Hello everybody!

I had a great weekend!

I spent Saturday morning doing laundry, yes all by hand, in two large buckets of water, and then turning them inside out so they don’t fade from the sun, then hanging them out on the line to dry.  (Alright so that wasn’t the great part… haha)

Saturday afternoon, I went to Suni’s. We talked for a little while about how her grandson is coming to stay with her for several months.  Suni’s daughter, the boy’s mother, wants to take a few classes I believe is why she said he was coming.  So woohoo another kid for my class. J  After talking we took a walk on her and Samuel’s property (her husband).  We continued walking the property next to theirs as well which belongs to Samuel’s brothers.  They were beautiful open hill sides.  Here is a photo.

We then sat on a hillside and Suni said that was where her and Samuel sit and talk about their future.  From that spot they can see their house and all of their animals. They have a couple of cows (one which gave birth to a calf the next day), a donkey, a handful of pigs, a couple of turkeys, and a ton of chickens.  Suni explained how they talk about their house, and how they are saving to plant corn, yucca, and one more thing which I can’t remember on the hill behind their house.

Sunday afternoon, I went to the beach with Chris, Carmen, and Carmen’s family.  Carmen is a woman who people refer to as Chris’ Dominican Mom.  Chris and I pay her to cook us lunch every day.  I’ll have to write about that another time.  Anyways she has 6 teenagers that live with her, a pregnant daughter who is staying for a visit, a 3 year old boy who she took into her house from his mother who couldn’t take care of him, and her grandson who turned 2 not too long ago.

Anyways, we all climbed into Chris’ red truck and drove to the beach.  Here are a few photos. 

This is Chicha, one of Carmen's daughters who has been coming with me in the mornings to help with the class in El Estrecho.

Michael enjoying the waves...

Everyone had a fabulous afternoon!  Even though we don’t live far from the beach, few people in the villages we live and work in get to go to the beach.  They don’t have transportation for their whole family and can’t afford to pay for transportation to the beach.

Monday’s and today’s classes went well.  We are still working on our colors.  I have a handful of the kids who now know most of the colors in English as well as Spanish.  It has been raining on and off for the past 2 mornings, so my morning class in El Estrecho has been a little smaller.  And in Pueblo Nuevo today I had 21 kids.  The older kids are starting to get a little crazy at times, so Thursday I need to remind them that this is a class for the 3 and 4 year olds.  If they can’t be quiet when I need them to be, then they can’t come.  I dread that day, because I know how much they enjoy it, but that day may come where I’ll have to put my food down.

This morning, Carmen and I went into town (Luperón) to buy fresh produce that gets trucked in from Santiago.  Here is a photo.  The truck comes in every Tuesday morning. 

 I bought some for the dinners I cook myself, as well as for Nani.  Monday after school, I hung out with Nani and her girls.  She cooked me dinner.  She handed me a plate of 2 fried eggs, and tostónes (fried plantains), then passed out bowls of left over rice from lunch to the girls with a tiny helping of a scrambled egg.  I’m not kidding when I say I work with people who really only eat one meal a day.  It’s very common for a Dominican in this area to not eat breakfast, have rice and beans for lunch, and eat the little left over, if there is any, for dinner.  Anyways, that is why today I brought her a big bag of potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, peppers, and a pineapple.  She wanted to make me dinner again to thank me for the food, but I lied and said I had to go, so they would eat the veggies.

Well that is all for now.  I hear Spring is on it’s way!  Enjoy it for me!