Storm and Power...

Last night was a crazy night. First of all, we are realizing that it gets dark much quicker here than it did in Minnesota. It is completely dark by around 7:30 here, which also means that it is very bright by around 5:30 in the morning. With that said, we experienced our first extended power outage since we have been in the D.R., luckily we had brought a flashlight with us and my computer provided a pretty good light for us as well (candles and lanterns are high on our priority list right now). I just continued writing a response paper, while Laura studied Spanish under the light of the mag-light that we brought. We passed the time (around 3 1/2 hours of no power) by doing work and listening to episodes of the Office on my computer. The storm, which was most likely not the source of the outage (rolling blackouts are normal throughout the whole island), was pretty powerful. It was thundering and lightening for around 3 hours with heavy rainfall as well. It actually made for a relief from the outside noise of the scooters, dogs, cats, roosters, and motorcycles, so we were able to sleep far better than we have since we arrived here.

We are also officially moved into our new house. We will send pictures once we have internet (which could come today or next month) at our own house. The place that we have is actually right down the street from the school, far closer than we were thinking we would be. Because we are so close to the town and the school, we are thinking that buying a scooter may not be as pressing as it was when we lived on the other side of town. Right now we are trying to get a hold of furniture for our house because currently we have our bed, a table, a couch (I just got it this morning!), and four chairs. Furniture is not cheap here, and people don't do garage sales like they do in the states (that we can throw a $3 sticker on a dresser shows how wealthy we really are, but that is far another post some other time). We are going to buy some furniture and have a gentleman make some other furniture for us, which is a priority because we want to have a house that is welcoming and where we can have people over on a regular basis.

Laura and I had lunch with a young guy whom I met the last time I was visiting the D.R. Revani is the worship leader of a local church and an amazing man of God. We will be meeting each week for a devotional time and to talk about ministry while I am here in Jarabacoa. I felt honored that he sought me out for this, and I am excited to spend more time with him over the next year.

More updates and news to come...