First Week of School

Ok, I am officially apologizing to yall that this post from the first week of school is just now getting posted on the beginning of the third week of school. It's crazy around here and planning takes much more time than I ever thought and the days are more exhausting than I thought as well. So, again sorry for the lapse of time between posts, but I will try to be a bit more consistent in the weeks to come.

I will run you through what a typical day looks like for me throughout the week. Here goes:

6:30 Wake up and depending on the water supply may or may not shower:)

7:00 Leave the house and meet Sara (mentor teacher who lives close by) for a ride to school

7:30 Arrive at school and get stuff set up for the day to come

7:45 Staff prayer and announcements. This continually is such a neat time to hear prayers lifted up in different languages and to know that God hears them all the same. Wow!

8:00 All school flag and prayer. Yes, I do sing the Dominican Republic national anthem and yes I do still have to have the words right in front of me b/c I haven't memorized it just yet, but that time will come! There is a high schooler that is our "morning DJ" and she is really funny.

8:10-8:40 7th grade homeroom where we have our devotions class that Sara leads. This is the time for teambuilding and exploring Scripture. Sara is alot like myself and really challenges the kids to think outside of the box and ask "Why?" to almost everything they say. She really wants to break them away from this mold of always having to say the perfect answer or feel as if they know it all. Here it seems there are 2 different extremes in families. Either they are perfectionistic in what they expect from their kids or they have no standards for their kids and therefore they seem apathetic and take no initiative in anything. Both are challenging to combat in the classroom.

8:40-10:00 6th grade math.

10:00-10:20 Recess...this is where I usually order a "betida" from the cafe, which is a mango smoothie. Let me tell you this about their fruit. You have never tasted something so naturally sweet before in your life!! Delicious!

10:20-11:40 7th grade math.

11:40-1:00 8th grade math.

1:00-1:40 Lunch!! Favorite part of the day for me!! The cafe fixes wonderful dishes here at the school like sandwiches, pizza, quesadillas, MONSTROUS salads, wraps, etc. I eat pretty well to tell you the truth! Parents come up to eat with their kids (mostly elementary) and they bring hot lunches (beans and rice and chicken) b/c that is what they want their children eating. I have never seen parents like this, it's quite a sight!

1:40-3:00 Sara leaves at 1pm everyday to be with her kids and I plan for the next day.

3:00-6:00 Planning or on the internet for communication, blogging, etc.

6:30 Get home from school and dinner is usually prepared on the table or around 7pm.

9:00 In bed and ready to do it all over again!

On Fridays, we as staff meet at 7:00am and have bible study and worship. This semester we are looking at biblical leadership. Last week we studied Saul and David and the different limitations of leaders. I think it's going to be a good study!

On Wednesdays, I am in a bible study with ladies from school and church. This is a great time to be real and honest with each other while going through the book of Titus! Love my girls in this study! They bring great wisdom and questions!

Well that is all for today friends...grace and peace.

Here is the gang at the Upper Jimenoa waterfall outside Jarabacoa. It's gorgeous and so we freaked out with excitement when we saw it. The water is muy frio (very cold) though.
Another portrait of the scenery I am constantly surrounded by just outside of town. There were huge boulders with the river running through it.

So, this is the hill that we hiked down to get to the waterfall and then hiked back up (which was a major reality check that I am way out of shape), and there were branches everywhere, so of course I had to swing on it:)

This was our view when we first started the hike down it. As you hiked down the path, you could hear the water get louder and louder as you got closer.

Here is most of the new people at Doulos. We all participated in this grandioso hike. You should be jealous, b/c it was fascinating!

And they just keep on coming...

Rachel (girl from TCU and Palestine teaching Middle School Geography), myself, and Melinda at the coffee farm.
A picturesque moment at the coffee farm.

Another moment that takes my breath away daily.

An actual coffee plant on the coffee farm. I had no idea what one looked like until last week.

Beautiful landscacpe.

More Pictures!

This is a beautiful plant that grows naturally throughout Jarabacoa, but especially at the coffee farm.
Banana trees are everywhere and I love their big leaves! They are quite exquisite I must say!

These are 2 girls that live with us at Maria's house. They are both granddaughters of Maria, on the left is Denise (5) and on the right is Mariella (10). They are beautiful little girls and think b/c we are North Americans that we are fascinating! It's kinda fun!

This is Maria's living room and kitchen area. This is where we eat breakfast and dinner and hang out with the family.

Sorry these pictures are so late!

This is my bathroom that Leah and I share. It's pretty small, but gets the job done. We don't have any hot water, but I am actually becoming accustomed to the cold water. Who knew?
This is our room and we are slowly getting it decorated piece by piece. We both sleep in the queen bed and it actually sleeps quite well.

This is my mentor teacher's house; we stayed here our first night in Jarabacoa. Her name is Sara Espinoza and she is married to Joey and they have 2 kids, Risa (3) and Micah (1).

Melinda and I at the airport ready to travel on a jet plane!

Play, Work, Play

So, this week started with an all day staff retreat at Krista's house, which is gorgeous and there will be pictures soon! Anyways, it was a wonderful time to relax and not think about school or lessons; we began with a time of worship which is beautiful in itself, b/c there is something powerful when multiple languages get together and sing the same song. I just wonder what God hears, does He just hear one langauge? It was absolutely beautiful to listen to and be apart of. After that, we just spent the next part outside reflecting and reading Scripture while looking at the mountains, which is a beautiful backdrop for your quiet times. I recommend it for anyone and everyone!! The rest of the day was filled with fellowship and teambuilding games. Great day!

The rest of this week has been working in our classroom and getting our schedule together for student teaching. It has now officially hit me that I am not here for vacation, but for teaching!! Sometimes I just think I am here for a beautiful experience and vacation, but today came the reality of I am also here to work, write lesson plans, invest in student's lives, etc. Some of that excites me while some of that overwhelms me. I am taking it one day at a time and right now I just really want to skip to Monday and start school and see exactly how everything plays out!! I did receive my first lesson plan book and I feel like an official teacher!! I am pretty sure it looks just like the one my old 5th grade teacher had!

Everyone loves coffee eh?

So, this past week we explored the world of coffee in what is called a learning expeditition. These expeditions take place with our students every fall and spring semester. We as a staff participated in a "slice" which is just a piece of what would actually be going on in a real classroom. This slice was about the world of coffee and exploring the history, economics, lives of farmers, etc. On Thursday we actually went to a coffee farm here in the DR locally and learned more about coffee than I ever thought possible. The big thing I took from this expedition is the question...Is credit given where credit is due? Basically what happens to the money aspect between where the coffee is grown and harvested and to the retailer and sold for 4X the amount?

The big concept for this was to determine if coffee was FairTrade (a co-op) or fairly traded? The difference between them is the direct relationship beween farmer and retailer. This is when coffee is fairly traded. When there is a middle man like a farmer's co-op they take more of the money and credit than the actual farmers themselves. An example of a statistic is that when you buy a bag of coffee at a local or chain coffee shop for $13, the farmer will roughly get about 40-80 cents of that profit. Can you imagine that!!! Coffee farmers here in the DR are continually living in poverty and they struggle to make ends meet and put food on the table during the harvest months!! To me, that broke my heart.

So, you ask what can be done to remedy this? Well, the directors of Doulos (where I teach) have decided to do their part and help the local coffee farmers. It takes people with connections within the states to first start the relationship with a retailer and ask them to partner with a coffee farm elsewhere. Chad (Krista's husband) started a coffee farm here called Spirit Mountain and they supply directly to Dominican Joe's Coffee Shop in Austin, TX. As Krista tells the story, she said that one day she was on the coast up north DR and she met a work team from UT Austin that was on Spring Break. After talking with them, she met up with their director who had just gotten off the phone with her business that a coffee supplier had fallen through. As she is telling Krista all of this, Krista said that it was clearly the Lord bringing them together as she had a coffee farm, but no retailer and this coffee shop owner had no supplier. Thus a working relationshi started and half of the proceeds go to help fund either Doulos or another Christian school on the border of Haiti and DR. Now they have been in business for almost 2 years and they are helping out the farmers here by cutting out unnecessary costs like a middle man. All in all, it was very interesting and I now am aware of the process that goes into my one cup of coffee and let me tell you its a lengthy process!!! So, ask your coffee shop where their coffee comes from and hopefully we can together help out our local farmers!!

Mi Familia de Republica Dominicana (My DR Family)

My family consists of Maria, host mother, who is about in her 60's and has a lovely home located in La Colonia (The Colony) neighborhood. She has her daughter, Cecilia about 30, and granddaughter, Denise 4 turning 5 on Saturday, living with her at the moment. Maria speaks no English, which poses some problems, but Cecilia comes to our rescue b/c she is wanting to learn English, so it's a nice give and take partnership:)

Last night we stayed up and watched a movie with Cecilia in English but with Spanish subtitles, so therefore everyone was pleased. My spanish is getting better and Melinda is very helpful with my poor attempt at a new language. Thank goodness for helpful people in the DR!!

Rules of the DR...

Well, several things have been learned thus far in my 4 days stay here in the DR.

First, there is the language barrier and mi espanol is muy malo (My spanish is very bad)!!! I have knowledge of certain words and phrases, but I am AWFUL at grammar, which is always something that made me so mad or frustrated in the states when people wouldn't use correct grammar. Now, my compassion has INCREASED for people learning another language. It takes time and I have been encouraged that it will progress, but to be honest it's very hard and frustrating for me. For those of you who know me, yall know that I am very much a quality time person, so to go home to my host's family and not be able to communicate with them over a cup of juice or coffee is really hard for me. This culture is very much relational in everything they do. I mean the whole country shuts down between 12-2 everyday for lunch, socializing, and siesta!! Of course the school will not close, but that just goes to show that they desire very much to be in constant communication with the people close to them. And yall know how much I love to talk, so it's KILLING ME!! Luckily, the Lord is the Lord of ALL languages and HE transcends just the right words, feelings, emotions etc for us when we clearly can't.

Second, there is the fact that personal space is non existent! When driving or walking there is no regard for anyone else on the road. Their philosophy is that the bigger car/person wins. This seems pretty logical except when you are the smaller vehicle and you are feeling the gust of wind on your arm hairs as the bigger and more arrogant vehicle passes by. Don't worry I don't walk in the streets much, so I am safe:) Also on this note, it's not uncommon for people while standing in line, have their front sides pressed up to your back sides, when clearly there is enough room for everyone to stand at least a couple of feet apart!!! Just one of those things that I apparently will grow to love that they just want to be that close to me:)

Third, the food is actually quite tasty for my liking. Lunch is by far the biggest meal of the day and it usually consists of chicken, beans and rice (sometimes brown or white), then salad of lettuce and tomato with a homemade "italian like" dressing, and then some form of juice. Breakfast will usually just be cereal that we buy at the supermercado (super market) and then everyone has coffee! This morning, Maria (host mother) fixed me coffee and I was a little nervous, b/c as my dad used to say I like milk and sugar with a little bit of coffee, and it was just like that!! It made me feel at home. Dinner is usually later than in the states about 8-9 pm and is pretty small. We had mangoo (sp?) which is mashed plantanes (similar to bananas) with red onions and yellow bell pepper on top. It was pretty good, but I am for sure not going to lose weight here, b/c everything is healthy portions and lots of carbs, which are my favorite!!

Laslty, I love the school!! It feels so great when you find people or an organization that is doing something right and you just want to jump on board b/c you feel the same way about everything they do. From the way they view teaching to the way they view their role as a private school in another country, they just are very considerate of where they are and exemplify Christ in everything they do!! What an opportunity to be apart of something like this at this time in my life! Right now is orientation and we will be in orientation mode for the rest of this week and next week. Once, we get going into classroom mode, I think I will adjust much better and be able to really see how everything plays out. Right now it's alot of information and not exactly knowing what needs to be done or how it's getting done. I'm still in transition mode right now.

Ok, so not a lot of time today seeing how I am about to get moved into my host's family's home, but just wanted to say that the scenery is very beautiful outside of town. Within the city, the poverty definitely rings true, but everyone is very dressed up and formal and helpful with my bad attempts at spanish! We had a cultural orientation today and then were sent on a scavenger hunt throughout the city to find random things like fuit and veggie markets, supermarkets, money exchange place, etc. I can't wait to finally meet Maria (my host mom) and see the house I will be living in for the next 3 months! Hopefully I can talk more tomorrow friends! Buenos tardes (good afternoon)!