First Trip up the Mountain

OK, this wasn’t my first trip ever to the Travesia, but it was my first trip in 2010. Once again it was so great to be in such a beautiful place and to see all my lovely campesino friends. Here are a few pictures of my friends up there.    

Haiti Trip #8

My eighth trip to Haiti was the shortest I’ve ever gone on. Early in the morning we headed towards the Northern most border crossing. We parked our car, walked to the border, and filled out all the needed paperwork at both the Dominican and Haitian Customs offices. Then within a five minute walk we made it to our final destination, a lovely School and Orphanage.

 

Joy and Vidal’s friends help run this school, so we got a great tour of all the classrooms, nurses office, kitchen, and the Sanctuary which is presently housing 52 earthquake victims. (Mostly Orphans who were previously living in an Orphanage in the capital but after the earthquake had no roof over their heads).

After school hours we had the opportunity to go see some of the children in their homes and wander around the surrounding community. With over four hundred students and more than one hundred orphans you can imagine what a great impact this ministry has on the families living in the community!

Getting Ready for Elections

You may find this hard to believe but the barrio roads might just be paved during the next few weeks! As elections draw near, lots of candidates are trying to impress as many people as possible by paving roads in various communities all over the country. Last week a number of large trucks started smoothing out our barrio’s dirt roads. Then they covered the roads with gravel, sprayed them with tar, and then covered them with a finer gravel. Supposedly they will come back within ten days to finish the job. I can’t wait!

 

 

 

A Four Year Olds Observations

My little four year old neighbor friend, Gabby, loves coming over to my house  and helping me in the kitchen. If she comes to my front door and can see that I’m in the kitchen she’ll come into my house, move a chair from the living room into the kitchen, stand next to me and start helping me with whatever I’m doing. She’ll do dishes, wash vegetables, help stir stuff, etc.She also likes observing other things I do and have. The other day she was really intrigued by two two-pound pink weights I have. She asked me what they were. (weights). Asked me if they were heavy. (Yes… for a four year old). Asked me what they’re used for. (exercise). Asked me if I use them. (yes, sometimes). Then she came really close, pointed to my bicep, and asked me why my arms were so skinny then. (I laughed out loud). She’s so observant!

Easter Ice Cream

DR1 Daily News -- Friday, 12 March 2010

Helados Bon's Easter treat
Eating a sweet with red beans is a Dominican Easter tradition, comparable to chocolate Easter Eggs in the US and the UK. But for those who don't have the time or talent to make the sweet themselves, or a neighbor or friend who will share some of theirs, there is Helados Bon. The leading Dominican ice cream company produces the ice cream version of the sweet every Easter. It is now for sale through April at Bon Ice Cream shops nationwide. The sweet is made from red beans, milk, sweet potatoes, cookies, raisins, sugar and coconut. It goes well combined with Organic Chocolate, Organic Coffee, Macadamia or Vainilla Imperial flavors. It also makes a delicious milk shake.

Juice Cleanse

A friend of mine is doing a juice feast for an extended amount of time, so I decided to join them by doing a week long juice cleanse. I borrowed a Juice Man Juicer, stocked up on veggies you can get in the barrio (mostly cucumbers and carrots), and started juicing! However, I didn’t realize my low watt juicing machine was too strong for my back-up battery system, so I’ve had a improvise a little bit each time the power goes out. So when I’m unable to juice carrots, beets, cucumbers and other vegetables, I drink herbal teas, lemon water or hand squeezed orange juice. I’m on day seven today and it hasn’t been too terribly hard, just a little time consuming finding and preparing all the vegetables. Also I miss certain foods…. but I look forward to all the physical benefits it’s supposed to do for me!

 

Discovery

While I was in North Africa last fall it seemed like there was something new to discover every day. Basically everything was exciting; local food, traditions, beliefs, phrases, etc. An excitement I realized I no longer have for the Dominican Republic. However, I hope to regain some of that excitement of discovery for this country, because though I sometimes feel like a pro on Dominican culture I have so much more to learn….. I just have to become a learner again!

Pinky swear or Enemy swear
A friend and I decided to hold each other accountable for something the other day, so I ended our conversation with suggesting that we pinky swear (if you not sure what that is you can look it up on Wikipedia). To my surprise my friend told me that was bad here….. actually here it’s a way for two people to agree that they’ll be enemies forever. (I wonder how many times I’ve offended these past 9 years by shaking little fingers with them?)

Grieving the Dead
The other night Rod and I drove a dying man to the hospital only to find out that he’d died before we arrived, and there was nothing the doctors could do. Just over an hour after we left the hospital an ambulance brought the body back to his house in the barrio. As a few men carried the coffin inside the family members of the deceased began to wail and scream. One of his sisters screamed loudly, went into convulsions, and passed out for a few minutes. From the response of the large crowd outside the house, these kind of reactions are completely normal, and actually are expected from someone who really loved the deceased. These kind of wails, screams, and expressions of grief can often last through the night and even into the morning until the coffin is carried to the graveyard and buried.

Sweet Beans
A special dessert made of red beans, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins isn’t just supposed to be made on Good Friday as I had thought, but actually all throughout lent. So yes, I’ve already received my first cup from the neighbors. 
Why do they make sweet beans during lent… or at all? I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Needs in Haiti

As you all have heard the capital in Haiti was devastated by a earthquake on January 12th 2010. On this side of the island we felt the quake but never imagined so many people had died and buildings destroyed on the other side of the border. Though I’m on the same island the effects of the earthquake still seem very far removed from me. Yet little by little it seems as though more and more refugees are crossing the border, and more and more of the local churches I’m in relationship with are trying to get more involved in the long term problems Haitians are facing. 

I just wanted to write this short blog to encourage you not to forget about your brothers and sisters in Haiti. They will continue to need your prayers and your help for a long period of time, possibly ten years.

(Here’s a few articles I found helpful).
Special Giving to Haiti: Not All Relief is Created Equal http://www.disciplemagazine.com/www/articles/105.67

Haïti: blessed or cursed?
http://www.worldevangelicals.org/pdf/Haiti_-_Cursed_or_Blessed.pdf

Stuck in Texas

I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life that were a little embarrassing to say the least. Like the time I chewed on a vitamin C tablet that was supposed to be added to water to make a fizzy drink. And the time I missed my airplane because I didn’t know the English set their clocks ahead for daylight savings. But today’s little incident was by far the worst.

The morning started off well as I got to the PDX airport right at 4am. I enjoyed a nice mocha with my dad and then had a pretty uneventful flight to Dallas. It wasn’t until I was getting money out to by some Texas sized ribs that I noticed my passport wasn't where it should be. After thoroughly searching I went back to the airplane..... but it wasn't there either. After a few phone calls I was relieved to know it was in the hands of a nice man named Randy (security check guy) ...... in Portland ..... that's when I started crying a little bit. Randy told me he would take it to the lost and found office in PDX by midnight, so I could call the lost and found tomorrow and figure out how to get it from them. ...... that's when i started crying lots.

Fortunately the American Airlines lady that helped me look up and down the airplane isles was very nice and helpful.......... and together with her friend at PDX and another lady my passport is supposed to be on an airplane at this very moment and should arrive at 6:10pm tonight. After I pick that up I’ll head off to an inexpensive hotel where I’ve been given a distressed passenger rate. Then if all goes as planned I'll head to Miami at 9am tomorrow and then on another airplane that should get me to the Dominican Republic by 9:35pm.

So the past few hours have been a bit stressful, but it wasn’t so completely horrible. I mean, I did have time to  get a nice plate of Texas sized ribs and meet a few nice people! And now I have something to blog about. :)

Goodbyes- No more blogs until January

I had a little goodbye party for myself tonight…….  I know that sounds pretty pitiful, but I had a bunch of cake mixes in my cupboards and thought a little party would be a good excuse to use them up before I leave the country for four months. As is common at most of the parties I host, people played Farkle (a dice game), dominos, listened to music, and ate lots of food.
I’m going to miss this country and all my friends a lot. I never thought it would happen those first years I was here, but now after nine years this place has really become my home. It feels a bit scary and unsettling to leave this place of comfort, yet I’m excited for all that awaits me.
Not only am I saying goodbye to my Dominican friends, but I’m also saying goodbye to this blog… at least until the new year. Thank you to all you who check it out from time to time. May God bless each of you with many spiritual blessings.

Taking a Cat to the Vet in the D.R.

I laughed at the idea of taking my cat to the vet in a pillow case, but after my cat broke the only cardboard box I had I was left with no other option. Nube (my cat) almost managed to get out of the pillowcase halfway there, but luckily the motorcycle taxi driver stopped just in time to help me get him back in.
I don’t know what it’s like taking a cat to the vet in the states but it took four of us to hold my cat down as the vet inspected his ears and face (he had ear mites and scratched all around his ears and face). And after the vet put a cone on his head he acted like the Tasmanian Devil and scared the little girls in the waiting room, luckily Nube was on a leash. I think Nube is the only cat in the Barrio that’s ever had a cone on his head, so he gets stared at a lot, but at least he’s getting better. Unfortunately I’m supposed to take him back to the vet this week, so another motorcycle trip for Nube inside a pillow case. I’m not sure what you guys are thinking as you read this, but even the posh vet I took Nube to said a pillowcase is the best way to take him to the vet.

A short jaunt up the mountain

With a very heavy backpack, a motorcycle, and butterflies in my stomach, a friend and I headed up to the Travesia. The trip up was a bit scary, as Dani had never gone up such a rough terrain before on his motorbike, but beauty of the mountain village instantly relaxed me. It was great to see everyone as well as hearing about all they’ve been up to these past few months. They’ve been busy experimenting with new ways of growing vegetables which have been successful, building new types of “stoves”, and building a concrete pit that will be used for making some kind of natural gas (which is presently being used as a pool).  

This is the first year anyone in the Travesia has tried growing anything in a greenhouse, and they’re all excited about how well the tomatoes have grown.  
The original stove (or fogón) in the Travesia.The new type of stove…… with this style the smoke now goes up and out the chimney instead of all throughout the kitchen and house.Just hanging out with friends by the village store, telling stories and talking about the weather.

A good reason to cry

I held back my tears at the El Camino Church women’s gathering as the ladies shared all the different things they’re struggling with right now. A few are struggling to feed their families for $3 or less each day as their husbands are out of work. About two are dealing with the pain of being cheated on and accepting their husbands new babies in their homes. Another just found out her husband was doing a lot of illegal things and is wondering how she’s going to provide for their baby now that he’s in prison. The list goes on and on. It’s kind of overwhelming, and though I didn’t cry in front of all my friends, I’ve shed a lot tears for them. It’s heartbreaking to see them going through such difficult things. Please be praying for these beautiful, godly women …. and feel free to cry.