Parent's Visit!

Earlier in May, I had my first visitors come and stay with me in my apartment. I was so excited for them to come, it was pretty much all I thought about the few days leading up to their visit.


It was a bit daunting to try and plan the trip, because all I have is a motorcycle...and I live about 3 hours from the airport! With a lot of help (thank you Brian and Trautweins!), we were able to have a smooth airport pickup and a great first night and day in Jarabacoa. We were able to meet kids that our family has sponsored for close to 8 years and eat lunch at their house (quite the introduction for my mom...), and then also visit all the kids alive sites in Jarabacoa and we got to see AWANA's in action, which my parents have been supporting for a few years.

The house that my parents sponsor in Jarabacoa

Lunch at "casa de esperanza"

2 Brothers that we have been sponsoring for a while,
and who I have a close relationship with in Jarabacoa.
This is after we brought a picture of these 3 sisters from
Caroline's trip 4 years ago...they were a little shocked!

The next stop was Constanza in our sketchy, rented CRV. We rode up the mountain in steady rain, but made it there safe and sound. We had a great time in Constanza and it was a blast for me to introduce my parents to all the kids and people I have been working with daily for the past 7 months. They were able to help out with the end of the year party at the care center, as well as spend significant time in each house at the Ark getting to know the kids and the house-parents. We were able to spend 2 nights with the Rowley's which was also a treat, because they have been such a big part of my life here and it was fun for my parents to connect who this family is that I am always talking about! We also went out and bought groceries/supplies to get my kitchen up to speed, and I also learned how to make some very basic meals (finally...) Although our time was short in Constanza, it was jam-packed and we got in everything that we had hoped to do.

Care center kids anxiously awaiting the party to begin!

My mom and my "Dominican mom"

My parents and the newest ark girl

Dad making some new friends and going through their photo books

A recurring theme on the trip was that every person that my parents were introduced to would comment on how young they are! Even though my parents do look young, I thought it was strange that EVERY single person was commenting the same way...until someone helped me realize it is because they think I am so old! Most people here think I am somewhere between 37-42...so they were probably expecting much older and were always pleasantly surprised!

Next stop was the Kids Alive missionary workshop in Jarabacoa. My parent's were able to help "watch" the kids, while the adults were in the various meetings. They organized a great game of "bible baseball" that the kids seemed to enjoy, and also oversaw their service projects. Basically they were glorified babysitters...but they were GREAT glorified babysitters! The workshop was very helpful for me, and I got a chance to reconnect with George and Connie Blake who I had met with at MTI (missionary training international) almost exactly a year ago.

After the work shop it was off to the beach for 2 days of R & R in Cabarete. Now if you know how my family vacations, then you know that there was not much to report from our time at the resort. We ate out, laid by the pool, hung out in the pool, and just relaxed like a typical Bradley vacation. My friend Brian from Jarabacoa was able to join us for this and I think he enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. It was a short resort trip, but very refreshing and just about perfect. We were very impressed with the resort and I definitely will be trying to make it back there within the next year.




We left in the morning for an uneventful (in a good way..) early airport run back to Santiago. I was so grateful for this time to spend with my parent's and so happy that they could see exactly what I am doing here in the DR. Our trip was blessed from the beginning and the logistics and plans went about as perfectly as we could have imagined. I am already looking forward to their next visit, and so are the people here already asking when they are coming back!



(For more pictures, look on my mom's facebook for a good link to their KodakGallery page)

My First Dominican Wedding

One of the casualties from my parent's trip to visit me was the memory card from my camera! So for about 2 weeks I was without a camera, until my mom sent another one with the baseball team. Unfortunately, this wedding was one of the things I didn't have my camera for, but there are still some interesting observations from my first wedding here in the DR.

-Obviously the wedding didn't start until after 8 pm, when it was scheduled to start at 6. I knew that this would happen, but I still couldn't come any later than 6:10...

-The ceremony and reception were actually much shorter than I expected. There was no dancing, and I think that was a big reason why it was so short. The food was great and the cake was fantastic.

-One funny story. I have learned to enter into activities like this with absolutely zero expectations, because you just never know what will happen. So about halfway through the ceremony, a lady that I had never met before came up to me and started talking. She told me that she needed to watch her 3 year old and asked if I could video tape for her. I assumed she meant just for a short part of the ceremony...but it ended up being probably 45 minutes to an hour, with her standing next to me for the majority telling me exactly what to record. At one point she had me walk all the way up in front of everybody to get the best possible angle and close up for her camera...needless to say I was slightly uncomfortable walking in front of everyone as the only Gringo there.

It was a great experience and I had a great time connecting with some other Christian Dominicans my own age. Sorry for the lack of pictures!