Our Caribbean Adventure: Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the DR except by expatriates. You can buy turkeys here and cranberry sauce, but only during the months of October and November, and they go out pretty quickly. We were in charge of the Thanksgiving dinner and program that the Senior Missionaries held here the Monday after Thanksgiving. It was great with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, veggies, rolls, and even pumpkin pies!

Before everyone came- with Sis. Haws and Rucker who did tons of work!

With everyone eating away - I need a photo of the food table!

Afterward, we heard the story of the First Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving in Canada – these are the only two places where it is a national holiday. In Canada, it is held in October.

So this made us want to list the things that we have become thankful for since living down here in the DR. It will not include our family and friends for which we are so thankful, but more life here in the DR at Thanksgiving.

The conveniences that we miss and will be grateful for when we return home

- Having hot water come out of the tap without having to turn a switch. We now remember to do that and wait 10 minutes instead of just jumping into a cold shower. “I have always loved really hot showers, but I’ve gotten used to tepid ones.” – Jill

Being able to eat fresh fruits and vegetables without having to wash them in Clorox first. This is a picture of what we are using as our bleach dispenser because it lets us just adds a few drips to our washing water.

- Being able to take a drink while in the shower and rinse out your mouth. You can’t drink the water here without a filter which is on the kitchen faucet.

Being able to go to a hotel or restaurant and flush the used toilet paper down the toilet. Yes, here there is a basket next to the toilet to put one’s used tissue – it must just be so unsanitary beside the odor that it can give off. This is a photo at the Hilton Hotel in Santo Domingo where we put on a seminar this past week.

Being able to quickly run into the grocery store without having to drive into a parking garage and up several flights.

Being able to drink fresh milk instead of boxed reconstituted milk that will expire in a couple of months.

Being able to get the mail at our front door instead of having to wait an extra week or more to get it through the mission home.

Not having to sleep under a mosquito net.

Not having to look forward, right, left, and rearward when making a turn at an intersection.

- Not having to pay import duties on equipment which sometimes amounts to 40% of their value.

- Not having to pay 26% value added tax (sales tax) to everything – the price on the label is not the final price of the item.

- Not having to wait for the heavy steel gate to open in order to pull into the apartment parking garage and open an additional gate before your front door.

- Not having to avoid loose garbage along to roadway when you go out for a morning walk.

- Not having to remove your jewelry – watch, ring, etc. -when you go for that walk because of possibly robbery.

- Being able to go to Church in a nice building.

Being able to hear songs and talks in Church above

the whirling sound of fans because there is no air
conditioning.

- Not having to hunt for chalk and other teaching tools at Church on Sunday.

But what about the good things? There are many more of those:

- Being able to buy wonderful fresh fruit year around and in such large varieties. These bananas and the grapefruit, along with avocados and passion fruit, were just growing outside a home that we visited.

Being able to enjoy beautiful flowers all year round including blossoms on trees in December. These are wild poinsettia trees.

- Being able to look out of our bedroom window at a lovely ocean and changing clouds in the sky.

Enjoying white, sandy beaches less than an hour away, any time we want to go.

Being able to live in a safe apartment in a good part of town.

Being able to serve such sweet, wonderful people.

Youth at a multi-stake EFY last summer!

Folks from Puerto Rico and the US

A sweet family who were in our Book Fair video

Sisters from the DR, Barbados, and Jamaica

The Snows and Fords - they have finished their missions!

The Reeses, Lillys, Hammons, Haws

The Shavers, Eichbushes, Glaziers, Ruckers

Being able to work with other incredible Senior Missionaries who come from all walks of life and all over the world (That will be another blog post).
Being able to get many American products – Tide, Jiffy, Stove Top, Right Guard, etc.

- Having Christmas songs, decorations, and displays start the first of November – it makes up for not having snow!

- Hearing the hymns in Church sung in multiple languages.

- Being able to go to little schools and old folks homes to share wonderful gifts from the Church (more in a future post). The smiles for the Church’s Humanitarian efforts on so many grateful people.