Well, I have been here for more than two months now and there are so
many things I can praise God for.
1. “Cooler” weather has finally come and it has been glorious!!! I no
longer feel like I am sweating constantly and this makes it much easier to
teach my classes and also improves the concentration of my students during
class. It is definitely not cold here, but it is a refreshing change and
oftentimes, I get to enjoy a cool breeze since my classes meet outside under a
tent.
2. I feel a little bit more prepared with my classes and now have a
better understanding of what my students need. Also, I am really enjoying the
tutoring sessions. It gives me a chance to work with the students one on one
and we are able to converse more and do more interactive activities.
3. The power hasn’t gone off too much recently!
4. The Lord has kept me safe through everything.
5. I have been able to enjoy times with friends. This past weekend, we
were able to go to the first opening baseball game in San Pedro and got to
cheer on Las Estrellas (The Stars) to victory!
At the baseball game
6. My ipod is working!!! A couple weeks ago, I went to wash my sheets
and accidently scooped up my ipod in them. I had filled the washer and had just
turned it on when I heard a noise and instantly knew what it was. I quickly
retrieved it and threw it in a bag filled with rice. I had no hope of it ever
working again, since it was probably in the water for a good 5 minutes. But
praise the Lord, He literally performed a miracle. I went to turn it on 5 days
later, to check, not really thinking it would work, but it did and there is
hardly any damage to it!!! It truly is a blessing from God because many times I
use my ipod to look up words in Spanish that I don’t know to better help my
students and to also call my family back home.
7. I live right across from the school, so I get to sleep in extra late
in the morning. Also, if I am running late, I don’t have to worry about getting
a motorcycle taxi, I just walk across the street! It is also nice with tutoring
because it is so much more convenient and I don’t have to spend money to get a
ride to the school and I get hungry during my break, I can just walk over to my
house to grab a snack!
God is so good, every day, even when I fail Him and I can’t help but
praise Him for all He has done and how He has given me the strength to get
through every day.
Some things you may not know about the DR:
1. There are little convenience stores called colmados everywhere
within the town of San Pedro and people use them to get basic supplies and
water. Since the water is not safe to drink here, colmados sell 5 gallon jugs
of water for about 50 pesos a piece (a little bit more than a dollar). So when
you need some water, eggs, rice, coke, or whatever other little thing you need,
you can call up your local colmado and they will deliver it to you for free of
charge!
2. Taking a motocycle taxi is a common form of transportation. All you
have to do is find a motoconcho (usually by a corner) and then tell them where
you need to go in town and they will take you there. Depending on where you are
going, it only costs between 30 to 50 pesos for the trip. It is also not that uncommon to see 3 or 4
people on the same motorcycle.
3. Hissing is a common way to get someone’s attention, so oftentimes if
you are walking somewhere motoconchos (motorcycle drivers) will hiss to get
your attention and ask you if you need a ride.
4. Change is super important around here. In the DR, change is like
gold. If you have too big of bills, people won’t accept your money and will
just ask if you have something smaller. For example, the motoconchos rarely
have change for anything bigger than 100 pesos (which is about $2.50) and you
will have to ask before getting on the motorcycle if they can make change or
not. But if you are lucky, they will
drive to a spot where they will break the change for you. I am constantly
finding myself checking my coins and scrounging up all the small change I can
find and if I don’t have any change, I will often have to go to Jumbo and buy
something so I can break my money.
5. Power outages don’t stop us!! Several times at church the power has
gone out, but no one really stops during the service. Even if it is pitch
black, the church service continues on and we keep singing our songs or the
pastor continues to preach until the generator is turned on and begins to work.
6. When it rains, it usually doesn’t last very long and Dominicans will
often just wait out the rain. But if it does continue to rain, many of them
will just stay in their houses if there is nowhere that they need to be. Also,
during the rainy season it is always important to keep your umbrella with you,
cause you never know when it might start raining and for how long.
7. It is hot around here a lot, which you probably knew, but because it
is so hot it is not uncommon to see women using umbrellas when they’re walking
to keep the sun off them and provide some relieve. Umbrellas are not just
useful for when it is raining!
