywhere.
Grabbing at your hair, calling your name, constantly touching you, wanting to
be held- even when they are 12 years old! Not that this is totally uncommon,
especially in the third world, but these kids are aggressive. Like FIGHTING
each other to be the one to hold your hand. They all want love and attention so
badly, to be able to give it to them in a positive way is making all the
difference in the world. Many have had to grow up far too fast, like raising
siblings when they are babies themselves and like becoming sexually active at
age 8. Check out Denise Bavone’s blog ” Who’s raising who at http://www.denisebavone.theworldrace.org/
One and a half weeks left in the DR, then on to Ecuador. Its
flying by, as time does, I will update again before we leave the islandJ I
had about 70 great random shots, many that I wanted to post, but they ALL
somehow got erased. Heartbreaking. But I’ve learned to take it all in stride-
so hopefully next time I will have new pictures to shareJ
Ciao for now
