high school

A few weeks ago, our fourth work team for the year came down to visit.  A team of students and teachers from Illiana Christian High School.  This is the third year that they have come down on their spring break.  I enjoy every team that comes down here to work, each one is special in its own way and all of them help me feel like I have a piece of home here in the DR for a short time, but the Illiana teams have a unique effect on me.  I graduated from Illiana, and when the teams come from Illiana each year, it is more than having a piece of home here, it is like having a piece of my youth brought down as well.  Most of the other teams that have come down have people on them that I either know personally, or who know people that I know.  Friends of friend, friends of cousins etc.  But all of these people are connections to my adult life.  When Illiana comes down it's different because the people that I know personally, and the people that we know mutually, are almost all teachers that were at Illiana when I was there as well.  The connections that are made are to my youth.

Also, the students that come down bring me back even more.  It turns out that kids at Illiana haven't changed all that much in the last 12 years since I graduated.   As I get to know the kids and see their friendships and the way that they joke around and relate to each other, they are just like the kids that I knew all those years ago.  I find myself thinking about how I would have fit into a group like this, which of them I would have been friends with.  I also think about who I was when I was a teenager, how much I have changed, and how much I haven't changed.  I think about the fact that had you told me 12 years ago, when I was finishing my senior year at Illiana that down the road I would be a missionary in the Dominican Republic, married to a Dominican, speaking Spanish and receiving work teams from Illiana, I never would have believed it.  I had no idea what God had planned for me.  It's also exciting for me to know that these kids also have no idea what God has planned for them, and I am so excited for them to discover what that is.

Having not had the chance yet to bring Eddy back to the United States, the Illiana group is also one of the few ways that I have of sharing a little bit of my past with my husband.  He hasn't seen the house that I grew up in, he hasn't gone to my home church with me, he hasn't had Sunday dinner with my family, he hasn't even met most of my aunts and uncles and cousins.  But when Illiana comes down, I get to have a week of remembering and sharing stories with him about my past and what I was like as a teenager.

This year, the team came down when we were also on Spring Break, therefore, we had a lot of time to spend with them.  I had so much fun with them and they got so much work done.  The school went through a complete transformation in the week that they were here.  I also have not laughed as much as I did that week in a long time.  They were an exceptional group and I hope to see all of them again soon, either here or back in the states.

Pieces of Home #2

In November, I discovered that one of the grocery stores here carried a generic brand of the pillsbury line of ready-made bake-only rolls.  I was very excited.  As I mentioned in the last post, it was fun to share my family tradition of Sunday morning cinnamon rolls with Eddy.  I also found several awesome crescent roll recipes in pintrest.  It was great! Then they sold out.  Thanksgiving marked our last batch of crescent rolls.  I had all but given up when last wednesday, we went to the grocery store and there they were!  Cinnamon rolls, crescent rolls (big and small), biscuits, and breadsticks.  This time I know, that when they sell out, that's it for the next several months, and they only have about 10-15 of each thing.  Well, I had to drastically change my grocery shopping plan so that half of my grocery money now goes to stocking up on these wonderful rolls before they are all gone.  Hopefully they will last me a while, but my husband requests them in one form or the other every day now.  I have made pizza puffs with the crescent rolls 3 times, I have made cinnamon breadsticks, and yesterday was our first cinnamon roll Sunday since November.

Pieces of Home

My life in the Dominican Republic is very different than my life in the United States.  A couple weeks ago, I became aware that what I consider normal day-to-day life had changed drastically since moving to the DR.  I tried to take notice of all of the things that are so normal to me now.  Here is a small list of the things that I noticed, so that you can have an idea of what I mean.

My New Normal
1- tripping over chickens before getting on our moped to head off to work
2- having to stop and wait because there are a herd of cows blocking the whole road  (trying to hold my breath as long as possible)
3- looking at the most beautiful mountains that surround us on both sides
4- having to stop in the middle of a conversation several times a day to wait for a loud motorcycle to go by
5- speaking spanish all day
6- having visitors regularly drop by unannounced
7- regularly dropping by other people's houses unannounced
8- weather that never drops below 60
9- being woken up every night by dogs and cats and roosters
10-  regularly losing electricity and running water
11- living in a house that is made completely of cement
12- greeting everyone with a hug and a kiss on the cheek

As is the case most of the time, these changes are both negative and positive. I have grown very accustomed to my new normal and I love living in the DR but there is never a time that I forget that I am in a different country, I am always aware of the fact that I am very far from home and home-sickness is something I continue to struggle with. The thing that helps the most is skyping with friends and family.  However, a couple months ago I discovered that finding "pieces of home" helps a lot as well.

In October, I was missing Fall.  The cooler weather, pumpkins, and caramel apples.  When I found and bought a decorative pumpkin at the supermarket, I realized how much such a small thing could make me feel a little less far away from home.  My mom also sent me some candy corn and caramels to make my own caramel apples.  Since then, whenever I am feeling like I am on the opposite side of the world, I look for a couple pieces of home and it helps.  Another example is that for about 1 week the grocery store had cinnamon rolls, which is what my family has every Sunday for breakfast.  To be able to make cinnamon rolls for me and Eddy for a couple Sundays, was very exciting for me and it was so nice to be able to share that family tradition with him.

I have been thinking about starting a new series of posts in which I post the pictures of the different pieces of home that I find here in the DR or that are sent to me in a care package.  A few years ago, I took for granted how readily available all of these things were to me, but now, each time I find one, it is special.  My first piece of home that I would like to share with you is one of my favorite ornaments, a Christmas Eve gift from my mom several years ago.  Having it on my tree this year, for my first Christmas in the DR, made me happy.