Day 92

It's over. Done. 92 of 92 days complete.

Most of this week I spent the morning working on siding with Kyle, would eat lunch and then sleep for a couple hours. Beside some trinkets and a tan, seems I brought a little something extra home from the DR. And it wants out.

But, we got the garage done. OK...the siding is done. Still some electrical and the approach to the garage to pour. We'll paint in the fall to match the house.

DAY 1 (Sunday): It's good to be back at church. Our youth group hosted Flip Flops and Flap Jacks during the SS hour. That is always a lot of fun. I was pretty nervous getting back in front of everyone to lead Sharing Time. Don't know why I get like that, but whenever it has been awhile since I have been in front of people, I get on edge. I missed everyone and am so happy that God has us here in Hesston. I look forward to what He has for us.

I will have one more entry for this blog later in the week to recap The SabBRADical.

Day 89

Sorry for the lost days. I was on the far side of the moon.

Little recap of how the trip to the DR ended:
FRIDAY: went to resort
SATURDAY: enjoyed resort
SUNDAY: went to Hotel Lina in Santo Domingo
MONDAY: flew home

Got to Wichita at 10:30 pm. Wasn't sure we'd get out of Atlanta. The weather had been stormy and a bunch of flights were cancelled. We left a 1/2 hour late and got in a 1/2 hour ahead of schedule. Not sure how that works, but we were home.

TUESDAY: Our anniversary! Sal and I have been married for 19 years. We got married in Huron, SD. We drove to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole for our honeymoon. Lived in Huron 2 years while Sal finished up teaching degree and I was part time youth pastor and part time construction. Went to Alaska for 8 years. Had Cass in '95 while living in Juneau and Carson in '98 while living in Ketchikan. Spent a year in Huron before transitioning to Hesston. September 1 will be 8 years in Hesston. This is the longest anyone has put up with us as a married couple. :) For supper we went to Sal's favorite, On The Border. We always get the same thing, chicken fajitas. We share. The food is awesome. The check is cheap ($15). We're both happy.

Then walked around Bradley Fair. Hit Banana Republic, GAP and Eddie Bauer. Found a shirt, some Teva flip flops on mega discount and 75% off women's jeans. I would have been losing money not to buy them for her!

WEDNESDAY: Kyle and I continued our quest to finish the garage. Got siding on 1 1/2 sides. Should be able to knock out the rest tomorrow. After that there is just pouring the ramp and then the pad in the back. Yeah, there's also the painting and the work bench. Guess I'll have to do those on my own time.

Tonight mom and dad are coming over for supper. Chicken Taco Casserole. My fav. My stomach has been wiggly so probably won't eat much.

End of DR Trip

Spent yesterday and today at the resort in Santo Domingo.

For 8 years we lived in Alaska as missionaries. We spent 2 of those years in Ketchikan. During this time we became close friends with Josh and Lorna Murdock. They are our age and their oldest kids are Cassidy and Carson's age. Plus they have two others. Josh owned and operated a float plane business.

Found out today via Facebook that Josh was killed Friday in a plane crash. He was the only one onboard. Words can't express how sad I feel tonight. He was such a great guy, husband and dad.

Please pray for Lorna and family in the coming days.

Day 83

DR Day 12 (Wednesday): Off to Barahona today. 2 1/2 hours. Joe and Shannon in the front. Cass and Tiffany (nurse) in back seat. Olvi (translator) and I in the bed of the truck. We had a great time. Talked about "Grey Matters" the whole ride there. "Grey Matter" refers to our brains and also to where we live most of our life- New Testament tends to talk about general principles which we have to use our brains to make choices. Humans tend to want black and white. Example- don't go see movies because movies are bad rather than I must think about what movie I am attending. Hot topics tend to be alcohol, music, movies, but really each of us have areas of our life that get out of balance because we want black and white. Life is about living within the pendulum of God's truth.

Ok. Enough preaching.

Got to Barahona, went to the beach. Had PBJ on the beach. Then drove a couple more miles up the road. There was a place where we could hike up a river thru a waterfall. We hiked mostly through water, so I didn't take my camera/phone. You'll have to trust me, it was beautiful. Then back down to where they have made pools where you can swim in the freezing cold water.

Time for supper. Got changed and headed to Casa Bonita. Beautiful site for a meal.

Great pictures if you follow the link to their website.

I had garlic shrimp and rice.

About 6:30 started trip back to San Juan. It had rained in the mountains during the day. About 1 1/2 hrs into trip came to a puddle that had turned into a roaring river.

So back to Barahona to take another route home. By this time it was pitch dark and raining. I sang 80's tunes from my phone to Olvi who was cold and huddled in the back of the truck. His "favorite" was Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. I was belting out "Good times never seemed so good" as we came to a speed bump in a little town. People hang out at the speed bumps since everybody has to slow down. Not sure what they thought of my vocals. But we won't ever forget that trip.

Day 82

DR Day 12: We started Tuesday with an 8 AM breakfast. Usually includes things like boiled eggs, fried ham, scrabble eggs, baked oatmeal or an egg bake of some sort. And of course mangos or pineapple. Shannon (missionary) does a great job with the cooking for all the meals. There is no such thing as 2% milk. It is of the powder variety. I haven't eaten any cereal here. Just use it to make cafe con leche.

Then Joe and I went to the market. Its a fun place to go. Very busy and get to see lots of the DR culture all in one place. When I got back, Cass and I worked on painting a side of the clinic. She worked on the bottom and I started with some of the overhang at the top. Slow going. She got a bunch done and mine looks like not much. Very hot and humid out there. Should have started earlier to avoid some of that.

Stopped for lunch and then a siesta before going back to painting. However the clouds came in and we had a beautiful rain all afternoon. Umm, I slept.

About 5 pm we had a meeting with some students. The first was a boy that Jared Redding sponsors on a monthly basis at the Lucille Rupp school.

Some info about Ezekiel: comes from a single parent home; is the oldest with 1 brother and 1 sister; loves music and plays the drums; favorite subject is math and Spanish. His favorite sport is basketball, which is cool since Jared sent with me a nerf bball hoop set to give him. Ezekiel was very excited.

Shortly after Ezekiel left, Cassidy's student came. Her name is Albia. She goes to the Christian school on this side of town, CCED, started by Jim Smith.

Albia also comes from a single parent home. She has 6 sisters and 1 brother. Her oldest sister is 26. Her brother and one sister are younger than her. Albia was shy at first, but boy, once she got talking, she was something else. She loves to go to school. Is ready for the bus at 5:30 AM, but it doesn't come until 7. Works hard at school and likes to get on the internet. Kids are the same wherever you go. Not sure where she has access since they don't have at home. Probably school. Cass gave Albia some of her clothes, shoes and a cloth bag. Pretty neat to be able to provide an education and a future for just $26 per month. If you are interested, go to the Solid Rock Mission website and click on "Child Sponsorship". Very, very easy to sign up.

In the evening an American Holderman Mennonite missionary family came over for supper. They had 4 girls and 1 boy. Their grandpa was from Hesston and they still have an aunt that lives there. Small world. Had a great time hanging out with them.

Cass and I closed our day with Gin - the game. I dominate, but she's catching on.

The Rooster and the Crickets: The clinic sits right next to a barrio. On the other side of the wall lives a rooster. Pretty sure its not the same one from every time we are here since they eat them, but there is always a rooster over there. Sometimes at 3 AM he will croak out a couple crows and go back to sleep. Other times at 5 AM that guy will just starting a crowing his heart out. When the rooster shuts up, the crickets take up the quiet with their chirping. Some years ago I had surgery on my right eardrum and have better hearing in it. If I lay on my right side with my right ear in my pillow, I can't hear the crickets. They must chirp at a frequency my left ear is deaf in. In this case, I wish the same could be said about the frequency of the crowing of that rooster.

Day 80

Wow - 12 more days until sabBRADical is over. I must spend them wisely.

DR Day 11: Late breakfast and then headed to the market. Joe (missionary) took good care of us and slowed down so we could do some shopping. We enjoyed the morning there.

When we came back Cassidy continued her quest to capture a lizard. This time she caught one. Carson would love it. Don't think we can bring it back for him though.

Ate late lunch and then went searching for our maid/nanny. When my folks were missionaries here they had a lady who helped with cleaning, making food, watching the kids. Her name is Yolanda. She is 81 now. First we had to find her nephew (Pastor Wilson). We picked him up and then he showed us how to get to her home in the barrio.

Yolanda was doing well. When we visited her last she had been sick and things weren't looking good for her. She was very excited to see us.

She went and dug out some pictures of when I was a little kid. She had like 5 or 6 pictures that she saved of our family. Even one of Tiffany, Jonathan and I hanging on her wall. Sorry Candice. Don't think you had been born yet.

I had brought along an indoor solar light that I gave her. Only $20 at Sam's Club and I think it will benefit her a lot. The power is very unreliable, especially in the barrio. It has a solar panel that you attach out your window to charge the battery/light. Hope they can hook it up correctly and then I hope no one steals the solar panel.

Then later we went by Pastor Epolito's house. We hosted VBS at his church the two times we have been here as a youth group. Also painted his house. Two cordless mikes that had been discontinued by our church had been donated for me to distribute. I was able to provide one for a gal who travels the DR as a rep for CEF. The other one I gave to Epolito's son (Neftali) for the church. Neftali is a very good friend and brother in the Lord.

Day 79

DR Day 9 (Saturday): The main thing I don't like about blogging is I don't know how honest to be. :) I mean, anyone in the world with internet can read this. But if you know me, you also know I tend to be WYSIWYG. What You See Is What You Get. Not all the time, but a lot. With that in mind, I hated being here Saturday. The group was gone. The missionaries were gone. The power from the city was down. The generator wasn't working. It was hot/humid. Nothing to do. I didn't see it coming, but all I could think about was what I could be doing if I was at home and how bad I had it here.

Long story short, the missionaries came back. The power came on. I realized how much I was just feeling sorry for myself. Did take the opportunity to make these mental lists:

What I Miss-
* Sal and Carson
* Consistent electricity/water
* Yo querro Taco Bell
* Ease of communication
* Drinking from a faucet
* Sweet tea, milk, cereal, BBQs
* Cadie, our Terrier

What I Don't Miss-
* Cell phone
* TV (OK, its not football season so I can put this down)
* Pressure for "more" ("More" anything- money, things, keeping up with the Jones)
* The pace of American life

What I Like Here-
* The food
* The friendships
* The sun
* The lizards
* The beach

But all in all, I'll be ready to go home next weekend and ready to be back at Church. Can't replace my families- First fam being Sal & Carson and second fam being everyone at Church.

DR Day 10 (Sunday): Went to Central Mennonite Church at 9. Service lasted till 11:30. Couldn't understand everything, but I know the Pastor spoke out of Revelation about everything we do being worship. Then the kids did a recap of their week at Bible School. The country of focus was Ecuador. They recounted the story of Jim Elliot and how he gave his life to reach the tribes there. For each day of the week they had a kid get up and share what the Bible story was. Focus was the early life of David and his relationships with Saul and Jonathan.

This afternoon played basketball with the older guys. A lot like noonball in Hesston, but not quite as organized. They had some guys that could play pretty good.

Couple random stories before I go:

LIZARDS- They are like squirrels around here. They chase after each other. Jump from tree to tree. The missionaries' dog chases after them like our Cadie gets fired up about squirrels. Main difference is the dog can catch lizards. Cadie hasn't caught a squirrel...yet.

DOLL- Last week one of the gals on the medical team bought a stuffed doll from a local merchant. She had been told to microwave the doll to make sure it didn't have bugs in it. After microwaving the doll, she took it back to her room. Shortly after, someone was walking by the room and smelled smoke and looked in. She microwaved the doll for a minute and the stuffing in the middle started on fire. Now that's a hot babe.

TRANSLATORS- It is so cool to come back to San Juan and see the translators from previous years. Some of these guys are language professors (French & English) at the the Christian School. They work with the mission to continue to improve their conversational English. And they return the favor by helping us with our Spanish.

L to R - Moises (Joshua's brother), Olvis, Marino, and Jhonny

EXERCISE- I didn't get a picture today of the gym, but they have a pretty nice complex. The picture below is where we ran in the mornings. Rubber surface. +100 people there each day. There was a group of people that jogged slowly and would grab the walkers and "force them" to join the group. I dubbed them the "Track Bullies". One day they even took my lunch money. JK The complex also includes the gym where we played basketball and a couple baseball diamonds.

BUGS- This gets its own topic since Cassidy counted her mosquito bites last night and she has 47 from her knees down. I've got a ton too. Each night we go through the room and swat as many as possible. This afternoon I grab one out of the air with my ninja skills. Cass was very impressed. Another surprise we had took place last night when she found a wolf spider in our window sill. This comes under the topic of bugs for two reasons: #1 spiders bug Cass and #2 I talked her into letting the spider live since it eats bugs.

WHEEL OF FORTUNE- Last random topic for the day. Saturday night when everyone was gone and there was no power and I was feeling sorry for myself, Cass and I ate rice and beans at the counter. The cool part was that a lot of times at home we eat at 6:30 pm and watch Wheel as a family. Well it was about 6:30 here, so we got a sheet of paper and made up puzzles for each other. I pretended to spin the wheel (which by the way she thought I was rolling dice. Geez.) It was a ton of fun and I think is part of what turned my attitude around.