Slowly but surely...

Today we only had a half day of school. The 30th of March is some local holiday and the city had a military parade. We didn't go to the parade. We took a nap. But this is just another example of the Latin culture: the city announced the half day and parade YESTERDAY.


Anyway, onto day 5 with our visitors, Thurday:

The ladies were exhausted the next day after a long hard day in the sun, so they slept in and took it easy. Amy and I had to teach all day. But afterward, we met the ladies at Plaza Internacional, a mall, to pick up some Latina Fashions!

We stopped at KB, Amy's favorite jewelry store. I think it was Justine who said "It's like Claire's, but for grown-ups!" This is the same place I got Patty and Colleen their Christmas presents. Lots of really fun stuff. Justine got a little basket and soon had it filled with all of the goodies she found. She came to Amy and I, desperate, and indecisive: "I can't get all of this!" So we all got together and helped her weed through and make some decisions. We made our purchases and walked out of the store to see that another jewelry store had recently opened up just next door. We entered and repeated the above activities.


After a hard evening of shopping we crossed the street to a cool place called Parrillita. It's a nice grill with some amazing meat for extremely reasonable prices. I had chuletas (pork chops), Amy had a kabob of mixed meat, Grandma had mofongo (mashed plantains with pork), and Justine had chicharrones de pollo (Dominican fried chicken). Everything was breathtakingly delicious.

Another One!

Continuing on....

Day 4: Wednesday, BEACH DAY!

Amy and I were able to find enough very generous people to be willing to cover all of our classes on Wednesday, and Miss Jennie was more than happy to help us out, so we got the day off to take our visitors to the beach for the day!

We took them to Sosua since it is the easiest, cheapest, is still beautiful, and has tons of shops right on the beach to pick up some souvenirs. We picked up some fresh shrimp from a vendor walking by, slathered on some sunscreen, and soaked up the rays. And of course went for a dip. Or two.

Amy wasn't quite as ambitious as Justine and I. Just a little slower.

Justine had a Coco Loco (Karmen, this one had alcohol!) and Amy and Grandma had Piña Coladas in the piña.

3 paintings were purchased before we headed back to the bus station to get the return trip.

Once we were back, we headed to Amy's apartment to order some yaroa and rikkis for dinner. Unfortunately, all of the beach junk food and intense sun had taken it's toll on Miss Amy, so she was lamentably forced to retire early. We had to continue without her, but Grandma and Justine managed to enjoy the authentic Dominican street food and also indulge in their favorite local drink: Presidente beer.

Dropped the Ball, Whoops...

At this rate, you'll get the whole week's story by Easter. Maybe. But look, pictures!

Anyway, day 2: Monday.
School. Yay. Gma and Justine joined us for lunch and spent an hour of the afternoon in Amy's room and an hour in my room. I let my kids have a Q&A session with them about nursing and whatever. It was nice because they got a real taste of our classrooms since neither class was very well-behaved for them.

The evening was very special. We took a taxi up into the mountains above the city to a resort/restaurant called Camp David. It was amazing. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the entire city. It was a pretty ritzy place, but luckily I had a grandmother along, so I didn't even notice price tags. The sun set, and we got to see the city lit up at night. It is one of the coolest places we have been yet.





Day 3: Tuesday
The ladies were on their own during school. We sent them to Centro Leon, a cultural center that includes an art/history museum and a cigar factory. They met us after school and we took them to get some street food: quipes(fried, stuffed balls of bulgur), bolas de yuca (cheese-filled balls of yuca), and empanadas(fried pastries with filling). We managed to persuade my roommate Andrew to join us.




This feast was held directly next to the nail salon where the ladies were about to have the most Dominican experience of their week.There were two ladies working in the salon, and people just kept coming in, not to get their nails done, but to greet and sit and chat with the ladies. Also, one of the women's sons was there. We were fast friends.






Dinner wasn't as breathtaking as the previous night. We were tired enough to settle for the hotel restaurant where the ladies learned their love of tostones and Presidente beer.

More to come, I promise. Soon?....

No Pictures Yet...

Because I don't know how to steal them off of Justine's Kodak gallery. If you want to see them for yourself, you could follow this link:

Gma and Justine arrived safely in Santiago at 11:07 am last week Sunday. Little did they know the amazing adventures that were in store for them.

Day 1: Sunday
We met them after the hotel. It's a really nice hotel, I mean really really nice. Their website gives its pricing in American dollars, that's how nice it is. After some confusion about whether they were there or not, Amy and I asked the concierge who actually had a note to send us up when we arrived. So we felt stupid, but quickly ascended the elevator, our hearts racing, until we turned down the hallway to find them waiting for us! Embraces for all! We attended a delicious lunch at the hotel restaurant. It wasn't very traditional, but we did have tostones. Upon returning to the luxurious room, it was promptly decided that swimming suits should be donned and a visit to the rooftop pool must be paid. It was late, and getting chilly, so instead of the pool we chose the hot tub. We chatted and forgot the time completely. Then remembered we wanted to go out to eat that night. After careful preparations, we were ready. A walk down the street to an Italian restaurant. So delicious. Our favorite place to eat. Then home to bed, there was school the next day...

I must teach soon. More to come of Gma and Justine's Adventures in the DR!!!

The Wild Child

Here's the latest on my crazy kid: To tell you the truth I don't remember how much I've said about him on here so I'll take a leap back, which will also get any new readers in the loop (should any come along).

In my first grade classroom I had started out with 9 students. About a month later 2 new ones arrived. It was then that the real problems began. I had 10 of the first graders who did not know English, could not identify letters, and didn't know how to line up. The is was somewhat surprising but nothing that I couldn't handle. It was that 11th student. After numerous issues with him running out of the classroom, refusing to do work, attempting to bite the reinforcement teacher, and hurting other students he was diagnosed with ADHD.

That was only the beginning. Now, months later it would be easier to tell you what he hasn't done. The most shocking incidents involve slamming a boy's hand in the door, stomping the psychologist's foot, and attacking the Spanish aid and me. The consequences for him were minimal. So it got to the point where I was hardly able to teach. I told Miss Jennie that I was concerned that he would start attacking the students the way he was attacking me.

Miss Jennie decided that this was a valid point. The problem is that the law here makes it difficult to kick a student out of a school, due to their "rights to education." Instead, the student now spends each hour of the day with a different teacher in a one on one class. I only have two classes with him every other week- computers.

Today he decided he is tired of this arrangement and decided to attempt an escape- pushing and pinching his teacher who was blocking the door. This is nothing new to me, but since we have already taken the steps needed and the situation is not improving it will now go on to the discipline committee. We'll have to wait and see what they decide. It is hard to deal with this, especially as a first year teacher. I wish I could have helped him but really he needs a facility that is equipped for special education where he can have what's best for him.