English Night

There are lots and lots of youth learning English in the communities where we live. So, we thought we would take the opportunity to help them practice...and give us a break from having to speak Spanish :) Last Sunday, we hosted the first of many "English Nights." About 25 people showed up! Some are just starting out in their English studies, and others are pretty muchfluent. We wanted to encourage them in their studies, and give them an environment to practice what they are learning in their classes. The only rule for the night...NO speaking Spanish...3 strikes and you are out. The activity for the night was charades!! None of them had ever played before...but Dominicans love drama, so they caught on really quickly. We tried to introduce them to some new words they may not be learning in class...some more useful than others...popsicle, rainbow, first date, telephone pole (Elliott's idea), garbage truck, etc. Then we ended the night with an American favorite...Bomb Pops!

Our next English night is scheduled for December 7....Christmas theme! Anyone have any ideas for games or activities??

Tales from the Campo Part 1: "La Bestia"

I was absolutely fascinated with life in the Campo.  As I rode the bestia through winding trails and over log bridges, into the lush foothills of Vallejuelo, I honestly thought, "This is a highlight of my life."

 
There's much to write regarding Vallejuelo, our bus rides to and from, harvesting crops, and the gracious hospitality of our hosts, Paco's family.  Nevertheless, I must begin the debriefing somewhere, and the bestia seems like the perfect spot...

When I asked Silvilio, Paco's father and the unmistakable family patriarch, what type of animals they used to subdue the land he answered, "Burros (donkeys), mulas (mules), caballos (horses) y bestias (beasts)."  To which I thought, "Beasts!  What kind of genetic engineering are they doing out here in the campo to produce such a laborer and what does the 'bestia' look like???" 

"What is a BESTIA?!" I asked.  Unfortunately I didn't understand the answer, so my vision of a cross between a mule and Sloth from The Goonies continued to pervade my imagination.  Then, on our way to bathe in the river, Paco mentioned that his brother was going to meet us there.  He was going on the bestia.  "Now, I will see the beast!"

As you can imagine, I was quite surprised (and rather disappointed) when Paco's brother, son and cousins arrived at the river on an animal that looked to me like a small horse.
Turns out that "bestia," although it's not listed in my spanish-english dictionary, is the name given to female horses here in the Dominican Republic (and for all I know anywhere spanish is spoken- bloggers feel free to comment).  Basically a "bestia" is a mare.

The story would be quite disappointing if it ended on this note, but, fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I ended up spending considerable time with the bestia and she and I became fine friends.  After loading her down with water and slop to porter to the pigs in the highlands, I mounted the bestia and headed out of town and into the foothills.
Riding a bestia is waaaay better than driving any type of vehicle.  I would love to be friends with our car, but it's never going to happen.  However the bestia and I connected.  She responded to my encouraging words; she carefully carried me over bridges, through rivers and up muddy ravines.  I cared for her so much that I even felt bad that her hair was dirty and knotted.  Now that's love.

Off to the Campo

We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning on a 5am guagua (bus) to head to our friends "campo" (farm) for 2 days. Our friend Marlene went to her husband's family's farm a month ago to have her baby...and has been there ever since. We will be traveling with her husband Paco and her grandmother Mercedes to visit Marlene and meet Paco Jr. The farm is about 4 hours away from Santo Domingo outside of San Juan de la Maguana. We are really excited, and a little nervous....its our first trip to the campo and we don't quite know what to expect (will we have to share a bed with 3 people we don't know?). But, we know we are in for an adventure. We will post pictures and stories from our little trip when we get home. 

Darkness

This morning while we were at church our area of town finally received power. We typically only have "street power" for about eight hours each day, which is sufficient to charge our inverter that provides us with electricity for the remaining sixteen hours of the day. But, after losing power early Friday evening our inverter discharged over the ensuing 24 hours and by 7pm last night we were in the dark.

According to the local press, the Dominican energy sector is on the verge of collapse and blackouts have been far more widespread and extensive than the power companies are reporting. The companies report several reasons for going "offline," including insufficient fuel supplies and insufficient payment from customers. The biggest delinquent customer is the Dominican government, which owes the generators at least $US354 million. Other delinquent customers include the vast majority of Dominican residents, including your's truly. However, how can we pay our utility bill when the power company neither meters our consumption nor provides us with any system of payment??? We'd far prefer to pay for what we use and have dependable power!

We remain very grateful for the electricity that arrived this morning and has been recharging our inverter all day without interruption. We are thankful that our water service remained constant through the blackout. It's one thing to sleep in the tropics without a fan. It's another thing to sleep in the tropics with neither a fan nor a cold shower to cool you down through the night. We are thankful for the ridiculous amounts of razor wire, metal arrows, window bars, steel gates and two dogs that protect our home from intruders. Especially when it's dark.
Most of all we are thankful for the promises of God, given through His word, secured through his Son. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. --1 John 1:5-7

Hermanita en la R.D.

My sister Elysia visited us a few weeks ago and we had the best time. After hearing about the DR for many years she was finally able to experience it for herself. We hope she liked being a part of our Dominican life as much as we enjoyed having her.

We picked Leash up at the airport on Thursday afternoon in a rain storm. From the very beginning everything worked in our favor for giving her a full Santo Domingo experience. She was starving so we stopped at "fast food" Pollo Victorina for some chicken strips. Believe it or not, none were actually prepared, so we waited for a good ten minutes while them grilled some up- special order! We then made the trek across the city to our home, which typically takes about 45 minutes, but with all the street flooding took a bit longer. Leash was immediately impressed with the very tiny cars and buses that never make their way to US ports. And also impressed that those very same micro machines could pass through the enormous puddles!

The next day we drove to the mountains of Jarabacoa to show Leash more of the country and do a riverbed hike called "Los Rapidos," which culminates at a spectacular waterfall. Ridley went too. Saturday was supposed to be a beach day, but was cut very short by more torrential downpours. We headed back to grill out and enjoy a slight break from the heat that the evening rains had brought. Sunday was filled with a church service in Cielo, two birthday celebrations and then dinner and strolling in the Old City. Monday was the worst, cause Leash had to go home, which made us very sad... Thanks, Elysia, for visiting! We love you!!