Jen's Updates: Church in the Dominican Republic

Being here in the Dominican Republic reminds me of the time that I spent in Uganda. The people, while they have different characteristics, look an awful lot alike. Their habits of working are also a lot similar - they both have street vendors who hang out in the middle of streets and walk past all of the cars selling fruits, nuts, phone cards, cell phone chargers, throwing sponges on then car windows to wash them (whether you want them washed or not) and drinks. There are street vendors selling things along the road in the more rural parts of the country which is always fun to see. They don't have many refrigerators and don't refrigerate eggs which I may never get used to, and they have meat hanging out in the sun, with the live animals nearby so if you prefer watching them kill and skin uour meat as opposed to one hanging, they will kill it right in front of you. They ride motorcycles (in Africa known as a bota-bota) more than driving cars and few people obey traffic laws so the streets are chaotic. Children run around naked, they love staring at the white people and they don't pay much attention to time. They live sun up to sun down, not 9 am, 4 pm, 6 pm etc. It's definitely something to get used to but I love it. I've been here 4 days now and I haven't had a hot shower the whole time I've been here. Do you know how hard it is to shave in ice cold water? Not possible. :0) All of these things and many more remind me of Africa and have again brought up my feelings of gratitude for being an American. I said this when I came home from Africa but have thought it many times since being here, just being born in America, even with nothing, we have so many more luxuries than even the richest people here. That's all temporal though. These people, like those in Africa are some of the most genuine, most giving, and most loving people I have ever met. I am sure there are American's like that out there, but they are few and far between. I'm sitting in Sunday school right now and as we were waiting for sacrament meeting to start I can't even count the number of people that walked up and shook each of our hands and greeted us with hugs and kisses on our cheeks. "it's probably just because you were visiting." may be what you're thinking. That's what I thought too. But no, they walked up to each person in the cultural hall and greeted them. This is what happens when people come to church early I guess :0) they have the opportunity to greet every one in the building. There was one "white" (American) family in the ward. They happened to be the only family that I saw come in late and they were the only family that let their children play and color during the meeting. Interesting... All the Dominican kids were sitting quietly and still but they were watching the American kids to see what they were doing and what they were playing with. Haha. However you do church is great, I just like observing the differences. :) I have missed being in a foreign country, I'm happy to be here and will post more about my adventure here soon. To come: 27 Charcos (waterfalls) that we jumped off of and/or slid down, zip lining, swimming in the ocean, and food :)