Last night in the DR

This is my last night in the Dominican. I am not sure what the game plan is for tomorrow except flying out to Port Au Prince at 4 pm. I will take a 1 hour flight and land in Haiti at 4pm...weird!

I have drunk from a coconut- and then proceeded to eat the actual coconut. Good but not quite a sufficient dinner. I have eaten many other wonderful things but have also been able to cook for my hosts- eggplant parm is currently in the oven awaiting- my parents taught me well and those skills are going to good use here!

I also made some new friends. These are some of the people from the foundation for peace. They have a staff of both Americans and Dominicans that make it possible for Americans to come down on short term missions. They are the bridge that helps interface the differences in culture so all are able to have a good time as well as build relationships with brothers and sisters from other cultures! What an amazing work they do down here. Join me in praying for these amazing servants as they participate in God's work here in the DR.

And now, the breeze is blowing, the fans are blowing too and the sounds of the DR are coming in to the house. I can hear music and radios from cars or houses despite being inside. Sounds of children sometimes reach my ears and the occassional dog bark (many strays in the streets from what I have seen). It is sweltering but if I go out the door and walk on to the roof it was down right wonderful!! Maybe I will get up early and grab some pictures before I go!

On to the next stop. Thanks for reading. Blessings. beth

random thoughts from a tired traveler (who has wireless so compelled to post)

I am exhausted from too many days of long hours, getting up early, and staying up late. I was getting 5-6 hours sleep the week before I left because of seminary finals week and now I am maintaining that schedule which is really not good- very difficult to stay awake when I don't understand people's conversations for long stretches of time ;)...oh wait, sometimes I feel that in seminary!!
I am missing my classes graduation tonight- wishing you all the best but glad I am not there because I think I would have been a little too jealous to sit and watch you knowing I could not walk with you.
I found a CD of my friend david bailey here in the DR- we listened to it yesterday. Craziness!
I am also having a hard time breaking "the zikomo habit." Ie. Whenever I don't know what to say because I don't speak the language I want to slip into the language of the Malawian people. Zikomo means thank you (and your welcome, and anything else!). Papani means sorry...etc. And thus I am having a hard time of switching to the simple Hola of Spanish after a total of 13 weeks in Malawi in the past.
And lastly- I am makeshifting spinach artichoke dip for my host (who was craving it)- gotta go do that- oh the creature comforts. We all miss the weirdest things!
:) I'm off for now!
beth

people actually read this?!?!?

I feel incredibly welcomed in the Dominican Republic! I have a bunch of new homes. I have had opportunities to meet with multiple people in four communities and have invites from all of them to come back with or without my own team! Such hospitalitiy puts me to shame as an American.

Today I played with kids in an elementary school. I am amazed at how kids of all cultures have similar behaviors. If it were not for the language, different school uniforms etc I would have thought I was in Palestine or Malawi. Kids are kids across all cultures. Acting out for attention. Clinging to something familiar. Reaching out to the strange American. Posing for pictures (in ridiculous ways!) etc. etc. I am also yet again amazed at how children in other cultures are able to entertain themselves in the simplest of ways. a kid playing hacky sack with a bunch of rubber bands. A group of girls playing chinese jumprope with one that has been broken and remended more times than I could count from my vantage point. A group playing some kind of hand game that I had difficulty catching on to! Yet again, kids are kids and in the two thirds world this is especially evident. They play the same or similar games even though there is an ocean between them!

Finally, I am used to traveling with a team. I am used to being a part of a team whether in Jamaica when I first experienced another culture to Malawi with my summer service team. I thought it was going to be incredibly difficult to do so without a team. But God has graciously eased me in. I have two Americans that work for the Foundation for Peace http://www.foundationforpeace.org/ and we have had a chance to spend time together, talk, and pray together. They have included me without question and I feel so incredibly blessed!

On that note, I think I am going to go check out the kitchen and see how I can help!

love and God Bless,

beth

Kids pose in every country!!! see!

I feel like Stephanie...

I feel like Stephanie- one of the students that went to Malawi with me last summer. She logged everything we did. I did not quite realize how much video footage she got of everything, from the sunrises to the bathrooms and bugs. Because I don't get to share this with a team, here is where I am staying! This is the common room between two bedrooms. Normally it houses several people. The room off to the left has four bunk beds...

And this is my bedroom- complete with its own bathroom off to the back and right.

Sorry I don't have any other pictures. I have pictures from the historic district on a very rainy yesterday!

Sorry for the frequent blogs. But since I will be internet-less for a while might as well take advantage of it!

Signing off! beth

ramblings of a seminary student (who emailed her last paper in to the seminary)

I have always loved flying. I have actually appreciated it more since 9/11. I always seem to spend time in contemplation (which is, I guess good for me since I will be on a bazillion flights this summer), thinking not only about the blessings but remembering how fragile life can be. And I am always struck by the beauty of God’s creation from so far above it. The sun started to set over the water as we made our descent into Miami. I wish I had been by the window but I am sure others are glad I was not because I would have snapped a picture or two.
As I flew into I was also struck by the steadfastness of God. I complain regularly that the sun does not shine in Pittsburgh. But it always does. Just because the clouds cover it does not mean the sun is not shining. God is always steadfast as well, always present, and if I cannot see it, then maybe it is my perspective that needs adjusting.

Enough with the deep thoughts...I am safely in the Dominican Republic. My flight was an hour and half late! By the time I collected my suitcase and went through customs my host had waited 2 hours for me. What a lesson in patience and hospitality that I need to learn from her! Ruth will be my host, translator, and sister for the next week + (she is also blonde so that is the immediate assumption, although spiritual sister works too)

I worshipped today in a Dominican Church. Shockingly enough, they do not believe in forcing God into a 1 hour block. Church started only a little late but ran over at least a half hour. The reason I know this is because there is a second service at 11 and we worshipped until 11:30!! Everything was great- I think we (meaning I) have a lot to learn from their worship. Worship is experiential. It is anything but passive. There is singing, clapping, and even dancing in the isles. And the sermon did not only include response but required it. There was no sitting passively and listening to the preacher. Which is why I know the whole message because it was not at all obtrusive for my new friend Ruth to translate everything!
signing off...blessings,
beth

D day

It is D day. Not death day. but departure day! And let me tell you all, I never would have ever been able to get on the plane without my family's help. Not because they were carrying my scared self on to the plane (cause my father would probably have chosen to pick me up and carry me back to the car) but because they did so much in the last week to make this possible. I don't know how I would have done all my school work, all my planning, as well as sleep without their help- so props to them. Do we think I can send my sister my Greek paper so she can edit it when my last paper is finally done!?!?! ; )

As I sit in the airport I just thankful that the marathon of preparation is over and the Marathon of the next 56 days has begun.

For those of you that don't know I am going around to several countries to study the affects of short term missions on the national church. What happens when a team leaves? Is it all good? All bad? or a mixture of both? And I find it utterly ironic that I am sitting right across the row of the terminal from a group in highlighter yellow t-shirts that say "making a difference for someone"- Mexico 2009.

And I will sign off with one final thought that is running through my head (I am trying not to think of the Greek paper that I have yet to finish but have been dreaming of thanks to the side effects of anti malaria medicines that cause vivid dreams)...My friend david bailey's airport song. Makes me smile as I take one of MANY MANY flights in the next weeks!

Signing off for now.

Blessings

picture of my sister who spent the last two days at my beck and call!! Thanks Kt!

hello, my name is...

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Beth. I have been given an amazing opportunity this summer. I applied for a travel grant from my seminary, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was selected. I leave in 12 days for 8 weeks of travel and study in 7 countries.

I am currently not sure what this blog will entail but it will prove to people that I am still alive and give you ideas what I am experiencing as well as how you can be praying for me. And what I am going through right now is stress! In the next 12 days I have to finish 4 papers and one take home final- I mean, no pressure!

The sad thing about this whole blog is that I cannot make my friend Meredith write it for me! I spent last summer in Malawi, Africa with 6 college students and thanks to Mere's wit people actually read and enjoyed our blog. This time I am traveling alone so you are stuck with just me and my own mindless ramblings. Sorry!

Stay tuned and God Bless.