Day 8

Today we woke up at the usual time, 7am. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs, french loaf and pineapple.

We left the camp at 8am and made our way out into the country for the first time. We went to a Batey, which is the Spanish word for an impoverished area. Here we visited a 4 classroom COCREF school. The grades 1-4 have class in the morning unitl lunch time and then the grades 5-8 have class in the afternoon. This school receives funding from an organization in Chicago for food to feed the students from grades 1-4 breakfast and grades 5-8 lunch. Some of the kids have to walk up to 8 km to get to the school. After touring the school, Nathan and a teacher from that school guided us through the surrounding area and viewed the living conditions. We then loaded back into the van and visited the next school which was approximately 10 minutes away. This school had classrooms for grades 1-8. They were taught in subjects of mathematics, art, Spanish grammar/phoenics. We then stopped at a bank, which was located at a gas station to exchange our US dollars to pesos. 

From here we went to Pizzarelli's and enjoyed some delicious pizza with a view of the Carribean Sea. We went for a walk along the seaside and took pictures with a soldier. Back to the van and off to the market we went. 

The market was an adeventure like no other. It was slightly scary. At the market we were bombarded by many vendors trying to sell us overpriced items. We were challenged with having to try to barter to get these prices lowered. After spending 2 hours walking through the shops, we finally left tired but satisfied. 

Nathan dropped us off back at the homestead. We hopped in the pool for a quick cool off before supper. For supper tonight we had a traditional Domincan meal which consisted of pickled onions, cheese and another food item we are not sure what it was. 

After dinner, some of us played basketball and the other's just sat and talked. We then met at 8:30 pm and did our nightly devotions. Tonight, Chelsea led the devotions by reading from three different passages in the Bible, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekial 36:22-38 and Luke 6:43-45, talking about what true repentance means in our lives.

We stayed up with the Chatham team for a while to keep them company as they were pulling an all-nighter, since they have to leave by 2:30 tomorrow morning.

We thank God for the experiences that we had today. It really impacted us to see that even though they have a lack of material posessions they are still living content lives. It was such an eye-opening experience to see that "our way of living" is not the only way, God's people are found in many different places and living conditions. Praise the Lord for this opportunity!