I found out on Wednesday that it is a tradition to pour water on the birthday boy/girl, because my friend Michelle had her birthday on Wednesday and got a cup of water spilled on her. When the kids at the Ark found out that my birthday was Friday they kept telling me that they were going to spill water on me. I was hoping to avoid mass amounts of water, but when I got back from my work site, my hopes were crushed. My bus pulled in, the kids saw me, and they started to chase the bus. I got a few doses of water on my back and front and thought it was done, but the kids started filling buckets and throwing them on me. I was soaked. I got into some dry clothes and stayed in with the rest of the team. It was a very interesting and wet birthday. TOday was the "marathon," which is a big race that a lot of the kids and some adults participate in. THe littlest ones ran a 1 k, the next oldest ran a 5 k, and the very oldest kids and the adults ran a 10 k. These distances are doable in the U.S., but here in the DR, there are hills like you have never seen before. I have a lot of respect for those who ran the race. I handed out water. I also drank the water. That was about it, but it was very fun to see everyone compete. TOmorrow there are some baptims. Please be praying for the language barrier it really is a challenge to communicate with the teachers that we are working with. And if you want to send me mail, send it to:
Faith Miller
c/o Leslie and Vic Trautwein
Unit 3049—KAIDR
3170 Airmans Drive
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946

God bless!