Inclement weather calls for FOOD!

Note the pilon on top of the pan. 

I have great memories of childhood when school would be cancelled due to the threat of snow. It doesn't even matter that not a drop of the white stuff had fallen, we were already making a beeline for the grocery store and surely either chili or vegetable beef soup would be on the menu for dinner that day. There is something about inclement weather that brings out the need for comfort foods.











Today I sampled one of the Dominican comfort foods, Sancocho. Well, I more than sampled... I consumed quite a large quantity!!  Of course, here in the caribbean it was not a threat of snow, but rather Hurricane Sandy that generated the craving for Sancocho. After braving the storm for a half day of school I arrived home to an impromptu gathering of faces, some known and some brand new, hanging out and having a good time.  (See my previous post on dropping by down below). One of the women was in the kitchen stirring a big pot and everyone else was milling around waiting eagerly for the pronouncement that LUNCH was ready!

Note the wool caps for the "cold"
-- a temp of 72 degrees is cold here.

Everyone was quite amused when they found out it was my first time eating Sancocho! It was also quite hilarious listening to the animated descriptions of Sancocho. I made the mistake of asking is it basically rice and beans? NO, emphatically, NO!!! Then the animated responses began.... Sancocho has delicious meat, chicken, beef, pork  and plaintains, and yuca another person yelled, and potatoes.... ay, si, they were pretty hyped
 about this meal. The avocadoes were sliced, and even fought over as everyone wanted the largest chunk, the rice was ready and lunch was served.

Yum-O! Sancocho is pretty good stuff....

Dropping by...

Sometimes my brain is overloaded by all of the cultural nuances and differences that I observe on any given day. I imagine at some point these things will become more common place and my overworked brain will not be on overdrive. Until then... every day there is something new that makes me say, hmmm.

Most recently, it was the way people just 'drop by' to say hi. It's actually kind of cool, but coming from the States, where you call or email, or even make multiple calls and emails with all of the phone tag just to arrange a day and time to meet, place to meet, etc, etc it's quite a bit of culture shock. At any random moment, someone will walk up to the gate and just holler to get your attention that they are stopping by. The ones who are really good friends don't even stop at the gate, but just come on in. 

Last night, it was the nuns who run the school and church a couple of houses down. "Vecina" they hollered out.... we went to the door to be greeted by two sweet older ladies who were wrapping up their evening at 8:45pm by making housecalls on their neighbors. Being good Christian folks, we invited them in and had a really lovely chat. The sister shared a scripture with us before leaving. It was actually exactly what we were planning for our kids chapel this week, from Ephesians 6 about honoring your parents. Last week we started the conversation using the verse in Exodus 20:12 but we felt the need to continue the dialogue for another week. The sisters confirmed the plan when she opened up the discussion with the Ephesians 6:1 verse. Plus it was a great discussion to have with the 2 little ones who were excited to be up a little later than usual!

This weekend, around the same time, maybe 9pm, a couple stops by. No call ahead, just the gate sliding open as they came in with their 2 kids in tow. I'm always sort of startled by these surprise visits, while everyone around me seems completely chill.  They come in and take a seat as if it's 3pm in the afternoon. Hmmm, my western sensibilities are obviously annoyed, which I later feel very convicted about. The 'wife' is 17yrs old and just had baby #2 six weeks ago. Her 29 yr old 'husband' can't understand why she is so sad all the time and crying even though she spends all day at home with 2 little ones under age 2. They came over because she finally told him that she had to get out of the house or she was going to lose her mind. Postpartum depression is definitely real, but not very understood here at all. The husband takes it all as a personal assault and meanwhile she just looks completely sad and blank. It's hard to believe that she is the same, smiling happy young adult I met when I first arrived.   I had fun playing with baby, while Melanie stepped into role of counselor, but even more so of friend. 

These random, or not so random, visits are pretty much the norm here. More and more I'm appreciating the way that people build community and always make time for one another. It's a lesson I'm learning for sure as I am learning how to re-focus and re-prioritize my life.  In the meantime, if I can drop in to your busy schedule and ask that you would maybe whisper a prayer for our friend, Lila, as she adjusts to being a mom of 2 little ones, I know she would really appreciate it. 

Day of the Races

A week ago the DR celebrated the Dia de Los Razas, translated into English, Day of the Races. This is a uniquely Dominican holiday in place of Columbus Day that is celebrated in much of North America. Dia de Los Razas celebrates the heritage of the Dominican people, a mixed race of Indigenous Indian, African and Spanish descendants. Most teachers are sure to make a special project for the class to do to focus on the Day of the Races, but from my limited observation, most of the celebration focused on the Spanish and Indian heritage with a casual mention of the African ancestry.  This holiday brings me mixed feelings..... you see race here is a funny thing. There are Dominicans who are 5 shades darker than me who will swear that their color comes from the "Indio" in the family. There are also women who are in desperate poverty who will 'find' the money to go to the salon weekly to make sure their kinky hair texture is never visible. People are often referred to by their complexion, such as La Morena - the brown one, or La Prieta if the complexion is darker. The person with the lightest complexion in the family is usually referred to as La Rubia even if they are no where near blond.

I'm probably particularly more attuned to this just because of my own experience here as an African American. It's actually somewhat comical as folks will try to figure out "what I am". My complexion usually suggests Dominican, but then they take the double glance at the kinky hair and they give me a questioning "Tu estas haitiana?." I smile, and reply I am American. Humph. The puzzled looks always persist for at least another 10-15 seconds. I actually find it pretty comical that God has landed me here in this country with my brown skin and kinky hair. I have been able to ease into Dominican circles at school, but also flow into Haitian circles and fit in well there too with my African features.

 Recently I had a conversation with 2 girls in my kindergarten class. The one asks, "porque tu no vas al salon".... why do you not go to the hair salon? The question alone shocked me but even more her 5 yr old tone of disapproval caught me off guard. I smiled. Crismal, I really like the way God made my hair, I think it's pretty just as it is. She gave me a true Dominican non-verbal, umph, coupled with a certain wrinkling of the nose, that suggests she disagreed. I laughed.  The next Monday one of my students, a different one, shows up with her hair in cornrows with beads. I noticed right away as this 'Afrocentric' hair do is SO NOT typical. Of course I thought it was amazing, but even more so when her mom told me she asked to have her hair done like the teacher's. I've often heard that imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery and I definitely would have to agree.  However, my goal is not to create mini me's, but it does make me smile that these precious little girls are learning that they are created beautifully by God just as they are. If they learn their value and worth in the eyes of God at this tender age, I pray it will help them to navigate the challenging years ahead as a female growing up in a developing country.

FOOD... need I say more...

Food glorious food! The Dominican cuisine is yummy, flavorful, but not spicy or as bold as other Carribbean or Latin American flavors. There are about 4 or 5 staples that are eaten pretty much every day or every other day. I'm really thankful that these happen to be foods that I like, otherwise this could be really, really tough!

Rice... white rice, rice and pigeon peas or beans cooked together, sometimes corn is added. This dish is also called a locrio when it contains a little meat, salami or sausage mixed in.

Platanos and Yuca -- Yuca are like a super starchy potato with an extra thick skin. Plaintains are larger than bananas, with a thicker skin and if mature are super sweet. Plaintains and yuca are often boiled and served with a boiled or fried egg. Plantains are also commonly served  sliced and double fried (oh yeah, my LDL cholesterol just went UP!) and seasoned with a pinch of salt. Basically this is what my Puerto Rican friends call tostones minus the yummy garlicky stuff on the side.

Peeling plaintains are a lot more work than peeling bananas.

Slice plaintains not too thin, not too thick. 

Frying #1 (s/n - eggs are not refrigerated here)

Smash the plaintains, then fry AGAIN!!

Avocado -- we have an avocado tree in the back yard which is a huge plus.  Plus I just happened to arrive at the height of avocado season-- YAY!! I learned the other day that avocado season is almost over which makes me really, really sad. I may have to adjust my food budget to allow for the purchase of several avocados weekly. It's amazing how they can brighten up the most boring meal, ie think yuca and boiled egg, boring.... add avocado, some lime or vinegar and salt... YUM!

Coffee -- I almost forgot the ubiquitous coffee... I remember my first cup of Dominican coffee... so yummy and SWEET!! No milk usually, but occasionally someone offers you milk. If the coffee is prepared and offered to you be prepared for a really sweet coffee. At least 3 if not 4 or 5 teaspoons of sugar. A recent trip to the Campo netted like 4 cups of coffee in a 6 hour period. There was coffee when we arrived at 9am, coffee after the morning soup,  coffee before lunch at 12, coffee after lunch, and at least another 1 or 2 offerings of coffee that I politely declined. The funny thing is I don't feel like the coffee here gives me any energy boost. It just like a yummy sweet treat at the end of a meal, or to tie you over until another meal.


Kibbe or Quipe -- my first trial of Dominican street food. Sorry, but I'm not so sure on the spelling. Honestly, Dominicans are quite creative when it comes to spelling, so I don't feel too bad about making this one up. These are Middle Eastern in origin and remind me of the Kefta skewers or sandwiches at Middle Eastern places, like Grapeleaves in Oak Park, IL. The Kibbe or Quipe are the size of a mini football, and also oval shaped. The outer core is a fried grain, maybe bulgur, with a center of seasoned ground meat. I've only had this once, just 5 days ago, and it was really good... but isn't everything that is fried really good??

I'm sure this is rich in fiber!
 Does that make up for the frying?

OK, I confess to sneaking a bite before grabbing the camera!
 Hence, one end is flat!

Just when...

Last night I went to bed feeling particularly content. I had a to-do list a mile long to get ready for class this week - make a monkey puppet, plan a monkey activity, figure out how to introduce 3 sight words with the letter m (mama, mesa, mono), create a hopscotch game for the number 6, complete the annual learning plan, etc, but I was not feeling stressed.  The combination of a relaxing weekend, a walk through the community, culinary creativity, Sunday worship service and a reunion with some Dominican family and friends had me in a really good place.

The calm of my weekend and feelings of making another stride in the adjustment was shattered about 45 minutes after I woke up Monday morning. We had something happen last night the story began. Our privacy was violated when a couple of thieves tried to steal a few things from the window. "Somehow" the bag of dog food which was several feet away tipped over loud enough to awaken my host family just in time to see the computer on the floor but too late to keep the tote bag from being stolen. There is absolutely no explanation for why the 10lb bag of dog food tucked away in the pantry tumbled to the floor, other than the fact that God is always alert and has angels watching over us day and night.

It could have been worse, and I know the same thing can happen anywhere in the world, and has happened to several of my friends and family. There is a sense of a loss of privacy and trust that comes afterwords. And even a little worry... or a lot of worry. However, it feels even harder, because I really felt like I had just hit a sweet spot in the adjustment process;  I know how to open doors with the funny handles, I can concho (public transportation cars) back and forth to school with no problem, I know where to get off the M concho, I know which supermarket I like the best, I have a favorite colmado, I can occasionally understand the jokes made by others, etc, etc. So today, maybe I take one baby step backwards, and tonight I may not rest nearly as peacefully as I did the last 3 weeks, but I'm reminded that I'm not on this journey alone. My God is always with me, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort and protect me.

Mission Team from NJ

We have been so blessed to have a mission team from NJ here this week. It's funny because in the past I have always been on the side of the short term team going, but it's my first time being on the receiving end. I now see the behind the scenes stuff that has to happen to make it all work! Trust me, it's a ton of work, but it's so worth it when you see the smiles, the embraces and here the Gospel message being shared. Big thanks to this wonderful team this week for coming to Santiago to love on these little ones and to share the Good News of a Great Big God who loves them.

Stephanie shared the message using the gift bags below. Each color represented a different part of the Gospel Story. Gold - Creation, Black - Sin, Red - Blood of Jesus, White - Cleansing and a new start and Green - Eternal Life.

Then the kids had fun making bracelets (pulseros) using the same color beads as the bags above. This is to remind them of today's message and hopefully some were even able to share it with their parents.

 Some of the missionaries even helped with providing free haircuts. Many parents signed their kids up for this one, although I don't think the kids are too happy about it! Look at that funny face....

 On second thought, who doesn't like looking their best?? E's smile below says it was well worth it! Love the snaggle tooth!

 Lastly, a big shout out to my Korean friends in the Chi. You know who you are... wave your hands if you are Korean and proud! This is how they roll.... food was packed just in case and you know, there is Kim Chee in the bunch plus a whole lot more.

La misionera nueva

I would like to introduce you to la misionera nueva.... I here that phrase quite a bit as I am still meeting the pastors and team members at our 4 churches and 2 education centers and other random folks thrown in here and there. I have to admit that every time, it really does catch me off guard. Excuse me, are you referring to me, I want to ask, or sometimes there is that awkward pause before I realize, oops, they are talking about me. I am the new missionary. Wow, really, Lord when did this happen. A missionary... yes, I guess that is what I am. I wish I could say that I'm one of the ones who was mission minded since age 3 or 4, but that's not my testimony.

I really think it came down to availability. Sometimes we reach a point in life, where we decide to let go of our plans for the future, how we thought our life should unfold, the things we held important, and to completely surrender to the Heavenly Father.  Basically, we decide to make ourselves fully available to God, no strings or conditions attached. At that point of surrender, God, can set you on the path that he has planned for each of us. I have to admit, that can be a scary place to be, because it forces us to really trust God. Not to just give lip service about trusting God, but to 100% trust his promises. After much tripping and stumbling and sometimes just falling flat on my face, I would like to think that I have this trust thing down packed 100% of the time. That's not the case, but I'm so grateful that yesterday when I needed to be reminded of how trustworthy God is, he encouraged me through someone else's testimony and reminded me to "concentrate on what God wants me to do now, and to leave the future in hands that are more capable than mine: God's hands."

Psalm 16:11  "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

La Cara Feliz

Here is a glimpse of some of the smiling faces that greet me every morning. One of our recent chapels was taken from Proverbs 15:13, El corazon feliz, se refleja en la cara. El corazon triste, deprime el espiritu! It was a joy to share this insightful word with the children and to discuss how our expressions so often reveal so much about what is going on in our heart and spirits. These little ones had fun showing me their happy faces!

I am continually amazed that there are so many smiling faces as I learn of the difficulties that so many of these little ones have encountered. We like to put the memory verse on the bulletin board so the parents can be aware of what we are discussing and hopefully reinforce it at home. Our happy faces and happy hearts really are miracles from God.

I've shared with you about Juan and his brother Jose (Juan and Jose's story) , but we recently opened our hearts and class to another little one, Alexander. We really are at capacity, see note on the bulletin board above, but there was something about this mom's request that struck a chord in our Spirit. She came requesting to enroll her son 3 weeks late with very little explanation. We didn't know all the details, but felt strongly like we needed to take Alexander in. You see, in our community, the public schools have 2 shifts of students, from 8a-12p and 2p - 6p and still there is not enough room for all of the children to go to school. So, some kids just have to wait out the year.  Mom was extremely grateful to have Alexander join our school, and he arrived promptly the next day and hasnt missed a day yet. Well, it didn't take long before the community 'chisme' got back to us. Didn't you know?? This is the kid that was beaten so severely by his dad in the campo that he was hospitalized for a week.   Mom obtained custody after this awful event and that's why little Alexander was enrolling 3 weeks late. Now we understood why we had such a heavy heart when the mom came in that day. She never uttered a word about this, but the Holy Spirit knew. Every day that I see little Alexander I'm amazed at his "corazon feliz" as his face has the most precious smile that you have ever seen. I know that there is still alot of emotional healing that is needed, but I thank God that he has protected this kid's heart and spirit that he can still find so much to smile about. Thank you Lord!

Campo:  Kids will often be sent to the 'campo' to live with relatives in the country/rural areas, for one reason or another.

Chisme:  Gossip