The Blessing of Family

(The gender of our baby is announced in this post!!)

This year Christmas was different. We celebrated in the DR.

AND, we had the awesome blessing of getting to share it with my family. My dad, mom, brother, 2 aunts, uncle, cousin, grandmother, and my aunts mom came down to celebrate with us (there were 11 of us total). Right before we moved here, we threw out the idea that my family come down for Christmas and that we go to the beach for a week....thinking that it was a lofty request....but that it was worth throwing it out there. Everybody immediatly responded...WE ARE IN!! My mom went to work and researched just

 about every hotel on the island. She found us an awesome brand new hotel in Punta Cana (on the east coast).

We had the BEST week together. The beach was one of the most beautiful beaches any of us had ever seen. We took lots of walks...ate too much food...played Apples to Apples, Rummikub, and worked a puzzle...played lots of tennis...had our own Christmas Eve service on our balcony...had a gift exchange...and just enjoyed being together as family. And then, on Christmas morning, we had everyone guess what they thought baby Drake was...8 guessed boy, and my grandmother Hap guessed girl. HAP WON!!! We are having a baby girl!!!

On Saturday we checked out of the hotel, and loaded a bus to Santo Domingo. When we arrived at our home, Rosario and Javier had prepared an enormous Dominican lunch for all of us. We then took them up to Cielo to meet some of our friends and show them around Mission Emanuel's property. We had a great last dinner in the Colonial Zone....and then had to say our goodbyes.

I don't know if Elliott and I were ever able to express to them how much it meant to have them all here with us. We can't imagine what our Christmas would have been like had they not come. It is also so wonderful because now they all have seen where we live and got a glimpse of our lives. I know I am biased...but I think I have the best family in the world.

Metered

After reading our previously written post titled "Darkness," my dad thought that we were deliberately refusing to pay our power bill. Afraid we were serving as a bad example to others and worse, a poor witness to Christ, he called me out. So, just to clarify, we were not refusing to pay for our consumption, but rather, were not given any opportunity or means to pay. In retrospect, I suppose we could have estimated our usage costs, gone to the power company's office and handed them cash. The truth is, for better or worse, that option never crossed my mind until now. Anyway, Tuesday a team of sub-contractors installed a watt meter on our home, so we're now officially within the electric company's grid, and regarding this matter, I think above reproach. That's good. I'll make a comment on this post when we get our first bill…

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.