the end, of the almost end

yes, that's right, this is the end of my second to the last week. i have one more week that we are going to be spending in the bateys doing sports with all ages of people. it will be quite a ministry opportunity. the pastor there, william, has told us that the entire community is very anxious for us to get there. our group is up to thirty people. the only americans are Will, his wife Audrey, another missionary Jackie, and me. there are three other women going, the kitchen women, marisol, karmin, and jessica. and the rest are dominican men. some work for G.O. others have been coaches in our 5 week league we just finished. and some are just guys that we want to use this opportunity of being together for a week to get to know them.

this past week i have spent a lot of time washing laundry. i've probably told this before, but when teams from america come down here they usually leave clothes to give to the pastors so the pastors can give them to people in the community that need them. well, someone has to wash those clothes before we give them to the pastors, usually an intern,.....me. when there were other interns here it wasn't so bad. someone to help, someone to talk to. but this week i kicked it into a higher gear and it's almost done. besides that, i've been able to spend time with some of the guys on the street. also, Will has been playing in a local tournament at the park. someone decided to have a basketball tournament between the different areas and streets. and last night Will's team lost the finals series so it's all done. it was fun to watch. to learn more about basketball terminology. to watch more dominican basketball, because it is different. and to spend time with a few of our new workers like my friend Alan. he speaks english, he's a great guy, he's about 6'3" or 6'4", and he's very very intelligent. but he's never even been to the airport.

my spanish keeps improving every day. i learn something new and i try and use it a lot.

today we are helping Jackie paint the inside of her apartment. then in the evening we have the party for the basketball league. all the kids are supposed to come and we'll hand out awards and trophies to the coaches and then there is a slide show that Will put together. the kids love. even the 18 year olds. it's gonna be a lot of fun. and i have to get ready for music tonight for youth group and tomorrow for church. so there is practice at 2 and at 4. i really love playing in church. i've learned more guitar since being down here. then i hope to go out to eat with Will and Audrey for supper. if you can just take a moment and thank God for those two, they really have been a blessing to me. then youth group at 8 if we get back in time.

i love you guys. thanks for reading. one more week left. and then i'm home. for a bit at least.