Weddings, long weekends & walks

It seems whenever I end up in a new culture I shortly end up at a wedding. This one was a joy to attend, though the circumstances were less than perfect. Amanda (the bride) was a teacher at JCS last year, and this year she is an assistant teacher (in theory it was to lessen her load etc.) About 4 days before the wedding she started to show all the Dengue signs that the other teachers had shown, and though she was feeling 'better' for the ceremony, she was still quite ill when she walked down the aisle. Poor Ruben. "In sickness...." shouldn't start on your wedding day. They sat through most of the ceremony (which I thought was a great idea, and I think all wedding parties should adopt the custom) but at one point Amanda was so hot she felt nauseated. Ruben sat and fanned her while the pastor was preaching...it was sweet and sad at the same time. The bride still looked beautiful.

Misty, the K-2 teacher, spent the night with us the night before and she and Rachel and I laughed as we all had some version of black/white/red on for the wedding.

I would have cropped the picture more, but I love the mountains behind the church, and everytime I walk out there I am amazed by the view.

We have a long weekend this weekend which is HEAVENLY. No school tomorrow...PRAISE THE LORD. I needed a break so badly, as did everyone else. We still have a slew of sick teachers. The PE teacher (Katie) and the 4th grade teacher (Kristie) are still in the hospital. Karyn Staats was ill last night and I don't know if she is better. Diego (the groom's brother and the JCS Bible teacher) was ill last week. I hope he is better now. He looked ok at the wedding, but I know he has been struggling to keep up. My roommate, Jessica, has been running a fever for two days. She is staying with Dona Carmen who is taking care of her. Rachel is in Santo Domingo...so it is just Pila, Mona (the cat...more about that in a moment) and myself for the weekend. I am enjoying the relative quiet (animals and neighbors excepted).

I have been very productive today. I was woken up at 6.30 by Pila and so I got up and started a load of laundry. I have done 4 total today. I then made two batches of scones...the first were pear with dried fruit and a powdered sugar glaze. I was so excited when I found powdered sugar yesterday at the Supermercado Jarabacoa. The second batch was chocolate chip drizzled with chocolate. I cleaned, gave both Pila and Mona baths, wrote the 10th graders next history test (on India, China and Japan -- they have world cultures this year) and did various and assundry other jobs -- like bleached out our kitchen garbage, etc. These are the things that my life is made of now. All in all I am learning contentment. Dona Carmen (she is on the board of JCS and a very wonderful woman) stopped by with Jessica after mass and brought me breakfast Dominicana. Quite yummy I tell you. I am about to reheat it for dinner. We had an interesting conversation - she speaking spanish and I responding in English. But we communicated, with some patience on both of our parts. She was very patient and kind. She is a brilliant woman...a lawyer and very well respected here. I feel honored that she is so kind to me. She has told me that she will teach me to cook dominican food and I have promised her that we will have a conversation completely in Spanish before next summer. It is a good goal for me.

I have taken several walks the past few days. Its been nice. I keep forgetting how much of Jarabacoa I haven't seen -- I usually end up going to the same places and it is so nice to see new places! Friday night Rachel, Tondi (the first grade teacher) and I walked around the neighborhood past the house here. We saw this typical dominican scene:

Hard to tell from the pic...but those kids are playing baseball. They are serious about it too! We walked past them and down the hill to see the house being built that I really like:
I tried to paste pics together, but the lines still don't line up quite right...but you get the idea.
Tonight my upstairs neighbors and I and another of the teachers went for about an hour walk down toward the river...since half the party were kids we didn't move at a very steady/quick pace so we didn't make it all the way down there, but the evening was gorgeous. I tried to take pictures...but it is hard to catch the dusk beauty.

The clouds remind me of Fragonard's paintings. I tried to take a pic of the mountains...but it was getting too dark.


Ok, a few other small pieces of life here. This is my room and my roommate, Pila.

Rachel got a cat a week ago...we thought for sure it would die on Friday. It couldn't use its back to legs. It could hardly hold its head up to eat. It was rough on both of us. The cat's name is Mona which means monkey. Fitting to go with Pila (which means battery...because she keeps going and going...) Poor Mona. So we went to bed Friday sure that we would wake up to a dead cat...but NOPE. So, we have one recovering kitten who was not too happy today when I decided to hold her up to get a pic. (She wouldn't stay still long enough if I didn't hold her.) She is lonely because Rachel is gone and Mona is closed in Rachel's room because Pila doesn't understand that she is sick and she shouldn't be tackled...silly puppy!


Again, I am sure there is more I want to say, but 5 hours after starting this post I have decided it is time to sleep! Please keep praying for us here. The sickness is wearing us all out (and we were tired of it a month ago.) People keep asking if it is getting better. The answer is, "not yet." God protect us. It can be nerve fraying.
Also, Rachel and I have decided to start praying for a small motorcycle. A new one larger than we need is only $850.00. We need a $600.00 ish one. We would split the cost and then we would have it so we could get to and from church and be able to run errands etc. It is hard to be so dependent on others for everything. We couldn't take the cat to the vet, I didn't get to church this morning, etc. because we constantly have to call around til we can find someone who can take us. So, if it is God's will we will find a bike. Thanks for all your prayers and supprt. All the emails of encouragement etc. And special thanks to Christine who wrote me snail mail and made my whole Tuesday. How nice it was to get a letter from home the evening that my mother left. Seriously, it was precious! Thank you so much!

Grace and Peace all!

Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm in the mood to lose my way with words...

Blogging is an art form all its own. I begin to see my life in experiences that would make great blogs. Like the xkcd comic:

Yesterday evening when we received our new Dominican refrigerator was just such a moment. First, I have never experienced a refrigerator that two men can toss around as though it were a beach ball. Seriously, this thing weighs about 2 pounds (ok, maybe a little more, but not much.) The old American fridge which they took away today was on wheels, but even so, you had to throw your body weight into it to move it about. Also, the Dominican fridge was wrapped and brand new! Wow! Certainly such an event deserves an honorable mention in the blog.


My mother was here this past weekend which was wonderful. I didn't get any pics of her unpacking the 330 pounds of luggage she brought, but I would like to say thank you to Michelle for the CD's, to Lisa for the goodies (such luxuries!), to Charity & my Aunt Betty for the school supplies and house stuff and to TMT for the school supplies. My parents really put alot of effort into bringing me some things which will make life easier and I REALLY appreciate it!

It was busy the whole time Mom was here. Saturday we had a lovely late lunch at a fancy restaurant here named Lena's.

We did normal saturday shopping and errand running. Endured a thundershower...you can see the clouds building up.

More about the visit later...I have some video I want to post, but I don't have the time to upload it right now...maybe tomorrow.

I do have a few more pics of my classes. This is the 9th grade:

Geuri (pronounced 'hay-o-dee') is on the far left, then Monica, Roberto is on my right, then David, JC and Genssy. The 9th grade gives me gobs of trouble. They are on chapter 1 of their book where the rest of my classes are on 4 or 5. The 9th grade just has a harder time. They are also lazy. Monica and Genssy are great students, but the rest of the boys are incorrigible to say the least. Geuri, JC and David currently have a bet with me that they can make it til Oct 5th without being sent down to the office. If they can I owe them chocolate. If they cannot, then they owe me chocolate...well, today Geuri & JC & Roberto were in the office. *sigh* I am frustrated for them because I want them to do well, but on the other hand they need to start taking accountability for their actions. I do really enjoy them all though. They are witty and fun to hang out with even if they are a little unruly at times.

This is the 7th grade:

Anthony & Jerry are down front. Adonis is on the far left. Then Gregory, Ana, Edward is the peace sign in the front, Richard is behind Ana, Javier is hiding behind folks in the back and Jairo is on the far right. Romaris was sick that day, so she wasn't in the pic. I will have to take another one soon. I really enjoy the 7th grade. They are bright, their english is very good and they generally seem to like history. They have days when they are high-strung and talkative. The biggest issue is that Anthony, Richard and Jerry are all class clowns (with Gregory and Edward thrown in there on occassion.) Last week Richard ended up standing up the whole class period because he couldn't sit still and read without trying to covertly do his homework, clown around or otherwise disturb the class. Today Anthony stood for about 20 minutes because even though we were watching a movie, he wouldn't be quiet and sit still. I hate sending them to the office for having the fidgets, but on the other hand, they need to learn to control their tongues and their desire to be laughed at and get attention. The problem is that they often get me laughing so hard that it is hard to maintain order at all....I hope I get better at keeping a straight face. On the other hand, I like that I am still entertained and enjoying myself with them enough to get the giggles during class. They are funny kids, and laughing is good for the soul.

Lastly, here is a small update on Pila, my puppy. She has grown on me and now I think she is adorable.

She still has her moments of being obnoxious and unmannered, but her spastic moments are growing shorter and her obedient and affectionate moments longer, so I am well pleased. She is growing alot too. This picture was taken a few days ago and I can already tell she is bigger now than then.


I want to include so much more, but time and tiredness prohibit me, so stay tuned...more is on its way.

Martes Musings

In an attempt not to get so bogged down, here is a shorter post.

I am trying to remember to take pictures of all my classes. It is hard as the days are busy, but I did remember on Monday to take Pics of my 11th grade class. The only sad thing is that Rachel is missing (she was in Santiago for the day visiting friends.)

That's Lis (pronounced Liz) on the left. Her father is one of the pastor's at the church I will be attending here. She is a very bright student and alot of fun to have in class. Next to her is Karen. Karen's mom owns a clothing store in town and Karen seems to be the barbie doll of her class. She is a sweet girl but she often doesn't show alot of motivation. It is hard to expect 11th grade girls ANYWHERE to see the value of anything outside of boys, but it seems even more difficult here. Beside Karen is Mary. Mary's family is from Costa Rica and came here 4 years ago to plant the church that I attend. (So Lis and Mary's fathers are the two pastors at Templo Bautista.) On the other side of me is Elsie. Her mother owns a bakery in town (and I ate a YUMMY donut from there for breakfast on Sunday.) She is academically perhaps the strongest student in her class (Lis definitely has an advantage because she is a native English speaker, but Elsie has really exceptional writing/understanding skills and she puts effort into her studies.) Next to Elsie is Brayan - the only boy in their class. He is a good kid but not very motivated. He is also very shy about his written english and probably doesn't like me alot because I like them to write in class. They are a fun class, and we have alot of interesting discussions. It is hard to make US history relevant for students who don't necessarily intend to go to school in the States, but it is important for their understanding of world politics etc. We will be able to vary from the book more after this first semester and discuss more current events. I really enjoy discussing American government, but I also recognize that much of my appreciation is found in the subltleties and those are harder to communicate.

I really need to get pics of my 9th grade class. I want to tell you stories about them, but you need to see their faces and, in truth, hear their voices to appreciate what a handful they are. BUT they are great kids and I have LOADS of affection for them. For any of you who have kids, or who have taught before can you please tell me why sometimes the troublemakers win your affection more quickly than their quiet studious classmates?

The dog...has a name. Dariel named her "pila" which means battery because she keeps going and going. Rachel and I took her to the vet today (again) and she got her parvo shot and a leash and a food dish. I know, I know...but my roommate, Jessica, really doesn't want me to keep her...If I can find her a family I will. She is a pain, and keeps me up at night, but honestly, it is nice to have something to look forward to in the evenings -- and playing with Pila and cuddling with her is an escape for me. (Granted, sometimes I would like to strangle her. On the walk back from town today I was holding her and she was SCREAMING and drawing the attention from everyone for blocks. They were all turning to see who was killing the dog. I just smiled sheepishly and hoped that they knew that the gringo wasn't torturing the dog, though it sounded that way. Most people just smiled. I am sure they are getting a laugh out of the gringo school teacher adopting a female runt street dog. *sigh* what can I say? I am a pushover.

In other news (quite literally) the Dengue epidemic here is being reported on around the world. Here is an article from Cuba (?) and another from China.
Regan is supposed to come home from the hospital tomorrow whcih is fantastic, but Katie Fluth was really sick earlier today so we are all praying that she doesn't have Dengue. It is getting ridiculous, but there really isn't much you can do to avoid it. I will make a point to either get my misquito net by saturday. I don't know if it will really make much difference, but it cannot hurt.

That is about it for the moment. I am tired and I think that Pila has finally decided that she is sleepy again, so with any luck in about 10 minutes she will be so fast asleep that I can put her in the kennel without her waking up and noticing! *crosses fingers* Please keep praying for us here. I am definitely learning to adjust (and am VERY excited about my mother arriving here in Friday) but there are still worries and frustrations. (As of course you all know since we all have them.) I will keep praying for all of you. Know that you are in my thoughts constantly.

Best wishes to my small group as you gather tonight (well, tomorrow...but you will read this wed.) I miss you all terribly, but am encouraged to know that you are all fellowshipping together and building community.

Grace and Peace

when you love you walk on water...

...just don't stumble on the waves
we all wanna go there something awful
but to stand there it takes some grace. - Rich Mullins

There is so much that i want to tell, and it is hard to know where to begin. so first, basic updates on sickness, school stuff, etc.

Nancy Fluth, the director's wife, who first came down with Dengue is back to teaching! It took over three weeks for her to heal sufficiently and she still gets tired, but THANK GOD she is healing well and is back to teaching the PK-3 class.
Kimberly, one of our roommates, went back to the States about two weeks ago. She was very sick, and had some other complicating health issues.
Derrick, who had Typhoid, is back at school and doing well. There was alot to catch up on after missing the first two weeks of teaching his 5th grade class, but he seems to be adjusting.
Rachel, my roommate, was out of school for a week - we are not sure what she had, but last week she was back and taught and though the week has been stressful, she survived.
Christy Elmer, a second grade teacher, has Dengue. She was in the hospital last weekend but has been recovering at home this week. She had several really uncomfortable days because her internal organs were swollen making it hard to breathe, be comfortable etc. She appears to be on the mend. I don't know what her ETA is for returning to school.
Regan Hess, the third grade teacher, was taken into Santiago on Wed (?). He had been sick all week and they finally determined he has Dengue. He is still in the hospital. They are still waiting for his platelets to start rising instead of falling. Please pray for him.
So the running total is 15 American teachers. 2 with serious stomach ailments (one returned stateside and one recovered). 3 teachers with Dengue (Nancy recovered, Christy Elmer & Regan still sick.) That is a 3rd of the Americans. Some of the Dominican staff have been sick as well. Rough way to start a year...but God knows all about it, and we are clinging to the trials/perseverance/character/hope promise.

A week ago Emmanuel, one of my tenth graders, was in a car accident (along with some relatives of his) coming back from the capital where he was playing in a baseball tournament. The car blew a tire and crossed the line or hit something (details are still unclear to me.) His uncle and his grandfather were both killed. He returned to school midweek and seems in good spirits. TOO good. He lost his father 6 months ago, and the accident and loss of family members again is more than any average 15 year old could handle. I think most of the teachers feel pretty certain that he is not handling it at all - just repressing - and hence the happy-go-lucky attitude we have all been seeing. Please pray for him. Sometimes you wonder why God allows such catastrophies to pile up in people's lives.

I keep forgetting to take pictures at school of more of my classes. Days are full and it feels we bounce from one thing to the next constantly. By the time I get home from school I am flat worn out. Many nights I am in bed before 10 - some nights by 8.30 or so. But, classes are going well. 4 of my 6 classes had tests this past week - overall it seems that they did pretty well. I am head over heels about the 10th grade class where the lowest grade was a "B". Tuesday was an interesting afternoon. I got home from school and one of the 10th graders (Heidy) came over to study, then one of my 8th graders (Dariel) who had missed school that day (due to being tardy) stopped by begging to take his test. Then another 10th grader (Katherine, my upstairs neighbor) came down and joined Heidy and Rachel and I for dinner. Friday night several of the 10th graders stopped by and we made cookies and salsa. Then Katherine and I walked Ebony home and I met Ebony's mother, Eunice, and then Katherine and I walked back to our house...and that is where the puppy really enters the pic. It was after 8 and quite dark. I had ignored the puppy all afternoon (ugg, tore my heart) but at 8 my defenses were down and I decided to at least bathe it and give it some water...and so, because I am a big push-over I have to decide what to do with this:

Yesterday after Clarissa and her daugher Marlenis (sp?) finished cleaning, we went to their 'house' outside of Jarabacoa. Clarissa cleans at the school and Rachel was talking to her one day and learned a little of her circumstances so we wanted to figure out a way we could help her. She has 5 girls ranging in age from 15 down to 3. Shortly after the three year old was born Clarissa's husband was hit by a car. She has been supporting her family by herself. They live in a small building (maybe 10' x 12' if I am estimating generously) which is sub divided into two rooms (there is some wall and alot of curtain to divide the rooms). All 6 members sleep in the larger half of the dwelling and there is a pretend kitchen/dining space in the smaller side of the dwelling. Truly, there is NOT much room. They were very excited to have us over and fixed arroz y pollo for us to have for lunch. Clarissa also invited her mother-in-law and her brother-in-law and his wife over. (and two of their kids). He was primarily there to drive us back after we ate. It was so humbling to be so graciously received by a family who has so much less than what I consider the bare minimum for survival. We are praying for the funds for Clarissa's youngest to get to go to JCS. It costs about $400.00 US a year. Here is a picture of her family (Clarissa is wearing the hair net and tank top. The older woman is her mother-in-law. Her youngest is sitting in Marlenis, the next to oldest (14) lap. The girl on the far right is Clarissa's neice (I believe). Their house is only as wide as the window, etc. they are in front of - the one you see to the far right is the neighbor's house. The doorway on the left is the left wall of her building. You can see the space is not very large.)


I think I have found a church here. It is the fundamental Baptist church and I am sure that I have some theological differences but I really like the community there and I need to get plugged in locally.

The church on Sunday mornings is mostly full of kids that come from the local barrios (most often very low-income/education communities.) The service is in Spanish, but I can pick out parts. It feels good to be in a community and worshipping. Both of the pastors' daughters are in my 11th grade history class. I get to hear/see alot about their families and church even outside of Sundays and that is nice too. This is a picture of the view at the church. You can see the side of the building to the left. I was standing about 15 feet forward and about 10 feet to the side of where I was standing to take a pic of the front of the church.


Rachel and I house-sat for one of the other teachers last night and their house compared to ours is a resort. We sat on their front porch this morning and drank coffee and commented on how amazing it is that we decide we want to live on a tropical island and "poof" we are allowed to do so. (Of course, we all know it is not that simple, but there are moments when the beauty of our location makes us forget for a moment all the other travails we endure.) I try to capture the blueness of the sky, the grandure of the mountains, the lushness of the fruit trees, but I cannot export to you the feel of the air, or the slant of the sun or the sense of where we are. These pictures are just very dim representations of the amazingness we live in.

This was a picture that Rachel took from the landing at the top of the steps at the school looking across the sports field. It is the view I see everyday in greater and lesser moments of glory, but rarely do I stop and take it in that I don't still feel some amazement. I truly desire you all to see it for yourselves!

In other news, it has been over a week since they set the field next door on fire. I am growing bored and look forward to the next time they set it ablaze. Watching all the men that usually sit at the colmado on the corner come out and watch the fire provides the residents of this house with much entertainment. Also, no recent goat spottings or chickens in the school yard. (Or maybe I am just getting used to things like that so I don't notice them anymore.) I did stop by the bakery belonging to the mother of one of the 11th grade girls (Elsie) and while standing outside waiting to order heard a chicken and looked and a woman had a huge hen hanging by its feet (they were tied together) from the handlebars of her motor bike. Elsie said, "That is something you wouldn't see in the US." Too true, Elsie, but it is part of what makes living in Jarabacoa interesting!

There is much more to tell, but I need to go ahead and get this posted, so keep checking back. I have every intention of posting pictures of my classes as soon as I can 1) remember to take pics. 2) have time on the internet to post and 3) manage to stay awake longer than it takes to do the bare minimum of necessary activities that fill my day.

Grace and Peace to you all!

A short Update and the 8th Grade

Day 26. Hard to believe that in 2 days I will have been here a month! (On the other hand, it feels like a small age since I was home.)
I don't have long to write because I have to be at school in just over an hour, but I haven't found time to post lately because of all there is to do at school, at home, etc. This is just a brief hello to say that, for the moment, things are going better.
Derrick, who had Typhoid, started teaching on Monday. He seems to be doing ok, though I have heard that re-occurences within the first month are not uncommon. Please pray for him.
Nancy Fluth (who has Dengue) is at home. She is still not feeling well. Her illness was severe. It will probably be at least a week until she is teaching (maybe longer.) They have told her it will be three months until she is fully recovered.
Christy Elmer and my roommate Rachel have some kind of flu. They have both had blood tests, so as far as we know it is nothing more serious. Christy is on the mend, but Rachel is still not feeling well. They are both 2nd grade teachers, so both second grade classrooms have had subs this week.
Kimberly, the other of my roommates, had salmonella. She flew home yesterday. She decided that (because of health reasons, etc.) this was not where she was supposed to be.
Jessica Swan moved into Kimberly's room this past weekend. She is the highschool mathematics teacher, and she seems like a really nice girl. She has friends here who are on the board of the school. (More about the school board, etc. in a post to follow.)
Also, Misty, the PK-2 teacher arrived last weekend. Because Kimberly left, we now desperately need a kindergarten teacher!

But, the great news is that I really love teaching!!! Its hard. It is difficult to find my feet sometimes. Trying to decide how much of a tyrant to be in the classroom is also difficult. Sometimes I feel I am too mean, and sometimes I feel I am too slack. Yesterday one of my 8th graders asked me why I was mad at them. I wasn't mad, but when I tell a student to do something and they don't respond, it can get very aggrevating. They are not trying to be 'disobedient', they are just acting like normal jr. high kids and pushing boundaries and trying to determine their own free will - which is often not moving quite as quickly toward acquiescence as I would like.

Here are two pictures of my 8th grade class:



That is RoseAngelica on the far left, then Gisele, Ricardo, Dariel, Emmanuel and Edward. They were not supposed to be acting goofy in the first picture, but in the second they were. They really are a fun class, and the only class where we are ahead of lesson plans. (That does not, however, mean they will do well on their tests -- they are great at short term, but I don't know if they will remember anything!)

Please pray for me, and for these kids. We all have alot to learn, and I have the most!

Alright, more later!

Urgent Prayer Requests

Nancy Fluth, who teachers K-3, is in the hospital with Dengue Fever.
Derrick, who teaches 5th grade, has Typhoid.
That is 2 outa 15 American teachers out of commission. Every third day or so it seems someone else gets sick. Please pray for us. This is becoming quite overwhelming!
Also, the new building (which was to house the administration offices, so the 8th and 10th grade rooms could be moved inside instead of in the storage rooms) is not complete. It was supposed to be done by the 20th. This has caused complications.
Please pray that there will be no more illness and that those who are sick will recover quickly, and pray that the building will be completed and we will move in pronto with no more drama.

rock you like a hurricane

Poor Charlotte, NC has been in the upper 90's with slim to no chance of rain since I have been down here in Jarabacoa. We, on the other hand, have had rain at least every third day with temperatures in the 80's. As most of you know, we had a lovely shower here last night which has mostly passed. Power was off more last night than it was on, so I went to bed early and slept for at least 10 hours. It was grand. The other great thing about no power is that our singing neighbor also has no power. At least every other night she will sing at the top of her lungs (and believe me she should keep her day job.) Most of the time it is funny, but occassionally it is just obnoxious. So as Kimberly and I sat in our pitchblack house with our three candles clustered together so we could read, we reflected on how nice the rain (and the absence of other noises) was. Also, the crickets were not so loud last night (though, how would I know since I really was asleep within 2 hours of it being dark.)

*yawns and stretches*

Monday is a holiday. (I think it is when we are celebrating restoration day. Don't ask me why we didn't celebrate it on the 16th. I dunno. Restoration day celebrates the beginning of the fighting to regain autonomy from the Spanish in 1863. Interestingly, a few years later the DR offered itself to the USA as a colony. Grant supported the offer, but congress was against the plan. Grant had thought that freed slaves could go to the DR and escape harrassment from southern whites.) Because there is alot of work to do at the school (tearing down walls, painting, etc.) many teachers decided to take Friday as a holiday and do manual labor at the school on Monday. (after which we will rush home and shower and change because the parents will be visiting the school at 7.30 Monday night!)
So, we went to the beach on Friday. YAY!!! I realized on our almost 3 hour drive there that the small part of the DR I am becoming familiar with is probably not like what most people think of when they think of the DR. This was a happy realization as I needed to see beautiful things and other people than the things and people I am used to seeing around here. The mountains are gorgeous. We passed through a few different kinds of landscapes on the way. Places that looked like lush tropical rain forests, mountains that looked like they had more deciduous foliage, the small houses built on the side of the road with the mountain falling away beneath them. There are chickens everywhere in this country. Lots of livestock, donkeys, cows hanging around watching the cars go by. The road had many pot holes so we jostled and bumped our way to the coast, but once arriving there it was absolutely worth it. Leah parked the car, and we climbed out and walked down a street that was fairly dense with plants on both sides (and buildings) but at one place you could just peak through the leaves and see the water and it was breathtaking.

The water is so blue and clear. It was a perfect day when we got there, just a few clouds. Low 80's I would guess. It did get hotter, but never stiflingly so.

The pictures really do not do the view justice. I should have video'ed the space to give you a better idea.

It is amazing because you can be lying in the water and look around you and see the beach ahead and the mountains in the distance behind and it is just overwhelming.
While we were sitting on the beach a glass bottom boat came up looking for tourists to ride. (I do want to take that ride sometime.) Finding no takers, they began to push the boat back into the water. A little boy ran up and dialogued with the boaters (we could not hear what was said) but he was so cute as he helped them push the boat back into the water. I think they gave him some kind of treat for his help.

There was a place where you could shower off (in relative cleanliness) for 10 pesos so after swimming a few hours, I took a shower and went and sat in the shade and ordered a pineapple.

YUM! That pina colada drink (sans alcohol) was mighty yummy after a hot day. Most of the pineapple was crushed up inside. I could only finish a little over half. I was sad to leave it.
We drove back into Jarabacoa via a stop at the mall in Santiago for dinner. (KFC) and when we got home we found Rachel had made fantastic brownies for us and we climbed upon my new bed and watched a movie (I fell asleep.)
Yesterday we took a trip back into Santiago for groceries and went to a JUMBO supermarket - that is the name, "Jumbo." It was like a super walmart in the mall and it felt like heaven after shopping in the small dark supermercados here. Still, groceries are expensive here. At least comparable to the US and often more expensive. Meat and produce are relatively cheap, but if you want spices or anything pre-prepared then you will drop a pretty penny. I did find a very small bottle of prego on sale for 69 pesos (which is just over $2 US) and was excited because usually it is 90+ pesos. So, some night this week we will eat american style spaghetti.

The rain has almost stopped outside. The power is back on (for the moment) so I think I will go fix some cereal and read for a while. Buenos Dias!

off the cuff

(A brief detour into my mind:)
Life flies by and it feels like I have been here months even though it will be two weeks tomorrow. Honestly, folks, it is really hard. I understand the culture shock 'graph' which usually looks something like this:

but I don't feel like I entered on the upper portion of the graph or on the 'mountain top'. I feel like I slipped right into the valley. Maybe (and I have heard some folks suggest this) I just re-entered the graph where I left it the last time I was overseas (which was 2003 in Thailand.) I left there at the bottom of the curve, and when I arrived back in the States I spent about 6 months angry at the culture I had left and angry at the culture I returned to. I seemed to have left the states and entered the DR in about the same frame of mind. The hardest 'cultural fact' for me here is the lack of gratitude. Dominican upper classes seem to think that teachers are the same as servants, and in this case apparently they are lesser servants because they are the servants of children. I took a 90% pay cut to come down here because I desire to be used by God to spread His name, as well as help the kids at the school get into US colleges, and yet it appears in the minds of the people here I should be looked down on and largely ignored. Instead of the respect shown to teachers in other cultures, here we are glorified babysitters. So, I have been having some internal dialogue with God about why exactly I am here. It is certainly not because the board of JCS values my education or experiences. So, there must be some other reason.
So, please pray that God will give me a spirit of acceptance. That I will be able to cast off the anger that has gripped me and cling instead to the promises of a reward not measurable by human understanding. I think it says alot for our environment here that we are constantly being reminded of passages from Psalms or Malachi where the Israelites were assured that the wicked do not ultimately profit. So, I wrap up this little caveat with a passage from Colossians 3:13-14 which I need to remember during my time here,
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity." Please pray that I can forgive and that I can love. (Now would also be a fantastic time for phone calls and emails of encouragement or to tell me you are coming to visit.)


So, funny things about living here:
They seem to really like setting the lot next door on fire. I am not sure why. I don't know what benefit it provides. We certainly don't need the heat. Its not just a little fire, either. Its generally a large portion of the lot. *shrug* Weird.

Another weird thing:

Um, yes, that is a chicken. Apparently they stroll through school grounds quite often. The owners of the chickens get mad, however, when the kids chase them. *shrug* There is also a goat that sometimes lives next door to my apartment, but I haven't gotten a good picture of him yet. Many people around here have horses and to see them on the street is not unusual at all.
A few days ago Dylan (Leah's son) and Danny (Karen Speciale's son) found this:

Although I am not a huge bug fan, I have to admit this one was pretty cool! You cannot tell in the picture, but this little guy was probably about 3" long. Its legs have little pinchers at the end that it uses to grab onto things. I probably could have brought myself to touch it, except it still bears a resemblance to a cockroach (at least to me) but of all the creepy crawlies, this one was the least offensive so far.
Speaking of creepy crawlies...last night (in the midst of my headache) there was the loudest noise from our dining room -- it sounded kind of like the buzzers on a fire alarm. Our place is all concrete so the sound just echoed and reverberated to the point that when you walked into the room you had to cover your ears. After hunting a bit, we determined that it was a cricket smaller than a dime. Little guy/big noise apparently applies to bugs as well as humans.
I do have favorite animal friends here. Like this guy who lives in our dining room (Karyn, don't look):

At first I caught them and put them outside, but then decided that wherever they were the chance of spiders was less, so now I invite them in and name them. This one likes to climb up to the back of the dining room chairs and look around. Isn't he cute? Too bad we cannot remember what we named him.

Other exciting news: A week ago one of the couples on staff had a new arrival! We took dinner over on Monday and got to see Jeremiah who waited until the very end of our time there (when we were taking pictures) to complain. He was sweet as peaches up to that point. That's Teresa and Daniel. Daniel teaches jr. high and highschool science. It is extremely fortunate for me that I already love all of the American staff at JCS, and I am honored to have been accepted into their families so quickly.


This last picture is my 6th grade homeroom. We are responsible for decorating our homeroom classrooms, so I spent a little over a day coloring and preparing what I could with the construction paper and marker resources that I had available. I hope it will do.

The start of school was postponed a week, so classes do not start until Tuesday. This was a huge boon as none of us were prepared as well as we would like to be.
AND I am planning to go to the beach tomorrow! So hopefully many beautiful pictures will follow.

Lastly, there have been several unplanned expenses since I arrived here. Many of you have mentioned that you would like to contribute to the work being done here, and I earnestly appeal to you that now would be a great time. My mother will be flying down to bring me supplies and I could sure use any help I could get to purchase those. If you would prefer to purchase supplies and send them, you can contact either myself or my mother and we will happily share the list. Contact information is on this page.

Oh, one more picture...

As you can see, we don't have it quite right yet - we have to go into santiago to find one that will fit. Apparently there aren't any that fit at any stores in Jarabacoa. *laughs*

My Life in Small Pieces

The night after the big spider spotting (we haven't seen it since, but we know it is out there!) we decided we needed to do laundry. Two of the guys at the school came over and helped us move the machine from the living room to the concrete outside so we could hook it up. We figured it out, got it working and started on our first load of laundry. When Regan was hooking up the washing machine he teasingly hooked the drain line over the bars behind the washing machine asking whether we wanted it to drain into the porch. I, having nothing else what-so-ever on my mind, forgot that it was still there (hooked over the bars) and drained most of our first load of laundry onto the patio. Way to go, Christy! Rachel and I made a mad rush to move the hose and mop the water off the porch. Fun times.

The problem with laundry...is that it is outside. This means that every time it rains, as it did last night, it fills up with water so we have to run the spin cycle to drain it. That is not such a big deal. Then opening the washing machine is always a bit of an adventure, as you never know what has crawled inside of it during the times between loads. This morning I was lucky and found no creatures waiting for me (though apparently frogs really like to climb inside.) Additionally, the cut off valve to the machine doesn't always work so when you put it in spin you have to turn the water off to the machine. This too is only a minor inconvenience. The biggest problem, as I have mentioned, is that it is outside. Do you know what else is outside? That's right, kids, SPIDERS! I have a load in right now, and when it is done, I will have to hang it on the line in the backyard where the grass is about 6 inches tall...I have to walk into the grass...ok, I know I am silly, but I KNOW there are spiders in that grass. We are not talking about normal household dime size spiders either. After the initial spider spotting I went online to try to find what was indigenous in the DR.
So I just went out to check my laundry, and the machine is not working at all today...water goes in and drains right out without filling up the tub (which miraculously hold rain water but not washing water apparently.) So, since my laundry is already partially wet, I will be doing it by hand! Oh joy unbounded! (Unfortunately, I will still have to enter the yard to hang it to dry. *grimace*)

On a more positive note, I want to share with you some of the objects I have really learned to love in my time here:

Ode to the Water Bottle
Oh waterbottle, container of energy,
you fill up my dehydrated body while
reminding me that someone I love, loves me too!

Leah gave me this beautiful candle and candel holder (I wrote about it previously) which has proved tremendously useful.

Things just take longer here to do than they do at home. Most of the time we re-rinse our dishes in bleach water before using them (because who knows what has been in the cabinet in our absence). You don't put the coffee in the coffee maker the night before and walk away, leaving the automatic timer to drip it to perfection. Counters have to be wiped down constantly because of ants, the floors get filthy quickly. There is no water pressure, so showers take longer (and you girls know what I am talking about - washing long hair with no water pressure takes forever.) But, all in all its not so bad, once you get used to the process. We are getting more efficient each day. This morning my Rachel went to school at 9 (and I think Kimberly is still in her room) so I got up about 9.30, washed some dishes, cut up a mango, and had a lovely bowl of cereal.


OK, so enough about me and my life. Let me tell you about some of the fantastic people I work with:

Trevor (?) was the youth group leader of the team that came down to help up paint, clean, rearrange for the school year. The group was GREAT. And we are so thankful for them. (Yes, ladies, as far as I know he is single and as wonderful as can be, but he is also 22ish and lives stateside.) He graduated from CIU. Actually there are 5 CIU alumni at this table. *Starts singing, "Columbia alma mater, thy name we do adorn...."*
Karyn Staats is between Trevor & I. She also graduated from CIU and is the English teacher for the Jr. High and Highschool and the girl who was waiting for me at the Airport in Miami. She has been so much help, and has a true servant's heart. Her home room is beside mine, and she has been very helpful with thoughts of how I can prepare and otherwise accomplish things. I look forward to knowing her better over the year, and to sharing with her the struggles of teaching jr. high and highschool.
At the head of the table is Leah Law. She was my connection with Jarabacoa (we went to CIU together) and kindly offered me a job here. It would be hard to know where to start to explain to you all of the things that Leah does for the school and for us as her friends. Officially she is the director for Pre-K through 2nd Grade, but she does so much more than that. It was Leah who picked me up at the airport, who shuttles us all around, and honestly, she is the one who looks after us and our well-being. Tonight is her birthday (saturday) so please say prayers for blessings for her on this special day.
Next to Leah is Karen Speciale. She is the French teacher for 5th - 11th grade. Karen and her husband, Dan, and two boys, Danny and AJ, moved here from Delaware. She is Dominican though she was raised in the states and is 100% american (imho.) She speaks English, Spanish and French and often helps translate in meetings and such. She is also a spitfire and a ball of energy. We usually eat lunch together, and it is nice to share experiences of adjusting to the culture. Karen makes me laugh, and some days that is worth more than money!
Beside Karen is Rachel, one of my wonderful roommates. She is teaching 2nd grade and has been a teacher in the States for the past 5 years. She also speaks Spanish, so whenever we leave the house, I become quite dependent upon her. We have already fallen into small routines. We share coffee in the morning before school, we grocery shop together and often prepare meals together. She is passionate about God and is a great encouragement to me day to day.
Christy Elmer, another CIU graduate, is the other 2nd grade teacher. Christy and I crossed paths at CIU but never knew each other extremely well. Getting to know her here is a delight. She is kind and gentle and whenever I see her my spirit is glad.

There are many more teachers, hopefully I will have a chance to tell you about each one. It is unusual for me to be in a place of such obvious dependency, but the more I learn about the school and life here, the more obvious it becomes how very much I need each and everyone of these teachers. We all have special roles here, and special talents. It is hard being as independent as I am to understand that we are truly connected and mutually dependent on each and everyone of the staff. It is hard...and beautiful.

I have many more thoughts that I want to share, and will try to post again before the end of the weekend. Maybe tomorrow will bring me time to rest and reflect. Grace and Peace to you all. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

P.S. We got one toilet seat! Yay! One down, one to go!

Lesson plans, Car Chases, Fantastic Pineapple & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Life proceeds as is its custom. Yesterday was our first teacher training day. I hunted down about half of my textbooks (the other half has not yet surfaced.) I spent last night working on the syllabus for my 11th grade class. I am super optimistic I am sure, but it is a start anyway. I am going to do it quarter by quarter, so one class down, 5 to go. I am more concerned about the challenges of the younger classes than of the older, though our French teacher, Karen, was very encouraging today when she told me that she taught Jr. high in the public schools in the States and she loved it. Sadly, I am enough of a nerd to really be loving lesson plans, and the thought it takes to create them. They are time consuming, but they also scratch a part of my brain that has been itching since I graduated from UNCC.

The school will have just over 250 students. I will have about 50 between all my classes. A church group is in painting and cleaning the school and we are SO thankful, because there is no way we could plan for school, adjust to living and setting up house here and manage to paint and clean. When I saw them working today I wanted to hug them. Please thank God for this group of willing teenagers/college kids that are ministering to us through their service.


I was sitting in the Director's office today and looking out the window behind me and was overwhelmed with how beautiful the landscape is around me. The sun was shining down and there was a breeze blowing through the palm trees and the mountains in the background were gorgeous. I forget when I am in suburbia how much the outdoors ministers to me, and how much I love the mountains (especially tropical mountains.)


Today we went into Jarabacoa to open bank accounts (our salary is direct deposited.) We rode in Leah's mitsubishi SUV type vehicle (7 of us) and on our way back to the school while negotiating traffic a hatian in a blue baseball cap on a passola (carrying a pick-ax) ran into the side of the car. He kinda ricocheted off the vehicle and his bike stalled right in front of us. Traffic was backing up behind us and Leah was waiting for him to pull out of the way and wait for us to assess the damage. Instead, once his passola started, he took off. Leah took off after him trying to catch up to him to at least get him to apologize (since the chances of him having insurance or any way of reparation was slim.) A chase ensued. Here we are, 7 of us, bouncing through the 'streets' (and I use that word loosely) of Jarabacoa trying to catch the run away motorcycle. I don't think Leah knew exactly what she would do if she caught up to him at this point. Jokes were made about 6 women and one man facing down a man with a pick ax. At one point we lost him, and turned around to head back to the school (our chase had taken us in the opposite direction) and just like a movie, about a minute later he pulled out of a side street right in front of us, looked back over his shoulder and took off as fast as he could. It is really amazing he didn't kill himself given that he was looking over his shoulder as often as he was looking ahead to negotiate traffic. Finally he broke away by squeezing between vehicles, people and buildings that Leah's car wouldn't fit through. The whole adventure took about 10 minutes, but seemed completely surreal at the time as a car full of missionaries partook in a spontaneous car chase. I am sure that was only the first of many unexpected adventures here.

Sunday night I made scones in our little plastic propane oven. I was very proud of myself, and enjoyed going through the process of something home-like and familiar. Yesterday afternoon my roommates (Rachel & Kimberly) and I walked into town and bought fruit from the fruit market (A Pineapple, two Mangoes, Grapes and Plum and a Peach) and veggies from the veggie market (Lettuce, Tomoatoes, Peppers, Onion, Avocado, etc.) and regular groceries from the grocery store (Soap, Cheese, Yogurt, etc.) Here, they suggest that you bleach your fruits and veggies, so we went through that process. Rachel made omelets. It was a successful day. This evening we cut up the pineapple (oh, tropical fruit is soooo good in the tropics) and we made chocolate chip cookies. So, we are learning to operate in our new environment. The refrigerator has only been working sporatically, (probably due to the brown-outs and power outages) but was fixed today and so far is still working. Please pray that this continues to be the case. Apparently, the method for fixing appliances here is trial and error. They don't take amps and readings, etc. to try to ascertain problems; they just start replacing parts until they get it right. We still don't have toilet seats *shrug* all in due time, I guess.


There is so much to tell and it is hard to decide what to share, so I will end by relating an encouraging discussion I had with the director this afternoon:
We were discussing scripture and Malachai chapter 3 where God is reminding Israel not to be discouraged by the apparent prosperity of the wicked, and encouraging them that His promises will be fulfilled. It is so easy to look at the world around us and all of the ugliness and corruption that is a result of man's sinful nature, and we feel discouraged. It is hard to watch the wicked prosper while the righteous face persecution. It is hard to remain faithful when the pay off only seems to come to those who take short cuts and follow their own desires. Reading Malachai there is a bittersweetness. God made these promises to israel but it was 400 years after Malachai spoke to the Israelites before God's promises were fulfilled - they were fulfilled however. It is hard to look at my own life, to look at all I desire and to see the evilness in the world around me and to see the flaws in my own self. It is easy to get discouraged and to think, "God, I cannot wait 400 years!" Allowing God to work in his time is so difficult. Every ounce of my flesh cries out in rebellion. But in the midst of my despair, I have hope. Hope that there is more to this life than my desires. Hope that there is a bigger picture and purpose for my existence. This next year feels in many ways like I am putting my life 'on hold' but I know that what is happening is exactly the opposite. For the first time in several years I am actually accomplishing something. I am responding to a calling and experiencing (in the midst of all the chaos and stress) more peace than I have in ages. That doesn't mean that I won't be discouraged, or that I won't call home ranting about the perils of another culture, or crying because of the effort that I have to put forward everyday just to survive...but I know that for this day that has just passed, that I am exactly where I was made to be, and I can only offer praise that God blesses me in the midst of my discontent and provides such richness in the moments of duress.

Please continue to pray for me. Finances for everyone here are tight. It is hard to know that you have to count every peso when you purchase food or buy cleaning supplies. There is a Dengue epidemic here at the moment and we cannot afford screens. Not having power from time to time makes creating lesson plans at night more difficult, and our internet sometimes works great but often is slow as molasses. We also are all very dependent upon each other, which is wonderful, but also means that we have to be gracious and forgiving and focused on not taking out stress out on each other. I really love the other teachers at the school and I am encouraged that exhorting each other is a priority.
(And my roommate just found a tarantula type spider on the back porch and completely freaked out - God help us. Three women who are terrified of spiders living in one house!)