Moving to Bayaguana

So we're moving to Bayaguana, for 2 months, if that even counts as a move. As many of you know my wife and I are moving to the US in December, and we currently live in Las Lagunas DR. But for the last two months or so we're going to spend our time with Heydi's parents in Bayaguana. Let me explain part of the reason why.

The other day our water pump at the house was stolen, which made me angry and a little nervous, but it's no big deal and it was partly my fault for leaving it out while we were at meeting. Things like that happen all the time here in the DR. When we were on vacation in the US they stole our washlines. People steal the lightbulbs out of the outdoor lighting fixtures at the Hall. And Heydi's father told us that he once caught them stealing the corrugated metal off the top of his house, literally robbing the roof off the house. This is unfortunately normal here. But then things started to get out of hand. The other day we noticed that the daily black-out was lasting a little longer than normal, so much so that our power inverter ran out of juice. The groceries that we had just bought went bad in our lifeless fridge; the items look so sad in there on the warm shelves with no light. We thought that the electric company had cut our electric again (idiots), but it turns out that the thieves had actually cut our power lines, which is ironically the same thing that you say when the electric company cuts your electric. Sometimes they do that before they're going to rob a place.

So needless to say, that night was a little frightening for us. In all honesty the thieves can take my 4-year old laptop and my TV and washing machine that I'm going to sell anyway in a couple of months. The only material posessions which really mean anything to me is sketchbooks, and I don't think crooks take much time to scan the bookshelves. But I just want my wife and I to be safe. That night we pulled our mattress out onto the living room floor by the big window to avoid the heat (no fans) and so we could hear everything that goes on outside. The bed was so close to the big open window that it seemed like the stray dogs which wander in the night were breathing down my neck. But we made it through the night just fine and in the morning we were able to fix the electric lines and have power once again.

All this is on top of the fact that we have a neighbor who's into some pretty bad stuff. He's been shot a couple times, and all our other neighbors tell us to watch out for him. The other day he came to our house saying that he wants to come to our meetings and wants to know what time they are. This could mean one of two things; a possible excellent experience for the yearbook, OR the shadiest character in our neighborhood now knows the exact hours we're not at home. He hasn't come to a meeting yet... hmmm...

So that's in part why we've decided to move to Bayaguana.  We decided to sell all our things as quickly as possible and then spend our last two months with Heydi's family. At least we'll have nothing to steal and we'll be better protected living with them.

When I drew these pictures, we were at a resort in Puerto Plata taking a little vacation. And would you believe that while we were in the pool we watched as a woman in a blue hat STEAL our towel of the pool lounger! I quickly jumped out of the pool and confidently chased after her, it's easy to keep track of a woman in a blue hat. When I caught up to her I pointedly tapped her on the shoulder and said, "YOU STOLE MY WASH LINES, AND MY WATER PUMP, AND CUT MY ELECTRIC, AND NOW YOU STOLE MY TOWEL!"

No, I didn't really say that, but a little part inside of me felt like it. ;)

Here are my drawings from at the resort...