Great to hear from all of you and miss all of your smiling faces too! Joey and I have had quite a bit of fun the past couple of days. Joey's fishing trip was unsuccesful unfortunately and I was bummed for him but, things have since been a blast. We did a white water rafting tour on Monday and it was AMAZING! I have never done that before and I was actually quite nervous about it but, I think that at the end of this trip that will be mine and Joey's favorite tour by far. It was a blast! The rapids were level 3 in difficulty and the drive was 3.5 hours one way from our resort. We got up at 5AM (I am not a morning person for the record so that was like pulling my teeth! lol) and picked up some other couples from Wales, Manchester and Lithuania and hit the road. Anyways, to make a long story short there we had a great time getting to know the other couples from other countries and we all got to be in the same raft together. The water was literally freezing (and I also hate cold water!), but, surprisingly your body can acclimate to cold water over time so we all forgot about it after a few times of being nearly submerged in the rapids. We hit a few rocks, one guy fell out when we collided with a wall and Joey got hit in the face by another gal's paddle, but it was hilarious all in all and I can't wait to do it again someday! The bummer is that all of the activities that we are doing do not allow you to take your camera with you unless it is water proof and we do not have a water camera so we have truly been unable to capture the beauty of this amazing land and I am soooooooo very bummed about that. All I can compare it to is the Jurassic park movies. Think of how lush and beautiful the land is in those movies (Oahu) and that is what the mountains of the DR look like to a tee! It is gorgeous in the mountains and I literally have like one junky picture from the tour bus to show of it. Today was the 27 waterfalls tour...that they really don't explain very well in the brochure. It is something else lemme tell you! I wore the wrong shoes for starters and that turned out to be a big regret for me but I still had a blast. We hiked our butts up this steep hill, while frequently swimming through freezing water (no joke,even the guides are not fond of the cold water!), fought against strong downhill water currents and once we got to the top, we were required to either jump off these very tall peaks into the freezing water 20 feet below or if that was too scary we had to slide down the natural rock bends to get to the lower pools. We had to do this all the way back down the mountain, waterfall after waterfall. It was intense, heart pumping and scary at times but the thrill was worth it! For any thrill seekers out there...I highly recommend it! Joey of course jumped every single jump and I did not want to be outdone by my husband so 99 percent of the time I was the only gal jumping off these crazy cliffs with the guys. I should have bought the video so I could prove it to you! The down side...I got 9 severe blisters on my toes, heels and feet. They are really bad blisters too and walking has become a tad strenuous for me unfortunately. The whole way down the mountain I was trying not to cry as those suckers got worse and worse. My suggestion for all future visitors to the DR, don't wear Converse to hike up a mountain and don't rent the shoes they offer. Bring some good, comfortable, water/hiking shoes and save your feet! All things considered, the last two days have been an absolute blast! Joey and I are really enjoying this down time from our jobs and from life in general. I wouldn't say that it has been "relaxing" as Joey doesn't enjoy that much, but, it has been a great opportunity for us to chat more, spend more time together and hold hands a lot:). Oh, and we have had the amazing opportunity of ministering and loving on the locals here. We have been chatting up a storm with everyone we meet and one guy said he knows God sent us to him to remind him that Christ loves him no matter what he has done or is going through. He got tears in his eyes and shared some of his story with us. Absolutely beautiful people here! Okay, that is the last one for now folks:). Lightening and thunder going on outside right now! Tomorrow we meet up with Jennie an American missionary that is living here. We are really looking forward to spending some time with her. God Bless you and and night night!
The School
A chicken crossing the road by the construction site near the school
Two super sweet boys that blessed me by saying viyo con dios as I left "go with God"
The sweet old lady who made some yummy plantanos for the staff
I absolutely love this picture of one of the students and the teacher
This is Miguel and Jennie's adorable son Diego. Jennie has been serving as a missionary in the Dominican Republic for over 8 years now. She and several other missionaries living there head up a private school for the local kids. Education is extremely poor in the Dominican and the literacy rate is very low. One of the best ways to improve the conditions for the people is to educate them and I think it is wonderful that Jennie and the other folks in the DR are devoting their time to this non-profit ministry. The average monthly income for Dominicans is $200 a month. Tuition at the private school is approximately $1.50 per month as that is all that most families can afford! If any of you feel it on your hearts to donate curriculum for ages 5-12 or money to help them stay on their feet, please contact me and I can get you in touch with Jennie. Joey and I were very blessed to be able to spend a day with Jennie and her son Diego. She showed us the school and introduced us to the other gals working there. We also got to eat some delicious plantanos and meet some of the kids. It was a day well spent to say the least. Thank you Jennie!
Diego was such a cutie pie!
