I'm Here!!!

Well, I finally made it! After a really hard good-bye to my family and only 7 hours of I am here! So far it has been amazing. The people have been so welcoming and loving which is great. I am staying with the pastor, his wife, and their youngest son Daniel. I haven't seen the pastor but once since I got here but I ride with his wife Ruth to the hospital every morning and have gotten to know her a little bit. Their son Daniel is a year behind me in school and I have been getting to know him a lot. Alex, their other son, and his wife Allison have kind of adopted me in everything that they do. Both of them have been wonderful. I have gone out with them a lot and have really enjoyed getting to know them. This week I have worked in the hospital, Cure, which is run by Ruth, all day because there is a group from the States in right now working in the hospital. Next week I'll actually start my job working at Cure in the mornings and with Vida Full in the afternoons. I have my own desk space at the Vida Full office! At the hospital I have gotten to talk to some of the patients, all children, and their families. We brought down pages to color, stickers, and tattoos, which the kids love, to the waiting room. There was one little girl who kind of attached to me and asked me every color to use and showed me every little detail of the picture. Today I went on a home visit to a house about an hour or hour and a half outside of the city. The spiritual department makes home visits to all of the patients after their surgery to check up on them and share the gospel. I ask that you please keep me in your prayers as I continue to adjust to life in the DR. Though the people have been amazing and I am loving the experience, I constantly think about home and how much I miss my family and friends. The language is also very difficult because everyone speaks so quickly and never pronounces everything. I feel like I have never taken Spanish in my life. But again, everyone is really understanding and friendly, so that makes it easier. I also thought I'd give you some tidbits of information about the DR so here it goes... 1. The food is really good and none of it is spicy. I have had rice at every meal and love it. 2. Dominicans hate the rain and they hate the sun which is rather ironic because it's always either really sunny or it's raining. 3. They drive like crazy people!!!!! They make their own lanes and don't abide by any of the laws...except stop lights. But even those rules are broken...sometimes people just get tired of waiting so they drive on. 4. It is really hot...mostly just humid. The sun shines constanly if it's not raining...there's never an in between. 5. The beaches are as beautiful as the pictures show. I have not been to one yet but I saw it the entire way driving back from the airport. And we are going to a resort for the day on Friday! Well that should do it for now!