Halloween and Camping Trips

Posted by Maddy November 13, 2023

Halloween and Camping Trips

It’s been a busy two weeks, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. We had a fall festival, mourned the loss of one of the dogs on base, went camping, and had another missions team serving with us. I appreciate the continued support. I’ll be home in about a month and I can’t wait to see you all when I get back!

You might be wondering what holidays look like in the Dominican Republic. Fun fact, Christmas starts on October 1st and doesn’t end until the end of February, when the Dominican Independence Day occurs. So, on October 31st I and the other Global Bridge students (along with a few others) had a small Fall Festival. Everyone dressed up. Some of us put more effort into it than others… and I was one of the ones who didn’t put much effort into it. I just put on a shirt that I bought that has the Dominican Republic on it, said I was dressed as Courtney, and that was about it. For the record, Courtney thought it was hilarious. We walked around the base and “trick or treated”, played a few games (like One Night Werewolf), and called it a night.

Later that week, on November 3rd, we received some truly somber news. Princessa, one of the chihuahuas that live on base passed away. She was, to put it simply, very, very old. And there were mixed feelings about her passing. Some were surprised (as they had assumed she was immortal) and others were not (she was absolutely ancient). I was of the opinion that it was about time that she went.

Lizzie was distraught about the loss of Princessa and suggested we have a funeral. Well… I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Some told stories of Princessa’s fleas and others noted how a stiff wind would have knocked her over. Two of the guys performed an Irish jig to a country rendition of I’ll Fly Away… That was interesting. The entire affair was full of laughter disguised as tears, and it was definitely an entertaining way to spend the night. If you had asked me what I thought college entailed when I was a freshman in high school, I would never have guessed anything like this.

That weekend (Nov. 4-5), we went camping as a group up in the mountains. We went to Spirit Mountain, a two-ish hour drive from the base. We hiked up the mountain on a dirt road to the campsite. After settling in and setting up the tents, some of the group went on a hike to see a waterfall. I was near the end of the group, which was fortunate, because about half an hour in, at a particularly muddy and steep slope, another group caught up to us.

They informed us that we were going the wrong way. I was thankful. I did not want to walk further up the mountain. We shouted up the trail, hoping to inform those who had made it farther of the mistake. They did not respond. We left them to their own devices at this point, opting to backtrack almost the entire way back to the camp, knowing that our friends would realize their mistake eventually and turn back around.

We made it to the waterfall. And boy, was it worth it. We splashed around in the water for a little bit (it was very, very cold… not as cold as Lake Superior though). Pictures are included at the bottom of the post, as always. On our way back, we met the group that had gotten ahead of us. We told them they were going the right way and then continued on our way back to camp. The other group returned roughly forty-five minutes after us. They had walked for a total of four hours. I was glad that I had been at the back of the group, to say the least.

One of the things that I was most excited about during this camping trip was sleeping in my hammock. I set it up, figured out how to attach my mosquito net, and waited for dark to fall. Unfortunately, my plans were foiled. It began to rain. I retreated to one of the tents, praying that the rain would stop. It did, miraculously, about twenty minutes later. I grabbed my pillow and my beach towel. (I didn’t bring my sleeping bag with me, because I didn’t want it to get wet in case it started raining again.) I was in my hammock for a grand total of two hours before it began to rain again, and I snuck back into the tent.

As I was in the process of getting back in the tent, I made a bit of noise, alerting Lizzie to my presence. The interaction went as follows:

“Maddy? Is that you?”

“Yes. Sorry, it started raining again and I’m trying to escape the wetness.”

“It’s not drier in here.”

I groaned. It was not drier in the tent, lovely. My sleeping bag was wet. Anything that was touching the sides of the tent was soaked, and any hope I had of staying remotely dry through the night was dashed. I contemplated returning to my hammock, but decided that would be too much work and so I stayed put. In the morning, I rummaged through my stuff, hoping that my clothes would be relatively dry… and they were, to an extent. My tent wasn’t the only one to get soaked through, so I wasn’t alone in the struggle. We stood around the fire pit, enjoying breakfast burritos and the rays of sun coming up over the peaks. Some of the group had opted to go on a sunrise hike, but due to the fact that the rain had kept me up most of the night, I wasn’t feeling too ready to get up at five a.m. and hike up a mountain in the dark.

The camping trip was fabulous, and I definitely would go back, and would seriously consider living in the mountains at some point in the future. I would also like to attempt to sleep in my hammock again, because it was very comfortable, up until the point when I got rained on. When we got back to base later that afternoon, we were met with another missions team. I didn’t have anyone in my site this time, so it was a relatively normal week for me.

On the last day of sites for the week, the 9th, those from the clinic in Quinigua visited us to do a well-check on the kids. They did a craft, learned about Jesus dying on the cross for their sins, and got a general examination from the doctors and nurses. The tutoring site has been doing well, and while attendance for the adult morning classes is dwindling at times, we’ve been gaining more students in the afternoon, which is really encouraging. I’ve loved seeing the impact I’ve had on the kids and watching reading and math click for them one by one. It’s a huge blessing to work there with Emilie and Elizabeth.

That’s all for this post, thanks for reading! As always, feel free to ask questions and comment. Pictures are attached below. Thanks for all the prayers and support, and I’ll see you guys on the 27th of November!

¡Hasta luego, y'all!

Maddy <3