Going to club...

On our way to club in Pinar Quemado we set a record for how many people we could fit in our car...10 people and a guitar in our Rav 4!

A good move...

Getting rid of the pink!!!!!
Jake, talking to our dear friends Chris and Kristen!
Yikes, everything is pink in the bathrooms too. I guess we can't paint the toilet...

Jake and I recently moved after living in our other house for only a few months. We had been wanting to move to a house that was more accessible to our neighbors and that would allow us more opportunities to get to know people in the community. We really liked where we had been living, but the owners of the house had built a rather large wall around the house and we really felt like we weren't living very much like Dominicans.

So, this brings us to our new house. It is very close to our old house, on the Avenida, which is a nicely paved road that leads to the Confluencia, the convergence of two rivers. We live close to a Pharmacy called Farmacia Cristo Rey, which literally means, Christ is King Pharmacy. In our neighborhood there are a lot of colmados (like 7-11), beauty shops, and people walking or riding their motos (motorcycles). It is a very lively area of town with music almost always playing and of course a lot of kids too! We are excited for this change and are learning to embrace all of the loud noises and smells.

Before we moved in, we decided to paint the house, which has helped a lot! Also, we have found a lot of cucarachas, lizards, ants and mosquitoes, but we are slowly getting rid of them and showing them that they are not welcome to live in our cupboards or showers anymore. The house has a backyard that is really nice with an old rusty swingset which I wanted removed, but apparently it is still good, says the owner. Our next door neighbor's kids who climb the trees asked to come and play on it, so I guess it was good to keep it.

Thank you!

We are so blessed to have people send us some much needed and missed items! It is amazing what a difference it makes to have some treats from home! Some of our favorites are natural peanut butter, almonds, and movies. Thank you especially to both of our wonderful parents as well as our church in Eugene for sending us these items (especially Pastor Scott and his men's group)!

You are all so wonderful and we really appreciate the thought, time and money that went into these packages!

Love,

Jake and Kyla

Master del Desierto

Jake and I participated in the Master del Desierto race/competition with my boss, Krista, from Doulos last Saturday. The race consisted of biking, padaling, running and swimming as well as nine team challenges. We had so much fun and really enjoyed ourselves, despite Jake being sick and me not feeling prepared. It was an experience that we will not forget and one we are glad we had the opportunity to participate in.

One of my favorite challenges was the soapy wall. We had to get all three of us up a 12-15 foot wall that was covered in a soapy mixture. Luckily, by the time we got there, a lot of it had dried and we got up the wall pretty easily by climbing up one another. It was a little painful to have the weight of someone on my head and shoulders. It put a whole new meaning to bearing one another's burdens.

Another of my favorite parts was actually wandering through the desert. I couldn't help but imagine what Jesus and Abraham must have felt like. We even stumbled upon some olive trees and I really felt like I was traveling around Israel. Of course, I had plenty of Gatorade and Powerbars to eat, but I felt like I understood how hard that would have been to wander for forty days without food or water.

Hopefully, we will have more pictures later and possibly even a video, they are going to make a mini-series out of the race, kind of like The Amazing Race or Survivor. There wasn't as much drama though I can guarantee.

We'll keep you posted!

Jumprope Fun!

A work team from Texas came and brought some awesome equipment for the students to use. Their favorite was the double-dutch jumpropes. It was such a blessing to have this group. They did an amazing job and taught the kids how to jumprope, juggle with scarves and many more activities!

Some pictures of Jarabacoa

Here is the sunset from our kitchen window...

Jake...

I will add more later...

Sixth Grade Girls Party!

Jake and I have been doing great. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We have really felt them especially as people have commented that we are adjusting remarkably well. Thanks to the Lord, he has helped us so much in this transition.

One of the things I love about the place I work, Doulos Discovery School, is being able to hang out with students. I had wanted to have the sixth grade girls over to our house and finally it happened! It was so much fun to connect more with the girls and the other teachers. I had eight sixth grade girls over after school until about ten o'clock. They wanted a pajama party, but I thought this would be enough time together for now. We had a water fight in the yard, played tag, painted nails and toenails, ate junk food and pizza, danced a lot, and watched a movie. I had so much fun and can't wait to plan our next party.

I am really excited about the way that the Lord is opening doors to be involved with kids' lives. I love getting to know the students here and in doing this I hope that I can be an example to them in word and in deed. They are so awesome and I just wanted to share some pictures from our party so you can see how much fun we had!

Please continue to pray for me as I am asking the Lord what he would have me continue doing here. I would love to be involved more in discipling and leading Bible studies. For right now, teaching has been an amazing way to connect with students and to pour into their lives.