Goo, Giggles, & Grins

Friday, ¡Por Fin! What a crazy adventure this week as been.

• Sunday: Playa Rincon
• Monday: Playa Fronton
• Tuesday: School
• Wednesday: Pinkeye
• Thursday: School
• Friday: Goo and the Carla's

Today school couldn't get over fast enough. I was so ready to be done with this week. I am still fighting something, but I'm not sure what to do about it since I don't want to go to the doctor. Until then I drug up and sleep...perhaps purchasing some coughdrops in the candy aisle will help.

Today we made Goo or Ooobleck properly. It was an insane endeavor on my part without the assistance of someone else. Being Friday the students weren't listening and were doing just about everything they were NOT supposed to be doing. But oh much fun was had by all...including yours truly until it came time to go back inside. Then I was ready to say "see ya" and let them run wild...but I did not. I stuck it out and dealt with temper tantrums instead. Here is our group picture collage with close ups of almost every one in the picture...I did a collage because it allows you to see the individual expressions on each person's face!

After school I took the time to unwind after a crazy afternoon. Then Christy Elmer and I went over to the Carla's house for dinner. They have moved into a much better house and have their own room now! Their mom is getting remarrried to someone who actually provides for their family! Their new house is much closer to school and in a much safer neighborhood. I hope that their transition to a new family and a new house is good for them. When I first got there we helped Tonia their mom hang up clothes and get things ready for when Luis (their stepfather) moves in. Their girls were such good helpers. Then it was time to play games. I made a collage of everything that happened there too; so I don't have load individual pictures. I am continually thankful that God has put me here this year to minister to families like the Carla's.I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am planning on spending the rest of mine lesson planning, doing laundry and getting rid of the migrane that has decided to visit today.

¡Fotografías!

Playa Rincon please note that the small boys are in every frame of the panoramic picture. This is beach #2 technically, but beach #1 in the photo log.
I ♥ ocean waves.


I also ♥ Estillo Tours and their friendly driver who picked us so we wouldn't have to walk through this (see below). When Natalie get's her photos online I'll have a link...her pictures are more accurate and probably better quality....
Las Galeras - beach #1. Our "home" for the trip.
Christie Collver and I...goofing around in an "abandoned" boat.
I love this picture. I love it for 2 reasons; 1) it's gorgeous and 2) I love sunsets here.
Fronton - beach # 3 the whole reason we piled in a car for 6 hours! This picture (above) was taken from one of the openings on the trail in/down to the beach (below).
picturesque and peaceful
Check out this site for more information...Dulous Discovery School & Playa Fronton. Dulous is the other Christian school in town. It is a very hands on learning - Montesorri style school for PreK-12. I looked at working here too, but JCS is where I was supposed to be...but they do some pretty cool things at their school.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I hopefully post the results of making ooobleck with my 3rd graders soon (that is if I am brave enough to pull out my camera around water, cornstarch, and 8 year olds).

Plan B is not Plan A Recylced...The Saga of 3 Beaches in 3 Days

This is the story of how 6 girls piled into 1 CRV for 62 hours of Dominican Sand and Surf. Teaching in the Dominican Republic has had it’s perks in the month of January…like no 5 day weeks of school! So to celebrate Juan Pablo Duarte one of the founding fathers of the FREE Dominican Republic we hit to road.

On Saturday morning we loaded our backpacks and snorkel gear and took off for the North East coast. We drove from Jarabacoa to San Francisco to Samana to Las Galeras. Being in a car for nearly 6 hours was not as much fun with the roads that awaited us.

The drive from Jarabacoa to San Fransico was a nice pleasant drive very reminiscent of driving through north Wisconson in the summer…pine trees, beautiful rocks, and a 4 lane highways with good quality pavement. Also on the way to San Fransico we say our first glimpses into the farming industry of rice. They use airplanes to crop dust and huge tractors to turn over the fields yet do most of the harvesting by hand.

After leaving San Francisco the roads turned dramatically worse. Sometimes the road was so bad that it was sometimes one lane. We drove through Nagua which was the first time I had seen the ocean other than flying over it. Seeing the ocean for the first time was great; despite the pouring rain outside the car. We left for our trip with a 55% sun and 40% rain prediction. (Thankfully most of the rain came while we were driving and not on the beach enjoying our vacation.) In Nagua I saw some of the devastation that was left by the hurricanes this fall. Nagua is on the NE coast where most of the hurricanes hit the hardest if they came from the north. Entire neighborhoods were gone and all that remained was cinderblock foundations many of which were no larger than 10 x 10. Those small foundations probably housed a whole family.

The roads the rest of the way were 2 lanes with potholes that nearly covered the whole road…so our wonderful drivers had their hands full with maneuvering to keep the rest of us comfortable the best they could.

The next big town we arrived at was Samana which is known for it’s bay and for whale sightings. We didn’t go on a whale expedition but it was easy to tell that whale watching was a huge industry. The downtown area was very nice and well kept due to tourism. But as soon as you left the town it was back to shacks and poorly held together outhouses. I saw lots of wildlife sitting in the back of the car…there were pigs, goats, horses, mules, ducks, chickens, and the occasional wild turkey (I was the only one who saw them…but they were there).

We drove about 6 hours to reach our final destination of Las Galeras…a town that the main road literally runs into the ocean. We stayed at a hotel and were within walking distance of food and the beach. We headed to the beach the first afternoon after naps and lunch. The beach wasn’t spectacularly kept but the views were great. There is huge resort in Las Galeras so that is where most of their money is at.

On Sunday we had the grand plan (Plan A) of driving to Boca del Diablo and then hiking in to Fronton a small beach that is only accessible by boat or a hour hike. To our dismay we went to leave to find that our car would not start! So after trying to figure it out on our own we were assisted by 5 kind Dominican men. Despite the language barrier, no owner manual or any mechanics it took 7 hours to identify the problem, fix it and then decide what to do. We instead settled on heading to Playa Rincon (Plan B).

Playa Rincon involved a half hour drive down yet another bumpy half there road. On this road we were passed by car after car ignoring the bumps. We concluded that people who drive that way either replace their axles every year or just buy new cars. In one of the towns we passed we came across a lady killing her chickens…some of us actually saw it….not the most pleasant thing ever. Along another point we saw fields of pineapples growing and more wild turkeys.

If you’ve been following my blog you know that it rains a lot here. We saw the results of the rain in road width red clay mud puddles. It was definitely an off-road experience but with a road still present. Anyways we got to the end of the road or so we thought…people had parked. Only when we had stopped to look did we see why people had stopped. The road the rest of the way down was completely flooded. Imagine walking outside of your house and seeing water knee deep, whole street across and about 30 feet long sections of road not visible. Yep that’s what awaited us at the bottom of the hill. We considered throwing out a plan C but we were “rescued” by Esitllo Tours. We managed to catch a ride on their big Daihatsu truck with one of their tour groups. The ride through the puddles was much happier. We were able to watch everything else around us; like whole families walking through the water, supercross bikes (dirt BMX style), and the ice cream man on his little moto. It was quite the experience. But the beach was worth it. The water was pristine, the waves, nice sand, and about a mile of untouched beach. The palm tree groves were spectacular too. Here I went body surfing with some of the other girls; it was so much fun (despite the salt water up my nose)!!!

Sunday we finally made it to Fronton. When we first got to Fronton we saw 2 cruise ships sailing. Cruise ships are huge!!! It’s crazy to think that I live on an island that is a cruise destination. When we started hiking it was so frustrating because I didn’t know what to expect; since breaking my camera this year while hiking I am a bit more apprehensive. The hike to Fronton takes you through the forest along the coast. The area of the trail we hiked is rumored to also be used for drug trafficking from Columbia. No drugs were seen in transit along the trail; happy day. Every once and a while we would come across and opening and see the blue expanse of the ocean…holy cow is it beautiful!!!! The last half of the hike was tricky due to hiking mainly on coral and mud, but the beach was worth it. I received my sunburn here and a few blisters.

After hiking out we went down to see Boca del Diablo (Mouth of the Devil). Basically it’s a giant hole in the ground that gets filled with water. When the water pressure is to great is spits spray out of the top. You can throw things inside and they will get spit back out…we sent a palm branch shooting out maybe 20 feet in the air. The sound it makes is not a happy sound it’s very dark and menacing. Then it was time to pack up and come home.

It was a great trip and I really enjoyed it! I will try and post pictures soon. I am at home today with pinkeye, but have already felt a huge difference in my eye since starting drops last night! I have to continue the drops for 5 days and then it should be gone. Thankfully my pinkeye is more of the North American strain…the Dominican version involved pockets of stuff on your actual eye…gross. So I’m pretty happy I caught it early!

Still Preluding....

Tomorrow will be the day I at least compose my blog from this weekend. I now have pinkeye...something related to the ocean water I fear or hiking yesterday. I have already begun my eye drop steroids so hopefully I'll be back at school on Thursday teaching away. Until then this is lesson 1 in relaxation and trusting God.

Prelude...

There will be no extravagent photos included in my blog entry for some time from this last weekend. Our modem decided to die while we were away so I can't upload pictures quickly on the school's computer. I will however attempt to share the memories of the weekend with you at a later time. I don't want to right my long blog on the school's time. Please check back within the week for a full synopsis of the weekends happenings...they are not to be missed.

Rain Count

36 hours and counting of continuous rain.


I'm off on an adventure this weekend to the coast so hopefully we will have sunshine there and some beautiful beaches and no injuries as we hike...if indeed that is what we end up doing.

This weekend is a lesson in patience, spontaneity, and life outside the 23km circle I've been living in here!

I will try and post pictures when I return.

Surivor Dominican Republic

Unofficially I have already lost said game to Karyn Staats because she's been here longer. I took my title from her.

Anyways...this week was a battle of outwitting, outsmarting and most definately outplaying my students. They were in it to win it I could tell, but sadly they lost. Third quarter is a part of the year I have not seen ever in my teaching career....it's truly GAME time! This is when you make it or break it as a teacher.

When you make it this far you feel as though you've succeeded in something. For me that something is my sanity but this week my students tried mightily to break that sanity. Sadly this was not a good week for support at school either. With about 30% of our teaching/administrative staff out during the week I had no where to turn. Thankfully God only gives us what we can handle. I managed to make it through the week of temper tantrums, split pants, spilt milk(true story), and fits of rage {leading to broken pencils}. God has a very specially eye on my class...things could go so much worse than they have.

This week we were fortunate enough to have Wednesday off...which should be a mandatory day off of school. Granted it would take longer to finish school but having the day in the middle of the week to recouperate from the stress of Monday and Tuesday. And then when Thursday and Friday come they just fly on by.

Some urgent prayer requests..
Parent/Teacher conferences. I have requested to meet with several of my student's parents due to their child's behavior. Pray that God will give me wisdom to say what I need to say via a translator and that we have translators. I am still not able to carry a good conversation in spanish. With the information I have to get across I need to be concise and professional instead of me stumbling over my vocabulary.

A friend here has been very hurt by things that have been happening here both at school and at home. Please pray that God will comfort her and show her the next step.

Yulissa, our AMAZING 1st-4th Spanish teacher. She is not older than me and has two small children 1 and a half and 4. Her mother-in-law has been in the hospital for the last few days (possibly even a week). In the DR you don't leave someone unattended in a hospital because nurses are scares and occassionally you need to replace IVs etc... Needless to say she is very tired from spending nights at the hospital with her. Yulissa is an amazing woman of God, please pray that she would regain her strength and that her mother-in-law would be healed.

For my attitude...I fear we have entered the second winter rainy season...so far it has been raining for about 24 hours straight. Last time this happened it rained for nearly 5 consecutive days! I struggle with sunlight withdrawl so not seeing sun makes me very sad and mopey. Please pray that I will snap out of it! It affects my interactions with others and just makes me what to cry all the time. Not to mention it's chilly without heat...sweats and sweatshirts it is becasue it's only about 60 degrees...I know in the states I'd be running around in shorts, but without heat and continually damp clothes it's chilly!


Most Exciting News!!! The Scholastic Bookfair is coming to JCS!!!! HOORAY FOR THE CHANCE TO GET GOOD BOOKS FOR MY KIDS!!!! Please pray that I don't spend my WHOLE salary there....which I will say is mighty tempting!

Times they are a changing...

Happy Inauguration Day/3rd Quarter

This week is a week of change for many people...some are starting new semesters, some are starting new quarters, and some are starting new careers.

My students made the switch yesterday from history to science. They also were introduced to the 90-minute Language block used in the US schools. I am so excited to have a schedule that allows me to break my day up and actually focus on the key components of the English language. I am hoping that through using this method, I can improve their quality of work all around even the smallest bit. My 90-minute block allows me to teach spelling, phonics, and grammar all at the same time with a built in read aloud time! Normally by 3rd grade phonics are fairly automatic in the states, but I'm starting at square one. I am focusing on blends to start with because many of the students can't read our spelling list and the blends that are on it. Phonics is also crucial to good spelling. I have amazing spellers in my class, but I have a few that are going to see the benefit of daily phonics.

Thanks to Natalie for my amazing b-day gift of the first 8 books of "The Magic Tree House" series. My kids are loving them; especially my boys! Hooray!!!

My students also started music yesterday. After talking to almost all the teachers all the students are learning about the musicality of Michael Jackson...yep, I really hope they learn the Thriller dance just because it would be really funny! I'm excited for my kids to do music because I share the same excitement for music as they do. I miss piano tremendously and I occasionally go play on the schools untuned piano.

I am in need of wisdom with a few of my students because of their incredibly unruly rude behavior. Many of my children have close to free reign at home so enforcing rules for them is sometimes difficult. I receive many tears because they aren't used to being told no or follow the directions...today I made 2 students cry because I disciplined them. At least they don't enjoy their punishment. If their behavior continues I'm not sure what I will be doing with them - other than prematurely graying.

Tomorrow we have off due to it being Agriculture Day...I'm not going to complain for a day off and away after the first 2 days this week.

23

23 is the 8th prime number in case anyone cared...it also happens to be my age now. i don't like the sound of 23. however it was michael jordan's number...which segweys me into 10 years ago. looking back on my life 10 years ago i was awkward 7th grader living in a new place just making friends. how funny that 10 years later i too find myself in a new place making friends.

i am extremely thankful for natalie who is now my longest constant attendee of birthday events in last 4 years. not having the same group of people every year is extremely difficult, but it makes for interesting stories later on in life.

i have now celebrated my birthday on 3 continents and in 4 different time zones. the states, england and now the DR...surprisingly all have had one thing in common the last 4 years...gray, cloudy, rainy skies. i was thinking this will be the year i have a warm beautiful day for a birthday. perhaps next year i will have sunshine a typicallly cloudy day.

tonight i will be celebrating with the 8 single ladies of JCS. it should be a good time of laughter, pizza, and cake. i am thankful that i can share my day with them despite my teariness at the moment at the dread of having a party.

Just a recap of my birthdays over the last 5 years:
2005 Home
2006 Upland, working behind the front desk for many hours as a sub that eventually earned me a full time job!
2007 Oxford and London England
2008 Washington D.C. Various war memorials and bus
2009 D.R.

.concerts.bowling.swings.kickball.

When you live on an island and work at a small school and don't speak the language well you spend a lot of time with the other people you work with and their friends. This weekend was no exception. For quite possibly the first or second time since being in the DR I have had a weekend that was entirely full!

Thankfully I was able to get all of my work done to and yet manage to have time to play. Friday was a great day because it meant that I had survived the first week at school! Rachel had a friend in from the capital Job who she knew through teachers from last year as well as her many mysterious friends here in the DR. Anyways Job came to visit. Naturally we had a party/gathering/pizza&game night. So over pizza, chips, salad, and salsa our evening began...

After a few hours of food and conversation it was time to bust out the games. Half of us played Tabbo and the other half played "Bang!"(an Italian western game). Once we all got bored with our respective games it was time to pull out a game that resembles Pictionary and Telephone...names pending or yet to be invited...comments or suggestions are welcome. So gathered in a circle there sat twelve grown adults laughing hysterically at stories that transpired from one thing to the next.

Saturday included glorious coffee cake at the Christy, Karyn, and Rachel's house. Nothing to start a day like a warm hot breakfast. Granted it was more like brunch but it was still wonderful. I was also able to finish 98% of my grades on Saturday morning as Ben and Anna had gone to the beach and Nola needed some company. Saturday evening we attended a concert held at my church for the youth of several churches in the area. We all knew several people who were playing in the concert and it was a wonderful time! I loved the feeling of worshiping with people around my age again...it made me very nostalgic for TU chapel. Most of the songs they sang were songs that I have already mastered in Spanish so I felt that I could truly enjoy my time and worship God!

Sunday it was my turn to make breakfast. Breakfast turned out okay despite the long ordeal that it involved. In the span of getting breakfast ready I dropped 3 flaming matches on my toes, nearly burnt several pancakes, had things fall on my head from the cupboard and a few other things. I was frazzled by the time it came ot eat. Thankfully the food tasted okay.

Sunday evening I went bowling. Now had I known that I was going to go bowling in the DR I would have brought my handy dandy bowling brace. Bowling was so much fun; we went to celebrate/send off Revani who is headed stateside to go to college! I would have never guessed that there were serious bowlers here, but there are. On the flipside I also went bowling with people who had never been bowling before in their life and they were 21! Just not that common I don't think.

And then sadly Monday came and it was back to school. I have survived this week but it hasn't been without the Lord's help. My students were absolutely insane early on this week! Today I was given the chance to play at recess with my kids. I had so much fun playing kickball, swinging, giving underdogs to the little first and second graders who can't pronouce my last name. I wish everyday of teaching could be so enjoyable!

Prayer:
Continued joy in my students
For my Bible study with Christy Elmer- that we would really hear what God wants us to hear
For relationships within the school
Migranes - I have been getting very bad migranes lately and I'm not sure why. Earlier this week I woke up and spent my morning before heading to school sick and in pain.

Praise:
For a wonderful day
For a weekend full of fun times and memories...like almost dying on CE's pesola! But don't worry I'm fine...just wasn't on 100% of the way.
For lack of illness thus far::I have had a few stomach bugs but nothing to the point where I have needed serious care.

Palm Trees and Mountains

I am back and doing my best to enjoy and readjust to life here.

Biggest news - Nola nearly doubled in size since we were gone. So she's now not so small and cuddly...and she's definitely found her lungs. :(

Coming back was a fairly uneventful aside from huge turbulence over the mountains in the DR. Natalie and I made it through security with all our items and began our journey back to the warmth that had been calling us since we left.

Monday I spent about 4 hours at school getting things set up and re-arranged my room since I had a student leave over break.

Tuesday officially began school again despite the looks of our straggled numbers at morning annoucements. The 4th grade class had 5/12 at flag time and gained a 6th part way through the morning.

Anna's brother is here this week too so I haven't had much company to spend time with which made for a fairly lonely week, but it was ok. Because now I'm making up for the lack of human interaction early on with a people filled weekend.

This next week is the 4th-12th grade finals week so they only have half days. I will be spending my week teaching 8-3:15 as usual; with a few late nights thrown in for report card filing. yippe.

Then on Friday we have staff training so no students and semi-three day weekend! :)


I'm so thankful that I was able to come back this semester and teach. But when the time comes to say goodbye I don't know if I'll be able to return to suburbia. I was reminded how much I dislike the uniformity of middle-america. Life here is so vibrant and colorful with glorious flowers and mountains all around.

Detour de Lincoln Oasis

Well, "Happy New Year" to everyone. I hope everyone is staying warm right now especially if you happen to be in the northland. It's cold outside! Well, my new year's started off well and has progressively gotten more interesting as the hours have gone on.

And then started driving to see my wonderful friends in Fort Wayne. I've been waiting too see them since July! So I'm driving along enjoying my drive and my Dominican music because right now that's the closest thing to warmness I have. But sadly at mile marker 149.45 my car died...mi coche es muerto. :( que triste!!!! All my plans in my brain are going haywire and I'm freaking out which I tend to do when things don't go according to my 10 page Google driving directions. Yes, 10 pages for some reason my printer printed the directions in the visual impared font size.

I don't know if you've ever had your car just die on the highway - the Illinois tollway/highway system - one minute you're going along and then there is nothing...it's pretty much the scariest thing in the world. I thougt for sure I wasn't going to make it to the shoulder, but I did and quickly called my parents. Not exactly the phone call a parent wants to get ever, but it's not the worst phone call they can get either. So after explaining my situation I begin my very long, very cold wait (my nose still hasn't thawed).

Between the first phone call to my parents and the tow truck arriving I have 3 state sherrif officers stop to see if I was okay. I would now like to thank the Illinois State Police for their kind and courteous officers. Granted even with their presence I still felt like I was going to die by semi-truck or SUV...let's just say I'm happy I'm not there.

So after my hour wait for the tow truck he finally arrives. I am now frozen, most likely experiencing the first signs of frostbite or hypothermia due to have no heat in my car. I did however have my sleeping bag, which I used for a little while but then realized it wasn't going to help me since I didn't have a hat on covering my head!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT! Always keep a spare hat in your car! You never know when you'll need to keep your body heat contained while waiting stranded on the side of the road! Also never turn down the opportunity for a hot beverage when one is available and the temperature outside is below 30 degrees.

Anyways. I am now sitting in the Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis over 80/94 enjoying free wireless and heat! I must admit I feel slightly like a homeless person lugging around my luggage waiting for my replacement car to arrive. Not only lugging it around by changing and washing up in a rest stop bathroom...this is a new experience; hopefully not to be repeated in the future.

Good news: in less than 45 minutes I should be on the road again :)

Better news: in 2-3 hours I'll be seeing my friends

Great news: in 24 hours I'll be at TU!

Bestest news: in 72 hours I'll be over the US flying south to the warmth of the DR!!!!