We have LOTS of pictures today because it was such a special day! Enjoy and keep praying for us. Tomorrow AM we will finish up our painting in the morning and spend the afternoon visiting some nearby bateys, relaxing in the waterfalls and beach. See you all soon!
Patti Spiegel
Dear Dee, Family, and Friends,
I would like to start off by saying that we all need to give Senora a hard time when she returns home for taking me away from my basketball game to blog. Impatient weenie >:( But in all honesty, I am having the time of my life. I've traveled to so many places over the past couple years, but it's always been for me and my leisure. Touristy type activities. But here, it's by far and away been the best trip I've ever been on, because here, service doesn't feel like a job. We all WANT to help and that in itself is inspiring. . . Today we painted in the morning, and let me tell you, painting is one of the most miserable jobs, but we make it so fun. It makes a world of difference when you're doing something for the good of the community, of the school, and of the church, rather than for yourself. Today we did different paintings including some detail paintings at the preschool. We painted fruits, modes of transportation, and the solar system there. I personally painted a pineapple today and it is a beautiful piece of work. It took me a couple hours and it's nothing special, but it was super fun to paint. Highlight of today was when Megan started painting highly accurate constellations on the solar system wall like a total nerd. It made me a little bit jealous honestly. After the painting there were English lessons. It started off slow, but by the end it atually turned into a spanish lesson for our group. We all ended up sharing our testimonies in spanish. That was the first time I'd ever shared mine out loud. A couple hours later after our Domincan meal (best meal of my life), we all shared them on our own with the Dominicans. We gathered in a circle and explained our journies. One by one we told each other about our lives and our religious walks with no shame or fear. I shared mine again in this larger group, in spanish, and it took me longer because I'm not as quick at my conjugations, but it was an amzing feeling. It's funny how even now, just after that talk, my testimony has changed. Hearing their testomnies alone has allowed me to grow in my faith and change my ideas. I just can't express my thanks in enough words. I don't want to leave here, but I can't wait to see the people I miss so dearly back home and share with them all that I have come to learn.
PS Griff got it wrong. I rocked the electric guitar like a boss while Mitch played the acoustic. I am clearly the more hardcore rocker.
-Sarah
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| One of the completed hop-scotch games in front of the preschool. |
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| Megan and Julie are "out of this world" painting the solar system. |
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| Sarah, KC, Lauren and Mackenzie are decorating the outside wall with fruits, named in Spanish. |
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| Lauren beginning her artistic mango and Mackenzie starting the bananas. |
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| While some painted at the preschool the rest repainted the wall by the basketball courtyard. Here is Alexis touching up at the bottom of the wall. |
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| Eli going up for the poster dunk... but don't let him fool you he was rim stuffed. |
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| Leslie and Eli brightening up the place. |
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| Don't mess with these two... Griffin and Brian are ferocious rollers! |
Dear Americanos,
Hey everyone! Mitch here. I held out as long as I could, but Spej finally made me slow down for a minute and come blog for all of you. I have been enjoying every minute of this trip whether it be working, worshipping, or winning a game of basketball. Sarah and I got the easiest day to write because it was by far the most eventful and rewarding day for me. The only problem is Sarah already wrote about basically all of the important things, so I'm going to have to be creative. One amazing thing I did today was I got to ride with Oscar (who works here) into town on his motorcycle! We needed some painting supplies, and I had previously mentioned that I had interest in purchasing a machete, so they invited me to tag along. Motorcycles and mopeds are the most common way of transportation here I'd say. I mean if we had weather like this all the time I think I would zoom around on a motorcycle too. A little bit later, Marisa also had the opportunity to ride the motorcycle, and she loved it just as much as I did. In the evening there was some boys my age playing basketball outside, so they challenged me to a game of 5 on 5, Dominicans vs. Americans. So I brought my all-star team of us five boys and Marisa. Some of them are much better athletes than us, but they were no match for the skills of the gringos. We beat them on the last play with me feeding the ball to Brad for a fastbreak dunk! (Ok the rims are a little shorter, but it was still cool). But I especially enjoy doing things like this because it helps us find a commonality in which we could talk about and compete, and it also jump starts friendships and getting to know each other. I myself have become good friends with Moise's son Jonathon. He is about my age, but we both love to talk about and play basketball. He speaks some English, but I really use the time to practice my Spanish, which I have come to use more than I could have imagined while I've been here. I wasn't sure when I left at how well I would be able to communicate, but it's really been no problem at all. I mean shared my testimony entirely in spanish tonight. I thought that was hard in English! Well we are leaving soon, which is something I don't want to do, but it will be nice to see you all again!
Hasta pasta,
Mitch
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| One of the English conversation groups with Yessica. |
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| Another group helping Jonathon with his English. |
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| Marisa and Alexis chillin' with their new friends. |
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| Not only did the Dominicans learn English, but the Americans learned a lot about Spanish in the process. |
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| Mackenzie blends in nicely in this one! |
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| Mitch and Oscar going to get painting supplies. |
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| Marisa, about to head to the grocery store. |
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| Street scene in Barahona. |
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| The yummy Dominican meal that Ruth and Carlota prepared for us. Everyone's favorite meal so far! |
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| This was a very special evening. Each person you see here shared their testimony in Spanish in a circle in the courtyard. My students all did an AMAZING job being able to do this using their Spanish. I (Mrs. Spiegel) sat back in awe and listened but helped very little. What a blessing to hear how they met God in a personal way and although each story was different, each had a personal encounter with the God of this universe. I got teary-eyed just listening. |
