Weekend Adventures!

We packed 8 Doulos teachers into our car and headed off for the El Gran Salto Jimenoa! A huge waterfall about a 15 minute drive out of town!

We started up top and walked down to the waterfall.

Waterfall from a distance!

On our way home we made a slight detour so Rachel could show us the ostrich, or avestruz in Spanish.

On the way home from the waterfall our car stopped working in the middle of the road. Heroically, Brock pushed us all to safety...

The boys were figuring out what was wrong with the car, and decided they needed a wrench. Amanda was going to go ask for a wrench from a Dominican, when Robin reached into her purse, and what do you know? She has a wrench...go figure!

Turns out the only problem with our car was that the battery cable connection was loose. Best type of problem we could have had!

Pico Duarte Fail

I think you might remember my post about hiking Mogote in effort to practice for our big Pico Duarte hike. Well, this is the weekend of the supposed "big" hike...and its not happening. I was starting to get a bit nervous about being able to hike it: Friday was supposed to be a 2 hour hike, 10 hours Saturday, 6 hours Sunday, and 10-12 hours Monday...YiKes! But then one of the women going on the hike got a mild case of dengue, and other people started to back out, including myself, and the trip fizzled. I can't say I'm too heartbroken, my body is clearly fatigued. Last night I slept 12 hours, and today I'm feeling pretty lethargic too. A few weeks ago I went on a "preparation" hike with my friends Amanda and Stef, and we took some pretty cool pictures, so I thought I would share them.

Our hike started with us walking through town, and then out of town toward where Chad and Krista live, and then out past where the Motocross is held, and further. We hiked 2 hours out of town, and 2 hours back. When we were almost to the point where we turned around one of my friends needed to use the bathroom. So we stopped at a little house. I started chatting with a little old lady, and she asked where we were hiking from. I told her, Jarabacoa, and she covered her head like she was going to faint...I guess they don't get too many people out for a leisurely stroll around that area!!

An Amazing God We Serve

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:6-11

Here we are, April 26th, a year into our blogging life, and I feel like I haven't been completely honest with you. Its okay you say, its the internet. Do we really want random people knowing exactly what's going on in our lives? Isn't that kind of creepy? It would be, I think, except that it would stop many people from sharing in our struggles, and knowing when they can rejoice with us when we are restored. I don't think this is creepy; I think its beautiful. I'm not planning on divulging our most intimate secrets (or whereabouts) but, our (and my) walk with the Lord is something that I hope to be more transparent in.

Many of you who know me, know that I'm a bit stubborn, a bit of a perfectionist, a bit frank, and a bit critical (plus, many good things too). However, after moving here, and starting this adventure with the Lord, I have realized that sometimes, I'm too stubborn, too frank, too critical. Sometimes it hurts people. The Lord has been doing such a work in my heart, starting with my teaching. I'm not sure if you remember the blog post from my second day of school (Second Day of School), but I was blown away by my inadequateness in teaching 5 year olds who don't speak the same language as me. Now, I know many of you will be quick to say that it would be a hard job for anyone. And as crazy as it sounds...I thought I could do it well from the beginning. I might have been crazy, but I didn't think it was going to be that hard. Lesson learned. I am prideful. I don't say this in a self condemning way though--because of grace. His grace. I'm not always so graceful with myself, but I'm learning.

This lesson of pride has been interwoven through my entire time here. Through challenges with my job, speaking Spanish, figuring out life, marriage, and friendships here, God has shown me how my pride has many times distanced me from acquaintances, friends, and family. From July through January, I was walking through a time of suffering...I was seeing some of the "ugly" in me that keeps me separate from God.

Right now doesn't feel like the time of suffering anymore...He has already shown me some of "my ugly". This process, this struggle doesn't make me perfect now, but changing. I sense and trust that now is the time that He is restoring me. 

I tell you this for 2 reasons. 
1. I want to be a more transparent Christian. I don't have it all together-He is the one that makes me strong. "But he said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12:9-10

2. So you know of the work that the Lord is doing here in the Dominican Republic. He might be doing more work in me than through me, and thats okay because it is a beautiful thing.

El Mogote

El Mogote

I know it doesn't seem like much, but this is the view I get after we have been hiking for already 1 and a half hours. I think to myself..."no...way. there is NO WAY." My legs are tired, and I ran out of water after 15 minutes of hiking, and the sun is burning hot. At this point I think, "Ok God, YOU are it. Please BE my strength."

Psalm 28:7a  "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me."

A week ago a few of the female teachers at Doulos decided to start training for a woman's hike up Pico Duarte -the highest mountain in the Caribbean, reaching a little over 10,000 ft. This past Saturday was our first group training hike. El Mogote is in Jarabacoa, about 20 minutes from where we live. I think the peak is right around 4,800 ft., and it took us about 4 hours to peak and come down. I don't think our time is anything to brag about, but it was amazing to be sweating, laughing, telling stories, smelling tuna fish (randomly in the middle of the mountain), and exercising with some pretty amazing women. 

Amazing view of Jarabacoa from the top!

We made it! 

At the top there was a little "look-out" tower (we tried to ignore a few of the missing and rusty bolts as we walked up). 

View from the "look-out" tower!

Lessons learned from this hike:

1. Fill up my camelback before starting the hike.

2. Don't start a 4 hour hike at 2 in the afternoon. The sun is brutal!  

3. God is my strength in all things mental and physical.

4. Having the support of other women who love the Lord will get me through lots in life!

Dominican Motocross Scores an 'A'!!

This past fall Robbie and I were told about the motocross competition that takes place in the mountains of Jarabacoa, and we got so excited to attend! After church we were planning on getting a ride up to watch it, when we found out that it was canceled due to rain, illegal bikes, a possible gun threat, etc. We're not really sure what the main reason for the cancellation was, but we were bummed that we couldn't go!

Luckily for us, Jarabacoa has 2 motocross competitions a year! Last weekend we went up into the mountains of Jarabacoa to watch the competition with friends. One of my students lives right across the street from where the competition is held, so they let us park in their field, and hang out with them while we were there. It was such a fun cultural experience! 

Ready, Set, GO!

Fans lining the track! I was surprised how many people came out to watch. We estimated about 2,000!

Watching the motocross with Rubi and her mom, Fladida

Two girls from my class, hanging out at a motocross competition. I was so surprised to see how family friendly the event was. We saw lots of Doulos kids there!

Parents Visit the D.R.!!

Having my parents come to visit was so fun, refreshing, and quite surreal. We had so much fun spending time with them, playing games, cooking, laughing, reading, and checking out some natural beautiful areas of the Dominican Republic. Their visit to the D.R. started with them treating us to some time at the beach. We picked my parents up from the airport in Yodeliza (our car), her nick name is Yodi (like Jody), and then were on our way. We drove through Moca, which is the scenic route that bypasses the large city of Santiago--its a little bit quicker, and a lot prettier (or so we've heard, we've never driven the other way). With the wind in our hair, some good conversation, and a little bachata music in the background, the 2 hour drive to Cabarete flew by. Our first stop in town was to Janet's, a grocery store, which is about 4 times larger than anything we have in Jarabacoa. We stocked up on food for making meals, and headed on to our vacation rental. Cabarete is on the northern shore of the D.R., so technically it is still the Atlantic Ocean, but it is still a little hidden jewel. There is a small strip of stores, restaurants, and hotels on the main drag, but almost as quickly as you have entered Cabarete you have left it. Its quite a popular place for kite boarding and wind surfing because there is almost always a beautiful breeze. The breeze can be quite dangerous in the caribbean sun, especially if you forget to apply regular sunscreen...most of us leaned this the hard way.

Recently my dad got a new camera, and I think he got some pretty cool shots from the place where we stayed. He had a good little look-out spot that we all liked to sit at. It was right in the shade, in the breeze, and it was great for catnaps and reading. Mom and Dad, thanks again for taking us to the beach! We had so much fun with you!

My favorite picture my dad took. Its the background to my computer!

We went for a little walk on the beach and saw this sun dial. It was amazingly accurate...down to the minute!

Watching the kite boarders! Robbie really wanted to get out there and try it. Maybe next time!

While going out for dinner one night, we ran into some teachers from Doulos. They were kind enough to snap a picture of us!

After our time at the beach we climbed about 1, 800 feet into the mountains of Jarabacoa. Instantly my mom was talking about how nice the fresh air was! My parents stayed with us in Jarabacoa, and it was such a blessing to have them there. My mom worked feverishly at cleaning our place--Mom, it has never looked or smelled so good! And my dad got to help Robbie with putting a frame on one of our mirrors. Thank you for your help! They also came to join us for lunch at work. One afternoon they came into my classroom to play "Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar" and hand out Tootsie Rolls. The suckers were a hit, and they got bombarded with hugs!! It was fun to watch the kids great my parents at school each morning with hugs. My students have such big hearts and just loved meeting my parents and welcoming them into their world at Doulos. For service week my mom and dad joined us at the Geriatric Center. Then we got to celebrate their last night in town at a restaurant a little ways down the mountain that has BBQ ribs and chicken. The BBQ isn't really a sauce, but just the way that the meat is prepared. There is nothing that I have ever eaten like it!

One night we went to Moshe's for dinner in Jarabacoa. My mom loved the guys' hats, so we took a picture with them. The guy who owns Moshe's had just put in a new phone called Magic Jack, and he told us its a phone for his customers to use to call the States. So we called Sean on it!

Robbie and Dad building a frame for our bedroom mirror.

Me goofing around after they broke the bedroom mirror!

Mom and I during out hike to Rancho Baiguate. Robbie and I had never been there before and it was beautiful!

View of Jarabacoa from our drive in the mountains.

Last night, dinner at the ribs restaurant!

Mom and Dad, we loved having you here! The invitation is open to any more visitors, we would love to host and to have your company! Blessings to you all!

Service Week at Doulos

"Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky." Deuteronomy 10:20-22

I remember my first post of the school year--it was after a really rough first day, and I wanted to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I knew it was sooo far away. I want to share a praise with you--the light at the end of the tunnel is coming! At the beginning of the year, I had a class of 20 students, 17 who spoke no English...and I spoke no Spanish. Walking in line to the bathroom was disastrous. Walking into the classroom to sit in a circle left kids with black eyes (not from me!) and things falling off the walls. Praise God for the awesome wonder of how He has enormously provided for our class' ability to communicate. I am learning Spanish (thanks to my awesome kids, my amazing assistant Rosmery, and some tutoring by an wonderful woman Miriam)....and what's more is, my kids are learning English! Lately, I have been trying to speak only in English to see how it goes, and they are really understanding! Many times Ms. Rosmery or I will go to translate what I had said, but the kids will start interrupting us saying that they UNDERSTAND!! They are even translating for each other, and for their parents when I am trying to explain something. AHHhh. Light. He promises to be our Provider. And He is.

Last week was Service Week at Doulos. Its an awesome opportunity for our whole school to get off campus for 3 days and do various types of service in the community. First grade and 11th grade teamed up to visit people in hospitals, bring them cookies and play games, the High School art class painted a mural at the Barrio Blanco public school,  sixth grade spent time serving our cooking, cleaning, and grounds team at school. My class went to visit the Centro Geriátrico (Geriatric Center). Before we went we talked about why we were going to serve these people and how we could serve them. We talked about the story in the Bible where Jesus washed his disciples feet (John 13)...this verse stuck out to me: "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." (John 13 v. 1b) I love this illustration of how Jesus continues serving people until the end of his own life. 

In Dominican culture, elderly are taken care of by family members; it is uncommon for elderly to live in a Geriatric Center. For example, in our city of about 30,000 people, there are about 75 elderly people in the only Geriatric Center. Much of the elderly in this center believe that they are there because their families don't love them or care about them. Our class talked about how we can serve and love the ancianos, and bring them joy and happiness. I was really amazed at how my kids interacted with the ancianos, at first they were a little shy, but they warmed up and became friends with people 80+ years older than them. It was a beautiful thing.

Reading Books Together

The kids made name tags for them and their new friend.

This woman's name is Luz. Her name means "Light"--and she certainly was.
My kids all loved her (you can tell by how many name tags she has!!)

Kids colored pictures and gave them to their new friends.

On Friday, Robbie and my parents were able to join us!

Friday morning we made play-doh in class to bring with us. I had forgotten how much it looks like food, so once we got there I was repeatedly telling my kids to remind their new friends NOT to eat it!! 

On Friday we also brought finger nail polish for the Kindergarten girls to paint the ladies fingers. This woman wanted to paint nails too! :)

 We were so blessed to have my parents come visit from March 2-11. They were a joy to be with, to relax with, and to share our life here with. I am hopeful that this weekend I will make another post about our adventures with them! Thank you for reading our blog!