1st week at Genesis

   This week was our first week at Genesis with the kids there and it went well by our standards at least. It is a bit difficult to know for sure how many kids are actually enrolled at the school but we know for sure that we had 13-15 kids each day this week. A couple were out sick, a couple more have decided to not come back for the summer for whatever reason. There are 5 teachers and one helper, as well as an extra teacher that floats around from class to class and then Maribel is co-directing with us. So 8 full time staff plus Karen and me.  

We also have the privilege of having two summer interns with us until August: Tyler Perez from CA and Ellie Troyer from OK. They are great. Very mature and willing to do anything that is ask. They are both self-motivated to find what needs to be done and great with the kids. The interns come to us with an interest of moving here permanently and working at a site. So part of our job is to show them every aspect of the site and what it takes to keep it going. They have come to Jarabacoa with a real Servant’s Heart and we are so blessed to have them at the Genesis site.
      We also have with us for the next two weeks, two young ladies- Kim Bunker from NJ and Jill Hueni from Granger IN. They have been a big help also with working with the kids one on one and just loving on them. These two ladies are part of the first two week outreach program that will be followed by 5 more ending in the first week in August.

   Karen’s duties for the first week included beginning to screen the kids to see what learning level they are at currently and what kind of potential they may have that has not been reached yet. This is done with each student as soon as they arrive for the first day then it is done again every 2-3 years from then on. Many, if not most of the students are very bright kids that just have a hard time getting out in words what they want to say. Sissy Entrekins worked with Karen this last week as she had filled in for us some before we were able to get here. She is a great blessing to have on hand as we were/are still trying to figure everything out. Thanks Sissy.
    My duties for the first week included getting the septic tank emptied only to find out that the drain to the leach bed is completely plugged and has been for a few years now. (Sorry, no photos for that project) We also needed to run a new water line from the street since the well went bad and there was no new water coming in from anywhere. We were running low on water before the street water got hooked up so I called the fire department to have them come fill our 6000 gallon in ground cistern. Their 1500 gal tanker didn’t quite fill it up, but it was enough to get us by for a few days until the street water was read to go. I also took over the landscaping and mowing of the yard. It is not that big of a yard but full of trees and flower beds. You will all have a chance to see that first hand when you come down to visit us. .
    God just continues bless us in ways that we don’t understand why. Great teachers, great interns, great team helpers, a fantastic staff from Students International that is so helpful getting us started here.
    Lastly, we had a visit from our daughter Abby and her husband Jeff Mishler. They are living in Edmond OK with their new dog (our old dog) Emma.  What a great time that was to have them here for a few days. It was Jeff’s first visit to another country as such and what better way to break him in than to put him on my moto and send him downtown for supplies. Great job Jeff. The visit seemed short to us but they were here for 6 days and we enjoyed them so much. We did a lot in such a short time with them here.

     Marcy and Janae have about 2 weeks of school left before the summer break. We are still trying to see what that will be like as they spend some time with us at Genesis, some time at our house and some time with other missionary kids in their homes.  
   We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to learn about the teachers and students, as we  mentor, work with and learn from the interns, and as we host teams at the site this summer. We want to really get to know them, who they are and why they have come to Jarabacoa for two weeks. Thanks to all of you, we love you and feel blessed and humbled that you have helped us get here.

Back in the Dominican, to stay

      After a year plus in the planning and praying we have arrived in the Dominican Republic. We graduated from language school on April 24th. Then on the 26th we loaded 20 pieces of luggage into our divers van and headed to the San Jose airport. By the middle of that afternoon we were moving into our new Dominican home. We will be in one house for about 3 months or so then in August move into another house that is more suited to our needs. We have had a great first week of settling in and on Monday we start our work at Centro Especial Genesis. We are anxious to see what our daily roles there will look like but even more, how God will use us there in ways we can’t imagine!

        After 8 months of language learning in Costa Rica we are now going to start putting that to use. We found out that it is true what they say about the Dominican Spanish being a “fast Spanish”. Just imagine what it is like for me to tell other people “hablan mas lentamente por favor” (speak slower please). 
      The day after we arrived I took Janae and Marcy to the Upper Falls for a swim so we took the long hike down the hill only to find that the water was too muddy to swim since it had rained the day before. It was a nice hike though after sitting on the plane most of the prior day.

       It has been an interesting first few days though. From spending the better part of 2 days just getting cell phone service, to having our vehicle being torn apart along the street to re-repair a rear brake that had been replaced a couple of weeks before. When the mechanic ask if I had time for him to fix it right away I had just assumed that he would have me pull it into his garage. In all reality, there was much more room in the street than in his garage it only made sense to do the repair there. J

     I also bought a motorcycle from another missionary at Students International that will be moving back to the States in August. Actually we will end up moving into their house and buying all of their household furniture also. It is a 13 year old Yamaha 225 Enduro.

       Monday April 30 was a national holiday so I tried to fit into the culture and took Marcy and Janae to the beach for the day. It was about a 3 hour drive one way and I needed some things from Santiago anyway so we went to the beach and stopped for my supplies on the way back home. It was nice to get a feel for how to get there so that when ya’all come to visit I can act like I know what I am doing when we go there.

     Our new environment has changed some from the last 8 months. In San Jose we would hear a lot of road traffic and walk around people sleeping on the streets on our way to school. Now we are awakened each morning (at 3:30) by the community rooster.  We had been used to walking or taking the bus everywhere on paved roads and sidewalks, that has now been replaced with…….. well, just see the video below to get an idea of what our drive to our house is like. 

 

       As we were told at our training in Colorado last spring, it’s not wrong, it’s not bad, it is just different. With that in mind, I also noticed some differences in the grocery store here. For example when you buy eggs. (I am sure this photo will bring back memories to Kevin and Carrie, OK maybe mad memories Carrie, but at least memories). In the states we waste so much money with re-packaging. Oh and did you know that eggs really don’t need to be refrigerated. At least not in the stores. Notice the feather at the end of the arrow. (This was bought right out of the big major grocery store here in town). Ya’all put way too much emphasis on cleanliness. I mean they are going to be cracked open and the shell thrown away anyway right. So why waste time cleaning the shells? 

      Thanks to all who have made this possible for us, to the financial and prayer supporters, to the friends and family in the States, to the teachers in Costa Rica,  the the other students in our classes that helps us retain what sanity we had left, to the staff at Students International that helped so much in getting things lined up for us here in Jarabacao. Mostly to God, thanks for choosing our family at this time.