What a day it has been! Tati was here this morning and came up to visit. We worked on my Espanol. I have such a long way to go!!! Her daughter, Raiza, is moving the first of the year to be with her husband in Columbia. They have lived apart for most of the past four years so now the kids will get to know their Dad. Tati says her granddaughter has calmed down a little. She has a Book of Mormon which she is having her granddaughter read to her because she has no reading glasses and can't see the words. (Which isn't exactly true but has helped her granddaughter)
Timilia, our upstairs neighbor from Nepal, went shopping with us today because their TV had quit working and they needed someone who speaks Spanish talk to the people at the Wind store. They were able to get a number where they could call for help so when we got home and Elder Yturraldie got home they went to her apartment and called the service provider. They got their TV fixed so they were very happy! Timilia is home by herself all day and watches a lot of TV. It was great to be able to help them.
Yturraldies came down after that and as we sat chatting around the table Sister Yturraldie asked what that noise was - it sounded like water dripping to her. We opened the door and sure enough water was running down the steps in the hall, down the railing, and dripping from the ceiling. What a relief to know it wasn't ours! Scott and Yturraldie started up the stairs to see where it was coming from. The apartment two floors above us had water running out from under the door. The man answered the door with a mop in his hand - the toilet had run over, and over, and over from the looks of things!
At 5:30 we picked up AltaGracia and William to go out to their places. How humbled I am to be able to associate with people like these two. They have so little but maintain such a happy attitude. I really didn't think we would ever get the car down some of the roads to her house but we did.
The street was about two feet wider than the car, maybe not even that. You can see the dashboard of the car. One woman was washing her hair in an old metal bucket outside her house in the street. We had to wait for her to move the buckets of water before we could pass by I'm sure most of them do not have indoor plumbing. There were groups of little boys, older teens, men and women everywhere. I have never seen so many people crammed into such a little area. They were like ants - everywhere you looked the streets and the houses were full of people. I had to laugh thinking of how different this life is than life on the ranch with so many wide open spaces. These people would probably be nervous with so much space! The kids were just getting home from school. Altagracia invited us into her house which was probably 13'by 14' total. She has herself and six kids living in that house.She took me to a neighbor's house that sits on top of the river bank. It was getting dusk by that time so when we went into the house you could not see much. She walked right in. There were three rooms on the side where sheets were used for doors. She called a name, pulled open the sheet and introduced me to people inside the 8x8 rooms. In one was a woman and a younger boy laying on the bed - which took up 95% of the room. The other rooms were the same size or smaller. Straight ahead though was the kitchen - so to speak. A very friendly woman was standing there preparing food. Right out the door was the river. No bank, just water. Just amazing to see how they live. When we walked around the corner to AltaGracia's house there were six dogs fighting and some boys egging them on. A little toddler was in Scott's arms. She had been in the midst of the fighting dogs so he had grabbed her. He couldn't understand why the mother, who was standing by with a big chunk of cement in her hand had not rescued her little one from the dogs. Maybe she was frightened herself or thought her little girl would not be hurt. Everyone knows how unstable a situation is around fighting dogs though. You never know if they think you are interfering or helping!
We left and went to a huge mall to get some supper. The kids were wonderful. The little girls are twins with big brown sparkling eyes. The girl in yellow is 14 and is reading the Book of Mormon to her brother and sisters. I wish they had some way to get to church because I believe they would go. We need a guagua to pick up William's family and her family! Wilton has been very sick with a kidney infection. The baby belongs to her brother who is on the right hand side of the picture. William came with us so UltaGraci would feel more at ease. They are protective of their family - which is very large! I suddenly realized why these people do not have personal space issues - there is no such thing as personal space. You would just have to see it to believe it. What a blessing it is for us to be able to associate with them.
We thought this would be a place with only Dominican food. Actually there were more American fast food places by far in this huge mall center area than Dominican. All in all it was a very memorable experience. Our senior missionary friends were eating across the street and had invited us but we are so grateful that we got to go with AltaGracia instead!
Timilia, our upstairs neighbor from Nepal, went shopping with us today because their TV had quit working and they needed someone who speaks Spanish talk to the people at the Wind store. They were able to get a number where they could call for help so when we got home and Elder Yturraldie got home they went to her apartment and called the service provider. They got their TV fixed so they were very happy! Timilia is home by herself all day and watches a lot of TV. It was great to be able to help them.
Yturraldies came down after that and as we sat chatting around the table Sister Yturraldie asked what that noise was - it sounded like water dripping to her. We opened the door and sure enough water was running down the steps in the hall, down the railing, and dripping from the ceiling. What a relief to know it wasn't ours! Scott and Yturraldie started up the stairs to see where it was coming from. The apartment two floors above us had water running out from under the door. The man answered the door with a mop in his hand - the toilet had run over, and over, and over from the looks of things!
At 5:30 we picked up AltaGracia and William to go out to their places. How humbled I am to be able to associate with people like these two. They have so little but maintain such a happy attitude. I really didn't think we would ever get the car down some of the roads to her house but we did.
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