In my home in Michigan, I have tiling and carpet that cover my floor. I have screens on my windows to keep all the creepy crawlers out at night, doors for all the rooms, a dishwasher to clean the dishes for me, paint to cover the walls, and a bathroom with a toilet that works. To most poeple those things are normal to have. But for a moment imagine what it would be like to live in a place where your floor is made out of dirt, your window is a just a square cut out of the wall. Your doors are made out of curtains and your dishwasher is a big metal pot with water on the ground. Look at your walls and imagine them being bare cement blocks, your roof made out of tin, and your toilet a plastic bucket. This weekend, I got to live out this kind of life; simple.
Our family friends, Joci, Miguel, and their three daugthers; Omira (15), Neomi (12), and Estefani (9), are a wonderful and loving family who have blessed my family by just being apart of our lives. Whenever we come to the DR, we always make seeing them our priority. Joci invited me to stay the night in her home on Saturday. And of course I said yes. I couldn't wait to spend more time with them. Don't get me wrong, I was tad bit nervous also. It was the first time I was going to be staying overnight in the community (Pierda Blanca) without my parents. It's not that it's a bad area, BUT I am a "gringa" a.k.a a fair skin, blonde hair, blue eyed, teenage American girl that guys (doesn't matter what age) would just love to ge to know. Luckily my dad's main homeboy (homeboys are a group of friends my dad has), Miguel, is a pretty big guy. He told me, and I quote, "Any man that comes to that window, is a dead man." I knew then that I was going to be perfectly taken care of and I didn't have to worry about anything. Spending the weekend in their home really gave me a new prespective. I knew they didn't have a lot of money, but actually living they way another person lives is different than just knowing or understanding. I hand washed dishes on the floor in a big metal pot with water inside, I helped the girls read a book in English by candle light since the electricity wasn't on. I watched Omira pick up an empty class beer bottle on the side of the street and put gasoline in it to use as fuel for the motorcycle. And, I used an outhouse for my bathroom. And no, it's not like an outhouse like at a baseball game or anything. It was a small wooden shack, and inside was a hole in the ground. There was a reason why I tried no to drink too much liquid, but hey you have to go at some point! It wasn't the fact that I didn't want to use it, it's the fact that I didn't want Joci to be embarrassed or feel bad.
I love this family so much and I don't see them any different than me. Yes, we have different skin colors. Yes, we live in two different countries. Yes, our lifestyles are completely different. But one thing we share in common, is the love we have for one another, and the love we have for Jesus. God created us to love, and to love each other. With love, nothing can be broken. When I sat in their house, I didn't look at them as strangers, or question why they live like they
do. None of that matters to me. What does matter though is our friendship. We are family and I definetley feel that I am apart of their family. In Pierda Blanca when their is no electricity or anything to do, they spend time with each other. People are constantly socializing, drinking coffee, laughing, and enjoying each others company. Whenever I go over to Joci's house, I'm not just at her home, we go and visit to at least five different houses, meeting, talking, and spending time together. The word that I feel fits perefectly with this community, culture, and country, is family. Everyone is apart of your family whether by blood or not. This is why so many people fall in love the people here. And I, am one of them.
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