Fresh Eggs

My request for a local purchase had been submitted to the office a week ago and approved by my vice-principal … and still I had not received what I needed for my biology lab. The lab had already been delayed once because of this problem so I thought I had better rattle some chains. The squeaky wheel method seems to work very well in the Dominican Republic except I don’t particularly like that method of getting what I need.

Knocking on the door of the secretary who was in charge of local purchases I tried to ask where my merchandise was that I ordered a week ago. She is Dominican and speaks English a little and so communication can be pretty painful depending on the subject. So I reminded her that I had a biology lab where we were observing semi-permeable membranes and needed a dozen fresh eggs and some vinegar.

With an elaborate explanation she told me that she has been trying to find a dozen eggs everywhere and no one has them. Puzzled, I asked why she couldn’t simply go to the grocery store and buy some. With an incredulous look she said, “Oh, no, can’t buy eggs there so easy.” She went on to explain that even when she went to the farm to buy some, the farmer wouldn’t let her because it would crush the box on the assembly line.

By this time I was very confused and pressed the question telling her I saw some only yesterday when I was at the local grocery store near my apartment. She finally asked help from another lady who is a bit more fluent in English. An animated conversation ensued in Spanish which attracted the attention of two more Dominicans who stopped to help.

Finally the newly enlisted translator turned to me and said, “She wants you to know that she can’t find any eggs with little chickens in them anywhere.”

“No, no,” I responded, “Not fertile eggs … I want normal eggs … you know, the kind you eat.” After a short translation my original secretary smacked her head with her hand and with a loud laugh exclaimed, “Ay yay yay!” (The same reaction Ricky had with Lucy.) She had been making trips and phone calls to several places for a week for something I didn’t want. By that afternoon I had the eggs in my teacher mail box and the lab came off as scheduled.


The only way that I can figure she became confused was that on the order form I said, “One dozen fresh eggs to be used for a biology experiment.” I remember on the farm when I was young the word “fresh” related to fertility, such as “the heifer will freshen next week.” So it is possible that in Spanish a direct translation of that word gives the idea of fertility. Maybe I should have said “raw eggs”. Anyway, this is one more example of how the language barrier is a definite battle.


Shortly after Christ raised Lazarus from the dead the chief priests and the Pharisees met together in a council to formulate a way to deal with this trouble maker. Then Caiaphas the high priest suggested that it was better that Christ should die rather than have Rome destroy the whole nation for rebellion. Then John in his gospel commented that without realizing it the high priest had sovereignly prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation ... and then he added,

"And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together
in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." John 11:52

From the very beginning God had planned to offer the gift of salvation to men of many tongues. Praise God! When the Holy Spirit was given to the church the sign was speaking in unknown tongues. So even though it is difficult, my wife and I want to understand this culture and this language better so we can share the gospel and enjoy closer fellowship with our Dominican brothers and sisters in Christ.