6/17/2011
Today, the plan for the team was to get up early, eat breakfast, and head out to the DTC for a full day's worth of work. However, I am learning that the D.R. runs on it's own time schedule. Unlike the US, the D.R. is not ruled by time management or the clock. Life here reflects a much more laid back approach and the mentality is "I'll get to it when I get to it." This was certainly the case this morning.
The team got up early as planned and ate breakfast. Honestly, we were right on our time schedule. Then Jim and Adam realized they needed some things from the hardware store called Ochoas. To get a mental picture of this place, just imagine a Home Depot or Lowes store. Ochoas is very similar. Although very similar to our hardware stores, this place is incredibly slow to receive service. I believe Jim and Adam were gone about two hours before returning back home.
We loaded up the materials in the back of the pickup and were on our way to the DTC. We were all laughing and carrying on in the back of the truck. Christa would smile and wave at kids, saying, "hola!" I would also wave and smile at people we passed. I believe the team was so happy to finally be in the Dominican, that all of us were on cloud nine!
We arrived at the DTC and instantly went into work mode. It was a little chaotic at first because we all dove right in and didn't have a clear direction. Our first assignment was to remove wood, steel, and concrete from the warehouse. I am sure this sounds pretty much like typical work, but it was not easy at all. The warehouse is located on the second story of the DTC, so this involved carrying these objects up and down the stairs. Did I mention that the planks of wood we were moving were huge? It was a difficult task to maneuver these over and under the stairs. This was the same for the sheet metal we had to move as well. We ended up sliding the metal through the stairs to the ground below. We also removed concrete cinder blocks from the warehouse and took those down stairs.
These tasks were quite humbling for me for a couple of reasons. I have always taken pride in my work ethic knowing that no matter what I will get the job done. However, these tasks really challenged me physically because I was not used to moving large, heavy objects- let alone up and down a flight of stairs. I remember looking at Whitney as she was carrying two cinder blocks down the stairs and saying if she can do it, so can I. So I rolled up my sleeves and grabbed two blocks. I am not going to lie to you, it practically killed me. As I was carrying these blocks, I couldn't get the vision out of my head of me tumbling down the stairs and breaking my neck. When I made it safe to the land, I made the executive decision to never do that again. I would take it at my own pace and on my own level. Even though I knew better, I realized how important it is not to compare yourself to others. There will always be someone who is better than you...always. What is important is to do the best that you can do. As long as what I am doing is unto the Lord and I am doing the best that I can do, I am certain that brings glory to God.
I think I need to remind you of where we are at, as well. The Dominican is pretty close to the equator, so we are not talking about a nice summer day in Indiana. It was HOT and sticky. I could look at everyone and we were all dripping sweat. Not to be gross, but seriously I think all of us were sweating in areas that we didn't even know could sweat. Again, a humbling experience for me because I don't like for others to see me sweat. I just don't think it's lady like and I find it rather disgusting. After about twenty minutes, that all went out the window as I could see my pants saturated with sweat and there was no hiding it. I really had to suck it up so to speak, because I was here to work, not to win a hygiene award.
Once we had removed everything from the warehouse it was time for lunch. We had packed some sandwiches, chips, fruit, and juice to enjoy. We loaded up the truck and drove down the huge hill to a gazebo on the grounds. This place was beautiful. The roof resembeled that of a hut that you may have seen on Gilligan's Island. It was made out of grass looking material, packed together in mud. (At least that's what it looked like. It may not have been grass or mud.) There were no walls which invited the day's breeze to comfort us in the shade. Stefanie was the first to point out a lizard on the roof of the gazebo. Sure enough as I looked there was a tiny green lizard staring at us enjoying our meal. I began to shift my eyes to the ceiling and discovered there were several lizards coming out to see the newcomers. It was really neat to see and all I could do was take it in.
Somehow during our lunch, the topic of spiders came up. Christa is terrified of spiders and I noticed her eyes shift to the ceiling of the gazebo. She began to look this place up and down being ever so vigiliant to spy anything suspicous. It probably didn't help that Nathan and Daniel were talking about the tarantuals that were out on the grounds. Oh yeah, and then Daniel pulled out some pictures he had of one on his arm that was the size of a softball. Real smoothe, gentlemen. Real smoothe. Poor Christa looked like she was going to get sick.
After lunch we headed up the hill back to the DTC. The goal for the rest of the day was to get the inside and outside of the DTC primed and ready to paint. Stefanie and Christa volunteered to paint the outside. I really admired them for this because they had to stand on a scaffold which consisted of a plank of wood between two ladders. I definitely didn't look safe to me! The rest of us began to pick up paint brushes and rollers and set out to prime the warehouse. I began to do the trim along the bottom of the warehouse. I really enjoyed this time. It didn't really involve a lot of mental work, actually pretty much no mental work, so I was able to spend the time talking and fellowshipping with God. Unaware, I would start to hum and sing to Jesus and really began to shift my focus to Him. I would stop humming occasionally to pray and Nathan would ask me to start singing and humming again. I didn't realize I had invited others to join in my worship, but I was thankful that he was enjoying it.
I looked around at eveyone being so diligent and it brought a smile to my face. I could see Rachel, Adam, Daniel, and Nathan on ladders priming the rafters of the building. I would chuckle as Rachel teased Daniel about the paint blobs he would leave and smile as Amy hummed a sweet song. I gazed at Whitney, roller in hand, focusing on priming the walls the way Jim had shown her. I couldn't help but wonder if this brought a smile to God's face as well. Was he pleased with the unity and the work being accomplished. I know He was right there with us, but did He feel welcome there?
It was time to leave for dinner and since we got such a late start, we were not able to get everything primed like we had hoped. We knew would have to make up for that lost time tomorrow, but for now we were satisfied with the day's work. We loaded up the truck and piled in. I looked at my team, speckled with white primer and the smiles on their faces. Today was a good day. We arrived back at the house to be greeted with a wonderful meal. We had a little time to grab a quick, cold shower and change into some decent clothes before we ate.
After dinner, there was a little free time to relax. Several of us decided to jump in the pool and take an evening swim. The water felt marvelous! Not too warm, but not cool at all. Whitney, Nathan, and I began to play a game of keep away with a little ball we would throw to one another. It was a welcome ending to a hard day's work. Today's low: nothing. Today's high: where do I start?
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