Seeing Both Sides to a Rainy Day

SORRY I am sorry I have been inconsistent. Please tell the blog readers that I have now lost due to lack of posts that it’s ok, she said she was sorry and is now back and better than ever. Working in an environment that I am constantly correcting behavior I will be the first one to say I hate excuses so I will spare you. Anyway let me tell you about housetrip!

For those of you not saturated in Escuela Caribe lingo that is code for a vacation like thing that we take the students on. There is one every semester (remember paradise island and the weird trees, all the coke you can drink, .5 star hotel…is it coming back to you yet?) and this one is planned by the house staff, so basically we can do whatever the girls want. We left on Tuesday morning and drove to Buca de Yuma, which in case some of you are wondering is much prettier than Arizona’s Yuma. It was an all day drive so that we could camp out at the national park. When described what the park would be like we were told we would be camping on the beach, but I am coming to learn that to a Dominican “beach” does not mean sand, or even necessarily the sight of water, however I would argue there is a guarantee in the sound of water. We get to the campsite and it is on this beautiful open range type place with grass and farm animals everywhere and the only hint of the ocean is the sound of water when you listen really hard. Still not ready to face to facts we split the group into two groups, one beach camping and one stay here. The house father asked me which I would prefer and of course I chose the beach. By the time we got everything unpacked the tent set up and dinner it was already dark, so the beach group hung around and then began our hike to the beach. It was a funny hike, eight students, two staff, and one flashlight. I was the staff who had a flash light and so I was in the front and it was DARK. I had to make some judgment calls having came to a few forks in the trail, eventually the trail was getting less and less pronounced and so I yelled back to Sandy (the other staff in the back of the group) that I was losing the trail and wasn’t sure if we should go on. So she came up so we could have a little meeting. I want to pause and mention another fact about the Dominican beach, because you can always hear it, it convinces you that its just around the corner. Un pause. So Sandy suggests that she take our one flashlight and go up the trail to see if it leads anywhere and leave me with the girls in the dark. I agree and she leaves. Now when I say its dark, I mean it is DARK. The girls are still standing in a line and I can tell I have a girl on either side but I cant even see well enough to tell which ones were next to me. Of course not 3 seconds go by before one girl says “what was that, I think I just heard something” not wanting to loose complete control I suggest to the girls that they sing. So here I was standing with 8 of my students singing in the middle of the night in the middle of the woods, it was beautiful. Sandy comes back and reports that nothing is to be found except a cliff of the lava rock stuff (see Samana post) and the ocean 40 feet below. We turn around and decide to pursue another area of the trail when it forked. After a good rocky walk we turn around deciding to go back to camp. At one point I turn around and at the same time hear a girl say “hey when did we get more flashlights” Sandy (still in the way back) says what turns around and notices two Dominicans behind her, and one was on a horse, all the while I am saying “how do you miss that, how do you not just notice the path getting lighter, or the noise, the horse…how do you just miss that” it was really funny. In our broken Spanish some of the group tried to ask where this beach was and made sure to include the word sand, however the Dominican said he didn’t think there was one that was not just a cliffy beach. All in all it was a great experience.

Whoa I am making up on lack of blog with length of blog.

So the next day we got to explore a beautiful cave, pictures on Facebook. Afterwards we went to a great beach that was right in between two resorts. Those beaches are really nice; they keep them clean and awesome. We had perfect beach weather, and did lots of swimming. That night I was sleeping in my cot under the stars and am woken up to a panicked “Ms. Donohue, MSSS DOOOONOHUE!” I woke up and the girl sleeping next to my cot is in a ball on one side of her cot because she was being “attacked” as she put it. Somehow this blind horse who lived on the property kept getting out and during our time there we would find him everywhere, and that night was no exception. The blind horse was at the end of her cot chewing her bed. I was laughing so hard I almost fell out of my cot, I had no idea how to deal with this situation, I didn’t want to startle the blind horse. It was really funny and don’t worry after a while my student was able to see the humor. The next day we made our way to the capitol, Santo Domingo on our way we stopped at this breath taking church! Again I am not about to describe the beauty you have to check facebook out.  Then we went to a cave that was out of control. I wish I could have taken pictures but there were rules against it. So here is a link you need to click on right now it takes you to the Google images of this place http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1W1SKPB_en&q=cueva+de+las+maravillas&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=G0pzS-WYLYG0tgfNi52FCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBAQsAQwAA

The first four images are legit and are completely what we saw, I know you are thinking I am lying but this place really exists. Anyway so after that we stopped for dinner at pizza hut and then went to our hotel. The next morning we got to tour Santo Domingo which is where Christopher Columbus first landed so it’s kind of a big deal. We saw some very old ruins which at the time, when the tour guide told us what they were I was totally into it but now can’t remember, so pictures are online. Sorry history major best friend, I know you hate me right now. After that we let the girls be girls and we went shopping…all day. It was intense. Afterwards we went to see the movie Avatar which is really good. The next day we made the journey home. All in all it was a great trip with lots of laughter.

This is a really long post that I don’t really have time to proof read, sorry, but I want to end with a few quick prayer requests. Two people from my school are going to Haiti to donate more food and relief. Please pray for safe travels for them, they leave on Sunday and will come back on Tuesday. Also if you feel led to give towards the craziness that is Haiti right now but don’t want to just give to something random, I can get the money to orphanage owners in Haiti or for the purchase of food, if God has laid it on your heart just send me an email. The other prayer request is for me, for the remainder of this week my roommate is gone and I generally do not sleep well in her absence, so please pray that I am able to rest. Also for my girls the house parents are off this week, and it throws things off so if you can pray for stability of their emotions and that they do ok during this time and connect with the staff they don’t get to spend time with up at the house. Anyway thanks for being patient with the long post. I promise I will try to be more faithful.

Have you ever seen the movie Edward Scissohands?  It’s a 1990 movie starring Johnny Depp, if not pause right now and go Google it so you can understand the image I am trying to give you then clear your schedule because you got yourself a new item on your to do list: watch Edward Scissorhands! Any way I was having a bit of a rough week and Thursday morning I was talking to God about all my frustrations and I was trying to find the words to describe how it was that I felt (I am really into painting my emotions into pictures) and I just couldn’t do it this time. With my frustrations boiling over it finally hit me I felt like Edward Scissorhand! Everything I touched seemed to get a little worse and my intentions were certainly not that I just couldn’t help it. It was such a relief to finally get that out there and from there I was able to say to God that I needed Him to help me that I wanted to serve Him. That day was the best day ever! One of my students who has really been struggling had a huge break through with me, the light bulb went on and I could see that she got it! It was so awesome, one of those that is why I am here moments, it felt so good. It was defiantly a great reminder that success is not something we can measure, but only God alone can truly make the call on what is worth it.

I took Friday and Saturday off this week to have a little bit of a vacation. On Friday I got my hair done, it was intense. Going to get my hair done is something I absolutely love; not speaking any Spanish put a lot of fear into this. I had seen some of the hair styles this friend of a friend did and they were AMAZING and I deemed him worthy and I put complete trust and told him he has creative control over my hair. I like what he did with it! When he cut my hair we had a spanglish argument over the length that frightened me and I almost made him put the scissors down while we discussed it. All in all it was a very relaxing day. On Saturday I went for a rather long run and it was really nice to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and 70* weather. I did get bored this weekend which was my goal, I am just so go go go all the time I needed some time with no plans and I feel refreshed.

Haiti update: Two people from my school collected money and bought $1000 worth of food for friends who own an orphanage in Haiti that ran completely out of food. They woke up really early on Sunday so that they would get it before a meal was skipped. It was really inspiring to see one of my students come back from helping them shop. The school I work for is still looking into the best way we can be of help.

I am excited for this week, rest has done me good, but I am afraid it has made me a lazy blogger. I miss you guys!

What a crazy week for the world! So just in case you have not heard there was a huge earthquake in Haiti (for those of you geographically challenged that is the other piece of the island I reside on, don’t fret until I moved here I had no idea either! World travel sure has helped my geography!). I live about 120 miles away from it! That would be a two hour car drive. That is just crazy.

I am fine; I was running at the time and didn’t even feel it. Later that night my roommate mentioned that a huge earthquake happened but somehow the subject changed quickly and we never went back to the topic. The next morning I woke up at 4am feeling like I was dying because my stomach hurt so bad, no idea what happened there. Luckily before my body decided to turn on me I already had the day off and it was one of those days where your stomach hurts so bad you can’t stand up straight. It was intense. I decided to check facebook and that’s when I remembered the comment that was said the night before and I quickly sent out many emails to my panicked family.

It’s crazy…how much control we don’t have. Some days you forget just how fragile life is, how one minute you can be eating dinner and the next your whole life is different. Crazy. By Thursday night I got a great idea, I can go over there, I am just three hours away! i couldn’t sleep that night all I could think about were the thousands who were still buried. I just couldn’t justify lying on a mattress and calling it a night when people two hours away were starving and I had food in my pantry. First thing I did the next morning was talk to the outreach guy on our campus as to what we could do, if going there for the weekend would have been worth it. He told me that he is in contact with the missionaries there and they say teams from all over the world are coming so for now we can stay put. In about a month when the glamor of helping out a nation in need dies down, that is when relief we can offer is needed. We may go over there to help rebuild, or help the refugees who come over the border, as of now I am not sure what our response will be. I do have some cool stories.

A friend of mine here, her mom was in Haiti. Her parents lived there for a while but now live in Georgia. They put together a medical mission team that specialized in leprosy, a disease that has infected many on our side of the island but is an epidemic in Haiti. Her mom led the team and was over there during the quake. After the earthquake happened the U.S. Embassy flew all the Americans out to New Jersey. Her mom made it out safely but in New Jersey was worried how she was going to front to cost of paying for a ticket to Georgia for that day. They local news station had been following them since before they left and when the earthquake happened they aired their story again. A woman in Georgia heard the story and paid for a jet to take the entire team from New Jersey to Georgia.

I don’t know if you will remember but a while back I talked about the directors son who got into an accident way back and damaged his leg so bad he could no longer walk correctly, the one that by a miracle a missionary hospital had the rare equipment and offered to do the surgery. Well on Thursday a guy with a really fat wallet walked in and paid whatever it took to help the transport all of their medical supplies and machines to Haiti to help out.

People’s responses to disasters shock me. Please keep praying for Haiti. So many of my friends have friends there and it is crazy stuff. Every day is a blessing.

What a crazy week it has been! This last week brought so many changes it seems like it has been a lot longer than just a week. Like I may have mentioned the branch of our ministry located in Indiana has shut down and all the willing staff from that branch were sent to ours. We got four more staff in the education department! It has been less than a week since they have been here but the relief has been huge! We were understaffed to say the least and all of us were stretched so very thin. It has been an awesome change and that was just the beginning I look forward to all the stuff that is going to change as they get more situated in!

This week was filled with a lot of stress with meeting new people and adjusting to all this change. My boss changed this week and I was the only person who didn’t know him. It was awkward because I have discovered I make a good third impression and usually blow it on the first two. I am working on this it is my hopes to make a good first impression because not everyone holds out for the third. This week I received a very encouraging note from one of my youth girls from back home, it made my day. Just thought I would throw a little recognition in here for you because you are awesome.

The best part of my week was Sunday! On Sunday a mission team from Colombia International University came and brought a breath of fresh air. They did a lot of work during the week for an extremely impoverished town and used our school as kind of a home base. They did minister to us and it was wonderful! They took over on Sunday! They brought their own worship team and the worship leader demanded the presence of God when she sang! She didn’t ask for it or hope for it, she demanded it. It was intense. Then they shared 3 testimonies that were also intense, here is how messed up my life was then God stepped in kind of testimonies. It was so good. It was one of those Sundays where God feels so close that you can reach out and touch Him.

This week is a short blog, just a quick read. Some prayer points would be for the house father I work for, please pray for encouragement for him. He is under a lot of stress lately and this week one of the students spilled coke on his computer, it was an accident. Pray that it is the cheap thing that needs to be replaced (when something breaks and someone gives you a quote it’s always well it could be your whole computer is ruined which would be $400 or your keyboard and that would be $40, pray for the $40!). Pray also for New Horizons, the ministry I work for as transition happens. As for me please pray joy over me and that I would learn to love God deeper this week. I miss you guys!

I have been here over six months! Wow! January first marked my 6 monthversary and everyone stayed up just to support me entering into my six month here, it felt like a holiday. Ha ok New Year’s Eve was a lot of fun but that is getting ahead of myself. It has been a little while since I have written. Christmas was really good, hard but good. I got pretty homesick but on the flip side, having been removed from the craziness that typically leads up to the holidays, this was one of the first Christmases where I pondered the impact of the Savior of the World being born had to this world. So that was pretty cool. Dominicans celebrate the 12 days of Christmas and today is only the 11^th day, I have yet to see turtle doves, French hens, pipers, or lords leaping, but tomorrow I fully expect 12 drummers drumming.

New Year’s Eve was fun we had a campus wide dinner and watched movies. The first movie was “kid” friendly so that some of the staff who had kids could be included. It was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which made me think of my nieces who I would normally be visiting this time of year. At about this time an adorable three year old girl named Gracie came up to me and asked if she could sit in my lap while we watch the movie. With a huge smile I said “ of course”.  It is crazy how God knows us so well and provides exactly what we need. After the second movie we counted down and watched for fireworks. The director set his clock to the official time, an atomic clock was involved it was pretty intense, however in proper Dominican culture the fireworks did not start until 5 minutes after 12.

This last week in Sunday School something really stuck out to me. In a discussion on pride this was said when you make yourself an idol someone will always treat you sac religiously, because you are not something to be worshiped. This echoed into my week at one point one of my students was really upset by something I had said and it lead into a bigger thing because at the root of everything I am not what you would call her favorite person. Some hurtful things were said but I walked away differently this time because I am not a thing to be worshiped. I valued what she said changed what I could and moved on.

My school week was pretty good, it was rough getting the new semester started but now I think we are going to start settling into the norm again. This semester I really wanted to work on doing thing right and humble. I heard someone say a few weeks ago that it’s not about not messing up; it’s what you do when you do mess up that matters. This is intense because sometimes I feel like I have to be perfect in front of my students because I am a walking example for Christianity. I have tried to say and do everything just the right way and beat myself up when I do something wrong. This week was different, I made sure to publically apologize to my class when I messed up, I also had to go back to a few students. It was hard but I think in the end I was a much better example. This was also a continued week of joy and that was so nice to have that random burst of energy when least expected is strange and awesome.

Please pray for continued Joy, I love this feeling. Please also pray for us as we switch around staff, things are going to look different and while I fully believe this change is going to be great all change takes work.

I miss you guys!