And now...

I have been home almost 5 months. Really? 5 months?? Gosh, that flew by! I was home for 2 days and then left on a trip to Port Aransas with my mama, Jay, brother, Erin and Philip. I pretty much just sat around reading, watching TV and sleeping. It was lovely!


We did go to the Corpus Christi aquarium. We also go to hang out with the dolphins (there are pictures, just not on my computer)!!

I started working 2 weeks after arriving in America. You would think that it would cause some major culture shock, but I think that it actually prevented it. I didn't have time to be shocked, I just had to dive right in. I am the Spanish I teacher at Hill Country Christian School of Austin. And I love it! The Lord, indeed, had so much more to give me than that.


I am slowly starting to catch up with old friends and starting to be social (quite an accomplishment considering how little rest I had after moving home and how out of place I can feel here!). This is Rachel (aka T-Slice) and myself on Halloween. She's Luigi (as if it weren't obvious) and I'm a smurf (which isn't obvious at all).


Here's Angela with Evangeline Piper! So much has changed in her life since I left. She had 2 kids and is pregnant with their 3rd! Life keeps moving while you're away and you just have to jump in to the new world that presents itself when you get back!!


These are some of my students. This is, in fact, my smile class! They bring much joy in my life. I like to say that Jesus gave them to me at the end of each day to remind me how much He loves me!


An international cooking class! I have been waiting for the time when I got to join Anna's international cooking collective! For my first time we "traveled" to Afghanistan to eat some delicious food.

More to come, I'm sure, on life back in the States. Thanks for reading, those of you who having continued reading!!

2 August

Time to leave. I woke up ready to go. I had said so many goodbyes, cried so many tears and hugged so many people. The time for which I had prepared was here and I was ready to walk forward. Mr. Jim, Ashley and Cristina took me to the airport.


Saying goodbye


My Dominican parents. Thank you, Mama T and Mr. Jim, for all that you have done for me.


Ashley also said goodbye to them, as she was leaving the following week from Puerto Plata.

I checked in my bags and made it up to the terminal (the one terminal, that's all STI has). Kendall has given me something that read when I had left and I decided to read it in the terminal. It was notes and letters written to me from all of my friends on the north shore. Seriously, she and Ashley must have worked so hard to get that many people to write me something. It was utterly special and sweet and such an amazing gift. Kendall, thank you. Ashley, thank you. For everything.

I sat in the terminal and read such sweet notes from all my friends. It was a perfect closing to my time there. It was wrapped up with such an outpouring of love. Of course I cried through them all and felt so showered with love. I got on the plane and left the country that I had called home for 3 years. As Anne described it, I was in "no-man's land". I did not yet live in American. I did not anymore live in the DR. I was in the middle. For 2 hours, I was nothing and had nothing. I sat with Jesus, read my Bible and prayed. It was a sweet goodbye to one life and hello to another.

1 August, Part 2

After church, I went over to Sandra and Amaury's to say goodbye to them. They have been such faithful friends. They have been there anytime I needed anything (prayer, food, a couch, a TV for the World Cup, a hug, anything). They are true and dear friends. Saying goodbye to them felt impossible. Thank God for Skype (seriously!). We stood in their kitchen and Amaury prayed for me. It was a sweet time of fellowship. I just adore their entire family.

After that, the Mak staff came to pick Ashley and me up to head to the Caribe station to catch a bus for Santiago. The bus ended up being full and we had to wait an hour at the station, but they all waited with us and when the time came, they all prayed over me and sent me off with a hug. I cried the bus ride to Santiago but was ever so thankful that Ashley had come with me.

We took a cab to Jim and Teresa's house. Cristina showed up about an hour later!! She came down from the capital to say goodbye to Ashley and me!! What a wonderful woman! I was EVER so thankful to have time with the Whites and Cristina.


I know that it's quite a dark photo but it's Ashley and Cristina at dinner.

I was thankful for the talk I got to have with Jim and Teresa about leaving. They have done it before and had such words of wisdom. Their home has been the closest I have had to feeling at home on the island. Their couch alone brought me much comfort over my time there. And their love and support of me was a continual encouragement to me.

1 August, Part 1

My last morning in Puerto Plata was a Sunday. Perfect for saying goodbye to all my Templo Bíblico friends. The service was lovely and at the end Ashley and I had a surprise. The pastors had dedicated time for the church to spend loving us and saying goodbye. They had people get up and say what our lives had taught them. They had us talk about what we had learned from them. They asked us our favorite parts of Dominican culture and what we were looking most forward to with going home. It was a celebration and a beautiful time of saying goodbye. After the service they had Ashley and me stand up in front so that everyone could easily find us to give hugs and kisses.


Wilson, such a great friend over the last 3 years. Cara Jane and I always loved hanging out with us because he was the most "American" of our Dominican friends. He speaks perfect English and loves going to see movies, going out to eat and driving us around!


Some of the families of the elders of the church. Marta, Osvaldo, Bernabe, Jesenia with me, Ashley and Kendall


Manases, Jesenia with her girls Pricila and Tifani.


Ashley and me with Jessi Nicole


Jesenia and Lucrecio...such faithful friends!!!


Crying and laughing, a perfect description of my last week in Montellano


Just some of my family at Templo Bíblico.

31 July

For my last time in Chichigua, I wanted to spend plenty of time with all of those I love (meaning, almost everyone in the village). So I planned to spend most of the morning there, eat lunch, and then hug everyone goodbye. I arrived later than I had planned (I was really reluctant to go...I didn't want it to be real) but was able to spend time with everyone (except Gui, who was working; and Felipe because, in true Felipe style, he kept running away). I had asked Dido if I could eat lunch with her. She, of course, said yes.


We had a DELICIOUS meal of rice, beans, chicken, avocado, and soda. We sat there chatting and eating. And then crying. She was one of the hardest to say goodbye to. She was one of my best friends there.


She had been so welcoming to me (and Kendall!). She always let us hang out at her house. Visiting her was like visiting with a regular friend. There was no ceremony. We could sit on the floor (instead of being given a chair), take off our shoes (she didn't really like that we took off our shoes, but she would let us) and just sit. She loves making fun of Kendall and me. She cried just as much as I did when I hugged her goodbye.


After lunch with Dido, I walked around and said goodbye to everyone. It was 45 minutes filled with hugs, tear and laughs. They thought that I was a bit crazy for crying so hard. Plus my face turned all red and they think that's pretty funny!


I had Tigabi (Franchesca's dad take me home on his moto) and I cried pretty much all the way from Chichigua to El Silencio. I sat at home with Ashley and Kenny for a few minutes before going to say goodbye to the people in Tamarindo I hadn't yet seen. I stopped by the school to say hello to Laura who was there with a group from the Stone. More crying, hugging and saying goodbye.


We decided to go out for one last pizza at Lax with Rachel, Cara Jane, Ashley and KennyB. It was so nice to sit with those ladies and watch the sun set. It was a peaceful ending to a ROUGH day.

29, 30, and 31 July

Saying goodbye.

I cried for about 5 days.

Starting on Thursday, I began going around to each village to say goodbye to all of my students, the parents and friends that I had made. I went to Pancho Mateo, Tamarindo, Chichigua and walked around my neighborhood. I really cannot describe the pain that came from saying goodbye to mi gente. Will I ever see some of the again? Will they remember me? Do they miss me? Do they know how much I miss them? Even if I go back to visit, it will never be the same. I will never live there and be a part of their lives as I had been once. I won't get to watch our kids grow up as I had when I saw them almost everyday. I won't get to be a part of all the stories told. I was saying goodbye to a life that had been mine for 3 years.

I spent about 2 hours in each village going to each house of the people I knew. I stayed in some houses for a very short time, just enough to say goodbye and hug everyone. I stayed in some for a long time, not wanting to believe that this was my last time to sit there with them for a long time. I cried with almost every hug and cried harder when they would cry with me. Oh gosh, it was heartbreaking. Painful. Sad. By the end of it, I had nothing left to stand on but the promise that Christ is with me always. I had no emotions left. I had no strength left. I had nothing. I had left a life behind me and hadn't yet reached the new life in front of me. I had nothing but Christ.

"Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?" And the man of God answered, "The LORD has much more to give you than this." (2 Chronicle 25:9). This was a verse that carried me through pain. What, Lord, will I do with the love that I have given these people? What will I do with the parts of me that I have given to them? What will I do with the years that I have given to them? I can never get any of that back. I will never have my heart fully back, as cheesy as it sounds, because part of it is left in the DR. And the Lord says, "I have much more to give you than this." And He is faithful to fulfill His word and His promise.

28 July

The Wednesday before I left, here's what I did:


Oh how LOVELY are these trees. They bloom about twice a year and it's quite a sight around the island.


A group took our Chichiguan students to the beach over the summer but Jaquelin wasn't allowed to go because she has to finish washing clothes. So I promised her that I would take her and a friend of her choosing another day. The outing was postponed more than once because of rain. But we finally were able to go for an hour or 2. The girls swam and swam and played and laughed. I tried to stay out of the water (so as to not get sand all over....I hate sand) and walked along the shore.


Susan, Jaquelin and myself. What lovely young ladies they are! And we had a great time.


Later that night the Mak staff had a going away party for Ashley (who left a week after I did) and myself.


They had DELICIOUS food!


Lots of fellowship!


And a sweet time of being able to say goodbye to our American friends! Thanks, Mak staff, for sending us off with such love!