The Road Ahead: Hello from Santo Domingo

Hello again! I am sure you all know that this has been a crazy (and busy) week! We arrived safe and sound at about 2:10 on Dec. 31^st. After spending an abnormally long time in customs we finally got through and went to the car rental place. We finally got to the housing after many errands and crashed hard. Friday saw the arrival of 6 members of the team and the rest arrived on Saturday.

Friday was another errand day as was Saturday. We went to the open air market and I made my first produce purchases there. For the equivalent of about $5.50 I got a large bottle of honey, a ginger root, some fruit called zapote (used in smoothies, cannot be eaten raw) and an avocado.

On Sunday we went to Jimaní…pronounced (“he-mah-nEE”). It is a city on the “frontier” which is the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is a city full of poverty stricken people with a majority of the roads still made dirt and it being located in a desert. A VBS was held at the church there and about 200 children were in attendance. It was a 5 hour drive from Santo Domingo to Jimaní and a bus was hired due to the number of people going. Our driver was awesome and even backed up narrow, bumpy roads with a trailer without a problem. Jonathan and the driver are friends so it was cool listening to them talk even though I could not understand everything they were saying.

Tuesday we began work on several projects simultaneously. One is plastering the inside and outside of a poor church in Santo Domingo, another is work on our house.

Down the street from where we are staying is a large nativity/Judea scene. It is different every year so not all the figures are used every time. These two ladies are sisters and the blonde is the main one behind the whole thing.

New Year’s and 3 King’s Day are real big here in the Dominican Republic. We landed at about 2:15ish on the 31^st and I was just too tired to stay up for fireworks. However, the city was already starting to shut down and prepare for partying. Although 3 King’s Day is on Jan. 6^th, the Government decided to make the legal holiday on Monday. That has made going to the bank difficult because they closed at 1:00 on the 31^st and does not open until Tuesday morning. We could exchange some money however so postponing setting up bank accounts and such was/is okay.

I think the hardest part for me so far is the lack of a hot shower. The only warm water available is either heated on the stove by yourself or if you wait until later in the day, the water stored in the container on the roof might provide one quick slightly less chilly shower. There is very little water pressure but that is not a hard adjustment. Jonathan showed me a way to “shower” using water heated on the stove and although it is an extra step, it beats taking a cold shower any day. He also has helped me wash my hair separately which is good until I can figure out how to do it without his help. I am not about putting ice cold water on my head!

The rest of this blog will be pictures. I hope you enjoy them!