We are Home! A Short Journal

Tuesday, July 7, 2020 is one for the books (that I might actually write one day)! After an unplanned 3 months and 3 weeks stay in MI, we made it back home to the Dominican Republic safely on a Tuesday afternoon. 

It was our easiest trip yet - mostly, surprisingly, thanks to regulations in place due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. Airport staff were very helpful and friendly in spite of stricter regulations and all lines were short and quick due to fewer people traveling. Security let us go through the metal detector as a family instead of sending Miguel to the scanner, which was a first for us. The flights were comfortable with a whole row to ourselves since seating was intentionally spaced with only family members together, and we found out Kai still loves flying! We were worried with him being able to walk now and being much more mobile than he's ever been (he wasn't even crawling when we flew up in March) that he would be restless, but he slept all but 1 1/2 of the 5 hours total flying time. And while awake, he was very happy, loving having his own seat and tray table able to entertain himself with his finger puppets (a last minute buy that I now definitely recommend to families flying/traveling with toddlers!). Arriving in the Dominican Republic, immigration was fast since we were the only flight arriving inside a half hour window. 

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Notes on pandemic affects:

The airports were maybe around half as full, if that much, as they have been when we traveled through them on previous trips. It wasn't unusual to see people wearing these plastic face shields as well as surgical masks. In the lounge areas, travelers spaced themselves even further apart than usual and gave each other wide berths to avoid crossing paths in the walkways. 

Everything was super clean - enough to smell the cleaning chemicals used. One positive change I hope this virus brings about is better hygiene in public spaces! United Airlines seated us in the Economy Plus section at no extra charge since we had a lap child with us and the flight was only about half full. They strictly required masks to cover face and nose unless eating or drinking.

The DR very strictly enforces mask wearing whenever anyone is outside of private property, even when walking or riding a bike in the open air. They will fine, or jail, people riding motorbikes without masks while overlooking the fact that most of them still don't wear helmets (also legally supposed to be required). Our friend who picked us up form the airport didn't even dare roll down the window without a mask on. This has been an adjustment for us since we were just in rural MI, mostly with family, where mask wearing in public was about 50/50.

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The first week home, we focused on fixing the many things in and around home that needed tending to after almost 4 months of being gone. The a.c. unit in our main bedroom was dripping water so we had to spend the first, very sticky night with several fans set up, the 'old fashioned' way. A friend, who we call family, came for a 5 day visit and helped Miguel get our car fixed (a mechanical issue that could have quickly gotten worse with more use) and re-do the garden and laundry areas in our back patio. While they were doing this, I was working on unpacking and redoing Kai's sleeping arrangement. While we were gone, we bought a dresser from some friends moving out of the DR. I wanted to start sleep-training Kai once he adjusted to being back home and figured moving him into his own room at the same time, would help him sleep longer stretches at night, too. Our office was set up in the spare bedroom, so I had to move the desk and other office equipment out to make room for his collapsible crib and dresser. 

Miguel's mom came for a visit over the weekend and friends stopped by sporadically to catch up. Kai, thankfully, adjusted to being home SO well (huge answer to prayer!). He seemed to recognize the house and everything else. He was initially shy around new people, but as soon as they started playing with him, he made a new friend and has since only continued charming people (everyone is his friend now). 

The second week, I started working on refinishing the desk before moving it into our bedroom with a new office set-up. Unfortunately, I I breathed in some of the sawdust with chemical paint stripper on it while sanding it down and spend the next 24 hours with aches and pains and a terrible sinus flair-up. I went through the rest of the week with a bout of sinus cold; at the same time, Kai was working on pushing through two more teeth (to join the six he already had) and had some sniffles. We made sure to fill in our friends and ministry volunteer coaches when they came by for a visit or we visited them so they wouldn't be scared of us having caught the virus! 

On July 20th, the start of our third week home, a nation-wide 45-day state of emergency began. So, we're staying home more than planned these days! It's given me time to finish the desk and another piece of furniture (I found a paint solution that doesn't require stripper!), set up an office nook in our bedroom, successfully sleep-train Kai, and finally prioritize updating everyone on how we are doing. 

Miguel has stepped into the role of Country Director for FCA DR since June, so he's taken the extra time to focus on getting a semi-regular routine in place for our staff to better take advantage of this extra time we find on our hands. This has included coordinating and running online staff training which would otherwise be delayed or drawn out over a longer period of time and will help with future ministry implementation. 

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As I was writing this, the first tropical storm of the season was rolling in so our internet was slow. I came back and added the pictures and couldn't resist adding this extra one. 

We woke up the next day with no water. Upon inspection, Miguel found a PVC pipe from an outside faucet had broken and drained the water tank on our roof. After fixing the pipe, he decided to take advantage of the empty water and give it a good cleaning before pumping water back in from our cistern. On his way down, coming of the ladder, he slipped on the wet patio tile and completely wiped out, hitting his chest and chin. He gashed his chin open enough to require 4 or 5 stitches! Amazingly, he doesn't have a headache or sore chest, but yesterday everyone was making fun of his 'white beard' and getting an injury usually seen on toddlers learning how to walk - haha! 

Until next time.

~Rose