Friday, April 6, 2012

Proverbs 32:8



9:35AM Friday, April  6, 2012
Sipping some hazelnut on the back porch area
Listening to Hillsong’s The Very Best Live album

All I can smell is OFF spray. I put some on to come outside.  I really need to wear it to bed b/c I think that is when they are eating me.   I never feel these things bite me!!  I totally forgot I put some in my shipment box.  Praise baybay Jesus.  My legs look like when I was a kid and played outside for 12 hrs in the summer and the mosquitoes tore my legs up.  Gross.

Where I left off yesterday was with Honduras, I think.  So, I sat there for sometime afterwards realizing I do not live in the US anymore.  These inalienable rights we have are no longer in effect here.  And, my ability to say what I want doesn’t exist.  Fine, I read about them in the Dominican Constitution, but there is no one to run to, to say HELP!  Most of you know that I am a ball of fire.  I’m Italian. We are known for two things: we cook very well and we are crazy!  I may have come to the Lord and changed, but I still have that part to me that needs to be checked quickly when I get angry b/c if I do not tap into God that second, the devil encourages me to flip out.  That is a nice way to put it. I used to love being intimidating to people.  I would go head to head with people about crap I didn’t even care about, just to get them all riled up.  I am still a person to this day, that if I see a weaker person being pushed around, I step in.  I have no problem getting in people’s faces.  I have no problems speaking for someone that can’t.  I have done it countless times in restaurants and stores when a husband pushed, yelled, etc at his wife, or when parents are being crazy with their kids and verbally/emotionally abusing them in front of me.   I cried on the bus in Honduras bc it was the first time I saw injustice and was told I couldn’t say anything.  WHAT!?  L  So here is this little one and I can’t do anything AGAIN.  I told God right that minute, “YOU will prepare me for this!”  (Not in a rude manner, maybe a little, but in a way that if He is ordaining this, then HE ALONE will equip us to deal).  I can’t lie, I wanted to throw up and beat his A when I saw that man.  I could totally take him.  He was like 50.  (I grew up with 4 brothers; you can’t exactly be a little lady all the time with that background).  I love when I look at life like that.  For such a time like this that He brings good out of everything for His glory.  God said he will be using this fire in me for Him.  Not in the ways I like to use it J My brothers and I got in fistfights, for sure.  I don’t worry about fending for myself.  When Michael (bro) and I walk around NYC alone, I think the same.  Michael may be a small/medium build, but I’d rather be with him in a dark alley than someone that is jacked.  Together, our fire is a complete mess.  It is the least of my concern in life, here, when we start doing trafficking work.  Controlling it is the problem.  Jesus is the answer. 

I went through the Guardian Ad Litem training a few years ago in Bartow, Florida to be a volunteer advocate in the courtroom for kids that were abused.  I quit in the middle of my first case.  I was interviewing this guy that was molesting the little boy of his girlfriend,  the mom was staying with the boyfriend, and DCF was taking the kids away bc the mom wont leave the abusing boyfriend.  Seriously?  Jesus is the only One to heal such sick jerks (sometimes cuss words just feel so appropriate in sentences, like right there.)   I don’t care what little program that has been designed to change these men.  They can’t be changed like that.  If it isn’t Christ centered, forget it.   Don’t get me wrong; I believe Christ can make ANYONE NEW.  I do not believe a little knowledge and training with these men will ever set them straight.  Same with abuse, you can beg to differ.  Some of you may email me back disagreeing, and that is fine.  I wont change my mind.  But unless you have Jesus, you will carry the weight of your issues forever.  No counseling or treatment is completely alleviating that.  If they still come up, I proved my point.  So, I was maybe 25?  I was just getting involved with church.  I wasn’t strong enough for this advocacy stuff.  I was Phyllis-centered back then.  I mean-- I did and said whatever I wanted and didn’t care.  I could kill someone in that house if I continued to be a part of it!!!    I didn’t want to actively be around that either.  I had way too much emotion in it.  I wasn’t able to handle that without raging.  Besides, I was against unification.  Nah, I don’t think they should all be a little family after mom leaves the sicko.  Mom needs help, too.  Obviously.

So here I am again.  This time Christ-centered.  I tell God daily that I am His.  My all in all is His to use for His glory.  So, I find myself staying awake at night asking Him to show me, lead me, point to people, places, things (I feel like I should end that with and animals…woot woot to my teachers)  to show us which way to go.  I want to move quickly.  Let’s go, God!  We know what it is…  move Nay and Luke here tomorrow and let’s get this show on the road.   We have already surrendered every aspect of our lives: hearts, selves, location, careers, etc.. Vamos!  But I know the process.  Even being “Christ-Followers” there is a process when you become fully surrendered.  God begins to completely strip you of you as you continue to seek Him…to become someone that is completely dependant on Him for decisions, peace, understanding, love, etc.  I am not the Christian I was in December.  Nothing like that anymore.  I know God on a new level.  Especially true for Luke and Nay right now.  I don’t want Him to speed anything up with them, me, or Elissa.  Elissa has some growing to do with anger, too J  I like that He will use her fire for His glory with us, too.  This guy was hitting on me on the van ride home.  He was beautiful, pretty sure they all are here.  Just as I was telling him I couldn’t give him my number bc I don’t have a phone, I turned to Lissa thinking she would give me hers to use, and she ripped him a new one about probably having a wife.  I laughed.  I was a little bothered by her flipping out in front of a van load, but I loved that she was being the B I usually am with my friends.  If he loves Jesus, I’ll see him again in town.  I’m not too worried.  I did tell her when we got off the van, to walk home, that he could love Jesus and she ruined my chance at getting married to a Dominican J  Maybe he doesn’t have a wife/girlfriend.  He said he didn’t.  Most men here do, though.  So it wasn’t far fetched and it seems very socially acceptable to have both from what I see/hear.  Okay, back to the story.   I truly want us all to be a group that hears Him clearly in all times.  I know this is insane to say out loud, but I’ve heard God tell me to be careful, walk faster, leave this store now, etc.  I don’t play with those times; I leave, walk faster, and stay on guard. We need to be a group that is capable of this and listen to one another. His eye is upon me (pro 32:8), and I believe that!!  He is God; I don’t need to second guess His intentions. They are of love (hellooo, tha cross).  I once read in a Stanley book that he would pray with his staff members over decisions and if they didn’t have the same Holy Spirit feeling about a decision, then they would not make a decision until they did.  Holy Spirit is the same in all believers, God. We hear Him in a different manner, I’m sure, but if we are all on the same issue..we should hear the same.  Luke and Nay had made a decision about something and I didn’t have all the details.  I didn’t know that at the time.  God kept showing me something and it was NOT lining up with what they had decided.  These two kids drive me flipping insane, seriously!! Kidding, they know I love them dearly.   Finally, when I was Skyping them one time I figured out what they decided.  I was given more details.  IT WAS what I thought was going to be the outcome, and what God showed me all along was what they decided.  He spoke to them and me about the same thing.   I was freaking bc I knew it wasn’t right if we heard two different things. I don’t like those times.  I don’t like saying “hey, we are hearing two different things. Something ain’t right.”  I just said ain’t J  I think it is important as Christ Followers to speak up to one another.  This is never finger-pointing, ever.  This is God is poking me in the side saying speak for Me.  You said I could use you, now giddy up, kid.  I usually don’t do it immediately.  I like to sit with it a few days; usually He doesn’t let me sleep.  We think as HUMANS with this societal norms, “Oh, I can’t meddle in their/his/her business.  That is not my family, etc.”  I wrestle with this, too.  I’m like God, seriously, go tell them Yourself.  I’m not just a human doing whatever I want in life to fulfill my needs and wants, I choose to follower Christ and His ways.  I am thankful that Nay, Luke, and I have lain in on the table as bro and sisters in Christ that when we do this to one another, it is out of LOVE.   We can speak Truth to one another.  We have opened the doors of communication and agree that our feelings don’t get hurt and that it is never, EVER attacking one another.  I can’t do this with all my Christian friends.  I am not saying that as a jerk, I am saying that out of honesty.  We are all holding onto a little something on the side and let’s not talk about that part.  I don’t know where this Christian way of life has come from that we do things alone.  I see it too often and it makes me crazy.   These two have moved to a place where they are so in love with the Lord that they are just chasing Him with an abandoned heart.  His will, not theirs.  <3  I love that I get to do life with these kids.   Off my soapbox, that talk was never meant for this email.  Guess that means one of you needed that.  L  I just hung up clothes on the line and I want to tell you all a secret.  I secretly love hanging my clothes on a line.  I do.  I thought I would HATE it, but I love coming out, taking a few minutes of my day to detach and hang clothes up to dry.  It takes forever to dry and they aren’t fresh and hot out of a dryer, but I love it.

So, most of you know Nay and Luke are selling their home in Auburndale, FL.  Their place is cleared out completely.  God is working His magic, as I like to call it.  Nay has made a list of things she NEEDS God to take care of to move.  I love hearing how He is providing and taking care of it for them.  Okay, He still shocks me when she tells me what is new J I know it is a hectic time of waiting for God to do what I KNOW HE WILL do for them, like sell the house, but waiting on Him to do that big one will grow their faith and they will stand on it forever.  They will see Who is capable of anything and everything.  I told them I was praying for their house for a few weeks, complete lie.  I’m sure Christians shouldn’t lie J  I do pray for them more than anyone I know right now, but it wasn’t to sell the house.  I was praying that God will use this to strip them of themselves and to learn what it means to truly hear Him and rely on Him to take care of this move.  They don’t need to do jack crap.  God, all powerful, will sell their house WITHOUT their help.  Go sitdown, kids, I am doing this!!  Not you!  I cant wait to see what God does with it!!  His ways are not OURS.  I love it!!  Sometimes, I ask God, “Big Papa, are you gonna sell that house???!!”  Then, He reminds me that I am crazy to think He isn’t.  Of fricking course He is.  He is GOD.  Why, or maybe,  how can I limit Him when I have seen Him do immeasurable things, in His authority, in my life to move me.  I love Him!  So, the other day, God gave me the go ahead to pray for selling the house.  Once again, I don’t get this praying thing.  How cool to be a part of someone else’s growth in Christ and drawing closer to Who the God of the universe truly is…and it isn’t even my life..or your life,  yet we get to see and grow watching the Lord’s power and control.  What!?  I watch them go through the process and I cant help but say, “That’s my King!  You are so awesome, God!!”  I often tell Him that I cannot believe what He is capable of now that I have handed it all over.   I do not worry about Luke and Naomi’s list.  I do not worry that they wont have enough money to sustain their family here.  I do not worry that they wont have enough money to keep Ethan at the school we are teaching at (they have to pay a monthly tuition to have him there… kind of pricey for the amount we are paid).  I do not worry about their student loans that won’t be able to be paid while they live here b/c they wont make enough to make that payment.  God will take care of that.  How?  I don’t know.  No clue.  How do I know He will come through?  He did it for me.   It was on my list of things that He had to do, to have me live here on a meager salary.  He took care of every single thing on my list!!! Tears just filled my eyes.  He did. How do you not cry at that? He took care of me in ways I didn’t know He could. Don’t read over that like it is nothing. Go reread it. I did nothing to move here.  If anything, I was hands-off bc I didn’t want to move here; I wanted to be comfortable in my little life in the USA.  What I do/did want, was to follow the Lord wherever He wills and do His work.  I kept telling Him not to listen to my bs and just keep molding me to be Yours wholeheartedly, when I say I don’t wan to do it, ignore it and keep on.  I want to do it, I just have a tug from the other side. He continues to do things in ways that are ineffable.  Some things I will never tell you guys b/c until you get it, you wont get it.  I am living in a house in the Dominican Republic alone and I have NEVER in my life ever felt this much “at home.”  What the heck is going on?  Why have I not cried about moving here yet?  I don’t think some of you get that.  I am NOT a social butterfly.  Give me a book and a couch.  I seldom leave the house in the summer.  I could go days without seeing people and be totally fine!!  Move ME to another country…ridiculous.  I am set in my ways. I like routine. Adventure is NO WHERE in my vocabulary.   If I am following what He told me to, what the heck do I have to worry about??  Money is HIS.  Even if you aren’t a Christ-Follower, the money is His.  J    My church is building homes in Honduras this summer.  (I added this after I finished..I didn’t ask God if I should give an offering to the Honduras House Building Fund church is collecting.  I thought, I live in the DR; I am passing on that this year.  I have an excuse: hold the money I have tightly, this stuff will dwindle, I get a pass to not give to that fund, I have to think about my future, and watch what I do.   So when I went to tithe my monthly Polk paycheck, I asked God if I was going to offer money for the Homes Fund, and what did He say?  Phyllis Marie, your money is My money.  It all comes from Me.  Do you think I will let you go without food one day?  (He couldn’t say homeless bc I was homeless for the first week He moved me here!!)  (Matty 6:25-26) I don’t have internet access on the porch, but I think that verse is right.  This isn’t about money.  It is never really about money.  Do I believe God will take care of me for all my days?  YES!  <3  Okay, I will give an offering.  Two things and I do not believe that God always follows up with blessings when we do what He says.  Can He?  Yes.  Does He?  Yes.  Always? No.  I do it because I am in love with the Lord and what He says, I say yes to!  So, one of you reading this deposited a little more than exactly what He told me to offer to the housing fund J in my bank account in the USA.  PS Person that said she wanted to support me and deposited that money, I didn’t tell you that until now.  Cool, eh!?  Freaking love the Lord.  The other thing is that someone at RPC is matching donations over a certain amount of money, my offering is that amount to the penny….double the blessing to Honduras Houses Fund.    I don’t say that to tell you to donate, I tell you so you see what He does when we listen.  I watched some of you stretch in faith to support my move, I learned from you guys, too. 

I will fly from the DR to Miami, then stay in WH for a day or two then fly with MY TEAM J to Hotown for the mission trip.  We will stay in FL for a few days after Honduras, then move the O team over to the DR.  Crazy. 

We don’t have any intentions on purchasing flights right now.  None of us have money raised for the Santiago Mission trip with Trash Mountain.  We aren’t worried.  Money is His, right?  Uh, yea.  Get moving, God Almightyyyyy.  Time for You to, giddy up!  God got me a flight 5 days before I moved out of the country.  I could have killed Him for waiting until the last minute to tell Sharon to do that for me.  It was the best thing that He did for me.  Make me wait and see His power.  We will do the same.  Dear God, this is Yours.  We will count on You alone to do this.  You will take care of it.  We will just wait and move when You say so.”  Oh, I just got to the end of page 4, that is my limit.  Some of you probably delete this before page 4.  Boorrring ;)  Don’t worry, when we publish our book, you guys will have read most of it ;)

This is the reason for the email…Trafficking sounds too big.  Too daunting.  I told God that morning and a few nights after that if He can take that cup, please do so and replace it with something else.  I want to do it if He wills, but I don’t think we can do anything with this madness.  We don’t know anything about it!!!  Devil says we cant change crap and I want to believe that jerk a lot of the time!!  But we have told God (the 4 of us) over and over again, this will be of YOU.  We never want to be man powered, ever.  I am jumping ship the second it isn’t Christ centered.  We will seek You on what this will look like, who we will join, how we will live if He pulls us all from teaching after this year, etc.  We live for You, Lord.  YOU WILL PROVIDE FOR YOUR KIDS.  We will stand on that.  Oh, will you guys be praying for Ethan (5), too.  His little butt is going to change this country, too, as he watches us and lives long after us-- to continue to do the Lord’s work… Love you guys!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Into the Darkness You Shine


Sitting at the kitchen table waiting to go to town with Alyssa, my roommate.  She is Skyping her professor.
April 5, 2012 4:57PM
No coffee (yet) :)  I have a pot ready to be brewed when I get back.

I tried to get a bank account at the Banco Popular and they wouldnt give me one unless I had a Dominican with me and my US bank statement.  Seriously? None of the girls remember this game.  Not too sure why I am being played this way.  Whatever.   I had Elissa and she speaks Spanish very well.  I told them I didn’t have US account.  I don’t want them linking the two.  They were saying they could do something that appears to be linking the accounts, so I can access money.  I was like, “no way”.  Then, all of a sudden this bullcrap about needing a Dominican with me came into play.  I asked them to just cash my school check and said forget it.  I’ll try again later.  I wasn’t in the mood that day.

We just got back from Cabarete.  It is a town that is NE of here.  I've spent the last few days in serious reflection.  I am going to say it outloud bc it will make it much more real.  Months ago Nay and Luke showed an interest in human trafficking.  Then, I move here and I met Elissa.  She is passionate about it and is waiting on God to tell her to stay in the Dr or go home.  Too many voices quench the Spirit in us.  I told her that from now on not to take "advice" from people that don’t seek God first.  If they don’t seek God, then they are giving you their take on things.  She doesn’t need a worldly view on anything.  We have expressed in a round about way what God is saying, but told her to just seek Him.  She does already, so there must be a purpose in what He is doing. 

So, I am pretty sure that that is the path He is sending us.  Luke and Nay aren’t even living here yet and I am talking about why He moved/is moving all of us here.  I don’t have a passion for this and never have, let's be honest.   It keeps coming up everywhere.  I think about it all the time.  More or less, in prayer when I talk with Big Papa asking for Him to prepare me.  Us.  The government. Just all of it.   I've asked God to go a different path.  I knew what He was doing was going to be BIG.  Remember, I asked Him to keep it small b/c I wouldnt be capable of big??  He moved my butt out of the United States in 5 weeks flat.  It was going to be BIG.  I don’t think this will be anytime soon.  It is wise of Him (OF COURSE) to have me (us) teach at the Christian School.  We can learn Spanish quickly with the kids.  My kids have taught me so much already.  It isn't as intimidating b/c they are kids.  :)  I don’t have the passion for teaching like I use to have...He is slowly taking that away.  I’ve known for a while now I wouldn't be teaching for long.  I surrendered that first back in August.  Maybe another year or two is what I feel as we learn and get educated on this trafficking.  I dont know.  So, we were watching the sunrise one morning and saw this man on the beach.  As he walked with this little girl about the age of 8-9, he kept pushing her on her back to walk faster. He didn't act like a father or a grandfather. No actions/body language resembled a relationship. I smiled at him first and he gave me no expression back, instead looked down again.  I smiled at her behind him and she didn’t smile either.  Obviously, this is odd for a little girl.  Little girls love older girls.  I am a very attractive female-- for neither one to smile is not common unless something is wrong.  As they got to the end of the beach's shore, they walked back.  I took a picture with my friends in the pic.  My friend spoke to him in Spanish and asked if he knew where we could get breakfast.  His body language was closed off.  He kept looking down, didn’t turn his whole body, and tried to ignore her.  She asked where he was from b/c he didn’t seem fluent in the language, He said Canada.  We dont know if that is truth, but that is what he said.  He told us in Spanish there were plenty of restaurants to eat at and walked away.  I don’t remember his eye color.  He was about 5'10.  We woke up the next day to watch the sunrise again and we saw him with another Dominican female; this time she was older (35?), but no little girl.  It was about 6AM again.  We said good morning.  He mumbled it back b/c he recognized us.  She didnt smile at me either when I tried.  He spoke to this lady after they passed by, he seemed friendlier to her than the little one.  As I watched them pass by the first time, I felt sick.  Loss of innocence.  Something that you didnt know and would rather not.  You can’t go back when you see that.  You can’t be the same.  The world is worse than I thought.  I remember when I went to Honduras the first time and I cried hysterically back in my hotel room the second night b/c I could NOT believe that there are people living in such deplorable conditions.  I couldn’t fathom anyone seeing anything that was of Christ in such a corrupt country where we saw men hitting their wives in public, a dead body on the side of the road, and incest and rape is a culture norm. It literally broke my heart that night.  I crawled into God's hands in my bed and laid my head on his massive chest asking for relief from an overwhelming cry-- where I could not catch my breath in hysterics (my roommate was not there, thankfully!!)  I felt that punch in my gut this morning seeing that little girl.  We could be wrong.  He could be a relative.  God told me he wasn’t.  So, I took that picture and prayed.  I prayed this morning for what God wanted me to do with it.  I googled and found a site that had a man that looked similar to him on the US Marshall's top 10 men.  It was the G8 site that is made up of 8 countries that meets for a summit every so often on worldly issues.  Canada and the US are in it.  The exact page I clicked was child trafficking and brought me to a US Marshall's page for an email.  I sent off the pic and details.  I am not an investigator.  I wont pretend to be.  That is their job.  They can do as they please.  So, the Marshall guy emailed me back and we are in contact. 
Sorry to end this here :)  I will finish later, Alyssa is off the computer and we have to leave.  Love you guys.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Update


Sunday, April 1, 2012
11:44AM
Sitting on the back porch looking at my clothes on the line
Drinking hazelnut coffee and eating ac Emerald’s Breakfast on the go! pack.

I added several names to my emailing lists this morning.  Sorry if you haven’t been getting the emails/Word documents.  Some of you may not be caught up on details if you don’t attend Ridgepoint Church or work at COLE.  Either way, ask someone to fwd you the others.

Things are going well.  I am on Semana Santa this week.  That is Holy Week and we are on Spring Break.  I have not gotten a parasite yet and that is so nice!  J is officially over her double parasite and Salmonella MESS.  She went back for her check up the other day and she is good as far as they know.   Some other girl just stopped working bc her liver and lungs have ballooned from her parasites and she needs to just not work anymore until this thing stops multiplying at warp speed.  She needs to take her butt to the US and get some freaking help.  You bet if I was sick like that, I would call my church up to fly my butt home immediately!  We aren’t all as fortunate to have a home church, I suppose, to rescue us. The hospital is shady here, let’s be honest.  My kids are always getting shots in their arms or booties and I don’t know what the heck they are giving them!  N had a parasite and she needed an IV?  I don’t know what it was, but it was over a month ago and she still has trails up her arms from it.  She was allergic to something, she thinks.  The lady had problems with the IV, so she was stuck in both arms.  She was in the hospital for a few days, too.  Naomi, don’t read this -.there is some clinic here where there is no water or soap available and blood on counters, floor, etc. What, at a health facility??  I am not in an area where people live in cardboard homes, so I find that so off.  The bathrooms don’t have running water or toilet paper, which is common in public, but I would assume this to be different.  Santiago has a big hospital that is clean.  That is where Kristin will deliver and I WILL GO if I get sick anytime soon.  I don’t think Ill get any kind of needles, ever.  

Halls cough drops either make candy for kids??  Or, this place eats Halls as candy.  We had an Easter egg hunt for our first graders and we got 32 pieces of small candy at the comedor up the road.  Half of the candy was Halls.  Alllllll sorts of flavors that I have never seen, like candy flavored (green apple, watermelon, etc)  I didn’t like filling it with that, but Johanna, my teammate, said it is perfectly normal.  

One of our Board members bought our school a new water tank, so we shouldn’t have to go without water anymore.  Praise, babyyyyy Jesus.  We still have towels to dry our hands.  The crazy thing is that after you have been here for some time, you just accept things.  One of the American teachers looked at me like I was crazy asking why we use a towel in school and some public places and said, youre just supposed to wipe your hands on your clothes or shake ‘em in the air.  (Oh, sheesh).  

I have completely accepted that the power goes out daily during the week.  I don’t even notice most of the time, unless I have to pee and then I’m livid.  They don’t hold it.  Heck, I don’t even hold it anymore if I really have to pee.  Being honest.  Someone give me a Dominican badge, I’m in with the urine committee.  People still use the bathroom for 2! and it is perfectly normal to do so.  Hmmm.  I am not joining that team.  To hear someone say, we are on a “black-out”—sounds perfectly normal to me now.  I use batteries to back up my alarm clock and always have my laptop/kindle plugged into a surge protector in case it happens when they are plugged in.  I have no idea how I teach my kids without all the US technology I had in the US.   I would love a board that I can write on, even a new chalkboard.  I bought myself a clock yesterday. Well, my church did.  I didn’t even have a clock in my class.  My watch battery bit the dust, so I never knew what the heck time it was w/o my laptop.  Pencils have been ordered, no more sharing those!  Some of these parents have money!  I dont know why I cant get supplies out of them.  I told a mom that my church and friends are purchasing things, she said good! Seriously?  You pay for your kid to go to the best school in the DR (from what I have heard) and you don’t care that he shares a pencil with his partner??  Odd.

Staff are supposed to be at school at 730, yet no one ever shows up then.  We also don’t have anyone opening the door to the classroom hallways until 7:45, sometimes later.  They are a very, very lax culture.  I am a very lax person!  This place makes me a little crazy at times.  At 5PM, you bet those doors are locked!  Someone locked me in last week and I panicked thinking I was going to sleep there.  No one stays after 5 for security purposes.  

A rooster just walked up beside my porch and won’t shut up.  This place cracks me up!!!  As I walk to the store, I cant believe I live here sometimes.  I still cant believe it feels so normal.

Randoms:
Ketchup and mayo are on everything, even tacos.  WHYYYY!?  I try to order take out without it and they don’t care.  They put it on there.  I order a burger without. They don’t care; they put it on there.  I am so glad that mustard is not their staple condiment, I would never, ever eat anywhere bc I refuse to scrape that off!!  One of the girls was ordering me food on the phone and the guy didn’t care to modify my order and didn’t even ask what I wanted for my drink.  He just delivered it with whatever he picked.  What??  Normal operating procedures.  


Nothing is of quality that I purchase either.  My coffee pot must be smacked ont eh top 3-5 times and a few on the sides to brew.  Then, I come back and smack it a couple more times.  I paid 20 dollars, that is a piece of gold right there!!  I got a table at La Sirena (walmart DR style) last night for 30 dollars.  It is white and the legs look like someone has used it, a million times.  Scratches and black marks up the legs…not in a box but shrink wrapped.  The lady at the front of the store said if I spend a certain amount they will deliver. I asked her how much do I have to spend, she says she doesn’t know.  It depends.  Im like on what?  On the price.  WHAT PRICE DO I HAVE TO SPEND TO GET A DELIVERY. She doesn’t know.  I walk away.  I ask the guy in the back of the store if they will deliver this table and 1 chair to my house.  He says they don’t deliver anything.  I tell him in the worst Spanish ever that another lady said they do!  He says, “oh, let me see” What? He comes back and says if I spent mil pesos, they will deliver.  Another man walks over and says I have to spend 6mil pesos.  We just jumped 6 times the amount.  Forget it.  I wouldn’t know b/c I am white, but I asked E why are people looking at us like that?  Why are those kids staring at me?  She said, “cause you’re white.”  There was a taste I had never tasted before.  What, wow.  There is an eye opener.  They take advantage of whites. I took a bus like van to La Vega with E.  She pretty much speaks Spanish fluently after a year of being here.   The van guy made me pay more for E and I.  I didn’t argue, E did.  I don’t care.  We have the money and I don’t speak his language to argue. I will when I get the language down.  He also wouldn’t take 1 cent pesos, that is when I got mad.  I opened his hand and put the coins in it.  Money is money; don’t tell me you aren’t taking single pesos b/c it takes up space!  I am already on this van and we are going to La Vega!!  E was like, “he said he doesn’t want pesos.”  Ya, I know.  I understood him but I was totally playing that I didn’t get the language. I told her I didn’t care what he wanted.  Take the money and get away from us.  He wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to have to get off, so I gave him a bigger coin in exchange, that I found in my bag. Sometimes, I can play Dominican (if I don’t talk!) and other times, I am white. The lady next to me was breastfeeding.  This is a cultural norm to do it uncovered in public.  I am totally fine with it now.  I have seen enough in Honduras and here,  BUT her kid wasn’t eating..he was sleeping now.  I just wanted to be like, “ma’am, could you put that away?  K, thanks!”  She just didn’t even care.  Ay yi yi. Personal space is nonexistent.  After the other lady got off, she didn’t bother to move off my arm, she just stayed there touching even though she had so much room to move.  People are always so close to me that I think there has got to be a ‘candid camera” around.  I am at the bank and I can feel the person behind me breathing on my neck!  Back up!!  Back upppp! Sometimes they stand next to you in line at the bank.  Here I am with a handful of money and they are touching my arm they are so close.  My love language is touch; I’m a touchy person!!!  but these people are too much most of the time.  My kids are always touching me.  Stop touching me and each other!!!  They pet each other and hold hands.  

I met some friend and his wife of E’s yesterday and before they left he kissed my cheek.  Handshake is fine, buddy.  It threw me off, I feel bad when I screw it up…I went for the handshake and he grabbed it and pulled me to his body to kiss me.  Crap!  Ahhh, are we handshaking or kissing??!!!  Someone clue me in on the rules here!!  I need the handbook.  

Nah, I don’t mind the cheek kiss.  I find it so endearing.  I love that about this culture.  I’ve seen parents of students do it, but I really don’t want my dads to be kissing my check.  My moms do it all the time to greet me and say goodbye.  (I did learn that if their kid is in trouble and they heard about it before me, that they don’t want a kiss hello. Learned that from the death stare I got and rigid body of the madre de Rosmairys when she wasn’t on the top color and I tried to greet her.  Oops.  Note to self.)  We have a 2 hour break in town, so all the parents come eat with their kids. Banks and teachers don’t do the siesta unless it is a public school.  

I tried to tell my secretary I need her to take me to the bank to open a DR account.  She didn’t care and said I didn’t need an account.  I reassured her I WANT ONE.  I need to deposit my BIG FAT peso check that was like equivalent of 153 dollars for half the month of working.    Their currency is ridiculous, so I am carrying around a lot of bills for very little US money.  I could be jumped with that kind of cash in my pockets.  That is jackpot to most, which I don’t understand how anyone buys all these products that ARE MORE expensive here than the US.  The products here aren’t worth it.  The shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, and mousse were all name brands yet horrible.  Maybe because they are shipped to the DR and heat is a factor.  Maybe they sit on the shelves too long here.  Oh, and my table has some stripped screw holes and it isn’t like I would take it back or complain.  You just deal with it.  I left 2 screws out.  It is working fine.  

I haven’t carried a real purse, straightened my hair, or worn a pair of heels since I got here.  I am very low key, if you know me.  Most things I own cost less than 15 dollars.  I would say most things I own cost less than 10dollars!  But I love some clearance cute heels and straight hair.    I dont even bother.  I walk everywhere and heels aren’t made for that.  I can get ready faster than I ever have here, I still take an hour to drink my coffee before I leave.

The weather is ahhhmazing, but it rains often and I don’t bother wasting my time to straighten it.  The humidity is very high here. It isn’t hot up in the mountain but the hair is so wet.  I went down the mountain last night and it was much warmer!!  When we came home it was so cool and I AM SO THANKFUL I live up here.  I sleep just fine without A/C.  I went into a bank the other day and they had A/C!  Holy crap!  I haven’t felt this in weeeeeks!!!!  Most places don’t have a/c.  School we have the windows open for a breeze to pass in if there is one.  Plus, the windows give me light for when we are out of power.  

I love being able to play some Jamie Grace with my kids and dance with Jesus every morning for worship.  It is so cute to listen to them sing “You lead, Ill follow” and “Show Jesus.”  I love to listen to their little hearts say that God led me to the DR and all I had to do was follow Him.  They are so sweet.  We are working on praying in class.  They do this weird repetitive praying, so we had to have a talk about talking to God like he is our bff or like Ms. B, real!  Not some far off being, but God that is everywhere and seeing everything.  I know they are 1st graders and this is probably common to say the same stuff over and over every day, but if this is how it starts out for Christians, and I have friends that still do this at 30, maybe we need to help kids see at a young age that God is who we say He is.  I don’t want people coming to me mumbling crap, I doubt God cares to hear some blanket prayer that has no emotion and no expectations for Him to do what you ask..barely believing He is even real.  The Lord may never give me kids, but while He gives me these ones, I will teach them what I know and what He tells me.  Right now it is praying.  Ive been sharing with them things I prayed for God to do to get me here and how He did miracles.  I love sharing Luke and Nay’s process of moving here with them, too.  My aid is in the room, too, during Bible.  She pops her head up from grading and sometimes, says, “seriously?  God did that?  Im like,  “YUP!”  They need to see what God is doing right now, today in our lives, not just what was done in the past.  I tell them about all the scripture that was so alive and spoken to me during my move, and how God used it to speak.  They know that they “have to learn how to read, so they can read His word and hear Him speak through it.  We know what to do in life bc we read His word for Truth.  How can you hear Him loudly like Ms B if you don’t care if you can read or not!?”  God reminds me of this with my low, low readers.  ESOL to a new dimension coupled with academically low is exactly what my reading group is right now. “Phyllis, you are teaching them to read, so they can read my Word one day” Ok!!! As I want to pull my hair out!

Kidding, I have always secretly loved the low kids more than the rest; especially ESOL for some reason, so I am not shocked that God gave me the lowest group in 1st grade right now. This isn’t just teaching.  This is teaching for Him.  He has always told me that.  That is why I struggled so much with test taking in the US.  It was against what I knew was Truth.  I cant teach to a test when life isn’t about a test score.  I could talk for hours.  Love you guys.  Until next time…

Okay this is long enough.  I need to go do something productive.