I have made some big changes since I returned to the Dominican Republic. The biggest one being that I have moved. For about four months I was living in the apartment of another missionary while she was in the United States. It was a very nice, two-bedroom apartment in a more wealthy area. Very similar to what an apartment would be like in the US. If you are a follower of my blog, you might remember my entry a few months ago about my decision to move in with a Dominican family in a neighborhood close to our school. A few months ago, God led me to the decision to make myself as much a part of the community that I am serving as I can. I made the decision then, but now I have actually done it.
I am now living with Eddy's sister Guillermina and her two daughters Adriani and Adriana. The girls are five and seven. Guille's husband lives in New York and only comes home about once a year to visit. This is actually a pretty common situation here. My new place is a two-bedroom apartment as well, however, the whole apartment could fit into the living room of my old place. The girls sleep with their mom and my bedroom is tiny. The headboard and the foot of the bed touch opposite walls and I have about two feet next to my bed. If I were to guess I would say the room is 6x6 feet, maybe 7x7. There are no closets so my clothes are hanging on a bar that is in one of the corners of the room and all of my stuff is either on my new bookshelves of in a suitcase under the bed. Almost everything that I own came here in four suitcases, but I still had a really difficult time fitting all of my stuff into my room. I tried to take pictures, but it's so small that i can't get far enough away from anything to take a picture of it.
There are many other differences between my old apartment and my new one as well. I no longer have an inverter, so when the electricity goes out, it's out. Also, there is no hot water. I don't know if I will ever get used to the ice-cold showers. Because there are no screens, the bugs and mosquitos are very bad. I even sleep with a mosquito net. However, with all of this said, I have to say that I love it. I love living here and I love being a part of a family. Not just Guille and the girls, but the whole family. Eddy and his parents, Guille's two other sisters, three aunts and countless cousins all live withing walking distance and are always at each other's houses. The women are such caretakers. They are always insisting on cooking for me and doing things for me. For example, Yasmin, the oldest sister, keeps insisting on doing my laundry. I don't know how to tell her that I would prefer to do it myself. I also love living with the girls. They are so cute and they love coming into my room and hanging out with me, they are so amazed by all my stuff and love doing my hair.
God definitely knew what He was doing when he led me to this decision. Being a part of this family has blessed me so much and will continue to bless me in ways that I'm probably not even aware of yet and I pray that I am a blessing to them as well.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sancocho Night with Francisca
On monday night, I had a quintessential Dominican experience. Eddy's aunt Francisca invited us over for sancocho. Sancocho is a very popular Dominican meal. It is similar to stew and has a little bit of everything in it. Usually sancocho is reserved for special occasions, probably because it takes a long time to make and also costs more to make because it has so many ingredients. Eddy says that now I can be sure that Francisca loves me because she doesn't make sancocho for just anyone. Everybody makes sancocho a little bit differently. For this occasion, she made it with yuca, plantains, potatoes, carrots, chicken, beef, corn, and of course some mystery ingredients that I didn't ask about. Now, when I say that it has chicken and beef, I mean big chunks of chicken and beef, bones and all. And when I say that it had corn, I mean on the cob.
So let's picture this for a second, I am there to eat sancocho with Eddy and his parents, and Francisca hands me a huge bowl, (full of these giant pieces of vegetables and meat) and a spoon... How do you eat stew with corn on the cob in it with a spoon? How do you eat stew with a chicken leg in it with a spoon? and of course, I'm the guest, so I'm expected to eat first. I'm sure my face was priceless. But, now I have started the process of learning how to eat sancocho. With your bowl you have a big plate, first you put a huge helping of white rice on your plate and then some of your sancocho and then, of course, a few pieces of advocado. The problem is that I am trying to eat with good table manners, which is impossible. Every time I try to take a part of a gigantic piece of yuka or carrot with my spoon, I try to do it as carefully as possible so that my food doesn't go flying everywhere and as soon as I get halfway through it my spoon quickly cuts through the rest and crashes into the plate making a loud noise, which embarrasses me everytime, but everyone else finds hilarious.
Francisca, being a the wonderful Dominican host that she is, doesn't even have a place set for herself. She is busy running around and preparing things and bringing more and more food to the table. At one point she came back with bananas, which I was expected to dip in my broth, I think. The thing about Dominican moms (and aunts) is that they always tell you that you have not eaten enough and force you to eat more. And when I pretend like I don't understand, they always tell Eddy to serve me more and tell me to eat it. Also, sancocho is served very hot, which can be a little uncomfortable because I don't think it's ever less than 90 degrees here, and by the time you finish, all you want is a glass of cold water. But apparently there is a rule that you can't drink cold water after eating sancocho for several minutes, and when you are finally allowed to, you may only drink small amounts at a time. So there Eddy and I are with our little glasses as Francisca serves us 1/4 of a cup at a time of cold water. At this point Eddy's parents leave and tell us to stay and talk to Francisca because "Francisca loves talking to Carolina" which is amazing to me because we can not understand each other at all. But I do love talking to her too, so we stay and talk for a while and then, at the end of the evening, she gives me a sandwich-sized ziplock bag as a present. Or as she called it, a 'fundito', which translates to 'little bag'.
I thought my heart might burst with love for this woman.
So let's picture this for a second, I am there to eat sancocho with Eddy and his parents, and Francisca hands me a huge bowl, (full of these giant pieces of vegetables and meat) and a spoon... How do you eat stew with corn on the cob in it with a spoon? How do you eat stew with a chicken leg in it with a spoon? and of course, I'm the guest, so I'm expected to eat first. I'm sure my face was priceless. But, now I have started the process of learning how to eat sancocho. With your bowl you have a big plate, first you put a huge helping of white rice on your plate and then some of your sancocho and then, of course, a few pieces of advocado. The problem is that I am trying to eat with good table manners, which is impossible. Every time I try to take a part of a gigantic piece of yuka or carrot with my spoon, I try to do it as carefully as possible so that my food doesn't go flying everywhere and as soon as I get halfway through it my spoon quickly cuts through the rest and crashes into the plate making a loud noise, which embarrasses me everytime, but everyone else finds hilarious.
Francisca, being a the wonderful Dominican host that she is, doesn't even have a place set for herself. She is busy running around and preparing things and bringing more and more food to the table. At one point she came back with bananas, which I was expected to dip in my broth, I think. The thing about Dominican moms (and aunts) is that they always tell you that you have not eaten enough and force you to eat more. And when I pretend like I don't understand, they always tell Eddy to serve me more and tell me to eat it. Also, sancocho is served very hot, which can be a little uncomfortable because I don't think it's ever less than 90 degrees here, and by the time you finish, all you want is a glass of cold water. But apparently there is a rule that you can't drink cold water after eating sancocho for several minutes, and when you are finally allowed to, you may only drink small amounts at a time. So there Eddy and I are with our little glasses as Francisca serves us 1/4 of a cup at a time of cold water. At this point Eddy's parents leave and tell us to stay and talk to Francisca because "Francisca loves talking to Carolina" which is amazing to me because we can not understand each other at all. But I do love talking to her too, so we stay and talk for a while and then, at the end of the evening, she gives me a sandwich-sized ziplock bag as a present. Or as she called it, a 'fundito', which translates to 'little bag'.
I thought my heart might burst with love for this woman.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The First Six Months
When I was back in the states last month, I was asked to speak in church about my first six months in the DR. I spent a lot of time reflecting and praying about my first six months and wrote several different descriptions. The following is not the one that I chose to say in church, but I just found it on my computer and as I am readjusting to life here again, I needed to be reminded of these things that I had written about my life down here. So I thought I would share it with you as well.
"the last six months have been a journey. I have been through a lot, i have had ups and downs, but God has taught me many lessons along the way. But through it all there are two truths that i am now fully aware of:
1. That, on my own, I am completly incapable of doing everything that I hope to accomplish in the DR. and 2. that nothing is impossible with God
I have been made very aware of my own weaknesses. As soon as I arrived, I could feel the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders, and I was overwhelmed. I struggled with feeling inadequate for what God wanted me to do. I felt like, being a missionary, I should be more than what I am. Someone better than me should have been chosen for this mission, someone stronger, someone more capable. But at the same time I knew that God had chosen me for it, I never questioned the fact that it was God's will for me to be here, I just had no idea why. I compared myself to the other missionaries that I knew and I didn't seem to fit. My personality is not quite what I thought a missionary's should be. I am not very outgoing, I tend to be a little shy, I don't necessarily like being around new people. So, I beat myself up about it. I tried to change myself into who I thought I was supposed to be, what I thought a missionary is supposed to be like. But through that process I learned a few important things. First, God makes us all different for a reason. We are not meant to be cookie-cutter shapes of each other. We are each given different spiritual gifts so that together we form the body with Christ as our head. I needed to see that God made me as I am, and He, in His infinite wisdom gave me a set of unique strengths and weaknesses, spiritual gifts, and personality traits because He has a unique plan and a purpose for me. Also, I needed to be reminded that it's not about me. I am a sinner and I am weak, we all are, and He uses us to achieve great things so that He will be glorified through our works. So I needed to stop trying to find a way to be good enough, and completely lean on Him and allow Him to be my strength and to guide my actions and to work through me in the lives of the children and people around me. I needed to stop trying to change myself into who I thought I was supposed to be and allow Him to work in me and change me into the person He wants me to be for His purposes.
I love living in the DR. I love it because I know that it is where God wants me to be. And through it all, through the ups and the downs, through the struggles, through the sicknesses, there is a peace and joy that comes with knowing that you are in God's will. That you are following God and completely trust that He is there beside you and will never leave."
"the last six months have been a journey. I have been through a lot, i have had ups and downs, but God has taught me many lessons along the way. But through it all there are two truths that i am now fully aware of:
1. That, on my own, I am completly incapable of doing everything that I hope to accomplish in the DR. and 2. that nothing is impossible with God
I have been made very aware of my own weaknesses. As soon as I arrived, I could feel the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders, and I was overwhelmed. I struggled with feeling inadequate for what God wanted me to do. I felt like, being a missionary, I should be more than what I am. Someone better than me should have been chosen for this mission, someone stronger, someone more capable. But at the same time I knew that God had chosen me for it, I never questioned the fact that it was God's will for me to be here, I just had no idea why. I compared myself to the other missionaries that I knew and I didn't seem to fit. My personality is not quite what I thought a missionary's should be. I am not very outgoing, I tend to be a little shy, I don't necessarily like being around new people. So, I beat myself up about it. I tried to change myself into who I thought I was supposed to be, what I thought a missionary is supposed to be like. But through that process I learned a few important things. First, God makes us all different for a reason. We are not meant to be cookie-cutter shapes of each other. We are each given different spiritual gifts so that together we form the body with Christ as our head. I needed to see that God made me as I am, and He, in His infinite wisdom gave me a set of unique strengths and weaknesses, spiritual gifts, and personality traits because He has a unique plan and a purpose for me. Also, I needed to be reminded that it's not about me. I am a sinner and I am weak, we all are, and He uses us to achieve great things so that He will be glorified through our works. So I needed to stop trying to find a way to be good enough, and completely lean on Him and allow Him to be my strength and to guide my actions and to work through me in the lives of the children and people around me. I needed to stop trying to change myself into who I thought I was supposed to be and allow Him to work in me and change me into the person He wants me to be for His purposes.
I love living in the DR. I love it because I know that it is where God wants me to be. And through it all, through the ups and the downs, through the struggles, through the sicknesses, there is a peace and joy that comes with knowing that you are in God's will. That you are following God and completely trust that He is there beside you and will never leave."
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