A-MAZING DAY!

First and foremost, before the hour passes, I must wish my readers Happy Donkey Day. Yes, you read correctly. Today is Donkey Day in the DR, a national, Catholic holiday. People get the day off work and school for this holiday. The holiday is in remembrance of Balaam and the talking donkey (Numbers 22) and honors donkeys in general, as the national animal.

Well, now that that bit of a greeting is out of the way, I'd like to say, I've had a great Donkey Day. This morning, we cleaned the two dorms here in Hoya del Caimito. Teams arrive NEXT WEEK! I'm really looking forward to that. Cleaning wasn't too bad. Mostly things were just dusty - except for the trash containers, which required being bleach-soaked.

Later in the afternoon, Jen, one of the full time missionaries, asked me if I'd like to go out to Hato del Yaque. This is the neighborhood I stayed at two years ago when I came with GO. We went out there and visited with different people. It was great to see those that I met before. While visiting with the Monton family, who have several daughters my age, I got to help Kirsy and her friend Masseils with their English homework. At one point they asked me about my braces and what the person who puts them on is called. I said it was an orthodontist. They were like, no, no, wasn't it a dentist? I was like, no, a dentist cleans the teeth, but an orthodontist puts the braces on. The word orthodontist was so confusing and difficult for them. We all laughed a lot as they tried saying it, had me repeat it, had me write it, and wanted a Spanish pronunciation guide next to the word. They spent like almost 10 minutes trying to figure the word out. Needless to say, I am so looking forward to returning there next week. As far as I know, I will be living out there for 6 of my remaining 7 1/2 weeks here.

When I got back to Hoya del Caimito, I went to a game night. Willby and Lisa hosted the Haitian girls we interns worked with at the construction site. Lisa had Twister and Spoons. We also played a random question game so that we could get to know each other better. We laughed so much. Their antics are hilarious and our mis-communication (because again, we were dealing with English, Spanish, and Creole, oh and I can't forget charades, that's a language in itself, right?) kept conversation lively. Here's a photo of the game night group:



I do not have any updates on Lucner. I suppose no news is good news.

Please pray for my flexibility. Not having a clear and direct plan in advance is hard for me. I love to be able to know what's going on and what to expect, but it's impossible to get that here. I knew that going into this trip, and knew that it would be a struggle for me not to get impatient. I'm just praying that I will not get frustrated with changing plans, unknown schedules, or whatever else comes my way.