May & June

Dear World, How is that I'm behind on blogging again? Better question- how many more times do you think I'll talk about how behind I am on blogging throughout the course of my time in the DR?
Oh well. C'est La Vie. Does anyone else that song?

A few blog posts ago I was catching up on April.
Two months later, I'm updating you all on May & June.
To update you on these past two months, I'm going to repost my update letter that I sent out to my supporters!




Other May & June happenings not mentioned in the letter:
-Final ESL classes in Chichigua & Tamarindo. We played Jeopardy, ate cookies and took pictures!
- Weddings, weddings and more weddings! (Separate blog post about that later)
- Two short term mission groups!

[the people in my life] Dena

Continuing my new blog series thing from yesterday... here's DENA!


Dena is one of my lovely teammates, and today's her BIRTHDAY! Dena is a Kindergarten teacher to 16 adorable students at the Makarios school. She has an INCREDIBLE heart for the Lord, her students and the people she loves.


*Photo on the left taken by Bridget Daehler! 

That's the factual stuff. What the world should also know about Dena is that she is naturally HILARIOUS. She never tries to "intentionally" make you laugh, but you always end up doing so! Sitting by her during bible study, meetings, or in public transportiation guarantees that you will end up in a fit full of giggles. At least for me.

Here are a few of my favorite Dena-isms of the past 10 months (intertwined with a few photos of our favorite photos together)

Conversation after Bible Study
Imani: You were a heartbreaker in high school, weren't you?
Dena: Yes. I still am.




Another conversation after bible study. 
Background: We were talking about a specific scene in Breaking Dawn
Sarah: What was it that you didn’t like about the scene? 
Dena: It was lame. 
Sarah: I know, but what specifically didn’t you like? 
Dena: It was a waste of my existence. 
Sarah: But what specifically? 
Dena: I could have been doing anything better during those 10 minutes.
(maybe you had to be there, but we were all cracking up with laughter during this conversation)





Six Degrees of Separation. Between Dena & Pirates.
Fact. Dena is obsessed with Pirates. She can be in a conversation that has absolutely nothing at all to do with Pirates, and Dena will find a way to work a Pirate comment in. I call this the 6 degrees of Separation between Dena & Pirates.

Example:

Paige: We used to scuba dive all the time. I love it.
Dena: Oh my goodness, I would love to go scuba diving and look for sunken pirate ships.

Another example:
(Said as we were on a boat heading whale watching and getting a bit sea sick)
Dena: I guess I can't be a pirate anymore





And last, but not least. If life was a musical, Dena would be the director, choreographer and star! Here she is in a picture where we all decided to do a hand on hip/leg type of pose. Right before the photo is taken, Dena turns to me and says "I'm going to do jazz hands" Naturally I cracked up.





And these are just a few of the things I love about my dear friend Dena. There are tons more, she's a pretty awesome girl!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEENZ! Love you! Wish I were there to celebrate with you!

[the people in my life] Perla

            I've decided to start a mini "blog series." No, not like all the blog series that I said I would start way back in the beginning of my time here in the DR.. because we all know how well those worked out (hear my sarcasm). But this time a blog series that I think will better introduce everyone to the life I live here, as well as a blog series I feel in many ways that the Lord is leading me to. (How many times can I say, "blog series" in one post).
            It was through various conversations and prayer that I've realized the great importance of... relationships. Pretty simple revelation, right? It is so easy to get bogged down in the details of ministry/the job, and forget how amazingly glorified God can be through the relationships we're forming/cultivating in our time here.   I therefore want to start introducing the various people the Lord has placed in my life, here in the DR. The posts will be random and they will be great. Just you wait and see.

With all of that being said, I want everyone to meet Perla.

Perla is in the 2nd grade at our Makarios school, has a super sweet personality and is crazy eager to learn! Perla is behind most of her classmates when it comes to reading, so in the last few months of the school year I began to work with Perla one on one. Three times a week I would pull her out of her phonics lessons, so that we could privately work on her letters and sounds. 

As Summer School continues, I plan to continue spending time with Perla to continue to advance her reading level. Not only do I hope Perla will continue to grow as a reader, But I pray our time can be filled with moments where I can minister to her heart with the gospel!

Other random things about Perla:

-Every time we start our lessons together, I ask her to pray. Hearing a 7 year old prayer is one of the sweetest things ever!
- Perla is one of the shyer students in a class full of 15 other energetic kids. She's also one of 7 children. I love being able to give her one on one attention!

-We had a week off from school, and during that week I heard that Perla was asking for me to come visit. #meltmyheart

- Her teacher this past year, (Johan) is also her Uncle.