A few reflections

So I just finished my delicious lunch (ham, cheese, and egg quesadilla, an avocado, and hot sauce) and am watching the rain on our front porch. Today is the 6th straight day of rain and it's pretty cool outside, maybe 68. I heard it's been unseasobably cold in VA so 68 probably sounds pretty nice. I thought I'd share a few random reflections I've had in our first 5 weeks here.

"It's stange to..."

1. ...live in a place with a climate totally different from everything I've ever known. My body is really confused...my brain cells tell the rest of my body that today's date is November 24th, while my eyes are seeing nothing but thriving, green vegetation, and my skin is content in shorts and a tshirt most of the time. My stomach is thinking thanksgiving but my nose is confused as to why there hasn't been even a hint of pumpkin, or anything orange and brown for that matter. Hopefully I don't have a revolt on my hands...wait is that a pun, I don't even know.
2. ...be a minority (or more maybe accurately...an immigrant). It's one of those things I've always thought about as probably being tough...and it really is. Either people really are staring at me, or I'm just paranoid that they are because I know I stick out. It sort of feels like my privacy is being invaded while I'm in public because I don't blend in. I was thinking...is part of the reason that races in the US often settle together because they don't want to feel like that all the time?
3. ...be assumed to be rich because I'm white. First, White and American are the same thing, and second American means rich. The funny thing is that we're probably average middle class here. Now they don't have a big middle class, but that's where we'd fit. My thought is this...It feels uncomfortable and even a little hurtful when people assume we're rich, I bet it's way worse to be assumed to be poor.

Prayer Requests

1. Spanish. We've been searching for a tutor we can afford for Caroline and have come up empty. Pray that the right person comes along.
2. Dec 8th-19th. Caroline's co-leader will be gone and Caroline will be leading the site on her own. Pray that attendance is still good and that this can be a time for Caroline to really connect with the women.
3. Adjustments. There's tons of little things with life here and being confronted with them all at once can be stressful if we let it. We need to be able to take these in stride and not let them affect our ministry or our marriage.
4. Microfinance Site. I've been praying to meet a Dominican to join me in my efforts. Also, Pray that God would show me how to connect with the community in little ways over the next several weeks as I try to build their trust. I need boldness to do this.
   

I miss Wal-Mart

Like Ryan said in the last post, many of you have asked if there is anything we need/want from the States. So I came up with a list of things that are either ridiculously expensive or just don't even exist here. So here it goes:

-cooking spray
-chocolate chips (or really anything chocolate)
-tampons
-lotion
-spices (any of the basic ones that we use- dry basil, ginger, nutmeg, cumin, etc)
-plackers (for flossing)
-any sort of packaged food (snacks, cookies, nuts, almonds, canned things-broth, diced tomatoes, etc, sauces, dressings, marinades)
-things for our walls (world map, bulletin board, anything decorative)
-peanut butter
-Splenda
-tissues
-shampoo, conditioner, body wash
-Glade plug-ins
-Multi-Vitamins

God Bless!

Settlers of Jarabacoa

3 weeks in and we're totally "settled in" at this point. By "settled in" I mean that we have a car, an apartment, furniture, phones, food, etc. The staff here keeps telling us how quickly and smoothly it's gone for us. Our current schedule is to study Spanish in the morning and work in El Callejon in the afternoon.

Funny Cultural Differences:

1. Have you ever been at the store and thought that they were starting to sell things for an upcoming Holiday way to early? Well when we went to Santiago on October 18th the stores were totally decked out for Christmas and playing Christmas music all day.
   
2. Electricity is really expensive here and we live in a pretty modest part of town but yet every other house already has Christmas lights up. Most of them would be considered hideous and tacky in the US.
3. The country only has 1 hit song at a time on the radio. We probably here it 7 times a day on our street, in the car, or blaring in El Callejon. It's a love ballad in Spanish.
4. Instead of a traditional church service this pass Sunday a Christian Rap Artist from Santo Domingo played a show. If anyone from MTI is reading this you'll LOVE his name: Aaron Kelly...I promise.
5. Motorcycle drivers have a complex hand signal system that explains what they're about to do...including: left turn, right turn, stop, pass, slow down...and several others that I haven't figured out yet.
6. There's no door-to-door mail service here, but there are bills. We received our cell phone bill when someone got out of there car and threw it on our balcony.
7. Car washes are also bars. When Dominicans get their car washed there's always a bar on site and they sit and drink beer until their car is ready. This starts at 8am!
8. I talk best in Spanish when I'm trying to be a Spanish Radio DJ (not really a cultural difference). Caroline and I also really enjoy talking in Spanish like we're on Rosetta Stone.
   

We can receive mail now, so note our new address on the blog homepage. Several people have asked us if there's anything we need/want from the states. Caroline is in charge of posting that list so look for it soon.

Prayer Requests:

1. Spanish. That we would learn quickly! The Spanish where we're working is pretty rough and hard to understand. Also for boldness in communication
2. Microfinance site. We're in the process of creating the system from the moment we meet a possible client to the day they make their last payment. Pray for wisdom as we plan.
3. Relationships. Pray for our relationship with each other and that we would make close friends with other US missionaries and nationals

Here's some pictures of the Aaron Kelly Concert and our place. We tried to make them more exciting then just pictures of rooms.


At one point he rapped to the beat from "Jesus Walk" by Kanye West.


It was pretty crowded...probably 300 people....in a small room...with no AC.


Our front porch on Laundry day. We live above an 80-year-old couple whose daughter is our Land Lady.


Our dining room.


Second story apartment means SWEET view.


Caroline is in timeout.
The 3 bedroom apartments were the same price as the 2 bedroom ones, so we have an empty room. Hopefully, we'll be renting it out by the first of the year.


The office/guest room. The couch Caroline is relaxing on is also a bed.


Our living room. The couches are way less comfortable than they look.


Just for fun.