Well, we are wrapping up our 7th week of living in the Dominican, so I thought it may be helpful for you to have an idea of what we are doing on a daily basis:)
New groups arrive on Sunday at lunch time. Jeff and I usually help to prepare lunch so the group can eat when they arrive with Dan and Kari. After lunch the group receives their orientation and if there is a construction group, Jeff will meet with them to talk over the week’s project and answer any questions. Sunday evening we take the group participates in a worship service at Central Church.
Monday through Thursday look pretty similar day to day for us. Braegan usually wakes up around 5:30 am, and that tends to be when my day begins. I feed her and then get myself ready. Jeff usually wakes up around 6:30, and after he gets ready he makes sure that he has everything ready for the job site that they will need for the day. Sometimes he makes an early morning run to the hardware store to pick up any supplies they may need. The group has morning devotions with Dan and Kari and then eat breakfast around 7:00. Once the group is done, they get ready for the worksite, and Jeff heads out with the group around 8:00. They work hard from 9-4ish, with a lunch break around noon. They get back to the guesthouse around 5:00 to enjoy a snack and clean up. At 6:00 we all eat dinner together. While Jeff is at the worksite for the day, I work on e-mails, researching grant opportunities, visiting schools, and helping around the guesthouse. Braegan has a pretty consistent schedule during the day, which makes it really nice to get work done:) She usually naps from 9-11:30 and then will wake up for lunch and go back down from 1-3:30. Throughout the week nights, the group members get to participate in different activities in the community like playing softball, visiting local stores, and eating at a Dominican restaurant.
Friday mornings the groups are heading to the capital at 8:00. Friday is usually a good day for Jeff, Braegan and I to catch up on rest and clean our small area of the guesthouse.
Saturday mornings Jeff plays basketball at one of the local stadiums from 9-11. We usually have our produce delivered for the next week during the early afternoon, and I help to cut fruit, make salad, and get things ready for the next week.
And then…the next week begins.
Now on to more exciting news….we are moving to our new apartment!!! We will be the new residents of the second floor of this beautiful house! It still has your typical Dominican feel with cold water and constant fresh air, but we absolutely love it.
Our new apartment
We are hoping to be moving in within the next couple of days. We are starting simple, but I’m excited to have space for Braegan to be able to move around, and a place to call our own. My absolute favorite part of our new home is the rooftop access that we have. You can see for miles and the mountains are beautiful. More pictures will come soon.
We are also in the second stage of the residency application process. The initial process that we completed from the states is only valid for 60 days, and that time period is coming to a close. We have a lawyer, that we are really enjoying working with. She is “no nonsense” which I absolutely love. Last week we made a trip to Santo Domingo and spent a few hours at the Immigration office submitting paperwork and getting more paperwork. We also had blood work and chest x-rays done to show the state of our health. We will be going back to the capital at the end of next week to finish submitting more paperwork, and then we wait some more to get our year long Provisional Residence Card. I think the biggest challenge with the process is the “Dominican way” of doing things. Processes seem to take a little more time, and there are still a lot of politics involved, but in the end I feel like we are so much more appreciative because we have an understanding of how much time and work went into the final product.
It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through November. I’d never been in the Dominican during the fall/winter time…only during spring and summer so the tropical weather always seemed to make sense during that time of the year. I celebrated my birthday last week, and for the first time it was strange to being sporting shorts and a tank top on November 7th! Neither Jeff nor I miss the the coldness of the states. After spending the last 27 years in the midwest, I think our winter days are done:) Braegan’s experience of being cold is when she finishes taking a bath and I dry her off with her towel.
As I close, I’d like to give you some ways to be praying for us:
-Our health, even though it is warm here there are still winter “bugs” that are going around. Braegan and I are coming off of a 2 week stint of having colds with coughing in the evenings.
-Family time, the 3 of us have been busy with work, and I’m looking forward to having some time with just the 3 of us once we get moved into our new apartment.
-Our families in the states, I’m sure the holidays will be hard for our families as we will not be present at the gatherings. We are excited to start some of our own traditions as we are in our new home in the Caribbean!
Thanks again for your continued prayers and support, because without those two things we would not be able to do the ministry we are doing throughout the DR.