I have lived in the Dominican now for a little over three weeks. I’ve taken 4 showers that consisted of dumping a bucket over my head. I’ve done laundry once which consisted of soaking my clothes in soapy water in a tub, scrubbing, rinsing and line drying. This is exactly what I was expected the Race to be like. Training camp, my alumni friends, and our leaders had prepared us well.
What I didn’t expect was that almost everyone I see has a cell phone (or two) or a tablet. Everyone is on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat but the water doesn’t work for days and days at a time. There have been consecutive days here where you can’t flush the toilet, shower, or wash your hands. Baby wipes and hand sanitizer are quickly becoming blessings from above. Despite the water shortage, when I get back to my bed here in the DR after a long day my phone automatically connects to the wifi. I knew the constant desire to be connected in the States was alarming but I was somewhat surprised to see that it’s more than just an “American problem.”
There is no water, but we have wifi.
Last Sunday afternoon, I woke up from a short nap to find sewage seeping into our living room and the guys’ bedroom for the 4th day in a row. 20 minutes later, all 8 of us were packed (thanks training camp scenario) and headed to our new house for the month.
To be honest, I had doubts about how this would work out. We had planned to move in with our gracious host. We went from having an empty 3 bedroom house basically to ourselves to a two bedroom home already full of furniture and a family.
I remember walking my 75 pounds of gear down the street pep talking my heart along the way… “You signed up for this. You can do it. Don’t freak out- you will be fine. You don’t need much space. We’ll make it work…”
Fast forward back to this week. I have found so much beauty and peace in the little things: a loving host family, strong teammates, corn flakes that miraculously never run out and are never stale (manna if you will), watching the sun rise from the roof, and hot chocolate slumber parties just to name a few.
At our new place, there’s still wifi but we can’t all be online at once. I’m thankful for this experience and my teammates’ encouragement and accountability in being purposefully disconnected to the world wide web and engaged in the present.
Who knew I’d ever define home as a place with no running water, where I sleep on the floor with 6 people. Regardless, I’m happy to be having this experience.
I’m learning all over again that love, life and relationships aren’t dictated by phones and computers. Memories don’t need “likes” to make them stand out. A hand written note or hearing the familiar voice of someone you love is a thing to be treasured. I love that now I feel most connected when I’m NOT carrying my phone, when I’m not worrying about Instagram “ratios” (cough, cough)…
I don’t know who is leading the polls or who got the First Impression rose on the Bachelor. I don’t know which Super Bowl commercial was “the best” or see next month’s box office hit.
I AM blessed to know the look on my sweet teammate Alyssa’s face when she falls in love with a stranger and the way the mountains begin to twinkle as the sun sets for the evening. I’ve witnessed a lot of joy, excitement, and connections made this month and that’s been enough for me.
