Wedding

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of some dear friends here in the DR, Nani and Jhon. Nani and I have been good friends since shortly after I moved here to the DR and Cristian and I spend alot of time with the couple as well as our other friends Anyelo and Leona. I was so special to be able to take part in their wedding and share in the joy of their union. I also got to help out with a lot of the planning and organizing, which was quite stressful at times because the bride would ask my opinion on just about everything and say, "I just don't know because I've never been married before!" Haha, neither have I! But I did feel honored that she valued my opinion so much.

The day before the wedding turned out to be a crazy day since it was pouring down rain all afternoon. And when I say raining, I mean that the road in front of the church flooded to about 3 feet of water and the bottom floor of the church completely flooded. So when we were supposed to be cleaning the church and setting up for the wedding, there were also people walking around in knee deep water trying to save books from the church book store.

In true Dominican style, the rented tables, table cloths and all other decorations showed up late. Well, I suppose "Dominican style" would be 1 hour late, and no one would think anything of it. But this was truly "Dominican late" : 4 hours!! So when everything showed up at the church everyone (or maybe just me) was stressed out from running errands all afternoon, buying extra candles etc, in the rain, on the motorcycle. And to make matters worse, our church's pastor thinks it is a good idea for the whole week before the wedding for the bride and groom not to see each other or talk. So this meant they could not coordinate together any of the setting up of the church. And I got elected to be the go between all day with Jhon calling me on the phone to relay messages to Nani. And Nani telling me to call Jhon to buy more lightbulbs. ANd when Jhon showed up to deliver the lightbulbs Nani frantically running to the closet to hide until he left. Whew!! Let's just say it was a very stressful day, and I think I was the most stressed out of all! Long story short, I left the church at 11:30 pm and there was still more decorating to do.

The wedding day actually turned out great, with very few minor hiccups. I spent all day doing hair (which I love) as i did the bride's and all the bridesmaids hair for the wedding. It again rained all afternoon and the power went out at my house just as all the girls were trying to put on their makeup. The wedding only started 1 hour late, which is good by Dominican standards (i've been to a wedding here where the ceremony started 2 1/2 hours late!). And the ceremony was absolutely wonderful, full of so much love and support. All in all, it was such an honor to be a part of this wonderful day.

Me doing Nani's hair:


All the girls:


Nani and I:


Ceremony in the church:


Cristian and I with Anyelo and Leona, who were married last fall:

graduation 2010

This year we had four children graduate from the preschool to move onto the public school. Here are some pictures from the graduation.

This is Abbi. She is the daughter of one of our SI staff members and is in high school. This summer, just like last summer, she helped me out in my class as my unofficial summer intern. She is wonderful and was such a blessing to me and to the kids. Thanks Abbi!


Here are the graduates marching into the graduation.


Singing the national anthem:


Yadhira:


Mike:


Tommy:


Karla:


All the graduates and their escorts:

Mural

This year has been a wonderful year of art at the school. Starting in the spring we had an intern at the art site who wanted to come a do art projects with the kids at the school. It was such a wonderful idea and it carried on into the summer. Every time we had a visiting team from the states they would come out to the school once during the week to do an art project with the kids. It was a great change of pace for the kids and a wonderful addition to their learning experience. Art and creative expression is such an important part in childrens' learning and development. I really hope this is a teamwork that can continue between the schools and the art ministry here in SI.

During one particular outreach, the art group painted a mural on a little building at the school that houses the water pump. It turned out so beautifully I just had to post some pictures of it.






The verse on it is Psalm 100:2-3
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

What a wonderful way to share the gospel through art. Praise God that He is so creative and allows us to praise him and share his message through beautiful, creative ways.

Last day of school

On the last day of school I brought my dog, Feliz, to school to play with the kids. The kids and the dog has a wonderful, crazy time running laps around the school chasing each other. Everyone definitely got their fair share of exercise and it was a fun and special way for the kids to finish out the school year.



Melany and Feliz:


Yinelvy and Enmanuel:


Riselys, Nalleli, me and Adrian:


Enmanuel, me, and Kyarolin:


Yohanna, Alberto, and Yajaira:

Pool Day

Last friday we took all the kids from the school in Mata Gorda to the pool for a special end of the year trip. It was so much fun! We took them to a place called Rancho Dos Rios, which is actually a really nice hotel/restaurant here in Jarabacoa. The manager was so nice and gave us the admission price for half off. This was such a special treat for the kids. They had so much fun swimming and eating pizza. They especially loved floating around in the inner tubes.

This is the jacuzzi-turned-kiddie pool where my class spent their time.



I posted more photos to facebook, you can check them out here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188718&id=697195043&l=7b0e403fcc

Class Picture 2010

I will be sad to say good-bye to 7 of my students as they move on to the older class next year!

back row: Isaias, Adrian, Fransys, Alexander, Jose Agustin, Smil, Emanuel
front row: Yocaira, Yinelvy, Kyarolin, Eliamar, Riselys

Women's Bible Study Update

The women's Bible study is going great!! Praise the Lord! We got rained out a few weeks in a row, but this last week we were back in action. One of the women commented to me that this has been the most successful Bible study group they have ever had. She said she has never seen the women so excited and talkative before. This is wonderful and such confirmation that God will take control. I was so worried about this study that I would not have enough so say to "lead" these women, but God has stirred their hearts and He is leading them and I just get to sit back and watch.