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.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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!
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!
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!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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!
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!
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