Highlights from Jarabacoa: pests and peaks

Hi Friends!

I realized I haven’t really updated about living in the DR because I felt like I’m still learning new things. Well, if I wait until I know how to do this, there will never be a post! Every day is an adventure; some days I feel more prepared than others. Just now, I looked down to see a large line of termites streaming through the house. Thanks to my Google syndrome (the necessity to Google EVERYTHING!), I just learned that termites emit an ink, relatively similar to that of a ball point pen, that they use to guide other termites to some place promising. Tomorrow morning might include me, a ball point pen, and a termite circus. Rumor has it they’ll walk in circles if that is how their path is made!

Termites, blindly following their path.

Enough about termites though. Believe it or not, I spend a relatively small portion of my time fighting small (or often large) critters. My time here has been busy! Between going to school, lesson planning, helping kids write letters to their sponsors, and a myriad of smaller projects, I always seem to have something to do. And really, that’s just the way I like it! Last Tuesday I was approached at school and shown the list for the 8^th grade retreat on that Thursday. Lo and behold, my name was on the list as a chaperone! Two days’ notice seems to be perfectly acceptable here to ask someone to spend 3 days with middle schoolers! Really, no amount of notice could have prepared me for these days of fast Spanish, no sleep, and constant activity. But this was a special time of getting to know students and fellow teachers. They took me under their wing as clearly I was out of my element! The students spent time learning about refocusing their priorities towards God and connecting with him as opposed to so many other things that distract us in this world. They seemed to have a blast, and really, they didn’t sleep. Even the swimming time started around 12:30…way past my mid-20s bedtime!

Red team at the retreat!

Soccer at the retreat.

Working on letters at the Ark.

This girl LOVES writing to her sponsor!

Unfortunately, there was no recovery time from that retreat! I had one day back in Jarabacoa, spent translating for an awesome mother-daughter team from Wheaton and showing up at appointments to look at cars where the owners decided not to show up!! (Not showing up to things is cultural, and is probably the most frustrating thing to North Americans.) At 5 am this past Sunday morning I left for a hiking trip to celebrate Holy Week. Although I was the most exhausted I have been yet here, I began the climb up the highest peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte. Thank goodness there were mules following us up, because around mile 11 of steep incline my body was done. 3 nights of no sleep catches up! I had no shame climbing on that mule on the way into base camp :) The rest of the 5 day hiking trip was great! I caught up on sleep in a hammock, summited 10,164 ft, cooked over a fire, and met new friends!

Base camp

Little mule ride :)

This statue was put up 2 days before we peaked!

Here‘s a picture of my new house! It’s a lovely place that I share with two others. Although it often lacks water and electricity or is slightly infested with small critters, the place is pretty comfy and provides a warm welcome after work! I spend a lot of my time here cooking and preparing food. I eat only fresh food now as packaged things are so expensive or unavailable. (I didn't eat much packaged food before, but I did love my chewy granola bars and baby carrots!) I just learned to make granola bars from scratch! After my weekly visit to the fruit and vegetable market, I chop up everything so it’s ready to go. It makes meal time so much easier! Please feel free to send me recipes as I begin to experiment more with cooking here!