Officially on Vacation!

Steve wants me to share more about the doctor so here are some of the interesting and fun things we went through that day. We entered Emergency (other places are closed by Friday afternoon) and gave them my insurance card. Seeing my name as Amy Lea they all went on to call me Amaylia the whole time. Then we went through a door that said Do Not Enter. Don't worry, everyone else was entering too. I went to a desk and they sent me over to the doctor to meet her. Then a nurse took me to one of the many beds-behind-curtains in the room. It reminded us of an army hospital in MASH. You could hear everyone else; thankfully we couldn't hear anyone in too much pain... Pretty much every patient we saw had an IV in.

After the doctora talked to me and checked me over they sent me upstairs in a wheel chair. I knew some kind of test was going to be done to check out my stomach since I mentioned it had been bothering me. She had already concluded that she thought it was sensitivity to the food but I guess they wanted to check. The test turned out to be an ultrasound. They sent me home with lovely labeled pictures of all my dear little inner organs. Then they took me back down in the wheel chair.

Another doctora looked me over. She concluded that the little growing cluster of red bumps on my elbow were not mosquito bites as everyone else assured me but rather a virus. Then a nurse put an iv and some medicine for protecting the stomach into one hand, while another extracted blood from my other arm! When that was finished I finally got to go home- with a prescription for more medicine to protect my sensitive stomach and a cream for my elbow and a list of seven other tests they still wanted to do to make sure my stomach was okay! Needless to say I did not go back for the tests and am still alive and well.

This week at school we had the last three tests Mon- Wed and then the Christmas party for the kids. It was organized by the high school to raise money for their Prom. Then the next day there was the one and only Christmas practice that the school did together and that night was the program. Yesterday were conferences and Kathy and Paul come today! (Since they missed a flight and didn't get here yesterday...) We'll tell more about all these things as we find time. Enjoy your Christmas preparations!

Here it is!

The long awaited missing entry on Thanksgiving is finally here! Our second Thanksgiving actually took place on Thanksgiving day. (If you missed out on 1 and 3 you need to look back at an earlier post by Steve.) We were invited by a second grader's family to eat and socialize at their house. House is an understatement, but let me back up. The father is a wealthy American and was in the Caribbean for business. He met a Dominican girl and kind of got trapped. Yes, I think trapped is the word he would use. He told us he stays because he loves his wife and son and she doesn't want to leave her family, but he sure doesn't seem to be suffering too much. The house is more like a resort than a house. It has various buildings and gardens surrounding a courtyard. The center of the courtyard is a very large swimming pool complete with fountains and an island in the middle.

The food was delicious! It was mostly a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but there were a few Dominican twists. We did have rice and beans with our turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc. The mother even tried to make an apple pie and did much better than any store-bought one we've seen here. Her family was there and some family friends came as well so we had a lot of good conversation throughout the afternoon. The father has certainly led an interesting life- he was full of stories of travels to the majority of the Caribbean islands. We'll have pictures to show some of the details- coming soon!

Since Thanksgiving we've been busy with end of the year things, as Steve mentioned. Exams, yes, but also a faculty and staff Christmas party! (He saved this topic for me.) Last Friday Miss Jennie got the school cafeteria all set up nicely and we got dressed up and came back to school. It was a little strange to be there dancing and drinking, but we didn't dwell on that. Mostly, we were wracking out brains trying to decide how we would ever describe such a party to you all back home. We still don't know. It was a Dominican party. You just have to experience it or use your imagination. Maybe these basic facts will help: The school secretary was there in her red leggings and Santa hat. The librarian brought her belly-dancing skirt. Some shirts were opaque; others were not. There was karaoke thanks to a projector, youtube, and microphone. The dancing was constant throughout everything. There was a raffle for a small sum of money that we did not win. :( The night ended with dinner, which was served at 1:00. AM. We had pork, rice and beans, potato salad, vegetable salad, baked eggplant, etc. It was delicious and we left shortly after eating. We realized that the reason Dominicans serve the food last at their parties is because no one can dance after eating all that so everyone just leaves.

Steve also mentioned that I was sick. On Friday, before the party and at Miss Jennie's insisting, I went to the doctor. I have felt sick in the stomach off and on since getting here. Thursday was one of the worst days so I went home early from school, after all my responsibilities were taken care of. Miss Jennie was concerned though and insurance covers appointments so I went. I was proud of my Spanish- I conversed easily with the doctors who were very nice. They concluded that I just have a sensitive stomach and the food and water affect it a lot. I also showed them some sore bumps which have been growing on my elbow. Everyone was suggesting that it was mosquito bites, but they don't usually come in clusters or grow over time. Turns out it is a virus. The doctor prescribed a pill for a few days that will protect my stomach and a cream for my elbow, which is almost better already.

Make sure to come back soon for pictures and news about our school Christmas party and program. Enjoy the cold weather and make a few snowmen for us!

No Excuses

I'm really sorry, but Amy's been sick, and I said she was going to post next, and she really wanted to post next, so I haven't been, and a lot has happened, but Amy doesn't like it when I always post and she doesn't get to post about the exciting things, so I've been holding off so she has a chance, and we've been really busy with exams the last few weeks anyway, so we really haven't had time to post.

But my Mom chewed me out via Skype chat, so I'm giving you all a little teaser until Amy finds the time to grace us with her words.

We've been taking exams at SDS for the past couple weeks. It's something they do here in this country. Everyone, 1st-12th grade, takes cumulative exams at the end of each semester. Amy had fun making exams for ELL 1st graders. Mine were less fun, but I'm over it.

Also during this time is practice for the Christmas program. As I mentioned before, I'm working with 4th and 5th grades to put on the final act of the program: the Nativity. It's going really well. The narrators all have their parts memorized, the choir has their songs learned (more or less) and the actors are bringing in their bed sheet costumes. We've been putting it all together, and it's going pretty smoothly. It'll be a great way to end the program. I tried to include a strong gospel message about the significance of the birth in Bethlehem.

"You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

"O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel."

I am also including "Peace Came to Earth" from the hymnal supplement. The kids are pretty good at it. The text is by Vajda, the same guy who wrote Where Shepherds Lately Knelt, and prompted a lot of discussion during choir rehearsals.

We will be performing on Thursday, and I'm sure Miss Amy will be able to capture some moments on video.

Thanksgiving X 3

That's right. Even thought it isn't an official holiday in the DR, we got to celebrate it three separate times. Once at school, once with a student's family, and once on our own. You will be brought the details in 2 installments. I will begin, and Amy will finish.

Wednesday was Thanksgiving at school. The first time the school has ever celebrated it. It was huge. The whole school, 1-12, sat down all together and ate a giant meal that the high schoolers organized. It wasn't the traditional meal, but that doesn't mean it was bad. There were at least 4 or 5 different kinds of rice, turkey, chicken, pork, a ton of different salads (pasta, lettuce, potato, fruit, everything), and these Dominican casseroles they call pastelones. It took most of the afternoon to get all of the kids down there, get them their food, and get them dessert, but everyone really enjoyed it. There was also a nice presentation a few students gave right before the meal to give a little of the historical importance of the holiday. It was very successful and will probably become an annual event.

Thursday was the actual day of Thanksgiving. After a half day at school to finish writing our final exams, we were picked up by one the student's fathers and all of the American teachers celebrated the meal at their house. Amy will fill you in on this. Pictures of the house coming soon.

Today, Sunday, saw mine and Amy's first solo Thanksgiving. We tried to duplicate a real American meal as closely as we could. The only thing that was missing was the pie. We couldn't find pumpkin anywhere. But we bought some turkey, not a whole one, we were able to buy a few slices. Yes. The supermarket sells slices of a whole turkey. I don't know how you go about slicing up a turkey, but we got three slices of a turkey. Potatoes were easy, and we found fresh green beans. We settled for stove-top stuffing (but it was good, instead of just adding water, we used the turkey marinade), and bought a can of jellied cranberry sauce. The tricky one was sweet potatoes. We couldn't find them in the store, and we knew they have them here. We finally found them, and if you look at the pictures, you'll see why we didn't notice them. They're more than a little different than our orange potatoes. It all went really smoothly and was quite delicious. The only bust was the dessert. We tried making Tres Leches cake instead of pie, but the recipe we found is no good. You're supposed to make the cake and then dump a bunch of this milk mixture on top, so it's actually soggy when you eat it. It's usually very good. But not this one. The cake was so dense, it wouldn't soak anything up. It sat and sat in the milk mixture, and not one drop of it got inside. We tried eating it, but it was like eating a really heavy bread. Those of you coming for Christmas, don't worry. We're looking for a new recipe.

I'm uploading pictures of our Thanksgiving adventure as I write this. There are also beach pictures, egg salad pictures, and pictures of the house we were at for real Thanksgiving on the way. Probably shortly after December 1st when my Flickr limit is refreshed.

Whoops....

I know I promised a post last week, so I am very sorry. To give an adequate excuse, I will honestly say that both Amy and I have been sick. Over the weekend we both contracted our own version of this nasty cold. All the Dominicans call it "el gripe," but it's just a hardcore cold with sinus congestion, sore throat, coughing, enlarged lymph nodes, and exhaustion to go along with it. On the plus side, yesterday Amy bought this medicine from the pharmacy that had a decongestant, pain reliever, and all sorts of fun things in it. It was a powder you dissolve in hot water and drink like tea. Ours was limon flavored and quite delicious. Why has the US not figured out how to make delicious medicine? We were both pretty wary, since Dominican over the counter drugs tend to be stronger than American versions. Amy didn't like the effects that much, but I didn't notice anything negative. Of course, I mostly just slept, so I don't know if my opinion is that credible. I'm feeling much better today, but Amy missed school. Hopefully that means she will have recovered significantly throughout her day off.

School is getting crazy. Our semester is almost over. Exams start next week. Which means we have to have all of our subject matter taught by the end of tomorrow. And all of our exams in by Thursday. And study guides for the kids by at least next Monday. Grades are also due next Tuesday. So we need to track down missing assignments. Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving at school, which comes with its own set of craziness. We also are rehearsing for the Christmas program. And the kids haven't had a break since Columbus Day, and the weather is changing, and it was a full moon, and they are ready to be done, so they're all crazy, too.

I suppose our illness isn't much of a surprise, considering.

But Thursday is a half-day in-service day, and then we will be hosted by a student's family for Thanksgiving dinner. And then, LONG WEEKEND!!! AT LONG LAST!!! Those of you in the states, you don't know how lucky you are to have mid-term break.

The 3rd Man

Remember when I wrote about hanging outside the guagua on the way to church? Well. Today I caught a guagua on the way back from the gym. This already is a very impressive feat. All of the guaguas are always full, so I need to take a concho part of the way and then walk. But today I got a guagua! It was full, so I got to hang out the door again. But this time it got extra tricky. It was not just me, but also the doorman, and then we picked up another guy! So three of us were hanging out the van door. The vehicle was riding so low, they couldn't close the passenger side door properly and had to stop to put air in the tires. It was intense.

Sunday was Family Day. The PTA puts it together every year. It's kind of like a carnival, with food stands and games and activities. They usually have it at some park, but this year the venue was different. One of the families at the school owns a ranch in the town. And when I say ranch, I think I mean resort. It has a pool, (complete with bridge and waterfall), about 10 horses and all of the facilities to train them, a gigantic patio, and a paintball range. After checking out the horses(first things first), Amy and I volunteered to man the soda stand for an hour and then we got some food. They also had a dance competition at the end of the day. Miss Jennie had asked Amy and I to bring some swing music to show off our moves(since there would be no way we could compete in latin dance). We did that before the dance competition, and everyone had fun. We also got to impress our students. ;) We had a lot to do that day still, so once we were done with our demonstration, we had to scoot. But on Monday during flag line, some of the members of the PTA presented us with medals. Apparently we had won the dance competition!

Yesterday in my classroom was a very special day. We finished reading the book Because of Winn Dixie several weeks ago, but I was waiting to watch the movie. I waited until I had some root beer candy to share with them. So yesterday we watched the movie and had a "Winn Dixie Party!" At the end of the book, there is a party and we tried to duplicate as much of that party as we could. This included egg salad sandwiches (enough to feed 24), root beer flavored candy, and punch (made with fresh grapefruit juice!). The kids like all of it! I was afraid either the candy or the sandwiches wouldn't go over well, but they loved it all! And they had fun watching the movie since they were able to recognize all of the scenes, characters, and even predict some of the lines.

Well, that's enough for now. There is more excitement coming this week. Reading Marathon is in full swing, and I'm sure either Amy or I will post something before the week is out.

0 comments

How does that make you feel? Does it make you feel like you are on a little island far away from home? Does that question guilt you into commenting?

Another long week has passed by and we are counting down the days till Thanksgiving. (Only 8 school days!) Today my students read a "story" to the school at flag line, which is our start of the day national anthem/school hymn/announcement time. They did okay, but not as well as they do in class when no one is watching. It's a lot of pressure for those little ones to stand up in front of a big group.

Tonight we went to a place called Game Studio. It was a pretty upscale place, but the appetizers and drinks were half off. The occasion was my roommate Ally's birthday, which actually happens on Monday. They decorated our tables with balloons and even provided a cake- which had a layer of guava jelly in the middle:) One room is like a restaurant and the other is like an arcade. We played a bunch of games too and won ourselves two ring pops, one bag of skittles, and a box of nerds! Pretty exciting.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach with Katie and Guess (we'll see how that goes with it being so cold here now- in the 70's and 80's!), and Sunday is Saint David's Family Day (which includes a dance competition) so stay tuned for more updates this weekend. And remember- commenting can take less than a minute!

Hurricane!

No, actually this is just rain. But since it's a very cold 73 degrees this morning and it's "really windy," we have decided to stay back from church. It was a very difficult decision to make since we will have to go two weeks now between seeing our dear Dominican WELS family there, but Beth has a bit of a cold and it has been ages since we had a traditional English service so we will do our own here at the apartment.

Things on my end have been crazy as usual, which is why I haven't written. Thanks to those of you who commented on the absence of my entries- you gave me the encouragement I needed to get back on here and write again.

Steve covered most of the exciting things that have happened. Other than all that, my life is mostly just school and tutoring. The wild child I have in my classroom has been diagnosed with ADHD, but the psychiatrist will not prescribe anything until he's 7 and he's only 5 (supposedly...) The good news is that he made some serious improvement this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He has decided to no longer hate me because I'm white (yes, he used to tell people that) and realized that even though I am white I do love him (he used to say I didn't for that very reason). Now actually he likes me better than his Dominican teacher. The bad news is that on Thursday and Friday he goes back to his old self. I think the week just gets too long for him. It doesn't help that his mother is really upset with the school for something that happened on the bus (out of our control) and that his backpack got broken at school (mostly his own fault). She has gotten him pretty riled up about these things too, which happened quite some time ago and never bothered him till now. Apparently his mother threatened not to bring him back so we'll see tomorrow...

*********************

That's a break since this is kind of actually a new one... It is now night, and we've had a long, fun day. This morning's church service in our apartment was really nice. We had a hymn sing that lasted till 11. Then we waited around for a break in the rain and went to Lisette's house. She had a party and made us goat, yucca, and rice to eat. Dominoes were played, conversation was lively, and it all ended in dancing- a classic Dominican party. Then we did a little grocery shopping and made some dinner. Later as Steve was thinking of leaving, my roommate Ally invited us to join for s'mores. She, Miguel (her boyfriend), and Beth were roasting marshmallows over candles! The chocolate was Dominican :( and the graham crackers were cinnamon (odd) but they were so delicious! Don't worry, I got pictures!

Now it's time to get some sleep before the start of another week. Is it almost Christmas break yet? Ally put up some lights on our balcony and it's really setting the Christmas mood. Good night dear ones and may God bless you this week!

Tomas

I hate Tomas. Yes because of the havoc wreaked on poor Haiti, but also for more selfish and trivial reasons.

Last Friday was Sports Day. No school, just taking the kids to the park for some friendly competition from 8-12 and then an early weekend! How great!

Except Tomas ruined everything. Because of all the rain scheduled for Friday, Sports Day was "postponed" (in parentheses because postponement implies rescheduling, and we'll see if that actually happens...) and we thought hey, day off! No way. Full day of school. And we only found out 36 hours before. And grades were due the same day. So my Friday was spent with the kids who actually showed up for school and didn't really want to be there and had basically started the weekend in their brains already, trying to figure out stuff to keep them mildly productive.

Oh, also, as mentioned earlier, grades were due, too. Apparently this was on the calendar we received at the beginning of the year, and we expected it since we have to give grades every month, but usually not for another week. Those of us who are less vigilant of our calendars were rather caught off guard this Wednesday. So when I wasn't in class, I was frantically trying to track down grades from the multitude of sick students I've had the past 2 1/2 weeks.

So I had resigned myself to this sad Friday, but hey, at least we should get to see the edge of a hurricane, so that will be fun, right? No. It sprinkled on and off all Friday, and today the sun came out for a bit. What a tragic waste. So all of you biting your nails worrying for us, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but all that happened was the dampening of the hem of my pants.

As Per Request

Pineapple pictures are uploading as this is being typed.

As to dancing, if you take the trouble to come down here and visit, the least I can do is make sure you get to go dancing. :)

As to music, I had to download the one song to my iTunes. I just need to have access to it 24/7. The title is "We No Speak Americano" and the artist is Yadena. I don't know the name of the "brrrddddmmmm!" one. And I doubt googling "brrrdddmmmm!" will yield many results.

Also being uploaded are some pictures of the Columbus day pageant, so you get to see some really cute Indians!

Reformation Sunday Big Parade!

Friday:
-School
-Nap
-Date with Amy
-Bed

Amy and I went on a date Friday to this Italian restaurant Katie recommended to us. It was actually very awesome. The food was delicious. I had a pork fillet with Gorgonzola. Yum. Amy had fettuccine with shrimp. Also yum, but not as much as mine. The ambiance was also really great. It had kind of a Bohemian decor, with lots of interesting lamps and wallpaper, eclectic furniture, lots of color. But the best part was the waiters. They had those long aprons that go to the floor, so at first it looks like they are wearing robes, and they had these little hats on, and they all have darker skin, and with the Bohemian kind of decor, we walked in and had to make sure we weren't out for Indian food. But we had a great time and will definitely be back. When you all are visiting, remind us to take you there.

Saturday:
-Brunch
-Girls/Guys day
-H20
-Dancing

Katie's birthday is on Tuesday, and she wanted to celebrate this weekend. So in the afternoon, the girls went to a salon to get their nails done, leaving Andrew, Guess, and I to entertain ourselves. So we walked to the mall to eat some KFC. That evening we went out to H2O. I think I wrote about this before, the liquor store that acts like a bar? It was great. Keith came with and a couple of Guess's friends. They both happened to be teachers, so there was plenty for us all to talk about. After drinks and nachos, Keith really wanted to go dancing. So we went to this bar, but when we got there, I noticed two things. There were no single women (sorry Keith) and no one was dancing. They played merengue, bachata, salsa, and reggae-ton (Latin hip-hop), but I guess the people there only wanted to dance to merengue and bachata. So it took a while for the dance floor to warm up a bit. But we still all got to dance, and Katie and Amy took turns dancing with Keith, so it wasn't a total bust.

Sunday:
-Church
-Piano lesson
-Grocery shopping
-Brunch
-Nap
-Pineapple carving
-Dinner at church

I got to give my first piano lesson today. There's this kid at the church in Moca who took some lessons from the missionary's wife. Their hymnal is notated using a melody and chord symbols, not 4-part like ours, so he's learned to read chord symbols, not a staff. I think we're going to work mostly on some improvisation techniques and get him used to reading music from the staff, especially bass clef.

In the spirit of Halloween, Amy and I picked up some pineapples from the store, took 'em home, cut off the tops, hollowed them out (which is more difficult to do than with a pumpkin. 1 word: core), and cut some faces in them. Pictures coming soon.

There have been 3 baptisms recently at the church, so to celebrate, they had a dinner tonight. The turnout wasn't nearly as good as the last one. About half. But it was fun, still, and there was plenty of good food. Amy was learning some of the songs the kids were singing. I didn't get it. Maybe I'll get her to post about that sometime. Maybe I'll get her to post anything at all. We'll see.

Christmas Program

So preparations are beginning at SDS for the Christmas Program. I snatched up responsibility for the Nativity section instantly. I've already written a script and chosen music. It will be mostly just Bible recitations with some students acting out the readings. There will also be a choir of students that will sing some hymns thematically tied to the readings. The best part, is that this section of the program will be performed by the 4th and 5th graders. I'm so excited! I auditioned the two classrooms the past to days to decide which students will be narrators, actors, and singers. I think we start rehearsing next week.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Christmas note:

I guess plain white stars and angels are far too boring for Dominican trees. Many families here use rainbows.

A Full Weekend

On Friday, a bunch of the teachers went out to see a play at a local theatre. It was free, so of course everyone went. It was in Spanish, so I didn't get much of it, but you could get the idea. It was called "Hombres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios," in English, "Men on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown." It was weird. And inappropriate. But interesting. It gave us all something to talk about later. It was a comedy/commentary about men and women. So you can imagine it got a bit bawdy at times.

After that, we got cachapas,(YES!) and some of us went dancing! It was just a bar, so they didn't charge a cover, so FREE DANCING!!!! They played some music and also had a live band. Awesome.

On Saturday, Amy and I went to Calle del Sol, which is the downtown area where there are lots of stores and street vendors. We got umbrellas and Amy got one of these cute hat things the women wear here. When we tried to take a concho back, they told us that they weren't going that way and we had to walk a few blocks to take one going the other direction. We thought he was wrong, but we followed his directions anyways. The next concho said they would take us there, but we quickly realized he was going the wrong direction. We thought maybe he was going to take us his whole route before we got to our stop, but when we got to the other side of town, he made us get out because he wasn't taking us any further. >:( So we asked people around there where we were, and found a different concho that we knew went really close to our apartments, and asked him if he would take us. It was a long ride, but we finally got there. We had just gotten out of the concho and were walking down the street when we met up with Andrew, Beth, and Keith heading to the baseball game we were all going to that night. So then we got in another concho to a baseball game. For those of you who don't know, baseball is HUGE here. Everyone loves baseball, plays baseball, goes to baseball games, everything. The game was kind of a bust, since the home team got their butts kicks. But we tried to make the most of it. There were several of us there, and the final innings quickly devolved into a water/rum fight amongst us. After that, we got some yoniqueques (pronounced "johnny-cakes") and went up to the monument, which Amy and I had never done. It all helped us forget our misadventures earlier.

Sunday was so exciting at church. They had power again! (they hadn't for several Sundays, so I hadn't been playing) And there were TWO BAPTISMS! And Pastor Alex had a great sermon about original sin and the importance of baptism especially for infants.

Last night also saw round three of a vicious Hand and Foot epic between the women (Amy and her roommate Katie) and the men (Guessly, Katie's boyfriend, and me). It's men 2:1 right now. We'll keep you updated as the drama unfolds.

Inscribed!

Today was a big day.

1st: I joined a gym! I really like it; it's nice but not too expensive. The hardest part is getting home. The right concho doesn't drive by it very often, so you have to wait for a while. Which leads me to my next point...

2nd: I rode a motoconcho for the first time today! Katie took me to the gym to help me talking to the secretary and filling out paperwork, and we shared a moto home. It really wasn't that exciting. Concho rides are much more treacherous I think.

Also, people are coming to visit over Christmas!!!!!! Amy and I are so excited!!!

For those of you still trying to decide when the best time is to plan your visit, keep in mind that our Christmas break begins Dec. 18th. Or just come whenever, that's what Karmen did. Book your flight today!

No Christmas Until After Thanksgiving

Unless your country wasn't settled by Puritans. In that case, apparently, the magic day to put up Christmas decorations is October 18th. There are lights sprouting up in apartment windows all over. Our neighbors downstairs kind of jumped the gun a little, though. They've had a snowman stocking on their door and a huge bowl of poinsettias on their coffee table for weeks.

...I don't know if they've ever seen a snowman before...

Fun with ELLs

(English Language Learners)


SPOILER ALERT!!! IF YOU WANT TO READ "BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE" AND BE SURPRISED, STOP READING!!!!!!







I've been giving my kids writing assignments that coordinate with the novel we are reading, Because of Winn-Dixie. In the last chapter we read, we found out that one of the characters' brother drowned the year before. I decided to have them write an obituary for the boy. We read some real examples of obituaries for children and took notes of things we needed to include. They learned the phrases "tragic accident" and "survived by." The thing is, the book doesn't give much information about the boy, so they had to make a lot of it up themselves. This included names. We knew the boy's name was Carson Wilkinson, and his sister's name was Amanda, but we still had to invent middle names, and the names of parents, grandparents, and the pastor. When your students come from a different culture, they use all sorts of inspiration when choosing names. I got many culturally confused creations such as "Carson Miguel Wilkinson," "Amanda Maria Wilkinson," and "Pastor Jose Daniel." The confusion continued beyond cultures into gender with "Amanda Alexander Wilkinson." But it was so special to see a student's "light bulb moment" as one of my 6th graders "made connections" across subjects and brought us "Carson Magellan Wilkinson," and "Mr. Cartier Wilkinson." In reality, I think it's just because his desk is right next to our timeline.

A better day than yesterday

Dear friends,

I started a blog last night and lost it when I was interrupted before posting it. I was writing while waiting for Steve to arrive at my apartment. When I finish tutoring he comes over to visit and bring me my computer, which I had started leaving with him after school so I didn't have to take it on the guagua. Well, he got there and yelled up just as usual for me to come down and let him in, but as I started my way down the automatic gate was opened and he got in and came running up the stairs. All he said was, "I got mugged."

Everyone is okay, don't worry! It wasn't even a frightening experience for him. This is how it happened: Steve had just arrived at my gate and was about to call up when two men pulled up on a little motor bike. One stayed on, the other jumped off, pulled out a gun just so that Steve could see it (seemingly fake but Steve was wise not to test it), took my computer bag, got back on, and they drove off. This all happened in about three seconds, because the street is fairly busy and that's about the longest you will get between cars.

Please don't worry. I was nervous to tell anyone because I don't want you to think we are unsafe. They made no attempt to hurt or threaten Steve. Chances are slim that the gun was real and even slimmer that it was real and loaded. The good news is that, although it was my new computer which just arrived with Karmen last week, the computer held no important information beyond some recent grades which I had just turned in and some lesson plans. Thankfully I do have my old one still, which is in rough condition but holds so much more valuable information.

I gave the police all the information that came with the computer and they say there is a new system that tracks them, like cell phones. I have been told many times though that the police here are so corrupt that if they do find it they most likely will keep it for themselves and if not they will probably make me pay a good deal to get it back. I'm really trying not to get my hopes up. The only other things lost to me were the computer bag, which cost $20 at Walmart, and some papers that I had already corrected and entered in the grade book, and a few pens. Nothing irreplaceable.

It was really a good wake-up call to remind us that we are living in the city and we do need to be careful about what we take with us when we go out after dark. We are so thankful that it was not a dangerous situation and that nothing more valuable was taken. At 3:30 today the police are going to call my roommate to let us know if they've found anything. We will just have to wait and see what they come up with. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

On the upside, we celebrated Columbus Day (Dia de la Raza) here at Saint David today so there was a presentation in the morning and we were left to spend the day planning (and perhaps a little blog-writing) after 9:30. The presentation was excellent. We will put up some pictures at some point to share the excitement.

Diagnosis, please?

This one especially goes out to those retired nurses and nursing students in the audience. (you know who you are)

So, under my right eye was extremely tender today. I mentioned it to Amy and she pointed out that the bottom edge is red and puffy. We're thinking maybe a tear duct infection? I think that just means I need some antibiotic?

On a happier note, I realized just minutes ago that tomorrow is Thursday and not Wednesday like I thought. Isn't that happy?

Advertisement

So Karmen is wrapping up her visit. She'll be leaving tomorrow around noon. I figured I would recap our adventures with Karmen as a sort of commercial to persuade all of you to make a similar journey.

Karmen arrived Wednesday night. We picked her up in a taxi and brought her back to the girls' place.

She went to school Thursday and hung out with Amy in her classroom. She also got to see me teach Amy's kids a music class. That evening we got yaroa (french fries, meat, cheese) and headed back to my apartment and hung out with Andrew and Lisette drinking beer/rum-and-cokes/red wine, depending on your preference.

She loved school so much, she decided to come back on Friday. Friday afternoon was a nap followed by a trip across town with Lisette to a club she recommended. It was a great venue. Still loud, but not as bad as the other place. There were plenty of places to sit, the dance floor wasn't too crowded, and they even had live music later in the night. It was so fun.

Saturday was beach day. We took Karmen to the beach at Sosua. It was nice weather, not too hot, but the sun still came out some. The waves were huge, so we played in the surf for a while, until they got the better of us. Karmen and Amy both took their fair share of hard spills. Amy lost her sunglasses to the sea, and we've all been cleaning sand out of our hair since. But it was so much fun. We got drinks and food. Karmen ordered a Coco Loco, which we'd never tried, but it was inexpensive and sounded kind of fun. It turns out a Coco Loco is a coconut opened up with the milk still inside, some ice, and maybe grenadine, or fruit punch, something like that. No alcohol, but plenty of fresh coconut milk. Amy and I know what to get next time. We walked along the shops at the beach and Karmen picked up a polished coconut shell necklace and two paintings. (Amy got to practice her haggling skills) As we were walking back, we stopped at an ice cream place and tried Tres Leches Cake ice cream.

We took Karmen to church in Moca on Sunday. She loved it. Unfortunately the power was out almost the whole time, so I didn't get to play, but that meant I got to sing, which I enjoy, too. When we got back we took her grocery shopping and made some breakfast tacos. That afternoon we went to Plaza International (a mall) and walked around. The girls bought some new sunglasses and Latina jewelry. We rented a movie and got frozen yogurt. That night was spaghetti with Dan in Real Life.

Today was another day of school with Karmen. She really is excited about teaching English abroad now. After school we went down to Calle del Sol, which has a lot of street vendors and markets, but it was getting a little late, and everything was closing up. So we stopped for some more frozen yogurt (it is so delicious, you pick out some frozen fruit, and they blend it up with yogurt. amazing) and walked until we got to the monument. There we found a stand we had been to before and had cachapas for dinner. (you remember these, the cornmeal pancakes filled with meat, veggies, and cheese)

Tomorrow, she'll stop by school in the morning and take the taxi from there to the airport.

It has been so nice having a guest. Amy and I get to show someone all of the great things we've discovered. And Karmen's been a great guest. She really appreciates all of the adventures we've taken her on.

It's a long time until Christmas. Plane tickets will be cheaper if you come down in, say, late October? November? Just think, it could be your name, not Karmen's in this blog. It could be you having all of these fantastic cultural experiences. Come, discover Santiago. Book your flight today.

Plea

In 6th grade, we are reading the book "Because of Winn-Dixie." In the book, the girl tries a candy that tastes like root beer and strawberry. When we read that part, I realized something very sad. There is no root beer in the Dominican Republic. We(two students from America and myself) tried to describe the flavor, but, as you can imagine, it is very difficult. I was thinking it would be a fun surprise to have root beer at the party when we watch the movie, but I don't think you can buy it here. If anyone feels brave enough to attempt sending a two-liter through the mail, you could try. I would simply ask people visiting over Christmas, but then we couldn't have our surprise until second semester. Another less daring alternative would be to send root beer flavored candy. But that would be fun, too, since it was candy that the girl ate in the book. I say it would be brave partially because I'm not sure how sending carbonated beverages would go. It is also a brave undertaking because the postal service here is extremely unreliable. Amy's roommate Beth has received multiple packages from family and friends, but when they give her a list of the items they sent, she finds that things are missing. So, I'm saying send me things, but I also warned you.

Behold!

I am, even as I write this post, uploading about 20 pictures and 2 videos to the Flickr account. Enjoy.

Diversidad

My class is up for flag line this week. That means my students are in charge of raising the flag everyday, and we are supposed to do a presentation of some sort for the whole student body. We've been preparing for the past couple weeks.

The values we are focusing on for October are Diversity and Identity. The class talked about ideas about diversity and based on what they said, I put together a little script. I also threw a little choreography at them. Since the value of the month is Diversity, I decided we'd have to dance to Hairspray! So they're doing a little "You Can't Stop the Beat." They are having a lot of fun doing the choreography and the spoken part. It should be pretty good. We perform it on Thursday. I'll hopefully be able to get a video.

Our first visitor is arriving on Wednesday!!!! Amy's friend Karmen is coming to visit us until Tuesday. We are so excited. We get to act all experienced and acclimated while we show her around.

Well, I'm finishing up a batch of muffins here, and they're just about done. So I'm going to go. Have a good day, everyone!

Church

This weekend has been relatively uneventful. And while it is one of the most exciting things we do on a regular basis, I think you all get sick of hearing about what we eat. So I am devoting this post to tell you all a little more about the church we attend here in Moca.

There is a missionary here, but only temporarily. All they are doing is finishing up training some seminary students, and then they will leave. The church in Moca is almost completely self-supporting. There are two native pastors and another guy that I'm not sure what his position is. I think he might be like an elder or staff minister kind of thing. Anyway, the way they've trained their pastors is really cool. They split up the duties. Pastor Alex preaches on Sunday, while Pastor Nelson is specially trained in liturgy. He is in charge of running the service, choosing the hymns, and giving the readings. This means he was able to be trained much quicker than if he had been trained in all of the duties of a pastor.

While the church is Lutheran, and obviously so from the altar hangings and pastor garments, there are many striking differences between a WI Lutheran church and a DR Lutheran church.
-The sermon is more like a Bible study, with audience participation, asking questions, raising hands, things like that.
-Communion wafers are actually pieces of saltine crackers.
-There are no ushers: communion is just a come up when you're ready, offering is not passed (I'll explain later) and people just get up and walk around once the service is done.
-Offering is significantly more important to the members here than in the States. A basket sits on a table at the front of the church. The members make a line and one by one go up to the basket, have some quiet and personal meditation time, and leave their offering. This time is extremely important to the people at the church.
-When the meal is served at a fellowship time, the women sit and talk and watch the children while all of the men of the congregation are busy dishing up plates and handing them out along with serving beverages.
-At the end of a service, before leaving, everyone greets everyone else and wishes them God's blessings, sealing it with a handshake or cheek kiss depending on the gender.
-There are chihuahuas poking their heads in the doorway at the front of the church in the middle of the sermon.
-There is a cat poking around through the congregation during the service.
-The only music is provided by a keyboard and a computer. Provided there is power or the generator isn't broken.

TEASER: We have more pictures of the church coming soon. Of special note is a video of a baptism of a newborn baby we got to see today. Ha. Now you'll be coming to check the blog daily!

Sportsmanship Week

It is such an eventful week at Saint David School! It's Sportsmanship week! That means the PE classes are being combined so that classes can compete against one another in events like basketball, tug of war, and kickball. Today was the high point of the festivities when the high school champions (10th grade) played the teachers in volleyball. It was so fun! We lost every game, but not by much! And they didn't know a lot of the specific rules against things like carrying, lifts, or spiking on serve, and neither did the Cuban referee, so we're just going to blame our failure on that. But the real point is, the teachers had a ton of fun, so we're going to see if we can get people together regularly, like on Fridays, to play a few games. Hopefully it works out, because that would be awesome!

I'm not quite sure if Sportsmanship Week is accomplishing it's goal of encouraging teamwork and, well, good sportsmanship. My class plays the 5th graders in kickball on Friday, and they are all talking about how we are going to win, and they are going to lose, and how we need to kick their butts... hmmmmmm....

The Rest of the Weekend

Saturday was spent running around, exploring the city. Amy and I caught a concho to Calle del Sol (street of the sun?), basically downtown. There are lots of shops and restaurants and street vendors. We explored some of the clothing and shoe stores for a while and then took another concho to Centro Leon, a kind of cultural center where they have art exhibitions and historical presentations. We were there to attend a presentation called "The Evolution of Merengue." Before the show started we ordered some food from the cafeteria there. An appetizer of three different dips and a side of tres leches (three milks) cake. It is this amazing yellow cake that you soak in a milk mixture and top with a whipped cream kind of topping. It was raining outside, so they had the presentation in a little room inside. We were looking forward to watching all of the dancing, but it ended up being more of a lecture with a little bit of dancing spaced throughout. It was fun to watch, but we decided we were glad we didn't pay for it.

After the presenation, Beth, Andrew, Amy, and I went to Isis' house again for dinner. It was so much fun and the food was so delicious. She's teaching us all kinds of tricks to Dominican cooking. She was making rice and half-way in she put a plastic bag on top with a little water on it and cooked it covered for another 10 minutes. It made the rice really light and fluffy. She also showed us how to make stuffed eggplant and slice yellow plantains for frying. Her mother has been visiting her the past week so we got to meet her, as well. She's from New York, like most Dominicans living in the US, and only gets to visit Isis once a year.

Today Amy and I are having more cooking adventures. We made our first batch of mangu and it was extremely successful. Mangu is like mashed potatoes, but with green plantains. We mixed in some garlic and cilantro, topped it with sauteed onions and vinegar, and put some fried salami on the side. A true Dominican breakfast. Amy is also trying to fix her jelly. Isis suggested just blending it up with more water to fix the consistency. We'll see. A lot of air got mixed with during the blending process, so we hope that doesn't ruin it. I am also in the process of making pera-pina juice. The name makes it sound like pear and pineapple juice, but it's actually just pineapple peels and rice. Everyone says it's soooo good, so we'll see. If it turns out, this will be a really cheap juice to make. Actually, it looks like it's done boiling, so I have to go take care of that. Thanks for all of your prayers and comments, everyone! Have a good week in the Lord!

Culinary adventures and my crazy schedule

Thank you to those of you who gave me encouragement on my last blog post. It has been difficult but the administration is trying to work out solutions, most likely meaning someone will be in my room to deal with him. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.

On Wednesday one of the other teachers approached me and asked me if I'd like a tutoring job. She organizes tutors for students of other schools. She didn't really let me say no and I decided that I'll give it a try. The boy I work with is in 5th grade and has special needs. He is very slow. Slow at speaking, reading, and learning in general. I started already on Wednesday. After school I went home and changed, then walked with Beth to the other teacher's house. I waited there for a good 45 minutes for the people to pick me up. I tutored for 2 hours, then we headed back to my place. I got home after 9. I cannot do that every day, but we might work it out so he comes to my apartment for tutoring. That would fit into my schedule much better. I hope it works out because the extra income would be really nice.

Thursday were parent/teacher conferences. They were fine, but then came the weekend! Steve and I went shopping that evening. When we got back, he and Andrew played Cribbage while I did some cooking. The first attempt was guava jelly (because the teacher who asked me to tutor has a guava tree and gave some to me because she has too many). That took most of the night and this morning when I checked it I found that it had hardened. It is more like guava candy than anything. Really sticky candy. And kind of rubbery. Did I cook it too long? How do I know when it is done?

The next attempt was Dulce de Leche. It is just whole milk and sugar that you boil for FOREVER. The recipe said it should only take 10 minutes. It took over half an hour. Maybe I did something wrong there too... I will just have to keep practicing I guess. I think next time I'll try a different pan.

At least the flavors turned out good. On Friday Steve and I also tested our juice experiment. One of the teachers told us that you can make a really good juice by putting pineapple peels in water in an air-tight container for 5-6 days. I'm not sure what it's supposed taste like but it tasted rather fermented...

I've had a lot of fun learning to cook here. Steve and I mostly work together to prepare meals whenever we can. We make a pretty good team. We know that when we get back we will miss all the cheap fresh produce, but we'll be happy to have back good American meats. There's some give and take wherever you go I suppose. Any cooking advice is welcome!

Today we went to a beautiful beach in Cabarete, which is a little farther than Sosua, where we've gone the last few times. It was gloriously rainy all day so we didn't have to pay to use umbrellas for shade on the beach. The weather was so comfortable and the waves were fun. The best part of this day is that it was only Friday! Dia de Mercedes is a great holiday! Maybe you should adopt it over in the States;)

New kid on the block

Holly's sarcasm towards Steve in her comment on the last post inspired me to write again. The truth is that I've been holding off because I haven't been sure how much to say.

I got a new student last week Monday. How do I explain him? Well, he is a terror, in every sense of the word. It's unbelievable that the classroom has not yet been completely destroyed. I've been hit the past four school days in a row (okay, one of those times was a different student) and only once was he sent home directly after. Thank goodness he is only 5. Well, supposedly... they aren't exactly sure. He is big for a five-year-old.

It's not that he's bad. His home life isn't very stable and he seems to live in his own fantasy world in which he can do anything he wants. He also really craves attention. Constant attention.

One of his favorites is to get a hold of my bell and run in circles around the room. The other kids know that this is bad so they chase after him sometimes, thinking that this will help me.

Every day as we go out the the cafeteria, which is an open patio next to the playground, he makes a break for the playground. He has also on multiple occasions attempted to escape from the school. He just runs out of the room and down the hall, through the offices and tends to be caught by the school's doorman right before exiting. It is for children like him that the school is surrounded by a fence.

The other kids have decided not to befriend him. I try to encourage them, but they are scared of him. I don't blame them. When he does decide to join us in the circle on the floor the kids keep moving away one by one so they can move to the opposite side of the circle from him. Being a circle, there is no way for them all to be as far as possible away from him.

He also likes to roll. On the floor. When the others are attempting to sit on it. If it wasn't so frustrating it would be quite comical.

On numerous occasions he has taken hold of my ankles and not let me move. I have been bitten, pinched, kicked, slapped, hit, etc. I just get scared for my other students. I don't want to end up in a position where I end up hurting him by trying to protect the others.

I'm about at my wit's end by the time my classes end. Every day I recharge and go back to it, but it is tiring. Miss Jenny is working out a schedule for someone to help me in the classroom at all times. It is necessary. We hope with time that everything will get better. Prayers are greatly appreciated.

On the upside, as Steve has told you we have gotten to do a lot of fun things outside of school. I still love the culture and the heat is really getting pretty comfortable, as long as you stay out of the direct sunlight at about 2:00 in the afternoon. We are looking forward to organizing visitors for Christmas break, or anytime for that matter. Know that I think of you all often and miss you. God bless!

If I could call your attention to.....

While I know you all noticed during your hourly blog check-up that right now in Santiago we are experiencing a beautiful 73 degrees, I think it is important to point out what the casual observer might not have perceived. Not only is the temperature 73, but is also FEELS like 73. If it weren't for the bugs, I wouldn't sleep with my fan on tonight.

WHAT?!?!??!?!?!

So it's the weekend!

And on Friday a bunch of the teachers went out dancin'. There was quite a large group of us, and it was not that big of a club, so we found this little section toward the back that had some chairs and tables. We had just settled down with our drinks to have a member of the staff come over and inform us that section is only available by reservation and had already been booked for the night. So we forced our way onto the already overcrowded "dance floor." It's in quotes because there really wasn't a separate dance floor. Just a big room with tables and people standing, drinking, dancing, or all of the above. And people just kept coming in. And they kept setting up tables! In the middle of where we were dancing! I ended up with a table in my back on multiple occasions. I would try subtly scooting the table over a foot, but they always moved it back. So by the end of the night, there was hardly any room to dance. Amy and I spent more time hugging to take up less space than actually dancing. And the music was SOOOOO LOOOOOOUD! Which I guess is typical for clubs down here, but this one was particularly bad. We walked out of the club, and none of us could hear. We woke up this morning, and it still hasn't worn off. We all feel like there's big jars over our heads.

But it was a lot of fun. The music was really good, as was the company and the food. After leaving the club, we were hungry and stopped at this stand that sells cachapas. It's like a pancake made of cornbread filled with meat, onions, and seasonings. Delicious. Amy and I really want to learn how to make them.

Tonight is a low key night. We need to go grocery shopping and then we're coming home for dinner and a game night. Should be fun. I hope everyone is having a nice relaxing weekend! Thanks for all of the comments and emails. We love hearing from you all.

3 Things

First of all, a story. When I walked up the stairwell a few minutes ago, someone must have been making chinola juice or something, because the whole building smelled of passion fruit. Thankfully, Andrew and I have a huge jug of chinola juice concentrate, so I made myself a big glass to satisfy my craving. I was walking through the kitchen when I slipped in a puddle of water (it had rained earlier today while we were at school) and spilled the entire contents of my glass. I tried to mop up the disaster, but I'm scared we will have a floor-ful of ants in the morning. I also gave up on the juice. I'm just not in the mood anymore. :(

Secondly, school. I always lose my voice on Wednesdays. I think my 6th graders are getting antsy for the weekend, so I have to raise my voice a lot more. This is convenient since on Wednesdays I teach music class. (sorry, you'll have to wipe off the sarcasm dripping down your screen) But music class went really well. The 7th graders and I had fun for the most part. They just over-do everything, so I have to be really careful what activities I choose. I did yell in a boy's ear. I was saving my voice, cuz there wasn't much left. But they weren't listening to my directions at all, so to get their attention I had to yell. One boy decided to still not listen, so I turned him around to face me and yelled the same thing right in his face. Probably not the smoothest thing to do, but everyone got a good laugh out of it and he paid attention for a while. (Yes, those words were chosen deliberately)

Thirdly, a very unnecessary, random, and uninteresting comment. While writing the first paragraph of this post, I noticed the interesting letter parallels between the words "spilled" and "slipped." I apologize if you read that hoping for something witty.

I should write something...

...but nothing really happened today. It was Monday. I made some delicious pancakes from scratch thanks to Betty Crocker this morning. I have brownies in the oven right now. Heads up: grades are due this week. So there might not be much posting, and if there is, it might be stressed out.

There is a Christmas episode of Bones on TV right now, and it's just making me think of how great it's going to be when you all come to visit over Christmas. :)

Dear America:

From the DR

I've heard you're having money problems, too. Here are a few money-saving tips that have worked for me:

-Walk, you don't really need a car
-Public transportation, you don't really need a car
-Turn off your hot water heater when you're not using it
-Turn off your water when you won't use it for a while (at work, sleeping)
-Don't use a dryer, just line dry (you can do this indoors, too)
-You don't need air conditioning. Really. Just lots of fans and well designed buildings.
-Unplug electronics when they aren't in use
-Make your own juice
-Eat rice

Just a few suggestions. Hope this helps!

WHOA!

A ton of new pictures! Check it out!

Belated. Sorry.

It's been a crazy week. And it doesn't look like it's going to let up. I should be going to bed because I have to get up to play for church tomorrow morning, but I needed to post.

The biggest event has been the party on Friday. The teachers will often throw parties for everyone else at their house on Friday after school. This week was especially appropriate for a party considering Saturday was Lisette's birthday. Andrew and I volunteered to host and had so much fun. We made a ton of food. I made tostones (fried plantains) with a dip made of mayo, ketchup, and garlic and queso frito (fried cheese, a lot like cheese curds). Amy and Beth made fresh salsa (it was different, because of different tomatoes and spicier peppers), and Andrew made onion rings, quesadillas, and birthday cake. People brought beer, rum, and wine, there was music and dancing, and everyone had a blast. We are still cleaning up.

The best part of the evening came at the end. Keith stayed late, and Lisette stayed until the end. It was about midnight when she was going home, and she was going to give Amy and I a ride to the girl's apartment. We got outside and found that she was parked in. She had taken someone's parking spot, and they either were big enough jerks to want to teach her a lesson, or they were too drunk to care since there were several available parking spots all over. Either way, the night continued until 1:00am with Lisette, Keith, Andrew, Amy, and I standing outside the apartment setting off Lisette's alarm, trying to get the other guy's alarm to go off, and knocking on his door. It was ridiculous. Like I said, either the guy was an absolute jerk or totally wasted (probably the first one) because it took them forever to come to the window, let alone outside, let alone with keys to move the car, and even then only after Keith pounded constantly on their door as hard as he could for several minutes straight. It was so ridiculous. Dominicans are not like this. They are usually the most generous people. This guy was more what I would expect in a big city in America. The best part is, Andrew and I get to live in the same building as him.

Okay, that's all I have strength for tonight. More tomorrow, I promise. Have a blessed Sunday, everyone!

Por Fin!

Hello again! Since it's been a while I'm going to back-track all the way to this past Sunday. Steve told you about his great guagua experience on the way to church, but he did not tell you about going back that evening. They had a spaghetti supper at church so we got to go back and play games and talk to some of the people of the congregation. I talked to one of the women that we stayed with when I was here on Project Timothy but she spoke SO fast I had a pretty hard time understanding her. We learned a new card game called Tres y Dos and ate a lot of really good food.

Monday night we went out with some of the teachers and their friends to a Jazz night. It was air conditioned and I was FREEZING! But the music was so good! We are hoping to go again. One of the teachers we went with is Cuban. I used to have a really hard time with his accent but I'm starting to get it pretty well now.

Tuesday night we had a meeting for all the parents at school. That started at 7 and we didn't get home till 9ish... Andrew had invited a bunch of the teachers over, but since it was late only two came besides Steve, Andrew, and I. Lisette and Warlin are really great and we ended up staying until shortly after midnight and then we just had to end it.

Today at school was crazy. Just when I think the kids are starting to learn something about how to behave in a classroom, they have to go and prove me wrong. The hardest part is that I just got a new student on Monday. She showed up 5 minutes into the day. I guess sometimes things like that happen. She did go here before and was in the early childhood area with my other kids. She is a handful so that just spices up my life a little more.

I still love my kids, don't get me wrong. But they still haven't learned how to listen to me, how to sit, how to raise their hands, some don't know any of the letters (which I was told they should already know), etc. Many have problems with hitting, lying, and stealing. There are some serious attitudes in some of these kids at such a young age.

On a more positive note- They are always hugging me and telling me they love me and that I am beautiful. And when I look back to the beginning I know that they are learning some things. I just have to remind myself of that on days like today.

Yesterday I had a pet lizard for a little in my room. He was pretty cute and they eat roaches so I left him alone, but I think he left.

Steve just got here and we are off to make dinner so that's it for now. Chau!

So much has happened!

But it is so late. It's at least 12:30, and I need to teach tomorrow.... So you will all just have to wait. >:)

Doesn't it just stink when you log onto the blog to find that no one has written anything?

The Weekend

The weekend started off rough. Danny, a Dominican teacher at the school, was going to show us around downtown after school, but we couldn't get a hold of him, and it started raining, so nothing ever came of that. We did end up going out with Katie and Guess(her boyfriend) and some of his friends, though. We went to this really cool place called H20. It's a liquor store, but it's kind of a bar. The seating is all open air on this big patio, and instead of ordering individual drinks like a rum and Coke, you order a whole bottle of rum and a bottle of Coke. It is such a great way to go out for drinks with a group of people. Rum is super cheap here because there is a local brand, so it was not that expensive. I think it came out to 100 pesos a person, which is about $3. For 2-3 mixed drinks? Not bad. We need places like this in the states.

Saturday we went to dinner at the house of a new friend of ours. Her name is Isis. She's older than us, in her 30s I believe, but she likes making friends with the American teachers. She had Andrew, Amy, and I over. We got to meet her kids, we ate mangu(mashed plantains) and these little pork chop things that were more like ham(Amy knows what they're called), drank Kahlua and sweetened condensed milk, played Mario Kart Wii with her son, and had salsa lessons in the living room(actually a very normal occurrence for us). It was a great night.

The best part of the weekend was today (Sunday). We went to the WELS church in Moca again. Remember that we have to take a guagua, the big vans they cram full of people. There were 6 of us traveling to Moca today, and when the guagua stopped it sure didn't look like there was room for 6 people(this is always the case with guaguas). Andrew and Keith piled in and I waited behind the girls for my seat, but quickly realized when Isis sat down, that there was absolutely no more space in the vehicle. My spot was not actually "in" the guagua. My feet stood in the door, and my hands held on to the inside of the doorway, but the rest of me was outside of the van. I was hanging out the door of the guagua the whole way to Moca. I am now a REAL Dominican. It was so cool. Andrew was really jealous. Amy took a picture that will be going up soon.

One final note, I spoke with Pastor Alex today at the church (and by "I spoke" I mean "Amy spoke") and told him how I would like to accompany their church services. I guess they have a keyboard of sorts, but nobody to play, since many Sundays they sing unaccompanied. They were all really excited about the offer. I am too. It will be very fun to play again.

There is even more that happened this weekend, but I hope Amy finds time to include some of the other details. (HINT HINT!!!) Have a great start to the week, everyone!

Water, water, everywhere, except my apartment....

After school today, I walked to my apartment with two goals in mind: take a shower and do laundry. Neither of these was accomplished at my apartment tonight. So I changed and walked to Amy's. By the time I got there, my shirt was already nasty with sweat. Thankfully, the girls never have problems with water at their place. It was a lovely evening. Amy and I made some salads with avocado, black beans, and chicken, and I fried up some overripe plantains. Unripe, green plantains are like potatoes, and overripe, yellow plantains are like bananas. So these were more like dessert and I decided to sprinkle some cinnamon and cloves on top. Cloves are used in most Dominican desserts, so they always taste like Christmas.

The best part was that while we were cooking, a big rainstorm hit. The temperature dropped and the evening has been so comfortable ever since.

In other news, tomorrow is Friday, which is great enough in and of itself, but we also have plans to join a Dominican teacher after school and he'll show us around the city a bit. More on this story tomorrow.

The Cockroach Strikes Back

Alive, but exhausted. Seriously, I think teaching first graders in a language they barely understand is probably one of the most tiring things you can do. I guess that's my excuse for not writing.

So much has happened, but Steve filled you in on most of it. I do have another part to the never-ending roach story. He was dead. Steve killed him. But his ghost or vengeful relative flew into my room last Thursday night. I was alone. My roommates were out and in bed and Steve had already left. He flew up to the ceiling and crawled on my bed while I watched in fear and horror. Finally my moment came. He moved up under the corner of the curtain where I couldn't see him and I attacked. There behind the curtain he was smashed onto the wall. I closed the windows quickly, took my things, and snuck into Beth's room to sleep in her extra bed. I have decided that my windows must remain closed at night. It is the only solution.

School stories- I am getting to know my kids better. One is very spoiled and has been told by his father to show the other kids who is boss (meaning him, not me), one loves to talk all the time (and he is the coordinator's son!) but he knows very little English even compared to the others, one has a VERY difficult time staying in his seat. Those are just the most noteworthy. They drive me CRAZY sometimes, but they tell my that they love me and I am beautiful on a regular basis. They know how to sweet-talk the teacher already. My room is almost always chaos central. There have been pencil stabbings, pencil breakings, pinching, hitting, only one full out attack that I had to hold kids back, etc.

We had a giant moth for a long time. The kids loved it. One day there was a huge worm in my room. One of my boys was sure that it had eaten the moth, but it was really only about half the moth's size!

We had a hornet attack one day. Well, it entered the room and flew around. The kids were running and flailing uncontrollably. I finally sat down on the floor and they all huddled around me. We sat like that until the hornet hit the fan and fell down dead. After examining him, we continued class (playing? Same thing- right?).

Our favorite book so far is Green Eggs and Ham. Our favorite song/chant is 10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. The ninth grade class down the hall hears it every day.

More stories to come, trust me. The weekend at the resort was great. Really relaxing. I ate more than I like to think about. We got a little sun, had some drinks, etc. Sleeping in air conditioning had to be one of the best parts. The latin dance show was so cool! The dance club was so lame. The dj played random sounds to cover transitions inbetween songs or to "spice up" songs that he must have felt were lacking... Our "favorite" was a siren that had absolutely no beat. He loved the strobe lights so much that we had them for about half an hour. I just couldn't look after a while. The music was also so loud that we could feel it vibrating our heads no matter where we were in the room. He consistently "enhanced" the atmosphere with fog machines.

All we had left for dinner today was hamburger, mayo, and chips. It was pretty good actually. We got payed today and set up our bank accounts but it won't all be good to go until tomorrow. That means we go shopping tomorrow.

Also, it rained a lot today. My laundry has been hanging out on the balcony since last night... I need to get home and check on it. I'm still at the guys' apartment.

I can't wait to hear from you all again. I really miss the comments when I don't write. Have a good night and God bless!

Rodney and Patrice

Across the street from the apartment where the girls live, there is this house. It has a garage, and every night as I am walking home, I am greeted by two large dogs atop this garage. Like, on the roof. One's a German shepherd and one is some big puffy dog. It's such a comical sight when they are staring you down from their lofty perch, Andrew and I decided we had to name them. Rodney and Patrice.

On a side note, for those of you who are counting, today was mine and Amy's one year. So that was exciting. :)

Children Hate Me

What an eye-catching title, right? I've got your attention! Too bad. That topic doesn't come up until the end of this post. HA!

What a great weekend! It was so hard coming back today knowing I have a stack of correcting and 23 6th graders waiting for me tomorrow.

We went to a resort in Puerto Plata called Puerto Plata Village. It's in this big strip where there are several resorts. The worst part was that this resort is not on the beach. We could have taken a guagua, but we decided we didn't want to waste any precious relaxation time. Or money. The resort was all-inclusive, so doing anything anywhere else would just be a waste of money. This all-inclusiveness led to a very exciting and varied 24-hour itinerary: arrive, eat, drink, swim, drink, eat, drink, see show, eat, drink, dance, eat, sleep, eat, swim, drink, eat, swim, drink, swim, drink, leave. It was the perfect cap to the first full week of school. It wasn't that expensive, only 2,000 pesos (which is like $65) for 24 hours of all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink and AC and a nice pool. And yes, Dad, it had a swim-up bar.

The food was really good. I was glad to see they served mostly traditional Dominican food, not Americanized cuisine. I got to try a lot of new dishes. My favorite was guava marmalade. I need to remember to pick some up from the supermarket next time.

Also, for those of you who know me, you will understand this: In the lobby was this lovely looking grand piano. It was covered in a giant doily, candles, seashells, and a neat little sign reading "Please do not play the piano" in 4 languages. Super. My first experience with a real piano in a month.

Oh, and there was church. Unfortunately, I forgot my hymnal and English Bible. So I didn't have a clue what was going on.

And now the topic you've all been waiting for: I'll start by saying that Amy is a child magnet. All little children love her at first sight. It's amazing. Every baby, toddler, or little girl smiles and plays games with her without even having met her. Then they see me. Kids don't know what to think of me. I think I confuse/intimidate them. So they're having so much fun making eyes at Amy, see me, and their faces just fall. Exhibit A: While sitting at the swim-up bar, several little Dominican children where swimming behind us and splashing us. Nothing obnoxious, just playful. So I decided to play along. The little girl swam behind me and I splashed a little splash back. It ended up being extremely accurate and nailed her right in the eye. I received such a dirty look. They left us alone after that. Good night.

One Day More

Only one day left. That's all. One day until the weekend.

I had my first day of music/drama elective with high schoolers today. I'm starting with 10th graders. I liked them. They're so fun. I remember how much I loved high school student teaching. At the very beginning of the class I asked each of them why music and drama are important to them. The very first one, a young lady, very frankly told me that she doesn't care for either. But we all had fun. Be played a lot with breathing exercises. We tried singing a bit, and the girls were doing pretty well. The guys were more lost, and one of them was consistently singing down a 4th from everyone else. At least it was consonant.

There was another animal episode today. Not nearly as exciting as the tarantula or the egret, but worth noting, apparently. It looked the same as the time the kids were at recess and found the egret. A big crowd of kids running all over, and Keith racing to the rescue. But this time it was a little baby bird. It still had a little of it's downy feathers. I suggested to Keith that since he's having trouble finding something the egret will eat, maybe it would try that.

I am so ready for this weekend. We go to the resort on Saturday. The perfect way to end our first full week.

Sorry about all the scary posts, Mom. I can assure you, the resorts are better, really. So no one be afraid to come visit!

Crooning Kids and Crazy Critters

Sorry about the K.

Today was music/drama class #2 with the 6th graders. It went really well. We talked about drinking in air through the bottom of your feet, like a tree, and it also turned into a posture cue "like a tree!" The best part is we experimented with singing using talking voices and singing voices. When they used their singing voices, they sounded so good! I kept applauding every time I had them sing something.

They were also very excited to sing things in small groups. I'm trying to teach them this 3-part warm-up, but actually they will only learn 2 parts. It's not working at all. They know each part separately, but when I have two groups sing different parts, they all compromise and end up singing the same thing. But they all sang the different parts individually in groups of 4 or 5. I was so proud.

Tomorrow is my first time with the high-schoolers. We'll see. I don't remember which class I get to start with. Either 10th or 11th. We'll see. The 6th grade class is easy because no one has hit their voice change yet. I have no clue what to expect from the high school. Ah well, just another adventure.

On another note, yesterday there were two animals apprehended on the school premises. One cute little cattle bird who was missing some of his flight feathers. The kids were attacking him during recess, but Keith (an American teacher from MLC who's been here for 5 years but used to work in a zoo and loves animals) rescued it. He also rescued the second visitor, a rosy tarantula the boys found in their bathroom. Keith claims it's the biggest he's ever seen, but Amy says it's not as big as the ones she saw in the rainforest in Ecuador. Right now it's living in an aquarium in the science lab. The bird is living in the spare room in Keith's apartment.

Correcting

Wow! What a tidal wave of comments! I can really feel the love. Thanks for the cookie feedback. I think the next step is to see if we can track down some shortening. That might be a little more predictable and grease the pan better, too.

Today was great at school. I only taught for a total of one hour and fifteen minutes. Most of the time was spent in a 45 minute math lesson that involved nothing more than teaching the kids how to correct an assignment in class.

The first challenge was how to pass your notebook ahead one. They all got confused and tried trading and passing all at once. We got it sorted out, and then we had to work on waiting to ask questions until after I've read all of the answers.
I said it I don't know how many times.
I made them repeat it.
I read the next answer.
Carlos raised his hand.
"Carlos, when are you supposed to ask questions?"
The whole class responds "AT THE END!!!!!"

The next step was wading through all of the repeat requests. We talked quite a
while about listening carefully the first time. Otherwise you get lots of:
"Yes, Starlin?"
"Number 15?"
"0.03. Valerie?"
"Number 15?"
"I just said that, Valerie. 0.03. Brianna?"
"Number 10?"
"125. Anthony?"
"Number 15?"
"You weren't listening, Anthony. Starlin and Valerie just asked. 0.03. Carlos?"
"Number 10?"

AAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's okay, we're learning. It's their first time. Next time will be better. I'm reworking my math class in my plans for next week, and I'd like to move toward more stations. One station for practice/review, one for correcting(so the students will need to be able to do it themselves), and one for the new lesson. That way I only have to worry about 8 students and their individual needs at a time.

Also, an interesting cultural thing I learned during math: in most Latin countries, a check mark on your school work denotes a correct answer. Incorrect answers are symbolized by an X. It really threw me off at first, I was walking around, seeing a sea of red check marks all over these papers, and I thought I had completely failed on the first math lesson. Then we figured it out. The kids were freaked out when I told them that in America a check mark means your answer is wrong.

The last part of the day was in developing some writing topics for the future and read-a-loud. I'm reading them The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Most of them have seen the movie, but the book includes a lot of different details, and they are really enjoying it.

Tomorrow is another day of my music/drama elective with the kids. I don't have much planned. We'll just have fun mostly, I think. See if we can work on a couple songs, but I'm mostly just keep things light. It's the end of the day, and it is hot, so you can't expect a lot of hard work from them.

Well, it's about teacher bedtime. Thanks again for all of the comments and prayers, everyone. 'Til tomorrow!

Another Cookie Attempt

I now realize why they don't really bake in this country.

They don't have normal butter. All you can really find is margarine, and it's weird. My chocolate chip cookie batter was more like pancake batter. And the result was pancake cookies. Also, Andrew and I just had a "DOH!" moment. In the DR, chocolate chips cannot be merely kept in the cupboard, but rather in the fridge. So that was fun to stir into the batter. Betty Crocker also claimed that these cookies should be baked on an ungreased cookie sheet. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! She has too much faith in Dominican butter. Anyways, after another cup of flour and scraping the bottoms of cookies off the pan, I heavily greased it, dropped the spoonfuls on, and am now watching some actual cookie-shaped cookies forming in the oven. I can only pray that they will actually come off the pan.




GOOD NEWS!! I have cookies and they look like cookies!! The texture is a bit weird. But I'm not complaining, because they look like cookies, taste like cookies, and only left a small mess in the bottom of the pan. Whew!

The bad news, is that our cookie sheet it tiny, and only holds six cookies at a time. I'm really glad this was a smallish sized batch.

The Roach Story: The Final Chapter?

I remember what I forgot about this weekend. We saw the conclusion of the cockroach saga. While using the facilities at Amy's apartment, I saw the beast. He was between the toilet and the sink. He's a big monster, a good 2 inches long not counting antennae. I couldn't get at him where he was, so I grabbed the wastebasket and waved it at him menacingly. He scurried away, but further under the toilet and out reach. So I waved the wastebasket closer, he scurried to the other side of the toilet, but next to the bathtub, still out of reach. This game continued for a few moments, until he made the fatal mistake of scurrying out from the safety of the toilet and into the open floor of the bathroom. I acted fast. It only took a few quick crunches from the wastebasket and all that remained of Mr. Roach was a crushed thorax, a few stray bits of leg, and a twitching antenna. Don't worry, there are pictures on the way.

PS For those of you confused on this one point, I had finished my business before the game of cat and mouse had begun.

Dates

Here's just a quick one so I can get to bed. Today was great! Steve told all about church so I won't except to say that it was so good to join in worship with other WELS members- and especially because they are from a different culture. It just shows how God's Word brings his people together regardless of all else. We are so blessed here!

Some have been wondering about dates for visiting. I'll give you a little info about our schedule. During the week we work from 7:45-5 Monday- Thursday and 7:45-3 on Friday. Weekends are off, just like in the States. I'm not exactly sure how to read our year schedule but it looks like the following are our days off: Sept 24, Nov 6, Nov 25 (half), Nov 26, Dec 20-Jan 6 (Christmas Break), Jan 21, Jan 26, Mar 30, Apr 18-22 (Easter Break). Let us know when you want to come! We'll be thrilled to have visitors. We can make arrangements for you to stay with us in the apartments or you can look into resorts in (reasonably) nearby Puerto Plata or other coastal cities.

Okay, tomorrow is the beginning of a long week... Buenas noches y Dios les bendiga!

Long Time...

No post... sorry. It was a busy weekend, and much of it has been at Amy's, where I do not have internet. So many adventures, but Amy has covered most of them.

The school week finished. Whew. And we got to party after! It was really fun. This party was a prime example of attitude of the DR. We decided to have the party barely an hour before it happened, and the girls were running around getting beer for everyone, and then Andrew and 2 other teachers were in the kitchen throwing together some food(drowning in garlic, so it was delish), and they put on some music, pushed the couches out of the way, and there were salsa and bachata lessons, and it was loud and fun. The DR. It was really fun to watch the different dancing styles, since many of the Dominicans have a more "club" style that is very informal, but Javier, an American teacher of Latin descent, has a more educated style, and it was really fun to watch him dance with some of the other teachers. He also danced with Amy a lot cuz she's so good. ;)

Yesterday we went grocery shopping and money exchanging at a different store that is further away. Other than Amy's gut-busting experiences, she also had a milk-carton-busting experience right outside the store and we got to ride home in a guagua(like a concho, but a big van). Now I feel like a real Dominican. To have traveled in a guagua with an arm-full of groceries. This van managed to fit 22 people and all of their belongings. No personal bubbles allowed.

Last night Andrew and I also got a chance to practice our new Spanish skills to order yaroa from a street vendor. It was better than the last we had because this place made it with green peppers, onions, and corn.

And today we went to church!!! For the first time in 3 weeks! We traveled with Keith , an MLC grad who's been here for 5 years, and he showed us how to catch a guagua to Moca. This one was air-conditioned. Heavenly. And we got to the church, and the first thing I thought was "Well, it certainly is WELS." There was an "altar"(a table with a table cloth and altar vestments)and a pulpit, and the pastors wore the white robes. There were a few Dominican touches, though. It was an open-air building with no walls, the liturgy and hymns were almost identical to CW but translated, the pastors were wearing jeans under their robes, and offering was not passed but rather a line was made to a table with a basket on it. I didn't understand a word of it aside from the hymns. I was able to figure them out for the most part. We are all looking forward to next weekend. We will be joining the church for a weekend at a resort in Puerto Plata.

That's all I can think of right now, I'll probably post this and remember a ton of stuff I meant to include. Oh well. Until next time!

I need to write more often!

One week of school down. Don't remind me that it was only actually a three day week... I am so completely worn out by the end of each day- not to mention by the end of the week!

My students are adorable! Out of a list of 18 I only had five visit on the open house day, 8 in class on Wednesday, and 9 the next two days. We will see how many more show up next week. I wouldn't mind if more didn't... I LOVE my students already. There are 7 boys and 2 girls. They know VERY little English. They understand a little bit and speak even less. I have a target language classroom- meaning I only speak in English. It's crazy. The kids mostly just stare at me blankly and then keep doing whatever it is they are doing. I am getting really good at a happy voice and an angry voice so they can judge from my tone if their behavior is acceptable or needs a change.

They ask me questions in Spanish all the time. I have to ask them, "Can you tell me in English?" Their response is either, "I don't know in English" (which is often followed by a frustrated little head flopping into their hands) or they think for a minute before walking away or trying again in Spanish. They know "I want" as in "I want water," "I want food," or "I want bathroom" (sometimes they get the "to go to" part). One little girl always refers to the other as "he." It is quite funny really. They are so cute and genuine but little stinkers too (just as 1st graders tend to be). The best part is knowing that they will learn so fast!

Then last night it was finally time to party! As I was getting ready to leave Steve stopped in to my room to tell me that there was a party happening right away- at MY apartment. Funny how I was the last to know, but my room is kind of secluded. A whole bunch of the teachers came for conversation, spaghetti, drinks, dancing, etc. Our apartment is really big (7 people lived here one year) so all the teachers who could make it and some of their kids all fit just fine. It was so much fun to spend time with the other teachers outside of school!

Today I hardcore cleaned the kitchen! When I get in the right mood, I really love cleaning. And this morning I was in the right mood. It was my turn to clean the kitchen, which really needed it long before last nights party. I scrubbed the counters, cupboards, sink, microwave, and THE STOVE. They were pretty gross, but are pretty decent now, if I do say so myself. That really took most of the day. Then Steve and I worked on some wedding details for a bit before Steve, Andrew, and I headed out for Nacional, the big supermarket.

We took an "A" concho there and first exchanged some money. By then I was starting to feel kind of funny in the stomach. While we were shopping the stomach issue got worse very quickly, to the point where I had to actually sit down twice on the floor in the middle of the aisle because the pain made me so dizzy. It felt like a knife in the stomach. It was just a spell of indigestion so it passed reasonably quickly, but that was the worst I've ever had it. I am not sure what I ate to cause that so I hope it doesn't happen again.

Right now I am waiting for the boys to get to my place. They wanted to put their purchases away before coming here. They are also picking up some yaroa. The "y" here is pronounced like a "j". Steve told about yaroa in his post called "Too tired to write." That time we had it with french fries. Today we are going to try it with plantains instead.

Tomorrow we are meeting Keith, an MLC alumni who is here for the fifth year now, to go to the WELS church in Mocha. We are SO excited. One of us will certainly write about that experience tomorrow.

Also, if any of you have questions about anything, feel free to write them in a comment and we'll write an answer in the next blog!

Day the Second

The school day went smoothly, but it just drains you of all energy! I think it's the heat. We only teach half of the day, but by the time you are finished, you get your computer, sit in the teacher lounge, and just sit and stare for a while, because you have to store up your energy before you accomplish anything else. Needless to say, I took a nice nap this afternoon.

I had all 23 students today. It seems like a big number, especially compared to Andrew's class of 8.....makes me sick.... But they all like me, which makes it a lot easier. I think I've been able to earn most of their respect already, so the rest should be pretty easy. I have one girl who has a problem listening to my directions, so there might be some consequences on the way if she doesn't shape up. The boy you doesn't speak English is so great! He knows how important it is to me that the students don't speak Spanish during my class, that he completely refuses to use it at all, and works really hard to communicate using his very limited English. I do have some students who are lazy and want to just use Spanish, but most of them have been at this school for at least 5 years, so they know English.

Today was a fun day. We decided on our Classroom Standards of Behavior. (they're like rules, but I decided to call them something different) We talked a lot about respect today, did some brainstorming and discussions about it, and then broke into groups to make lists of how 6th graders should behave. Then we came together, picked our favorites, reworded some others, and came up with 5. Then the kids made posters of the standards for the wall. They were really proud of them when they were finished. I'm trying to challenge them with lots of difficult concepts, especially for ELLs,(English Language Learners)but I can tell they really appreciate it.

Tomorrow is a big day, since I'm going to try actually teaching a few subjects. We're going to start reading our novel, "Because of Winn-Dixie," work on some math puzzles, and start talking about Native Americans and oral tradition.

New topic: New kind of juice! Jugo de tamarindo, or tamarind juice. A tamarind is a legume, so the fruit is in a pod. According to Wikipedia, they are ingredients in Worcestershire sauce and chutney. The juice is dark brown, which really threw me off, but it actually tastes sweet/sour, like a tomato. It isn't my favorite. Jugo de chinola is much better, but that's no surprise. Andrew doesn't like it at all, so I might give the jug of concentrate I bought to Amy and I'll just drink it at her place. It's okay, we have another jug of jugo de pina, pineapple juice. Probably not too many surprises with that one. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Thanks for all of the comments everyone! It's very exciting to log on to the blog and see "2 comments" at the bottom of my post.

Now, to bed. Good night, America.

Real Teacher

Well, I'm alive.

Okay, it was better than that. My kids are great. I have 23, 21 were there today, and 3 of them are new students. Most of them have pretty good English. There is one student who understands and speaks very little, so I'm going to have to make sure no one translates for him too much, or he'll never learn. They started out behaving really well, but got squirrel-ier the second half of the day. I'll have to watch for it and keep it in check.

Management is easy right now, since I'm riding the novelty wave, but I'm trying to set things up so it'll be easier when that wears off. I did have to pull out the teacher voice today. It was a really nice kid who was getting way too chatty, so I hope pulling it out one this early will do the trick. (hahahahahahahahaha, I can hope)

I also started my Music/Drama class today. It's an elective for 5-8 and 9-12. Right now, we are in a preliminary kind of stage with the arts electives, where each grade gets 3 weeks with each elective before deciding on one for the rest of the year. I'm starting with my class, so I got to do some singing and acting games with them. They can sing a unison note, which honestly, I wasn't sure if that was going to happen. I tried teaching them a simple 2-part warm-up that really didn't happen. Some of them understood, but mostly it would start out two part for one note, and then turn into one part. Oh well. I have two more weeks. But I think they had fun. So we'll see.

Well, I need to get some work done on my lesson plans for the following weeks, and get some sleep. I'm wiped out. Ugh. Good night everybody.

Open House

Today I met over 50% of my students and their parents. It was great. I got to chat a little bit, a very little bit when they spoke limited English, and get to know their situations a bit. I have a class of 23 right now, 3 of which are new students, the other 20 have been together as a class for about 5 years, so it's like a group of best friends. They are really energetic, which will be great, because I like group work and discussions, but the trick will be harnessing all of their energy for good rather than evil. We'll see.

There were a few students who hung around all morning. Melvin, Anthony, and a girl whose name is escaping me right now.... But anyway, they were in my classroom for a while and we got to talk quite a bit. Anthony showed me pictures of his dad's new car on his cellphone (which will not be allowed tomorrow), and Melvin bought be M&Ms (which is allowed any time).

Overall it seems like a really great group of kids, and I'm excited to work with them all.

Amy already mentioned the sad news of our sub-director leaving. It was such a blow to all of the new American teachers. We really loved her. Hopefully she will be around this week so we can say our good-byes.

On a completely unrelated note, I was trying to make some simple peanut butter cookies just now. It's a weird recipe, one that has very few ingredients and no flour. I've made the recipe before, back in the states, and I added a little flour to it and they turned out great. But this time, I took my first pan out of the oven and tried squashing them with a fork, and they just crumbled. Part of it is I don't have an electric mixer, and it's really hard to mix peanut butter by hand, the bigger part, though, is that DR peanut butter is weird. It's a lot like organic peanut butter in the states, the stuff you have to stir up and keep in the fridge. But that's how everything is here. Most of it is organic, or has no preservatives. It's nice to see all of the food with tiny ingredients lists.

Well, I need sleep for the big day tomorrow. I love getting comments, so don't be shy. We love hearing from the US just like you like hearing from the DR. God's blessings!