Loryn's Dominican Days!

2012-02-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

We have been working on assessments of the kids in school. I wish I had done them when they first started. I know how much they have progressed and it is so very rewarding to see and be a part of! We have been giving Suni many more responsibilities in the school and she is thriving! It has also been extremely rewarding watching her grow in confidence when working with the kids. There are some photos in the post below of this.

Well, after Odil learned how to sew a little pillow for her doll, she went ahead and sewed 3 more. Haha When I asked her where the blankets were to go with the pillows, she responded with a “ you didn’t teach me that yet?” Haven’t done that yet, but we did build her a doll house as well. I had her and her sister and brother help me build it and them I let them go to town to build a box/bed for their new puppy. Today I am going to bring over paint for Odil's doll house. She wants it to be pink. A girl after my own heart! J

I have started the seeds for my veggie garden, and made the plant boxes so they hopefully won’t drown again. The soil here is so fertile here that you can take a branch off of a bush and plant it, and I will usually grow. It’s amazing! Sandra loves to garden and has lots of plants and flowers. She got me started with a collection of my own. They are beautiful! They are all planted in containers. I hope they all grow well. We’ll see just how green my thumb is.

This month is Carnival. It is not so big out here in the campos but in the cities it is Huge! Last weekend, for Chris’ birthday, we went to Puerta Plata and experienced Carnival first hand. They had closed off a huge section of the street by the beach and there were beer tents all over. There was a main stage area where the costume/dance contest was held. Groups of Dominicans dressed up in elaborate costumes and one at a time went up on stage for a minute or two. Some had little skit type dances, and some just jumped around. There were street venders walking around selling masks. Jamie bought one with spikes, and we both bought some with feathers. Boys walked around with a ball on a string and hit the people walking by. There were tons of Dominicans and tons of tourists. The energy was amazing. It was a great day! I took a ton of photos of this. I'll post some of them later after I go through them.

This morning we went kayaking. We went to a spot where supposedly there are a group of manatees living. The boys that took us out said that they are always in this cove area. Today unfortunately we saw no manatees. Oh well… maybe next time. It was still a beautiful kayak trip! Chris took some photos. I’ll try to get a few to put up.

Before we went out on the kayaks, while walking around the beach, I found a beached starfish. I threw it back into the water. J

I found another when we got back but it was dried up. I took that one home with me! J

2012-02-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos...

Suni, Anthony, y Romer used every block for their castle.

Maicol

Suni working with Isaura and Jose.

Emilio

Everybody LOVED the doll house I made! :)

Eimy and July playing ball.

2012-02-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

Well after a couple of months at home, I am back in the Dominican. I can’t say my time at home was very relaxing, but I can say it was productive. In addition to working part time here and there, I fundraised, fundraised, fundraised. I succeeded in raising the funds for a new vehicle.

For those of you who are unaware of the vehicle I drive here and there, village to village, picking up kids, dropping them off, driving to the city of Imbert to get groceries for the school, and occasionally when I have time (which isn’t often) to the beach….

It is a very run down station wagon from the 80’s. There are holes in the floor, 2 of the 4 windows don’t close, one of the back doors doesn’t open, while when unlocked the other back door flies open while driving down the road (since I have been back, the front passenger door does this as well.). I put water in the radiator every other day and have to disconnect the battery every night if I want the car to start in the morning. The seal is broken on the front windshield, therefore when it rains, I get wet. (I just put silicone on this, don’t know if it worked yet. I haven’t driven in the rain since.) There is no power steering; I have also become a pro at changing tires. I pick up 7 children on my first run, drop them off at the school with Jamie, I then drive out to pick up the breakfast and continue to pick up our local helper and 4 more kids. This vehicle is not safe for me and not safe for the children. But we are a small mission and so we have had to just use what we have.

Anyways, due to lots of generous donors and one very very very generous family, we are shopping for a new vehicle for our “school bus”. Thanks to everyone who donated!!! I’ll let you know when we are up and running with a safe reliable vehicle! J

I spent my first couple of days cleaning the house, reorganizing my things, and of course visiting families. I received lots of hugs!!! Early last week, Jamie and I went house to house of our students in the pre-school letting everyone know we were back and starting right up again. The parents and kids were all super excited! One of the boys ran to put on his shoes and grab his backpack. He was very disappointed when we told him he had to wait just a couple more days.

Our first day of school went almost too well. The kids all listened well, shared the toys, participated in circle time, and listened to the stories. It was totally not expected but a great surprise! Our second day went pretty well also. The kids showed their excitement a little more by being a bit more wound up. Haha But it was a great start to this semester.

I have been working on a doll house for the school. I built and painted it before I came home. I made some furniture for the little dolls I brought back with me. ( Thanks Susan and Alex!) I’ll have photos up soon of it!

Sandra’s girls, Diana 11, and Odil 9 were over visiting and admiring the doll house. This led to a lesson in sewing little pillows for their dolls. Next lesson, blankets!

I am also going to try again on a vegetable garden. I bought wood to make some boxes to raise the plants up in hopes of them not drowning and becoming mush again. Both Sandra and Suni want to try to grow veggies too. It’s a good thing I brought down a bunch of seeds! J

That’s all for now!

New Year’s resolution… I’m going to try to make more time to keep up this blog! Sorry to all that were reading this regularly. Here’s to the New Year!

ADIOS!

2011-09-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Part 2….

I decided to make this a separate blog… because it’s kinda a big deal!!!

I DID IT! I DID IT! We have a pre-school up and running. This past year of immersing myself into the culture, pushing through more personal barriers then I thought possible, and challenging myself to have a school up and running in a year has more than paid off. J

I have to send out a huge thank you to the group who came down to help fix up the building. Also, here’s another huge thank you to all the groups and people who came down with suitcases of supplies. And finally the biggest THANK YOU goes out to all of the people at home supporting me with their thoughts, prayers, emails, facebook messages, and notes. I wouldn’t be where I am today without you guys! J

So here’s what my days look like now. I leave before 7am to pick up kids in El Estrecho Abajo by 7. On my way back I pick up a few more kids who live on the main road. I drop off those kids at the school and leave them with Jamie, a girl from Ohio who is here helping out with the school. I then drive through Pueblo Nuevo to Sandra’s in El Canal and pick up breakfast for the kids. On my way back through Pueblo Nuevo I pick up either Sujer or Suni, my 2 Dominican helpers along with 3 kids. (Angel, son of Rosanna and Jorge, Kelvin, son of Yolanda and Boho, and Isaura, daughter of Nani) I am back at the school around 8am where we begin our day with outside play.

We built a sand box, and thanks to Teresa we have sand box toys. The first day I opened the sandbox and put out the toys and they just stood there not really knowing what to do. After I showing them how to how to dig, rake, sift, and pile up sand, the kids didn’t want to go inside. There are a few that like to sit inside looking at board books. They enthusiastically flip through pages pointing out every animal and object they know. In a culture where the only books people pick up and read are school books and the bible, getting kids excited about looking at books and reading for fun is a huge deal.

After outside play, we wash up for breakfast. We wanted to make sure to include in our program a hearty, nutritious breakfast for the kids. Many of the households don’t have a family table to eat on, let alone money to feed their family a nutritious diet. We have put together a menu which includes oatmeal, eggs, fresh fruit and yogurt.

Following breakfast we sit for circle time. This is where we sing songs, read stories, talk about the calendar month, days, and numbers. I also will try to do an activity around the theme for the week.

From circle time we divide into centers with the project being one of them. The kids have been playing with matchbox cars, play dough, pattern blocks, and drawing on small chalk boards. They are having a ball other then the fact that they all want everything for themselves. We are working hard on learning to share. Haha They are 3 and 4.

After centers, we come back together to either sing or dance some more, or read some books on CD. Once 11:30 rolls around, the parents from La Sabana (the village where the school is located and where I live) come and pick up their kids. I then load up the El Estrecho Abajo crew and drive them all home while Jamie says with the Pueblo Nuevo crew. After driving everyone home, I sit down for lunch with a family and breathe again. Haha

This is a class photo but it was taken the second day. We had 3 more kids join the next day. Hopefully we get another class photo taken soon with everyone!

My afternoons have been filled with running around grabbing something for Sandra to cook, running to the yogurt factory and picking up fresh (the best ever) yogurt, cleaning the school, prepping for the next day, and when I can, sitting and keeping up with emails, and writing this blog. J

I feel like I had a whirl wind of a first week of school, but I am just so thrilled that it all came together. I haven’t quite figured out why, but after this summer, making many more acquaintances and a couple of good friends, and running my own classroom, I finally feel like I’m at home and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It was a long, stressful, challenging journey, but here I am running a pre-school in a 3^rd world country.

Woohoo!!! J

2011-09-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Part 1....

I hate starting with this again… but I do apologize for not writing for quite a while.

~An overview of my camp this summer…

I was in 4 different villages running 2 camps per village, one for 3-6 year olds, and the other for 7-10 year olds. Camp ran for 2 months and overall we averaged about 150 with all four villages combined. Overall I’d say it was a huge success. The kids were thrilled to be able to sing songs in English for and with the participants. Kids are still asking when the next camp day is. I also had several parents tell me how happy they were with the program. I had one mother tell me her 2 daughters make her sing some of our songs every night before they go to bed. Another mother said to me, “My daughter loved your camp and so did I because before camp she walked around shy and timid, but after going to your camp every week she was bouncing around the house happy and singing all you songs!” And then she thanked me with a hug. Even though I already know of things I will be changing for our next year, we had a fabulous summer! :)

My mom was here for 2 weeks in August. We had a fabulous time. Her first week, we worked with Ben and his family on a roof for Maria. She is one of the many Maria’s in Pueblo Nuevo. She is the sister of Oneydo who has helped out and worked with the mission for a number of years. The VMM had built her a block house in 2005 but that was before we included a zinc roof. Here is a couple of photos of us working on the roof.

After a very sad day of saying good bye to Ben, his family, and Anna, my mother and I spent a few days visiting with different families. Everyone was VERY excited my mom was coming to visit, and everyone wanted to meet her. We ate dulce with a couple of different families.

One family I have become very close to this summer is a family in El Canal, Sandra and Obie, and their three children, Diana (11), Odil (9), and Israel (7). As a gift for the family, my mom and I took Sandra and her kids shopping for new school uniforms. We all had a fabulous afternoon which ended with my buying everyone ice cream and eating it in the town square. It was a great afternoon.

In the middle of the second week, my mom and I spent 2 days and nights relaxing by the pool and enjoying walks along the beach. The resort is going under so there weren’t many people around. But we had some nice relaxing time.

After my mom’s 2 week visit I was sad to see her leave but anxious to get everything set for school to start.

2011-07-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!

Well we have been busy busy busy this summer. The last group of the summer just arrived last Thursday. They are finishing house number 6 in El Canal today.

Other exciting news… One of the groups from Ohio helped me out fixing up my little school house. They also were able to join in on a couple of camps! It was great having them help out! Here are a few photos of us fixing up the school.

The local kids were ssoooo excited to help out. I had to find lots of little jobs for them to help the group with. We walked up the street to my house to grab the tires I had been collecting for the playground. Here is a photo of them walking/rolling them to the school.

The kids of La Sabana were thrilled to be helping out. Here is a group shot of the group from Ohio as well as the kids who helped out. And here is a huge THANKS going out to the group!!! J

And of course I couldn’t have a preschool without a sand box!!! J (Thanks Teresa for the sandbox toys!!!)

My branch of “The Village” Mountain Mission is the C.A.R.E. Project (Children At Risk Education). The little girl in this photo is Robaisi. She is 3 and comes to camp with her 2 year old sister and 5 year old brother. She has become my shadow and whenever I get up to walk around, whether I’m passing things out or leading a game, she is always right behind me. And as soon as I sit down, she plops herself right into my lap. Haha!

Camp has been going great! For the older groups of kids, the 7-10 year olds, Anna and I have been trying to get them thinking. We keep the themes the same, but when the little ones learned the Itsy Bitsy Spider, we had the older kids draw a spider and on each of the 8 legs they had to write 8 different ways to be a good friend. Also when the little kids decorated stars, we explained what reaching for the stars meant, and they wrote what they wanted to be when they grew up in the star. They then pasted strips of paper coming off of the star and on those strips, they wrote how they were going to get there. It was great listening to their hopes and dreams.

This week is our last week of camp. We have lots of fun things planned for the kids!

2 weeks ago Kendi turned 8. His family received a house from VMM in 2009. Anna and I took him and his family to the beach for his birthday. When we went to go pick them up the kids came running out to the car yelling “La Playa, La Playa, La Playa!” They were singing it the whole ride there and squealed with joy when they saw the beach. It’s their excitement that fills me! We had a great afternoon!

Last week was Ana’s 6^th birthday. Her family received a house from VMM also in 2009. Anna and I took Ana and her family to the River for her birthday. Again, the kids were squealing with excitement. Here’s a photo of Anna with the family.

And…… Saturday night was a big night!!! Our cat had kittens!!! J And Sujer, a girl who works with me, had her baby as well! J

Can’t wait for my mom to come down in a couple of weeks!!! J

Good bye for now!

2011-07-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

I am going to start off apologizing to the parents who check my blog daily to hear that all is well! All is well but extremely busy! Anna and I are running camp in 4 villages with 2 separate age groups in each village. We have just under 200 kids. The first couple of weeks have been very successful! Anna and I create activities around the theme of the week. The first week our theme was dinosaurs. The kids made dino head bands, built villages with blocks for the toy dinosaurs, read dinosaur books, and played a dinosaur game. We put sand in a big bucket along with cut up dinosaur pictures. The kids had to dig for their color dinosaur, find all the pieces, and put the puzzle together. They loved it. We did all of this as well as play with the parachute, sing songs, and of course dance.

Here are a few photos of all of that from different villages.

For the past 2 weeks our theme has been the ocean. The kids made paper plate fish, used ocean stamps, played a fish memory game, and had a blast with some water relay races. The camp in La Sabana is held in what used to be a little block house. We let the kids in that camp draw all over the walls inside and out with chalk. We have some giant fish, sea horses, and star fish all over the walls. The kids thought it was hilarious we were letting them draw on the walls.

As far as groups and the construction goes, the 2 Bermuda groups completed one house and almost finished the second house in a village called El Canal. The Jersey group started 3 houses in El Estrecho Abajo. Most of the group had been here before so they flew through the construction. We just had a group from Goshen, CT. They finished 2 of the houses in El Estrecho Abajo. I’ll have to run around and grab some photos of the houses with the families to post on here next time. We had a group fly in late last night from Ohio. They are going to be fixing up my little school house in La Sabana. Come September that is going to be where I bring my class to. I can’t wait to have one central location to be teaching out of.

Having the staff and all of the groups here has been fantastic! I have been trying to spend as much time as my schedule allows with the groups (which unfortunately sometimes isn’t as much as I’d like). As many things are down here, it is a blessing and a curse for me. I love having the company and meeting and visiting lots of new people, but it is also hard to then see them go. To those who have come and gone, I am looking forward to seeing you again next year! To those who haven’t been down here yet, what are you waiting for?!?!? J

Well that is all for now. Buhbye!

2011-06-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hello!

It has been spectacular having Ben and Anna down here! They are 2 of our 4 interns for the summer. Ben was in the youth group I co-led at my church and he is working with the building groups. Anna used to work with me at the daycare and for the last week she has been translating for and working with a group of nursing students and a couple of nurses who have been teaching our Healers about injecting vaccinations, and stitching up wounds. Once the nursing group leaves she will help me out with the camps I’m running this summer. I’m close to both of them, and it is great seeing them shine down here! J

So as I said, we had a group of nurses and students here working with the Healers. (For those that don’t know who I’m referring to when I say our Healers… We employ 6 local women to be Healers. They learn basic medical information and go out in pairs to different communities teaching door to door. Their topics range from the importance to washing hands to cholera.) They worked on giving injections for vaccinations as well as practicing stiching wounds. A group of kids 14-16 years old from Bermuda left today sailing back to Bermuda . They have another group from Bermuda which sailed down yesterday, which have taken their place. We also have a group of 35 people here from New Jersey. I have been spending time with the groups in the evenings, and I'm meeting lots of great people!

This past weekend I walked door to door in 2 villages telling them about the summer camp. It was sunny and super hot! But the parents and kids all seemed excited. Yesterday I had parent meetings in the 2 villages I have been teaching in. Luckily they went well! Here is a few photos from class…

yeah that's right... we are doing the Hokey Pokey! :)

And for all the teachers out there who know how easily kids get distracted, here is a photo of just one of the many distractions that happen regularly in my class when teaching here in the Dominican. Hahaha

Yes that is a cow sticking his head in the door to see what’s going on. J

Gotta run! Getting eaten alive by mosquitos!!! Adiós!

2011-06-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Every body!!!

Sorry I have not been so good at writing as regularly as I used to. I’ll try to get back into the habit of writing more often.

So here is an update on what’s been going on…

May is apparently a VERY wet month. We have been getting rain quite often and everything is a muddy mess. It is also the month when mangos come into season!!! J mmmm

My garden is pretty much all dead. When I chose a spot for it in our yard, little did I know, I chose the lowest part of the yard. When it rains and rains, it turns into a pool. L Once everything dries out, I will have to find dirt to raise my garden and then start all over again.

The classes have been good! Last week was transportation week. Here’s a photo of a game we were playing. They were “driving” their cars while the music was playing. When I paused the music, they had to sit in a chair and tell me what color car was taped to the chair.

This week we are learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. The kids are really enjoying it. They are amazed by the photos of the life cycle in the books I have.

This summer I will be adding 2 more villages. (God help me! Haha) Luckily I will have lots of help this summer. An Intern and friend of mine, Anna is coming to help run the camps. There will also be people from the groups in and out, helping where they can and when they can. I can’t wait for the extra help and company! J

Last Sunday was la día de las madres (their mother’s day). I was invited to a service at the church in Pueblo Nuevo. When I said “But I’m not a mother!”, their response was, “You are not a mother, but you have many kids.” Haha couldn’t argue with that one. After the service they handed out little cards to the mothers and me.

Sunday, I was also invited to a birthday party in my neighborhood. It was for a little girl named Noelis. Here is a photo of her.

I bring her and her sister to my class in the mornings. She is a sweetheart. I gave her a box of crayons, and a princess coloring book. She sat right down and started coloring for the remainder of her party and for a while afterwards. Her mother told me the next day she slept with it. I believe I was the one of two guests to bring a gift. I was surprised at first but then when I realized/ remembered where I was, it all made sense.

Bill, the mission’s founder/ director, is coming tonight and 2 of the 3 interns for the summer are coming Sunday as well as our first work group. Can’t wait to see everyone! J

¡Adios!

2011-05-14T18:30:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

It was fabulous being home for a little bit. Thanks to everyone I saw! All of you made my week home a great one! To those I missed, I’m sorry and I’ll see you in late November.

I got back Sunday and started the classes right up again Monday morning. The kids were so excited they all came running when they say my car drive into their village.

I asked the kids how their week was… and their answer was, “Bad!” And when I asked them why it was bad, their response was, “Because you left.” It was a little sad and a little cute at the same time.

When I was home I ordered a few new cds of kids songs in Spanish. The kids LOVE the new songs!!! One of the cds has the Hokey Pokey in Spanish. And now that’s what they ask for everyday. J

Also, today was a big day! I was given my first chicken. Hahaha ( I knew it was only a matter of time.)

I was visiting Suni this afternoon when she told me she had a chicken for me. I’m sure my eyes grew super big because I was really hoping she wasn’t giving me a chicken to kill, pluck, and cook. But then she said that when she the chicken grows a little bigger she will lay eggs and I can sell them and make some money. Haha I was relieved! She also said she would hold onto it and keep it with the rest of her and Samuel’s chickens for now.

Well that’s all for now! I can’t wait for groups to start coming down. Just a couple more weeks! J

Buhbye for now…

2011-04-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I woke up to pouring rain early this morning crashing onto our zinc roof. Luckily it stopped for a little bit so Carmen and I could get our fresh produce in town. When I was driving to class in El Estrecho Abajo, it started to pour again. And just as I was thinking how I really didn’t want it to be raining (because my car leaks everywhere), at that moment Chicha said, “ Mira, un arco iris!” There was a huge rainbow to the right, so I slowed down the car and pulled over to take a look. For the first time in my life I saw the beginning and end of a rainbow, with everything in between. I really wanted to run outside and take a million photos, but it was pouring and at that point wasn’t too sure where my umbrella had disappeared to. But it was a great way to start off my morning.

The kids are off from school all week so expecting more kids, I made my lesson plans a little different. We have been playing more games. Yesterday, we played musical chairs and limbo. The kids had a great time. Today we did some relays races. I had them blowing feathers across the floor and hitting balloons into the air; the kids couldn’t stop laughing. They loved them.

Here are a few photos…

We are also going to play a game with the parachute, have a jump rope contest, play hot potato, and red light green light (which I turned into stop and go, because most of these kids have never seen a stop light before.)

Other great news, a year or so ago, Chris started a pig project down here. He was given a donation, bought 2 pigs, and gave them to 2 families with the agreement of taking 2 piglets from the first litter and 1 from the second litter to give to other families. The rest are theirs to either raise and sell for a good chunck of change, or eat, or just keep raising them. He based the project off of The Heifer Project. Most of the people around here know how to raise pigs and you can raise them for close to nothing here. They feed their pigs food scraps, as well as whey or the runoff from all of the cheese factories. This is a huge dairy area with a ton of cows (who I have to stop my car for daily), and therefore a ton of milk to make cheese with. Those factories sell the whey to families for close to nothing. Anyways, Carmen was one of the families and her pig gave birth to 7 piglets this weekend. Here is a photo….

They are super cute!

Here is a photo of me with my hair braided… hahaha (although they are out now... the little elastics kept breaking and their hair says in braids, mine does not...)

Oh yeah and if you haven’t heard yet, I’m coming home to visit. J I fly in super late April 28^th, and I fly back down here May 8^th /9^th. I am super excited to see everybody!!!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Easter!!! J

Adiós!

Oh yeah and p.s. my garden is doing fabulous! I have a couple tiny melons starting to grow as well as a zucchini J And today I was visiting with Nani, and I asked her how I can get a certain kind of flower that she had in her yard into mine, and she ran and got her machete and dug out some roots of a little branch. She then continued to take clipping of other flowers that she had and told me what to do with them. J I’m super excited to have flowers growing all around the house too!!

2011-04-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Bill Benson, the director/ founder of “The Village” Mountain Mission Project, came down last week for a visit. He had always wanted the mission to get involved with the children of the Dominican through one way or another. He was thrilled to sit in on a couple of my classes. He was almost as happy as the kids who were more than delighted to have him there. J

I have a couple of class photos here…

Pueblo Nuevo Class

El Estrecho Abajo Class

And a couple of random photos of the class…

And this is Chicha (Carmen’s daughter who helps with one of the classes and who spent 2 hours this evening braiding my hair J ) and Michael (the 2 year old who Carmen took in) and me ofcourse…

And here is my twin for the day… J Isaura… she thought it was so funny that we were wearing the same color clothes!

I also had my first parent’s meeting. I was super nervous, but both the meetings in each village went very well. I just hope the parent’s understood my butchered Spanish. Hahaha

To the daycare people, the kids come running into class singing and asking for the “tooty ta” song, which I have in Spanish. They just love it! Haha (for non-daycare people, “Tooty Ta” is a song where you tack on a different motion each time you sing the little song, it starts with thumbs- up, and ends with thumbs up, elbows back, feet apart, knees together, bottoms up, tongue out, eyes shut, and turn around. It’s a great song!)

That’s all for now!

Buhbye!

2011-03-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos!

For those of you who haven’t see my house down here, here are a few photos with some explanation on my everyday life down here.

From my front porch looking in...

From my front porch looking out...

Out my back door... :)

As I have said before, we have power 6 hours on and 6 hours off, generally speaking, sometimes it is a little more and sometimes a little less. We have candles around the house when we don’t have power in the evenings.

Water from the ground also gets turned on and off but that is completely random. We have two big black tanks. One on the ground where when the water is on it slowly fills that tank. Our other tank is on top of the house (but not in this picture. This photo was taken this summer when the tanks were at the campsites for the groups to use). When the water gets low in there we have to wait until we have power and pump water from the bottom tank up to the top.

Next time you take a nice warm shower, be happy it is heated and has pressure!! Here is a photo of the bathroom.

I cook on a camp stove. There is a little Super Mercado up the street with a lot of different random things. As far as fresh produce, they have lettuce, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, and sometimes they will have peppers, and eggplant. And obviously lots of rice and beans. I also get super fresh yogurt and juice there. Here is a photo of my kitchen.

I sleep under a mosquito net with my nice warm blanket (Thanks Jessie). Most nights it has been getting down to low 70’s and in the early morning high 60’s. And on the topic of temperature, today was sunny and 91 degrees!

We eat lunch with Carmen and her family. Carmen received a house from “The Village” Mountain Mission in 2007. As I have mentioned she has had 12 kids. 7 of them ranging from 21 to 15, a almost 3 year old, who is not her biological son but she took him in, and her 1 year old grandson all live with her in her house. Here is a photo of everybody plus a pregnant daughter who was visiting, and minus Carmen’s 17 year old son, and a niece she also took in.

Chris and I pay her to cook lunch for us. She cooks rice and beans every day. Carmen will sometimes make different side dishes, such as fried eggplant, an okra dish, a potato salad, a potato and fish dish, or a macaroni salad. Even when we have pasta and or potatoes as a side, the main dish is always a plate of rice. She always teases me that I only take a little helping of rice. For them, lunch is usually their only meal of the day so the portion of rice Dominicans will eat is enormous. Here is a photo of Carmen cooking in her kitchen.

Also, my garden is doing great! I had to put a fence of sacks around it so the chickens that walk through the yard don’t eat my veggies. I am excited to eat from my garden, as well as be able to share some of the fruits and veggies and say they are from my garden. J Here is a photo.

So that is the house, and my everyday life.

As far as new news, the classes are going great! The kids made books of shapes last week, and were excited to take them home at the end of the week. I also played color and shape bingo with them at the end of the week. They got a kick out of it.

Chris’ new news is he bought 2 mama cows that had just given birth to two baby cows. He now goes out and milks them every morning with Ruben (a friend down here who Chris pays to milk/take care of the cows). Can anyone tell me how long I am supposed to boil it, to get it to a point where I can drink it and not get a stomach ache?

Tim, here is a photo of your chicks! J

And a photo of the ducks who are also getting bigger.

That’s all for now…

Adiós!

2011-03-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-12T04:43:00.000-08:00

Chris went to the capital Santo Domingo this week so it was just Rubio and me holding down the fort. There was a little boy named Noel that we met this summer. Chris brought him down to the capital for surgery on his 2 club feet, but when it came time for the surgery, they said his blood wasn’t good enough. They didn’t have any B+ blood on hand, so for now the surgery is on hold. Here is a photo Chris took of him.

My classes have been going great!

In each of the villages I am working in, the houses are spread out down a long dirt road. As I drive in now for the class, there are a couple of kids that wait for me and are ready to hop into the car with me for a ride to class. One of them is Mariel.

This is Mariel (in the red dress). She is 3, always smiling, and FULL of energy! I think her favorite part of the class is the dancing. Her sister is Maria (blue dress) who I work with is the kindergarten class. Friday there wasn’t any public school, so Maria was happy to join her sister in my class.

Wednesday, on my day off from the classes, I went to Puerta Plata with Sujer. Sujer is the other woman who helps with the class in Pueblo Nuevo. She is 21, and pregnant, and very eager to help however she can. She and I took public transportation yesterday which was quite an experience. We waited for half an hour out on the main road for a taxi car that wasn’t full. (and by full I mean the driver, 2 in the passenger seat, and 4 squished in back. It was pretty crazy. We squeezed into a car and away we went. It was a half hour ride to Imbert, where we had to switch cars to go to Puerto Plata, another half hour ride squished in a car. Once we were in Puerto Plata, Sujer brought me to a couple of different stores with school supplies. The 3^rd store we went to was called La Sirena. It is kind of like a Wal-Mart. I have been to this store before and I wish there was one closer than an hour away. They have pretty much everything you could need. They also have fresh produce like a grocery store would have. I bought a couple of fugi apples and gave one to Sujer. Apples are imported here so they aren’t super cheap.

Puerta Plata is a city right on the water. Sujer and I walked along the beach after La Sirena. Here’s a photo.

It was a beautiful beach, but it had a ton of trash all over it. There was also a ton of sea glass. Sujer then took me to a fort. It had a statue of General Luperón outside of it. It was a beautiful park. Sujer was telling me about it but I didn’t really understand too much about it. Haha

We walked back towards town and saw a Pizzaria. Some German guy opened a pizzeria. Sujer suggested we eat there and I jumped at the opportunity to eat some pizza. It was pretty good.

After dinner, we hopped on the back of a motoconcho’s bike (guys who taxi people on their motorcycle), and he took us to a bus stop. We hopped on the bus back to Imbert, and then squished into another car back to Luperón.

It was quite a day!

We were finally given permission from the church in Pueblo Nuevo to start using their church for our class. Its much more room, but doesn't have that nice breeze the other place had. But it is nice to spread out a little more. Here's a photo. I'm reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear (in English and Spanish). This past week, and this next week we are working on colors in English and Spanish.

Tim, Here is a photo of some of your chicks. This was taken shortly after hatching. They are obviously now bigger and more fluffy. :)

You can check out our website at www.villagemountainmission.com or our facebook page “The Village” Mountain Mission Project for photos of Noel and my classes.

Have a great weekend! And thanks for reading! :)

2011-03-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
Sorry it has taken me so long to post these. The connection at the house has been horrible. I am at one of the very few places with a wifi connection in town.

Monday was my first day of teaching. The kids love the songs, the stories, the projects and the activities! I have not only been getting 3 and 4 year olds, but kids up to 10 and 11 and everything in between. We have been singing a Spanish version of Old MacDonald, a Spanish version of Five Little Monkeys Swinging From A Tree, as well as some English songs like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. We have been working on our numbers this week. So we have been singing number songs, and reading number stories. At first I was only giving the 3 and 4 year olds the projects, but when the older kids were doing the coloring for the little ones while they just sat and watched, I started giving projects to everyone. I was a little worried at first with the older kids there, thinking they wouldn’t be paying attention and be distracting for the little ones, but it turned out great! They are having a fabulous time with the songs and stories. They have never been taught with songs, stories, and games. After thinking about it, I would rather have them in class with us instead of sitting in front of the tv (when there is power, watching whatever they can) or running around in the street.

Teaching always came so easy to me at home. Putting it in another language, which I am still learning, has been a huge challenge. At Madison Learning Center (where I used to work) we used to joke with the kids when they wouldn’t listen, and ask them if we were speaking another language. Haha My helpers have been great. They jump right in with the right words when I need them.

Well I have to go prepare a project for tomorrow. Here are some photos of the 2 classes. I only have a couple of photos of the first class (the first 2 photos). And I have a handful from Pueblo Nuevo. Enjoy!

reading 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed...

Singing 5 Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree...

Isaura coloring a monkey...

While we wait for the kids to come, I have been bringing legos...

Singing Old MacDonald... I'm pointing to the animals I drew as a visual...

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes...

Eduar coloring his numbers...

Alright, dinner is here... Adios!

2011-02-27T03:58:00.000-08:00

Hello to everyone reading my blog!

I wrote last night with no power by candle light, but the connection got lost and after I tried posting, what I wrote got lost. So here we go again...

Tuesday was great! Santiago is a big city about an hour away. We had to stop in a mall so Chris could stop at a bank. That was a little bit of a culture shock. haha The school we went to go visit had a group there finishing up building a couple more rooms of the school. They are adding rooms while having classes still. It was a little crazy. I sat and talked with Shelley, the woman who started the school about 8 years ago. She also started with just a preschool. It was very inspiring talking with her. She gave me a handful of lesson plans and worksheets all in spanish. I need to get to translating those.

Thursday morning I spent in El Estrecho Abajo, one of the villages where I will be teaching. I walked around house to house and let all the families with 3 and 4 year olds know that the class is starting on Monday in their church.

Friday, Chris and I were both "out" for the day. We ate something with fresh milk in it and as yummy as it was, our stomaches didn't enjoy it as much.

Saturday I spent the day with Suni, in Pueblo Nuevo. We spent the morning going over what I have planned for Monday. I taught her some songs, read a couple of books, and explained the project and the activity. She loved the songs and stories. She got a digital camera from who knows where, and she video taped the songs and the props I made for them. She has a cord to hook the camera up to her tv and when there is power she said she was going to hook it up and practice. She was then walking around all day singing them. She is very excited about helping with the class. We then spent the afternoon walking house to house telling them we are starting on Monday.

So as of now, the plan is I will be in El Estrecho Abajo from 8:30am- 10:30am for the first class, and then in Pueblo Nuevo from 2pm-4pm for the second class. I'll be teaching Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I'm keeping Wednesdays open to plan and prep in the morning, and hopefully help out at the Kindergarten class I have been working with in the afternoons. I'm a little nervous about how its going to go, but excited to start as well.

So I'm going to be keeping busy, as usual... haha

To all reading,
I'd love to get a comment or 2 back... Let me know how you are doing and what you have been up to! :)

Well I need to get to finishing up the garden before the sun gets too hot.

Buhbye!

(Tim, 5 our of 6 of your eggs hatched! I'm expecting a visit now! (: haha )

2011-02-21T04:59:00.000-08:00

Buenos Días!
Well it has been raining on and off all weekend, but I woke up to sunshine today :)

As my plants are growing in their little cups, this weekend I started to clear a spot for my garden. I have four blisters on my hands from it, haha and still more work to do on it.

Friday was Chris' birthday and he bought 2 pigs for a pig roast yesterday in Pueblo Nuevo. It was a great day! Lucky me got to watch pretty much the whole process... :/ haha

Here is a couple of photos of the ducklings... as promised...

Chris also has a bunch of chicks that just hatched too. (Tim not your blue eggs yet, but any day now! (: )

Also, I have gone for a few runs in the morning time... Here is a sunrise photo...

Tomorrow, Chris and I are going to Santiago to go see a school which was started with a similar idea to what we are doing now. They are now 8 years in and have over 200 students! :)

That's all for now!

Buhbye!

2011-02-18T04:11:00.000-08:00

Hola!

Everything is wet wet wet. I woke up yesterday morning to pouring rain on the zinc roof. It rained for most of yesterday morning, and again on and off in the evening. It must have rained more last night as well. Some areas are not too muddy because the ground gets so super dry that it just soaks up the rain. But other areas turn into this super sticky, dark brown mud. When you walk through it it just cakes onto the bottom of your shoes and with each step you take, your foot gains another layer of the mud cake under your shoe. I'm glad I have my boots! :)

I spent the morning yesterday with Suni. She is such a sweet person! I think she is going to help me with teaching the little kids. When I asked her she was first a little nervous because she dropped out of school at 4th grade and doesn't know how to multiply. I told her that with the 3 and 4 year olds that wouldn't be a problem. I read some of my kids books with her so she could help me with the pronunciations. We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Cookies Week, and Not A Box (all in spanish). She got a kick out of all of them and told me that they don't have books like those in the Dominican.

Last Sunday, I planted about 15 different seeds to start a garden down here. I started them in cups with holes on the bottom. 7 of the cups have already sprouted! We are going to make some plant boxes for them. I can't wait to start eating dinner out of my garden!!!

I have been at my rosetta stone and trying to talk with whoever I can, but I still get pretty frusterated with it. I wish I could just plug my brain into the computer at night and wake up speaking spanish... haha if only...

Alright that's all for now!
Adiós!

Oh yeah, and Chris' ducks just hatched nine little ducklings. I do believe they might be the cutest little yellow fluff balls I have ever seen. I'll try to post a picture of them soon!

2011-02-12T05:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
Right now I am sitting on my front porch, because that is the only place the internet will connect. I have a little usb that I plug into my computer and it goes through the phone service. It's super slow, but not too too bad in the early morning and late at night. Right in front of me is a cow grazing on the small lot next to our house, and all I hear is roosters, and some donimican music in the background, as well as some bikes zooming by out on the main road.

I have been learning how to drive the bike. We have a suzuki. I'm still getting used to it but I'm not doing too bad. I have practiced in the fields near our house, and I have driven it to Pueblo Nuevo a couple of times. I seem to be the "side show" in town. I'm not only the white girl in town, I'm now the white girl attempting to drive the bike. haha

This past week, I went to Pueblo Nuevo on Wed, Thur, and Friday to work/ help out in the kindergarten class. The kids and Elba, their teacher, were happy to have me back. When Elba gives them work to copy, they usually all crowd around me waiting for my help of talking them through it. We have also sung "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" about 100 times. They love it! haha

During their recess time, the older kids from the other classroom come over and want to learn english. I made a poster for their class room with the numbers, alphabet, colors, shapes, and some animals in English. They all ran and got their notebooks and started copying it down trying to say them. :)

I have eaten lots and lots of rice and beans and lots of yucca. Nani (who my group built a house for in '09) invited me for Dulce. So after school on Thursday, I sat with her and her 4 girls and we ate together. It was yummy. Everyone makes their dulce a little different here, but that is what they make when they invite guests to their house.

Alright, I need to go do my laundry,
Adios!
:)

2011-02-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back in the Dominican Republic. It's been great seeing everyone and getting lots of hugs! :)

The weather has been about 85 and sunny, and cooling off at night to about 75. There has also been a nice breeze! I don't know about you, but this is pretty much my idea of fabulous weather! (and nope, not missing the snow at all!!! :) )

I am excited to go see all the kids I worked with in October in the schools!

That's all for now! :)

2011-02-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

"The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started."
~Norman Cousins