Saturday, March 10, 2012

Kidney Stones

The plan for this weekend was to take a couple of our Dominican friends to the beach for a day of relaxation after all the crazy that ensues when the groups are here. But we had to interrupt that show to bring you this public service announcement:

If you managed to miss the posts of Facebook, then you are still unaware that Kisha was in the hospital for a night. She has kidney stones, which are usually not life-threatening, but also not fun. She's on a fistful of meds, laying low, and hoping that the stones are small. She also has a small infection, but the doctors are pretty sure the antibiotics will take care of that. So far she's not a big fan of this version of sick, so please pray she gets better soon.

We now return you to our usual broadcasting...

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Canadians Are Cool, Too




Kisha and I spent the last week and a half hanging out with a group of Canadian nursing students from Calgary. As it turns out, Canadians are cool, too! It was really nice to just hang out and speak English with people who know how clever I can be with my words :0) It made me miss my ONU days, and reminded me of the mission trip I took to Denver. Good times.



We're doing okay. We just helped host two groups in a row, so I'm learning about the rhythm that is practiced by the people involved with TEARS. We have recently finished the TEARS dormitory, which means that the groups are staying on site now, rather than staying at the conference center in the middle of La Vega. I think it works pretty well, though a little less rain would have afforded a little less mud. This new way of doing things offers jobs to people from the barrio, so they can serve as cooks and help with cleaning in addition to the translating that a few of our Dominican friends provide.



Part of the rhythm is the crash after a batch of groups come through. That's the part we're in now, and it takes some getting used to. I actually got pretty sad on Friday morning when the group was leaving, mostly because a whole crew of English-speaking homies were leaving, but also because I wish I could be getting on a plane as well. I'm leaning good coping skills, and trying to do my very best at school so the kids receive a good education, but I'm also keeping the end in site. Today marks 100 days before my big plane ride.



I'm also keeping an eye to the now, which I think is the lesson I've been learning from God this year. I'm sure somewhere way down the road I'll do something more traditional like kids, house, etc., but that's not what I'm supposed to be doing right now. I'll also be transitioning back to the US in the future, but that's not what God has for me right now. Right now I have 3 classes to finish well, a relaxing spring break, and at least 3 more North American groups to help host here in the DR. Not only am I leaning to be content with these things, I'm learning to look forward to them!



In the wise words of Rocco from The Boondock Saints, "The Lord works in mysterious ways, Man."