The Temple

The Temple in Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

                                                    The Temple grounds in Santo Domingo

This is the Casa next to the Temple that houses the MTC, missionary apartments, senior missionary apartments, Area Presidency Offices, distribution center,and the family history center.

                                                             Strangers in a far off country

Week 6 Trip to Santiago

On our trip north to Santiago we passed miles of these orange groves.

This rice paddies with the mountains in the background were sure pretty. There were a lot of them that had men out wading and working in them. The men were still there wading and working several hours later.

We had to stop to see exsactly what these were.  they were made from wide strips of cloth, pulled through a tarp-like material.(Almost like a feed sack)  they wouldnt be very durable but they were beautiful.  Most of them were about six feet square and some were SNOW white! 

For several miles there would be one type of thing sold by all the different little stops and then we would go a while and then something different would be for sale,  again the same for miles.  Several little places sold carved items from a little spoon to big platters and oars.  This shop also had colored wooden items.

We had seen several little carts with bottles.  we stopped to see what was for sale.  there were bottles of various shapes and sizes filled with peanuts they had harvested and roasted.  We bought a Gerber baby food jar full.  He was also selling potatoes.  He was roasting them in the potted fire on the cart.  Another cart down the road also had cashews in some of the bottles.

We knew we had finally arrived in Santiago when we saw the tower.  We don't know what it represents, but we knew we were there and we needed to figure out how to find an address for our stop.             

Week 5

Here is our place from across the street. We are one the 2nd floor, which is the first floor above the cars. Ours in the unit with the patio and the awning just above the cars. The street is a one way street and often times pretty busy. Our bedroom is out next to the street, actually the tree blocks the view of our bedroom window. So we hear a lot of the road sounds. Surprising we have slept pretty well. The parking lot is guarded all the time and the gates are shut at night.We have two parking places, but only use one.






There is a lock on our car gear shift to keep it from being stolen. When it is locked the car will not start.

We are getting used to the driving. Actually everyone is pretty much a defensive driver and is watching out for everyone else. They are always trying to get in front of you, but they do not want a wreck any worse than we do. Sometime intersections are scary. Sometimes the traffic will come down your side of the road.

This is the Area Office where our office is. There is a large gate at the front that has to be openned when you pull up. A guard waits there in a little building and when you pull up if you have the proper permits on your car he will open the gate. Pretty much everything is locked. Many guards are sawed off shot gun toters.

The horses here don't have much of a life, poor things.

Highlights from week #3



Here is the  inside our small branch (actually a twig). When the meeting started there were four of us, but by the time it ended 65% of seats were full.



 
 Here is the road the road down to our branch (actually a twig). When we get there we are the only car. The High Councilman comes from Los Pedros some 10 miles away, but they do not come in a car. See below.

Here is the High Council member and his partner headed home. We passed them along the way. I would say they were going 35 to 40 miles per hour. The branch is in Quisqueya.


Here is a manhole with the cover gone on our drive home from the Area Office. We watch closely when we pass there, but as you can wee there is not much marking to tell you it is there. A lot of them that have a manhole are 3 to 5 inches below the surface, but this one is just plain not there.

Driving in the Dominican Republic

Driving here in the DR can really be frightful. Once you are used to it, it sort of grows on you. The rule is the first one the has the right of way. Stop signs and red lights don't really mean much, they are only just sort of a general rule. Often in the intersection there are cars going every sort of direction. You just try and put your car out there to claim your little slice of territory. While everyone else is stopped the bikers just maneuver through everyone. There are a lot of one way streets, but that doesn't even seem to make a difference a lot of the time, especially to motorbikes. The motorbikes roar along our street under our bedroom window all hours of the night. There are certain times in the day when the traffic is worse. You try and stay off the street at those times if you can. We were going slow the other day for an hour. We were going so slow that our GPS finally brought up a new screen and asked "Do you want to switch to pedestrian mode?" We wanted to, but then what would become of our car.

Keeping fit in the DR

We live in an eight story apartment complex. We have figured out an exercise program. We hit the stairs in the morning before much is stirring.