Rain

Week two is underway and it's going to be a long week full of tests and quizzes. Sadly that makes for squirrley thrid graders; totally understandable though. Giving the first test is always a forboding feeling because you never really know what to expect until you start to grade. I'm hoping that I've been doing enough to help my students pick up concepts and learn.

After being here for 3 weeks our house is finally full. Kelsey arrived on Saturday, but it seems she has been for longer than that. It is such a blessing to have such wonderful housemates. Life will certainly be full of laughter and I may actually relax a little bit as the year goes on.

I am finding out daily that life here is going to grow me more as a person than anything. Daily life is making me laugh at the small things that go wrong instead of my normal tendency to over analyze life. I know for many people that must be thrilling news that I may actually relax for once! Dominican life could potentially be helpful for future teaching ventures and for my life in general.

Learning to laugh will be crucial as next week we start our reading program at school. I have been placed with the 1st graders. I love the first graders but they don't speak English and well right now my Spanish is probably about at the level of their English. Should be a fun year teaching them how to read and recognize words. I

Rain...it isn't even rainy season yet and it's raining...but for now I love the rain. Rain here means cooler temperatures, less sweat and lots of wet & smelly dogs. But the temperature thing is a wonderful break from the heat.

Week One - Check

Well week one is done and in my book that's a pretty big deal. Like I stated earlier this week I love my students. They continue to blow me away by their crazy need to please me. Every afternoon they have Spanish with Ms. Abreu and when she leaves they always stand up and greet me. So cute.

I don't have many fun stories to share from this week; however, I'm sure they will happen through out the year.

I am excited for this weekend because we actually have shopping to do now that our house is complete. We have done some switching of living situations so our final roommate Kelsey is getting here tonight! We can finally go shopping for decor for our walls, kitchen, etc.

Right now Natalie and I are watching random FNL videos from IWU on YouTube....good passing of time. We also finished season 1 of The Office tonight...bonus.

It's hard to believe that I've been here for 3 weeks now! It honestly seems I've been here for longer than I really have been.

Week 2 involves School House Rock...pretty solid.

First Day of School

Well I survived my first day of teaching; granted it wasn't very hard since my students are amazing! After one day I already just love them to pieces :). I am blessed to be receiving on good authority "one of the best classes the school has seen".

My kids are very easy going and love math for some strange reason. I am interested to see how tomorrow goes with having the first day done with. We are supposedly starting our reading program tomorrow which means Running Records for all. Thankfully I once had a teacher who taught for a whole semester the art of the RR. I informally checked my third graders and the RR shouldn't be that difficult from what I gathered.

I have a few students who struggled but that is to be expected from 2nd language learners; so all in all I'm not too concerned. I have one girl who blew my mind...she's from New Zealand (and yes she has the cutest NZ accent in the world!) but she can read anything I've put in front of her so far. When I talked with dad today he said she'd already read the whole Narnia series independently - at 8yrs old!!!

I'm very excited to go back tomorrow and see what new things I can learn from them and teach them too. Right now I sadly have to lesson plan as Natalie gets here tomorrow!

Of Dinner Parties and Storms

Today we welcomed back the appearance of the sun after it's 2 day absence due to Tropical Storm Fay and the very low clouds and constant rainfall that accompanied it. Aside from it raining and being damp the storm wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

The storm even passed with only one major power loss the very fist day. :) However because the school was busy with construction at the time of the storm much of what needed to happen didn't get finished. Leaving us with one extra day to get ready for the next school year. School will start on Tuesday which will be quite an ordeal since things are done differently here than in the US.

I am super excited for the year to start and very thankful for the people God has place in my life here. The group of old/new American staff is outstanding. I am so thankful that we have bonded so quickly. So far we have had Friday/Saturday dinners together which is nice to have everyone around a table laughing and sharing a meal. Hopefully we can continue that throughout the year as our schedules allow.

This Week:
Monday - teacher work day
Tuesday - first day of school
Wednesday - Natalie arrives

Pictures!

This is the staircase that is being built right outside my door in my classroom! (the door to the right goes into my room)

Our back porch complete with rocking chairs and a view of the mountains.

My beautiful house that I share with 3 wonderful roommates (Anna, Christy, & Natalie)!

I'm so excited to finally be putting pictures up at my own house! We finally got our internet situation figured out today thanks in part to Enmanuel the school's IT director. I'm so thankful that someone was able to figure out our problems. School starts on Monday right now, but with the way construction is going I'm not sure how things will get done unless we help install stairs too. I'm very excited to start school now that my classroom is all set up; just waiting for my door to be relocated to the other side of the stairs and it'll be good to go.

Blessings

I apologize for the incoherent flow of this post but I'm just writing what comes to mind! :)

God has provided answers to 2 out of the 3 problems I wrote about yesterday. He also provided a working DC connection for our modem. Life is continuing to go well and I still haven't set up a single thing in my classroom which is driving my a bit insane since we have Parent Night tomorrow.

I'm loving the preping of lessons without the stress of a supervising teacher constantly hovering over my shoulder and the freedom of planning without the TU lesson plan format. As much as I love writing 3 page lessons, life is much less stressful.

Christy arrived last night around 9:30 and is already a blessing to Anna and I as we are getting things in our house sorted out. We are anxiously awaiting Natalie's arrival next Wednesday and have much to do before she gets here.

Problems with the No. 3:

Problem 1:
3ft hole in front of my classroom door. Hopefully by the end of this week I will have a new doorway that is safely accessible for everyone. In order for this to happen my old door must be removed and relocated 7ft down the hall; once that is complete my old doorway will be blocked off and the new stairs will be open.

Problem 2:
Currently Anna and I have 3 leaking pipes in our backyard. Due to our leaking pipes our yard floods and we have no water pressure in the house.

Problem 3:
Yesterday our propane went out; no big deal, but we don't have the key to open our propane cage! So in the end that problem just adds to all our other problems we are working through.


Good things:
Anna and I will have a 3rd roommate tonight who has lived in the house and can help us learn the quirks of all the house.
I have wonderful new friends who let me use their computer and internet since ours insn't working.
Health, I passed the 1 week mark and I'm still alive and well. :) Let's hope this keeps up.
My ability to be patient is growing daily.
I am getting extremely excited to be planning lessons and preparing as best as I can for my class to come next Monday.

Answers & Blessings

Before coming down to the DR I was told I was only going to have one roommate; I was quite concerned at what this would do for my cost of living. Thankfully since I first left the United States 1 week ago God has provided 2 new roommates for me!!!

Thankfully my house is more than sufficient for 4 people and we'll have room to entertain other JCS staff as well. :)

We are still "roughing" it without internet due to missing cords. Once Monday comes the search will begin again. Once Christy comes it will be like Christmas because she'll know where things are at.

Hopefully I'll also have a floor outside my doorway this week too!!!

"How to Shop at a Foreign Meat Market 101"

Written August 5th - 7th
A quick recap of the last few days; I am all settled in and am finding Dominican life quite relaxing right now. I’ve had a few “I wish I had the ability to fly moments”. One today; I was minding my own business when I heard noise in my backyard, being alone I immediately panicked and stopped everything I was doing entirely. My senses are learning to pick up unusual noises above the barking, mooing, baaing, motorcycle engines and children. Often times it sounds as though people are in my yard. I discovered the reason for that is I have a gate that opens up to an alley leading down to another group of homes. However, today I did have people in my yard; 2 boys (around age 8). I think I scared them just about as badly as they scared me. Hopefully, that will be the last encounter of the like. I will be very happy when I have a lock for my front gate. For now I have a large stick in my house.

Along with other unusual things that I have happened...I have a dog who sits outside my gate. Evidentially the girls last year fed him along with 2 other dogs that they took a liking too. We’ll see what happens when Christy gets here on Monday.

Today was an adventure in itself before any of that even happened. I woke up at 2am to pouring rain so I knew that the road would be flooded again. With that in mind I took the “long” way to school this morning; all “paved” roads so no question as to what I was walking through. The road I was walking took me all the way down near a baseball diamond that SI uses for its sport site so at least I knew where I was and it was only a short distance back to the road to take me to the school. I am definitely getting my cardio in everyday carrying a backpack up and down hills to school. I can’t wait until that doubles when I have papers to grade.

Going along with adventures; I bought and assembled my own bedside table/desk today. The table was purchased at La Cancha a store with pretty much anything you want…sort of similar to Big Lots. The table was only 320 peso ($10) – something similar to it in the states might cost $25. If it survives the year it will even fit in my suitcase to come home!

Also on the agenda today was “How to Shop at a Foreign Meat Market 101”. Despite being very scared to buy meat, I was able to go with other JCS staff members who are more experienced at the process. There’s nothing quite like having your hamburger packaged while you watch…so at least it’s very fresh. It also made a very yummy addition to my diet of mainly green beans, fresh fruit, cereal, toast, and water.

Tomorrow starts my official teacher training at Jarabacoa Christian School. I am very excited to see what is in store for the few days. As of tomorrow I will have a Dominican insurance card and a Dominican bank account. Next step on living in the DR is adjusting to eating with my neighbors…no literally with them at this point, but at the same time. They don’t typically start dinner until 8pm. Regardless of the noise I really like that everyone is at dinner together; they seem to be having such a good time from the numerous conversations I hear. Family is such a crucial part of life here unlike the typical US family with people going 7 different places. I really enjoy that pary of DR life.

Training has been going well; we've been talking alot about the differences between US and DR cultures which has been a very helpful refresher course. I have been busy trying to set up my classroom which has proved very difficult as they are putting a new staircase in the school right outside my classroom door. So litterally right now I have no "true"floor leading into my class I jump across the grid for now....it should in theory be done before school.

Right now I am staying with some of the other staff because my cistern was making very bad noises so I decided that I should have it fixed before anything else happend. Hopefully I'll be fully connected at my house with running water and internet soon!!! My house/roommate gets here on Monday!!!!

Thank you all for keeping me in your prayers; life is quite the adventure. :)

36 hours and counting...

What a journey to my house it has been (FYI, my house has a name Casa C. Rey; it’s probably just the name of the person who owns the house, but it’s still pretty cool).

On Saturday I said goodbye to my parents at 4:30 for what I thought was the last time until Christmas, but it turns out I was wrong. They got special passes and came to wait with me at the gate. This means I was able to buy Starbucks before I left! I had two very uneventful flights to Miami and then again to Santiago.

I was met in Santiago by one of the board members and her son. From the airport we headed up the mountain to Jarabacoa, past Student’s International (my house the past 2 spring breaks, past Genesis, and to Christy’s house. Christy is a fellow first year teacher (at JCS; she is a 14yr veteran to the teaching field) who has been here for a week and is all settled. I stayed with her on Saturday night because my house wasn’t quite ready.

Saturday night was fairly low key as I had just gotten there and it was evening. Christy and I went into town with Tim & Laura Stanley also new teachers who live right next door to Christy. We did some minor grocery shopping and just enjoyed exploring Jarabacoa. Because of the set hours of light and darkness it’s hard not to go to bed at 9pm because it pitch black. The flip side of an early bedtime is an early morning, but with roosters that wake you up at 4:30am I’m not too upset.

Today, I moved into my new home. A cute stucco ranch with amazing views of the mountains! The outside of my home is more beautiful than I could have asked for with flowering trees, a few plants and a covered porch and carpark. The inside is adequate with limited furniture, but decent. I have a back porch where my Dominican washer is at, along with rocking chairs!!! The rocking chairs may move out front once my gate gets a lock, but I love having rocking chairs! I also have my very own cistern/well. It resembles one of the hatches from Lost at first glimpse, it even has to be checked like the main hatch in Lost. Instead of every 108 minutes, I need to check the water level every three days. Pictures will follow as the school’s internet is not exactly the fastest thing in the world. I hope to write about once a week or more depending on the work load I have and the power situation.

Prayer Requests
Loneliness, my house is not near any of the other teachers.
Getting my internet set up. I need a password from Christy; until then I’ll be using the schools.
Learning how to use my Dominican washing machine; it has different operating instructions than a US washing machine.
I have no desk or dresser; so I must use the kitchen table and suitcase for non essential items…patience to do that!
God will provide a means of transportation for my water. The store/school is too far to carry 5 gallons of water and school materials.
Health, the roads I walk to school flood. That I will be protected from any parasites living in the water I have to walk through.

Praises
I made it safely with all my luggage.
I’m been here for 36 hours and no noseeum bites!
Aside from some rust on the tub and a broken lid on my toilet everything is in good order in my bathroom. I have a new stove and fridge (despite it being covered in mold when I moved in…I quickly remedied that.)
So far all the new teachers seem wonderful. I’m by far the youngest so far.
I survived my first night alone despite strong storms.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...Back at Christmas

Well the time has come to write my last post in the US; so as a result I have made some updates to the site like the description.

I am leaving tomorrow bright and early (3:30am early) to catch my flight at O'Hare. My flight leaves at 6:15am and will land at Miami around 10:05. My next flight leaves around 11:15 which will get me to Santiago around 1:20pm (EST).

From the airport my unidentified ride will take me up the mountain to Jarabacoa and to my new house. Yes, a house! I will share a house with one of the fellow teachers who was there last year. I am looking forward to getting to know her more; however, right now I don't know much expect her name and what she's shared in a few brief e-mail messages.

I most likely will not write again until late next week as I don't know my internet connection situation.

I will try to post as soon as I can to let everyone know I arrived safely.