Tuesday, June 11 Jadyn and Riley


Jadyn & Riley

 Hi! Today we started with a "lovely" wake up call at 7a.m. and then straight to the chapel. Everyone began with quiet time, then worship, and finally a powerful message by the men's sports leader. He gave a very straight-forward message on why Christians doubt their faith and he didn't hold back to speaking the truth.

We then headed down to breakfast then to an orientation where we learned more about the culture and then we met our site leaders. From there, each kid went to their sites. For us, we went to Mata Gorda preschool with out leaders Twyla and Rosana. There, we discussed the culture, schedule, and picked mangos. After three hours we came back for free time.

Riley- Once we got back Claire, Bri, Mrs. Olah, and I went on a hike. Wow! It was really hot, but at least we saw a horse, a dog, and took photos. We then came back all tired and sweaty, and then we all sat down and ate ice cream together until dinner time.

 Jadyn- As soon as we got back, the ones of us who didn't go on the hike just sat outside and talked because it had cooled down a lot. After a while Amelia, Sarah, and I decided to enjoy some ice cream. Paige, Colin, and I decided to walk on the tight rope. We found ourselves constantly laughing because none of us could get more than three steps (I was the one who got three steps:) )

After free time we ate our dinner, which was a typical Dominican dinner of rice, beans, and chicken. It was SO good. Then we headed up to the chapel again where we were taught a few popular dance moves from the Dominican culture. We even had a competition between two couples which Colin and his partner won! Then we played a fun cup passing game. No one from our school won that game, but we still had a blast! Now we have a couple hours before lights out, and tomorrow is our first official day working in our sites!

















Comments

  1. ericjonolsonJune 12, 2019 at 7:16 AM

    Great update and pics. Pull that tight rope even tighter and you guys will master it. :) Looks like a blast.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, June 19 Katelyn

Image
Hello everyone! I am part of the physical therapy site which has been a very crazy and heart-warming experience. Coming into this trip, I was excited to work in physical therapy due to the fact that I love to volunteer, and I want to eventually be in the medical field. However, I was very nervous because this was my first year at Santa Fe Christian and I did not know anyone on the Dominican Republic team. But, once our team met at the airport and we began our journey, I felt that our team became very comfortable with one another and I created new friendships. At the physical therapy site, every weekday except Thursdays, the team spends the morning hours at the nursing home to help mobilize and give attention to the elderly. Even though the nursing home can be frustrating at times (sometimes the residents resist being mobilized), it is always amazing to hear all the people’s different backgrounds. On Thursdays when we do not attend the nursing home, our physical therapy team goes ...
Read more

Saturday, June 15 Landon

Image
Que lo que! Since I started at my site, Education at El Callejon, I have truly had such an amazing and once in a life time experience. The people here of all ages are so loving and hospitable no matter their circumstances or timing of our visit. The children are no exception to this. The niños are extremely affectionate and love to help us with our Spanish. I have found myself especially amazed with their energy and positivity, despite the intense heat, humidity, and mostly their attitudes while dealing with the high level of poverty that exists in El Callejon. As explained by my site leader, Joel, who experienced similar situations himself growing up, many of the children come from broken homes without two parents, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and parents beating their children regularly. This was especially real when one of the students, Juliana, came to class with multiple open wounds on her arm. I only noticed the fresh wounds on her arm when she attempted to put tape over it an...
Read more

Monday, June 17 Tierra

Image
Going into a mission trip, my initial thought was that I would be going to only help people. However, I didn't realize how much of an impact coming here would have on me. I got assigned to the education site "Mata Gorda," which is a Christian preschool. Even though we've only been here for about a week, the relationships I have already built with these children are unexplainable. I can truly see the heart in this culture and how strong their relationships are in this community and it's nothing like what we have in California. Seeing these kids every day has truly touched my heart and has opened my eyes to the fact that even though they may not have the same kind of material things that I have been blessed with, they have this sense of happiness that I have never been able to witness. Even though not all of them have a good background or strong household, I see this sense of peace and joy that they have in their lives. It has helped me learn to trust God because...
Read more