Dominican Trip - Playing, Praying, and Extreme Poverty

Thursday morning, we woke and had breakfast in our room.  I did my best to get up at least an hour earlier than the girls so I could get ready and go down to the beach or lobby while they got ready.  I loved going down in the morning and praying while watching the ocean.  Sometimes I walked, sometimes I sat, but it was always a peaceful start to a non-stop day.

My beautiful morning view.

The Dominican Republic Vision Team is just that.  It is a team of about 20 - some families with children of all ages, some couples, and some individuals.  Some of them are native Dominicans, some of them are missionaries from the United States.  But they all have a common goal, and that is to see the people of the Dominican Republic come to know the Lord, and live to serve Him.  The team has many different branches.  There is, of course, the church, and the Christian school, there is a Baseball ministry (because in the Dominican, "Baseball is LIFE"), there is a ministry to rescue women and help them to learn a reputable trade, there are mission teams, there is a youth ministry, there are people who take care of the mission teams that come to them (bus drivers, cooks, translators, etc.), and many other things I am sure I am missing.  Everyone works together to get it all done.  It really is amazing and inspiring to see.  I explain this so you can understand that we had many different people doing many different things with us for the next few days.  It was all very well organized and well planned out.

At 8:20, we met in the lobby and the bus was soon there.  It took us to The Palms Christian school. The kids who went last year were very excited to see some of the kids that they had made friends with the year before.  At The Palms, the children learn to speak English, and many of the teachers are from the United States, so there is not so much of a language barrier there. We split into groups, and some of us went to the Preschool classes to help them do a craft and to sing for them. After that, we would give them sunglasses, go out and take a group picture, and then start all over again with a different class.  Our other group hung out and played with the different groups of children who were having recess at that particular time.  There were games of basketball, volleyball, soccer, four square, and other games I did not recognize going on...children and balls going every which way.  It was a hub of activity.

A, giving us our instructions for the day.

Helping the little ones make their crafts.

A picture of some of the kids in their sunglasses.

A little picture of the recess happenings.

At one point in a soccer game, I looked up to see the Young Prince going over the top of the wall between the school yard and the property next door.  As he went over the top of the wall, every child on the soccer field moved away from the wall.  It was a mass exodus of children who did not want to be guilty by association.  I got the feeling that the Young Prince had just done something he was not supposed to do.  My brain was going a million different directions while I am hoping that I will see my son again.  In just a few seconds, he comes back over the wall, with the soccer ball.  The ball had been kicked over the wall.  The Young Prince did what came natural to him, and went over the wall to get the ball.  Little did he know he was entering "enemy" territory.  The property on the other side of the fence is another school.  They are not fond of The Palms being their neighbor, so the kids at The Palms have been told to steer clear of the property, and not to cause any undo trouble. Thankfully everything, and everyone was okay, and the soccer game continued without any more incidents.

The soccer game, and the wall/fence that The Young Prince went over.

On another note, T did almost everything in those flip flops without losing them, even played soccer in them.We were greatly impressed.

One of the fourth grade classes had won a pool party during spirit week (they have a pool on their school property - how awesome is that!), and it was scheduled for that afternoon.  We were recruited to help with the games.  We pulled out a few of the carnival games from the day before and let them play a while before they got into the pool.  Our kids swam with them for a few minutes before it was time for us to go.

Playing games at the pool party.

Finally - Swim time!

We went back to the church for lunch.  Lunch was chicken, rice, beans, and salad.  We later learned that this popular Dominican meal is called "the flag".

Lunch

After lunch we met with Pastor G.  He talked to us a little about how the ministry there works.  He shared a quick thought using his keyring as an example.  His keyring had many keys on it, but every key does not unlock every lock he encounters.  There are specific keys that fit specific locks, and no other key will work.  It is the same way with our hearts.  We all have "keys" that unlock our hearts and open us up to the possibility of accepting and serving the Lord. Their goal is to find the key that unlocks the hearts of the Dominican people within their sphere of influence.  They each use their separate talents to make that happen.  For example, "In the Dominican, Baseball is LIFE", so they have built a strong baseball ministry.  They minister to people through baseball that might not normally ever darken the door of a church.  They have a strong ministry to Dominican women who would not feel worthy to come to church on Sunday morning, but they meet them where they are and teach them who they are in Christ, and that through Christ, they can be pure and whole again.  Pastor G encouraged us to use our talent - whatever it may be - as the key to help unlock someone's heart for Christ.

We then loaded the bus and went to the property that the ministry owns, affectionately known as "Vision Land".  Last year, our team had gone out and spent some time praying for a pavilion that the DR team had hoped to have built soon.  The girls said that at that time, there were only stakes in the ground where they hoped to build it.  This time, we stood under the completed pavilion, as Pastor G pointed out where they hoped to build each part of the ministry.  The ultimate goal is to bring all of the "legs" of the ministry together at this one spot.  The pavilion has been built, and while we were there, there were men working on the foundation of what will be The Mercy Center, a home used in the women's ministry.  We were able to walk over and spend time praying over the building as the work was being done.  The next time we go, it will be completed, and hopefully we will be able to pray around a baseball field in the works.  At least that is my prayer now.  More about that later though.

Pastor G, sharing the vision of "Vision Land" with us, under the very pavilion they prayed for last year on their trip.

The ground work for the Mercy Center.  Yes, he is doing that work by hand.

Praying for the Mercy Center construction and the lives that will be touched through this ministry.

More of the ground work for the Mercy Center.

We left Vision Land, and made a quick run to Jumbo (the Dominican version of Wal-Mart) so the kids could grab a new supply of snacks.

The Oldest Princess doing a remake of her Jumbo picture from last year's trip.

Then it was back to the church for what they called the Dominican Experience.  It was a slideshow taught by D.  She taught us different aspects of Dominican culture, so that we might better minister to (and less likely offend) the people.  One of the things that stood out to me and made sense because it seems that everyone everywhere is trying to sell something, was the average income, and the cost of living and how they are nowhere close to each other.  They have to supplement their income in some way in order to survive.  There are small stores all over the place.  She explained that they go to the small stores and buy what they can, with what money they have, for that day.  They can't afford to go and buy a week's worth of groceries like we do.  But despite their poverty, they are a warm, happy, loving people.  She explained that there are several items that you would find in every Dominican home.  A pot for cooking rice, a coffee pot (it's definitely not a Keurig), and a pilon (a tool used to grind spices), to name a few.  She told us that in the Dominican, "Baseball is LIFE", and the boys are pressured to play and do well, because they see it as a way out of their poverty. She also told us what I already knew...Dominican's do not have "personal space".  The whole lesson was very interesting to me, and I think that the kids really enjoyed it as well.  When it was over, D explained that we had several tasks to complete using the information that she had just taught us.  Eeekkkk!!!  We were going to split up into groups and take public transportation (and pay for it) to a neighborhood, where we would talk to people, buy something from one of the little stores, ask a homeowner to show us one of the items that would be found in every Dominican home and take a picture of them with it, ask a child to tell us their name, etc.  All the while we would pass out tracts to people we met.  I was nervous and excited at the same time.  It worked out that we all pretty much went together, until we got to the neighborhood, where we split up and went different ways and then met back together at a certain time.  Each group had a leader.  D was our group leader, and two of the team member's older children were the leaders of the other groups, so each group had someone who was fluent in Spanish...just in case.  How I wish that I could transport you all back to the Dominican with me, so that you could walk with us and see, hear, feel, and smell, exactly what we experienced on that afternoon...but the closest I can come to doing that is to share pictures so that is what I will do.

 The beginning of the slide show in our class about Dominican culture.

 Our list of things to do.

Our first public transportation ride.  I was one of the last ones in because I was trying to get this picture.  That turned out to be a mistake.

The only spot left was the edge of A and Mrs. S's bench. Right in front of the missing side door, and the little Dominican man hanging out the side.  I held on the the seat behind us, braced myself with one foot behind the passenger side seat, and A wrapped her arm around me and acted as my seatbelt.  Oh, the memories!

 These were the children that we "talked" to and asked them their names.  The little boy in the gray shorts was Christian.  The striped bags that they were playing with were kites made out of plastic bags and string.  The children were very kind and friendly.  They talked with us and answered our questions without a bit of fear.

 When we walked up to this home, several people were sitting outside in plastic chairs.  We greeted them the best we could, and they immediately got up and offered us their chairs.  C asked the lady if she had any of the items we were supposed to ask for, and she gladly went inside and brought back out her caldero that she uses to cook rice for her family.

 Right to the right of C and the lady in the picture above, was this.  It was a shoe shop.  The man was working to hand sew the soles on a pair of shoes as we visited.

 The green building in the background is the colmado (small store) where we made our purchase of several bottles of water.

 One of the other groups were invited into a home, to see the items on the list that we were supposed to ask for.  

 One of the homes.

Another group making their purchases from a different colmado.

 Public transportation take two.  Notice it was much better this time, and I was sure to be one of the first ones in.

With our tasks completed, we met back together and again took public transportation (a much newer, nicer version of it this time) to a different neighborhood closer to where we would hold a children's Bible club on Saturday morning.  This time we all stuck together, but we passed out tracts and invitations to our Bible club.  It was just as interesting, and touching as the first neighborhood.  We went until we ran out of time and had to return to the church for dinner.

 Passing out tracts, candy, and invitations to our Bible club in the second neighborhood.

 We came across some little boys playing basketball (with a flat basketball and a home made goal - check it out).  S joined in and played with them for a minute.  I didn't see it, but I was told after the group walked on, that the Young Prince picked up the little boys and let them "dunk" the ball.

How do you leave this, and not leave a piece of your heart there.

You don't.  You just don't.

On the walk back to the church D pointed out the first three story building built in the country (she had told us about it in her lesson before we left).  Even in ruins, it was beautiful.  As we continued, there was an American man on his second story porch.  He noticed us and came down to talk.  He had just moved back to the country (he had to return to the US because of health issues) to reopen his barbecue restaurant.  We asked him if he went to church.  He knew of IBEM.  Said he had been there when he had lived in the Dominican before.  We invited him to come on Sunday.  He said he might.

This is the first 3 story building that was built in the country.  The bottom floor was a store, the top two floors were home to the family who owned the store.  It was beautiful.  So sad that it is empty and in disrepair now.

We had spaghetti for dinner that night, and then headed back to the hotel.  We all gathered in the lobby to take advantage of the wifi and post our pictures and attempt to talk to our loved ones at home.  At this point, I still had not talked to my Prince, and I was about to loose it.  We were able to message each other a little through Facebook that night, but it just was not the same as actually talking to him.

At one point the Oldest Princess and I were alone in the lobby and just outside of the hotel fence there was a loud bang and a huge flash of light.  Some sort of small explosion.  We found out later that it was a cable that had snapped.  After we went to our room, some of the people in our group said that another cable snapped.  I was glad that was all it was.  Grammy found out for us by asking the man at the hotel desk.  His name was Mariano, but Grammy could never remember that, so like Dory in "Finding Nemo",  she called him Juan, or José, or whatever name came to her mind, and he would answer her.  We thought it was amusing.

It was getting late, and we headed to our rooms to call it a night.  We had precious little time to get some sleep and be back in the lobby by 7:20 the next morning.  Day 5 was coming fast...

Once again, I have borrowed some pictures from E, and Mrs. B and Mrs. S as well this time.  Thank you all so much for taking great pictures and allowing me to use them!

Dominican Trip - Carnivals, Coffee, and a...Cattle Drive?

He was back.  My friend, the mosquito was back.  Despite the fact that I showered in bug spray before I went to bed.  I again put one ear to my pillow, wrapped the sheet around my hand, covered my other ear and played the "I can't hear you!" game, until I fell back asleep.  I wasn't the only one with mosquito friends at night, the young prince was eaten up the night before.  He even joked that he wished someone could make a bug spray that he could drink, so that it would come out his pores to keep the mosquitos away.  I prayed that his bug spray was keeping them from biting him this time, and it worked, because his second night was not so bad for him.

This time for breakfast, Grammy just ordered several main things, and had them bring it out so we could eat buffet style.  There were scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, pancakes and fruit to choose from.  Everything that I tried was very good.

This time, our bus was on time, and as soon as we finished eating, we loaded up and headed back to the school.  We had planned a small carnival/festival of sorts for today, and all of the children, both young and old were told to come in the morning.  We got to the school and immediately got to work. Some of us filled the bags that the kids had made the day before with a little candy, a glider and a propeller toy.  Others were busy setting up the games.  We had a bean bag toss, a game where they could throw a ball and knock over stacked cans, a ladder ball game, a baseball toss with a radar gun so they could see how fast they threw, temporary tattoos, a ping pong ball toss, and a photo booth.

 Bean bag toss

 Baseball toss

Photo Booth

 A, modeling the mustache tattoo

 All of the boys wanted baseball tattoos, because 

"in the Dominican, Baseball is life."

Once again, notice that nice, smooth, concrete slab.

Soon the kids were there and ready to play.  I was asked to help A with the temporary tattoos.  All we had to work with was a bowl of water and a bag full of temporary tattoos.  So we were trying to wet the tattoo in the bowl of water, and sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't.  At first everyone was playing games, and not interested in what we were doing.  But after the first two or three kids came, word spread quickly, and we were in business.  They were climbing over the top of each other trying to get to us and pick out the one that they wanted.  Did I mention that Dominicans do not know of personal space?  They were all over us.  It was fun, and a little bit crazy.  Then a group of older girls came over and picked out the ones they wanted.  The mariposa (butterfly in Spanish) was very popular with the girls.  We with our limited Spanish asked them where they wanted us to put their tattoos.  Did they want it on their hand, their face, their arm?  Most of them were happy with that.  But not the young lady that came to me.  No.  She made it extremely clear that she meant she wanted it on her stomach/hip area.  There was no changing her mind.  Believe me.  I tried.  All the while, my sweet friend Mrs. S (who hit the ground laughing when the girl first showed me she wanted it on her hip) has recovered and is taking pictures of this comical situation.  Something that my Prince says from time to time came to my mind.  "And this I do for the Gospel's sake."  So, I did it.  Then I looked at her friend who was sitting next to me, and asked wearily if she wanted one.  She motioned no, that she did not want one.  Tattoos were not for her.  I understand.  They are not for me either.  But the kids loved them, and we spent most of our time telling them we were sorry, but they could only have one.

The temporary tattoo station...

where memories were made...lol!

When we were pretty sure we were done with our job, we closed up shop.  Grammy introduced to me to a man who had known my prince when he was a young boy in the Dominican.  It was neat to meet him.  I was able to show him a picture of our whole family, so he could see how my prince was now.
Way too soon, our time was up, and we had to start getting ready to leave.  The kids were all taking pictures with their friends, and saying their goodbyes.  We all gathered for a time of prayer, and then our kids, their kids, were crying and hugging and saying goodbye.  It was sad not knowing if we will see them again.  It is also amazing to me the bond that you can form in just a few short days with language barrier and all.  I know it is God.  I know that the bond we have in Him, brings us together in special ways.  I have seen it.  I have experienced it.

Pastor M - Praying for our team before we left.

 My teacher friend 

 The young prince and some of his new buddies

 Sweet new friends

The Oldest Princess and one of my favorite little Dominican girls

We all loaded on the bus waving out the windows as we pulled away.  We didn't get far.  Just around the corner, and the bus stopped.  We all wondered what was going on.  The bus doors opened, and the little girl who had won the hearts of the team last year, the same little girl whose parents both accepted the Lord the night before at our service, climbed on the bus.  Her dad stuck his head in as well.  This precious little girl found Grammy and handed her a bag of Dominican coffee.  And then she found E, who was her special friend, and gave her a bag of coffee and a hug.  Then with a wave she was off.  Sweet parting gifts of love, in the form of Dominican coffee.

 This young lady in the picture with C is the one 

who stopped the bus to give Grammy and E the coffee.

Saying goodbye...

You know, Satan will try to make you believe that blazing into a different country for a few days or even for a week is useless. That you can't make a difference in such a short time.  But I know that is a complete lie.  Mrs. M kept telling our kids that no matter what talent you have - wearing white gloves and doing a black light program, or running sound and setting up the black lights, or playing volleyball or basketball, or singing, or taking pictures, or setting up chairs - it takes all of us to make it work, and that the kids they ministered to would remember them, and their group, and that they cared enough to come and took the time to do something (anything) with them.  Mrs. M grew up on the mission field.  She remembers the groups that came and spent time with them, and knows the impact they made on her.  So, to us it is a small sacrifice.  A week of our time.  Leaving our comfort zones.  Being away from our families. Eating different foods.  Using bottled water to brush our teeth.  Not flushing the toilet paper.  Not speaking the language fluently.  To them, it is a huge act of love that they will remember for a lifetime.  And maybe, just maybe, they will grow up and go on to do the same thing.  Maybe they will share their time and talents and love with someone else.  Maybe they will be inspired to minister to others no matter what their talent may be.  And mission trips are not just for the people we go to minister to.  They are absolutely life changing to those of us who go. It was a tough week for me.  I felt out of place and awkward a lot of the time.  I wanted to talk to people, and I could only smile, and wave.  It was an overwhelming, humbling experience.  God spoke to me through both people and circumstances.  And as tough as it was at times, I would go again tomorrow, if God opened the door for me to do so.  If you have never been on a mission trip, and God gives you the opportunity to do so, I pray that you will answer the call.

The atmosphere on the bus was pretty somber.  We all knew we had more to do somewhere else, but we really didn't want to leave our friends in the mountains.  Everyone was tired and emotional, so there was not a lot of talking going on.  But then it happened...The bus slowed down and began honking.  We look out to see that the road ahead of us was FULL of cattle!  We found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive down the mountain!  It was totally unexpected and crazy!  Richard, our driver, just pulled right up behind them and honked.  Pretty soon we were no longer behind them, but right in the middle of them.  I think it was safe to say that this was not Richard's first rodeo (no pun intended - but you have to admit it's funny).  Cows were everywhere!  And the kids thought it was great.  Before we knew it, we were through them and continued on down the mountain.  I have no idea how in the world we got through without hitting any of them, but we did.  God knew it was just what we needed to lighten the mood.  It worked.  The kids were back to laughing and talking and carrying on.

 The cattle drive

We stopped midway with strict instructions from Precious Piranha (Grammy), to ONLY go to the restroom.  We were not to make any purchases.  No time for all of that.  So we all hurry in and hurry back out.  No one wanted to be left.  And we all load the bus and the bus drivers are no where to be seen.  A few minutes later they come out eating ice cream.  Grammy gave them a rough time for buying something after she had told us not to.  It was funny.  We really enjoyed our time with them. They were fun, and made the trip more interesting.  And most importantly, they got us there and back safely.  And trust me.  That in itself was absolutely no small feat.

The plan for lunch was that one of our bus drivers named Wilson knew of a great place that made Empanadas, and we were going to get to try them.  Okay.  Not a problem.  But we were running late. So, we were going to call and order ahead so that they would be ready when we got there.  But, they could not find the number.  So, we debated just eating our snacks, and waiting until dinner.  But wait! The drivers found a way!  They called a friend, and had him go and make the orders for us.  When we got there, I was glad that we had ordered ahead.

Our Empanada restaurant

 I was already not feeling good from the twisty ride down the mountain, and the sight of the place was not exactly what I would call...inviting.  Then there was the dead pigeon in the middle of the road, and the jokes that it invited from a bus full of high school students.  It was the perfect storm.  But I was determined to be a sport and at least try an Empanada.  While we were waiting for our order, the girls made some new friends.

 Flirting with their new friends

When flirting got them nowhere, they just imitated their new friends instead.

The Empanadas were not exactly what I expected, but they were not terrible.   I managed to eat about 1/4 of mine.  Most of the kids seemed to really enjoy theirs.

We were supposed to drive through the historic district of town, but because of time, we had to skip that part of the trip.  We did however make a fast and furious trip to the market so that everyone could purchase souvenirs.  One of the ladies in the market remembered the Young Prince from our trip there about 7 years ago!

 Grammy on the steps of the market - trying to get N in trouble.

Some of the girls at the market.

We arrived at our new hotel in Juan Dolio, and said goodbye to our mountain bus drivers.  We got our room assignments and the wifi password for the lobby area, and we were all set.  Our new bus driver brought our keys and quickly put our things in our rooms and headed to the church for dinner.

From the lobby

straight through

to the

beautiful beach.

A picture with the help of N's selfie stick

 Waiting for our key

C's daring balancing act...well almost daring balancing act that is.

At the church we were warmly greeted by Uncle G, and Aunt A joined us shortly thereafter.  Dinner was delicious chicken, baked potatoes and salad.

Our delicious dinner

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel.  Some of the kids went swimming.  Some played volleyball.  Some of us congregated in the lobby to try to connect with home.  I still had not talked to my Prince or the Youngest Princess since we had left.  I was pretty antsy to do so.  It seemed the harder I tried the more it was not meant to be.  We FINALLY connected on face time with The Youngest Princess and I was thrilled!  But she was in a super silly mood (making faces more than talking) and I was exhausted and not in a silly mood at all. She said that they were still at church and my Prince was busy and could not get away to talk just then.  So we told her goodbye, and went to our room to get some sleep.

One of the other rooms did not have sheets for their pull out bed, so T came and stayed with the Oldest Princess, C, and I for the night.  Our pull out had sheets, but no blanket.  I think they froze all night.  I told them to adjust the thermostat.  T said at one time she got up to do it, but couldn't see, so she just went back to bed.

I slept great that night.  No dogs barking, no mosquitos buzzing, no roosters crowing.  At least none that I heard anyway.  I was so tired that I don't think anything short of a natural disaster would have kept me awake.

Tomorrow... a new school, a new set of "old friends", and new adventures...it just happens to be one of my favorites...See you then!

Oh, and a HUGE "THANK YOU" to Mrs. B and E for allowing me to use some of their photos...You two are awesome!

Dominican Mission Trip - Getting There is Half the Battle

It was a miracle really. It truly was.  Just a couple of hours before that, the kitchen table was piled high, and that was just the stuff we were taking down there to use for the ministry, not any of our personal belongings. But like I said, it was a miracle. We managed to make it all fit.

All of this has to go where?

 I finished school on Friday. I had Saturday to get everything done and us ready to go. The washing machine was on duty until the very last minute. Sunday morning the Oldest Princess and I were scheduled to teach Children's Church. Sunday afternoon was filled with church activities, last minute packing, praying we hadn't forgotten anything, quick goodbyes and then we were off. The bus was packed with people, and Mrs. B did a marvelous job driving and pulling the trailer filled with all of our luggage. We managed to stop and eat, make one last Wal-Mart run (where N jumped rope throughout the store, almost hit a lady, and walked out with merchandise BEFORE I had finished paying for it), and get to the hotel, with only one little U-Turn to speak of. I was not there, but I hear that parking at the hotel made up for the smoothness of the rest of the trip.

On the road!

 We all managed to get a little sleep, and be at breakfast ready to go at 6:30 Monday morning, wearing our matching t-shirts. Well, after it took an act of congress to wake up the only two boys on our trip (one being the Young Prince - we packed the hairspray in his suitcase). Our matching shirts said AMOR, with the shape of the Dominican for the O. Most people we saw did not get it. We did a lot of 'splainin' about those shirts. And, some of the Dominican shapes were falling off. N got tired of his and just pulled it off completely, so his shirt said AM R. I felt the need to shake hands with The Young Prince's shirt every time we were together, because the little piece of his that was sticking out looked like a tiny hand.

Monday morning, on the bus to the airport.

 At the airport, we faced the dreaded security. I always check and double check because I don't want to have anything that would cause them to single me out for any extra search. I have a son, and I know boys, so I made sure to ask the young prince if he had anything, like a pocket knife in his guitar case, because I didn't want him to have one, forget that it was in there and get in trouble for it. He was a little put out with me for asking. While we were standing in line, A and I were talking about how we hate having to take off our shoes and walk where everyone else has walked. And wouldn't you know, the lucky little thing got pre-approved and told she didn't have to take off her shoes! I was a little, no, a lot, jealous. So we go through our lines, with 13 of us, we were pretty spread out. I came out on the other side looking for my children. The Oldest Princess was with me, but when I looked back, The Young Prince was moving to another station where they would go through his bag. I immediately thought that it was probably the bag of cornmeal that his grandmother asked us to bring to her that was in his carry-on. But that turned out to not be a problem. Then they checked his wallet. And Unka, if you are reading this...I would say you probably should not purchase any more of those credit card knives...because out of the two that I know of, both of them have gotten the owners into trouble. The Young Prince had not thought about taking it out of his wallet, and they found it, so he had to throw it away. Then thankfully, they let him go through. We made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare.

 Our flight was great. There was another group on the plane with us, and the stewardess asked about both trips and announced we were on the plane. At the end, she offered to take a group picture for us, and a couple of people from the other group photo bombed in. It made me smile when I looked at it later. We made sure that C had her paper she had to have for customs, because she left hers last time, and then she took off and left her jacket laying in her seat. So next time we will make sure she has her paper AND her jacket.

We landed safely!

 Unlike last year, all of the luggage made it there with us. Only a couple of suitcases were limping instead of rolling smoothly. Mrs. S drug a hole in hers trying to get it to the bus. We collected our luggage and found Grammy waiting for us with the pizza already ordered. We were very thankful for that. We ate, and headed out to our bus. We were excited to know that the bus had Wi-fi, so we could let our loved ones at home know that we had made it safely, and so that we could share the many pictures we had already taken.

Pizza in the Dominican

Our ride for the next few days.

 A bus load full of American girls (and two boys) does draw quite a bit of attention in the Dominican Republic. At one point in traffic, we were being ogled by a man in a truck next to us. Grammy got out of her seat and waved her arms and told him NO!!!! We told the girls just to turn away from and ignore any men acting like that. A few minutes later the Oldest Princess was looking out her window, when a man showed his interest. We laughed at her about the fact that she was not able to hide her emotions, because she said she knew her face registered shock/disgust before she turned. So the rest of the week, she worked on showing no emotion should it happen again.

 About halfway through the 3 hour bus ride up the mountain, we made a quick pit stop for snacks and a bathroom break. The bathroom experience was interesting: no seats, no locks on the doors, etc. I was waiting for the Oldest Princess to come out, when I heard someone throw up. Yuck!! Thankfully, it was not the Oldest Princess, but someone else. The rest of the trip up was beautiful. Very scenic. I could not get over how close to the road the little "houses" were and how there were young children playing very close to such a busy road. There were many little stands on the side of the road selling fruits and blankets and such.  Often they were run by young children.

This was just one of many roadside fruit stands.

Sorry for the picture quality.  It was through the 

window as we blazed past.

 People were everywhere. The streets, no matter the time day or night, were bustling with people. It is a beautiful country, and I am always saddened by the amount of garbage and trash piled everywhere and littering the streets. The people take pride in their personal appearance, and in their homes (even if it is a shack - it is very neat), but the streets and countryside are littered with all manner of trash. We had fun taking pictures of the mountains and valleys around us, but none of us as much as N. He scared me more than once hanging his head and his selfie stick out of the bus window taking pictures and videos. We also had at least 1, 042 (we finally stopped counting) near misses on the bus. People, motorcycles, cars, trucks, animals you name it...we almost hit it, and all of the aforementioned were honked at liberally. But thanks to some great driving and maneuvering by our bus driver, we finally made it to our destination in Constanza.

Buying Dominican candy.

Eating Dominican candy.

 The place where we stayed was very beautiful. Our villas were on the second level, and we had to walk up the hill to get there. So, we start heading that way. Mrs. B who was carrying her laptop and her camera as well as other things in her backpack, was behind me. I made it up the first incline and turned to see the second incline. Which looked like this...

 I stopped to wait for Mrs. B, and I wish you all could have been with me to see the look on her face when she turned the corner and looked up that second incline. But we made it. And we even had to climb it several more times from then until we left on Wednesday. We got to the top, checked out our home away from home, and unloaded our suitcases.

 Our room.

 Our kitchen area.

Then we took the bus to Pastor M's home for dinner. Dinner was chicken and beans and rice with salad, plantains, cucumbers and fresh pineapple. It was all very good.  Someone who shall remain nameless did not like her plantains. She happened to be sitting by C. All of a sudden, C says, "Get that off of my plate! I mean it! It is not mine! Get it off, now!" The nameless person had tried to slip her plantain onto C's plate. but she did NOT get away with it.

Our first Dominican dinner.

 After dinner we sat and visited for a while. The Young Prince and N showed us talents that we did not know they had by playing the cups for our entertainment. The moths were drawn to our light, and they provided entertainment as well, as the Young Prince and N tried to catch them. E got "dusted" by one on her shirt and in her hair. And there were several screams sprinkled in all with all of the moth trapping. Before we left, we had a sweet time of prayer with Pastor M and his family. 

 Our evening entertainment.  D and N playing the cups.

 Trying to catch the moth.

Pep talk from Mrs. M and prayer time with Pastor M.

Then it was back to the villas. C had not gotten her bracelet that served as our breakfast ticket, so she practiced how to ask for it all the way back. When we got there, she went to the desk, and gave it a try. After watching her struggle a little, I pointed to my bracelet and then to her empty wrist, and they gave her a bracelet. We made the trek up the hill to retire after a VERY long day. Grammy, C, the Oldest Princess, and I all shared a villa. I was the first one into the bed in our room, and I warned the Oldest Princess that it was like sleeping on soft wood. And it was. But, after such a long day, I think I could have slept on concrete. And soft wood was almost luxurious...

 To Be Continued (because we haven't even begun the ministry part yet)...