"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.

Farewells

Farewells have begun; in fact I've said goodbye to almost all my Taylor friends. :( I only have 4 more days until my adventure officially begins & am I no where ready to be leaving. I have piles of things to be packed in addition to packing up my room as well. The next 96 hours could prove the most stressful.

Please pray for me and my family as we say goodbye; it's hard for us all as I am an only child. This is an extremely large step - perhaps the largest I've taken. Being left in the mountains for camp with zero connections pales in comparison to moving thousands of miles away. I'll be moving into school housing where I will have 3 roommates...none of whom I even have names for :/.

Good news though I get to check out my curriculum tonight!!! That will be a huge blessing :) I will no longer be "teaching" 100% blind.

12 days and 14 hours....

Or at least right around there...I will be landing in Santiago, DR! I am so excited to go and teach, but am beginning to become anxious about all the little unknown details that have yet to be decided; like my roommates, what all is going in my suitcase etc...

For this afternoon at least I'll put those aside; we're having a party for some local friends so they can come and send me off and say goodbye. I hate almost all goodbyes; they always seem so final. But I am extremely lucky as I'll be coming home at Christmas.

I'll try to update everyone right before I leave in only 12 days.

Planning Frenzy

So much to do in so little time. This girl is feeling very much like a chicken with its head cut off! Today while running errands I stocked up on some classroom essentials like name tags, stickers, pocket charts, and more; not to mention finding things to wear with my snazy new JCS polos. Polos are to private schools as designer is to public schools... Having a staff uniform will cut the amount of time it takes to get ready down immensely! We'll see how long my enthusiasum for said polos lasts.

I'm so excited to get to know the staff and students at JCS, but at the same time I'm extremely nervous about not knowing my housemates. 21 days and counting....eeks!!

I've Got a Ticket to Ride

Please excuse the lame reference to a Beatles song, but it's true! I have a seat booked on a plane that will land me in Santiago, DR at 1:20pm on August 2nd! Counting down the days currently seems stressful as I have no idea when I plan to pack my life away into 2 suitcases. I'll worry about that later...this weekend holds more enjoyable moments! A weekend in Indiana with 6 of my closest friends. :)