"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49

I can't believe it hasn't even been a week since I last wrote.  So much in my life has changed, again.  The changes just keep coming!!  I am so thankful this week to rest in the notion that each of us are so close to our Father that he keeps us engraved on his hand, he is carrying and holding us, and he knows absolutely every challenge that lays before us.  I keep falling back to this verse from Isaiah as I feel so far from home and from things that are familiar!

On Saturday I relocated from living with Dick and Mary Ellen who are American missionaries and live on Students International's base, to residing with my host family- Yocasta and her 15 month old Inesa.  This has been a huge change.  Living in the DR with a Dominican is much different than living in the DR with an American.  Yocasta is a wonderful, positive and grateful single mother who couldn't wait for me to move in, as she believes her house to be too big for just a mother and daughter!  Dominicans love to be around people- all the time!  I think sometimes she may not know what to do with me when I spend prolonged periods of time in my room.

Me and Yocasta

My Suzuki and house on the right, we live on the
bottom floor

Our front door

the front porch

the living room

kitchen with Yocasta!  water jugs to the left,
two burner stove straight ahead,
small fridge in the corner

dining room, my room is in the corner

Dominicans also share everything and believe in raising a child in community.  Both are beautiful practices, whats mine is yours.  I am getting very accustomed to having a toddler around, and I quickly learned to keep my bedroom door shut!  Yocasta doesn't have much, but she didn't think twice about bringing the rest of our delicious dinner yesterday to a neighbor in need.  And man can she cook!  I am learning to cook delicious Dominican rice, beans, plantains, eggplant and cabbage salad.  We don't have a microwave, oven or stove.  We have two gas burners and a small refrigerator.  This means everything we cook is fresh!  No artificial ingredients here.  We also have to use bottled drinking water for everything and soak all fruits and veggies in yado blanco (for all intensive purposes, bleach) for 7 minutes before eating.  Needless to say, food preparation takes much longer then I am used to...from start to finish, including cooking, eating and cleaning our rice and beans meal took 3 hours!  Luckily, the missionaries are all on vacation this week so time we have!

Inesa and Yocasta

Rice and Beans!! Best made on a gas stove

Yum yum!!  But very time intensive!

 We live in a safe neighborhood on the first floor of a two story building.  Our landlords live above us.  I had the privilege of meeting them last night when we caught two mice in a trap and neither Yocasta or I wanted to get rid of them....perhaps a negative of two females living together!

My bedroom is decent size with a bathroom attached.  SI is hoping to have Yocasta continue to host Americans even after I leave.  So, Jayson and his wife Lindsay (SI site director) helped me "Americanize" my room.  Initially, there were no curtains; a small alcove for a closet in the corner without a clothes or curtain rod, and no door to my bathroom.  We remedied all those situations and now I feel much more comfortable in my room.  We were also able to get internet, which I am so thankful for this to communicate with everyone back home!

La Avenida la Confluncia,
the "main road" my street is off of

My room!!

Americanized!  With lots of gifts from people special to me!

A curtain over my closet!

A curtain for the bathroom!

This weekend the entire SI staff is going to the beach for 3 days as a staff retreat.  They are celebrating the completion of 14 straight weeks of short term outreaches!  Then on Monday I start language training.  The American in me cannot wait to get onto a routine!  Yocasta is bilingual and the past week we have been communicating in English.  Next week that changes, and our conversations will be diminished into a preschooler's lingo.  I'm hoping that I will want to speak with her so badly that my Spanish will progress quickly!

I have noticed two huge prayer requests that have been answered in the last two weeks.  The previous short term trips I have taken to the DR, I have never felt quite comfortable.  Throwing toilet paper in the toilet and not drinking the water was so foreign.  Just not natural.  But, as soon as I arrived I didn't think twice about these things.  The same goes for walking by myself down the street (don't worry I'm being safe).  Also, I am feeling much less timid speaking Spanish.  Thank goodness because this is the difference between someone who can learn and someone who will never learn Spanish.  So, hopefully my language training will be successful!

I continue to keep all of you back home in my prayers and look forward to hearing from you...and remember you too are in the palm of His hand.  :)