it's just an IPOD
so i've debated all week about whether or not to post about this. but in an effort to show the real side of what it's like to live in a foreign country as a missionary with very few americans around, here's the story.
this past weekend, camille and i went to santiago to take care of the twins. we were filling in the gap between jennie & miguel's departure and terra's arrival. and since terra happens to be a friend of camille's, camille took a few days off to spend with her. so when sunday afternoon rolled around, i ventured back to puerto plata alone.
monday was a beautiful day full of sun and not too terribly warm. since i hadn't had a chance to exercise in a while, i decided to get out for a walk. camille and i usually go to the malecobn, which is usually pretty populated (and therefore safe). well monday was way more populated than i wanted for taking a walk. it just happened to be a dominican national holiday (labor day or something like that), so the malecon was overcrowded with partiers.
so after stopping at the bank, i came back to the house and decided to just take my walk through the neighborhood. i've done this many times before, sometimes with camille, but at times without. there is virtually no home a/c in this country, so there are always people out and about, playing ball, or just relaxing on the porch. i felt safe.
on my way back, as i was nearing the turn onto our street, i noticed a moto driver slow down. they do this often when they think you might want a ride, so i just kept walking. i began to sense someone behind me, so i started to turn around to see.
as soon as i did, the moto driver grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground. i must have blacked out for a few seconds because i don't remember anything between the time he grabbed my arm and when i realized i was on the ground trying to kick him away. he had a knife, about the size of a dinner knife, though i don't know how sharp. it might have been more for effect rather than use. he then grabbed my IPOD off of my arm, jumped back on his moto and took off.
i rushed back to the house, locked all gates and doors, and tried to figure out what had just happened. it all seemed kinda like a dream. or a movie. it was really just like those scary attack scenes from a movie.
besides a scrape on my elbow and bruises on my hands and backside, i'm fine. a little shaken, of course, but i'm fine.
oh, and i no longer have my ipod. but that's replaceable. i hope he (or whoever overpays him for it) enjoys chris tomlin till the battery runs out.
moral of the story:
white girl + ipod + foreign country = prime target for a robbery
this was a reminder to me and a perfect example of the place of americans (or anyone with light skin) in a 3rd world society. now matter what your economic status in the US, here, you are rich. your possessions are easily replaceable. therefore many people feel they have a right to those posessions, whether it be constant requests (gimme! gimme! gimme!), or taking by force.
the cutest little boys in the world
through painted deserts
when
keith left in march he left behind Donald Miller's book
Through Painted Deserts. the following are a few excerpts that i really enjoyed. more comments coming later, but for now, this is what you get. all personal changes are in [brackets].
p.75
So how does a person stop caring about the opinions of others enough to enjoy them without manipulating them? How does a person stop caring about money to pay rent, about where his food will come from, or whether or not he has a good retirement package? [Living in the Dominican Republic] one is confronted with the notion that life may be much easier than the rest of us believe it is, that most of the things we worry about are not worth worrying about, that a low bank account or unfashionable clothes won't give you cancer...
...I tend to think that life is about security, that when you have a full years rent, you can rest. I worry about things too much.... There doesn't seem to be any science saying any of this stuff
matters, whatever it
is; it feels like we are supposed to be panicking about things.
p.90
Imagining the {Easter Sunday} service reminds me again that life is more important than clothes and cars and a new flavor of toothpaste, that it is community and creation and beauty and humanity. And I think I am beginning to prefer the latter to the former; by that I mean I am getting used to not having any music or television and not pulling over and buying something as a way of feeling some kind of change. There is a serenity in life, after all, and once a withdrawal is felt at having left the lies behind, a soul begins to feel at home in its own skin.p.245
Leaving behind the meadows, I start to wonder if, when I leave this place, when I leave all these guys who don't share my faith, when I leave the militant women always complaining about men, when I leave the starlight above the mountains; if I will go back to my old faith habits, jumping through hoops, trying to please God or, worse, subscribing to self-help formulas and calling it faith. I hope not. I hope I never lose this perspective.... I promise myself if I ever get frustrated with life again, if I ever get into river deep debt, I will sell it all and move out into the woods, find some people who aren't like me, and learn to love them, and do something even harder, let them love me, receive the love of somebody who doesn't share my faith system, who doesn't agree with me about everything, and I will sleep beneath the stars and whisper 'thank you' to the creator of the universe, as a way of reacquainting myself to an old friend, a friend who says you don't have to be smart or good looking or religious or anything; you just have to cling to Him, love Him, listen to His story.
p.249
I don't think we can really understand how time passes. We can't study it like a river or tame it like a clock. Our devices only mark it's coming and going. I dropped an anchor three months back but time didn't slow. Some thing have to end, you know. You feel like life is always leading up to something, but it isn't. I mean life is just life. It's all happening right now, and we aren't going to be any more complete a month from nwo than we are now.
more pics on shutterfly
i just added some pictures from spring break and my trip to samana/playa rincon on
shutterfly.
haitian voodoo and flat tires
when i first arrived in the DR i heard about a voodoo curse that one of the haitians in pancho mateo put on brian because they didn't like him. it was some kind of curse on his car. he had something like 17 flat tires in a week. or maybe it was a month. but even if it was a year, that's a lot of flat tires.
i think that curse has been transfered to our pathfinder. at the beginning of semana santa, as camille and i were about to head to the beach, we noticed we had a flat tire. so we stopped, got out of the car, and before we knew it, we had 4 haitians changing out the tire for us. we notified jennie and sharla and waited to hear what we should do (cause who really wants to keep putting money into this thing?!). in the meantime, we drove very carefully to the places we had to go, and the temporary spare tire held up pretty well.
this morning, camille and i were heading out to fill up on gas and get an oil change before doing a little shopping downtown. but before we could go anywhere we quickly noticed that the spare tire was as flat as could be, with a huge gash, and the wheel looked like it was about to fall off of the car. so it was back to public transportation once again.
besides having to fill another tire up with air quite often, we haven't really had too many problems with the tires. but we've had so many other problem, i really do wonderful if this voodoo curse was transfered from brian to us.
i'm watching the sky...
and i see no more clouds. and i see no more rain. and i see lots of sun.
today was the first day in a very long time that it has not rained at some point during a 24 hour period, nor were there any dark clouds of which to speak. to replace the clouds and rain, the sun came out in full force. it was so warm that even dominicans and haitians (who have never been any farther north) said so.
hello sun. hello tan. hello sweat.
semana santa
this week is semana santa - holy week. or as we call it in the states, passion week. it is the week leading up to Jesus' Crucifixion. as hard as camille and i tried to go to church this past sunday to celebrate palm sunday, it just didn't happen. but we do hope to attend a sunrise Easter service in santiago this weekend.
since it is semana santa, it is spring break for pretty much the whole country, which means we also do not have class. it has been a wonderful break. not that i don't love what i do. i do love it. but everybody needs a break every once in a while.
on monday camille and i spent the day in cabarete. we ate german bakery. we soaked up the sun. we did absolutely nothing we didn't have to do. we've done basically the same thing the past day and half here at the house.
this afternoon we're heading down to santiago to visit the twins and with teresa. teresa is heading out thursday morning to spend about 3 months in the states on furlough. jim is already there with family, and the two of them will be speaking at churches about the things they do here in the DR in order to keep up with their family, friends and supporters. carrie and agape will also be headed out for a few weeks in may & june.
so, though i have somehow found a way to write several paragraphs in this post, there's not much to report, nor do i suspect there will be, for this week. but i have had requests for more frequent posts, so here you go. here's to let you know that not much is going on.
in other news:
- katy should be going home from the hospital today. we will know for sure when we hear from jennie later.
- i have less than four months here - 3 months and 26 days.
- many fun things await us for this last stint, include visits from friends and family.
you can continue to pray:
- that though camille and i have 4 months left, others would begin now to committ and year of their lives as teacher in the DR. the more, the better!
- the adoption process of the twins
- for jim, teresa, carrie and agape - that their time in the states would be restful and fruitful
palm sunday
today was an appropriately beautiful day. after about 2 full weeks of rain, the sun came out in all it's glory. it seems like a great day to celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
we also went to visit Katy in the hospital today. she has been moved out of ICU into a regular room and is much more alert. we finally saw a big smile on her face as she listened to the story of Jonah and the big fish and sang some songs with Camille.
the doctors have said that she should be able to leave the hospital on tuesday. please keep praying that the cist will pass so she will be able to eat and drink again. also pray that as she and her grandmother return to their home and their normal lives, that they will continue to see the grace and love of the Lord in their lives.
