Over already.....

We have been home in Canada for almost 2 weeks. My mind doesn't really understand that.... I am torn between it either feeling like we haven't gone yet or it feels more like we have been home for months and months. Days in the Dominican seems to last long, days here seem to be so short. Not sure if it's because we try and cram more than possible into our North American lives or because life was just simpler there. Or maybe it's both. We have been so thankful to be home to the familiar, to our family and friends. I personally have moments of sadness knowing what we have left behind in the DR. Great new friendships, connections and the beauty of that country. The day we left was a sad one. We said our goodbyes with tears and touching words.

We said goodbye to Maria.  You will be shocked to hear that I never cried (might cry now) but I never cried there.  Our last weekend we took her to the beach and had a great sleepover. We taught her snakes and ladders which we played a million times.

 We went and said goodbye to her and her family the day before we left.  Her mom told us that she has been crying the last couple days because she will miss us.  We gave lots of hugs and encouraged Maria to keep striving in school and let her know how much she meant to us.  We said it was only "Hausta Luego" (|see you soon"), not "Adios" ("goodbye").  We truly do mean that!!!

We said goodbye to our first translator and now FRIEND, Jessica, and of course her boyfriend David. We had a blast getting to know them better and playing many, many games of Settlers. We left Settlers with them so I hope they get better and maybe could beat us next time... lol. I think it's the type of friendship that we will be able to pick up where we left it when we see them next time.

We said goodbye to Rebbecca who cleans for Phil and Donna. She is one of the craziest people ever and we love her.  She has such a special place in our hearts and I think most of all in our daughter's heart.  She really knew how to love Abriel.  I miss her..... She is a strong woman and I admire her.  There was a lot of crying during that goodbye.

Lastly we said goodbye to Phil and Donna.  I won't go into much detail because I could do a whole blog just on them. They are GOOD people, doing GOOD work and we support them 100%.  We know we will see them again and we are so thankful for them letting us come and work with them and giving us this amazing opportunity to serve.

Our 5 month Dominican Experience is over. Thank you to everyone who supported us in many different ways.  We were encouraged by the all the people who followed our blog as well.  It was very cool.  We do plan on continuing to blog but it probably wont be as frequent since our normal lives just isn't as exciting. 

I am thinking I might still write one more blog just on the things we learned and our final reflections.  Hopefully I can get to it soon.

Inspired

On Friday night I went out with of couple girls who live down here as well as Krissie Sulivan who has been coming down to the Dr for eight years.  She has a future plan to be a full time nurse here in the public hospital. She was here to visit with friends and to go to Franklin's wedding.  We went out and got some food and just walked and talked.  We walked past the bar strip. It had been a while since I had really seen what happens down there.  It's a weird feeling seeing people who seem to be having fun, listening to loud music, dancing and drinking and maybe to the average tourist that's what it would be and seem to be but I know more and I felt uncomfortable.  I saw hundreds of women who were dressed to the nines and extremely sexy just like you would see at home at one of our bars in Hess Village.  I know some women were just there with their friends having a night out but for 90% of those women it's wasn't a night off to relax.  They were there to work. We stopped and talked and discussed our thoughts on prostitution but what do we know.  We have no idea what it would be like to be them. My heart breaks for them. Sex is a powerful thing whatever your thoughts are on it.  I have a hard time believing that having sex with complete strangers a couple times a week or a month won't do something to you.  Won't change something in you. The question people ask is how do they continue to do it.... maybe it's like conquering a fear.  Once you overcome it, it's no big deal doing it again.  My heart breaks for what breaks inside these women every time they have to engage in such a vulnerable act with someone who is paying them.  This isn't about weather or not they have the right or if it should be legal, it's just about them and what they actually want to be doing with their lives.  I wonder what their dreams are?  We saw a couple boys who Krissie knows who live in a village we work in.  Their families have got them involved in being pimps.  At 13 years old and because they know english they are used as pimps.  They wait downtown and ask tourists if they want a girl.  They will translate for them and get them connected or they might go and buy people drugs.  Due to the nature of the job we have heard stories of people in return buying these young boys a girl for themselves.  These types of things blow my mind.  They could work until the early morning and have to travel an hour or more to get home and then be up for school at 8am.  These boys should have bigger dreams but they have become clouded with making good money fast at anothers expense.

When we had ice cream with some shoe shines boys around Christmas I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Two of them said engineers, one said a doctor, and one said a lawyer to help women get out of abusive situations.  WOW!!  These kids are 9 - 12 years old and have very little opportunity (two of them aren't even in school because they don't have birth certificates).  Chris and I took two of those kids out for breakfast yesterday morning.  It was a special moment for us.  These two boys at 11am had already been had work for hours.  The one spent the previous night in jail because he was shoe shining.... it's not illegal, they just don't want them bothering the tourists.  They told us the police are rough with them and they spend a lot of time running from them.  The one boy's father is a mechanic and his mother died in childbirth and the other boy's father works at a hotel.  They are not in desperate situations but their families do need the extra money to live.  Other boys may be in a different situation. They may be the only income earner in their family or just for themselves. These boys are special to me.  They are funny (really funny) and smart and speak pretty good english. I worry their dreams will be no more then just dreams.

As we talked as a group of girls we were frustrated with not knowing the answers or solutions on what to do.  The only thing that came to my head was to have some kind of drop in center where kids and women can take a break from their reality and maybe share or just have a coffee.  I don't know any more details than that but I want to hear those stories and be a person that people feel comfortable sharing with.  I do that as a profession at home but with resources to offer people. I wouldn't have those resources here.  Just love.... is it enough??

Freedom from nightly duties and paying men
Freedom from appearing beautiful but feeling ashamed
Dreaming of a different story and more opportunity
Dreaming of being wanted for more than instant pleasure

I am not just an object
You did not buy a robot
I am a woman, a mom, a sister, a daughter

Your money bought you sex but it bought me food
Your money bought you "happiness" but for me it bought survival
Your money is your freedom but my slave

Which night will be my last?
Which day will be my future?
Who will listen to my cries?
Who will help me from this reality?

Excited for help!

I knew having a baby would completely change our lives and things as I had known them would be different.  I knew most of my free time would now be occupied with baby things and my daughter's well being.  When we had made the choice to have a baby going away to another country before she turned a year old was not exactly in the picture.  We had thought of the idea and threw it around but it was only a thought. Chris and I are very independent people; we don't tend to ask for help a lot.  Even when Abriel was first born I think it was shocking and even a little annoying that we didn't reach out more to our family for help.

Coming down to the Dominican with our six month old and with both of us being able to watch her didn't seem to hard but I am pretty sure Abriel is not a normal baby. I say that with a proud mom voice!  She has this look that sometimes actually scares me and makes me wonder if she is smarter than me.

(haha)

There is a lot of work to do around here (in the Dominican) and not a lot of people to do it which means there are not a lot of people free to watch Abriel.  Correction, there are lots of people free to watch a baby but I don't trust them to do so.  Especially with a baby like Abriel. If you look away for two seconds she will be standing on the dinning room table (that actually happened).

I say all this to say that Chris and I in the last five months, other than when she is sleeping, have had about two hours of time away from Abriel together and we are looking forward to the 600 babysitters we have at home.  You all know who you are so get READY!!

The Count Down

Those of you who have my mom on Facebook know she has been counting down our home coming. I think the count down started at 64 or something.  Now it's at 16...... SOOO crazy!!  It's been a little challenging to not check out here and start planning our time back at home.  It's a hard balancing act because we need to prepare to go home but we want to finish our work here strong.

We have been doing a lot of organizing for Phil and Donna.  I attacked both of their offices and did some serious magic!  Chris attacked Donna's computer and organized it as well!  Why does it always seem easier to clean other people stuff.... and it was even kinda fun!!  I made sure to get rid of the large garbage bag of "crap" so that they couldn't rifle through it and retrieve things they "might use later".  haha

We now have 4 more English and Spanish classes left.  We taught this week and it was nice to get back into it.  It's great to see how much our students have grown to know and that they didn't just loose it all over the break.  You might be wondering why we only started this week instead of last week? Well apparently Dominicans tend to take an extra week off and slowly start coming back to school when they please.... lol.

We went to our first Dominican wedding this weekend.  The invitation said 5pm. We asked the groom (Franklin, our translator) specifically when us white people should actually show up.  We were told 5:45pm (because he wasn't planning on being there 'til 6pm).  We showed up "late" (6pm) walked down to the ceremony area and realized we were the ONLY people there so far. We waited and watched family members slowly leave after setting up the reception area to go start to get ready.  We waited some more and started a "what-time-will-the-wedding-start" pool. It started to get dark.... the street lights came on.... the tea lights set up hours before were now creating a great effect around the ceremony area. Finally at 7:30pm it started!! (For those of you who aren't quick at figuring out time differences that is two and a half hours AFTER the invite said and an hour and a half after the groom was supposed to show up).  It was a beautiful wedding overlooking the ocean.... too bad it was too dark to see it though. hehe.

Food was amazing and the love between the couple was felt. Some people were still showing up (for the ceremony) after 8:30pm.... very different! During the reception Franklin sang a song to Naty or God (I'm not sure which because I didn't understand the lyrics but Naty seemed to enjoy it). Chris was videotaping the wedding and after the song the wedding party (24 people) all ran up to the front where Franklin and Naty were and did a very energetic song with choreographed dance moves.... it was cool and scary at first.

I forgot to mention a little while ago of my spider viewing!  I was going to downstairs in our house to grab something but I needed to turn on the lights. As I reached for the light switch I saw in the corner of my eye a HUGE spider. I started screaming and ran/tripped up the stairs.  I continued to have a panic attack while Chris went down stairs. All I could hear was the smacking of the wall.  Chris was persistent and patient and eventually killed it! (This is Chris writing now: I know sometimes people exaggerate when they tell stories about spiders but for real this thing was the size of my outstretched hand. Also, the sucker was fast and decided it would be best to hide behind our book shelf so I had to move the whole book shelf in order to kill it.... it was a process)  I didn't sleep great that night.  A few days later Chris I drove the grocery store and as we got out of the car I noticed on the parking median one of the same HUGE spiders.  I again started freaking out and I actually made Chris move the car because I was scared that while we were in the grocery store it would get inside the car... lol!  I am thankful those have been my only two sightings.  But those spiders are HUGE!!!!!

I have been in contact with my work and my official return to work date is Feb 21st!  I am looking forward to going back since I do love my job and love what I do!  I am also excited for Chris to get into the swing of being a stay at home dad without me there during the day. A part of me is worried Abriel will love him more...... and I am a tad bit jealous!  We have been so spoiled here being able to spend everyday and all day together. 

2012 "limitless"

 I googled the top 10 New Years resolutions people make:

1. Spend more time with friends and family

2. Spend more time on fitness

3. Battle the bulge (loose weight)

4. Quit smoking

5. Enjoy life more

6. Quit drinking

7. Get out of debt

8. Learn something new

9. Help others

10. Get organized

Sounds good to me but we all know that by Feb 1st we settle back into our ways and routines. At least we conquered in January!  I know I am being kind of mean but in soooo many cases it's true. 

A new year gets me so excited because the possibilities are "limitless" on what you can be, do, or accomplish. It also makes me think of all the time I wasted in the previous year, and all the things I didn't do..... Then I try to justify by saying " I CAN DO IT THIS YEAR"!!!

I did some more googling and I found the top 10 ways to keep your New Years resolutions:

1.   Be realist

2. Plan ahead
3. Outline your plan
4. Make a pro and con list
5. Talk about it
6. Reward yourself
7. Track your process
8. Don’t beat yourself up
9. Stick to it
10. Keep trying

Just to keep everyone in the loop here are some of our goals for 2012;

1.   Get involved in our community more

2.   Save money for an emergency fund

3.   Make another baby

4.   Spend a whole lot of time with friends and family

5.   Be more giving

6.   Teach Abriel a ton of new things

Let’s not limit what this year can be and just go for it! If you complained about not being satisfied last year then change something.  Don't hold yourself back because of fear.  What do you have to lose (except another crappy year).  Chances are if you make changes and did the things you love and got rid of the things you don't the year probably won't be crappy.  DO IT DO IT DO IT!!! I am chanting for you!

Shout outs to the lady we met on the beach today from Manitoba Canada who looked at us and said "I have read about you on your website (blog). Made us feel famous. haha

Abriel has started walking at 10 month old.

Felize Navidad

Our Dominican Christmas was great! Chris and I continued our annual tradition of opening one stocking stuffer on Christmas Eve. I got pj's and Chris got boxers. The following morning we exchanged the rest of our gifts. Mine consisted of mostly scrapbooking stuff and I also got a Dominican coffee maker. Chris got mostly junk food and a pair of flip flops.  Abriel enjoyed opening her gift because of the tissue wrapping paper. She got a turtle full of blocks. She seemed to really like her gift as she would take a block out and put it back, take another block out and put it back.  Very cute.  We also Skyped with my family and opened some small gifts they sent back with us.  Then we Skyped with The Edwards' family.  It was nice to see our families faces but really made us miss everyone.  We know how difficult it has been on our family members and we appreciate their sacrifice of missing the first Christmas with Abriel.

Abriel reading the tag. Did we mention she reads?!?

"Alright! BLOCKS!

Abriel testing out the new wheels. 

Also fun Abriel news.....as of Dec 31st...... SHE WALKS!! My prediction of her walking by the end of December has come true which makes Chris's prediction of walking by February WRONG! haha (This is Chris writing now: I said January.... not the end of January)

We picked the team from Ontario up on December 22nd.  They were an awesome team filled with 1 nursing student, 2 radiologists and one neuroscientist who is in the process of getting her PhD.  Yeah, they were some smart ladies. 

They did some great ministry while they were here. First they bought groceries for five families (one of them had seven children!). They bought diapers and visited with the children in Mustard Seed. Mustard Seed is an orphange for severely handicapped children whose parents can not or no longer want to care for them. That was a special time to just love on kids who have been abandoned and bring them some love during Christmas time. They put on four kids programs (a total of almost 300 kids) and they fed 200 of those kids.  They taught 100 adults about nutrition and the importance of clean water and had the opportunity to hand out a water filtration system to each person courtesy of Mike Williams who started the ministry To Whom Much Is Given. My favourite part was taking out the shoe shine boys we have created relationships with over the past five months (including Miguel of past blogs).  We drove down the road looking for them and got them to hop in the back of the truck and took them for ice cream!! We had a great time with the team (especially beating them in Settlers of Catan).  It was awesome being a part of giving and serving during the Christmas season and we were able to be a part of so much giving and serving because of the team that was down here. Thanks again!

Sandra and 125 kids ready for the kids program.	The team at Mustard Seed
The team and one of the families they were able to feed.	The shoe shine boys (and the team). Miguel is right in the middle.

MORE MORE MORE

Ahh, the Christmas season..... where life just seems to get a little bit more expensive and a little bit more chaotic.  Every year I always ask "why"? Why do we need to spend so much money and why do we need to stress so much.  Don't get me wrong I love a lot of the traditions. I love my families and the time I get to spend with them and I do enjoy receiving gifts. I am not going to lie though we were looking forward to the idea of one low key Christmas where we didn't need to buy a bunch of presents or decorate. Now, here comes the humor :)  This will probably be the busiest Christmas we have ever had (haha).  It started off with me wanting to buy a Christmas gift for our sponsor girl Maria.  I am in the store looking at the toys and clothes I know she would love. I picked one toy for her and we bought her the game of Uno (which we play with her all the time). I know she is going to love them but I have this feeling I need to buy more. Why do we get that feeling? Since then I have bought her a pair of earrings (she pointed them out to me for someone else). I am hoping I can show restraint and not buy anymore.  Now this might make Chris and I sound like bad parents but we decided not to buy Abriel any Christmas presents ( I am sure some jaws just dropped). She has toys (a lot of toys) and she doesn't need anything else so why spend money just for the sake of it. We, (okay I), have since bought her one toy that was $9 because, really, I want to have a picture of her opening something on her first Christmas.  Chris and I also said we were not going to buy each other gifts because we are truly blessed people who don't need anything.  I say with a guilty voice we have since bought each other a couple items adding up to $20 each.  We thought we were going to escape that needing to give a gift mentality but we weren't strong enough.

Our church back home wanted to be a part of the school Christmas party here. They decided to make Christmas bags with toys, hygiene products and school supplies for all the children in the school. Then a local Catholic school decided they wanted to be a part of the giving as well. So they filled 100 bags!!!!!  Our good friend, Robyn Asplen, was the lucky girl that got to fly down and drop off the bags.  What a blessing it was to have her here.  Then the real fun began when we got to hand out all the bags with the help of Santa himself.  The kids were so excited and it felt rewarding to see others give (across the world) and the children receive. I hope we can be a part of this type of project in the future.

Now the real craziness of Christmas starts today as a team of 5 arrives from LIFT church.  It will be cool to be blessing others this Christmas in the Dominican.  We will keep you posted on what the team is up to.

On a family note, Abriel didn't like Santa so much.... she cried.... lol.  Also, Abriel has started to walk.  Just a couple steps here and there but we haven't been able to catch it on video.  Unfortunately, we left our camera charger in Canada so we don't have our own camera but we will be borrowing Phil and Donna's as much as possible.  Hopefully, we can capture those steps soon. We are looking forward to Christmas and having a morning together with our daughter just to hang out.


There are so many pictures and they are taking way too long to upload so follow this link to see the pics on Facebook (even if you don't have Facebook)!


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150650212177977.482104.515787976&type=1&l=32a877c891

One Less Tooth for Maria

We have been back in the Domincan for just over a week now and our trip home seems like a very distant memory. It’s weird how you count down to things and wait for certain moments in your life to happen, then they happen, and they are done. (I know, mind blowing idea, haha).  How do I get more out of my life and more out of the things I do so they matter more? So when they pass they have had an impact on someone or something so it’s more lasting than a day?  Now maybe that’s a little more mind blowing.

This past Saturday we took Maria to a free dental clinic.  It’s a place called “Monkey Jungle”. When our siblings were here we went zip lining and fed the monkeys at the same place. We have recently found out they run the zip lining to make profits in order to offer their free medical and dentistry clinics to those in the Dominican Republic that could never afford a doctor or dentist visit otherwise; a very cool and smart idea. On their website there is a clip from a show on CBS called “Around the World For Free”. Monkey Jungle was the feature of that particular episode and the owner of the business offered to fly the girl to her next destination for free on his private jet.  So, I am assuming Monkey Jungle does very well in the money department. When I called them to find out when they run the free clinic (since Maria desperately needed to see a dentist) I could not get through any of the numbers provided but I did some extra digging and found the number for their American office in Dallas, Texas. A man picked up who sounded very similar to the voice I heard on the T.V show clip I had just watched.  I asked him if he knew the clinic days and hours and he said, “Is it for you to access?” I told him, “No, we are bringing our sponsor girl to the dentist.” He then replied with, “OH! I thought you sounded like the wrong colour. We only serve the poor.”  I was really taken back by that statement and was unsure how to respond to it.  I shared what he had said with Chris, Phil and Donna who also thought it was a strange thing to say. Regardless, we took Maria up to the clinic at 9am where there was already a line to see the doctor and the dentist.  They had some great equipment and they are really filling a need of the people and providing a great service.  We watched a couple people go in and could watch the work being done in the dentist chair.  No one seemed in pain and it seemed very quick and professional.  We were very impressed. There were a lot of individual people ahead of us as well as a large family of 10 or so but we were not sure if they were waiting for the dentist or the doctor.  I over heard one of the staff ask another staff member to tell all of us to have a seat because we would probably be here for most of the day.  As we waited I saw the man I had seen on T.V and, I’m  assuming, the man I talked to on the phone.  He came over and greeted us and said, “You must have been the lady I talked to on the phone.”  I said, “yes”.  He told us he had just flown back to the Domincan yesterday.  He asked if we had been waiting long and if we knew how much longer.  I said I didn’t know.  He then went and talked with some staff and organized some things, and helped out with some cleaning up.  Then a staff member came over and said that we were next. I didn’t think much of it. As she said Maria went in next. While she was in the chair I thought about it more. It really seemed weird that we were next.  As I looked around I noticed the others who were waiting get more annoyed.  Then we heard a visibly upset women say something in Spanish to the effect of, “porque ellos Blanco” (because they are white).  We don’t know for sure but from what we can gather it seems like the man bumped us up the line.  It was such an awkward moment when we realized what had happened and Maria was already done.  We got one of her teeth removed and we were told to come back next week for her to have one more removed.

What a mixture of emotions we had.  To be honest, it was nice to have been able to get in quick so that we could get on with our day and not have to wait any longer but it felt very wrong to get special treatment because of  (possibly) our skin colour.  Chris described it as a kind of “reverse racism”. Either way we feel faced with an ethical dilemma.  We left and the man said his goodbyes and we talked about it all the way home.

We will be going back on Saturday and we will see what happens then. Maybe it was all in our heads. Maybe we just misunderstood how things are run or who was actually there for the dentist that day. Or maybe we were right. Let’s hope not. They are doing great work. 

Our Home Away From Home Away From Home

Last week was C-R-A-Z-Y! We left the relatively warm Dominican Republic and headed back home to Canada for my sisters wedding. Here's the rundown:

Tuesday afternoon we boarded a plane and headed back. Abriel has, in the past, been great to fly with because she sleeps for 85% of the flight. This flight was a little different. We left at 5:30pm which means we was still awake (and by "awake" I mean "wired"). She is almost always a happy kid and she is almost always bursting with energy. The plane ride was no different. She squirmed and yelled (in a friendly manner) to other passengers, played with every toy she had in her diaper bag, chewed on the seat in front of us, watched what was going on out the window, ate snacks, played "take daddy's glasses off" a hundred times, watched part of a Baby Einstein video and became fascinated with the little fan thing above the seat. Then the seat belt sign came on and we were ready to take off. This was going to be a long flight.

We made it through the flight with very few problems by alternately taking turns holding Abriel and resting. My dad and sister graciously picked us up from the airport and drove us home so we could sleep in our unnervingly quiet house. There was night and there was morning light. The first day. And so began the chaos.

Wednesday morning we got up and got ready to take Abriel to her doctors appointment for 10am. We didn't have time the night before to grab any groceries so after a quick bite to eat at Tim Horton's (a side note: Dominican coffee has ruined Keeleah's Tim Horton's experience) it was off to see the doctor. Upon arriving at the doctors office we found out that our appointment was for Thursday morning at 10am. Thinking back to early fall before we had left we remembered that we had said it would be better to get the appointment for Thursday so we could sleep in on Wednesday after our flight and first night home. Oops! We went to the seamstress who was making Keeleahs dress for the wedding and did a fitting and then went to Keeleah's parents house and had lunch. Wednesday night our good friends Wayne and Mellisa came over and brought us dinner. It was so good to see them and the food was delicious!

Thursday morning looked surprisingly similar to Wednesday morning (go figure) except that I dropped Keeleah off at her parents before going to the doctors so she could make some last minute preparations for Thursday night and finish a few errands we had to do while we were back. The doctor let us know that Abriel seemed great. She was still off the charts for height and had an average sized head and her weight was about right for her age and height. That's always good to hear.  We also got a few hours of snow when we were home. Even though Abriel didn't actually use the snow suit she tried it on for when we return back to Canada in February. Still a little too big.

Thursday evening was Carrie's bachelorette party. The evening started off with mani-pedi's (a term I have become familiar with since being in a serious relationship) for Carrie, Corinne (my other sister), my mom and Keeleah. After that there was a scavenger hunt for Carrie to pick up a few "items needed for a successful wedding night". Then the girls met up with a bunch of Carrie's friends and family at Kelsey's for dinner and dessert.

Friday morning was picking up the (now finished) dress and decorating the reception hall. It was fun getting everything set for the wedding. We got to joke around with our family and meet some of Dan's family. The hall looked awesome by the afternoon! Then it was off to the church for the rehearsal. Everything went smoothly at the rehearsal and soon we were sitting down to the largest rehearsal dinner I've ever been a part of. The Dragos's and Edwards' make for one big group of people.

Saturday morning was the start of the main event! Keeleah went over to my parents house around 7:30am to start her hair and makeup. Tim (my brother) and Ashley went over at around 8am so Tim oculd get his hair and makeup done as well (just kidding, Tim didn't need his hair done!). Actually they made us breakfast and it was fantastic. The whole family sat down together and ate at the table. I love those times.

After hair and makeup and gel and hairspray and shaving and eating and laughing and getting the dress on and packing the cars and everything else that happens on a wedding day morning we went and took some pictures.... OUTSIDE! It was cold but I think the pictures are going to turn out really cool. Then it was off to the church for the ceremony and onto the reception.


The reception speeches were very nice and I almost cried at Carrie and Dan's. They are nice people and I'm glad they are married. The dance consisted of half of the original Edwards family dancing like crazy with the "add ons" leading the way (Keeleah and Nathan). If there was a contest for who could make up the most unique dances I think Keeleah would take the cake. And if ever there is a "Cotton Eyed Joe" contest my money is on Nathan for winning. That boy knows how to Cotton Eyed Joe it up!

After the evening festivities were done and the hall was cleaned up we had A LOT of food left over. My parents asked us to take some and we brought it to the Salvation Army downtown. The men of the drop in centre were so thankful and we even over heard one the guys say "I haven't had cheesecake in a long time.... and it's my favorite!". It's nice to be able to give something away of quality instead of just a can of pickled asperagus heads that have been in the back of your pantry for three years and you're never going to eat them anyway because they are disgusting. I would encourage you to donate things or food  that you actually enjoy wearing or eating because chances are the people receiving the clothes or food you're giving away actually have to wear it or eat it. Anyways, that's just a suggestion.

Sunday morning we were back at Community Church. I have mentioned it before and I'll mention it again: I love Community Church. They gave us some time to talk about what we were up to in the D.R and several people talked to us afterwards and gave us words of encouragement. It's great knowing that we have people behind us cheering us on with what we are trying to do down here. Thanks Community!

We went to my parents for a quick lunch (left overs from the wedding) so they could say their goodbyes before we left again and then we headed to the annual friends Christmas party. We have a great group of friends and it's easy hanging around them and talking to them and just being with them. We thought there was a secret Santa exchange happening but apparently there wasn't so in typical Chris and Keeleah fashion we had a game tournament in order to find out who would take home our secret Santa gifts. God times.

Monday we got to hang out with the Matta's and play a few games with them. They bought us Swiss Chalet (my favorite). They even offered to watch Abriel while Keeleah and I went out and got a few more things we needed before we came back to the Dominican. That was good. I'm glad Abriel will grow up with the love of not only her parents but also all her aunts and uncles and all her grandparents.
  

The Broken Window Theory

I, Chris, have been reading "The Tipping Point" by Malcom Gladwell for the last month. It's a book about epidemics; how to start them; key aspects to epidemics; and so on and so forth. I remember my dad reading it a long time ago and I found it at a garage sale this summer for 10¢. It has been a good read and I would recommend the book. The end is a little slower but the first 3/4 of the book is awesome. Get the paperback copy with the "Afterward" in it. 

In the book it talks about "The Broken Window Theory". In a nut shell the theory is: if there is a broken window that goes unrepaired for a time (or if there is garbage laying around or graffiti on walls or an area is generally unkept) it encourages more crime because people assume no one cares about the place and therefore it's less likely they'll get caught or confronted if they commit a crime there. For instance, a broken window might encourage someone to break another window; which leads to someone breaking into the place; which leads to graffiti; which leads to more damage; which leads to squatters; which leads to drugs; etc, etc. Basically, a broken window unfixed can, eventually, be the cause of a whole neighbourhood becoming a "bad area to live in".   

We have been trying to conquer some of the issues in the school and it has been very frustrating but we are learning that it's about us trying to model good behaviors and teaching this crazy idea called "RESPECT".  Respect for the school. Respect for the teachers. Respect for the other kids. Respect. It is a great school but like all great things there can also be improvements. Servants Heart Ministries and the director of the school are committed to make those improvements happen through the "little" things like picking up the garbage around the lot and not drawing on desks, walls, tables, chairs, etc. We are trying to stop the broken window theory from playing out at the outset.  Little by little we are trying to make a difference. 

NEW NEWS!!! The couple that have been down here since late September and have been teaching an English class (mixed with teenagers and adults) are leaving for Canada as of tomorrow and the students still want to continue learning english.  So, starting tomorrow I, now Keeleah, will be taking over the English class which meets Tuesday and Thursday's from 2:30-4pm.  My teaching career has advanced... lol!  I have no idea, really, what I am doing except that I do know how to speak English.  I am sure it will be fun and interesting. 

I have also taken on a counseling role for three additional students (plus our sponsor girl). I will be meeting with them each on a weekly basis to discus how life is going and to give them a chance to talk about what is troubling them or what they are trying to change in their lives. Although I work solely with adults in Canada for my job the experience there has helped me be a better listener here. That's all these kids need. Someone to listen and give some extra encouragement. I am hoping to make a big difference in the lives of the kids.  

ps. We are back in Canada on TUESDAY !!! (for a week) crazy :)

SLEEP!!!!!!!!

I have titled this blog "sleep" because I just woke up.... and I want more of it. haha.  Abriel is really not a fan of proper sleep as of late.... well, proper sleep at-least.  Since we have been here it has been a battle to have a full night of sleep.  I guess since we had a baby that pretty much slept through the night at 2 months we were not expecting this lack of sleep.  Since we have been here Abriel wakes up every 3 hours on average every night.  A couple nights a week she wakes up every 2 hours.  Always to eat and go back to sleep.  We tried three nights of only feeding her every four hours and simply rocking her back to sleep in between feedings but it didn't stick as well as we would have liked it to. I am okay with this, as I know feeding is good for her, but I am more worried that she isn't getting proper sleep. Oh, and a full night of sleep wouldn't hurt us either. haha.

Anyways, life here is really starting to feel normal. It doesn't feel like our permanent home but it is starting to feel like one of our homes.  We have had a lot of people asking us if we will be coming back down here to live permanently and as of right now we don't feel that a permanent stay is in the near future but we do feel like our time here is preparing us for something.  We have always been looking for some "reasons" or the "purpose" of why we are down here now.  We have had some great and big moments that have shown us "this is why you are here".  Even though it's been challenging to be away from our friends and family it's good to know we are being used.

For us right now the biggest thing on our brain is our sponsor girl, Maria. Due to her home life we have decided to try and hang out with her as much as possible.  The situation is delicate and we are trying to avoid ostracizing her from her family. The details are upsetting and frustrating. Maria and I will be meeting at-least once a week with the help of our translator, Jessica, just to give her an opportunity to talk about things and share.  After our meeting last week she said she felt better talking about her problems. I have decided not to share those details as it is not my life to share.  Maybe after asking permission, one day, it will be shared.  I know some of the things are just normal Dominican life situations for a certain class of people but it doesn't make it right to me. On Saturday we brought her over to our house to swim in the pool.  We had to buy her a bathing suit first since she didn't own one.  We then found out that it was her first time in a pool.  She is 11 and very sweet.  We then found out she had only been to the beach once in her life...... crazy!  We then brought her to the grocery store and cooked dinner (side note: be prepared to move outside your comfort zone when you allow others to pick the food you are going to eat. We said we wanted chicken and she could pick any vegetable she wanted. She wanted eggplant.).  We then taught her the game Uno with our very limited and broken Spanish.  It was a special day!!

Earlier in the week, after I met with Maria and gathered some information, I came back and shared the info with Chris and Donna.  Donna said, "do you want to adopt her?"  Our first instinct is to just pull her out of the situation but it's complicated and that's not necessarily the best thing to do. That's why we have decided to just hang out with her as often as possible and pour as much love into her life as we can.  After hearing the word "adoption" Chris and I have been talking about it a lot.  Now, don't start the rumor mills that we are adopting. At this point we are not adopting but we have talked about it in the past and we are open to it in the future.  It's so crazy to me and it would change our lives!

Silly us! Forgot to talk pictures of our hang out time last week but here is a picture from a few weeks ago!

Frank Arthur Bishop

Frank Arthur Bishop
July 9, 1927 - November 4, 2011

My Grandpa's funeral is today. It's weird being here, in the Dominican, getting ready to teach 6 kids the Spanish alphabet when my family is preparing for a service to say goodbye to a father, grandfather and husband. He had many months of sickness and we knew that a day like this would come but it's still sad when it does. Before we left for the Dominican we went to visit him and we got to say goodbye to him properly and pray with him one last time and laugh and joke around with him. He was always joking around. We knew that it would probably be the last time we saw him on this earth and on Friday that was confirmed.


My grandpa and grandma Bishop were a HUGE part of the reason I believe what I believe today. They were the ones who started going to church although they weren't raised in the church. They then took my parents (who grew up in the church) who then took us (who have grown up in the church) and now we are taking our daughter. What an impact on a family tree because of their decision to pursue God. I am truly blessed beyond measure because of their choices in life and the way they chose to live.

A few things I will always remember about my grandpa:

A song my grandpa frequently sang to each and every one of his grandchildren goes like this:
(sung in complete love)

          "Chris Edwards" (insert any grandchild's name) is no good,
          is no good,
          is no good.
          "Chris Edwards" is no good.
          Chop him up for fire wood.

Although a little morbid it was a fantastically fun song and we loved it.

Another thing that will always be remembered was his love of the garden. He took amazing pride in his roses and other flowers. When we would go and visit him he would point out the different flowers and tell us which ones were doing well that year and which ones the backyard critters were eating or ruining. He knew every type of bird on the planet and would teach us how the different birds constructed their nests and how the different birds would interact with the others. He even built a bird house that was plexiglass on one side so he could see how the birds lived. He would laugh and laugh at the birds and their different personalities. When my grandma and him had to move out of their house into the retirement home (and hospital respectively) he told the family to go into the house and take whatever they think they could use. I found a pair of binoculars in his closet and took them with a few other items. The binoculars will always be a reminder of him and his bird watching. He took time to remind us that God watched even the sparrows (one of his favorites), a gentle reminder that God was always watching us and loved us tremendously.

My grandpa had the work ethic of an ox on steroids. Recently, he needed to change the windows in his whole house. He looked around and got some prices and then hired someone to change the giant bay window in the front of his house solely because he couldn't lift it into place himself. He then measured, bought and fully installed the new windows in the rest of his house himself. That way he knew it would be done right and for a fraction of the cost. He fixed his own lawnmower, built shelves, re-shingled his own roof (when he was over 65) and any other thing he needed fixed around the house. The man knew how to work. He knew how to keep what little he had in good working condition and he knew how to save. He knew the value of money. He was the direct opposite of lazy.

Coupled very tightly with his desire and will to do things himself was his strength. I kid you not, and although not proven, before my grandpa took really sick (last year) my grandpa could fairly easily destroy ANYONE in the family in a fight. His nickname growing up was "One Punch". Supposedly, the story goes, when he was younger he got in only one fight and with one punch he knocked the other kid clear off his feet, across the dirt road and unconscious. I'm not sure how much of it is true or how much of it is exaggerated but what a great story! To tell you the truth it's a believable story too! It was fun to try and "hurt" grandpa by squeezing his hand too hard when you greeted him (after a huge hug of course). He would look at you with a small grin on his face and say something to the effect of "are you ready?" (which of course you always thought you were until...) he would then squeeze your hand not in a way that hurt but somehow he would move your knuckles in a way that sent shock waves through your whole arm. No matter how old he got he always won that game. When we were younger he used to swing us on his leg (while singing the firewood song) or when there were more of us we used to cling to both of his legs as he walked around the house. He told stories of taking ALL the neighbourhood kids on "helicopter rides" where he would pick them up and swing them around his head until they were too dizzy to stand up. The kids would line up again and again and squeal with joy when it was their turn. Even with all that strength the thing that will stick with me is the fact that he NEVER used it to hurt anyone or to demand power over anyone, ever, period. He used his strength to do productive things and things that brought joy to others. With his great strength came extremely patience and kindness.            

He loved his family without limitations. He told us all the time that he was praying for us everyday and although lots of people say that I really believed him. My grandma and him were always ready with some short bread cookies (the best in the world) and bread with molasses and butter (depending on which way you ate is "grandma's way" or "grandpa's way" the butter would go on before or after the molasses). He never said he didn't have time for us. He was never upset even if we showed up completely unannounced. He really was the head of his household not in a dominating way but in a loving, example setting way. He was a man who was not ashamed of his faith and made it clear to all those around him whom he served and followed. He made it easy to be around him and to feel loved. He shared new insights into the faith we shared whenever he had them. He brought wisdom to ordinary everyday things such as gardening and devotions.

His funeral starts in one hour from now and although I can't physically be there I am there in thought. I haven't cried in a long, long time but writing this has brought me to tears.

There are very few people that can be called truly great people but my life seems to full of them. Frank Bishop, my awesome grandfather, was easily one of them.

I will miss him dearly.

Sister love

It's been three (3) days since my sister Shené and our friend Teleisha left for Canada. It was a fun visit packed full of new adventures. We have already talked about our zip lining fun and I honestly thought that would be the most adventurous thing I would do while down here.... but I was wrong.  On Sunday we went waterfall jumping!! For $15 we got to jump, slide and swim down 27 waterfalls and it included lunch!!! It was scary but amazing! Chris didn't come because he stayed behind and watched Abriel (such a good man).  It was sooo good I plan on taking Chris there before we leave.

Shené and Teleisha have both been to the DR on a missions trip 3 years ago. That was mostly a working trip so this time was a little different. We did some fun things and did some work. I think they appreciated the mix. They came to our tutoring sessions and met the students, they helped with some painting of the new school and we showed them around some villages they have never been to before. I sometimes feel weird just showing people some of the places because we are showing them peoples real lives.... not a museum or something.  Sometimes people can get a sense that if they have seen it or held some kids hand then they have made a difference and although it's a good start and it is important to see that the poverty is real you can't stop at just seeing.

We are so grateful for the time to spend with family and friends from back home! It means a lot to have people come down and hang out with us and see what we do first hand. You guys rock.

Something we have been facing since we started tutoring is a feeling of helplessness in some of our students lives.  A few of them have shared some things that are going on in their home lives, things like: no food to eat, being abused (physically and mentally) and having to work six or eight hours everyday after school and on weekends when they are in grades one to three.  It's a different life.... a different world.... a different culture and the rules of home don't apply here. I just want to pull them out of the situation and "save" them but it's not that easy.  We have also found out our sponsor girl, Maria, is having a hard time at school as a result of her home life.  She as made some accusations..... (ones that have made me cry and sicken me). We are going to be meeting with her and the school director to try to sort some stuff out and get to the bottom of things. We will update when we know more but if you are a praying person these kids need our prayers... and these parents need a wake up call.

Scott

I can’t believe how fast 12 days have gone by. Scott left this afternoon and it feels like we he just got here. It’s funny how we wait and wait for moments in life and then they are done and over with. My sister and Teliesha have been here for four days already. It’s been so nice having family around.  Even though we are around people all the time it can get lonely when you don’t get to see the familiar faces of your friends and family. It means a lot to us to have them come and share time with us.

I bet you’re all wondering what we have been up to with our visitors?? Hmmm??  The first two days of Scott’s visit were some relaxing and checking out the beach.  We showed Scott around a little and brought him to our favourite beach spot. He and Chris did a little snorkeling and they got some great pictures with our waterproof camera..... Unfortunately, water somehow got into the camera and ruined the memory card. So we lost all the pictures from that day as well as some videos of Abriel. I was sad for a couple days.... so much for waterproof!

At the school in Cangrejo we painted the fence around the shed and got Scott to help us teach some of our Spanish class. He is an excellent painter and was very good at "las vocales"! He was in charge of testing the kids to see if they had learned all the vowels properly. He took his position very seriously and even learned all the Spanish sayings he needed: "Como estas?" (How are you?); "Como te llamas?" (What is your name?); and "Como se dice?" (What is it?).

Scott painting the fence.

Chris painting the fence.

On Friday we went out as a group to Cevere, the spot where the new school will be. We painted and Francois built some walls. It looks so much better. A lot of the community was out to watch and some adults and kids even pitched in and helped. It was nice to see them excited and interested in the new school.  We will be going out again tomorrow (Friday) to complete most of it.

 Saturday was a blast! We hung out with Scott’s sponsor kid, Andrew, and Francois and Olivia’s sponsor kid, Sophia. We were suppose to bring our sponsor girl, Maria, but she had to spend a couple days in the hospital (we will be planning something special for her on another day).  We went go carting. All day go carting, bumper cars and a park for $10 a person! A highlight was when we took them to Burger King for lunch and Andrew drank a very large grape pop. I told him he would be peeing purple. A little while after he returned from the bathroom and announced “my pee was yellow!”.  Haha, so cute.

Scott's stomach and shoulder were not feeling great on Sunday afternoon.... and by Sunday night he was in enough pain to take him to the hospital. He ended up having to spend two nights there and get lots of tests (some of which were obviously necessary and others that seemed way out in left field; but I'm not a doctor). They think it could have been a mild pancreatic inflammation (of the shoulder?!?).  Whatever it was he recovered and got to experience a different side of the Dominican than most tourists get to see.

Tuesday afternoon we took Scott, Teleisha and Shene to the beach and did some more snorkeling.  For dinner we went to one of our favourite restaurants overlooking the ocean. Lots of fun.

Yesterday was amazing. We went zip lining and hung out with some monkey’s. I was so nervous and scared about zip lining but after making the first leap I wasn’t scared. It was awesome to be flying in the sky. We also had to do a free fall jump..... it took us girls about 15 minutes each to  get the courage to do it... but we did it and then we did it again!! SO MUCH FUN!!  The monkeys were kind of a disappointment because they had just ate and were not interested in coming to get the food from us. A few of the monkeys came and got a few pieces of food and climbed on us a bit. They were super cute. 

Last night we stayed home and played some games and got ready for Scott’s last day here. I asked Scott if he wanted to add anything to our blog about his experience here and he said,

“sponsor a kid; it goes to a good cause... I am serious.” 

Scott with his sponsor kid, Andrew, and his mom.

He also hopes everyone is as lucky as he was to meet his sponsor child.

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For more information or to sponsor a child that we work with, click the link below:
Servants Heart Ministries 

And thanks again for following us on this journey and supporting us with prayer or finances or just good wishes. We love you all!

Chris, Keeleah and Abriel

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