Countdown to the Spring’s Most Spectacular Shenanigans

The past few months have been muy divertido. Here are the highlights:

5. Expedition Night

In 6th grade we’ve been studying the Ancient Maya and the mistakes they made that caused their civilization to collapse. Come to find out, they have a ton in common with Haiti’s agricultural, economical, and historical situation. For expedition night we tried to raise some pesos for Haiti by planning a Pok-a-Tok tournament. (Pok-a-Tok is a Mayan game that is a mix between basketball and volleyball.) We didn’t make a ton of money, but the kids had fun and learned a lot. We were able to send the money with one of our 6th graders whose parents took the family to Haiti for mission work.

4. Snake Slaying

We have had many unwelcome guests in our house. These two snakes were by far the worst intruders. Good thing I had plenty of experience watching Pops attack Copperheads with shovels, because clearly I was the only one in the house that was going to do something other than scream.

3. Once upon a time, I fell in a manhole.

The Dominican Republic apparently doesn’t feel that manholes necessarily need to be covered. I have had the foreboding feeling that it was inevitable that I would end up in one. So I was walking on a sidewalk that I’m very familiar with and that I usually avoid in favor of the road because there is a manhole every 10 feet. It is one of my most favorite routes because of the beautiful view of the mountains, so I was enjoying the view, gazing up at the mountains, pondering life’s mysteries… Then, suddenly, I was on the ground, my left leg dangling in the hole and my right crunched up beneath me. Several Dominicans turned around to check on me. So I did what any embarrassed gringa would do: I told them I was fine, got up, ran another couple of miles, and humored my roomies with my ridiculous story when I got home.

2. Wyld Life Camp

Young Life is an organization that reaches out to high school kids by building relationships and having fun. Although Vida Joven (the Spanish-speaking version) has been around, this was the first year to have Young Life (for kids that go to English/bilingual schools) in Jarabacoa. The plan for next year is to add Wyld Life, a ministry for middle schoolers. To kick it off, we had a weekend Wyld Life camp at Pico Escondido, the Vida Joven camp right outside of J-ville. I went with 11 of my girls and 2 guys from Doulos. It was a really fun (and exhausting) weekend and I was glad to have an opportunity to invest more time into building relationships with my students. Despite all their talk about pulling pranks at night, I survived the weekend without getting toothpasted or shaving creamed in my sleep. Miraculous!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The number one event of the spring is…

1. Costa Rica!!!!!!

As a birthday present to myself, I headed to San Jose, Costa Rica to hang out with Meredith. We ziplined, enjoyed a movie and caramel popcorn in a very American theater, toured her school, hung out with other missionaries, strolled around town, experienced the public bus system, cooked up some mean chicken tacos, made a video tour of downtown, visited a volcano, saw some cool architecture, and drove around a beautiful valley with a friendly Tico taxi driver.

After I returned, friends came over to our house to celebrate my birthday cinco-de-mayo-style with fajitas!

Look for a more detailed Costa Rica post soon. In the meantime, check out my photos from the trip!

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