may 5. 2017

we woke up at 10, and cam and i and jarom got ready to head to spanish class.  what we didn’t know, is that the guy wasn’t too on top of things, and decided he might not do it, depending on his mood it seemed.  so jarom and i left the girls and headed for a grocery store.  i LOVE these adventures!

we headed east, and tried the closes one 10 minutes away in bayahibe.  no go.  but we saw some school kids, and i decided to ask about the school in the town.  we got directions, and headed over there.  we found the director sitting outside in the front of the school, and was such a kindly and gentle person.  we somehow communicated we wanted to help out and play with kids or serve however we could, and he kindly welcomed us for monday.  we are so excited, hoping it brings a good experience of building friendships.

we then headed another 30 minutes east to la romana, and found a grocery there.  i think we were there for like an hour and a half…but jarom and i had fun figuring out what we needed for meals.  we had two carts full of food, knowing our three teenagers seem to never get full…but the veggies and fruit were so cheap!  we were walked to our car with two guys who loaded everything for us, and we were on our way back.  jarom has not had any time to relax yet, as yesterday he was in santo domingo most of the day.  so we finally got home at 2, and we all headed to the pool.  i love being in this kind of resort, where we have all the amenities, and everything is close, so the girls can do activities if we aren’t there.   (but i don’t pay for all inclusive, as i feel it’s highway robbery-that’s why we buy our own groceries, and make healthier and more economical things).

we had so much fun playing in the ocean together, laying out, playing on the slides, and swimming in the pools.  we had plans to make fajitas for dinner, but we were all too lazy to make it, so we had chips and salsa, pretzels and nutella, and apples and peanut butter.  we headed out for the sunset, shared a virgin pina colada, and hung out on the gorgeous beds on the beach listening to the entertainment.

the best thing about this day-we’ll see how it goes-is that one of the guys that works here has become our friend.  his name is mario-but he likes to be called super mario:)  he brought his cart over to our car when we pulled up, loaded our stuff, drove us to our apartment, and helped unload all our food.  i felt a little guilty, because what we spend on food for two weeks is probably more than they spend in a year.  he is so kind hearted, and friendly.  he knows we are looking to help out people who may need it the most.  he told us the resort isn’t having him work next week, and he offered to go around with us, even to the school and translate for us.  he’d take us to other places where people are really poor.  we have learned to not just give things out, but to have the people work for things, which makes people feel like they have earned something instead of feeling entitled, so i’m not sure how we are going to figure that out, but we are praying for guidance to those who are needing us most.

i’m afraid i’m never coming home.  you might need to email me to ever reach me again.  i love being more disconnected, a more simple way of life, and i love the people here.  everyone has been so kind and accommodating even with my spanish being very basic.  i continue to try and keep my heart opened and prayers continuous as to our reason for being here and where we can help the most.  we feel very blessed.

n