Becoming Unified

"2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to one hope when you were called- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:2-6

Hola!
Sorry it has been so long since I have made a post! It has officially been a little over a week since I have been in my community. I have loved every minute of it! This week has been a little bit crazy because a group from my professor's church in College Station arrived here on Tuesday.  We have been recruited some to participate in the activities that they are doing. For example, yesterday we were able to paint two people's houses that live right outside of our community. It was so great to see the joy that they had in seeing us paint and even painting with us.  The mom that lives in one of the houses even said that us painting was only possible with God. I loved seeing her thank the one who was responsible for working through us. Okay, let me try to give a pretty quick recap of the week. My days will probably run together, but I will try to keep them separate. So on Monday, after class, I had lunch with my family.  Lunch usually consists of various items, but usually rice and beans and some type of meat. I have loved basically all the things that Mama Purita has fixed for me! Monday afternoon I hung out with my new friends Lleni and Johanny, who I mentioned in my last post. Thankfully, my friends and I brought a great deal of string because all the girls ever want to do is make bracelets. So the majority of Monday afternoon I spent hanging out with my new friends making bracelets together.  Lleni, pronounced Jenny, still talks really fast and I can never tell if she actually understands me. But Johanny on the other hand is extremely patient and loves to work with my Spanish.  The two girls invited me over to their house and I got to meet the rest of their family.  Their mom talks super fast and is SO hard to understand, but I am hoping if I can learn to understand her then I will be able to understand relatively anyone else!  For dinner, my mom made soup! It was basically a sort of noodle soup with chicken broth noodles, and herbs. It was really good! I think it rained a lot Monday night, so I wasn't able to do much more in the evening but just hang out with my parents and watch TV, which I really do enjoy!  On Tuesday after class, Christine, my professor, arrived with her church group. It was fun getting to know them and introducing them to the community.  For lunch on Tuesday, I had the most amazing fish! It was blackened and SO good. I didn't realize how much I had missed fish. I have rarely eaten fish with all the bones intact so I was having to watch and see how my parents were eating their fish. Right after lunch, Oliver and Company was on TV so I was able to watch a movie that I know pretty well in English in Spanish which helps a ton! My mom as well as Taylor's mom are involved in a Women's Club that meets on Tuesday afternoons, so Taylor and I joined them! I think they really appreciated us being there and we enjoyed attempting to understand what they have been doing and their future plans. Later on in the afternoon I just hung out with Lleni and Johanny at their house.  While there, I made a date with their mom to teach her how to make bracelets on Wednesday afternoon. I was really nervous about spending a lot of time with their mom because I knew the language barrier would be rough. For dinner, my mom made pan-fried plantains which I have really grown to love. Also, my other favorite thing she makes is just scrambled eggs with sauteed onions which we also had for dinner. She knows that I love onions and usually I get the more than once a day! Wednesday was a crazy, but awesome day!! After class, I went down to where some of my other friends as well as my professor lives. There are always a lot of kids hanging out down there, so it is fun to play with them. I was able to play baseball with a few of the boys and it was so fun. I love being able to do things that doesn't involve a whole lot of communication to give myself a break!  At first, a young boy named Ronny and I were just throwing back and forth on their driveway. He was playing catcher and I was the pitcher. He loved how I actually lifted my leg up like pitchers do when they pitch! Later, he brought out Heramia and a bat! So I played catcher while Ronny pitched and Heremia bat.  Then, it was my turn to bat. I didn't think I was that good at baseball, but the boys were getting a kick out of how well I could hit the ball. They kept inviting other boys out to watch me. It was slightly embarrassing, but fun. I credit most of my baseball knowledge to playing church softball in highschool. Just a quick shoutout to anyone who helped shape me into the great player I am!  After lunch, it was time to go help Johanny and Lleni's mom learn to make bracelets and headbands.  She just watched me and tried to learn by sight. I felt bad because not too much longer after I had been there, my friend Alicen told me that everyone was going to the beach.  I knew that Lleni and Johanny and family were going to church shortly anyway so I told them that I would come by the next day to teach some more. I was so excited to go to the beach because I hadn't been able to go yet. I was walking toward my house to change my clothes and then realized that my parents had already gone to church. I was hoping that they hadn't locked the doors, but they had. So I wasn't able to put a swimsuit on. Oh well, I wasn't going to let that ruin my fun at the beach.  I wasn't quite sure how we were going to get to the beach and I was nervous that I was going to have my first experience on the back of a motorcycle, which is the basic means of transportation around our community.  I was excited to learn that we were all headed to the beach in the back of a pick-up. It was so fun and it definitely felt like home! As we were heading to the beach, the weather definitely started looking a tad bit rough, but we weren't going to let a little rain ruin our day. The beach is only about a ten minute drive, which is so great!! After arriving, we all headed to the water. I really wished that I had a swimsuit, but I went right on in with my T-shirt and shorts. It was beautiful and so much fun.  Sadly after just a few minutes the dark clouds swarmed the beach and it started raining a bit.  It started getting pretty cold so we decided to leave.  The rain decided to pick up a lot on our way back to our community. Let's just say, the ride in the back of the pick-up was not as lovely on the way back.  It was basically pouring and we were all getting soaked.  The rain sort of felt like little knives stabbing into us and it was freezing, but we all enjoyed experiencing this crazy time together! The rain continued for most of the early evening so once again I spent time at my house with my parents. It wasn't just filled with watching TV like usual though.  My mom and I sort of starting playing a "game." We were supposed to bring vocabulary words for school the next day, so I decided to ask my mom to tell me the words she thought I needed to know. This just turned into her pointing at things and me saying the word in Spanish. If I didn't know the word she would right it down for me. It was fun to just spend time with her learning new things. At 8:00, we went to the computer center where we have class to watch a movie. This time it was a treat for us because we were able to watch "The Mask" in English. It was fun and after it was over I headed to bed. Yesterday was also a pretty packed day! After class was over, Christine asked us if we wanted to go help her paint some houses.  Of course we did so we headed up the road to begin! Like I mentioned earlier, it was a great experience to paint alongside them.  We painted after class until lunch then headed back up after lunch to finish painting.  When I got back to my house, there were some people playing dominoes in my front yard.  I never had really paid any attention on how to play, but this time they were encouraging Taylor and I to learn.  Taylor told me after watching that it was a game called, "Chicken Foot," which I had still never played but it was easy to catch on.  I am hoping that I will be able to play soon! My mom decided to make Taylor and I a little afternoon snack. It was SO SO SO good. It was a mash of sweet potatoes, coconut, milk, sugar, and cinnamon. I think she realized that we like it and she will probably make it more often! For the next while, Taylor and I just spent some time together talking which we hadn't done in a while. It was great to catch up with her and talk about all the joys we had experienced. After dinner, I went over to Taylor's and hung out with her and her family. Her sweet nephew was over and so I enjoyed playing with Ericson. He is three years old and is precious! Not too much later, it was time to go to sleep! Write now I am at the computer center waiting for my mom, like my real mom Jaylynn, to get home so that we can Skype! I just heard my friend say that we are going to be dancing tomorrow night, so I will finally get to learn. I am nervous, but hopefully it will go well. I have posted just a few pictures below and will try to post more soon.  We are going to try to take some pictures of our houses and with our families this weekend so that we can post them this next week. The following pictures are Taylor's and Alicen's, FYI. I just took them off of "The Dominican Experience" page on Facebook! My camera broke recently, so I didn't bring one with me. School is officially over today so we are hoping to start talking to the teachers this next week! Anyway, enjoy and I will post more soon!

This is almost our whole group. From left to right: Alicen, me, Rose, Caitlin, and Taylor.  Susie didn't come with us the day we went to the caves so she isn't in this picture. Taylor, Alicen, and I are doing the gardening project while Caitlin, Rose, and Susie are helping Christine with research!

This is Taylor, Alicen, and our new friend Lleni! They were showing the headbands and bracelets they had made!

Left to right: Sonya, Me, Yari, and Johanny. We were just hanging out at Alicen's house. Yari is Alicen's Dominican littler sister. Sonya is one of Yari's friends from school and Johanny is my new adorable and patient friend!

This is Ericson. He is Taylor's Domincan nephew! Isn't he adorable?!

This is the beach that is only ten minutes away. Hopefully we will be able to go often!

This is also at the beach, where a river feeds into the ocean.

This is a stray dog that always follows us Americans, and only us. We have named him "Patito," which means little duckling, fitting him perfectly! The community has begun to care for this dog because they have seen how much we love him!

I know this blog was kind of long, but I hope you all enjoyed the update. I have loved becoming part of the family in this community! In just a short time we are becoming unified. I thank God for placing these new friends in my life, I love them all so much! The love that they show is incredible and of God. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. Te quiero mucho!

-Kinsey