Finally... a BLOG!

Hello World! I know we have been off the grid for a few days; the intesnt isn’t the best here at the COCFREF Missions Center.We apologize! However, we are here to updated on the last few days here in the beautiful contry of the Domincian Republic!

Day 1

SO, we all met at Toronto airport; except for Eve and Karla (who would be coming later on in the trip) . When Eve finally arrived, all was going smoothly but apparently TOO well for John. So He had to ruin the good trip by having 5 lbs above his limit. But that was quicky fixed.

After some time in line, Natalie got swabbed for drugs randomly (don’t worry. SHE PASSED) Next, she was bullied by an older lady bumping into her from behind. Now she didn’t get through the metal detector and had to get patted down. Poor Natalie. It was an early morning so we were on ready for 2 of coffees. The plane had us seated all scattered; you would have never knowen we were a group! The 4 hour flight felt quick and once we landed we drove 4 hours to our destination; the Mission Center. We met with Mario and Guido who then took us for a walk around the block after dinner. It was an interesting walk because Bill was getting a lot of attention from people on the street.

Day 2 – first work day

We got to travel to the school we’d be working at for the week and met the principal, Keila and her 3 sons along with one of the teacher and secretary of the school. Our job that day was to start painting the school building while some of the local workers were working on the roof. We got lots of work done that day. Keila’s oldst son, our new friend,  tried to help us with the painting. Even though we loved his help, eventually we had to take the paint brush away because he wasn’t staying in the lines. After lunch we went on a walk through the village and saw the medical center. It’s still not finished but it looks so good so far. We were all WIPPED after the first day of work because we weren’t used to working in such heat; so we headed to Carrefour (the DR version of a Walmart) to get some snacks and frozen yogurt with Billy. This was the first day we met our translator Billy. Billy loves selfies and we love to take selfies with him. He is a vibrant character who always keeps a smile on his face. His favourite expression is “FANTASTICO” and we love to hear him say it.  He has been a great help to our team, translating and telling us more about the country and the people.