"Un pedacito de casa donde quiera que estes."

...thats what the little tagline on my delicious little strawberry-filled short-bread cookies said today. And that's just what I need right now. Gracias Florentinas galletas. And thank you, all you people who make up such an incredible support team for me. And I'm so thankful that I have your love and support and prayers and that I can carry you with me in my heart and have "a little piece of home wherever I want to be."

. . .

This morning I went to Anija to interview a teacher and her class. 

It. 

Was. 

The.

Best.

It got me all excited all over again for the next half of the semester when I get to work in a preschool everyday.

Can't. 

Wait.

And, this morning was the best because I got to go to William's class [my professor's son] and he is just awesome. 

[Spidey in the front row was cracking me up]

[William is the one in the front row with the red shirt under his Anija shirt. Way cute.]

A few of my favorite things....

I really don't like cheesy blog titles, but I love that movie, so I decided to sacrifice for the cause.


But for real, here are some of my favorite things about being here so far [and really just a few because I can't think of all of them right now]:

• our fort and the mountains outside our window every morning
• ice cream and my journal in my hammock 
• playing Dominoes with our mami and papi
• my jar of honey roasted Peter Pan peanut butter...thanks mom...and my Trader Joe's sweet and juicy mangos...those are almost gone...sad day
• tostones, arroz, salon, y pollo
• that Megs and I still have duhj moments even with an ocean between us
• Papi's laugh 
• playing tag with my professor's 8 year old son after class [and a little bit during...shhh]
• hearing God unmistakably in people around me, trees, music, butterflies, and mountains
• dance party with our siblings and cousins
• that skyping with Jordan in the morning, even for 10 minutes, gives me energy for the whole day

my vocabulary and conversation class...the conversation part is never hard with a class full of girls :)

The FORT

My Mom is Superwoman...

She really is. And I miss her laughing at Grandpa when none of the rest of us do, and I miss her asking me 27 questions on my way out the door, and I miss her letting me watch The Little Mermaid every day of my life, and I miss her giving me Sprite and toast and popsicles when I'm sick, and I miss her smile and her laugh and pretty much its going to be wonderfulness when I'm with her again at Christmastime.


Momma,


I hope you are having an incredibly wonderfully amazing birthday today.
I wish I could be there to celebrate with you.
If I were at home right now, this is the birthday date I would plan with you:


First, we could go to Jo's and get some coffee deliciousness and scones and bring that home, chill on the couch and watch a chick flick, preferably Pride and Prejudice, or we could finish Sense and Sensibility since you were tooo tired for that one last time ;) Then I would make some lunch for us, maybe some subs with fresh meat and veggies and homemade bread. Plus an amazing salad with a different dressing for each bite. And strawberries. [Because I miss strawberries.] Then, we can go for a walk, and once we're no longer full, we can make some coffee caramel ice cream and read and take a nap. The end. :)

Toma mi tiempo es para Ti

I am in the fort with Jen as I write this. [Our fort is our bed with the sweet mosquito net over it that reminds me of the incredible forts Jace and Maria and I would make with dining room chairs, sheets, and rubber bands. Oh, the good old days.] Anyway, its a really awesome fort and we're in here listening to the rain outside and journaling, and now I'm blog-thinking, as promised.


I have some pretty wonderful teachers here. Arelis is my grammar teacher [yes, we are on a first name basis with our professors here] She's pretty much brilliant. And she moves through each topic SO quickly. When she's about to say something super important she says, "Atención. Atención. A. ten. ción." and it makes me smile. But, I still prefer my father's Three Amigos noise-making attention-getting method, haha. Speaking of my father. Espero que puede estar contigo para celebrar hoy.


Miriam teaches us vocab and conversation. She is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. Love. her. Even though Spanish classes are exhausting I'll be a little sad when these 5 weeks of classes are over, because I'll miss her. 

[Dame tus ojos- Marcela Gándara]

                                              Dame tus ojos quiero ver

                                              Dame tus palabras, quiero hablar 

                                              Dame tu parecer

                                              Dame tus pies, yo quiero ir

                                              Dame tus deseos para sentir

                                              Dame tu parecer

                                              Dame lo que necesito

                                              Para ser como tú

     

                                              //Dame tu voz, dame tu aliento

                                              Toma mi tiempo es para ti

                                              Dame el camino que debo seguir

                                              Dame tus sueños, tus anhelos

                                              Tus pensamientos, tu sentir

                                              Dame tu vida para vivir//

                                              Déjame ver lo que tú ves

                                              Dame de tu gracia, tu poder

                                              Dame tu corazón

                                              Déjame ver en tu interior

                                              Para ser cambiado por tu amor

                                              Dame tu corazón

I can't even tell you how many times God has worked on my heart through this song since I've been here. But, its beautiful...if you've never heard it before you should listen to it now.

Dame tus ojos

Last night was a great night. After a delicious candlelight dinner, we talked with Papí and Mamí about fruit [because there was some extra sweet, extra juicy, extra wonderful pineapple with supper] which first of all was wonderful because Papí doesn't talk a whole lot very often. But, Jen and I were trying to tell them that we love kiwi but I had no idea what fuzzy was in Spanish so they probably think we have a green fruit in the States with brown skin and hair because thats about all I could get out.

Here's the sweet monument we visited Saturday with the group.

        

And, me and my roommate Jen about halfway up the monument.

And here is my six-year-old nephew Josuha shooting me with a Ketchup packet... 

Good times :)

Ok, I'm overdue for a blog update.
The problem is, I have lots of little ideas, but you all know how I am, I like to process and think about things before I write them out or talk them out. So, very soon will come one of those processed ideas once I've been allowed some process time. Its just that Dominican culture is very social, so what little alone time I get lately has been God quiet time and journal time, but tonight, I'm going to make part of that blog-thought-writing time. So get ready. 


But, for now, I will share some pictures, because those are more fun sometimes anyway.

Just kidding, I'm not going to share some pictures right now because its time to leave for Bible study. BUT, my plan (not a good idea to plan things in the DR, but oh well) is to make a whole album on facebook and I will put some on here too. So basically the whole purpose of this blog was to get your hopes up for things to come. :)


Also, I get to skype with Jordan tomorrow morning, and I'm pretty pumped about it. I really miss that guy.

La niña de tus ojos

Last night was incredible. 


First of all, we had worship/sharing time at Josh and Vicki's and we all take turns sharing our testimonies over the course of a few weeks. Last night was my night to share, and my voice was a little shaky, but it went surprisingly well considering how much [ha] I like to talk in front of people. Brent was one of the ones to share his testimony last night too and it was really inspiring since he has been through parts of life that none of us have experienced yet. And I LOVE the verse he referenced from James 4:


but HE gives  MORE grace.


So.  True. 

Then, after praying for one another we went back to our houses. The electricity was out so Japón came out and met us at the end of the driveway with a flashlight. I love it when the electricity is out though, because you can see the stars so much better. But the other people in our house were gone so it was just the three of us last night. And we sat there at the table worshipping together along with Daniel Calvetti over a candlelight dinner of salón, queso frito, y tostones. Increíble. 

Side note: Japón is a very cheerful person, its just that Dominicans typically don't like to smile in pictures (except for Señor and Wifey :)  

Te amo mi padre

Se puede descubrir las habilidades de un líder por el carácter de sus seguidores. He tenido muchos profesores tan buenos en mi vida. Por ejemplo, en el curso séptimo, tenía una profesora muy creativa, y en la universidad, tengo un profesor de filosofía tan inteligente e interesante. Pero, sin duda, de todos mis profesores, mi padre ha tenido el impacto más grande en mi vida. Ahora, él es mi profesor de español en la universidad, pero desde el principio de mi vida ha sido mi maestro y dirigente. Cuando era niña, me enseñaba sobre deportes, español, y simplemente cosas de mi vida. Cuando no quería hablar más en español, ni practicar más básquetbol, me alentó hacerlo otra vez, aun yo estaba cansada. Y ahora, puedo apreciar su ánimo porque puedo ver los frutos de nuestro trabajo. Quiero ser como mi padre, porque él ama a Dios con toda su vida y tiene pasión en su trabajo. Mi padre es un líder de ejemplo y la gente quiere seguirle. 


This is the first written work I had to turn in for class here. Its mostly vocab, conversation, and grammar, so we dont have a whole lot of written stuff, but I thought I would share this one with you all. And yes, I'll translate it as best I can for my monolingual readers. [I've always wanted to say that....for my readers....as if I'm some big famous author or something, haha, not really]


One can observe the capabilities of a leader by their followers. I have had many incredible teachers in my life. For example, in seventh grade I had a really creative teacher, and now I have a extremely intelligent and interesting philosophy teacher. But undoubtedly, of all my professors my Dad has had the greatest impact on my life. Now, he is my Spanish teacher, but since the beginning he has been my teacher and coach. When I was young, he taught me about sports, Spanish, and life. When I didn't want to speak anymore Spanish or practice anymore basketball, he encouraged me to keep going even when I was tired. Now, I can appreciate that encouragement because I can see the fruits of our work. I want to be like my Daddy because he loves God wholeheartedly and is passionate about his work. My Dad leads by example and people want to follow.


Now that I translate it, I'm realizing that I still write like a third-grader in Spanish. But thats alright, thats partially why I'm here...to learn some more español. :)

Vamos al río

"A sense of significance that is rooted in the purposes of God cannot be lost in any situation." This line at the end of Shantung Compound [a book were reading for my ministry class] made me a bit more aware of my selfish ambition. It made me analyze how I'm evaluating the significance and purpose of what's being accomplished in this semester abroad. When I get discouraged and shut down because I can't figure out how to say something in Spanish, or because I've failed previously, or because my contributions to a conversation end up killing the conversation, I'm placing significance in my abilities as a communicator rather than the purposes of God. I'm still throwing this idea around in my head, so I'm not sure how much sense that big long sentence made. But, that quote was just a good reminder for me that when I'm out of my element and failing to communicate effectively or with any sort of depth, I'm not a failure and there's much to be gained from that humbling experience, for His power is made perfect in my weakness.

Our first group excursion Saturday was fantastic. We hiked across the river to the community of Los Higos where this precious little lady, who apparently is like the grandma of that community made an amazing lunch for us.

Its times like these when I wish communication was my number one strength [yes, even in the Dominican I stilll speak Greenville-ese and Kara is the only one who understands me] so I could better relay to you this incredible experience. Speaking of Kara, here's a picture of the Greenville girls from Saturday.

The water started out just up to our knees and as we crossed the first part Margie and I realized our extreme ungracefulness as we slipped on the rocks and sometimes caught ourselves. Also, we realized it helped to balance with someone else so Jen and I held hands for parts of the way [since Japón instructed us never to separate from each other, and yes, I got in trouble when Jen had a little splinter in her foot when we got home].

Crossing that river was a good leg workout and a lot of fun. Its unfortunate that we had to watch where we were stepping so much of the time because I wanted to be looking up the whole time at the sky, and mountains, and wild horses, and birds, and lime-green and lemon-yellow butterflies. It was absolutely incredible.

Speaking of wild horses, these next few pictures are dedicated to Hannah Ruth because I thought of her every time I took a picture of them. 

At one point Josh took our bags with our cameras to keep them from getting wet [thank you Josh for being so gracious] and we went out in the middle of the river and let the current carry us for a stretch of the river. SO much fun.

Once we got out there we mini-cliff jumped [nothing like Kincaid because the river was too shallow] and sun-bathed [yes, Mom and Grandma, I wore sunscreen :] and Mari piled our plates high with delectable arroz con habichuela, pollo, y ensalada. Then Jen and I washed our hair in the river, which was hilarious. Then, on the way back, the current was stronger or I was weaker so I lost my footing a couple times [thank you Rachel and Nate for pulling me back upright so the current didn't sweep me away]. Oh, also, we got to ride out to the river in this big open air truck thing. [Apparently this blog won't let me load videos so I'll show you that truck later, maybe on facebook].

Great.    Day. 

This first picture is the view out my bedroom window at my house. Definitely great motivation to get out of bed in the morning. 

This is from the table where we do our homework out on our patio.

This is the woodshop de mi Papí Dominicano. He and Bebo my Dominican brother [he is Jace's age, which makes me miss my bro :(  ] work here during the day.

And Ari, my little two year old niece. Preciosa. Its nice to have niños around the house when I miss my little cousins. 

Tomorrow, after our group excursion, I'm hoping to have time for a deep and heartfelt blog, but until then, I need to study for our first test we're about to take. Yikes. Fortunately, Brent [our team leader] is taking us out for pizza tonight to celebrate the end of the first week of classes. Hallelujah!

hace mucho calor aquí

For those who have asked, I can't really give an address for things to be mailed here, because for some reason I don't fully understand, it is ridiculously expensive, but Brent has to make two trips to the States and back here, and he offered to bring things down for us. And, I think I can still mail things from here, which is good. But, that address would be:


Niquita Reinhard
c/o Brent Reimer Semester Abroad Office
1001 Bethel Circle
Mishawaka, IN 46545


(He prefers that it is just letters though and not larger objects :)


Alright, let me tell you a little bit about my Dominican Mamí and Papí. Our papí is a precious little old guy who works in a woodshop right outside our house. And our mamí...where to begin? I just remembered that I think I've already talked about her a little bit, but today she brought little packs of Dinosaur vanilla sandwich cookies back from the store for us in case we got hungry at class before we got home. So. Precious. And she just does so many little things like that all the time. She already knows how we like our coffee and brought some out to us while we were working on homework. So yup, they're taking really good care of us here.


Now its back to my hammock for a little devotions and possibly a nap before class starts. (Its ok to be jealous :)

mi sobrina

Mom, I hope Dad has taught you how to check this blog, because I need you to be able to read this because I miss you. Lots.  Also, I'm jealous that Jordan got banana bread the other day, I want some.


Ok, I kinda want to take a siesta before classes start, so this one is going to be short, but if the picture will upload, I have to show you my favorite part of yesterday. After classes and dinner, Jen and I sat outside to do homework and our little niece came and sat on my lap and was drawing in my journal while I worked on conjugating some verbs. It was wonderfulness.

It takes 3 and a half years to upload photos here, but I'm sure I'll have more of her and other amazing people and sights to share in the future. 


In addition to the mountain outside my window, I can definitely get used to the siestas here. Me encanta mucho. 

dame un chin

Alright, I am going to have to do this whole blog thing in little bits and pieces. Just like with my journal, I have to write at different times throughout the day, because to come to that blank page at the end of the day is overwhelming. There is just no possible way to transfer the experiences of an entire day here onto a little two-dimensional space with only pen and paper.


Our Dominican mom does a great job of slowing things down and annunciating for Jen and I to be able to understand her better. And talking is slow going for sure, but I can already tell that I can form sentences a little more easily than when I left. BUT, when all of our cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles are hanging out on the porch talking to each other...they could say whatever they want about me, because I can only understand a phrase about every 72nd sentence. That will take the longest to learn.


Last night before bed, Jen and I had a slightly awkward, but hilarious talk with our mom about 'the birds and the bees.' But, this wasn't really a big deal, because as soon as we got there she already had our legs propped up in her lap, rubbing Vicks Vaporub on our mosquito bites. She is so precious and overprotective of us. All the meals so far have been absolutely wonderful. For example, lunch today was chicken and rice and vegetables with some fresh avocado and pineapple. De. Li. Cious. Ness. And, she even warmed up our water for our bucket baths for us and walked us to our first day of classes today.


Now, we just finished with our first day of classes. Both of my professors are really great, (only surpassed by you Daddy ;) they speak fast, but slower than at the house and I can keep up even though my brain has been in overload mode ever since we moved in with our families.


But, even though I'm in a constant state of exhaustion currently, everyone here is patient and understanding and I will never ever get tired of waking up and seeing the mountain outside my window. And I appreciate prayer for those moments of extreme exhaustion. I miss you all tons!!  (Hopefully I'll have time to post some pictures next time)

Normally, I'm guessing I won't have time to blog everyday, but at the request of my father, I'm attempting another little entry today. (I suppose since it is at the request of my father, it should be in español, but I'll get there eventually ;). So, here are some Dominican cows for you. They are just hanging out near the base. We walked up a super steep hill to get to this super incredible view over Jarabacoa and we could see the mountains in the distance, but the picture I took there didn't capture the beauty well enough, so you'll have to wait until I get a better picture to see that.


This morning Raul taught us a little Dominican history-sociology lesson and Katie (I get to work at my preschool with her) translated since our group ranges widely in Spanish-speaking abilities. But, the exciting thing was, since he broke it up into sections for her to translate I was able to understand lots of it before she translated. The Dominican accent is so hard to understand sometimes, but I LOVE it. 


Tonight, after a scavenger hunt to get us better acquainted con la ciudad, we ate at Pica Pollo. Deliciousness. I guess its kinda like Dominican fast food, but we got chicken strips, fried plantains, and chinola, this wonderful passionfruit juice.


And, I just got kicked off the internet, so hopefully this is already saved and I can post in the morning.

no. way.

I can't believe we're finally here. 
And travel day, though exhausting, was incredibly smooth, praise the LORD!
Also, my brain is for all intents and purposes fried, so my only thought for tonight is that I hope I never lose my amazement and child-like wonder when I fly. I love the rush when we take off and I love watching the sunset over Miami through my plane window. And I love when people clap as we're landing in la República Dominicana. Only a few people did tonight, sadly, but it still made me feel like I was returning to my second home.