36 hours and counting...

What a journey to my house it has been (FYI, my house has a name Casa C. Rey; it’s probably just the name of the person who owns the house, but it’s still pretty cool).

On Saturday I said goodbye to my parents at 4:30 for what I thought was the last time until Christmas, but it turns out I was wrong. They got special passes and came to wait with me at the gate. This means I was able to buy Starbucks before I left! I had two very uneventful flights to Miami and then again to Santiago.

I was met in Santiago by one of the board members and her son. From the airport we headed up the mountain to Jarabacoa, past Student’s International (my house the past 2 spring breaks, past Genesis, and to Christy’s house. Christy is a fellow first year teacher (at JCS; she is a 14yr veteran to the teaching field) who has been here for a week and is all settled. I stayed with her on Saturday night because my house wasn’t quite ready.

Saturday night was fairly low key as I had just gotten there and it was evening. Christy and I went into town with Tim & Laura Stanley also new teachers who live right next door to Christy. We did some minor grocery shopping and just enjoyed exploring Jarabacoa. Because of the set hours of light and darkness it’s hard not to go to bed at 9pm because it pitch black. The flip side of an early bedtime is an early morning, but with roosters that wake you up at 4:30am I’m not too upset.

Today, I moved into my new home. A cute stucco ranch with amazing views of the mountains! The outside of my home is more beautiful than I could have asked for with flowering trees, a few plants and a covered porch and carpark. The inside is adequate with limited furniture, but decent. I have a back porch where my Dominican washer is at, along with rocking chairs!!! The rocking chairs may move out front once my gate gets a lock, but I love having rocking chairs! I also have my very own cistern/well. It resembles one of the hatches from Lost at first glimpse, it even has to be checked like the main hatch in Lost. Instead of every 108 minutes, I need to check the water level every three days. Pictures will follow as the school’s internet is not exactly the fastest thing in the world. I hope to write about once a week or more depending on the work load I have and the power situation.

Prayer Requests
Loneliness, my house is not near any of the other teachers.
Getting my internet set up. I need a password from Christy; until then I’ll be using the schools.
Learning how to use my Dominican washing machine; it has different operating instructions than a US washing machine.
I have no desk or dresser; so I must use the kitchen table and suitcase for non essential items…patience to do that!
God will provide a means of transportation for my water. The store/school is too far to carry 5 gallons of water and school materials.
Health, the roads I walk to school flood. That I will be protected from any parasites living in the water I have to walk through.

Praises
I made it safely with all my luggage.
I’m been here for 36 hours and no noseeum bites!
Aside from some rust on the tub and a broken lid on my toilet everything is in good order in my bathroom. I have a new stove and fridge (despite it being covered in mold when I moved in…I quickly remedied that.)
So far all the new teachers seem wonderful. I’m by far the youngest so far.
I survived my first night alone despite strong storms.