10/27/2012 End of the Storm!

  We were still mopping up water from the rain storm on Friday.  It would seem to settle down for a few minutes then would start blowing and then came the rain.  I doubt we will ever see rain like this again - certainly not at home.  There was some awesome thunder that shook the windows and blew out the power.  We still had the water problem in the bathroom then something went wrong outside and we lost our water in the kitchen.  So all in all we had power off and on most of the day but little water.  Joel, the repairman, (who we now know on a first name basis and is about part of the family because he spends so much time at our apartment) came by to check out the water leaking into the apartment below only to discover that water was leaking through our bathroom ceiling also.  He thought it had something to do with the hurricane winds and rain.  Doesn't make sense to me! When he comes he gives us both these great big hugs -
  I did get some pictures of the storm which I will put in this blog.
   The Shavers, the Ruckers, and Scott and I went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that they had been to before.  It was delicious!  When it storms here the people stay home so the roads were not too congested.  All in all, it was a fun night.  AND we even had power when we got home.

   In this picture you can kind of see the sheets of rain.  They would come from the south and blow towards the north with unbelievable intensity.  You could barely see just across the street because the rain was so dense.
   The streets, even with their built in storm drains on both sides of the street, were flooded and running up on the sidewalks.

    There were trees blown down in some places.  Two trees were blown over and landed on the fence that surrounds the temple.  The ocean is a dirty grayish tan color about as far out as you can see from the stuff that runs into the river then into the ocean. 
    We were worried about our families down by the river and found the Alta Gracies house had flooded with over 4 feet of water.  She said two of her mattresses from  her house floated off and into the river.  She and her kids were with Williams family.  How they were ever going to take care of another family with how little they have was such a worry for us.  We got some food and things together and went down to William's  house.  I am amazed at how these people just take everything in stride.  They had no idea where their next meal was coming from.  Everything in their house was wet or destroyed or floating.

   The kids are always so happy to see you.  I am so grateful there are some kids for us to love here!
   We got home in time to go to Hainamosa for keyboard lessons.  The twins had played in church last Sunday and their family was so excited.  They all showed up at our lessons today.  This is the mom and her three daughters:

How blessed we are to be able to be here and work with the people here.
The day is ending much quieter than it started.  We seem to be back to the normal except now we don't have electricity in our kitchen for some reason.  I would ask what else could go wrong in this apartment but then something else would happen so we will just be grateful we have a roof over our heads and dry beds!

 

 

10/25/2012 Hurricane Sandy

Wind howling though our apartment, water in puddles under all of the windows - that has been the last couple of days and nights!  You can't sleep at night because the rain is pounding on the windows.  You know if you get up in the night you have to be careful because there is probably water on the tile floor and it is very slippery!  This storm has been worse than the last one that was so well prepared for and publicized for weeks before it came.  We didn't even know this one was coming and we get a newspaper every day.  It makes you sick for all those people who live in little makeshift houses that fill with water every time it storms like this.  Our friends, the Shavers, traveled to La Romana for a conference today.  Of course the weather was terrible but as they drove along the road by the ocean the waves were hitting the rock and going straight in the air then over onto the road.  They were grateful to get back in one piece.  Don't know how long this is supposed to last but it has calmed down tonight for awhile.
    Our neighbor came up this morning to tell us our water pipe was leaking into her bathroom and it was running down the drain into the apartment below her.  Great huh?  We couldn't get anyone to come look at it until tomorrow so had to shut off the water.  The elevator isn't working and William told us tonight that it would be out for 8 days.  For us on the 4th floor that isn't so bad but I really feel bad for those people on the 10th and 11th floors.  There is an 8 months pregnant woman on the 10th floor that the workers are worried about.  Just hope she doesn't have to leave until she is ready to deliver.
    Alysha sent us some pictures of the snow on the ranch.  Wow!  On was of Miya and Jared by a snowman.  We printed it off and stopped to show William on our way in tonight.  He had no idea what snow looked like and couldn't grasp that "snowman" concept at all.  It was pretty funny watching him scratch his head trying to figure out just what that was.  Even after Scott explained how you pack snow together to form body parts he had that puzzled look on his face. I'm sure the more educated people would know what snow is but these guys with no education are a different story.  William had on a jacket zipped up to his chin and was rubbing his arms saying he was "frio" freezing cold.  It's probably around 75 degrees out there; not exactly freezing weather!
   We braved the storm and went to Spanish classes.  We cancelled our music lesson at the Casa because only one of the students was even there.  Most of the temple people that have Mondays off come to the early class because they live right there in the building.

   I don't know if they are celebrating surviving the storm or what but the music across the street is loud and obnoxious.  It's cool enough we could leave the windows open and it would be nice, but you can't sleep when there is so much noise outside.
  This man wanders the streets most of the time.  If he stops in the little store across the way they kick him out but today they must have let him stay inside for a little while because he was soaked to the skin.  I looking out the window when he came out behind a guy that had lit up a cigarette.  The guy stopped and gave it to the vagrant.  I wondered if he had even ever smoked before because he certainly could never buy cigarettes.  But he was a happy camper for some time:

 

10/24/2012

There must have been another tropical storm going by because we had crazy weather today.  Wind and rain - here they call it a tormento and I think that transfers fairly well into English what kind of a storm it has been.  Scott was mopping up water again as it dripped from the windows.  The wind was howling through our big windows, shaking them like they were going to break out.  We left and went to the temple - by the time we got into the temple I looked like I had been at sea for months!  Oh well....
    The women that were at the temple last night were there again tonight.  I had an opportunity to talk to the young one.  She is going to Utah to UVSU this December to school and is so nervous about it being cold.  She is contemplating going in April instead because it will be warmer.  Since she gets sick when it is cold here (70 degrees) I don't think she would fair too well in a Utah winter.  She is such a cute girl.  She has her long, long hair braided in about 30 braids from the top of her head down her back.  I wanted to ask her how long it took to do that hair style but thought she might think it was none of my business!
     Our morning started with a great surprise.  Joe called on skype at 6:00am his time but he was up with a wide awake little Samson.  What a beautiful, sweet, and content baby!  It was such a treat for us.  How blessed Joe and Hannah are to have him.  We have seen many of our youngest grandchildren on skype this week and I have to say  - seeing how much they have grown and changed since we left 8 months ago just makes me want to cry...  I know - I am a sad, sorry excuse for missionary.

10/23/2012

  I  blogged early yesterday do didn't get in a couple of pictures.  Elder Despain knows Bishop McClellan so I hope they see this.  He was asleep on his wife's shoulder for half of the class but as soon as I went to click the picture he woke up.

This happens often!  Then we have Reid Cornish who is Pres. Cornish's son.  He is as pure and Christlike as anyone I have ever known. Each week in Elder Hammon's Spanish class he puts a quote in Spanish on the board for us all to learn.  Then at the end of the lesson he has figured out  games in Spanish that we all participate in. 

Knowing him has been such a privilege. He considers all of we senior missionaries his family.
   Family Home Evening was Sister Alcontara giving the lesson.  She is in the ward we are supposed to be in and works in the temple so we have seen her around.  She and her husband were some of the very first converts in this country in 1978.  Days after her baptism she was called to be the Relief Society President then went on to be the stake RS pres in two different stakes for a total of 18 years.  She teaches at a University here.  Her husband died about a year ago after he was given some kind of experimental drug for something.  She handed a picture of him around - he looks like Sean Connery.
All in all it was amazing listening to her - even if I didn't get all of her Spanish.  We did have an interpreter so that was nice.  I don't think of there being pioneers in the church that are still living!
    Tonight was temple night.  There was a group of French speaking people at the temple.  It is a great service the church does of supplying a place for people to stay who come from other islands in the area.  They pay $6 a night for a room that they put their whole family in.  They hire a guagua (a small bus) to come if they live in the Dominican Republic otherwise they have to fly here.  But they are so excited to be able to come to the temple together.  It is a joy to be with them and see the love and concern they have for each other.  We take so many things for granted at home.

10/22/2012

An early Sunday morning - left after 8:00 am to pick up the kids down by the river.  There were only four this time but little Maria still was determined to set on my lap in the front.  I don't know what kind of laws they have here about that sort of thing.  They came up to meet us so I didn't have to set there in the car by myself while Scott went to find them - yeah! This is the neighborhood:

On the way to the church we passed another horse drawn cart vendor:

I don't know why these horses don't get spooked from all of the noise going on around them.  Much of the time they have cardboard taped to the sides of their heads to keep them from getting spooked. This horse looks very healthy compared to most!
  We dropped the kids off and tried to find our way to Mi Hogar to listen to Stephanie play.  I don't know what is so difficult about finding that place but it certainly seems hard.  One thing is you can't see between buildings or over top of buildings because they are all just jammed together.  We finally found it - still in time for Sacrament meeting. The fun thing was Stephanie was also speaking so we got to hear her speak and play!  Knowing we were late to get back and take care of the kids during Sacrament meeting in their ward we rushed out and I didn't get a picture.  We did get back for most of the Sacrament meeting in the Tres Brasos Ward and couldn't see where the kids were.  A wonderful sister was sitting back in the corner with them.  They are such sweet kids!  We took them home and hurried back to the apartment to get lunch and pack the car in the half hour we had before leaving for the San Cristobal Ward.  It was easier to get there this time so we were even a little early.  This is a fun group of adults who are just so excited to learn.

One woman comes and brings her little two year old and a place for her to rest:

   She carries in this twin size mattress for this little girl to rest on every week.  She's good there for a few minutes - maybe some day it will pay off!
  This is a group of adults who really want to learn and are moving along rapidly with the directing course.  What we will do when we get to the keyboard lessons with 30 people is beyond us.  Normally some of the people would drop out for various reasons - so we will see.
  We had 45 minutes to get from there to Oriental Stake for a 4:00 lesson.  The traffic was good so we actually were only 5 minutes late.  Still beat the kids there and the gate was actually unlocked.  When we were getting things set up I noticed this little thing on the floor that looked like a piece of paper.  It wasn't!  As I reached down to pick it up it rapidly moved away from me over to some chairs.  This picture doesn't show how really little it was:

 It was all of two inches long!  I kept trying to get a picture of it and it would quickly move to the other side of the chair leg.  All in all, it was a cute little critter that my grandkids would have loved!
  The kids had a fireside an hour after we got there so that cut our lesson short.  A few stayed to practice.  By the time we got home we had been gone for over 11 hours and I was pooped.  Scott went to a meeting at the Casa and I just enjoyed being home. Yturraldes stopped by on their way home - they have their internet working now so we don't see them two or three times a day. 
  All is good.  Homesickness just sort of comes and goes in waves.  It is difficult to see the little ones growing and changing and not be there but I didn't think that was going to be easy for me.  It is still hot here and hard to get in your mind that winter is never going to come...

10/20/2012 Saturday lesson

     Scott started the day early at the temple helping with baptisms for the dead with Elder Yturraldie
and Elder Eickbush.  I used that time to wash, rinse, and hang clothes all over the apartment!  We studied when he got home and planned our lesson for tonight.  On the way to Hainamosa we go through this area that is always plugged up and anytime you have stopped traffic, you have mucho vendors:

More of our" normally there" students showed up tonight.  It is a good thing they don't all show up at the same time since we only have 10 keyboards.  Brother Soreano had found my hymn book with all of the English titles written above the Spanish so I could tell what the song was - I am so grateful.  It's much better than playing a few measures of the hymn before you know what it is, and sometimes you don't know even then.  I play the opening song for them to sing.  Few times have I heard more people sing off key!  You have to keep checking the music to see if you are playing it right.  They are such sincere singers - just have not been taught to sing with the music.  While we were carrying all of our equipment out to the car these boys surrounded me and begged me to take a picture of them.  When I got the camera out they grabbed everyone in sight to be in the picture.  And here it is....

You just have to love these people!  Of course then they all have to see themselves in the picture.
   We were pooped on our way home saw a Kentucky Fried Chicken place; drove across traffic (like
the Dominicans do) and stopped to get supper.  It was great!
  Got to get ready for a busy day tomorrow.