Va Grande or Va Casa

Shortly after arriving in Cruz Verde, a small village in the Dominican Republic, I found myself traveling down a dark, dirt road with a family who didn’t speak English. You should know, I don’t speak Spanish…but they do! We walked into their house. They showed me to my room…while they, the five of them, piled into the other room of the house to sleep. I wasn’t sure where the other people in our group were staying and I wasn’t sure how I was going to react to the “conditions” of this trip.

Lying in my darkened room (the power frequently went out in Cruz Verde), I pondered the next week. I looked forward to the service we would complete, but I wasn’t sure I could let my mind quiet down enough to rest. The next day, I learned that we would be using outhouses and taking showers with buckets of water. I quickly remembered that it was a privilege to serve with my fellow trip goers and we were fortunate to be in a warm, welcoming community.

The rest of the week flew by. Outhouses gave us a chance to discuss the best methods for use. Greg Palm gave us chances to convert popular clichés like “Go Big or Go Home” into literal and confusing Spanish phrases like “Va Grande or Va Casa!” And, my camera, gave us these lasting images. Enjoy…we certainly did! (P.S. Thanks to all who helped make this trip possible.)