Monday

February 9, 2015 – Monday

I thought I would start off today’s blog with a few things we are thankful for. 1) We haven’t seen any cockroaches yet. 2) We haven’t been served chicken feet in our rice and beans yet (although I have to say that I’m dismayed that Jason has put in a special request for them!). 3) Carmen’s cooking is just as good as we remember!

On our way to our first day at Palo Blanco School this morning we stopped to exchange our money. It is always fun to hand over $25 and get 1000 pesos back. We feel like the Dominicans are getting the raw end of the deal on that one!

We did quite a mixture of activities at Palo Blanco today. We had a Valentine’s Day Party for one of the older classes. Chris Russell decided to be a scientist and did a fun experiment with hydrogen peroxide, yeast and dish soap. The ingredients were poured into a tall plastic bottle and the combination caused a foam to grown uncontrollably and spew out of the bottle. The kids were taught that God’s love grows exponentially just like the foam in the experiment. The kids were also able to work on an art project under the instruction of our resident art teacher, Neil and decorate a cookie with frosting and sprinkles.

Jenna spent hours playing with the kids on the playground being followed around like a mother goose and her ducklings. The kids fell in love with her quickly and were sad to see her go at the end of the day!

As anyone who spends much time in the Dominican Republic quickly learns, plans change by the minute and it is important to be flexible. Our initial plan for the day at Palo Blanco went out the window before we even arrived. We learned that the mother of the gatekeeper had unexpectedly passed away in the middle of the night. Her daughter-in-law is one of the cooks in the kitchen and many of her grandchildren attend the school as well. In the DR the majority of people have no money for embalming and the body is not sent to a funeral home. Because of this the burial must take place within 24 hours of death. The entire school was shut down early so that the staff could go to the family’s home to pay respects. The body was laid on ice in a casket inside the home where people could come and pay respects. It is custom to stay with the family for hours and often times wail loudly to express how much you love the deceased. The cultural and socioeconomic differences in how the family and community responds to death is, in many ways, a stark contrast to our customs in the U.S. – but the grief is still the same.

After leaving Palo Blanco we headed to the Ark for recreation time before dinner. It was pouring rain so we spent much of the time under the porches of the homes hanging out with the kids and house parents. When the rain let up many of us went down to the soccer field to watch a very muddy, messy soccer practice.

Dinner was a special treat as we were joined by Vic and Leslie Trautwein, some of our favorite missionaries. This couple is an amazing blessing to Kids Alive, this country, this community, and to each of us as individuals. We were blessed to listen to how the ministry has grown as well as to hear updates about their four children.

Tomorrow is another day at Palo Blanco with more parties, projects, and playtime. It is time to head to bed and get some sleep because the roosters wake us up early! (Oh wait, it is after 10pm and I am hearing at least 5 roosters already. I think they are a little confused about their job!)