Day to Day

Life in the D.R. has taken on a routine, after the novelty and busyness of the first few weeks. We still so appreciate the warmth and brightness of the climate as well as the friends we have made in this area. The everday housekeeping has more challenges without a few of the conveniences of home, but mostly we are still so blessed with everything needed and more. It is good for us to live in a setting where the majority of people we interact with have little more than the basics day to day and are grateful for what they have. So many things we take for granted at home such as access to medical care, having the resources for vision and dental care, at least one vehicle, a roof that does not leak when it rains, parents caring for their own children, even electricity.
We realize how quickly one becomes accustomed to seeing need all around, as Mark mentioned when he was out "I'm surprised you have anything left for yourselves at all, with all this need". But then, certain circumstances tug at your heart, like when a group of 5 or 6 young Haitian shoeshine boys in the street took a break mid afternoon to play marbles in the shade on the sidewalk near our condo. Even little boys walk around long hours trying to find shoes that may need touching up, and seeing mostly tourists in sandals! We were on our way to the Supermarket and Larry insisted on picking up a special package of cookies for them to give them on our return. (One fellow stopped us at our gate the next day to give me a single pretty flower not wanting payment, just a smile. Probably was picked off the neighbour's shrubs).

This morning we were able to make connections to visit a friend from church by hopping on a motor bike taxi(motor concho). Larry, being the third person on, had to hold onto me as we bumped along the highway and had to make several stops for traffic. I saw later he was seated on a metal bar behind the padded seat. It was a worthwhile excursion as our friend needed to talk about her situation and we were able to see where she lives. Again, typically, she had an open door policy and she had her own 3 children there, was babysitting her little toddler nephew, and then we lost count of the number of neighbourhood kids that wandered in & out. Unfortunately, we had not aniticpated this outing when we left home and were not prepared with goodies for the kids.

This afternoon we will need to walk to the Supermarket to pick up a few items for supper, maybe for some meat to eat with our rice. As we do not have a vehicle, we walk most places and the days we took the pedometer we logged about 5 miles a day. This means I have shed about 5 to 7 seven pounds in our 2 months here and it feels good. Even as we appreciate what is a healthy lifestyle, we realize so many here do not have the options for healthy nutritional choices, so therein lies the constant tension of gratitude vs we can never share too much.

Birthday

My birthday was celebrated on the beach this year with Larry, Mark and Bert and Elma. It was a lovely sunny day and the water was very calm. It was one of those days when you have to swim frequently to keep cool. It was fun introducing Mark as well as Bert & Elma to the Sosua Public Beach, with all the vendors trying to sell their goods. I chose to take a picture of this Haitian lady and her little girl who were walking by with their fruit and ended up buying a melon for at least triple its store value. These women always impress me with their neck strength, great posture and balance. Beautiful.

Thanks for sharing the day making it special. Also thanks to all who sent birthday wishes by email. It was greatly appreciated, especially feeling so far away from loved ones.

Proposal

Further to the post about the dancers, there was an exciting event for the church group when Rafael, boyfriend to the pastor's daughter Llamaly, surprised her with a proposal in front of the congregation. He had arranged to have some rap music played over the sound system while he slipped a ring on her hand. She seemed overwhelmed but then she's only 16. Apparently he wants to finish his education before they get married 2 to 3 years from now. It was a touching moment.

Dancers

Whenever our Vacation with a Purpose group comes out, several of our church dancers from The Meeting Place in Winnipeg prepare a special dance that can be shared with the church here. This year they did a moving interpretation of the song "This is the Air I Breathe" in spanish. At the ladies meetings everyone was invited to participate and it was so much fun to see ladies giggling and attempting fancy moves to the music. Last week the dancers showed up in brand new "uniforms" which replaced the 4 year old outfits. They were stunning and they seemed to dance with more enthusiasm than ever.

The singing and dance are so much a part of worshipping and it moves my heart to open up to God. It is a precious time.

Grandma Cecilia

We had the interesting privilege of walking around and visiting homes in Arroyo Seco. Grandma Cecilia was a most gracious hostess, gladly sharing her secrets on how to make good coffee from growing the beans to serving us the finished product. She had her own home made coffee drip system which produced a full bodied beverage. Not sure if we should share the secrets with TH.

It was fascinating to see her cook her rice and beans over her clay woodburning stove and show us how she collects eggs her chickens lay in the hollowed out split log suspended from the ceiling in the kitchen. She also toured us around her backyard to show us her coffee, grapefruit, lime, banana, avocado, mango and guava trees. She tells us her husband walks to work 2 hours one way every day to work at a farm job to provide for the family. They have some family still living with them, and the 3 young granddaughters at home tugged at our hearts as they tugged at our arms, smiling.

Cecilia has had a difficult life raising 13 children, but she exudes vitality and joy, as she claps, sings and dances with the younger generation at her church. We consider her another new friend.

The Sosua area is a beautiful vacation setting and we are enjoying our new friends.

This picture was taken in Cabarete, a destination known for its kite surfing. There are endless shorelines with white sand and waves rolling in and it feels so good to go walking and then cooling down in the salty water. We spent several days here with friends from our Canadian group. Kara, it was fun sifting through the sand for shells.

Catch up

So it's almost 6 weeks since we left home. We are feeling very much at home in our little condo in Sosua, Dominican Republic. We took our laptop with us but have had so much grief trying to find a suitable place to access the internet, that we mostly resorted to internet cafes, using their computers.
It has been an absolutely enriching experience. Right now we suddenly have wireless internet access in our condo and I am feeling exhiliarated. We have been sending mass e-mailings as updates on what we have been involved in and new experiences we have had.
The large group we were anticipating as part of Vacation With a Purpose has come and gone. It was a busy time with both beaching and running 4 medical clinics hiring local doctors, doing some food and clothing distributions, childrens activity, a community picnic, youth beach pizza party women's and men's meetings.
Oops, just got company. A local pastor, Garcia, just dropped by to discuaa some security issues related to their church/school building out in the country. He and another person have been sleeping on the cement floor this week to make sure the place is safe.
Will try to make further entries as able.