Al fin del mundo- the end of the world....

I might be at the end of the world- I mean- I'm out here in Las Galeras, Samana....the farthest northwest point in the DR.   It's sorta untouched as far as the tourist industry is concerned.  I mean- there ARE tourists here but definitely not like in the rest of the country.   There's a lot of beach, a lot of palm trees, a lot of mosquitos, and a lot of downtime.    More on that in a minute.

Here was lunch.  Yum.  I don't know which one we ate but it rocked.

I spent a couple days in El Cercado last week which of course is always a little bit like heaven for me.  Other than the fab time with my family there, I was able to travel with Angel, the health promoter of the Child Nutrition Program, to do some home visits with the families.  It always humbles me to see where some of our kiddies live and how their parents provide for them.   Dirt floors, one bed for 10 people, no running water,  unreliable power.  It's unbelievable.  And yet they greet us with grins and show Angel the milk that they have left and vow to show up for their appointments and start dressing their little naked kids.   And he reminds them to put shoes on the kids, and clean the floors, and wash the baby bottles with clean water, and keep clothing on the children, and show him how they prepare the milk.  It's good.  It's a great program and I love to see how it works.   It gets me all fired up.  And I LOVE cruising in the campos, in the middle of the stunning mountains and vistas and beautiful gente.   I'm learning....poco a poco.

And now, back to the downtime.  It's OUR downtime, which is to say that I'm here in Las Galeras with Dan and Kari and this is our refuel time before the craziness ensues.   And it's beautiful beyond words.  We are all working a little here too, writing, prepping information for the new Solid Rock website (including the medical handbook YAY) and preparing ourselves for the programs and the upcoming teams.   I mentioned before that Kari and I had talked about being healthy.   Being healthy in every way.   It's hard to work on each other, on relationships, quiet time, devotions, prayer, exercise, etc. when we have teams and so we are trying to focus on those things NOW and then set priorities to REMAIN healthy.   I'm reading a lot of stuff right now- but I'm in the midst of One Thousand Gifts which is kicking my butt about gratitude and wonder.   We discussed WONDER yesterday in our morning devotions- how we want to search and wallow in WONDER and then Kari and I experienced it in the coolest of means.  It's so neat how God takes these words of His (and our prayers sometimes!) and then crushes us with them in a good way.    We decided to hike to a beach here that is supposedly kinda hard to reach.   I say kinda because Kari and I left preparing to hike maybe 2-3 miles and four hours later....we reached our destination.   I think we probably hiked more like 10-12 miles (ummm we missed our turnoff clearly) and we descended cliffs (I'm serious!) and plunged through tropical jungles and made friends with donkeys and dodged mudholes and huge centipedes and even ended up on the top of a mountain at one point overlooking the sea below and we were full of WONDER.   It was fantastic and when we finally burst out of the foliage and arrived at the aforementioned semi-deserted beach.... we found some new friends with a boat who kindly returned us to our town 10 minutes away.   But not until we walked and swam and collected some shells and had the Dominicans in stitches when they heard how we had arrived... "we would NEVER try to walk here!".    In her infinite wisdom Kari had packed 3 granola bars which were our lunch for the day and we fortunately had enough water to get us there.    It was an epic 7-8 hour adventure that I am so grateful to have had, even though my legs are ACHING today and I feel like I've run a marathon.

So we will sit here and stare at the water and watch movies and swim and write and play dominos and plan and pray the Lord's prayer together (seriously, when was the last time you have prayed the Lord's prayer with friends?  It's the COOLEST!) and talk about how sweet it is to have this time together.   I'm more enchanted with this island and the folks here than I ever have been.   I love to hear the spanish tumbling out of their mouths and mine...the music blasting, the waves crashing, the dogs barking, the tires squealing, the motos blowing out exhaust all over me.   I love laughing with Dan about our fantasy baseball teams (WHY can't I beat him!) and running with Kari in the mornings along the sea and sitting with Jesus looking out at this view and thinking He's got to be happy with this place.

And we've kinda acquired another dog.   Dan and Kari have Diego, the faithful beagle.  And now Diego has Genny From the Block, a street dog who is enamored with all of us (but mostly him).   Genny is a tough gal,  sassy, fierce, and clearly a horrible influence on our dear innocent Diego, but her floppy ears and scornful grin have won us all over and we keep discussing whether we think we could get her to San Juan or not.    She sleeps in the plastic chair outside of our room and waits for us every morning.    When we drove to another beach several miles away, she ran next to our truck the entire time, refusing to let the party continue without her.    Her loyalty inspires me as she sticks to my side when I walk to town, barking at any moto near me and attacking the tail of every horse that passes. She is fearless.    I might cry when we drive away without her.  Sigh.    She's the rebellious kid that you just love anyway.

Anyhoo- off I will go...I've got some more editing to do.   But I'll stick some pictures below of the adventures of Nik and Kari, in search of WONDER.   And we found it.  :)  And it's all around me (and you!).  Still.

So this pic (above) is us setting sail...we had already come a few miles and were thinking we were well on our way.   It was about 10,000 degrees and I was soaked through already.

Kari ready to scale yet ANOTHER big hill!  Holy cow- where is our horse?

Sweating profusely!  But guarding the water...just in case!

Instead of arriving at the sea, we arrived at the top of a mountain at a lookout.  Where some guy informed us of how to get to the beach (or sooooo we thoughtttttttt- thanks for nothing Felipe!).  

We ended up shimmying DOWN a cliff.  Kari is a fearless leader and I only grabbed a cactus one time on my way down.   I told the Dominicans that we came down "como chivos", like goats!

I love adventure!  (but i was a wee bit scared of the descent too!- how did Felipe not mention this in his sketchy directions?)

This is at the bottom looking up.  We came down that cliff (somehow!)...but we were nowhere NEAR the beach.  Hmmmmm......

Here I am, still in the jungle!

After about five more miles of questionable (at best!) trail- we burst out of the jungle and we were HERE.  Joy!  Wonder!  Palm trees! And even a guy with a boat!

Kari found some awesome shells.  

It was sooooooo beautiful!  And sooooo worth every minute of hiking!

The view as we pulled away.

7 hours of fun, hiking, laughing, seeking wonder!  YAYYYYYY!   We are taking Dan back with us next time....but we might not take the long way around.  :)

One year ago today....

One year ago today I was returning from a 10 day trip to the DR that culminated with me accepting a position with Solid Rock Missions here in San Juan de la Maguana.    And what a great trip it's been....this past year.    Have I changed?   Have I grown?   Have I loved life?  I think so.   I hope so.   I'm starting to see more and more the importance of being relational...and intentional....and trankilllllooooo trankilllloooo.    I want to dig in here pretty hard, make it home,  build community,  really get to know what makes this place and these people tick.    And I have to savor it- keep it simple- love on folks and ease up on my madcrazy typeA-ish controlling tendencies.  

It feels really good- seeing people that I know in the grocery store or in the market or Monday nights at baseball.   It feels great having friends stop by to chat or play dominos or have their hammered-to-bits-finger washed and dressed.   It feels good walking through the clinic saying hey to the crew and catching up on the news.  Sometimes it even feels good working in the scary room like today, when I take one box or one bag at a time and find a home for its contents.   It feels good to see Dan and Kari in the mornings over coffee and eggs, knowing that we are committed together to this place and each other and to our gente here.     It feels good to admit that I still need help, that I'm always going to be a mess in some way or another, that I fall down more than I soar,  that I really am nothing without Jesus anyway....and that He makes it so worth my while when I fall down before Him admitting it.     We don't take things like our safety here for granted, knowing that He has protected us so often on crazy roads...in possibly dangerous situations...and even with things like eating/drinking.    God has been GOOD.

One year ago I returned from the DR with a vision in my heart and a song in my head.   Today I can say that it's been BETTER than I dreamed, it's been BIGGER than I thought, it's been MORE REAL and MORE BROKEN that I would have imagined, it's been LOUDER than...well....it's just loud, okay?  :)   It's an adventure that I am grateful to be on.    I'm glad Jesus pushed me to CHOOSE THE BIGGER LIFE.   It's big enough for me.  Are you choosing the bigger life?   It's scary as all get out....but it's worth it.  

Off and running with Emma

I am blessed enough to have Emma visiting me for two weeks.    It's not the first time she's been to San Juan but we are exploring some new things together in this free time.    One of the most meaningful moments was returning to Bastida to visit a sweet little baby (yayyyy that I delivered in March!) and our friend Julian.   Baby Nicole is growing and beautiful and adorable and sleeeeeeepppppyyyy when I held her!   Her mother was beaming that I came to visit and I can't wait to go back.    We found Julian working outside of town far out in an onion field.   We took some friends and some of his family in the truck to find him and they all stood in the back of the truck and shouted his name until he looked up, noticed that some apparently crazy people were pulled over at the side of the road hollaring for him, and slowly made his way to us.   It is always good to see Julian.   I think about what it might mean to him, that we drive almost an hour to his town, fill up our truck with people who think they can find him in the fields, and then careen down the road until we locate him....and I hope he feels how much we love him.   During the trip I remarked to some of our friends in the truck that we should make a movie about our adventures in searching for Julian and others.   It seems that I am often looking here....for kids that I used to know, scanning the streets for them, wondering how they are,  giving fierce hugs when I do find them, a sense of relief that they are okay.

Emma and I went to a concert last weekend too.  Our friends Neftali and Jhonny are rock stars here in a band called Alientovivo (look them up on Facebook- they are awesome!) and so we are groupies and follow them around a little.  We sat in the back of the pickup under a full moon at the old casino in town (that is now a church) and ate crackers with our friend Fanelli and rocked out with the fellas.  Good times all around!

We play lots of games here (this should be hilarious to my family, esp my brother...who knows I am not a gamer).    We sometimes wake up and play dominos with Dan and Kari after breakfast.  I am now a huge fan of dominos.  Dominican dominos is not like we play in the States- it's a very serious business with lots of strategy.  So far I'm horrible but I have high hopes of eventually understanding the strategy and becoming a legit player.   I have been reassured that I am not there yet....by many many well-meaning folks.

We spent a day in El Cercado....hauling some milk to the clinic for the Infant Nutrition Program, visiting my awesome awesome family there, and then fishing with Pastor Morales.   We drove seemingly to the end of the world, Monte Mayor, and then waded across 3 rivers to get to our fishing spot, and then got DUMPED on with rain.  And it was a fabulous wonderful adventure.   We couldn't stop laughing.  I hitched a ride across the river at one point with a tractor full of workers who kindly rescued my floating flipflop and surely wondered what crazy americans were doing out in the middle of nowhere carrying fishing poles and sugar cane.  It was blissful.

We went to Barahona to spend one last day with our friend Jhonny before he leaves for the capital to continue his education.    Oh we will miss him!   Barahona is always a blast- even tho it did rain!   We played a lot of dominos, ate some fresh fried fish, laid in the rain, and fought the harsh surf and high waves.  I always laugh that there is no way this beach would be "safe" enough for the States.  There is a horrendous undertow, high crashing strong waves, trash everywhere, and not a lifeguard in sight.  In the States there would be red flags and warning signs everywhere.  And yet- I love it.  It's all part of the experience.

We spent a few hours visiting friends in Pueblo Nuevo.   I love visiting the fellas there, remembering my first times in San Juan and how deeply I felt pulled to this place even then, staying an extra week, sobbing when I left...all that good stuff.   And now they are part of my family here, part of my little community that I love so much.

And now Emma and I are outside the capital in Boca Chica.   We drove in yesterday to explore some new places today before we head to Higuey tomorrow to visit our friend Gary.   Of course we made it a whole 5 minutes outside of San Juan before the blue truck konked out.  It's a recurring theme in life here, that the blue truck fumbles frequently.  I stopped at the gas station to have them check the oil and then the truck wouldn't start.  Monchy to the rescue!   What would any of us do without Monchy, our fantastic friend, bus driver, second baseman, mechanic, and general "he knows everything" guy?  I think I have his number on speed dial.   I often call him and hand the phone to the first Dominican standing next to me to explain in great detail what I have done THIS time and then I take the phone back and he tells me what to do.  In this case, he showed up with Adia in about 5 minutes, laughed really hard at us standing next to the truck forlornly, took one look at the engine, wandered across the street to borrow a wrench, and had the engine running in about 2 minutes.   YAYYYYYY for Monchy!  

So here I am, chilling with some cafe, enjoying this free time now, trying to take it all in.  Knowing that we have a few weeks of downtime before the madness ensues again with 6-7 back to back groups.   And then another couple free weeks.  And then the insanity of winter.   I kinda love it.  That we go really hard for weeks on end, and then we have a couple weeks off.   Kari and I are trying to set some goals of how we can be "healthy" in the crazy times, trying to sneak to the track at least every other day to run or just bail on the guesthouse/clinic for 10 minutes a day, to catch a breath, to remember to continue to pour into each others lives.    It's a good thing to think about now....cuz there is no thinking when we have teams in town.  :)  And I've got 2 proposals to write this week...and some visits to the Solid Rock Schools to plan... and some time in Cercado at the clinic next week and the Scary Room is always awaiting me (horrors) ...and oh man, here we go.   Dan and Kari and I are going to spend some time exploring in another week or so too and I'm looking forward to learning more about this place, this gorgeous country that I will call home this year.   But for now, I'm going to sip my coffee and thank God that He got me here, sana y salva.   I'm thanking Him for Emma and how much she feels it too...that He is WORKING here with us..and our community here....and with Julian and  baby Nicole and Dan and Kari and Nef and Jhonny and Euclides and Santiago and Monchy and Adia and Margo and Fanelli and Ariel and all the others that are my people now.

un poco mas trankkkkilllo

So a group of 5 girls is a bit less hectic than a group of 50.  I had a great time watching some muchachas experience the DR for the first time.   And mi querida manita Emma is here with me chilling and living la vida dulce in San Juan.  This crew helped out in the clinic in El Cercado, watched some surgeries,  observed some consultations, and spent two days assisting with a Vacation Bible School up in the mountains.  The travel to the VBS was quite interesting, as we literally piled the gray truck FULL of folks and crept up the mountain through rock strewn goat paths,  washed out ruts, and through a river.  But yay- we made it every time!   Adventures in driving- I LOVE IT!

And now Emma and I will have some downtime to visit with some friends, do some sightseeing, and finish up some work around here.  I'm PSYCHED!   We were visiting with some pals today, and I spent most of the afternoon playing marbles with some young fellas.  Turns out its a super competitive game here and I do NOT have the mad skills.   But it was fun and there was shouting and pushing and laughing and encouragement.    Tonight we are getting tacos and jugo de limon from the taco joint and playing Monopoly with Dan.   Let the good times roll!

Here's our crew right before the girls and Kari left for the capital.  Awesome group!

Every Monday (usually) we watch (or play!) softball at Los Moros.  Here's our crew at the game!  

YAY me and Emma!

Who knew marbles was so intense!  These guys are SERIOUS! (and I'm terrible at marbles apparently!)

Emily Who?

So that big tropical storm so far was a big bust.   I mean, we sandbagged (excuse me, the goodhearted engineer students and ONU crew sandbagged) and got stuff off the floor and prepared as best we could.  But really.....total non-event in San Juan.   Looks like Barahona and some others are flooding and getting pummeled tho- so my heart goes out to those folks.

We're wrapping up Week 3 of the ONU crew.  They are still soooo much fun.   Last weekend while some of them went to the beach, Jeff and Kamanda and I spent part of Saturday driving to El Cercado.   I never get sick of that drive, cruising through the mountains, waiting with anticipation to see my friends and feel the mountain breeze (seriously its cooler up there!) and get the chillin vibe going.   So we feasted on rice and beans and fresh squeezed guayaba juice and sat and talked and did some visitin and just generally kicked back.   It was a phenom day.   Friday night was Pedro Burgers (unrivaled burgers- thats just the way it IS down here!) and so Saturday night we picked up pizza from Leonels (on the plaza) for the exhausted beach crew.   Picking up pizza makes me feel like an american for some reason..I still kinda giggle carrying in the take out box.  But then when you see the ketchup squirted across the top of the pizza you remember where you are and how much they love their sugar and ketchup in these parts.  Stilllllllll- delish.   Sunday around 1pm the rest of the 50+ group showed and it's been loony ever since.

But in such a good way.  We've sent 4 teams out to the barrios Mon-Wed and today we combined to two teams because some of the distant places may have had flooding.   I've worked with some excellent students and those who are overseeing them and I'm inspired by their passion and kindness.   Yesterday was a tough day for me.  I went with Group 2 to a place called Sobacon.....far away in Elias Pina.  It was a good 90 minutes from here and the last 30 minutes was a treacherous climb up a mountain.  Our guagua driver did a great job getting us there and when we finally arrived to a teeny tiny one room church- we were on top of the mountain and when we opened up the back door of the church....I think we could see to the capital.  Okay that may be an exaggeration but it was a stunning stunning view of a lush valley with mountains in the background.    The difference lies, of course, between the painful poverty of the people who live there and the beauty of the scenery around them.

I haven't been anywhere here where the people were so poor.  And so sick.  And yet so very very lovely.    There was not so much spanish and a whole lotta creole, which made things tough for our translators and our doctor.  But we all worked together well and saw lots and lots and lots of patients.   I think it was a difficult day for me because I knew we couldn't stay long, that the "Tropical Storm Emily" was on her way and we were to be back at the Guesthouse by 1:30.   To look outside and see these people waiting for ANY medical care (since it's barely accessible to them) and to see kids with terrible infections and awful scabies and no shoes and no parents..... it was HARD for me.   One of the last folks that I saw was a 17 or 18 year guy who brought his brother or his nephew or whoever this dear little 4 year old was.  And the kid had pus just oozing out of his head EVERYWHERE from these open sores all over it.  And a sick fungus around his mouth.   And he was absolutely filthy.  I almost threw up.  And then I cried a little, asking the teenager where the mother was ("not in the house") or where the father was (huh?  "no hay") or who was helping to take care of them.   His response was "There's another one too" and he ran to the door and brought in a YOUNGER kid, maybe two or three, with some of the same nasty infections all over HIS head.  Oh why!  

And I got this frantic feeling in me...like WE HAVE TO HELP THESE PEOPLE.    We HAVE to.  And then I realize there is no way we have enough meds for all of them, enough vitamins for all the kids, enough clothes or shoes or anything.   So I sit there and think.   And I can't even talk to that teenager without my voice shaking.    That its important that those kids get bathed..and that the infection is SERIOUS and they need to see a doctor.   And I send them to Dr. Auris (who ROCKS!) and run outside to try to hand out more vitamins.    And I think we saw about 200 people in 2 hours.  Gracious.  And I'm quiet on the ride home, thinking again that days like this are the reason that I'm here, even if it hurts.     I WANT to cry over pus-filled heads.  I WANT to give out vitamins and love and flipflops.   I WANT these awesome ONU kids to get their lives and worlds and schedules and agendas rocked.    I WANT to be a part of it all, one day at a time, Sweet Jesus.

So here's to little babies with scabies...and 4 year olds with pus-filled heads... and pregnant girls who have no idea of their due date..and 50 year olds with blood pressures of 220/115.  Here's to crazy ONU students, who sweat it out on mountain tops playing with kids, getting chewed up by mosquitos, and handing out meds with kind and gentle instructions.  Here's to our awesome Dominican docs who teach and explain and give out shoes.   Here's to our translators who kick butt and take names and work their tails off.   But most of all...Here's to Jesus, who loves the little children, all the children of the world.   I want to too.