Continuation of Parents' Visit

Saturday we got up early and had breakfast with my parents at the hotel before heading to the bus station. We arrived a few hours later in Santo Domingo, the capital. We took a taxi to the Colonial Zone, where Columbus first landed and all the firsts of the new world are located. We saw the first sundial, cathedral, hospital, monastery, street, etc. So cool. There are some Santo Domingo pictures from Steve and my first visit located on our Flickr account if you missed them last time around.

We got back and went to the Plaza (mall) for a while. Mom found some jewelry at KB- cheap but so great! Then we went to the Parillita (little grill) for some great Dominican cuisine. Always delicioso!

The next morning was church. My parents got the wonderful guagua (bus) ride that most of our other guests have missed. We headed out to Moca and were thrilled to see the church decorated in fronds for Palm Sunday! We had an excellent service and then my parents got to meet some of our church friends.

After church we took the guagua back toward Santiago but got off early in Licey to visit the first grade Dominican aid, Niwrka. Niwrka was so excited to have us! We got to meet her family members, who are mostly her neighbors. She taught my mom and I to make arroz amarillo (yellow rice), cerdo (pork), and ensalada de tayota (a salad with a vegetable that we don't have in the States...) Definitely some of the best food I've had on the island! She showed us her very humble home, we relaxed on her patio, she taught my parents to merengue and bachata (Dominican dances).

Finally we headed home to Santiago with enough time to go swimming in the hotel roof pool and get dressed up for Camp David, a beautiful restaurant in the mountains that overlooks the city. We got there in time to watch the sunset. Take a look at the beautiful view!





























We enjoyed another amazing meal, mine slightly more adventurous than the others... I ordered Seabass with Calamari Risotto. Take a look at what I received!





























Yes, that squid looks like a squid. Really good- just not quite what I had envisioned... ;)

Monday, we went to a salon to get beach-ready! The boys came to check it out with us and then left us to pack. Mom and I had manicures and pedicures and Mom even got a great new haircut! Along with a haircut here you will always get a wash and dry. We LOVE her new look. Here's us at the salon:


After that we finally headed out for the beach. And that's where I'll have to leave you until next time...

The Joy of Easter!

I know- it's not Easter yet, but you'll see where I'm going with this as you read on.

My parents came for a splendid week of Dominican sunshine. They arrived last week Thursday and checked into their hotel, the same really nice one that Steve's grandma and sister stayed in. Then we went out for dinner at the nearby Italian restaurant and stayed up late since Friday was the last day of school before break! Friday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and went to school, while they slept in and then went to a museum. Centro Leon, which may have been mentioned in some other posts, contains an art museum and a cigar factory/museum. It also has beautiful grounds with a duck pond. My parents enjoyed the cigar factory and some of the art (the really modern stuff we just won't mention- ha!) before coming to school for lunch. We had delicious rice, beans, and fish. Yum!

They got to see my classroom in a very normal state. By normal I mean the wild child was rather wound up and on the verge of an explosion all day (thankfully it never happened), another boy was having screaming tantrums off and on ALL day, a few boys threw stones on the playground, the others were just their usual chatty, energetic selves. I was fairly well in control since I did no real teaching beyond giving a spelling test and I had the beautiful threat of taking away the upcoming egghunt:)

One thing I did get to do was tell the Holy Week/Good Friday/ Easter stories from my Bible History book. It was GREAT! The kids have been getting nervous for a while now, hearing Jesus predict his death. I got a glimpse of how Jesus felt. I would tell them over and over that he will live again but they didn't understand and would flip ahead with concerned faces to show me the picture of Jesus on the cross. On Friday as I told the story they were destroyed over Jesus' suffering and shocked that he chose to let it happen. When the exultation of Easter came they rejoiced to hear once again that now we can go to heaven to live with him forever. I pray that they understand enough and I know that God is working in their hearts. I can see it in their faces. Mom brought me some sheets of beautiful Good Friday and Easter stickers so the kids made the scenes on paper and received a few to put on shirts, lunchboxes, and foreheads. Mom also brought each one a cross sucker.

After the egg hunt and various games school was finally over. We showed my parent's our apartments and then took the concho (little public car) downtown to the mercado (market). We found some fun souvenirs and then went out for pollo con wasacaca (chicken with garlic sauce)! Then we hung out a bit at the hotel before heading home. We would need our sleep for the next day- in Santo Domingo!

Sadly, no pictures this time. My dad got ALL the pictures but I'm afraid I did not get them off his camera before they left... Maybe they can email me some and then I can update this post.

100!!!!!!!

This number is significant today for two reasons. The first is that this is the 100th post of our blog!!!!!!! Reason the second is that there are only 100 days until the WEDDING!!!!!!! So please, hold a quick dance party in celebration. I know I am.

With the approach of Spring Break, school is getting worse. The children are so unbelievably bad. Amy, Andrew, and I all just watched movies with our kids, and all of them couldn't even contain themselves for that. It's ridiculous. How can kids misbehave while watching a movie?!?!?!?! My kids are watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," the Gene Wilder one, the good one. They are really enjoying it. It's nice that they already know the basic plot from the Johnny Depp version. Lots of background knowledge really helps when you're teaching kids in a foreign language. They are all more than a little upset with me, though, since it was lunch time right as the characters were opening the doors to the chocolate room. They were really mad.

Right now, I am impatiently awaiting the arrival of Amy's 'rents. Their flight isn't supposed to land until 8:15. ARG!

Heads up, there might not be many blog posts for the next week, since we'll be entertaining company. Sorry in advance.

Double Time!

What is this? Two posts in one week? How luxurious!

Guess what? Amy's roommate is engaged! It happened last Saturday and we all found out on Monday. So that's really all the talk right now. She's an American from Chicago and she's been dating a Dominican man for a year. He's so cool, one of the nicest guys I know. I am just so indescribably happy for them. That might sounds a bit over the top, but this is me talking here, and I always get so excited for other people's relationships.

All of that aside, the best part was that a celebration was in order. And Tuesday is Ladies Night. So we all went out, the girls had free midori sours all night, and I had half-price appetizers. Amy's other roommate has a friend visiting right now, she came along, and we all got to meet her, too. A nice break in the middle of the week.

School is crazy. The kids are uncontrollable. Break is two days away, and they can almost taste it. It doesn't help that we have Reading Marathon this week, where all of classes give a presentation about what they've been learning in Language class during the semester. Several perform plays or readers theatre adaptations of books they are reading. My kids presented some of their book reports (including pictures, posters, summaries, and a play they put together themselves, so proud) and some original poetry we've been writing the past few weeks (April is National Poetry Month!) including cinquains (5 lines, each line larger than the first, with the last word a synonym for the first), apostrophe poems (where you talk to someone/thing that can't hear you, like "Oh, Sky, why are you so blue?", and perspective poems (where you pretend to be someone/thing else). I have included a sample of my absolute favorite poem. You have to imagine this being read out loud by a boy in a Dominican accent:

Penguin, Penguin,
You are so beautiful
You look like a fat guy
Penguin, you are a ninja?
Penguin, Penguin,
You are like me,
We like the same things,
But I don't like the fish.

Every time we practiced, I was laughing out loud, along with my entire class who were trying to not fall out of their desks. I was especially proud, because he really struggles with English, but he read the poem with really great inflection and perfect timing for humor.

One last note, AMY'S PARENTS ARRIVE TOMORROW!!!!!!!! They are flying into Santiago, spending a few days here, and then we head to the beach to stay in a resort for a total visit time of one week. Then we can start counting the days to the finish line!

The Present

Anyway, back to the present.

This weekend was WONDERFUL! Andrew and I invited teachers over to our place after school on Friday. It was exactly what we all needed after a week as tough as last week. We sat around our living room and had some beer and talked about movies, Spanish/English, and not school. Perfect afternoon.

Saturday was also glorious. We went to the beach. Yesssssss. It was a perfect beach day, too. We barely made it, though, since when we got to the bus station in Santiago, it was already sold out! Thankfully, when the bus got there, late, it had 5 seats open. Whew. We had the same problem on the return trip, too. Got to the bus station a half hour early, and all of the tickets were already sold! We had to wait around for another hour before we could go home. But it was okay, because we hit up an empanada stand once we were back. Light, flaky, deep-fried goodness!

Sunday was particularly enjoyable. Church was pleasant as usual, but after church, we(Andrew, Beth, Amy and I) found ourselves in a conversation with Pastor Alex. This conversation progressed into a form of marriage/relationship counseling, evolved into a discussion about language, which obviously led to talk about food. This could only end in one way: a dinner invitation. So we all stayed while they "made some quick Dominican food" for us. This "quick" meal involved a trip by Andrew and Pastor on a moto to 3 different markets, the girls learning how to make chicken and moro, a sit on the patio in some rocking chairs, merengue lessons, and finally a meal with Pastor Alex and his family. It is wonderful for church to be such an oasis from all of the troubles and difficulties at school. We look forward to it and relish it every week.

And today, the beginning of another week, the last week of school before Easter/Spring Break! At long last!(it is the first break we've had since January)

Also, I am presently uploading some new pics to the Flickr stream, to fill in some of the gaps from the past few months. Enjoy!

Okay, here's the last one...

...a month later...

Okay, final days of the visit. This is taking forever. Sorry. Things have been a little crazy at school the past few weeks. And probably won't let up until Spring/Easter break.

ANYWAY

Friday arrived. The ladies met us at school again to go to some classes. First they came to my class where Justine showed her pictures from Africa and gave a presentation about it. My kids were into it and asked lots of good questions. So proud. Then they got to see Amy's classroom in full swing: Friday. In the afternoon. Including "the Wild Child." A blast, I heard.


School finally ended, and since there was no homework room, we got to leave at 3. I love Fridays. Then we made a trek to Calle del Sol. My roommate Andrew even joined us. We rode in a concho, saw a cathedral, ate Yogen Fruz at Bon (except Andrew, he's discovered that he's lactose intolerant and got a smoothie instead), and went shopping. Many deals were had, many keepsakes were obtained, and Andrew and Grandma hit it off famously. When our feet were tired, we continued to Provokone Chicken, a place that serves the most delicious wasakaka(garlic sauce) chicken ever. One of our top places for authentic Dominican cuisine. The trick is ignoring the children begging for food right outside. It stinks, but they don't actually get the food. There's a man who stands behind a wall or pillar and they bring everything to him. Really boils my blood.


We went back to the hotel and started getting ready. TO GO DANCIN'!!!!

Grandma voted to go to bed instead, but Justine, Amy, and I put on our blue suede shoes and hit the town. Justine was really quite a hit at the club we went to. She got to dance with this awkward old man, and then got asked to danced by the best guy there. Also so proud.






After dancing, we walked just down the street to get cachapas. My favorite!!! The guy working the stand and his buddies were all there and had already had some liquor. They were quite friendly. It was a riot.
Amy was cold, and I didn't have a sweatshirt, so she was proud to wear some SveenGear.


Cachapas safely in our stomachs, we went for a walk around the nearby monument. Beautiful at night. Then a taxi back to the hotel room to crash.

The next day was a sad day. Amy and I stayed over at the hotel room so we could get up with them to have breakfast before they left. It was so hard to say good-bye, like with all of our guests. But we had such an awesome time with them.