Upon Arrival....

So after an overnight stay in new York, with no sleep, we arrived in santo Domingo, Domincan Republic. A brother from the bethel branch there was suposed to meet us at the airport. We must of all had blinders on because for some reason we did not find each other for almost two hours! And that airport is very small:)

in front of bethel

Ash with the sister who gave us the tour

front lobby

Thankfully he did find us and we jumped in the Bethel van off to Bethel. After a quick nap and shower, we got to take a tour of the grounds. It is right in the middle of the city, but you would never know that if it were some higher buildings around it. Its very pretty! It has about 80 brothers and sisters who live there, with many more who commute in everyday to help out.

residence building

We got fed fantastic domincan food, got to swim in the bethel pool, and even had a brother who was a taxi driver to pick us up an bring us into la zona colonial, which is the old part or the city where Columbus had his first fort.

baptism pool

one of the turtles from the pond

Sisters working in Bethel's Ponds

A really nice couple, Sean and Andrea, offered to let us travel with them as far as Enriquillo, where they lived, and then be picked up by a brother who is in the Pedernales spanish and he would take us onto our final destination.

Beach view

we took a gaugau (small bus) for 5 hours to Enriquillo. most of the way there Sean and Andrea filled us in on tips about life in the DR. they were very helpful! Once in Enriquillo, we took a small tour around the town, got to see there tiny Kingdom Hall and also the beach. It is a really neat place, super hilly and everyone was very friendly. The brother that was coming to get us finally came, about 2.5 hours after we thought he would, around 8pm.

Speaker gets a view of the sea!

I wish someone could have taken a picture of our shocked faces as not one, not two, but 3 adult passengers, plus a toddler, rolled out of his car and began to make adjustments so Ashley and I, plus our luggage, would be able to fit as well. We had been warned about this type of rides in the DR, and we were delighted to be able to experience it first hand so soon:)

squeezed in....

our apartment is on the top

around two hours later we finally arrived in Pedernales, where a brother names Jonas Philistin, a special pioneer sent to help the creole, happily let us into our new place. so exhausted, we didnt really register the actual apartment, just collapsed into bed in our sweaty stickiness.