Day 11: Friday January 14, 2011: Plane rides, weather shock, and culture shock-Hello USA

RUBI's photoshoot!

David, Jewel and Rubi Reyes

Today is the day. The day we return to the United States of America. It's almost weird to think of everything we're going back to. Snow? Cold weather? Really? I don't know if I missed it as much as I thought I did.  :) 

Breakfast was held on the roof of the hotel. And consisted of fruit, eggs, ham, fried cheese and a wide selection of juices including my favorite: MANGO JUICE! But as exciting as mango juice made us, the first thing we thought of was all the way back on the 3rd day when Jamie brought us mangoes! :( 

It was a solemn breakfast. 

yummy!

The view from my seat on the bus to the airport

After breakfast we had a group photoshoot...and 5000000 pictures later, we headed down to get all of our stuff out of our rooms and into the smaller bus. We left for the airport around 11am, leaving both David and Jewel and Kevin and Jen behind! The people that spoke spanish! AH! But once again everything went very smoothly at the airport, getting through customs and security that is. We had a hard time trying to understand the loudspeaker when our plane was boarding, because it was all in Spanish! Not to worry though, we got on our plane in time and were on our way to Miami. 

I had the middle seat, between Lara and Stephanie. I got to talk to Lara about what she thought of the trip and what stuck out to her the most. Being her daughter, Heather, is married and lives there, I also got to see what it's like from a mother's perspective. ;)

flying between cloud layers over the Caribbean.

Hannah, Stephanie and me sitting in the Miami Airport

Miami Airport. Welcome back! Once the plane landed, our cell phones were out and turned on to get all the texts we missed! Well it wasn't too many cause everyone knew where I was! :P But it was still nice to have my mobile communication again. Once we got through customs(which being we were American citizens was a breeze...again Thank You Jesus!), I called my mom to tell her I was ok. But, alas, her news wasn't so great:
While I was in the DR, my dad was driving my car and suddenly the "check engine'' light came on and it started making a really weird noise. Now my dad knows enough about cars to know that this wasn't a little problem, and had something to do with the engine or timing belt. One word: EXPENSIVE!  They were planning on bringing it into the shop on Monday morning. 


What a welcome to home right? I have no car. Which means, I'm sort of grounded. I tried not to process it all right there, because I still had another plane to catch, but already, in the back of my mind, I was stressing trying to figure out how I was gonna get to everywhere I needed to go and all this stuff that needed done, oh and how in the world am I gonna pay for it, because I haven't exactly had alot of work in the past month or two! "God will provide, God will provide!" One thing at a time.

And first was some food! 

You should've heard the screams when we saw a Burger King in the airport, but before security for our next flight and we sort of weren't allowed eating till after we made it through security so we knew how much time we had before boarding our plane at 7:45pm.  So no Burger King.
Instead we found a place where we could get a Philly Cheesesteak and BACON cheese fries! Wow. Was that ever the most delicious thing I've had in a while! And...drumroll please....AMERICAN COFFEE! :) :) I don't mind those espresso shots we had in the Dominican, but I like my coffee a little less sweet, and with milk and all sorts of junk in it. White Chocolate Mocha espresso from the Coffee Beanery=delicious! We enjoyed our first meal in the US while waiting for the plane to board.

Hannah's philly cheesesteak!

First American coffee in 2 weeks!

When we were getting on the plane, one of the flight crew happened to ask us(since we were in group t-shirts) where we were and what we did. We told him we were on a missions trip in the Dominican and what we did there. That was pretty cool that he took time to talk to some of the passengers, but.....it gets better.....when the captain gave his greetings and weather information over the speaker, he said "I want to give a special welcome the Dominican..." Steph and I were looking around for any Dominican looking people we could see, until we heard the end of his sentence.... "missions group!" ...then we were like "hey that's us!" And our whole group cheered!


That made my day.


Then it was sleepytime, although I made a point to get a decent amount of journaling done on the plane, since I knew I would have a lot of time to blog, being I would be stuck at home without transportation for who knows how long..



We arrived in DC sometime around 10pm. And it finally started to sink in that we were almost...home. The first shocker when getting off the plane was the COLD! At first Chevy wondered why the A/C was on, then he realized that oh...that's the outside! BUURRRR! I think it was in the 20's. Quite the adjustment when it was in the 80's for the past 2 weeks. Hannah, Stephanie and I ran through the almost empty airport screaming about the cold weather. Much to the amusement of fellow plane members, as we picked up our bags. 


The real shocker came when we stepped out the door to wait for the vehicles. AH! It was sooo cold!!!!!!!! But might as well get used to it, because it's not getting warmer anytime soon. :)
I hopped in the van, sat down and waited for the heat to come on! Seated with David and Stephanie in the back seat while we headed 2 hours north to the little place known as Franklin Co. Pa. To Marc Blank's house to be exact.


I dozed on and off the whole trip, with the feeling like this was all a dream and I would wake up with the sound of a dirt-bike or rooster at any moment, but that didn't happen. As I woke up, when we got off I81 in Marion, Pa......I noticed something weird, this white stuff all over the ground...snow? Funny how weird it seemed. 
  We arrived at the Blank's after midnight sometime, and on the table to welcome us home was a great big container of homemade chocolate chip cookies, made by Marc's lovely wife, Norma. To make that sight even better, there were 2 gallons of whole milk!!!!! :) :) 

I finally got into my own bed around 2 or 2:30 am. BUT I COULDN'T GO TO SLEEP, BECAUSE IT WAS TOO QUIET! I was like really?! I'm so tired and just want to sleep, but there's no sound. NOTHING! AHHHH!!! 
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 A New Adjustment
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That first Saturday back, was quite the adjustment. We had ran out of wood for the woodstove, so there wasn't really much heat on in the house. Talk about having to adjust to the cold fast! I kept looking out the window and would get confused because there was 4inches of snow on the ground. We didn't have Connect 4 to play....I felt lost in my own house. But this was only the beginning....

I've been home a little over a month now, and still am without a car. We brought it to the shop that Monday, and found out I had a cracked piston and needed a new car or a new engine. We're getting a new engine with 39,000ish miles on it, but I need to find another job in order to pay this off. There was a moment I regretted going to the Dominican, because I could have put that money towards my car bills....but then I had to slap myself and realize just how selfish that would be. Which would be better? Having my own car so I can do my own thing....my comfort zone, my freedom, but what about all the memories and relationships I made in those two weeks? Which is more important eternally? People or cars? :)  I can and have lived without a car for going on 5 weeks now...and finally...this coming week I should be getting it back. 
But you know, God is faithful. I've always had a ride to the places I NEEDED to be, not WANTED to be. And I know God is in control and is gonna provide the money I need as well. There have been so many times I get so fed up with NOT being able to go anywhere and I tell mom "I have enough money in my savings for another ticket to the Dominican." But what good will that do? I need to face my battles, not run from them. And facing them, brings one face to face with the deepest emotions and attitudes. I've spent more time in tears since coming back to the states that I have in the past 3 years of my life! I don't like it here. I walk around and look at the people at the stores or wherever and I get sick to my stomach at how spoiled we are. Sometimes I just want to scream. When we fight over WHAT to eat for lunch, when there are people that are thankful to eat the same thing every single day of their lives...cause it's keeping them alive. 
Hello! I even have my own car! I don't think any of the teens I met in the Dominican even had their own dirtbike...much less a car! 
The biggest thing I've seen is just that we don't get it.
We have been blessed with so much and yet how much time do we thank God for blessing us?! Seriously? When was the last time you stopped and thanked God for the electricity in  your house? When was the last time you were grateful for heat in the winter? Or hot water? What about a personal computer and free wifi at places like Panera Bread? It's been a pretty interesting month, I must say....but not without the fun things:

I've taught my siblings how to play Rummikub and Sequence, and I play Connect 4 at least once a week....to improve my skillz for next year! I even got it on my itouch so I can practice even when I don't have someone to play with. 
I have new friends on Facebook, as one by one, the youth we met in Los Toros have joined and added us as friends. I have a new goal to learn Spanish so I can understand and communicate better with them. We are a family, because we are brothers and sisters in Christ, but we're even more of a family because we've actually met each other! 

Snowboarding has been huge therapy for me getting back into my "normal'' life, but you have no idea how much I'm looking forward to Spring and Summer!! I have a bigger love of baseball now, because it brings me back to the Dominican....even though the stresses of the looming baseball season are starting, I'm looking forward to watching and taking tons of pictures of Josiah and Daniel....*sigh* and even Britt play. :P
My family, I'm sure is tired of me talking about the Dominican, but they're getting used to it! I've told so many people so many things, and somehow I keep meeting more people that ask me about it and the floodgates open as I share with them something from my trip. This blog has been a great way for people from the previous years to remember their trips and be a part of what's going on now. I'm still trying to decide if I should create a separate blog specifically for the trip, or if I should leave it in my personal blog?? hmmm

This past Tuesday we had a meeting and picture swap for the 2011 team. It was nice getting to see some of the people I haven't....EXCEPT MARC who wasn't there! :P I'm looking forward(and forcing myself not to stress about it) to putting a slideshow together from our trip as well as making a movie for the people in the Dominican! There will be at least one more blog post about this trip, so you can see the finished projects from this year. Then who knows where God will lead me. But one thing I know, I'm looking forward to returning to that small Dominican town. I'm ready to see those beautiful smiles and laughs. 


Until next time....
Dios te bendiga(which according to Google Translater is God Bless you)

Day 10: Thursday January 13, 2011: The first goodbyes

This has got to be the hardest entry to write in my journal.

Today is the first day of goodbyes. At 10am we are leaving Los Toros on a bus to head to our hotel in Santo Domingo.

My emotions are in jumbles. I don't want to leave these people who make me smile and laugh. I have in only 10 short days, begun to love the simplicity of life they have. And how thankful they are for the smallest things. I no longer mind a cold shower, or not  being able to flush the toilet paper. The electricity isn't as important, because there are candles and flashlights to play Connect 4 by. We had electricity when we needed it and clean water to drink. I feel almost like I have become part of a family down here. Everyone looked out for us and always made sure we were comfortable. And the hospitality of each person I interacted with has been a lesson for me as well as a blessing. 

  After breakfast we brought all our stuff to the church to be loaded on the smaller of the two buses rented by our group for the journey to Santo Domingo. Then it was time to make our rounds to the work sites....to say Adios to the people who just might have stolen our hearts....hehe.  :P
Hannah, Stephanie and myself went first to the Feliz de Leon hole(the one at Juancito's. It only took us 9 days to figure out the last names of people, but that's a another topic) to watch Joel(Ho-el), Danison and Josue dig and dig. It was so hard to say that first goodbye, we stood there like 15 minutes trying to figure out how to say it. Then finally we just did it. 

The Feliz de Leon hole when we left

Josue lowering himself to dig

With smiles hiding the tears we said Adios to the first group of our new friends. 

Juansa

We walked up to Juancito and Dominga's house and found Dominga washing the breakfast dishes. I was so thankful to catch her so I could give her the bracelet I made for her. The smile on her face was worth waiting for! And I practically started crying as I hugged and thanked her in Spanglish for all the work she did helping cook for us! 

Giving Dominga the bracelet I made for her.

  
  As we walked over to the house project we met up with Chevy and David, and ran into Jamie and Samuel carrying pipe for the plumbing. This offered the perfect opportunity for us to say goodbye to them. With a hug party too!
Two more stops before loading the bus: Rafael's hole and the baseball field. We had to say goodbye to Moises as well, since we got all of our other friends! 

The front of the house when we left

We had to FIND him first, for this reason I am glad Chevy and David were with us. Haha. We walked through and around the boys practicing til we found Moises on the other side of the backstop. We pulled him out of practice for a couple minutes to say goodbye. I got to interact with him alot in the past 3 days and got to know him better, or as well as you can for speaking as much Spanish as he speaks English. He's really good at Sequence. 

Stephaneie saying goodbye to Moises

At 10am we crawled on the bus, screaming goodbye to all the people we could see. Juansa was right there outside Chevy's window with Joel(JO-el), making sure they got their goodbyes in. OHH MAN I wanted to bring Juansa home with me as a little brother who would actually listen to me, but Steph and David informed me that it would be considered racism if I did!! :)
    I made it out of Los Toros with just teary eyes, but that didn't last long as I stared out the window at the beautiful landscape passing as we drove 3 hours to the capital. Silently I let the tears fall as I thought through the past 9 days spent in Los Toros and all the memories I made. The smiles of the people's faces, the things that made us laugh together, and get laughed at. And how in just a few short days, a place that I never really think about other than it's just another country in the world, has become a place where I feel at home at. And I place I really didn't want to leave.


We arrived in Santo Domingo at the Hotel Discovery. Room number 203 was where Hannah, Stephanie and I resided for the next 24 hours. We had 15 or so minutes to get ready for our trip to the Market to haggle for souvenirs. It was probably a 15 minute walk, through the city passing tons of shops and streetside stands along the way. At first, I didn't think I would enjoy this haggling stuff, but after the first couple times, I really started to like it. I could be as mean as I wanted to the people and state my price and just walk away if they weren't cooperating. Most of the time they gave me what I wanted for the price I wanted! AH! So much fun! 
We also got to go to the grocery store, or super market...their Walmart. I had a mission to buy coffee for a few people in the states and I wish I would have had more time to shop there, it was huge! They even had an instant photo printer kiosk! 

David and Rubi Reyes :)

There were a lot more cars in Santo Domingo than Los Toros, but that makes sense as it is the capital. There was even wifi in our hotel and ONE computer that cost $1 dollar an hour. FACEBOOK was our priority after we had supper.  :)
For supper we walked about 3 or 4 blocks to a food court in an outdoor mall. American food! Well pizza and burgers anyway. I ordered a personal, supreme pizza...and what I got was NOT what I expected:

Corn is not what I think of when I think supreme pizza.

After supper, we stopped at an ice cream shop and I got orange pineapple ice cream! It was WAY better than the orange pineapple I've tried in the States! DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!! :)

delicious.

It was funny to see that once we SAW a computer, we realized that we've been without one for 10 days. Well for me anyway. We each took turns checking our facebooks and emails. Then it was bed time, because we have a long day ahead of us. It was so different having A/C in our room, or even lights all the time. And warm water...it just seemed weird. This was just the first adjustments of the returning culture shock.





 

Day 9: Wednesday January 12, 2011: "We're gonna get our hair did"

Today is our last full day in Los Toros! :'( 
It's so hard to believe that our trip is almost over and we'll be back in the cold Pennsylvania weather in just a little over 48 hours!

The work projects were almost complete as Heather, Stephanie, Hannah and myself walked around to see the progress. The men were hard at work finishing up as much as they could this last day.  Good job Men! :) 

Rafael in his hole

Chevy running bucket duty at Rafael's hole

The project house: Ralph Ebersole shoveling cement for the gables.

Juansamuel putting forms up for the gables

Joel(Ho-el) lowering himself into hole #2

Josue manning the bucket at hole #2

Two things were on our list of 'to dos' today. Number one: watch baseball practice! I was so excited. It felt like home. Sorta...we were the only white people there. Haha! Anyway, it was so entertaining watching the boys show off for us American girls! 
  We wanted to watch Moises practice, because he is pretty good and we actually knew him so it wasn't so awkward. Sure. We stalked out the field with our cameras in order to find him. This was one time I wish I had my other camera so I could get a decent zoom on the players for some awesome sports photography, but no matter....we found him, on the other side of the field and walked across so we could watch him. 

Moises catching fly balls

Some girls at the ballfield who wanted their picture taken.

Nonchalantly...but not so nonchalantly...some of the players sort of moved over closer to where we were and started...nonchalantly flexing their muscles while they stretched before running. Oh they make me laugh! Hahaha! This baseball practice watching was quite the enjoyable experience if I do say so myself and it will bring many laughs in the months to come, especially when I have to bring Josiah around to practice. 


Wednesday afternoon, it was time to "get our hair did" as Hannah said. :) We walked to a salon and began the process of cornrows and rollers. Heather, Hannah and Stephanie got cornrows, while I wanted to have rollers put in my hair to straighten it. We would see women walking around town with huge rollers in their hair all day to straighten it and I wanted to experience rollers too. 

First off, we got our hair washed. It was so refreshing to know that my head was clean clean clean! I mean yeah, we bucket showered almost everyday(I will say that by the end of the trip, showers weren't so important), but after the women scrubbed our heads and shampooed them twice with shampoo from America(She was very excited to tell us this bit) and used conditioner, wow did I ever feel clean! It was so relaxing as well. I do love getting my hair done. The rollers got put in my hair, then I got to sit under one of those dryers for the first time ever! I don't even know how long it took to dry, but it seemed like forever! While I was under the dryer, unable to hear anything around me, Stephanie and Hannah got their hair washed then dried and the cornrowing began. We spent about 3 hours there and it cost $900 pesos for all 4 of us to get our hair washed and styled. That's about $6 American dollars each!!

The rollers are going in

Stephanie getting her hair dried

Hannah's turn

Heather's turn

Hannah getting cornrows

Time to take the rollers out

This is what the back of my hair looked like at the end

  I think we all enjoyed the experience of what it's like for Dominican women to get their hair done! Although, my hair never ended up straight! Nope. By the time we got back to Albina's, my hair looked pretty much normal, just loser curls! But it was all worth it! 
   We got back around 4o'clock and took time to pretty ourselves up for the going away party at church tonight. Getting our hair done made us girls just wanna dress up. Well as much as we could with the clothes we brought anyway. There was a volleyball game at 4:30 as we hurried to watch at least part of it.....one last time....

Moises the whistle blower

Neil with some pretty intense moves during the game

At 7:30, we had a Dominican style church potluck! Then the youth, lead by Jewel(who was also filling in for the 5th group member) performed a song with miming. Miming, sign language, sort of a human video type thing. Whichever you'd like to call it. Anyway, it was to a song called "Give me Your eyes"...but not Brandon Heath version we're used to. It was very good! I wish I would have gotten it on video, instead of just pictures.

It was a happy/sad occasion as we realized our time in this amazing place. I'm gonna miss these people and their smiles so much! Chevy had the idea of getting a picture of the youth with our house mom Albina. This was quite the ordeal as we gave Jen our cameras and posed for 10000 photos. 

Albina, such a wonderful lady

Who knew this was only the beginning......

L-R:David, Jose Daniel, Yuniors, Juansa, and Chevy

For the next hour or so, the cameras flashed as everyone wanted their pictures taken with us. I felt like I was famous or something! I loved every minute of it though...and now I have a ton of pictures to put up on my prayer board, or even create a new one just for my friends in the Dominican! 

priceless smiles

Gotta love those big brown eyes!

Samuel(Sam-well)

Marc with a bunch of the boys

the girls with Josue

Some of our new friends L-R: Joel(Ho-el), Yuniors, Moises, Jose Daniel, Jeremias, Josue and Danison

Heather and Rafael

When our forever photo shoot was over, the games came out and we spent our last night in Los Toros doing what had become our favorite thing...game nights!  :)  I played Sequence most of the night....and whipped butt on it too!! And I am proud to say that I beat Jamie every game I played against him!!

It was a fun night...and as I went to sleep, or I should say as we went to sleep, because I know I wasn't the only one....our hearts started to break a little as the fact that we were leaving in the morning started to sink in. Does this happen to everyone on a short term missions trip I wonder? People living in other countries are just as real as we are. I think we tend to forget that. And now, with the friendships I've made here...I have family in this small town in the DR...family because we're all family in Christ!