On the road again

It's Halloween night and Larry & I are enroute back to the Dominican Republic after coming home only 7 months ago. Blogging has not been priority obviously since so much life happened in that period of time. We have loved spending time with our children, with our grandchildren and being in our own home a few months. The last month and a half we have lived out of suitcases a lot and were able to take my sister Nita up on her invitation to move in with her. It feels like we have been in the process of preparing to return to the DR for months, since this time we are going for 6 months.

Our hearts are drawn back to the lovely people we have gotten to know and we feel compelled to go and continue to build those relationships. We will also be involved in the projects that Dominican Connections has set in motion, such as school development among other activities. I think we'll need to take some Spanish classes this time to move beyond our current level of proficiency.

So, having enjoyed our family get together in Canmore for Thanksgiving we feel we are now ready to shift direction for a few months and hopefully we will have internet connection in our rented condo in Sosua so we can communicate regularly.

Hasta luego.

summer season

Summer is fast fading on the prairies and it's been a great season. We have enjoyed our home, garden, friends, family and sunshine in various locations. The backyard garden yielded an amazing crop of raspberries from the few bushes, the tomatoes are large and juicy and the cucumbers add that fresh taste to our salads. This year the bell peppers and jalapenos have been going crazy. We are so blessed with plenty.

We did our annual roadtrip to the Okanagan to visit Tannis and Jeremy and their busy family and again loved the family time taking in Ivy's birthday, quick trips to nearby beaches, early morning TH runs, sleeping in their guesthouse (playhouse)among many memory making times. Ella was a charming playmate and Little Ezra was keeping everyone engaged with walking him around by grasping his hands. Little cutie with big eyes.

We spent an overnight with my oldest sister and her husband in Armstrong and appreciated the warm conversations. Mark was his usual gracious and fun self and we spent an extended weekend with him in Vancouver. Of course we did the annual rollerblading around Stanley Park with him. The summer also included a quick trip to Saskatoon to a wedding where Mark joined us and a road trip to Minnesota north country, where we camped and floated down the river with our California friends who own cottage property.

Back home, we enjoyed camping with Chad and Crystal and their girls (& Izzy) at Rushing River and a day outing to Grand Beach. Marissa had surgery right after school was out and had to go easy on the sun. That did not hold back the energy she & Tyra had for sleepovers, playgrounds, baking and crafts over the summer. There were the warm evenings when we hit the BDI and Sargent Sundae for ice cream and walking. You just got to love summer.

Larry & I took advantage of warm evenings as well to stroll dowen Corydon and sit with our coffees at Second Cup patio. Millie, a fixture on Corydon, scours up & down the street picking up litter, stopping to chat with friendly strangers. She's a part of our summers too.

In the meanwhile the glads and morning glories are still blooming and the sun is shining. This calls for a mid day break and a quick stroll to TH for a coffee and bagel.

Time Passes

The glorious winter in the Dominican Republic is a fading memory with the return home to a cool slow spring in Manitoba. The transition back into life here was more difficult than anticipated, with neither of us having jobs we were returning to. I was somewhat disoriented in time forgetting totally about the annual medical appointment I had scheduled 3 months ahead for March 30th. It did cost me a $50 no show fee, so I'll hopefully remember the re-scheduled time in the middle of summer!

Larry and I have been busy replenishing the coffers by working together on several projects. We were asked to do some small reno jobs like scraping stiple off ceilings and painting, replacing bathroom & light fixtures, doing spring yardwork, etc. This is good exercise to replace all the walking we did in the Dr while earning some money to continue our wanderings.

Actually we both came back last week from spending two weeks out of town again. Larry used his time helping with spring seeding on a farm in Swan River and I travelled to the Okanagan to get reacquainted with the fast growing grandkids, spending Mothers Day with our daughter and her family. It was a special blessing.

Manitoba is coming to life after a particularly cold winter, and the lilac bush in the front yard is about to bloom. The tulips are about done but have added beautiful colour to the landscape.

We are waiting for the apple tree in the backyard to fill out and blossom. The two granddaughters living nearby helped us plant more seeds along the back fence, and we expect lovely vines to emerge this summer.

Time passes, and we see the changes it brings, whether it's the grandkids constant growth or the emergence of green leaves with spring, or our own life transitions.

Adios

Ten weeks have passed and it is time to pack again. We have cleaned out most of the condo and the fridge has been defrosted. The door is open and we are enjoying the night air. The city is preoccupied with Holy Week celebration, school vacation and partying. We have been totally awed by the show the sea has been putting on. Although the weather is sunny and hot, the waves have been pounding in and slamming into the shorelines, washing away the beautiful sand, as a result of a storm at sea. Our favourite beach at Sosua by the Sea is a rocky shore now. The sand will be back but it may take a few months. Speaking to the manager of the hotel, he mentioned he had never seen the sea that wild with waves that large.

We have been able to bring closure to our time here and are excited about heading north again. We'll say our final goodbyes in the morning when a few friends from church are coming over at 8:00 am (can they really do it?) and Garcia picks us up by 8:30 to take us to the airport. Dios les bendiga.

Gratitude

Today is a special day because the church we have been working with in Los Charramicos received word today that after a two year process their official church registration has been processed. They are now in a position to legally own property. It is exciting because we together with them have been looking at some potential properties to purchase so they can build a church rather than continuing to rent premises. Last week Larry and the pastor (Victor) toodled out past the edge of town on this outrageously tiny bike that was donated to the pastor to look over a piece of land. It's a complicated process here to research property for sale and it could be a while. Yes, they made it back safely and the pastor continues to putter along. The pastor and his wife have 6 kids and this is their only transportation, other than the public "transit". Again, a lesson in gratitude to be learned from them as Victor comes in beaming thanking God for His amazing blessings!

Around Town

Sosua is interesting with its European and Latin influences. The northern coast has a mixture of cultures and one surprising evidence is this German bakery within walking distance in town. Inside is an amazing assortment of breads, pastries and sausage/cheese rolls and the aroma of coffee. We have visited this shop several times (Sorry Larry, no gluten free baking here) and though the products look & smell delicious, have found them to be a little disappointing for flavour and texture. Guess there's nothing quite like Tim Horton's. Guess I was expecting the brown flecks on my sweet roll to be cinnamon and it tasted more like ground poppyseed!

There is a Jewish Museum and synagogue in town which is still on our list of places to visit. Sosua welcomed the Jewish people as they were fleeing Germany and you see German names on businesses on shops. There are many German and Dutch tourists that frequent the area, and surprisingly, many Italian and French speaking tourists from Canada. Many times local vendors will approach us in French and we can honestly respond with "No entiendo".

The country has a colourful history with having been conquered and claimed by different countries. There is a political campaign happening for a presidential election in May/08 but the sense is the current president will likely remain in power. We have seen evidence of the campaign trail with the nasty potholes in the road to Arroyo Seco being worked on, after years of neglect. Good things.

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.