el capital

last weekend i was off to the capital for a whirlwind trip of 24 hours of sun, city life, and a concert at possibly the largest venue i've been too.

we headed down by bus on saturday at 10:00. the bus ride was nerve racking because i wasn't sure how i'd react. i only got motion sickness when we were about an hour away, but that hour was pretty long.

then from there is was off to job's father's house for our afternoon or relaxation and errands. the house where we stayed was job's house growing up but is now open to missionary's for relaxation. the house is beautiful (3 floors), a pool, and an outside patio that is amazing. the outside gardens/patio area look like the come straight from a home and garden magazine. i have posted a few pictures below.

the beautiful patio, pool, garden area

after a relaxing afternoon it was off to see juan luis guerra - one of the most famous dominican artists ever. the concert was packed, we left our original spots because we didn't feel 100% safe where we were and we wanted to enjoy our time. see the pictures below for a look into a dominican concert...lots of drinking, smoking and dancing. it was hard not to partake in the dancing because everyone was dancing and latin music requires movement. :)the stadium well at least one half & juan luis on the big screen

then back to reality on monday. monday turned into a very stressful day as i had the last straw broken with one of my students. he has been suspended since, pending a served detention after school. please pray for him has he is not remorseful at all for his actions towards myself or the other staff.

praise! the book fair is in town! currently we have raised $600 towards new books for the school. however that seems so small considering my junior methods class at 32 people bought more than $700 in one order alone. small steps are good.

my parents are coming in less than a month. please pray for them as the are getting ready to travel. we have some big things to discuss when they come so pray that we are praying about what we will say.

Excursions

it's time for another weekend excursion here in the land of the DR. this time we are piling not into a CR-V but instead into a big yellow bus. hooray for new cultural experiences on Caribe Tours. not being a seasoned bus traveler I am a bit apprehensive about the travels down the mountain and then back up on sunday.


we are heading down to a juan luis guerra concert in the capital. i am excited to venture to the capital for the first time and spend my afternoon lounging by a pool reading a book.

this week has been difficult with learning to let go of my students and their behaviors. love the sinner not the sin...and i have a class full of them...including myself.

i will post pictures once i return.

hey and good news it stopped raining! after nearly 7 days of rain the sun came out and shone brightly in the sky. the rivers are still incredibly high, but the roads are nearly dry. i can't imagine it raining for 40 days and 40 nights straight...noah and his family must have been really bored when they weren't taking care of the animals.

rain, RaiN, RAIN

As of this morning it has started day 6 of continual rain fall! Which means it has been raining for the better part of 127 hours (as of 7:00am). Who knew that the ground could hold so much water?! OR that the atomosphere could hold that much water!!!

Yesterday I had 6 kids in my class so I couldn't teach everything that I needed too. We'll see if I have less today since many of my kids sick with colds and coughs.


Anyways, off to school to prep with other plans if my class is super small again. I may just teach and see what we get done...we'll at least start spelling today and possible do some math board races again.

good news

I'm up and feeling better! I believe I was exposed to either food poisoning or their was some sort of item I am allergic too in the food I ate this week.

I had wrap from a local restaurant that had oil and vinegar on it. I haven't had any other reaction to oils before other than in mayo. So I'm inclined to think that it can't be that. But one never knows.

My headache is gone right now; however, I'm sure it will come back soon. It is most likely linked to the crazy pressure associated with the rainy season/week we are having.

Thank you to those who prayed for me yesterday. I began feeling better and was able to keep food and water in my stomach around 1pm! :) since then I've kept a pretty soft diet of eggs, bread and the occasional cookie (karyn and natalie made them this morning!).

the bad equation

rain + migraine + stomach bug = a very bad sad depressing day :(

and since it's raining it's only 50 degrees in my house right now...brr.

that's where i find myself right now. at home on head-teacher and director mandated bed rest.

last night i came home and was just weary and exhausted from a really stressful day. i was just tired so i went with rachel to go get my nails done. when i came home i made myself dinner and talked to my mom. it was around then that started having my migraine.

generally my migraines come in different levels of pain; this one was pretty bad so i decided that i should call it a night at 8:30. so after a fitful few hours of dozing off i slept until 2am. at 2am i felt very nauseous which is typical when i receive my migraines but it also normally means they are almost gone. so i still had hope of going to school.

that was until i spent a half hour in the bathroom. at 2:30 i crawled back into bed exhausted and what i thought...empty. unfortunately not the case. i spent the rest of my morning trying to find a way to sleep that would not trigger my reflex.

so at 6:00 I crawled out of bed to shower in hopes that the lukewarm water would make me feel better; nope. so at 6:30 i sent word to my head-teacher and the director that i would be coming in to write sub plans.

so off to school i went. thankfully i did not feel the urge to throw up while at school, but as soon as i got home it was there. our cleaning girls are here so i'm trying to hold off until they leave.


please pray that i can stay hydrated! i haven't been able to keep even water in me this morning!! :( also please pray for whoever has my class. my class has been in rare form this week causing all sorts of issues.

please pray that God will talk to me today as i take lesson 2 in letting Him take charge. forced relaxation needs to be more fun and less sickness...in my opinion.

Verse of the week from the elementary staff meeting- also a good verse for me to memorize when dealing with my class...

Galatians 6:9
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

MFI Love

I LOVE MY WONDERFUL FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!  and MFI for delivering my treasures!!

who knew that a box including laundry soap, good TP, and slippers could make a person so happy.

i also recieved a box of treasures from my dear friends Andrea and Megan! :)  i love them...chocolate, pencils, stickers, gum, and a blue hippopotumus! ¡que feliz! 

not to mention cards and my new ipod charger.  my ipod cord got corroded and died so i know have a new charging cord and new car charger...all for $2.64...thank you amazon.com.   

days like this make me so thankful that i have mail!  God provided all the smiles and encouragement i needed right when i needed it! :)