 damaris05's Santo Domingo Travelogues | | | |
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| Page Views: 2,231 Last Visit to Santo Domingo: June, 2004 | Santo Domingo Mission Trip by damaris05 - last update: Aug 11, 2004 |
Eight of us went to the Dominican Republic, not knowing what to expect, with a little bit of fear, but courage that came from God. We consisted of Dub, our youth minister, his wife Wendy, AJ, our former youth intern, 5 youth including Matt, Tyson, Terra, Autumn, and Me. We stepped off the plane at Las Americas airport in Santo Domingo feeling lost and having no clue what to do next. We made it through the airport with much confusion. We became acquainted with the missionaries we'd be working with (Rodney & Sharon Coleman) and a journeyman Rob. We got to our apartment, got ready for bed, and what seemed like a finished day was just beginning. At about 11:30 p.m. Autumn stood on her bunk and hit her head with a metal ceiling fan going at high speed. She busted it open, we all rushed around her, AJ tried cleaning her up, then Rob came back for her and Dub, AJ, and Autumn rushed to the nearest hospital.... |
|  | Day 1:Philippians 4:6 -7 That night Terra, Wendy and I prayed ourselves to sleep while Autumn and AJ spent the night at the Coleman's. The next morning I woke up with a peace that could only come from God. Autumn had gotten seven stitches for US$23 the night before. This was a new day and we had things to do and nothing was going to stop us! That morning we went to a dominican's house in a barrio called Los Mameyes. There we met Melina, Kersi, Tita, Mauricio, Carlos, Alex, Hector, and some others. Melina had prepared a delicious dominican meal called Mangu for us. It was wonderful! That day we split up into groups and went prayer walking and meeting people. Each group had 1 or 2 dominicans leading and they would take us to their friends' houses. Everyone was absolutely wonderful and so accepting. People don't have AC's so they all stepped out of their homes and socialized with everyone. They were on the sides of streets playing baseball, spinning tops, even playing boardgames! The atmosphere was wonderful! Everyone greeted us with opened arms and warm kisses! I loved it! |
The Big Blue That afternoon, Tyson and I were in the same group with two other dominican girls: Kersi and Tita. They were so sweet! They took us to some apartments to see some of their friends and family. We walked alot. I asked Kersi how far the ocean was from where we were and she said not very far... that we could walk there if we wanted. So we did. We crossed a highway and made it alive to the other side. The ocean was beautiful! It was just like Nemo described it.. "Big and Blue". We were standing on the side of a cliff, and I was so scared that I would fall over. It was so peaceful and calming as the waves clashed against the side of the cliff. It was beautiful! I could not believe that my lowly little self was standing before such splendor trying to take in all that God had created. That God's magnificent crystal-blue ocean was dancing before my very eyes! | | |
| | Let it Rain! Before we started heading back to Los Mameyes, it started pouring rain! It was so much fun! That was my first tropical shower! We had no where to run under except those tall skinny palm trees. We all just stood there getting soaked. It was also a very awkward moment because the girls were very quiet and we liked to talk so we kept trying to start a conversation with them about our surroundings and about the weather. After half an hour the rain started slowing down to a sprinkle, so we began heading back to the house. We were walking along the side of the street and had to be extra careful with cars that zoomed by on the narrow roads. I nearly got hit by one but that I something I don't like to speak of. It was scary. Thanks to Kersi, I didn't though. |
Day 2: Matthew 28:19-20 The following day (saturday) we continued to keep busy in Los Mameyes. We went house to house again in the barrio. I was in the same group as the day before and we had fun! I loved to watch the children play in the streets with their tops. While we were in Melina's house, I liked to stand on their balcony and look out at the people and watch them walk, stand, socialize. There was something so cool about the way they moved. Even when they stook on the side of the road, their bodies looked so relaxed. When they walked, it was so laid-back. I was fascinated by their movements! | | | Children standing on Narrow Sidewalk |
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| Mauricion playing Tambora |
| | La Tambora On our free time, right before lunch everyone sat around Melina's and relaxed. The Dominicans LOVE music! They love to sing and play music. They'll make music out of anything! A common dominican instrument the Tambora, which is a two-sided drum that is played with a stick on one side and with the hand on the other. Mauricio was a master at the Tambora and he ROCKED at it. He could go on forever! It sounded so cool!!! A.J. and Matt both bought a tambora and brought them back. Maybe one day they'll let me play it. After relaxing, we went out to lunch to eat at a restaurant called "Provocon." It was an outdoor chicken place. The chicken was really good, and so was the moro (rice and beans), and the Yucca was delicious. But there were flies everywhere!!! I learned there to ignore the flies and just eat the food because no matter what I did the flies would NOT go away!!! By the end of the week, everytime I'd see a fly melina would whisper in my ear "Paranoid!" Haha! |
El Faro a Colon After lunch, the Colemans took us all to the Columbus lighthouse! This thing was HUGE! It was so cool because its like a huge cross and at night when it lights up, its like a cross! Haha! It felt glorious up there with the cool wind blowing and the view from up there was incredible! In the Lighthouse lies Cristopher Columbus's dead body. (well... obviously dead.) It was so cool to be so close to such an important person in history. I was able to see his coffin. It was neat. | | |
| | Bible in the Boxing Ring After going to the lighthouse, we went back to the Mameyes and to invite people to a church service we would have the next day. We went to a boxing ring and invited kids from the surrounding apartments to come listen to some Bible stories. The kids would take us by the hand and lead us to their other buddies' houses. They were so excited to have us come to their apartments that while we walked with them they would shout "American people! American people!" It was so cute! When we finally rounded up enough kids, we went back to the boxing ring and had them sit down while Autumn and I taught them about Jesus' great love for them! After wards we all kind of hung out and A.J. and I boxed each other and had all the Dominicans laugh at us! Haha! It was such a blast! |
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 Comments for damaris05 about Santo Domingo | | | | |
vegannramember Thu Jan 25, 2007 18:40 UTC
haha, yes! leaving a club with a dominican friend at around 4 am, i discovered that red lights mean "maybe slow down a little as you plow through the intersection". | TropicGirl77 Wed Aug 10, 2005 19:14 UTC
I just LOVE those "quarter to one" rules!!! HAHA@ suffering for the Lord ... I'm sure after repenting, he has forgiven all suffering! Aloha ~ | BuickMackane Fri Feb 11, 2005 23:05 UTC
I haven't been to the DR since I was a little girl, but I enjoyed your tips very much -- great page! | Aurorae Thu Feb 3, 2005 22:53 UTC
Thank you for stopping by at my HP. I love your passion for Dominican Republic, it's a place that attracts me as well, I'd love to go there, and your descriptions awake the senses, presenting that country so well. |
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