What's in a Name?

Ever since middle school, I have always gone by some sort of nickname.  At one point in high school, I was going by at least 3 different nicknames depending on which group of friends I was hanging out with.   Some of my previous nicknames have included Garrett-meister, GP, Gap, Gert, Candy Man, and Garebear (which I hate, by the way, so if you call me Garebear be prepared to receive a very strong glare).  It may sound weird, but nicknames have become an important part of my life.  To this day, my family still calls me by my nickname “G” (or sometimes “GG”).  The same has become true in the Dominican Republic.  My host brother attempts to pronounce my name but it comes out as “Egrit”.  My Spanish teacher calls me “Chepe” or “Joselito”.  Even my substitute Spanish teacher the other day called me “Gerek”.  My grammar teacher comes the closest by saying “Garrrrrrrett” while rolling her “r”s.  The first day I moved in with my host family, my host mom dubbed me “José” because she couldn’t pronounce my real name.  I think it’s interesting that she chose that name for me because my late grandpa’s name is José.  What’s really interesting is that I brought some cookies with me as a gift for my host family – the same cookies that my grandpa José (Joe) used to love.  Now every time my host family calls me José, I think of my grandpa and am proud to carry that name.


Even though I have a lot of nicknames, God has been teaching me a lot on this trip about His name for me.  At our group Bible study 2 weeks ago, we learned that believers are never referred to as sinners in the Bible.  Yes, we sin, as Paul points out in Romans 7 ("For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing.").  But more often than not, God calls us saints.  When I first heard that, I thought "No, that's not true.  Not me."  I always thought I was just a no-good sinner because I had identified myself by my sin.  But god identifies us according to what He has done for us, which makes us holy and set apart for Him.  As I have been reading through the Bible I have noticed that Jesus, Paul, even David refer to believers as saints who are seated with God in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6).  That means us, not just super-spiritual people who lived hundreds of years ago like monks in a monastery.  Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ is a saint and is seated with him spiritually right now in heaven.  A quote that really hit me this week from Neil T. Anderson states that "as believers, we are not trying to become saints; we are saints who are becoming like Christ."  That is my prayer for this trip, that I would learn to live in my new identity in Christ, as a saint and not as a sinner.  Jesus didn't come to leave us as we were before, as sinners.  He came to make us like Him, as saints.  I still need to process this more, but God is doing a good work in my heart.

Critters and Creeking

View of the mountains from the school

My bedroom

View from my bedroom window

I’ve been living in a tropical paradise for a little over a week now but I’m still adjusting.  I have gotten used to the critters that live…well…everywhere.  Bugs in the sink, cockroaches on the toilet, and chickens that randomly climb the stairs and come into my room have become a normal part of life for me.  I usually spend a few minutes every night chasing huge cockroaches or crickets out of my room.  Thank God for mosquito nets though so I can sleep peacefully without fear of waking up with a lizard on my face!  Spanish classes are intense.  We have class for 3 hours a day during the week, which is equivalent to a week’s worth of classes in one day.  The homework load is crazy at times but I am learning so much.  Applying what I learn in class to my host family life is easier than I thought.  I am picking up on things during conversations with my host family that I have learned in class which makes me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.

On Saturday our director and the missionaries that live here took all the students on a creeking excursion.  We started out crossing the river by walking through the rapids.  Then when we got a place that didn’t have many rocks, we let the current take us and floated downriver.  This was scary at first because you have to put one foot out in front of you to check for large rocks and the other beneath you to use as a brake.  All this is happening while you are floating down the river without any life preservers and trying to keep your head above water so you don’t drown.  Before reaching the next set of rapids, we got out and walked along the bank of the river.  However, the beach was on the opposite side of the river.  This meant that we had to wade out to the middle of the river just beyond the rapids and let the current take us down a few hundred yards to the beach.  Just before the beach, there are 3 or 4 large “cliffs” (or really big rocks) that we climbed and jumped off of into the river.  After spending a few hours at the beach and sunbathing on the rocks, we hiked for about 20 minutes up the mountainside via a horse trail.  I could tell it was a horse trail because of the considerable amount of poop, and sometimes diarrhea, that was on the trail.  (Sorry if that’s too graphic – I’ll put a disclaimer next time.)  Unfortunately two people had each lost a shoe in the river and had to walk through the excrement-saturated trail barefoot.  After that adventure, we walked to Mary’s house, a woman who lives in Los Higos, to eat lunch.  All in all, it was a great adventure filled with laughter and encouragement.  I can’t wait to see what kind of adventure we’ll have next weekend!

La aventura!

¡Hola! Saludos de la Republica Dominicana.  I have been in the Dominican Republic for nearly a week now and it's already starting to feel like home away from home.  After arriving in Jarabacoa, the other 12 students and I spent a few days at the base school for orientation and moved in with our host families on Saturday.  I'll be honest -- the first few days with my host family were rough.  My family only speaks Spanish so communication is difficult.  I haven't grown into my "Spanish ears" yet so I am constantly saying "No intiendo" (I don't understand).  Hopefully communication will come more naturally in the weeks to come.

I had my first Dominican adventure on Saturday after I moved in with my host family.  A friend of theirs, Carlos, took me and two other students to Salto Jimenoa, a beautiful waterfall in the mountains.  It is actually a set of 2 waterfalls - the lower falls and upper falls.  To get to the lower falls, we had to walk across several rickety wooden plank bridges that swayed when you walked on them.  This was especially exciting because of the large rocks and fast-moving water beneath the bridges.  The first set of falls were amazing.  (Sorry I don't have pictures -- I didn't understand where we were going when my family told me.)  Feeling adventurous, we decided to hike up to the second waterfall.  And when I say hike, I mean hike.  We literally used vines to pull ourselves up the side of the mountain and inched across ledges that were barely wide enough to step on.  Oh, and don't forget about the bridges made out of rotten logs and PVC pipe :)  When we finally reached the second falls, the sight was incredible.  You could actually swim beneath the waterfall.  We didn't swim that day but are planning on going back some weekend to spend a whole day there.  The entire way up (which took at least an hour) we constantly shouted "La aventura!" (Adventure!) to keep our mind off of the dangers that lay below us.  "La aventura" became our mantra and we still say it when we are doing something exciting.

Some other adventures that I have experienced so far:

- Watching a Dominican softball game (my family goes to watch every night).

- Playing and winning at dominoes, the official game of the DR.

- Taking walks around the "campo" (countryside).

- Spending the day at the river swimming and cooking on the shore.

I only have Internet access 1 hour each day, and most of that time is used to do homework.  However, I will try to update as often as I can, hopefully once or twice a week.  Thanks to all of you who are reading this because I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you.  I appreciate you :)