Lost in translation.....

Bob and I went for dinner tonight in one of the All-Inclusives near by. It was a late Mother's Day dinner. On Mother's Day we went into Santo Domingo to the aquarium and shopping and I was too exhausted to enjoy a nice meal after that.
Turned out tonight was Mexican night at the restaurant. By each dish on the buffet is a card with the name of the food item writen in Spanish, English, German and Italian (to cover all the foreign tourists from Europe). But a few dishes lost something in the translation.
Here are the ones I can remember:

• Tomatoes rellenos (sp?) = tomatoes backfill
• burritos de pollo = donkeys of chicken
• pollo a la mexicano = chicken to the mexican
• (Pork pieces) can't recall their wording in spanish = back of hog

The food was delicious...just best not to read, or ponder for long, the descriptions!

love to you all,

~~anna~~

I may be just a bit cranky today....

Well, this is the way it is right now. Yesterday, May 16th, was election day in the Dominican Republic. By law everything had to be closed...which mainly was translated as ~~no one goes to work and all the bars are closed. By law no alcohol could be sold either. But sales of "Ron" and El Presidente just increase the days preceding the ban, so they are ready to celebrate at the given time. In case you're wondering, Ron=rum, El Presidente is the national beer.
In the Dominican you vote in the city of your birth. To allow everyone the opportunity to travel, the President declared Noon Thursday thru 6AM Saturday a national holiday. Our med clinic was only open til noon on Thursday to be in accordance with the law.
Yesterday was so unbelievably quiet. Pleasantly quiet and tranquil. No music, no construction sounds (several condos are going up near us), no campaigning (which meant the pickups with beds full of loud speakers were finally silenced) NADA! nothing. It was a joy! No sounds of moto-conchos (motor bike taxis). We kept marvelling at the silence. Only an occasional bird could be heard. It was a delight!
THEN the next door neighbors arrived.....They live in Santo Domingo and only come on an occasional weekend. We knew they were coming when our caretaker cleaned their built-in pool and re-filled it on Thursday! They stayed subdued until 6:06pm (voting pools closed at 6pm).
No election results until the JCE (election board) announces (which turned out to be about 10PM). Dominican law states that the winner has to gain 50%+1 to win (NOT 51%). If no candidate gains 50%+1, then they have a run-off election June 16th. Due to Dominican history (dictator, who was assassinated after 30+ years, followed by years of his right-hand man) they had a law that a president could not run for a second term without sitting out a term first. Well the previous president changed that law hoping to win re-election for himself~~which he didn't. Current President, Leonel, won last night with 53.55%. So,this is the first president since the 90's to win re-election for two consecutive terms (he already served in 1996)

So, back to why I'm probably going to get cranky today...our neighbors started their party at 6:06PM LAST NIGHT! It is now 6:45AM and the music has only gotten louder! It has never stopped! I'm not referring to music that is faintly coming thru their closed windows! OH NO! Speakers of several sizes and shapes, spread out around the pool and in the house....It's cranked up playing something that sounds like a scratchy record with an outer space sound and a constant deep bass beat.
We had moved our mattress to the living room floor, and closed the bedroom and bathroom doors, ( our bedroom is on the neighbor's side). But that only lowered it by about .01% I think. Bob uses ear plugs anyway; so, he then put a pillow over his head and actually got some sleep. ((Although there were those few minutes about 3AM where my hubby set off the alarm on our Explorer thinking that might get their attention...nada!))
So, I have now been awake since 6:30 Friday morning and no prospect of sleep in my future.
Yes, I did yell "Silencio!" several times out the bedroom window about 5AM! Yeah, that helped! The people sitting by the pool just went inside and turned the music up!
You might want to pray for my attitude today...and my sanity....and whatever else you can think to go along with that. After being declared the victor last night about 10, the President declared the country should celebrate for the next two days! That means this party could go on til tomorrow night or Monday morning!
Why, oh why, is there never a power blackout when I WANT one!!!!
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On one of our first trips to the Dominican Republic, I remember hearing another missionary say: "If you want to serve, do it because you love Jesus and want to honor Him. NOT because you love the people. The people will disappoint you, frustrate you and make you doubt why you are here. Your love for Jesus will keep you focused. "
This is one of those days when I have to focus on Jesus and remind myself that I am here because I love the LORD and want to serve HIM; I want to bring glory and honor to HIS name.
Because in all honesty ~~right now if it was based on love for the people, I just might not make it til noon today even.

Yahoozee schnoozee!

I am so-o-o-o happy! Today being Mother's Day, Bob planned a special day for me. We went to the capital where our first stop was the National Aquarium. It's not huge, but it's pleasant and there's a large outdoor area that's nice for walking. Grass and lots of trees!

It only cost $3 for the two of us to enter. Once inside we saw large turtles in their own little cement pond. Then there were several small wall aquariums with various displays, including a larger one with 3-4 ft sharks.

Unfortunately, the huge aquarium with the walk-thru tunnel is closed for repairs.

It was beautiful outside and so we walked along the railing on the edge of the coral. It was so gorgeous...the postcard view of turquoise water, palm trees, and ocean sprays!

We saw two large (2 feet) iguanas outside the enclosure...so not sure if they had escaped from inside or what.

Then we drove to MegaCentro a mall to eat lunch. Bob got oriental, but I got TACO BELL!!!! I purchased a combo with a burrito, soft shell taco, french fries and a beverage and brought the taco home to enjoy tonight!

We walked around there for a bit but then left to go to La Sirena, which is a store very similar to the Costa Rican version of Walmart. (How's that for a clear (NOT) description)

The store is very clean, well-displayed and has incredible variety. Great prices too!

My big Yahoozzee-schnoozee shout for joy???? MILK! Borden's milk!

All of our milk comes in cartons that sit on a shelf unrefrigerated until opened. Most of it comes from Italy. While it's okay in things or on cereal, it just doesn't taste the same as American milk. Well today they had Borden's milk! Yes, it's still in a carton, unrefrigerated until opened, but it is Borden's WHOLE Milk! and it was on sale for the same price as the other stuff. Regular price is 53 pesos for 1 liter, this week it is 34 pesos! (34 pesos = $1)

We bought six because we weren't sure how good it was. I just had two small glasses of it!!!! It tastes so-o-o-o-o good! So Tuesday we have to go to Santiago to get our mail (finally after 6 weeks) and we will pass real close to La Sirena. Bob says I can stock up as it will keep for quite a few months unopened! YAHOOZEEEE-SCHNOOZEEEEE!

I am now exhausted~~very exhausted~~ but had a deligtful day! Bob was going to take me out for dinner tonight at an all-you-can-eat restaurant at a local resort, but we were both so tired from our day out, we decided to keep that for another day and spread out our fun!

love you all,

~~anna~~

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Monday morning 8:48 and I am enjoying a bowl of Cheerios with real WHOLE milk. It's so-o-o-o-o good! Thank you, LORD, for little pleasures! (and I mean that!)

Krispy treats

I just successfully made Rice Krispy treats using Dominican marshmallows!

Of course, I had to go online to get the recipe, as the Dominican counterparts to US products don't include the recipes~~

I had to chuckle at this note at the end of the recipe

Store no more than two days in airtight container.

Are they kidding! Who has ever had a pan of these last that long!

I am being good, however, as I have a plate set aside for Tim and Evelyn for when they get back from the capital later this afternoon. They are transporting a patient from a village to be seen by a specialist at Cure International.

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Any one care to come on down and share some treats?

~~love to you all~~
~~anna~~

~~~encouraging refreshment~~~

While I enjoy reading other people's posts, I'm not very creative in knowing what to write here. Then again, I'm not sure any one is reading anyway. But I will try to be more consistent in writing.

A group of 5 ladies from Alabama came two weekends ago to host a retreat for the Ladies of SCORE. It wasn't for any groups that were here, or for the ladies in the churches, BUT just a time to encourage and refresh us missionaries! What a delight and joy they were!

They started out about two months ago by becoming our prayer warriors. Every week or so I would receive an email from Sheri, my prayer warrior. She wrote about herself, her life, her family and her walk with the LORD. She took an interest in what was happening in my life. By the time she arrived here, I felt like I was re-acquainting with an old friend.

Sheri actually lead the three teaching times; we played some simple games; sang songs of praise and worship; were sung to and prayed for; and given gifts; etc.

Heather, is a beautician. She offered to trim, style, cut our hair. We all took her up on that offer! I actualy have a real *style* now!

Two other ladies gave foot massages and pedicures! They took us out for dinner to *El Sueno* where we had a wonderful time of encouragment and fellowship with lots of laughter.

All of us feel refreshed! We felt like these ladies genuinely wanted to get to know us, to understand as much as possible what our lives are like here, and to come along side and hold us up!

ALL of this just on Friday!

Saturday they visited the girls' orphanage in La Romana and then went to a village in the afternoon. That night we met again one last time. We all sat in tears as they reminded us that we were NOT a project for them to accomplish, but they intend to continue to be our prayer warriors and maintain the friendships that had developed. They wanted to know if we would like them to come back next year!?! YES!!!!

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Then Ron Bishop, President of SCORE, came in for some meetings on Sunday. Monday night he took the entire group of SCORE missionaries (18) to a Mexican restaurant in San Pedro de Macoris for dinner. What a wonderful time we had at *Paco Taco*! Again, there was much laughter and simple enjoyment of one another. What a blessing it was to here from Ron: "Y'all are doing a great job! I'm so proud of each and every one of you! I consider it a blessing to be on the same team with y'all!"

Sort of a prelude to "Well done thou good and faithful servant" !!

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Please be praying for me and my health. We are pretty sure I contracted Lyme's Disease while in the States. We caught it early, and I'm over the worst of it, but I have NO energy. The least activity wears me out and leaves me feeling drained. I got up this morning fully intending to go to church. But by the time I got ready, I had no energy to go and sit in church for 2 hours!

It's very annoying, frustrating and discouraging. Please pray that my strength will be renewed yet again!

~Thanks~~ love you all~