I want to be a Dominican

Things are beginning to pick up. Life is going ridiculously fast lately. Everything is starting to set in that in 67 days we will be moving to a foreign country. Last night we were hanging out with the Puerto Rican boys on Mike's soccer team. They were talking to me in Spanish and it was amazing how much I could understand. I mean, obviously I am nowhere NEAR perfect, but I love the fact of learning another language. Language in the DR is going to be HUGE in being able to spread the word of God. It will, in a way, make me one of them. My hope at some point, is that they think of me no longer as "the missionary" but a friend. It's hard enough when you stand out completely as the minority (I think I saw 4 other white people there besides our missionaries--and they were tourists), but to not know the language completely distances me from being able to communicate what God has done for me and what He can do for them. It's like, I don't want to be a foreigner there. I want, for however long we are there, to be a "resident." I want it to be my home. I want to be a Dominican.