Friday, May 31, 2013

Silence is Golden

Well, it would be quite the understatement to say that adjusting to this new life has been very hard.  Don't get me wrong, I really do love my new home! Communication has been quite an issue though. I have learned a lot over these last few days, but my Spanish is still not where I would like it to be.  I tend to sit and "listen" to others speak Spanish although I can't understand much. I wish I could say that "silence is golden," but not necessarily in this situation. It can be a bit boring and tiring to just sit and only understand every 10th word. I am odd in the fact that I can speak much better than I can understand.  It is nice because I can talk to people and ask questions, but then I don't always know what they are trying to say back to me. I really like the house that I get to live in. It is really nice and I love my new family.My new parents are so sweet, and I have enjoyed talking with them.  My dad's name is Lion and my mom's name is Pura. They have eight children, and seventeen grandchildren.  None of their kids or grandchildren live in La Esquina but some live nearby and will come visit often.  There are many times when I try to say something to my mom or dad but I can't figure out how to say it so I just stop, then we just smile and laugh and everything is okay.  I do feel bad because my mom will try to explain something to me and I don't always understand so she has to get up and show me things all the time! I really have enjoyed all of the meals she has prepared for me although some of them are quite interesting! My friends and I have also been taking Spanish lessons with Alex who runs the computer center. They have been helpful, but we are all on different levels so it is kind of hard to accomplish much. He is a good teacher, but he cannot always explain in English so it can be pretty confusing. Class is at 8:30 and we get access to Wifi while we are in class and continue to use it until 12:00 without any charge.  So I should be able to check Facebook and my email, as well as update my blog on a fairly regular basis. Yesterday, some boys in the community took us girls to some caves.  It was quite an interesting trek, but we all survived and it was really fun! Last night, we watched Ice Age 2 in Spanish but it was very hard to understand it at all. I have enjoyed getting to know different people in the community, and cannot wait until I will be able to converse with them much better.  Sleeping has been an issue because it storms like crazy in the night and my tin roof is extremely loud. Also, there are chickens everywhere and they like to make themselves known early in the morning.  I am sure I will get used to this and will be able to sleep well soon. I do love how their culture takes part in siestas because it is a great way for me to catch up on my lack of sleep. I am excited to see what the weekend brings because it the time of many fiestas. I will have the opportunity to meet a lot of new people as well as learn to dance! I think we may also go to the beach, and I am excited to do something really relaxing. Thanks again for all the prayers! I will be updating everyone again soon!
-Kinsey

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

"Patience is a Virtue"

Well, after waking up at 5:00am yesterday morning, I finally arrived to Santo Domingo at 8:30pm(ET). Yesterday was quite a crazy day. The plan was to fly from Miami to Dallas at 7:40am and arrive at 11:30am(ET). Then, I was supposed to fly from Miami to Santo Domingo at 12:50pm and land at 3:00pm. Well, that didn't quite happen the way I had planned. The flight from Dallas to Miami went very smoothly and I did arrive at 11:30am. However, my flight from Miami to Santo Domingo was a different story. We started boarding the plane around 12:14, which was normal.  Everyone had boarded and we were just waiting to take off. After the last safety check, I thought it was time but boy was I wrong. There was some kind of maintenance problem that needed to be cleared. We had already started our journey to the runway, and then the captain informed us that maintenance needed to take a look at our problem. By now, it was around 1:30 which really wasn't that much of a delay. Well, we ended up having to bring our plane back in to a different gate to allow maintenance to assess the problem. After about 15 minutes, the captain informed us that this particular plane had a history with this maintenance problem. He then continued to say that we would all need to get off this plane because the maintenance would take a few hours.  The captain did explain to us that we shouldn't have to wait for the maintenance, we would just schedule a different plane. So after reading all these confusing signs and riding a skytrain, I arrived at the new gate. Originally the captain told us this new flight should leave around 3:30(remember I was supposed to arrive in the DR at 3:00). We ended up boarding this new plane a little before 4:00 and I figured we were ready to roll. But, I was wrong.  Apparently the crew that was on this new plane we had acquired was not able to fly internationally because of legality issues so we had to get a new crew.  Our captain informed us that as soon as the first officer of the new crew arrived we would be well on our way.  I guess it was wrong of me to think that should just take a few minutes.  To compensate for our delay, our seats were stalked with pillows and blankets this time. So I decided to nap. I woke up around 4:45 and knew I must have been so tired if I could have slept through our take off. But wait, we still hadn't left. At this time, the captain told us that the first officer had been located and he was on his way.  At around 5:45 he arrived and we took off at 6:00.  Just keep in mind that my friend Taylor and our professor Christine had been waiting for me at the airport since 3:00.  After finally getting in the air, the 1:45 minute flight went by in a flash and I was able to reach the DR smoothly. Taylor and Christine greeted me with so much love as we all talked about the long days we had. We arrived in a wonderful hotel in Santo Domingo and had a great night's rest.
Although yesterday was a rough day, I learned the importance of patience. I know that this summer I will have to be more patient than I ever have before and The Lord knows this too. He used yesterday to prepare me for the trials I will have ahead and I thank Him for that. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers for me yesterday, I am so blessed!
-Kinsey

Tuesday, May 28, 2013


“Spirit Lead Me”

Good Morning!
It is 6:30AM, and I am sitting in the DFW airport getting ready to fly to Miami and then on to Santo Domino, Dominican Republic.  I will arrive in the capital at 3:00PM Eastern Time. I am nervous about this new desire to become a “blogger.” I have never been the best writer so everyone will have to bear with me. I am hoping that you all will be able to become informed about all that The Lord is doing in me and the lives of others this summer.  All I can think about at this time is one of my new favorite songs by Hillsong United called, “Oceans.” My favorite lyrics are as follows:

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior”

I love the powerful words of this song. The Lord worked in crazy ways to present this opportunity to me for this summer, and I cannot thank Him enough for allowing me to embark on this journey.  These words show the importance of completely devoting all my trust and my whole life to the Lord and allowing Him to use me in ways I could never imagine. I am so excited to see what He has planned!

Anyway, I am going to be boarding my plane soon so I need to hurry up and explain a bit about my summer!  I will be living with a host family in a small community called La Esquina(The Corner) in the northeastern part of The Dominican Republic.  The community has somewhere between 200-300 people living there. You will not find it on the map, so don’t even try! It is near a city called Nagua, if you are interested in seeing close to where me and two of my friends will spend our time.  I, as well as Taylor Whittlesey and Alicen Bessire, will be teaching teachers at a school in our community how to implement gardening curricula into their school.  This school is shared by five other communities and around 500 children attend.  The gardening curricula we are using is Junior Master Gardener, and our particular curriculum that we are teaching is called “Learn, Grow, Eat and Go!”  This program contains concepts, activities, and crafts focused on gardening and the nutrition it provides. Our goal is to teach and explain to teachers the first four concepts in the curriculum so that in the fall they will be able to implement this program into their school.  The first week I am there will just be spent getting adjusted to the new culture, practicing my Spanish as well as meeting the community.  The following four weeks will be spent by teaching a concept per week from our curriculum to the teachers.  We decided slowing it down and allowing a week for the teachers to completely understand the curriculum would be best.  Hopefully they can even practice the activities and crafts on the children that decide to hang around the school during the summer.  After we have completed the training on the curricula we will actually plant a garden! After we have planted the garden, we will just spend time explaining to the teachers how a garden works and how the concepts we have taught them apply to the garden.  I will have access to the internet, but I am not certain how often.  I will try to post some updates every few days and I of course will upload pictures. If you have a Facebook, be sure to like the page titled “The Dominican Experience” and there you will find updates from Taylor, Alicen, and me! Also, feel free to email me at kinseynicolejeffers@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you! I cannot wait to see how the Lord works this summer. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers over the next nine weeks.
Te quiero mucho,
Kinsey