My mom's third graders sent me an email with a list of questions this week about what we are doing in the Dominican Republic. Here is a glimpse of my month through the questions from children:
When you come to visit us, will you bring any other missionaries with you? (From I)
If I can convince my friends to come visit, I will definitely bring them to meet you guys!
Can you bring us a big fish? Have you seen any blue and white shells?(From A)
I wish that I could bring you all back a fish, but I don't think it will smell very good after 2 months. We went snorkeling hand we saw some really cool tropical fishes. They gave us bottles of bread to feed the fish and the fish would surround us- so close that we could touch them! I didn't see any blue shells, but there was blue glass. There were lots of white shells at the beach!
Can you bring any souvenirs back to show us?(From R)
I haven't bought any souvenirs in the DR yet, but if I do, I will definitely bring them back to show you all.
Are you having fun there?(From C)
Yes, we are having fun. The family that we are staying with is from Virginia beach and they are really nice. They have a trampoline and a pool. We are camping all together near their house and we spend a lot of time hanging out on the porch of their house. There is a waterfall that we use as our shower. They have 4 kids and a puppy named Princess. We are living on a mountain top and once a week we get to walk the mountain roads to pray for the mountain. Those are usually my favorite days. We also help to do work around the house and we cook for our group over an open fire. You guys would love it.
Can you come visit more than once? Are you having fun helping the children?(From E)
I am having fun helping the children. I love tutoring our contact's children. I tutor their daughter usually and she is in first grade. She is really cute and so so smart. We get to have class wherever we want so we usually study on the trampoline, in a hammock, or in a tree if it's not raining. The kids that we teach English are so wild! They climb on the tables and under the tables and yell and sometimes they bite, (things that I'm sure you all would never dream of doing!) but they are so precious. They live in a really poor part of Santiago and they love that they can spend a few hours with people that care about them. They don't speak any English and I speak very little Spanish, so teaching them is hard, but they love learning animal sounds and singing "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands."
Can you send more pictures? (From A)
I will try to send more pictures. I haven't taken a lot of pictures this month because it has rained a lot and I don't want my phone or my camera to get wet and break.
Do they have any anacondas where you are? (From N)
As far as I know, there are no anacondas here. There are guinea hens, chickens, roosters, geese, and turkeys. There are lizards everywhere. (Ask my mom to tell you about the lizard that was in her room when she was visiting me!) Sometimes there are rats on the porch too. Usually they make people scream. There are lots of bugs too. I have not seen any snakes yet, but there is still time.
What are you doing there? (From A)
We are working with kids teaching English, doing yard work, making paths, carving steps into the mountains, prayer walking, cooking meals, cleaning the house, washing clothes, tutoring, and helping with administrative duties.
What is it like there? (From K)
We live on the top of the mountain so it is beautiful but a little bit chilly. It rains a lot and sometimes we are in the middle of the clouds. Everything is really green and the forests look like the rain forests. Banana and mango trees grow in the wild and there are lots of flowers. Everything is painted bright colors and it is really beautiful.
Is your pizza good there?(From B)
Well I've only has pizza once and it was Dominoes and it was really good! We don't get to eat pizza that often but I wish that we had it more often.
Are there any crabs there? (From J)
Well, I'm glad you asked. One night, one of my squad mates had a crab under her tent and it was huge!! It took like 5 people to catch it and we had no idea what it was. Finally, the crab was caught. It was probably about 8 inches and it looked so mean. One of the staff members here cooked it and ate it. I bet it was delicious.
Do you listen to Pharell Williams music? (From J)
I don't know who that is…. So no? 🙂
What are you doing to help the people you are with? (From D)
We are helping them by doing everything they ask us to do with a smile and a positive attitude. We also do everything with joy and try to make the hard tasks fun with games.
Do you listen to country music? (From R)
I don't usually listen to country music, but a lot of my friends here do listen to it.
Thank you guys for the questions!! I hope to write more about my DR experiences soon.
