Monday, Day 5, 7/25/2011

Wow...I am SO behind on posting....So sorry...no excuses...just busy!!!  Here is Day 5 in the Dominican Republic!!

Little Adrian

Today started out good. I had breakfast and then went with Jen, Taylor and Dave to get clean water. On the walk there I started feeling yucky again. I had had some orange juice and wondered if that didn't bother me. I had it yesterday morning too. So no OJ anymore in the morning on this trip. We left for Cerros de Mogollon around 8:30. Miguel came with us today, so I rode in the back with about 9 other kids. All of the mud and holes made for a fun ride out there! I was happy to have Daniel again as our translator. The kids were very excited to see us, but our mission today was to do home visits in the morning. A lot of kids came out though so we had one team stay at el play and play with the kids and four other teams went visiting. My team was cam, Darwin and I with Daniel as our translator.

Cam and Adrian

We started at one house where the older gentleman kept talking about how terrible the government was and how they take so much. In fact....and this is true...thie Dominican government taxes 26%! That's insane! We found that most families are born in Cerros de Mogollon and all stick together. It is not uncommon to see two houses on a property with MANY generations together. After we prayed with them we went across the street. We didn't take too long with her. We prayed with her and moved on. Then we went to the little "store" and spoke to them. Their "store" is attached to their house. They sell a few things, as well as clean water. They sit out front their "store" most of the day. The man was fun to tease. He had four children. One was going to med school in Santo Domingo and another, Westcar, was there doing VBS with us. Westcar and his mom Sandra, attend the church in Mogollon, but nobody else in the family does. I asked the dad why he didn't attend. He said it was too far. When it rains and gets muddy it is very difficult to get around. Their rainy season is May-September.

Ellen and Lettie

Taylor and Maria

After we prayed for them we went to another house. One thing I forgot to mention, when they pray they pray out loud. For example, Sunday at church when the pastor prayed...or like when we prayed for them, they pray different worded at the same time. Agreeing or what not, so at the church, there was a lot of noise during prayer. Anyway, the next house we had to sit inside because there was no porch, they were surrounded by rice patties. The woman of the house was three months pregnant. She was very sweet. We prayed with her and moved on to the next house. This house was so full of men, women and children that I can't even begin to tell you how many there were. They were really awesome people. One man was a teacher. Miguel said that teachers, doctor's and nurses make NO money hardly here. Street vendors can make more money than they can. Anyway, they offered us Canapés. They are kinda like grapes, only you have to peel them, and they have to be sucked because there is a huge pit inside. They are VERY sour. But they were tasty! Then they brought us a Guava. We were told before the trip not to eat the outside of things. However, these people told us to eat it like an apple. I said no...so they gave me a machete to peel it. It was sharp and not the cleanest. So then they said to stick the whole thing in my mouth, seeds and all. So...I just took a bite, and it was NASTY! I had seeds stuck in my teeth and I said, "lo siento, pero, no me Gusto!" They laughed. After we prayed we left, I kept burping guava, it was terrible! Daniel and all the other translators said they love guava! ICK! So we were late getting to the vans, in fact they came looking for us.

We went back to the house, ate lunch, I took a siesta, and then we were off again for VBS. It was nice out. There was a little old lady, her name was Ramona, she looked about 85-90. We asked her her age and she said she was 60! She was so skinny, I told her she needed to eat chocolate to get muy fuerta! She laughed. She had such a cute laugh...more like a giggle. Her eyes were beautiful brown with a rim of blue around each one. Very pretty....my moms mom had eyes like that. We talked and teased for awhile, then I had to go help with VBS, so I said goodbye and she hugged me and smacked me on the tushie! It was funny! Our story was Jesus walks on water. Ater singing and the story we broke into little groups. We had some really young ones, so we did the craft, then the blind train game where one leads with eyes open, but everyone behind had their eyes shut. It is a trust game....it's a lot of fun. Then we left....but not before I introduced Cam to Ramona.

Some of our translators, Thomas, Frankie, Maggie and Daniel

Yolandri in the Sponge Bob Shirt

We had dinner, yucca, plantains and meat again. We debriefed a little...then I played hackeysack with the kids and some other adults. It really is fun! Then Mark, Serenity, Gabe, Darwin and Dave, taught Cam and I how to play Rage. It was such fun...we played two games, and I lost both horribly...I was in last place, both times! (I liked it so much, as soon as I got home I went on eBay and bought it!). Then off to bed. Jen, Serenity, Taylor and I talked for awhile...then we hit the sheets!

My baby, Yolandri

Mi y mi corazon, Yolandri.