Everyday Things

Saturday

I went out on a date tonight. It’s not what you think though- there was no boy for me. Blanca (our housegirl) asked me to go watch some basketball games with her and I didn’t realize that she really just wanted to go meet her secret boyfriend and I had to tag along because she’s not allowed to be out at night without me. I was tricked into being the 3rd wheel and going out on a date with 2-18 year olds for almost 3 hours!! It wasn’t as bad as I expected, since I was pretty entertained by the games. However, the walk home was awkward since they wanted to walk behind me for all 8 blocks or so and do whatever it is 18-year olds who are secretly dating do. I tried to look as normal as possible, but lets face it, I’m the only North-American person in probably about a 45 minute radius, out late at night, with 2 kids following along behind me- I looked and felt ridiculous!!

The other awkward occurrence of the night was having my picture taken a billion times. Sometimes I try to pretend I’m famous or something, but really it’s a toss up between feeling famous and feeling like an exhibit at the zoo. I finally had to ask some kids to stop because they were literally standing right in front of my face and I couldn’t even see the game! AHH!!

Sunday

This morning I voluntarily woke up at 7 and made pancakes for my family. Secretly, it was because I was so tired of eating cereal and really wanted pancakes for myself. However, making them for everyone turned out really well because they LOVED them. My host dad asked me how often I planned on making them again! Not only am I happy because the pancakes were awesome- we ate them with honey!- but also because I love when my family and I find that we have something in common. You´d be surprised how much filling their stomachs can open doors for various topics of conversation. Also, I’m trying to wow them with my cooking skills so that they’ll let me make my own food more often. As it is right now, even if I’m the one cooking, I can’t walk away for even 5 seconds. They will stir, flip, turn up the fire, and add oil, crème, or salt- EVERY TIME. It drives me really nuts but I’m working on it!

After my amazing breakfast, I taught Sunday school again this morning. There were about 10-12 kids there, ranging in age from 3-14. It’s a little difficult to deal with the age differences, but we had fun. I did Bible story puzzles with the little ones and then we did some arts & crafts to prepare for bible school, which is next week. I´m excited, although I know it will be a lot of work and require a lot of patience!
One kid (who is a bit of a pain) asked me what, “shit” meant in English this morning. I really think he had no idea, so I just told him it was bad and that we weren’t going to talk about English today. Hopefully that will do! Anyway, Sunday school was good and then we had a huge lunch (chow-mein –they LOVE that stuff here!) to celebrate getting a new pastor, and a service afterwards. I liked the old guy, but the new one and I have discovered that we have a similar sense of humor, so I’m excited about working with him. Jokes are always welcome!....
It´s also exciting to be a part of my church right now because the women are trying to raise enough money to have electricity installed in these houses that groups from the US have come here and built, and that many of them live in. They government keeps raising the price on them everytime they come up with the money, and it´s really frustrating. It´s also really interesting though, becuase the women do not hesitate to meet with many government officials and other important people, no matter how early they have to get up or how many busses they have to take to get somewhere, or how long they have to wait for a meeting. They are very determined and I think that´s really neat to see, and hopefully, to help with. A group is coming down from Wisconson in January with some electricians, and hopefully they will be able to finalize the project then. I´m excited!

Well, this week I have several things to look forward to. Tuesday and Wednesday Jeannene, a PCUSA mission co-worker, is coming to Santo Domingo to do a workshop with some women here, so I’m pretty excited to get to participate in that. Then Thursday I’m going with the other Young Adult Volunteers to Mexico to get our passports/visas renewed. We’re supposed to stay in Mexico for 72 hours, but supposedly if you pay a bribe, you can go back the same day, which is probably better since border towns in Mexico probably aren’t the greatest places to hang around. I’m pretty pumped though- it sounds exciting when you use words like bribe and Mexico and border-crossing all in the same thought. And even if it´s not, at least I get to see my friends and hang out for the day!

Oh, the pictures are some of the boys from my Sunday school class, and some of the women from my church with a huge pot of chow mein. Both were taken at my house, which is also the church....