Hello all! In case you're new to this/haven't heard, i'm in the dominican republic (or the DR, or republica dominicana, or just the dominican). I arrived Thursday, and it was quite the day, as i actually left home at noon on Wednesday. i flew from seattle to DC to NYC to Santiago, DR. a guy on the plane told me my spanish sucked, which was discouraging, but it's getting better and camp is awesome. 3 guys were at the airport from the camp to pick me up, and this was a major blessing from God to me that afternoon. it's just what i needed--if you know me at all, you know that most of my best friends are guys, so the fact that they were there was great. and zach, one of them, is my age and plays baseball (just like my boys at home! yay!) the other girls arrived later that night and they're all awesome also. lauren and krystle are from texas and both just graduated from Baylor, while Julie is from San Diego and graduated 3 years ago from UC Davis. laura is a staff person here and is super funny--she is always hungry and it cracks us all up. Roy is in charge of us, basically, and has been here for 8 years. Jack and Deb are the property staff directors, and they're both amazing. Deb is so sweet and motherly and leads us interns in a bible study some nights. we had an unexpected group come to camp this weekend so the interns stayed at jack and deb's house a few minutes away in Jarabacoa, which is the city we're right outside of (and where i am now, writing this blog). Both nights this weekend, another group of girls was also staying at their house--there were 12 of us for dinner both nights...it was AWESOME! the girls are studying abroad in Santiago. There was Sara (from Virginia), Brita (Chicago), Joanna (DR/nyc), and Amanda (South Carolina). i loved all of them and had such a blast spending some time with them.

when i arrived i didn't know what to expect or what we'd be doing down here. i hoped there would be campers even though the property isn't all the way finished, but it turns out that we'll be hosting work teams each week, all of which are from the states. dominican spanish is pretty hard to understand sometimes, but i'm starting to catch on more, and i'm getting practice with some of the dominican staff we're working with.

yesterday was our first work day, and i'm on the kitchen extension project. we had to take out 3 large bush/tree things and dig up the roots, then dig down to find the concrete footer already in place on the existing part of the kitchen. it's like 4 ish feet deep, and we have to dig the trench all the way around the perimiter of where the new part will be so we can pour the new concrete footer for it. joey, one of the guys who picked me up at the airport, is the other person on the kitchen crew. he and his wife and adorable 10 month old daughter live and work here, and he's kinda the construction pro around camp. while we were digging, he accidentally hit and broke the water pipe, haha, and water was spraying EVERYWHERE. and the dirt, once you get down a bit, turns to this red clay (barro, according to Jorge) and it hardens when wet then dried. so that was fun. :o) julie and i were on that project all day (normally she'll be on something else, but we don't have a work team here yet), using shovels, pickaxes, and even drilling/breaking up cement all day long. it was hard work, but whenever i got tired i just had to remind myself that i was working for Christ's glory, not mine, and He gave me the strength I needed to get through each moment. after work, i fell asleep waiting for my shower time.

last night during our bible study, i had alittle bit of a breakdown, and started crying while i was talking. i'm doing fine, i just was super tired, and yeah, emotional. i do miss home, and i miss my family and friends and puppy. but things are going to be great here, and i love the country, the dominicans, the americans here, and the camp itself is gorgeous. (and don't worry, mom and dad, i really am okay, i was just tired and miss you guys!)

i gotta wrap this up...everyone else is done using the computer and they're waiting for me. but church today was super cool, it's outside under a roof, and the worship was AMAZING, and the service, i actually understood a lot of it.

time to go, but i'm thinking of and praying for you all, especially my family and friends that i saw the weekend before i left, you know who you guys are! and my girls that are also abroad for the semester! i love everyone and miss you lots! if you think of me in your prayers, keep my spirit in mind, my spanish, and my strength. that's all for now, hopefully more on friday!