VBS Day 1 (Monday, July 15)

Today was the first full day at the Guest House in San Juan de la Maguana. After waking up with a general lack of sleep from adjustment to the unfamiliar noises and the heat, we had a delicious breakfast and heard a morning devotional from Kari full of profound insights about the nature of poverty and the importance of perspective. We then loaded up the bus and trailer and headed to the location for VBS in el Rosario. When we arrived at the school kids were already waiting for VBS to start. With a quick set-up and gathering of some kids around the village, VBS began. Today there were almost 175 children that got to participate in songs, arts and crafts, and recreation. Stacy Potter put it best when she said "Once we just gave up the notion of control everything seemed to run smoothly," After we ate a quick lunch and got back to the Guest House we had some free time. As a group we decided to visit a cathedral in San Juan that has a viewing point at the top which is the tallest point in San Juan. A large part of the group made the climb up spiral stairwells to the well-worth it view atop the cathedral.For dinner we got to enjoy our first authentic dominican meal prepared by Kari. After dinner Dan exchanged our American dollars for Dominican pesos and some local vendors came to sell some hand- made dominican goods. The group chose from exquisite paintings, jewelery of the larimar stone, baskets, or a tailor who can duplicate or just make any item of clothing in a fabric of choice. Finally, we went to a baseball field to scrimmage and intermingle with some local domican softball players. We formed teams of both Dominican and American players, in the end it was a close game with only a few minor injuries and a lot of fun. We cannot wait for the next great day that lies ahead of us and the adventures it may bring. ~Anne Johnson, Joe and Kyra Jamison