MARCH

 March:OK so I'm a little behind.  The months are flying by and we are busy going out to different Branches and Districts every week end.  For those that are more than 2 hours away from us we stay overnight as night traveling is not a good option even though the roads are good.  The problem is traffic driving without lights and motorcycles driving on the wrong side of the road, also without lights. 

We have started going out to our 4 districts, a different one each week end, getting to know the people.  Eldon gave a great presentation to the people in Azua.  The drive is always delightful.  There are tiendas (stores) all along the road selling various goods.

Tienda along side the road.

Wooden bowl and pestals of every size.

 When we came home Sunday night we discovered they had had a festival and blocked the street we were trying to get home on.  The festival had been planned for the week before but got rained out.

Tail end of a parade we think??

Traffic is always dreadful in the city and although there are lines painted on the road they apparently are only suggestions.

This is suppose to be three lanes of traffic.

Helmets are supposedly required.  How
they are worn is apparently optional.

Note the "No Parking" sign on left and right.

Many of you like the UBERS that are available.  We have them here too.  While they are parked they look safe but the way they dodge in and out of cars is scary.  Motorcycles have absolutely no rules.

Uber checking where his next victim lives.

I took a video of us driving home one day but when I showed the kids they wondered why I had taken a video of a parking lot.
As we travel to our assignments we see some beautiful scenery.  I love the ocean's expanse and the waves crashing on the shore.  Some beaches are white and sandy, some are the black volcanic sand and some are just seashores of volcanic rock; beautiful but treacherous.

Beautiful and rugged.

Rough and dangerous cliffs.

Black sands with the tide out.

Sandy but not white.

We had what they call a training Cluster here.  It lasts for a couple of days and they feed us very good catered meals along with it.  We also went bowling at the end of it.  I did not bowl but Eldon had fun.  I did however miss a 4" step down in the dim lighting and landed hard on my knee and hand.  Seems I cracked a bone in my foot (wore a boot for 4 weeks) and burst the bursa in my knee (healed up fine by itself after a few weeks) and tore the supraspinatus tendon in my right shoulder.  Still working on that injury.  Guess tendons take a bit to heal.

Coconut water drink.  Very refreshing and no
dishes to wash when your done.

I am including many random interesting (at least I think so) things we have come across.

Trucks of Roma tomatoes going to the
factory to be made into ketchup or something.

Lots of Egrets around here on the beaches and
in the fields where farmers are plowing

A young lawyer was in one of our finding employment classes. Lawyers are a dime a dozen and most out of work.  It is apparently hard to be successful in that field.  Anyway he asked Eldon if he could talk to him about a spiritual problem.  First reaction was go see your Bishop.  But his question was, "how do I get baptized?"  That we could direct him to and he was baptized several weeks later.

Yamico next to Eldon is getting baptized.

Some of the branches have nice chapels

Others are little houses converted as best
as possible for church purposes.

Font in Elias Pina little converted house.

Font built in backyard.

Chapel inside converted house in Elias Pina
in the San Juan District.  It's right next to the
Haitian border.

We walk down to the Zona Colonial occasionally and enjoy the touristy stuff.  It is the oldest settlement in the new world dating back to 1494.  

APRIL:

We visited San Juan and did all the tourist stuff available there in about 2 hours.  We saw an obelisk that had fallen down in the middle of the field and is used as a place to burn herbal etc. sacrifices. It's called the ceremonial plaza of the Taino (Taino are extinct. The spaniards obliterated them.)  We also visited an un-comercial cave.  That's the extent of the tourist attractions in San Juan.   

The road to San Juan also has the coolest kilometer (mileage) signs.

Kilometer road signs with flowers
growing out of the head.

Obelisk in the field.  A face was faintly visible
on the top end of the stone.

A circle of rocks marked it.  Cows wandered
all over the field grazing.

Eldon climbing up to small caves.

Not a lot to write home about but
the bats call it home.

Eldon squeezed through the opening
but not a lot to explore.  Fun anyway.

The outlying Districts and Branches welcome us with open arms.  Sure glad Eldon can understand them.  I gather bits and pieces but....

Laundry day.  Drying on barbed wire fencing.

Two family home.  Very humble.

All the poorer homes look the same.
Some wood, some concrete.

Farms are vast and green in this interior area.

The travel we do is fun and it's great to be out of the pollution of the capital but always nice to get back to the comfort of my own bed.  

February

February 

We started off with discovering more about our immediate neighborhood.  We discovered just a block away more great museums.  At the Natural History Museum we went to last month we saw all the whales and marine stuff.  This week we went to the Museum of Man.  Us old people get to go in free. :) 

Typical festival costumes

Wagon and mock home of Europeans

Festival Costume

Inside the mock Cabin

Tools out in the yard

Lots more stuff but a museum is after all just a museum with lots of stuff in it from old times usually.  A lot of this was costumes.

Feb 3

We took Greers with us and went to Los Tres Ojos--small caves with beautiful ponds of water just on the outskirts of the city.

First of the Three Eyes

Eldon heading down to the next pool.

The second of the eyes.  The water was clear
and spectacular.

Admiring the pools

Going down into the cave to ride the raft
across to a fourth pool.

The boys pull the raft back and forth to take people
to the other pool and back.  They really appreciate tips.

Fourth pool.  Tarzan movies were shot here.

More of the fourth pool

Lots of fish in this pool.

More of the fourth.

Returning boat ride to civilization

Los Tres Ojos is worth a return trip.  And the bonus is there are actually four!  

We also walked down to China Town after returning from the Ojos.  It is not far and only about 2 blocks square.  But you know you are there.

Dawn with one of the Chinese statues

Gateway is on all the incoming streets to
China town

Another Statue

And another

We actually don't have to go far for entertainment on a daily basis.  Most every day we can stand out on our balcony and watch the traffic on our corner.  There is no consideration for others and the people simply pull out to go where there is no possible way for them to get to.  They quite effectively end up blocking the cars in all directions so no one can go anywhere.  It is very entertaining to watch and say to yourself "don't do it.  You'll just block the intersection".  But they do it every time.

Someone suggested I should have done a movie
of it but that would have been a waste.  Nothing was moving!

Yes, both buses are turning left at that corner.

February 10th we were blessed with a visit from Elder Rasband, one of the apostles.  He visited with all the missionaries in both missions and shook everyones hand.  Since we old folks don't have the same rules as the youngsters we got to see him in both missions and in the employee devotional.

Eldon and Dawn shaking Elder and
Sister Rasband's hands.

Elder Rasband at the employee meeting.

 There was a women's meeting with Elder Rasband.  We got there in plenty of time to get a seat but as the time to start got closer, sisters just kept pouring in.  There was standing room only.  There were chairs in the aisle to where you could not get out once in.  There were chairs in the halls and ladies standing.  We missionaries decided to give our seats to the locals as they were the ones who really needed to be there.  Again Elder Rasband thanked us and we went home. 

No room anywhere.  It was raining cats
and dogs outside and the ladies just kept coming.

February 14th 

We and Greers went to Samana to go whale watching, an activity recommended by our managers, and since the entire office was on vacation for a week (no idea what for) we went.  The VRBO we found was delightful and Greers brought Elder Greer's brother and his wife.  Splitting the cost 3 ways made it most manageable.  

The place we stayed fed us a lovely lunch.

One of the cooks

A church we found on a walk through town

The town is just building this delightful place.
All the buildings will eventually have stores in them.

The plaza behind the stores.

On the boat getting ready to head out whale watching.

Water was pretty rough although the
picture does not show it well.

Whales spouting

This one is just sleeping on top of the water

Floating along

Been a long trip for Elder Greer

We decided to go exploring around the area and visit the Boca de Diablo.  We went in Greer's car as it is a 4 x 4.  Ours would not have made it.  We went down a narrow gravel road with large rocks in the middle of it, passed a granite quarry and finally made it.  As the waves come in they are forced into a narrow tunnel that opens on the top of the cliff.  Mist blows up like old faithful.

Granite quarry

Granite block

Beautiful blues of the Caribbean

Click here to see Boca de Diablo

On the 18th we went to Bani to visit and see if we could help the folks up there get going on self reliance.  They know about it but... it seems like just another program to take up the bishops time.  Used correctly it will actually free up his time.

Getting out of the "bus" at Bani 

We were able to talk to the District President and he seems quite anxious to get his district moving.

We have some cool trees here that grow
a loofa sponge on them.

And the rain, rain, rain comes down, down, down!

Made if through February alive.  Good thing it was a short month!