This morning Elder Grant and Elder Falor left the office early for Bani in the “South” to deliver mail and other supplies to the South Ayudantes. (In Spanish “Ayudante” means helper. The South Ayudantes have the other mission pickup truck and are almost like AP’s.) The back of their pickup truck was loaded with Christmas packages for all of the missionaries outside of the capital. With any luck the South Ayudantes will have all those Christmas packages delivered before Christmas. There should be a lot of happy Elders and Hermanas out there for Christmas.
More training in the office today. Hna. Johnson spent the whole afternoon teaching Elder Huey and Elder Barquero how to do “Apoyo” (Missionary Support) on IMOS. Finally after hours of work at the end of the day and nearly completed the internet went down… Yikes! All of the afternoon’s work, the support money for nearly 200 missionaries, may have been lost in cyberspace. There was a moment of panic, followed by reassuring words from Elder Huey, our computer genius, and some slow breathing to regain composure. After about a half hour the internet came back on line and the world was right again. Nothing lost, life is good!
Tonight Hna. Johnson and I made our second run to the supermarket in as many days but what a mistake. Jumbo was a zoo with last minute Christmas shoppers. Last minute Christmas shopping here is no different than in the states. Well, there is one very big difference. In the crowded confines of the supermarket aisles in the states shoppers take their turn, show a little patience and common courtesy. In the DR, shoppers push their grocery carts exactly the way they drive their cars. Simply put, it is Baaazzzzaaaar!
As a people, Dominicans are the nicest, kindest and gentlest people. They are loving and friendly to everyone. They are really very courteous people. But behind their grocery cart, (or the wheel of their car) Dominican shoppers are inpatient, thoughtless and rude. Something happens to them when they are driving their vehicle, they seem to forget the meaning of courtesy. I was hit twice tonight from behind by carts being pushed by people that certainly saw me but didn’t care that they ran me over. They crowded in line like there is no line of people waiting at the checkout. They cut other shoppers off or run them over. Without thinking they stop and block the whole aisle without considering that dozens of other shoppers can’t get by. Yup, it’s just like driving a car on the street.
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