Tuesday was day two of orientation. During devotions Paul shared from Luke 14:25-33 about what it means to be a disciple of Christ- to follow Him. He talked about some different things that we here in the Dominican Republic have to give up, such as possessions, safety, and family. Of course we live in the top percentage of the people here, but we still had to leave behind items that made life more comfortable. Also, he reminded us that depending on where you live, it is safer here than in the United States. Finally, family isn't something you lose necessarily, but it is definitely an adjustment learning to live apart. There is a cost, but the reward is far greater. The mission of SCS is to disciple the youth that we connect with every day. It is based on building relationships with them and leading by example. First and foremost, He calls us to be His disciples. This devotion really encouraged me to continually remind myself of His purpose for me here and refocus when things get difficult.

The rest of the morning we went through some more technical information, which is a great thing for nontechnical me. I must say I'm catching on though. And they present it step by step, so we aren't crammed with information. We went to the main Claro store (cell phone company here) expecting to be there for hours getting our phones set up, but the group of us were in and out within 2 hours. I just have to wait to be approved and then I can go back and sign up for a monthly plan. The employee who helped me led me to believe he didn't speak English for 30 minutes while someone from SCS translated for me. Then the employee slipped up when talking with me and I realized he COULD speak English the whole time. He laughed and said he hates talking with his accent. No need for translation after that. It was quite funny that he could understand the whole time what I was saying and never let on. It made me wonder how many other Dominicans are the same way. I assume they can't understand English when in fact they can.

After lunch I started having an allergic reaction (breaking out in hives) to something, but Stacey knew just what to do. She was able to get me the medication I needed, and after a little time all the hives cleared up completely. Now it'll be a guessing game to rule out what food or environmental allergen would cause such a rapid reaction. God is good to me and my health is in His hands.

I finished off Tuesday shopping with several of the teachers. It seems like we shop a lot, but you can only buy so many groceries or things go bad and we are still figuring out what we need to make our apartments function better. We went to Bellon (like a Home Depot in the U.S.). Sometimes people tend to stare when a group of us "gringos" (white people) enters somewhere. It's interesting to take note of.

Wednesday in orientation we went through the philosophy of Christian education. It was so cool to see some of the places we partner with. SCS is reaching many places, not just here in Santiago. I'm excited that we get to visit some of these places! After lunch we went to IKEA to look for some home decorating items. They had things for every room of the house. You place an order and they send the items up from Santo Domingo in about a day or two.

 In the afternoon I got to spend a short time in my classroom, beginning to unwrap the containers I sent from the U.S.

I'm incredibly happy to see all the containers made it in one piece. Walking back into this classroom brought such joy and excitement to my heart. I could look out the windows at other buildings on campus and know this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. Now to start organizing everything.

I got to try Baskin Robbins for the first time here in the Dominican Republic and it was so good. It is a great way to cool down on a hot, sunny day. I will definitely be finding my way back to this place. We stopped by another grocery store, that had a book store in it, to look around. There were a lot of books I recognized from the titles, especially children's, except they were in Spanish. It's different to see the majority of the books in a bookstore in Spanish, not English (and not be able to pick up and read them, except the baby books).

Also today my roommates and I were able to find someone who could help us around the apartment. It will be wonderful with our busy school schedules to have someone come one day a week and help us with laundry, cleaning, and even some cooking. She is from Haiti, so we are looking forward to tasting some Dominican and Haitian food! Ir is very typical in the Dominican to have a maid. We couldn't have done this without some amazing people translating for us and knowing what to ask.

Praise report of the day: I used my new phone to calculate pesos and dollars at IKEA. When I left I forgot to pick it up. Hours later I realized I had lost it, and Paul was willing to go back to the store tonight to look for it. I spent much time asking God to please help us find it, as it is brand new. God answered my prayer and it is safely returned. This incident sure taught me many lessons in keeping track of my possessions and not doubting God's continual faithfulness to me even in the small things!