One week down...

A week has gone by and so far I have swam in a river, spoken more Spanish than EVER before, kissed many strangers on the cheek, seen my first rat in the house, learned how to cook some Dominican food with "Mama," and learned to merengue and bachata with the family!
We have been with our family since Saturday and they treat us like we are one of their own. mama introduces us to her friends as her American daughters. She always wants to feed us! We have learned to say "No tengo hambre!" (I'm not hungry) Yesterday for lunch we had chicken soup-which seemed normal until we realized Dominican style chicken soup includes the WHOLE chicken-feet and all!
It's fun to think of ways to interact becuase there aren't many words that can be shared. Language barrier has got to be the hardest yet coolest things I've experienced so far. It kills me to be with these people, wanting to know their stories and ask them questions but not being able to communicate much. The cool part about it is that I'm begininng to learn you don't alway need words to love. All I've had to give is a smile, an embrace, and my prescence. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just sit in the rocking chair next to Mama, both of us in silence but being ok with that.
Monica and I have tried to not let the language barrier hinder our relationships with them so we try to interact in other ways. Last night Mama, Papa, and Nathalie (a girl our age) were all laying on their bed watching TV and Monica and I ran in and jumped on them and they LOVED it. then Nathalie let us curl her hair-except she kept re-fixing what we would do. Another time we hid in Nathalie's toom and when she came in we jumped out and scared her. it's really neat that those little things help to bond us.
Every night after school Nathalie helps us with our Spanish homework and that is a great bonding time too. It's so humbling when 8 year old Miguel helps me with my homework!
They are a great family but in all honesty the first couple days were a struggle for me. I realized I cam into this sesmster with expectations. I cam in with the idea of how I wanted my semester to go and what I wanted it to look like. But God has a way of changing our plans and showing us that His plans are much different. I was thinking I would be with an inspiring old Dominican lady that had faith in God like I had never seem before, and instead I was placed in a family that didn't ever serve God. But it's been absolutley amazing to see how God is already moving. This morning Mama told us she's coming to church with us on Sunday and then she showed us a small New testement Bible that she had found. SHe said she doesn't look at it much. Then tonight at dinner MOnica and I prayed before we ate and when I opened my eyes she was just staring at me- so I hope we are showing Jesus to them.
This week has been a great week, but when I think about 3 1/2 months I get overwhelmed! Last night Monica and I were doing night-time devotions and we came across a verse in Matt. that we decided to dedicate to this semester.
Matt 6:34 says "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." So I'm not going to worry about the next 3 1/2 months- but I'm going to go one day at a time.
After class today some of us are going to the feild in the city to play soccer with the locals. I am SO excited! then on Saturday we are going as a team to hike to some waterfalls in Jarabacoa, so it's gonna be a really fun weekend! I'll try to write on a more regular basis and to get some pictures up soon! I miss you all!!!!