Chronicles Of Herman & Levina

Last Pictures

2009-03-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

The Kasteltje this is in Cabaret quite a place, its for sale too. A couple of pictures on new condo's under construction and one of Herman looking pretty relaxed and our beautiful beach

Last Post

2009-03-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Time stands still for no man, though it seemed to at times because we were not conscious of time the same way that we are at home and yet it moved quickly as we look back on our time here in the DR. There is more to do, more places to explore, more people to visit,more sunshine to enjoy, more time to spend with Leona and Angelo,but alas we need to save something for next year. The Lord willing there will be next year and we will look forward to that.
It was good to help Leona get settled in her new place and now that we know where she is we also have a better grasp at what her needs are and how we can address them.
Thank you to all who followed our blog, who prayed for us and lived with us during this time and for your encouraging support. We hope it has helped you to better understand the work that is being done here, the harvest is always plentiful and the workers few.
Blessings to all
Herman and Levina

Day 24

2009-03-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

The opa picture is a restaurant in Cabarette. The other 3 is how we got to the bus station in the morning. I had to do the same with my bag on the back of Leona's bike it was quite a sight, and it was drizzling at the time. But it soon cleared up , we arrived in Cabarette and on the beach by 3 pm, we left Jarabacoa at 10 and to change over and wait in LaVega, left there at 11.30. Sun was brilliant out here and the air much warmer, the mts do make a big difference. Anyway we hope the sun stays out while we are here.

2009-03-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

The first picture is the widow maker that Herman installed at Leona's place she can have a hot sprinkly shower.
the other pictures are of Robin and Kenya and Melanie

Day 23

2009-03-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

Well it is our last day here and woke to a pretty cloudy day but it did change so that was very nice. Leona was gone for the morning to the Arc, there was a special Awana competition going on among the top performers of all the groups in town. They had a very fun time of it by the sounds of it.
Herman and I went into town to buy a few things, we had to replace some of the stuff we used here in the house plus some coffee to take home with us. They grow the coffee right here in the mountains and it is very good. When we got home it was coffee time of course.
After that it was time to do some house cleaning so while I did dishes Herman swept and mopped the floors, which is almost a daily chore here because at night they drive 2 motorcycles right into the front room which is also the living room for security reasons, and they are not the cleanest beasts as you can well imagine.
This afternoon we went to say good bye to Dania and the over to Robins house to do the same. He lives in the cutest rustic little house that he made all himself out rough lumber. They have a little girl Melanie about 7 months old, I'll put some pictures up of them. Now we are home again and in need of some sustenance, we were going to go out for our last meal but it is actually kind of cool out with the sun gone and all the places are really open so a little cool to sit and enjoy, so they have gone for some takeout.
So tomorrow we leave by bus for the coast, not sure if I will get achance to update but will Monday for sure. May you all have a blessed Sunday and Miriam hope you have a safe trip back to Holland today.

2009-03-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

Angelo hard at work making the sancocho

We are anxiously waiting, looks good aye?

It really hits the spot on cool dank day

Day 22

2009-03-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well guys we missed recording day 21 not for lack of trying but the internet was down here why I don't know maybe because of all the rain clouds up there.. It was raining when we got up yesterday but we did see the sun for about 3 hours during mid day, which was very nice but then it clouded over again , started of with a sprinkle but gained momentum into the evening. Angelo made a big pot of sancoche in the morning for lunch. There is a lot that goes into that stew, then a custom they have here before they start to eat themselves is they bring a plate or a bowl, or a pot over to the neighbor's or to family. So here Angelo had a borrowed a big pot from the neighbour lady so she got a big bowl full and then he got some ready to taake to his mom and dad. Very neighbourly and thoughtful I must say.
Today was much nicer day, so took advantage of the sun and did a couple loads of laundry and hung them out, I watched the clouds and sun quite closely just in case, but they managed to dry and now it is sprinkling again. The water falls outside our bedroom window at night when it rains is very annoying, the ear plugs help some but not enough so we will be glad that next year we can stay with Leona and hopefully no waterfall plus it is in a much quieter part of town as well.
Today we went shopping for some basics for Leona's house, boy when you star of from scratch there are a lot of things you need, you kind of forget, but she will have to do it over time bit by bit it will come.
Leona never did go to that conference, she felt not right about travelling with a married man, they are more strict about that and what may be perceived. Glen found a married lady Toddy to go with him, I guess thats better than a single girl.
Anyway got to go make some pizza dough for supper, talk tomorrow Lord willing

Lola's House

2009-03-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

A rustic Dominican Dog house, the roof is still coming, they need to find a piece of tin

2009-03-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

Here is the table and the bench that were made

bench in progress

couch with new pillows and the borrowed truck used for moving

Dia Vente

2009-03-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

The rain came down and the prayers went up, the rain came down and the prayers went up and the house in the DR stood firm. By the sound of the torrent outside our bedroom window during the night I am glad we are not floating away. It did let up to a mere drizzle of and on today. Herman , Leona and Angelo went over to the house to work on the dog house and benches. I stayed home , went to the vegetable market and the meat market to pick up supplies for lunch oh and I picked up an umbrella for on the way home, glad I did the drizzle picked up speed. I busied myself with preparing the hamburger stew, making bread and doing dishes. They came home had lunch rested till 2 , everything closes here for siesta from 12 to 2. They needed to go to the local hardware store for a few things to finish their projects out at Leona's place. While they were gone for the afternoon I finished the bread and gave the bathroom a good cleaning and organized some of Leona's stuff for her move. Now it is near 6 pm and we are sitting arround shooting the breeze, while it continues to pitter patter outside, probably no long walk tonight.

Dia diecenueve

2009-03-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hola from a cloudy day in the DR. The first cloudy. showery day we have had. The other times we had rain it was in the evening or during the night. In between showers it was still balmy and nice for walks. Speaking of which we just came back from an hour and a half walk, its interesting just to walk and see all the diversity in the houseing and the wealth .
Well to day we did get the truck again and early so that was great, they picked up the table Herman made at the school and a couch and 2 chairs and a coffee table that a friend Johnathan had left behind with Angelo. Herman was hoping to make a dog house today and some benches for her table but the power did not come on this afternoon at her house so he couldn't. We did give the furniture a good wash, it is that rattan and was very dirty and dusty, then we put the new covers on that I made and it looks fantastic. I forgot to get pictures of it today so will do that tomorrow to show you. We waited a bit but then decided to go home and come back early tomorrow and try again.
Here in Jan's house she has an inverter, it is a battery back up for when the power goes of, so we have not been in the dark here which has been really great.
Not a real exciting day , somewhat productive and lots of fun anyway.
Hasta luego

2009-03-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

Leona's little Honda.
Daniella in yellow
the last one is our busy corner we live close too

day eighteen

2009-03-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Well we were planning to get a lot done today but somehow when you have to wait for others and their truck it never goes as you would hope. So there was a bit of sitting arround today for the guys not me. It is Monday and so there was laundry to do, and we are getting company for supper so there is that to prepare for plus having to go and walk into town for the stuff I will need for it. I had to finish rolling the croquettes and made some yeast cinnamon rolls so that kept me going plus some reading and relaxing in between.
The truck finally arrived arround 4 so of they went to pick up some lumber and other stuff they needed and brought it to Leona's new place, they were caught in a downpour while on the way. By the time they got back about 7 I had supper ready , we had roasted potatoes , coleslaw and croquettes , they were good. There were 7 for supper Laine, Caitlin, Angelo, Leona, Carmen Herman and myself, plus we sent a little doggie bag home with Carmen for her husband and daughter.
So they have big plans again tomorrow, we will see what happens, one needs patience here and no use getting to excited about things, it eventually will get done if not today then tomorrow.

More Birthday Pictures

2009-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

2009-03-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

This the birthday party, the twins are in the first picture.
The second are all the cousins that were over.
The third picture is the boom boxes that blare the music around town.
Herman eating ice cream

and my view from my pew this morning

Day seventeen

2009-03-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday the Lord's Day we went again to Escuela Caribe to worship with them. It was good to be there. We drove home and had a coffee with Leona. Angelo was picked up by a friend and went to LaVega to help with a prison ministry. They have a prison there with about 700 inmates, so quite a challenging ministry, he was gone most of the day.
We took it easy most of the day , took a walk into town , it is the final day of carnival so lots of loud music. Leona went to her church at 4:30 and picked up 4 ladies from the brothel to take to church as well. She said the text that the minister preached on was where the woman is caught in adultery and Jesus says go sin no more, it was very pertinent, God's timing is always perfect.
This evening we went to Denia's for supper and celebrate the twins birthday.There were lots of cousins arround , all having a good time. The cakes I made were devoured quickly.
Now we are home again and ready to call it a night.Hope you are all careful on those icy roads.

Random Pictures

2009-02-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

Day Sixteen

2009-02-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

Oh I was tempted to skip writing tonight but I know from experience when following a blog that you feel like your missing out if they don't write or you wonder what is wrong. So to avoid all those issues I will give you the low ddown even though it was not that exciting, I guess it can't be all the time our systems couldn't take it anyway.
It was a great sunny day, a great day to do laundry so that is what I did first, then we walked into town to pick some groceries. When we got home I started to make bread and a carrot cake for a birthday party for Denia's twins Daniella and Daniel that we are invited to tomorrow night, they are turning 7.
Leona was gone for a while in the morning to pick up some medical stuff to take to the girls at the brothel, she and some other ladies brought it to them in the afternoon.
Herman gave the bike a good washing after the dusty ride yesterday and added some oil.
I had to go back into town to get a present for the twins and some groceries I forgot in the morning. I am getting lots of walking in just getting stuff we need.
I bought some meat and am simmering it , I want to make croquettes for some friends that are coming over Monday night, will let you know how they turn out.
I will post some random pictures that haven't made it on the blog yet. Oh I forgot yesterday was Independence Day here and they had a nice little show of fireworks in the local park right in the center of town.We could see it from our house.
Time to put out the lights good night john boy, good night

2009-02-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Robin is putting a worm on his hook. Herman is trying to cast off, it was harder than it looked, he hooked his pants ,then the tree.
Angelo on his bike

Lla Peresa

2009-02-27T15:46:00.000-08:00

Day Fifteen

2009-02-27T15:16:00.000-08:00

How can I describe today? It was an incredible ride. We left arround 10:30 this morning again after a prayer for safety, we that is Angelo, Leona, Robin, Magdalena, Herman and myself jumped on our bikes and headed out of town to a lake called Peresa. The roads were very winding ,steep twistyand full of ruts . Our bike did not handle the steeps very well,poor Herman was having a difficult time there were more than a few times that we in the middle of going up and up and conk out, the bike that is not Herman. Angelo would come back and wonder where we were, I would up on with him and Leona while Herman got going again and up to the top. It is sucha beautiful country when you take these rides like this you get amazing views. The other thing that happened was we got a flat, now I thought what now? we are in the middle of no where right? not really, there are little communities spread out along the way. Every one has bikes so there is bound to be some one who can fix it but how to get 5 km up the road, no problem Robin our lightweight , probably 100lbs dripping wet, drove our bike standing up so as to keep pressure of the rear flat, while Magdalena got on with Angelo and Leona and Herman and I took Robins bike. We stopped where we had to turn and waited by the side of the road while Angelo and Robin took the bike a ways further where there was a guy who had the tools to fix tires, it took about an hour before they got back, meanwhile an inebriated local entertained us, it was pretty funny at times. Finally they returned and we were on our way to the lake. It is absolutely beautiful when you see it from on high with all the mts arround, we drove down to it and stayed awhile , the guys tried some fishing but no luck, we will have to buy some for our supper. We heade awy from the lake toward a huge dam which they open up every so often if the level gets to high, there was also electricity generated there as well. We headed out again by this time starving and going to a fish restaraunt, when we got there he said it will take an hour so we said lets head for home and fry our own that we picked up. In the distance we could see the dark clouds forming and knew rain was not far away, hopefully we will be home by then, we did manage to get a few sprinkles just as we got into town so not bad. I would not like to manoever those roads in the rain, it would be treacherous.
We got home safe and sound gracia mi Dios. Angelo and Leona cooked up the fish and it was superb, yum. Now we are exhausted and ready for good sleep. Buenas Noches

2009-02-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Two of these pictures are the inside of Leona's house, here you see the kitchen area and the other is the large room where you come in, to the left are the bedrooms and bathroom and straight through takes you to the dining area and kitchen.
The rooster belongs to the owner of the house, he raises them for fights. He lives on the right side of the house, it look like he divided the house in two, I'd say Leona has the bigger part.

2009-02-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

This is the outside of Leona's house, the front verandah and the side carport and deck where Herman is sweeping, her front yard with lots of exotic plants and trees. It is a two bedroom so room for us when we come back next year. Abig kitchen dining and livingroom and it is nice and quiet here no motorbikes zooming by.

Day Fourteen

2009-02-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

Its dark out and we just had quite a little down pour, the second since we have been here. It did not last long though, Leona and Angelo are gone to their mid week church service..
Today we went looking to see what appliances cost, Leona is going to need some when she moves in. We also spent the morning cleaning at her place, it wasn't to bad , we did the cupboards and the bathroom and all the doors and floors, the painter had been in and gave all the walls a fresh coat so that was good. Went home for lunch, Leona then met up with some other women from church and visited a brothel in town. They are trying to make contact with the girls by offering free medical services and checkups at the clinic.
They pleasantly surprised at the reception they got, one of the girls wants to picked up for church, another girl had a baby who was sick and they said they will come back with medicine so a lead in. Please pray for this new outreach and that these girls may be given hope that will last.
Herman and I took the bike up the Mt to visit this restaurant called Aroma Montana it is in a new development called Jamaca de Dios if you want to check it out the website is www.jamacadedios.com there are lots of lots still available , some of the house s in there are gorgeous.You can see the whole city of Jarabacoa from up there.
So it was another great day in the DR hope it was for you too.

2009-02-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

The shoe organizer I made we delivered yesterday to Jasinia and her little boy. They live in one room which consists of a bed, a small table that holds her dishes and a tv, there are 3 other tenants in the building and I think they share a stove and fridge.

Day Thirteen

2009-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

The roosters start crowing around 6 I think, I never check my watch I just know its to darn early. We usually try to ignore them, its hard to do even with earplugs in but we do fall back to sleep for a bit. We get up about 7:30 and I make porridge same as I do at home and Leona makes coffee. Angelo pops in every morning as well for his coffee .
Today Herman finished off the table for Leona, but before he could do that he had to get Angelo to pick up some 4x4 legs, this is a sturdy table let me tell you, it will out last them I am sure. They had Laminate left over at the school so they glued that on top, I will get a picture when it is done.
I spent most of the morning sweeping and cleaning the rooms where they were working. There was alot of scraps etc so that kept me busy. There is also a work team here that is working out at the orphanage and here at the school. Leona took one of them to visit his sponsered child, she helps translate for them.
Had lunch at school and then walked home, had to hang some laundry up and do some reading and just relax and of course update the blog.
Just a short one today hope the snow is letting up a bit for you all.

2009-02-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

Day Twelve

2009-02-24T05:13:00.000-08:00

Suppose your wondering what happened to us yesterday, nothing really the time just got away on us and we went to friends of Leona's for supper and by the time we got back it was too late and time for bed. So I'll bring you up to speed on our activities of yesterday.
Again a beautiful day, its cool first thing in the morning, you need a hoody on or something but as the sun comes over the mountains and gets higher it really warms up nicely. Samething in the evening once the sun disappears over the mts its nice to have a sweater on especially on the motorbike.
We were at the school again Herman is still finishing of his project he had to put laminate on the counters and today he is making a desk and a table. I was again busy in the sewing room this time I made one of those things you hang up to put shoes in, a shoe organizer I guess you would call it, this is for a friend of Leona who live in a tiny little space and has a few shoes, we are going to deliver it and visit with her this afternoon.
By 3;30 i was finished but Herman was not so I walked home, took me about 40 minutes I did manage to procure a blister, which was a pain, feels better today though.
The laundry I had hung up in the morning was dry so I took the sheets in and made the bed and did another load.
Leona said we were going to Laine and Caitlins for supper so didn't have to make anything. They live in the Ark here which is the other orphange operated by Kids Alive.
It is much nicer in surroundings than the one in Constanza, this one is situated on more rolling land with lots of trees, I'll post some picutres, the homes are very bright and colorful. There are 7 homes operating with about 7 kids in each home. They also have a big blue building for big meetings and activities. The thatched hut is on their property too, the thatch is being replaced soon by some work team.
Laine plays guitar and sings very well, so Herman played and sang first and then Laine did so we were we entertained. Headed for home just before 10, Angelo was going nice and slow so we would not get lost, no we didn't get lost but we did run out of gas on the road heading back into Jarabacoa. Angelo noticed we were not following him anymore thought a truck had wiped us of the road, he came back and once they shook the bike a few times realized no fuel was shaking loose he went and got some down the road in an old oil jug. Once that was in we were on our way and home in jig time and ready for bed.
I am home today because i have the scoots, it started yesterday allready, I think it was some greasy chicken that I hate on Sunday night. Leona said the oil is not changed to often arround here and that can be a cause so I think I will stay close to home.
Till next time hasta luega from the DR

2009-02-22T14:52:00.000-08:00

Day Ten

2009-02-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

This morning Herman and I headed out to church at Escuela Caribe where April and Jeff worked, they have an english service so that was nice. Met some familiar faces from last year, hi from all your friends April and Jeff.
Lunch was ready when we got back chili and rice and homemade bread,mmmgood.The afternoon was spent doing some reading and Herman had his Sunday nap. Leona and Angelo went to church at 4 , while we looked after Lola the dog. We also went for a long walk in the area where Leona use to live and Villa Nathalie, so nice to walk in that lovely warm sunshine. Hear you are getting another blast of snow tonight, good get it all over with while we are gone.
I'll post some pictures that didn't get posted yet from this past week, since I have no new ones today.
Till tomorrow keep each other warm

2009-02-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

Day Nine

2009-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today was a stay at home and clean day. Did some laundry to hang up out in the sunshine, which there was lots of today, and mopped the floors which you have to do on a regular basis arround here. then the biggest job of all taking all those little braids out of Leona's hair. She had it done about 2 months ago and they braid in pieces to make it longer. Her head was becoming pretty itchy so time for a good wash and cut. It took 5 of us this includes Leona about 4 hours to get them all out, what a tedious procedure. She said it took the girl 6 hours to put them all in. Vanity vanity saith the preacher.
After that her and Angelo went to their church, all the evangelical churches in the DR are going to canvess a million homes with the Good News, so that is what they are up to this evening and then a barbecue at the Pastors house.
Herman and I went into town to pick up a few groceries, I then made some more bread and am waiting for it to rise so I can punch it down and let it rise again, hopefully it will be done before we go to bed.
Heard the snow wasn't to bad on Thursday hope it starts to melt now, We would like to see most of it gone before we come back you know, see what you can do about that OK?
Till tomorrow have a blessed Sabbath
Herman Levina and Leona

More Constanza

2009-02-20T16:04:00.001-08:00

Constanza

2009-02-20T15:51:00.001-08:00

Day Eight Constanza

2009-02-20T14:50:00.000-08:00

What an amazing day we had today. We headed out in the morning Angelo and Leona, Robinson and Andy, Herman and me, on three bikes. The road started out paved and eventually to gravel and lots of ruts and very windy. We went about 50 km up and over and arround the mountains to get to Constanza. The views and vistas were amazing, pictures do not do it justice. It was cool at first as you can see by the clothes we had on, its that mt coolness you get here, but once the sun was up higher we shed our coats and felt the warm sun on our backs.
The reason for going to Constanza was one for the ride and the scenery but also Kids Alive have an orphanage up there that I wanted to see and so did Robinson, because he and his wife are thinking of becoming house parents for one of the houses if a vacancy opens up.
Constanza is a real agricultural area, the soil looks very fertile, it is situated in a valley high up in the mountains. It was a bustling city bigger than what I thought it would be. The orphanage is an ongoing project for work teams . They have 3 homes right now with about 9 children in each and 3 pairs of house parents that are Dominican. Where do the kids come from you may wonder. Leona said they are found, or are dropped of or through word of mouth that a child is being neglected, so various ways. There is one here in Jarrabacoa as well, they are both called The Ark. It was all very interesting to see.
As for the agriculture I seen strawberries, potatoes, onions, garlic, cabbages, lettuce, beans and more. We seen some potatoes being harvested by hand like we did about 40 years ago.
We had lunch at a local spot that was recommended to us, it was very good, large portions and very homemade and the place was packed and mostly men, which I thought was a good sign.
Oh i forgot to tell you what we did before lunch, we tried to find the river and a walk to a swimming hole, after asking different people if they new how to get there, we finally did.It wasn't that great plus we had to drive across part of it and it was flowing rapidly and rough and about a foot deep. Anyway Herman refused to drive through so I started across on some rocks and fell flat and got soaked after that I just walked since my sneakers wre wet anyway. Angelo came and took hermans bike over . We went a little further and the path kind of stopped so we turned arround and went back, then we had the river again tis time Herman braved it and plowed right through we were a little concerned when he headed for the rocks but he straitened out just in time. Quite an adventure for us soft Islanders
After Lunch we headed home oh what a dust ,bumpy ride back my butt was very sore actually everything is because you have to brace yourself so much.A shower was very welcome, well they call it a shower but it is a pathetic little sprinkler, anyway with the widow maker it was at least hot.
I for got to mention that before we left Robinson prayed with us for a safe trip I'm glad he did, you can not take your safety for granted here nor should we ever really some how here it seems more so. Thank fully our prayers were answered. Praise the Lord!

Day eight

2009-02-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

Another day has come and gone, they are going to fast. After breakfast headed out to the school on the back of the Apache with Herman. He goes pretty slow trying to miss every pothole, and there are lots of them on the one road.
Herman worked on the drawers as you can see in the picture, some one local will make the door fronts. I finished the covers for the couch and then made a couple of curtains for Leona's bedroom.
I took some pictures of some of the kids that are sponsored by some of our church family I will post more as the days go on. You can then see how w ell and happy they are.
After lunch Leona and I went to the waterfalls that you see, Herman stayed and worked ,he is not much of a water person as some of you know. The falls are only about 15 minute drive out of town, it is a deep gorge that you walk down into. As we were walking I noticed that it was nice paved walk about 10 feet wide, I asked Leona who made all this? She said it is not a walkway it is an aqua duct carrying water from the mountain into town, I was quite amazed, that must have required a lot of hard work.
Once we got down there it was so noisy, the water rushing over the falls and over the rocks provided continous sound, we had to raise our voices in order to hear each other. Yet it was calming and relaxing as we sat on the hot rocks and read our books. As the sun moved so did we, till finally we had to cross the river and sit on the other side.No sooner had we done that when a whole group came down, turned out they were a work group from the Episcopalian Church of Rhode Island building a church in a local community here. We stayed a bit longer but our serinity had gone so we headed for home it was getting close to supper time anyway.
Leona is gone to her Bible study tonight, we are left holding the fort. Till tomorrow
Herman levina and leona

2009-02-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

Day Seven

2009-02-18T12:46:00.001-08:00

After I finished the blog yesterday it did rain a steady pour well into the night. Leona did not go anywhere because of it, it seems when it rains people stay put, they do not like to get damp and cold , can't say as I blame them.
The rain did stop so it was a dry trip to the school in the morning, we are about a 10 minute motorcycle ride away. It stayed cloudy , saw the sun a bit at lunch time but that was it.
Today was Awana day as you can see on the pictures or as it is called here Owansa. The kids love it, I could tell by all the screaming that was going on outside.
Herman continued working on the drawers, the sliders that were already in place he had to take of and replace with wooden ones. The drawers were sticking to much and were just not working right, over time the other ones get bent and cause more problems, some times the old way is better.
I continued working on my sewing project for Leona, reupholstering her chairs and couch pillows. By 3:30 I had enough and started to walk home you have to watch where you walk arround here as you can see by the big hole in the sidewalk, they are quite common.
The other picture is of a cemetery, this is how they bury the dead, you rent one of those crypts for as long as you like or can afford. Leona said Angelo's brother was buried there, he died in an accident 5 years ago, they rented one for 5 years then they take the remains and have them burned. Different isn't it?
Thats all for today folks will fill you in again tomorrow till then take care, love from us here in the DR

2009-02-18T12:34:00.000-08:00

2009-02-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

2009-02-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Day Six

2009-02-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, another day is near over, right now it looks very cloudy maybe a shower on the way. Hung up some laundry this morning and is nice and dry now, doing a lot of that these days , Leona has some catching up to do in that dept. after all those rainy days last week before we got here.
The pictures that we posted today are of the room where Herman is working, he is finishing off the cupboards that were started. He has to make some drawers too. That generator is sure coming in handy, the power was off all day today so they fired her up and away they went. The other picture with me in it is in the sewing room, Leona need some slip covers made for her chairs and couch so that is my project for the next few days.
Enjoyed a great dinner at school again today, the way they make their rice here is really tasty I love it. This evening Leona has a Bible study and another meeting so she will be gone for awhile. I am making some bread now, the bread here is not like ours so thought I would make some so hope it turns out.
Thats it for now adios from Jarrabacoa

Day Five by Leona

2009-02-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

good evening followers of the herman and levina chronicles.
mom was to tired to type tonight so she threw me the laptop and said "here write something interesting". so here it goes...
7:00 am- woke up and got ready for school, left home by 7 45 and arrived at school by 8 am. It was my turn to do devotiones, so I quickly got my cofffee and sat down and got the bibles and songbooks. at 9 am , mom and pop showed up at school,and after their second cup of cofee , they were ready to work. Mom set to work organizing a new supply of medicine and donationes. She cleaned up the medical room, got everything organized, and even made an inventory list, (painstakingly neat). Then she had another coffee and went to check on Pop. (Pop had spent a good chunk of the morning trying to get the generator started and keeping it started, and hanging out with me in my tutoring class while sipping coffee.....but once it got started arounf 11 am, he went right to work)! Pop was upstairs working on making the cabinets for the new classroom. He was quite pleased to have 2 helpers for the day, and one who even spoke English. They quickly became fast friends, by this time, Pop was desperate for someone to understand and listen to him intently. Rafael did just that. They made great progess. Then it was lunch time--a delicious meal of rice and beans and beef and salad. After another coffee, they were ready to work once more. Pop went back upstairs to his helpful helpers, and cutting wood, while mom went outside to find a quiet spot in the shade to practice her spanish. Around 2 30, mom and I went home to do some laundry and then to my english tutoring class with Jorge ( A colombian man , who I have been giving enlish class). Mom helped him practice his conversational skills and they spent the next hour and a half, having a great chat, and doing her very best to understand his broken english. All was going well , until we were about to leave, and Jorje leaned over to mom and said " Levina, thank you so much for your passion for me!"
mom was a little startled, and for the first time in the 2 hour class, was left speachless.
(what Jorje had meant to say was "thank you so much for your patience with me.)
haha, we (mom and I ) had a good laugh. Poor Jorje had turned a little red though.
We then went home , where we found Pop outside in the street counting motorcycles (at least he wasnt perched on his cement block peering over the fence at the neighbors) were I slaved in the kitchen preparing a wonderful squash dish with left over chicken from our BBQ last night. Then I did the dishes and cleaned up while mom and pop continued to relax, and then I came into the living room and was given the computer to type this summary, and Now I am heading out!
Hope you all have a great evening and continue to follow the chronicles of hermano and Levinia. Tomorow is sure to be another interesting day....

Day Four

2009-02-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Today is Sunday and we woke to beautiful sunshine, the morning was relaxed, Leona's church starts at 4 in the afternoon and goes to after 6, so its kind like 2 services in one.
Baked some cookies to take to Carmens house, she invited us for lunch. Lunch was very tasty typical Dominican, rice, mixtures of peas, (their peas are more like a bean) apotato salad and stewed chicken,mmm delicious. After that we visited some people in that neighborhood, houses are right tight together and a lot of them in a small space. All very similar made out of concrete blocks with tin roof. The picture of the one lady with one of her 10 children ,they too are in very close quarter, one boy sleeps at Angelo's house because of the lack of space. I was surprised how clean things were this time, everything looked swept up where ever we walked, maybe because of all the rain they had.
We also visited a man who was in a motorcycle accident 4 years ago and badly broke his leg, he still is unable to walk and lays on the couch all day. He still has an open wound but it is healing. Things do seem to take longer here.
It is now 7:45 and we are back from church and getting ready to barbecue outside there behind the gazebo in the picture, which is in the back of the house where we are staying.
a few of Leona's friends are here too so a real party happening.
Tomorrow will be our first work day at the school so will keep you informed on how that goes. Till then take care and do drop us a comment, look forwar to hearing from some of you.
Herman and Levina

Sunday day of rest

2009-02-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

This morning we went with Leona to the church where they have the Awana group for the shoe shine boys. The group was a bit smaller than ususal, Leona figured that was due to the rain days they had and now they had to work ,Saturday is a busy day in town so it was time to make some money to make up for the down time. These boys will also wash motorcycles for you and watch them while you do your shopping.As you can see they love to pose for the camera.
The first picture is of Daina a friend of Leona's and also the cook at the school. We stopped in to say hi and had a great coffee. Then later on in the afternoon we took a walk to see the apartment Leona hopes to rent and move into, we hope to help her do this before we leave. It is in a nice quiet part of town it is half of a big house, so a lot more room than what she has been use too the last few years.
Leona and Angelo are gone to their descipleship group , it is a very intense Bible study and they are learning a lot. Later on tonight they are going down town to hand info sheets to the prostitutes, it is carnival time and a lot of loud music and lots of people walking arround.
Hope you all had a hug from the one you love
Herman & levina

Day Three

2009-02-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Day two

2009-02-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures we took to day. The first one is Carmen and me, Carmen is Leona's Dominican Mom, we stopped in at her house to say hi.
The next two pictures are of the sewing room at the school,they are well equipped and all the shelves hold all the material that we had sent down. It is put to good use Leona said.
The plate full of food is what we had for lunch at the school today it is call "sancocho"
and was very good. The last picture is of the school, they have finished the second story and it look very impressive.
All in all we had a good day, the weather again very nice 26 degrees. Oh yes today we also bought an Apache motorbike so we have something to drive, we will post a picture of that next time.
Hope its not to cold on PEI heard you had another snow day, we feel for you.

Day two

2009-02-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

2009-02-12T22:15:00.000-08:00

The first day is over and we ended it with a piano concert, the guy was amazing so it was quite a treat. The pictures are of our house that we staying in while here and of Leona's fancy hair do , those little braids took 6 hours to put in.
We took it easy today , kind of recuperate from yesterday. The weather was great, beautiful sunny day about 26 degrees,Herman already got some color. We did alot of walking today, got groceries and made supper for Leona, Angelo,Caitlin. Lauren, Herman and me , then went to the concert. Now we are ready for a good sleep.
good night all

Day one

2009-02-12T17:49:00.000-08:00

Stuck in landslide

2009-02-12T05:52:00.000-08:00

Here we are safe and sound but not after a very tiring day. The plane ride went just like clock work, right on time. We could tell when we landed that it had rained a lot here, there were puddles every where, we heard later that it had rained 8 days non stop, so you can imagine what things looked like. We were thankful that it was not raining now because it would not be fun to have to drag all our 4 heavy suitcases out into the rain.
We found a taxi right away who took us to the bus station in Sousa which was just a little room very close to the street, we dragged our suitcases inside just in case, got our tickets and had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus, meanwhile I was able to borrow a cell phone to call Leona and let her know we were in and what time to pick us up in La Vega about a 3 hour bus ride south into the mts.
The bus loaded and left on time and headed to Puerta Plata for a pick up there and then we were on our way, we were about a half hour out when we hit a big line of slow moving traffic that very quickly grinded to a halt. The news that came down the line was that there was a big mudslide that had covered the only road out of town, so now what? First the bus driver came and told us this was it the end of the line we would have to go back, whoa we thought what now? What were we going to do in Puerta Plata, my mind was working over time thinking about having to drag our luggage arround and find a place to stay and then again drag everything arround in the morning and have to cope with the language barrier. Thankfully this did not happen, after many slow starts and slow movements we inched a head, of course there was an equal line waiting in the opposite direction so every once in awhile we would see rows of vehicles go by while we were stopped.We were thankful that there was some english speaking natives right beside us with cell phones that we could borrow to let Leona know what we were up against and they also filled us in on what was happening or else we would have really been in the dark. Finally we got going and past the bad spot by then it was dark and couldn'r really see where the mt had given way. It was 9:30 when we arrived in La Vega, we had gotten on the bus at 3:20. Now you would think Leona was there waiting for us, oh no, where was she? we were of course very tired and hungry by now. Again a fellow passenger was waiting to be picked up as well and he let us use his phone to call. Leona was lost couldn't find the bus station in La Vega I guess they had recently moved it, just our luck. Anyway with some directions from our friend she and Angelo finally found us.
With many thanks to our friend we were on our way to Jarrabacoa another half hour drive through the mts, thankfully the roads were nice and quiet. It was good to arrive safely and we are thankful to the Lord for looking after us and providing so many helpful people a long the way. It was quite a day.
We heard that there were alot of landslides arround and that many people have lost homes and lives, very sad, so please pray for those people. Our little disomfort seems very trivial in light of their misery.
Till next time bye from a bit cloudy but dry Jarrabacoa and not cold

Halifax

2009-02-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Well here we are in the hotel relaxing had a good dry trip over, the roads I am referring to.I always hate that spray of the vehicles this time of year.
Jacob, Darlen, Natalie and Hailey came up from Dartmouth with some tole paints and other goodies for Leona, we had a great visit with them, we brought them the baptism dress for Hailey.
Yesterday we had Danielle, Tim and family plus our neighbors Nick Allison and Levi over for supper. Levi is the same age as Ariah so it was fun to see them interact, Danielle took some pictures which she probably posted on facebook.Nick and Allison live in Ben's house right next door, they are looking after the house for us.
Today was CoffeeBreak had a great morning with all the ladies and our study in Acts went well.Then it was a few more errands to run one of which was buying a dog collar and leash for Leona's new dog Lola , Olivia picked out a cute pink one whichI'm sure she will wear with pride.
Just checked in online, temperature in Puerta Plata is 27 oh that sounds good. I'll try not to gloat to much.
It's up bright an early tomorrow, we arrive there in DR at 2 pm then we take a bus to LaVega
which takes about 3 hours Leona will pick us up there.
Not sure what the internet will be like so please be patient with us, will update as soon as we can.
Till then stay warm
Herman and Levina

Amarila

2009-02-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

I took this picture of Mom's exceptional plant. It had already bloomed with 4 blooms, then another stalk came up and it has 6 buds, as you can see 4 are out and 2 more are coming. Pretty amazing I thought. I did this to see if I could figure out how to load up pictures and it works. I am quite pleased with myself.
Today is mild +5 not hard to take, but it isn't going to last long, temperatures will plummet this afternoon and then tonight -25 with the wind chill,we will turn into a block of ice brrr.
Church was good, poor Pastor Chad is fighting a cold but he made it through, tonight we have our youth pastor Albert. Herman made great coffee when we got home, the one at church is always so so.
The sleep over with Ariah went really well,except for the 5:45 wake up call, stumbling out into the frigid air and banging my shin bone on the table at the end of our bed, she nicely went back to sleep I on the other hand did not. She woke again at 7:15 for good so it was up and at it.Not use to these early mornings anymore. Better get use to it I know those roosters in the DR are up early. Only 3 more sleeps till we fly out, can't wait. Toodldedoo Levina and Herman

A new Day

2009-02-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

Woke to a very crisp but sunny -11 , the day holds much promise. After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal Levina went to the office to have things caught up before she leaves. Finished up there then picked up a few more last minute items to take to the DR for Leona.. Had some lunch at home and then took out the skiis and headed out the door, on the way decided may as well go to Daniell's, followed the snowmobile trails, which led me into Cornwall. Arrived at Dan's they were ready to head out, so they packed us all in brought me home and Ariah is staying with us for the night while they go out tobogganing at Stonepark with the other 2. The rest of the evening will be spent entertaining Ariah.Lots of fun.Stay tuned.

learning to blog

2009-02-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

Just set up a new blog and here is the first log.It is Friday night and we enjoyed a great chinese supper in Cornwall. Now relaxing at home. Today was beautiful crisp winter day, went skiing in the back country of MeadowBank and skating on the Pot Pond behind the Pot house,but the Pot's were not at home so we cleaned the pond a bit and then went home.
Time to call it a night good night