Day Trip to Higuey!

Life has been pretty slow here in Bávaro, so Carlos and I decided to take matters into our own hands and go on a day trip! There isn't too much around us other than sand, water, and souvenir shops, so we hopped on the bus and rode to the nearest big city (Higüey). It was about an hour long ride with lots of stops along the way. The ride was a lot of fun--we got to see the DR in its true form, away from all the resorts and tourists.

Our first stop once we got to Higüey was the basilica, not just any basilica--the largest basilica in the country! Large, that's for sure, but old, it is not; the basilica was built in the 1950s and stands in stark contrast to the small metal and cinderblock buildings of the rest of the city.

After walking through the church; looking at the painting of the virgin Maria, framed in gold and colorful gems; and taking a few pictures, we continued on with our self-guided walking tour of the city.

We saw lots of street vendors selling shoes, stalls packed full of imitation American clothing and accessories, "moto taxis," and smelly restaurants. It was AWESOME! We walked a few blocks from the basilica to the original basilica built in 1512. It was amazing to see this structure, built thousands of years ago, still standing and still holding services regularly. I love experiencing history!

The rest of the afternoon we spent wandering up and down the crowded, smelly, and dirty streets of "centro." These pictures say it better than I can!

(Those are chickens--dead chickens--stacked up on their laps on the motor bike...yummy)

(herbs!)

(corn anyone?)

 (inside the market) 

(outside the market)

(fruits and veggies!)

(I had to stop at this little place to find out what that pink powder was! Turns out, it is colored salt used mostly for cooking chicken. The red stuff in the other barrel is mixed with water and then poured onto chicken before cooking it and apparently it makes the chicken delicious!)

(*smoked* meat--is this even sanitary!? This is about the point when Carlos told me that he needed to get outta this place...it smelled...well....gross!)

Happy Sunday

I think I'm actually starting to get a tan. That's right. You read that correctly. I--the native Seattle-ite, born and raised with nearly transparent skin--am starting to look almost tan. I can hardly believe it. But don't get the wrong idea, two weeks of being back in cloudy Seattle and I'll look like a Pacific Northwesterner again. Carlos continues to reap the benefits of his olive complexion. He hardly works on his tan anymore, but he's looking nice and toasty tan. :)

Let's see, last Sunday was Carlos' birthday! It was a unique birthday. As it turned out, it was stake conference, but this stake covers a large geographical area and the conference was held an hour away in another province. We couldn't figure how to make it there by 9am, so we spent Sunday at the apartment.

Carlos was like a little kid on Christmas morning--he couldn't sleep in! So we were up and at 'em hours before the other guys. To start off the birthday festivities, I made Carlos some delicious Mickey Mouse pancakes (a tradition his mother started years ago). He got his first birthday present after breakfast--a compilation of birthday wishes from his friends and family. It was a nice start to the day.

We relaxed in the apartment for most of the day. He watched some basketball, we played a little beach volleyball, and we ate delicious homemade tacos (made with irresistible coconut, lime, cilantro rice)! His last present was a pair of Nike shoes. A woman from Haiti sold gently used shoes from a shop/hut in the parking lot of the bus terminal in town. Carlos found a pair that he liked, so I snuck back a few days later and bought them for him as a present. He was very surprised (which is a feat in and of itself because apparently I can't keep a secret and he's very good and figuring out surprises)! To cap off his birthday, I had made a strawberry cheesecake for him, since he doesn't really like birthday cake. All-in-all, I think he had a really nice birthday!

In other news, I caught a frog! It had hopped into the corner of the open-air theater the other night, so I caught him (I asked Carlos for reassurance that the frog wasn't poisonous and wouldn't hurt me before I just picked it up)!

Fast-forward to today!

Maria (the little girl from the first Sunday we went to church) came and sat on my lap through Sacrament meeting. I showed her all my laminated pictures in my scriptures, the pictures in my hymnal, and Carlos even let her watch him play Angry Birds for the few minutes before the meeting started. She pet his beard and his hair (when he wasn't looking) and twirled my pony tail in her little fingers. Two other girls walked passed me during the meeting and stroked my hair as well, saying, "Que lindo!" ("How pretty!")

The real highlight, other than little girls petting my hair, was that Carlos and I sang in Sacrament Meeting (right in front of the stake presidency)! Having been previously asked by a member of the branch presidency, we also shared our testimonies after we sang. Haven't shared my testimony in Spanish in over 2 years! It was a wonderful privilege and even more special to be able to translate Carlos' testimony. We received lots of compliments after the meeting. The former branch president (a sweet grandpa in the ward) shook our hands before leaving and asked if we would really be leaving in a month. He was sad to hear me confirm that fact, stating that he'd become accustomed to getting excited to see us every Sunday.

Our favorite juice!!! They have the best juices here!!!!

This is what I do each night--watch these guys and videotape them!

Update! Update!

Alright, I know you are all so curious how life is going here in paradise. Well let me tell you!

It has been a crazy past couple of weeks with lots of unexpected twists and turns! Where do I even start...

1. The 27th was Independence Day here! It was just like any other day, except they had a neat fold dance show at the resort after the guys finished singing. (One day I will get the video to load!)

2. Carlos got a job at a barber shop! We were exploring some of the barber shops near our apartment and went into one really close by and Carlos came out with a job! It's not the most lucrative of jobs, but Carlos seems to be learning a lot, and even a little about cutting hair ;)

3. The missionaries showed me around to a few different schools in the nearby area. We went to one school in the poor, Haitian neighborhood called "Pueblo Nuevo." As soon as we turned on to the main street leading into Pueblo Nuevo, I could tell instantly that it was the poor area of town--dirt roads, mud puddles, shacks, broken glass every where, and the streets were full of people including a few shoeless children. I didn't feel unsafe (don't worry Mom), but I was glad to be there with the missionaries! Needless to say, the school was about what I had expected--dirt "playground" surrounded by a wiry fence with 2 small buildings set back from the road. One room for the older children, one for the younger children. There were 2 teachers, who happened to be sisters. The older children were packed into the room (about 30 students), all silently sitting and copying drawings off the blackboard at the front of the room. The sisters said that they needed help in the afternoon, but the elders decided it might not be too safe for me to wait around. They took me to another school, closer to the church building. To make a long story short, I was interviewed by the principal and the school director, both of whom wanted to have me come in to teach an English class to the little kids. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that will work out now (see below).

4. While Carlos was cutting hair the other day, a man named Fred came in for a hair cut. As they were chatting during the hair cut, Carlos told Fred about what we are doing here. As it turns out, Fred is the sales director at the nearby resort (one of the resorts that Carlos performs at). Fred then proceeded to ask Carlos about me and what I do during the day. When Carlos told him that I am not working, but am looking for something to do during the day, Fred practically hired me on the spot, without having met me! Apparently he is in desperate need of an English-speaker on his sales team in the resort. He gave Carlos his phone number and asked that I call him to set up a formal interview. The next day I was in his office and being offered a job on his sales team! I've never done sales before, but he says it's an easy job (the people are brought to me), I get to eat at the resorts, and I get to make some good money while I'm at it. I'm not expecting to make too much, but a little extra money sure wouldn't hurt!

5. Today, I attempted to fill out the necessary employment documents. I was unsuccessful. I don't want to go into too much detail, but lets just say I spent all day on the bus, waiting for the bus, borrowing phones, being hung up on, being told offices were closed or their networks were down, and being confused. Thankfully, I was able to notify Fred of the issues and he understands. Attempt 2 tomorrow!

6. Ok, the other big news....drum roll!....We are moving to Cancun in June! We will finish up here in the DR around Easter, then we'll have about a month off before Carlos will start performing in Cancun. I'm pretty excited to move to Mexico. I've been reading up about living in Cancun and it should be a lot cheaper, more developed, and easier to get around. Carlos and I came to the decision that once we get there, we will try and find our own place to live. So far we've been married almost 6 months and we've never lived alone. I think that needs to change :) Once we get settled, visitors are welcome!!!!! We are taking things one step at a time, but Carlos won't be singing as often in Cancun as he is here, so maybe we'll both find other jobs there to stay busy....we're not sure, but we are excited to see what the future holds for us. All I can say is that the Lord is directing our path. A few weeks ago, if you had asked me if I thought we would end up sticking with this lifestyle, I probably would have said no. But things have changed and the Lord has softened my heart and broadened my perspective. Like usual, He has something in store for us that I cannot see from where I am. I'm so glad to have Carlos by my side throughout this whole adventure. I surely would not fair well without him!

Well, how's that for an update!?

Here's what you're missing!

Well, here's what you've been missing out on here in the Dominican Republic:

Here's what I see every night! I've become the unofficial videographer and group manager. I get questions throughout every show from the people sitting around me. They all want to know where the guys are from, if they are single, how long they've been singing together, and why they haven't been on America's Got Talent! It's exciting to see people enjoy the show and rave to the guys about how wonderful they are. 

This is Bavaro. Once you get away from the beach and resorts, this is the city (apparently this is where a lot of drugs are exchanged). No tall buildings, no name-brand businesses (oh wait, there is a Texaco), and no tourists :) This is where we've started to go grocery shopping. It is about a 15-20 minute bus ride from our apartment to this area. We've made grocery shopping our Monday ritual and this week's trip was one for the record book! We waited for about 30 minutes for the bus and when it finally showed up, it was PACKED! People were literally hanging out the open door. We, of course, squeezed our way on. Since we had already waited a half hour, I wasn't about the risk waiting another half hour for the next bus to show up and have it be just as full! So, we got all close and personal with the friendly natives on the bus :) We had to get off the bus at each stop so the passengers needing to get off had space to push their way off the bus. Then we'd all cram back onto the bus for another round. The bus attendant/money collector would literally PUSH the passengers through up the small stairwell and down the aisle like trying to stuff a Thanksgiving turkey. It was a great adventure :)

Once we did our shopping, we loaded up our backpacks with our goodies and headed back to the bus stop about a 10-minute walk away. In true island style, it started raining as soon as we left the store. What was a light drizzle turned into a typical island downpour. We huddled under a nearby store awning until it let up. The bus ride back to the apartment was much less eventful than the trip there.

Other than going to the different resorts each night, this is what we do....walk on the beach! It's nice to get out and people watch--it's becoming one of my favorite things to do here! These are a couple of pictures I took yesterday during our stroll. (Note: I love my IPHONE! I found a cool app that lets me edit my pictures right on my phone, then I can upload them directly to my computer! Editing pictures is addicting, especially when I'm taking pictures of beautiful things already!)

And let me tell you, it never gets old waking up and looking out the window at the beach and the ocean. Just build me a Costco and a Target and I could stay here forever :P

Church in the Dominican Republic

The fabulous adventure continues!

First, I must tell you about Friday night--Carlos and the guys performed at the newest resort here in Punta Cana (Breathless Resort). It costs $700 a night! Needless to say, I'm enjoying the chance to visit all these different beautiful resorts! Before they perform every night, we all get to eat at the resort's buffet/restaurant. The food at Breathless left me, well....breathless! It was by far and away the best meal I've had in my life! All the guys said the same thing! I had roasted chicken marinated in some sort of passion fruit sauce...I'm not even sure what it was, other than AMAZING! Carlos's steak was likewise AMAZING! We are all excited to go back next week!!

Saturday was another beautiful day here in paradise. Carlos and I went on a long morning walk along the entire beach. Here's what we saw:

We also talked with Kassim, our favorite Haitian beach vendor. He told us about taking the bus to Santo Domingo (the capitol)...I'm dying to go!!!! It would only cost us about $10 a piece to make the 2.5 hour trip there in an grey hound type bus. I think we will definitely try and get out there before we leave!

The best part of week 1: CHURCH!!!!

We looked up the church building earlier this week and set up a ride with EVOC's taxi driver. Blanco picked us up a little after 10, with his 2 adorable daughters and sweet wife. His wife sat in the front seat holding their 3-month-old daughter on her lap. I'm not sure if she was even wearing a seatbelt herself....

The church building was in a nice, tranquil neighborhood. The branch that meets there has about 30-40 members, and today there were an extra 8 people (from Virigina mostly) on vacation for the weekend. They were all jealous to hear that we are living here for the next few months :) 

We got confused about when church started, so we ended up only being able to participate in Sacrament Meeting, but it was fabulous! It took me right back to my mission! The branch president spoke first, bearing testimony about the importance of tithing. Then, the missionaries spoke about missionary work, followed by a young woman named Jennifer who gave a fabulous talk about how to bear testimony. We were sitting next to a mom named Kati and 4 other young women and kids. Kati was holding a cute little girl on her lap who seemed to be a little restless. So, with my mission scriptures in hand, I started pulling out the pictures I have depicting different scripture stories. She loved them! 

After church ended, I chatted with Kati and her daughter Suisa. Suisa is working on her mission papers and she introduced me to another girl who leaves on her mission to El Salvador at the end of the month. In chatting with Kati, I told her that I wanted to learn how to cook Dominican food, to which she said that I can come over to her house any day and she will teach me anything and everything. She was so excited! I figured out the bus route, so hopefully I can go and visit with her sometime in the near future.

(This is a picture of the tourist ladies and some members after church. 

They wanted me in the picture too.)

One of the tourist couples visiting came up to me after church and told me that she and her husband were watching me as I played with some of the kids before sacrament meeting started. She told me that she had commented to her husband that she hopes their daughter goes on a mission and becomes just like me! What a sweet compliment because I worked very hard to get to where I am now.... and my parents would atest to the long, hard journey it was! But, the compliment left me rather speechless.

As we were waiting for Blanco to come and pick us up after church, this adorable little girl kept looking at me. I stuck out my arms and she ran right up to me to be picked up. I just tickled her and laughed with her until her sweet grandfather came over to take her home. Her name is Maria and she just melted my heart! These people are so wonderful! We are already excited to go to church next week!

I touched a fish!

My life is amazing...I mean really. Besides the sunburn I got today down the left side of my body, my life is pretty much perfect!

I ate breakfast this morning on our back patio, right on the beach, looking out to the ocean and the waving palm trees. Then, I walked the short distance to the pool at our apartment complex and took in some sun while reading. After an hour of blissful reading, we all walked to the nearby grocery store.  I broke down and bought some peanut butter--who am I kidding!? I wouldn't have made it the entire three months without my staple! :) A little runnier than what you'd find in the states, but I have to attribute that to the perpetually 80+ degree weather. It still makes a delicious PB&J!

While we waited for the other guys to finish their shopping, Carlos and I order some chicken nuggets and fries from the "sports bar" next door. We recognized the french fries, but the "chicken nuggets" we ordered were far from it! Rather, they were little dollups of deep-fried cream-of-chicken soup. A little nervous to ask what these squishy/crisp things were made of, we dipped them in lots of ketchup and ate them anyway.

After our lunch "adventure," we dropped our groceries off at the apartment and went on a walk down the beach.  We saw one wedding, a few dogs, and plenty of men sportin' Speedos. Carlos also introduced me to his Haitian friend, Kasim. Kasim moved here to the DR after the big eathquake in Haiti. Now he lives here by himself while trying to make money by bringing tourists off the beach to go on a Pirate ship excursion/cruise. He speaks French, Creole, English, and now Spanish, all while wearing a Baltimore Ravens hat :) We had a fun time chatting with him while we walked on the beach. I also talked with another "vendor" who was trying to sell us a ride on a banana boat. I said no to the banana boat ride, but I took the opportunity to ask him where he goes grocery shopping (because the little store we go to by all the fancy resorts is WAY too expensive). He then told me the name of the store where the locals go and where we can jump on a bus to get there! Yay! Rather than paying $15-$20 for a taxi ride, we'll only have to pay about 75 cents! (I'll keep you posted on that adventure.)

Further down the beach, as we were heading back to the apartment, we passed a couple of guys who were cleaning fish. I had seen them earlier when we passed by, but there were swarms of tourists around them. As we walked past this time, all the spectators were gone. So I asked if we could take some pictures. I then started chatting with them about how they catch the fish. The older of the two men told me that they catch them with spears. He asked if Carlos could swim and when he said yes, he offered to take us on an "excursion" to teach us how to spear fish! Haha! Wouldn't that be neat!? He told me to touch one of the fish...yeah...with all their guts hanging out and everything. Apparently I made a weird face at this offer because he told me kindly that the fish were already dead. So I knelt down and picked one up, to which Carlos nearly threw up. Needless to say, he made me wash my hands multiple times when we got back to the apartment! As I placed the slimey fish back in the stack, our new fishermen friends asked how old I was. When they refused to guess and I told them that I'm 26, they laughed and told me that I was lying. Apparently Carlos and I only look 19 :)

Those are today's highlights! Oh yeah, and I learned how to dance merengue (some of the resort workers were teaching the vacationers).

Until next time!

The Arrival

I'm pretty sure that I was supposed to be Latina :)

I have only been here for 2 days or so, but I'm LOVING it!!! Yes, Dominicans speak VERY fast and slur their words together, but I've been asked multiple times if I'm from Spain. Most people seems shocked that I'm from the states. It does give me a great opportunity to talk about the Church and my experiences as a missionary :)

It is a blast talking with different people and practicing my Spanish. Just today, we made a couple of friends!!! Carlos wanted to get his hair cut at a barber shop that he had seen near our apartment, so after we went to the grocery store, we stopped in at the shop. I had a BLAST chatting with Juan Miguel (Carlos's barber)! I noticed that he had a little Christmas tree sitting on his station, and thinking that it was kinda random, I told him that I liked it. He smiled and said that he'll give it to me when we leave as a momento of the Dominican Republic and his shop. What a nice guy! Very few people are willing to just give their things away, let alone to a complete stranger! Everyone here is so friendly! He went on to say that we should come back and hang out with him in his shop, just sit and talk, or go and get something to eat. He also showed us pictures of his brand new baby boy and of some of the hair designs he's done. It was cool to make a friend! He even said that he'd find out where the church building is and that he'd be willing to go with us sometime :)

When we got back to the apartment, I made us a delicious smoothie with the fresh bananas and mangoes that we'd bought from a vendor selling all sorts of fruits from the bed of a small pick up truck. They were very yummy and made a tasty smoothie!

At 4:30 or so, we were picked up and drove about 45 minutes to the Dreams Resort in La Romana. While the guys set up their equipment and did their sound check, I enjoyed watching a dance act as their practiced.  I tried to eavesdrop in on their conversations (only for the purpose of practicing my Spanish!!!), but they were talking SO SO SO fast that I had to give up :) By the end of the night, the guys were getting dance advice from one of the hotel workers nicknamed "Chocolate". As credibility, he showed us his Michael Jackson school of dance ID card. He was a good dancer, but it was hilarious to watch him trying to teach the guys dance moves--in Spanish! Keep in mind that the guys don't really speak Spanish, which just added to the humor of the moment. Everyone at that resort was so friendly! Especially everyone involved with the entertainment! I took advantage of that kindness and got a lot of my Spanish vocab questions answered, like how to say "speaker" and "mic stand."

One year!

One year ago, this week, Carlos and I met. I can't believe how fast time has flown and all that has happened since our first date. It's been the most amazing year of my life! I've had some memorable experiences in my life--both good and bad--but by far, this past year with Carlos tops them all. I'm continually amazed by how much my love for Carlos grows with each passing day. He is my best friend and I am grateful each day to have him in my life. I mean really, isn't he so handsome!?!

Alright, alright...you all really got on here to read about Carlos and his adventures, so here it goes:

Yesterday's show was great! They were the headlining show for the evening and had a full audience to perform for (a few hundred people). Yay! 

As for today, the show was well-received by the audience at Breathless (the newest resort to the Punta Cana area--it just opened last November). 

The day started out with a bang--quite literally! Apparently their taxi overheated and caught on fire. Not the best thing to tell your wife who is thousands of miles away....my heart stopped for a second when he told me, but then I realized that he was talking to me, so he must be okay. Needless to say, their taxi carrying 9 adults simply overheated. Carlos was sitting on the floor of the van nearest to the door. When the driver got out of the van, opened the hood, and then promptly reached down to throw dirt/sand on the engine, Carlos knew something was wrong. Not to mention when the driver came over and opened the door to the van yelling, "Fuego! Fuego!" ("Fire! Fire!") 

They all got out of the van and waited on the side of the road for another taxi to come and pick them up. Carlos commented at how impressed he was by the Dominican people because about 6 cars stopped and offered to help them as they stood on the side of the road. I'm happy to know that there are nice people there taking care of my husband since I can't be there! Thank you kind people of the Dominican Republic! 

Once they finally got to the resort, they got everything set up on the stage when they were informed that they would be performing on the resort's outdoor stage rather than the auditorium. So, they took all their eqipment down and moved it outside. A bit of a hassle, but it all worked out in the end. There were a few issues with the sound (as seems to be a common theme at these outdoor venues), but Carlos said that the show went well!

The best part was Carlos' surprise at the show! While waiting for the show to start, all the guys were off doing their own things, but Carlos was sitting in the empty audience seats in front of their stage. One of the resort workers came up and started talking with him. They started talking about shoes!!! and barbering!!! Carlos whipped out his phone and started showing this guys pictures of his shoe collection and pictures of his hair cuts/designs. As they were looking through the pictures, the guy came across one of EVOC's logos, which Carlos has saved on his phone. I'm not exactly sure how the conversation evolved, but Carlos commented to this resort worker that he thought it would be cool to have this logo projected on the LCD screen up on the stage while they performed. The worker just said "sure" and took Carlos to the DJ, who made it happen! The guys were completed surprised when the show started and their logo appeared on the screen. Carlos got big kudos from the group as well as the producers! Yay! So proud of him!

The highs and the lows

So, yesterday's performance, apparently, was AMAZING! Carlos said that the sound system was awesome and they had a full auditorium by the end of their show (about 500-600 people)! He was so excited when I talked with him! He can't wait to perform again at that resort next week!

Unfortunately, today was not as amazing. They performed on an outdoor stage, but they only had 20 minutes for their sound check because there were other shows going before their show was scheduled to begin. As a result, Carlos said that the show was not very good. At the same time, he said that they received more compliments after this show than any of their other performances. Go figure! Thankfully, the problem with the sound should be taken care of before they perform at this same resort again next week. Just a little hiccup in the process!

Besides performing, Carlos has been walking on the beach and tanning by the pool. Rough life, right? I can't wait to join him! When I get there, I will help with the lights during their performances. Not quite sure what that means, but I will get to go wherever they go and eat at the resort buffets with them each night. Yay! I'm also anxious to find a school (or schools) where I can volunteer in my downtime. :)

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Don't drool too much on your keyboard...

The pool at our apartment (where Carlos goes every morning to swim and tan)

Um, flamingos. Not sure where he saw these, but aren't they cute!?

The venue where they performed tonight.

Ahh.....the beach!