Baseball Watching/Intern Outing/ Carnival

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days, sometimes I feel like I need to wait longer in between blogs so I can build up the suspense, and make it more interesting. I'm sorry if this is long, but I'm considering this my journal, because my other journal is conversations with God.

Anyways, Thursday and Friday were the most relaxed days I've had since I've been here and it was awesome. Thursday we picked up some of the volleyball girls and boys from two different communities and went to go watch the older boys play against another community of boys. Since I love baseball, I was easily entertained. It also helped that I had little Weme there to play around with. (a little girl that is attached to me and Jess from one of the communities). After a long day of watching that, we headed back to the base. I only had a small break because we had an intern meeting, then the big staff bible study which was really good.

Friday... started off the same as Thursday. Katy took a day off from her site and decided to join us for the day which I loved. We went to OUR field this time to play, and it was fun to watch our boys enjoy playing. Jess, Katy, and I escaped for a little bit to get some frozen yogurt, then headed back to the field to pick everyone up to head to the river to jump off some big rocks.

On the long walk down there, I shared a little devotional with the girls about the harshness of words and how sometimes what we think won't hurt someone's feelings, might have hit pretty close to home for them. It was an issue that needed to be brought up with this group, and Jess got to relate it to them personally after I was done.

Jumping off the rocks was fun, I am too scared to jump off the taller one, and get constantly made fun of for being a scaredy cat by the baseball boys. I'm okay with it, and can embrace that I really am scared of a lot! :)

Last night was also the banquet for the team that's been here for the past two weeks. We got dressed in nice clothes, had dinner, and had a little goodbye ceremony for them. I got to know this team pretty well, considering I didn't have any specifically at the girls sports site. I wasn't as attached as some of the other interns, but i'm hoping since I have two high schoolers this next week that I will build great relationships with them.

After the banquet, four of the girl interns decided we wanted a night out. I was already planning on going out, b/c Jess had invited me. But it was fun to invite Angie, Mackalah, and Katy as well. I knew that they were just as excited as me to have some independence and get off the base. We also found out that we didn't have a curfew for once and were super pumped!

We went to a carnival. A Dominican version of a carnival. There were about 3 rides, all looking equally old and rickety. I only went on one, and it was the scariest one! The ferris wheel. Now your typical ferris wheel is a nice fun ride to check out the scenery and have a nice chat. NO. Not in the DR. This ferris wheel was about 30 feet high, and went around so fast I felt sick. I sat in the middle between Jess and Danjelly ( I don't think that's how it's spelled, but he's one of the boys from the sports site.. he's about 18 maybe? it's hard to tell age here haha) I linked arms with both of them and held on for my life. I lost my voice for the rest of the night b/c i was screaming NO so much and screaming b/c I was so scared. Jess LOVED to tip the cart we were on to make it scarier, and I saw my life flash before me a few times :) But i'm glad I did it :)

Today, since it's our FREE weekend, we slept in. YAY! Ah one of the best feelings ever. Then we just all hung out most of the morning, played some games, ate lunch, and got ready for the day. We went into Santiago, which is about 40 min away. It's a big city, and we got to explore a little. We went to the monument, the DR version of a walmart, a tourist market, and TGI Fridays. YES, the real TGI Fridays. AMERICAN FOOD. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I smelled the familiar aromas when I walked in to the restaurant. It was so good, and well worth the spent day. As well as lots of laughter with all the other interns, with some good memories made. We added one more intern to our group on Thursday, her name is Laurel. We are still getting to know her, but she seems really nice! We have two more coming tomorrow, and Mackalah and I are adding one to our room, which we are a little nervous about b/c we are so close and kinda weird, we hope that she is too :)

Tomorrow, Coach Ivan is coming to pick me up so I can spend the day with him, his wife, and his group of high schoolers from Greenville. I'm really excited to spend some time with him in his home country! We are going to some waterfalls, and then a country club to eat and swim. I know i'll be exhausted tomorrow night, but I can't wait for some good quality time spent with the Estevez's! I'll blog again soon :)

Hiking Day

I would have to say, that today was one of the hardest physical experiences I've had. Jess and I along with about 14 others, hiked down a mountain into the valley into a rushing river. It has been raining a lot in the afternoons, so the water was really high and the current was really strong, which made this trip even more dangerous. There wasn't a set trail for this excursion, we just bushwhacked our way down and up. While down at the river, we had lunch and sat in the sun for a while and then Pastor Don ( the head pastor of a church that is here on an outreach) spoke. He was so good that Raul (boys sport site leader) asked him to speak at an outreach in the community that we did tonight.

Going into this hike, I had white tennis shoes. They are a lovely color of brown now, and so heavy from all the sand stuck in them. The way up was the worst, my calves burned the entire time and I almost didn't think I was going to make it. Raul had warned us about these poisonous plants that had spikes on them, and I made sure to stay clear of them, or so I thought. All of a sudden I felt this awful burning sensation in my leg right below my knee. I was like, "hey uhh Jess, my leg is burning" Raul heard me say that and quickly went into Man vs Wild mode. He said that there were bubbles of venom from the plant in my knee, so he used a cactus needle to pop them and squeeze it out of my skin. I took it like a man :)

But I had been noticing all that day that a couple of my bug bites were getting larger and were radiating heat. Jess seemed a little concerned, and said that if it gets worse we need to tell the doctor. On the way back from the hike, I told Raul that my knee was still hurting and he said that there was still more venom in there. I haven't had a chance to go the doctor yet, so just pray that I get a good night's sleep tonight :)

Even with all my cuts, scrapes, and bruises I'm glad I did it. I will be doing it two more times when I'm here, so I better get used to it. :)

Seeing God's creation in a whole new way always shows you how powerful he really is. I took some pictures and they will definitely be on facebook soon!

Feeling Free

These past few days, I've been pondering what God is going to teach me while i'm here.

I don't think I've found the answer quite yet. But I know he is continually teaching me different things.

This weekend was awesome to me, I feel like I really bonded with the interns a lot more than I have been, and we just all seem to click. At our weekly bible study on Sunday night, we started talking about the book Crazy Love. I've read a few chapters before, but I feel like this is going to be a really good opportunity to learn with our group.

Sunday morning at church we met a fellow group of Americanas as we are always called, and it was cool to see some other people doing mission work in Jarabacoa that aren't associated with Students International.

A new group of students came for just this week. Except they aren't students.. they are all adults, and mostly couples from one church. The head pastor and his wife, the college group pastor and his wife, the worship pastor and his wife and a few others. The head pastor,the college pastor, and the worship leader are all at the boy's sports site but since i'm there almost everyday I've gotten to know them a little bit. They are very interesting to talk to, and one of them even reminds me of my dad. It made me miss him and my family a lot today. I also think that these older pastoral men have a lot to teach me.

God has been working in my life, I am completely immersed in his word every morning during devotions, and have been having daily conversations with him by journaling.

Last night was the Servants Challenge. It's a time when we can have some really alone time with God, and with a partner of your choosing you was each other's feet and pray for each other. Mackalah and I of course were partners. But the crazy thing was, when we asked each other what to pray for, we both had already known the other's answer. God was really using both of us to speak to each other in a way we've never experienced before and it was so great.

Yesterday at the site, I got a new nickname from one of the 7 year old boys. Besides Cristina, Catcha, and Cristi.. I have now adopted.. "cute eyebrows" which in spanish is las cejas linda. Which was SO weird to me haha. Jess and I have had a few good laughs over it since then, so it's probably worth it to have to hear it haha.

Today, was English class in the morning. Put up a quick prayer for two of my girls Kasey and Lili, they took a big English test today to get into a WONDERFUL school called Duolos. They are so smart, they need to be there!

During siesta (the countrywide 2 hour lunch break), we went to a baseball players house for lunch. The food was amazing as always. Then after lunch we started the long trek down to the riverfront to play some games. I saw some crazy dark clouds, but decided to ignore them since it has rained EVERY afternoon we have been here. We started walking and it started pouring. And I mean... the BIGGEST water droplets I have ever seen. There was no coverings or anything anywhere, so my only choice in my dry clothes and tennis shoes was to get soaked. At first I hated it, and was worried about my belongings getting wet. But we found an umbrella and someone carried all the bags under the umbrella. I've never experienced a freeing feeling like that before. It was like.. all was right with the world in just that moment b/c I was so out of control about how my body felt. No matter how cold or wet I was becoming, we reached the riverfront, there is a huge parking lot there that we played tennis ball baseball in, in the pouring rain. It was a BLAST. A moment I'll never forget. I love being the only girl with Jess at this site for right now, we get along with these boys as if they were our own brothers, and it's so nice not to have to impress anyone! I think i've worn makeup only a couple times since i've been here :)

Excursion Day... Intern Outing!

The past few days have been the busiest yet! But I feel like if I wasn't busy, I wouldn't enjoy everything around me as much. Yesterday Jess and I taught English at the baseball site just like we always do every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. But then after I got to join in on a game of baseball with the boys. Since I was here in January, they already know that for a girl I can play decent. I feel like I've earned those boys' respect and they ALWAYS insist I play. Jess always tell me that I fit in so well with these boys, and they have taken me under their wing as their sister. And being their "sister" comes with much trash talking and teasing. I always tell them, "Estas hablando baba" which means you are talking trash! I played the outfield, b/c I hate catching baseballs they are so small and white! I also told them they had to pitch it slow to me (muy suave- very soft!) b/c I wouldn't be able to hit it if not. The pitcher pitched it kinda slower and I smacked it over the left fielder's head.. he wouldn't pitch it slow to me again.. wonder why? :)

In the afternoon Jess and I had volleyball practice with the girls in our community, and I love when she introduces me and tells them I'm going to be here for six weeks and they all smile and say wow!

Needless to say, I've been getting a LOT of sun these past two days. I've been told a couple times how dark i'm getting. I have mixed feelings about it b/c I'm getting HORRIBLE tan lines, and Kaity and Austin's wedding that I'm in is in August!

The interns have been having more bonding time lately. Last night at the dinner table I randomly said, let's have hangout time after the worship service? A couple of the boys were quick to be sarcastic and say no, but we all ended up talking for about 2 hours after and really starting to get to know each other.

Today was the Excursion with the teams. Katy got to go white water rafting, and Me, Mack, Myles, and Peter took the rest of the group on a hike to the lower falls. It was quite amazing, and tired me out as well! I will post pictures on facebook. We, as interns, are gaining more independence as we had to take them without the staff on the hike, and then took them into the city by ourselves as well. But that's all part of the "job". I felt confident leading them around, and everything went so smooth.

While we were getting ice cream after dinner, Pete (one of the other interns) decided to tell a couple of the shoe shine boys that were begging us for money, to sing to me, just to embarrass me. At first I was like there isn't any way they will actually do this, will they? But I was wrong, they loved it and got like 7-10 other boys in on it. I was sitting on the ground as they surrounded me and rapped to me. It's definitely one of my most embarrassing moments.

On our way back from dinner, we saw this festival that we keep passing daily. It was pretty much a place where music is being played, and all these little booths with things being advertised and sold. I would compare it to like a market or like a town fair in the states. All of us had been so interested in it, but never knew whether or not we wanted to go. Finally, knowing that we as interns have some freedom, we mustered up the courage to ask to take the truck and go check it out by ourselves. Our leaders really like our group and say we are all really trustworthy so they let us go. It was our first outing together, and by ourselves! We felt really independent and so apart of the Dominican culture. The outing was definitely a success, and we can't wait to find more things to do together! :)

Another Day...

I dunno how often I can keep this posts coming, but with the free time I have at night I figure I should put it to good use.

Today was another fun-filled day, like I'm sure almost all of my days will be here.

We taught English to two little girls, Kasey and Lili, they are taking a test on Tuesday to try and get into the local nice school called Don Julos. So they have to know a lot of things in English in order to pass and be accepted into the school.

Jess and I do a lot of traveling between cities to pick up her volleyball girls and take them back to where there is a court. I commend her for having to do that ALL the time, it must get annoying!

Later on in the day we got our nails done by a 16 year old named Veyonce (spelling?) who is SO amazing at them, I will have to put up a picture sometime.

During nails, Jess asked if it was okay for her to go take some of the other girls home while i finished getting mine done. Of course I said yes, but quickly felt kinda awkward, because I can't speak Spanish well enough to have a conversation. Which is very frustrating for me, but also humbling at the same time.

But I did have a major breakthrough for me tonight! My friend Moreno (he's a Dominican baseball player at the site) I've known him since I came on my other outreach in January, and I asked him a few simple questions in spanish like hey how are you and stuff, then he told me in English that my spanish was getting better which felt good. Moreno and I have the type of relationship where he is constantly talking trash (that I have to get translated) and making fun of me like a sister. So after he told me good job I knew it wouldn't stop there :) He then said that only people who can speak Spanish can go to heaven, and I understood EVERY word! I screamed and said Me comprende!! and he laughed really hard, and said very good!

Tonight was also a night that happens with each team with have. It's called dinner in the community. Each intern takes their students to a house of a dominican from their site. Students International provides the funds for the family making the meal to get all the food supplies, because they can't afford it otherwise. Tonight we went to a baseball players house, his name is Alberto but all his friends call him Popo. His mom made this brown rice with corn, chicken, amazing pasta salad with tuna, and fried platanos (which is a type of potato/banana).

On the way walking to Popo's house, I saw a few of my little boys from the baseball site that I had played with in January. I got SO excited to see them and yelled for joy when they came sprinting towards me to jump on me, hug me, and yelled "christina!!" (that's what they called me since they always had a hard time with Cristi for some reason. It made my night, and it was so cool to see a familiar face in midst of everything unknown.

Tomorrow we go to the baseball site in the morning to teach some English, then play the sport I love.. well kinda! Baseball. Hopefully with some softball mixed in :)

First few busy days

I find myself thinking with every event that happens, "Oh my gosh I HAVE to blog that!"

I am constantly looking at Mackalah and saying that, good thing she knows me well enough to know exactly what I'm thinking before I even say it :)

Ayi yi yi.. it's been a BUSY couple of days. I'm hoping that my body can get used to it so i'm not so tired in the afternoons and can give my full attention to everything and everyone around me. Yesterday we had our first worship time with the first outreach group we have here. There are about 3 different groups, with a total of 17 people all together. One of the groups is from Chico, CA which is SO close to my house, so it's fun to see in actuality how SMALL the world really is.

There are 7 interns, 4 girls and 3 boys. I am lucky enough to have already gone on an outreach to the Dominican with Katy, so we know each other :) and then of course having one of my best friends here as my roommate makes my days complete.

Yesterday was orientation for the outreach group that is here, and as interns we need to know everything that they are doing, so just this first time we had to attend. Then we had lunch and headed out to our sites for the day. Jess (my site leader who is only a year and a half older than me, and we are a LOT alike) and I don't have a group this outreach, so I am just getting some quality time with her, which is WONDERFUL. Our personalities are so much alike, we have already had some awesome talks, and I thank God and am so blessed to get to spend the majority of my summer with her.

Today was her birthday, and we made so many cookies and a big cake for it. Also.. I had two BIG accomplishments today.. i DROVE here.. and I had to ask for a receipt in spanish by myself. Jess knows that I'll only learn if i'm forced to do certain things, so it's good for me!

Tonight was Jess's birthday party, and she asked me to join. It was really fun but also frustrating b/c don't know Spanish and everyone else there spoke Spanish. I am learning a little, but not enough to communicate, which is very different for me to be a quiet person rather than the center of attention. It's probably a good thing! :)

Orientation Day!

Today we got to sleep in for like the ONLY time all summer.

The interns and I had orientation, there are only about 9 of us this summer.

Our job is to oversee the outreach missions teams that come to the base (just like I did in January) and to be an assistant to our site leader.

I will be at the girl's sports site, working with my site leader Jess. She is who I was with when I came in January, and whom I immediately clicked with back then, and was so excited to jump on her this morning when she came to see me!

We met with our "bosses" Josh and Vicki to go over rules, responsibilities and things like that.

It was a little bit overwhelming, but after a bit, I think i'll get the hang of it. I hope! One of the major things we have to do, is for every team that comes.. we take them into the city of Jarabacoa and hang out with them as they shop and show them the stores to go to there and stuff, and we don't have a staff member with us, it's just US.. we are their main leader.That made me very nervous, especially since I don't know Spanish, like.. at all.

But to help us know the city a little bit better, we went to lunch, then we had a scavenger hunt. We had to find each store on there, then take a crazy picture in front of it, then when showing the pictures, come up with a unique way to present them. Mack and I will put the pictures up later, but we split up us four girls, and the three boys. Boys vs. Girls. Needless to say.. the girls definitely won :)

We went to ice cream afterwards, and are now taking a two hour break before dinner. There isn't really anything planned for after dinner.. But I know that we will find something fun to fill our time with :)