"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. :)