Saturday, March 10, 2012
9:24AM
Sitting at dining table listening to Jessa Anderson on
itunes
Iglesia Peeps-Very thankful for this MacBook!! Pretty sure I have a greater chance of
being mugged bc people are mesmerized by it. Ha! Timm,
thanks for giving me the bag! It
has come in handy more times then I EVEN realized that it would!
I moved in yesterday afternoon. They were able to get a man
here in 10mins to put in a stove and get me gas, yet they wouldn’t bother
calling the phone to set that up.
I just go with the flow even though I want them to hook up my US phone
and Internet service NOW! I think
I will have a US number through Vonage and it will cost me 10US dollars a
month. Internet is about 50 or 60
a month. I am living in a
3bedroom/3BA home. The 3 girls above me are Americans teaching at JCS. They are ages 35, 25, and 23. I found out the reason I am living
alone is because one girl and her roommate had issues with girls in the past
and didn’t want to live with anyone else. I asked God about it and He said I
was staying put where I was for the time being. I have an intern from the States coming in a few weeks. I cant remember what I have written to
you guys or in my journal, sorry if I already said this. She is someone else’s student teacher,
but will be living with me when she gets here until school ends in June. She is young, I’m sure. If I were to move in with other girls,
she would be here living alone. No
bueno. Even if she is older, no
one ever lives alone and I’m sure that would freak the person out. Every time I eat with someone or at
Bible study and we pray, they ask God to watch over me as I have an emotional
breakdown to transition into this country, etc. Sweet of them to do, but I have not experienced any of the
emotions they detail in these prayers (like crying for 5 days straight ß
few girls said that. Some had
breakdowns for a few months) I
told the girls that I had an emotional breakdown for weeks surrendering to the
Lord to come to this country. Maybe that is why I am fine. I don’t even know. Seriously. If there is something I am constantly praying about, it is
that peace; the peace that surpasses all understanding when the Holy Spirit is
in you. I am constantly thanking
God.
I’m on the back porch area looking into this orchard. I think they have bananas, papayas, and
I dont know what else. Drinking
some coffee. I suck at making it
with this DR pot. I double check
to see if the water has moved from the bottom to the top and it hasn’t. I walk away and I hear the crap
sizzling on the stove by overflowing. (My stove is as wide as me, an arms
length in depth, and comes to my waist in height. The gas tank is outside and they said I need to buy a lock
today to lock it to the window metal bar, so it isn’t stolen. I paid 900 pesos for half a tank. The
lady at school barely speaks Eng and this guy didn’t either. They were letting
me decide if I wanted the gas tank in or outside the house. I heard “peligroso” in their
convo. I don’t know why I even had
a choice. It is dangerous in the
house, put it outside!! I think
you have a choice bc it could be stolen outside. I don’t care if they steal it every day. Put the crap outside. They are very half-butt with things
here. The way he hooked it up
isn’t the safest to start. The
fridge is, I swear, plastic. I
picked it up with one hand to fix the wobbling underneath with my other hand. I am 5’1”, the fridge is shorter than
me by a few inches.
So, an American coffee pot is on my list!!! I love Mel. She
is so willing to take me wherever, whenever. They said they are in town somewhere. We are making a trip today there. I need a list of things. I am so grateful for the blessings
before I left the US and the monthly ones. Money is not an issue.
These girls cannot say the same.
So, I am getting some reflexology massage today at Kristin’s when we go
to town by an orphaned girl that just got done with training. She lived in Haiti during the quakes
and her parents were both killed. She was in and out of the orphanage as a kid,
then her parents were able to care for her when she was older, so she moved
back with them. She was about 19
when they died. Kristin met here
when the Haitians came to the DR for relief. Some lady took her in after some
time and put her through school in Canada, now she is back trying to make a
living. They said a donation of $3 to 6 is good. Pesos are 38 to the dollar. To make it easier to remember, I think of it as 33 pesos to
a dollar, so 100 pesos is about $3.
I still have to talk to God about it, but I am going to pour out some
blessings on her from God. I cannot fathom what it feels like to have no one at
such a young age, trying to survive. I hope she knows Jesus.
Last night, I went to Melissa and her roommates to hang out
and eat. She has a mini projector
and projected an episode of some show about wedding dresses on the wall. Pretty sweet. She does it with books, too, for her students online. OMGosh, this girl does cheerleading as
an after-school activity and made pom-poms out of plastic bags. They looked so real. I was so IMPRESSED with them!! They made cheer shirts with spray
paint. They used cardboard boxes
to cut out letter stencils and spray painted them. So impressive, seriously. Anyway, I went home around 930. I was going to ask Mel to walk me back, but I knew I had to
do it alone sooner or later. She
didn’t ask, so I just sucked it up that I could do it alone. My lightbulb is blown above my door, so
I asked to borrow a flashflight to see my keyholes. As I started down her bumpy dirt road, I felt fine. No fear. I had a flashlight to see, I need to ask the girls if that
is okay b/c no one walks with one.
Odd. There is one street
light and you can’t see! I don’t
know if using one makes me a target bc it shows I am not native. I looked up to survey in front of me
b/c you look down a lot bc it is rainy here and the holes are muddy! I saw a guy walking towards me. I reminded myself to look up more than
down; make eye contact and be
confident. Ahh, I hate looking
straight at wackos! But I know it is important to make eye contact to watch
people’s moves and I’ve heard looking into an attacker’s eyes deters him bc he
thinks you could identify him later…the longer you stare at him. So, he started to walk towards me, on
my side of the road. I kept
telling myself I was fine, he might be dodging potholes. They don’t exactly care what side
of the road you walk on or drive on.
I flashed my light a little higher with my stride, to hit him with it,
and he still walked towards me. STILL NO FEAR—no fast beating heart, anxiety,
no flight or fight. If anything,
let me take that back, I have been in fight mode. I could have touched him at
arms length by the time we were next to each other. We stared at each other the whole way until we passed each
other. In my peripheral vision, I
saw him turn his head and body. I
just listened for his footsteps and the shadows in my flashlight in case he
turned. I looked in front of me to
my own shadow and said to myself, “You are okay being alone, Phyllis. You can
do this!” The next second I could
hear God say clearly and uh, loudly with serious authority, “YOU are NEVERRR
alone, Phyllis!! Never!!” That’s my King. I smiled. This I know. I got home and unpacked. I told Bekah that if I got scared
later, I might stay with her one more night. She said no worries, you just come back. I was fine, though. This culture is very different. They are SO LOUD. FRANCIS TALKS SO LOUD AND I AM A 2 FEET
AWAY FROM HIM! It was almost 1AM
and they are still talking so loudly outside, revving motorcycles whiz by, loud
commercial advertising trucks are out blaring something, and no one cares!! I
got in bed to read and then shut the lights out. Calm. So calm.
I thanked God for the MILLIONTH time. Minutes later, some alarm was
sounding on a car or bike, and my heart didn’t even flutter. WHAT THE HECK is going on?? I don’t sleep well in FL unless the
alarm is on in the house! Once
again, I just thanked the Lord for controlling me… for not even allowing me to control my emotions. Fear cannot even touch me right
now. Spirit of fear doesn’t come
from the Lord, and He has a shield around me right now and He will not allow it
near me. The devil has no choice
here, the Lord will not permit it to rock me. Of course Ive felt fear at times when I get scared in the US
etc and God allows it, but right now He is giving no one or thing, including
myself, control but Himself. He is
God, He can do whatever, whenever.
I do not care what your beliefs are about Christ/God, this is not
flipping normal behavior for anyone!
This is Jesus in me. This
is full surrender to the Lord to control me. I find this just as freaking
INSANE as you do, as you read this.
I do not understand how I have not cried yet. How have I not freaked out and wanted to go home? How did I
sleep in a house last night ALONE in a 3rd W country and not cry?
I just belong here right now.
Writing that doesn’t even make any sense to me, but it is how I feel
inside. Odd. So odd.
Oh yea, the gas guy was at school and he asked me to get on
his bike to ride to my house up the street. I said no, I will walk and you ride your motorcyle ALONE…the
best way I could in Spanish...I said it in a stern voice Im sure I sounded like a B, he
gave me a look like I was one . Of
course he was all smiles to be helping this cute girl out... I don’t think I
smiled once. Unless it was my
stupid half smirk that says shut up J Hey, I am going to be
alone with a strange man that doesn’t speak my native language in my
house. Let it be known, I am a
B. I am learning that the B in me
is being put to good use.
Later, I was trying to unlock the back metal bar gate to my porch. I
have 7 keys and I don’t know what they unlock J. Natalie was with me and this man walked
up to help all smiles. He gets the
jerk smirk back, too. He was on
the other side, so I let him help.
Nat said hi so I figured she had seen him around. He then starts to open it, and comes
into my porch area that has metal bars around the perimeter for safety. Uh, he has my keys, too! My friend Felix (a parent of one of my
former students that showed me self defense moves before I left!!) said that
there are times I will need to defend myself and God is okay with that! I love how he put it. He knows I love the Lord. God told me that very second I laughed,
that Felix was right and to listen to him. I swear I wasn’t even thinking, I grabbed my keys from his
hand quickly as he tried to relock it with all three of us on the same side,
pushed opened the gate and gave him a shove out and shut it as I said “hey,
thanks.” in Spanish, “I don’t need your help anymore.” in a B voice. Natalie looks at me and says, “uhhh, do
you know he works at the school as a security guard?” Uhhh, nope J I was like, “I
know I was rude, but I don’t freaking know him and he will not be locking
himself in with us and having control of my keys. I don’t care if he was helping. He can show me how to do it.” I apologized to him for the push. Hopefully, he will tell his buddies I’m a jerk.
I borrowed a
CStanley book from her called How to Listen to God. Get it, read it, k! I am going to give her and Francis my
Kindle to borrow to read Fan and some other Cstanley’s I have dwnlded. I dont know why I cant get the school
WiFi on my Kindle until my internet is ready next week. Something about the IP address. My Mac is set for when I am at school,
but the Kindle needs me to do something the computer man didn’t know or want to
do? Ha! It says connected, yet it
isn’t when I do the password. Any
of you know how to fix this, let a sistah know. Melissa said the town shuts down from 12-2 for a siesta, so
we will wait to shop until we do the massages. Okay, sorry this is madness and crappy writing haha! Love you guys!
Ps Beth agreed to setting up a blog. Soon! I am just
trying to come up with a name!
Help if you want…I like something with Big Papa in the title and
Dominican Republic or something…brainstorm, kids. xoxo
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