What a week! My class started the Everyday Math curriculum last week and has been doing great with reviewing things from last year. This week I added the Reading Street curriculum. It is going to take a few weeks to figure out how to get everything in that we need to each afternoon. There is a lot to cover every day. It was another hot week with temps "feeling like" over 100 degrees each day. The heat is hard on teachers and students by afternoon. But we manage to push through. Tuesday was the SCS open house. My students made "people" to put in their chairs that had "Math About Me" worksheets attached. They also had quizzes for their parents. Half the paper had a favorites list that the student filled out and the other half (that was folded over so the parents couldn't see) had the same favorites list that the parents had to fill out about their student. It was interesting to see how many each parent could guess correctly. Some were quite surprised by their student's answers. The parents could also write their child a note for them to read the following day. I was pleased to have parents of 14 students show up. Many of them I hadn't met previously. The challenge was each parent wanted to talk with you for a while about their student and you knew you had other parents in the room that wanted to do the same. Balancing them all was difficult. The parents had a meeting in the gymnasium following the open house. I'm learning that the days we don't go home after school because of evening events are going to make the week feel much longer.

Thursday was the beginning of the new teacher Spanish class. I was excited to start learning how to put all of my vocabulary into usable conversation, but nervous about messing up or not being able to remember it all. However, God gives grace. We have two amazing teachers- Victoria teaches grammar for 1/2 hour and Ruth teachers conversational Spanish for 1/2 hour. Both are very important components to learning Spanish. It can be very overwhelming for me, but I am so blessed to have many people around me encouraging me that it will come! One step at a time. 

Friday we all needed a break and the Boehnings kindly opened their home so about 30 of us could get together to play games and eat banana splits. It was so nice to put aside school and hang out. I didn't play the games as much as I was entertained watching them. I was so excited to be able to sit down with Ruth and "talk" with her. She is learning English and I am learning Spanish, but we both have come far enough to communicate without someone having to translate everything. This was a HUGE step for us. I listened as she talked to others in Spanish and could follow the conversations pretty well based on my vocabulary. If I was completely lost on a certain word, I'd ask what it meant in English and then repeat it in Spanish. I understand how others feel after a conversation in a second language- it is exhausting! Small steps again. It was a late night, but the company was great and it was just what I needed to unwind.

Today, Darlene (our wonderful neighbor) took me to Claro to get my phone fixed. I couldn't make calls on it, because something was deactivated. It was fixed within minutes and after several weeks I am back in business. I "convinced" her to take me to the monument here in Santiago to tour the inside. You can't got to the top of the cylinder part, but you can go up about halfway to the balcony part and get a great view of the city of Santiago. It was sunny and very warm, but not too hot to walk around. Supposedly there are 365 steps, but I did not count. Darlene gave me some of the history of the Dominican Republic and how it got its independence. It had to gain its independence twice from Haiti- the final time being in 1844 (I think). Each of the three levels had a few displays/paintings of history or culture. I was glad I finally got to go (and with someone who took the time to explain the history aspect of it). We ate lunch at Subway again, but this time I could order my sandwich and combo on my own (pretty much). I'm sure the Dominicans laugh every time I come around. I know posting a lot of pics in this blog, but each painting had importance significance and the pics of Santiago are a 360 degree view of my "home" now. The breeze was amazing at the top and the view of the mountains on both sides was breathtaking. Darlene was able to point out some landmarks from around the city as well. Enjoy seeing this adventure through my eyes!

I can't believe week four of school is starting tomorrow and I've been in the Dominican Republic almost two months. I feel more settled each week I'm here. We've had our first "hurricane/storm" day where school was cancelled. We'd gotten on the bus at our normal time and were just about done with the pickups when someone got the call that school was cancelled. I'd never heard a bus of teachers break out in such excitement and cheers. So, back home we went. It did start raining at this time, but it stopped soon after we got home. That was an interesting day, because most of the day was sunny. We basically just got some rain and wind. The rain was much needed for the Dominican Republic and surrounding islands. My roommates and I spend most of the day out of the house. We went shopping and stocked up on groceries, stopped for coffee, then went to a friend's house for lunch and games. In the evening I went to another friend's house for dinner and we had a lot of fun playing the game "Sync Up" with several other teachers. I was terrible at the game since I didn't know what many of the categories were, but it was entertaining. It was nice not to spend the day off sitting in our apartment (even though the temps had really cooled off!), and it was extra nice to know we had Saturday still to relax and work on lesson plans. Many people got confused when they saw that Dominica had been hit pretty hard by the storm, and thought it was the Dominican Republic. The anticipation really built up for Erika, but we were very thankful for the rain we did get and the lack of destruction in our area. It was a big relief to have a few days of cooler temps after the hot temps we had been getting. However the cool temps were short lived and this past week it's been back into the mid to high 90s (with higher heat indexes).

Each day is relatively the same for me (and my class). Last week we added in Everyday Math- the students did a great job with the first few lessons (as did their teacher doing this curriculum for the first time). This week we are starting the Reading Street curriculum. This is taught in the afternoon and the students have a hard time focusing then due to the heat and tiredness. We will see how it goes and adjust as needed. My evenings are spent working on grading and lesson plans. I crawl into bed each night quite exhausted from a busy day.

Thursday was my birthday. As I was getting ready for school at 6 a.m. I heard singing outside my bedroom door. I opened it to find my roommates and neighbor, Darlene, holding a cupcake with a candle. Lori had decorated my door with signs and balloons. They were so kind to remember me on my birthday. At school my students sang to Zoey (my student who shares a birthday with me) and me several times (English and Spanish). One of my girls made me a huge brownie. Others made me cards throughout the day. This is the one day that my students can say "Don't come over here" and I pretend to not know what is going on. At the end of the day we had cookies, I gave them balloons to have a balloon war, and they presented me with a banner that said happy birthday. What I didn't know is they had cut up tons of pieces of paper into confetti and stuffed it in their water bottles. When they gave me the banner they threw the confetti into the air and we had paper from one end of the classroom to the other. I'm sure my jaw dropped. But a couple of the girls were so helpful and swept before the cleaning ladies saw the mess. I am so glad teachers only have a birthday once a year. The excitement is too much for some :) Friday night Lori and Kyla had some of our friends over for cake to celebrate Allison and my birthdays. It was a relaxing evening after a long week.

I attended a ladies Bible study last Monday that I hope I can keep attending with my busy schedule. It is so refreshing to get interaction with other ladies outside of the school setting and focus on spiritual topics. We are going through the book of Jonah. There are going to be some good discussions as we grow, learn, and encourage each other.

I've been having some problems with allergies and reactions since I've gotten here, so off to the allergy doctor I went. He was able to give me some different medications to try for the next couple of weeks and had blood taken to see if they could figure out what I'm reacting to. Plus side is I got to see inside the hospital that all the staff use if needed. It is a nice hospital with a lot of different doctors represented. While Linda and I were there, we stopped in to see one of the teachers who was going to be having her baby several weeks earlier than expected. She had a good report for the time being and the baby was doing well. She ended up delivering yesterday (Saturday), so we have a new addition to the SCS family! Darlene and I went crib shopping for them yesterday, since they hadn't gotten a chance to pick one out yet. We found a few options and I loved seeing all the baby things at the stores. After we went shopping, Darlene took me to Square One, a restaurant that serves so many things including breakfast options all day. I picked the chocolate chip pancakes, which I had been wanting since Darlene mentioned them a few weeks ago.

At church the pastor's been preaching on "Inesperado"- the unexpected. He's done a series on unlikely Bible characters that God used, such as Moses, Esther, and David. God wants to use each of us, if we are willing. He doesn't require we have it all together first. I try to give excuses as to why God cannot use me, but the truth is God can use me just as I am, if I only give what I have to Him. Today his message was on Jesus. Each of the others didn't choose a lot of what life dealt them, but Jesus chose to become the least. Jesus humbled himself to lift others up. It says in Phil. 2:5 that we should have this same mindset that Christ had. He challenged us in several areas: Be willing to take risks outside our comfort zone (a hard one for me). Be generous- not just money, but time, possessions, space, etc. Be accessible- be available to others. Be loving. Christ may have demoted himself throughout His life here on earth, but at the end God raised Him up. Good challenge to practically apply this week!

Finally, today I got an air conditioner. I've been able to survive the heat, because usually there is a slight breeze (or fans) that makes it bearable. However, nights have been a little rough trying to sleep comfortably. I knew coming to the Dominican it would be hot and someone in the states graciously gave money for an air conditioner for when I arrived. The time just was never right...until today. I'm incredibly grateful someone, who knew what they were looking for, was able to run me around and translate through the whole process. (It's sitting in my room, ready to be installed when they can schedule it.)

This has been a struggle for me living here in the Dominican Republic. I'm very capable of driving to a store in the United States and asking a million questions until I decide what I want to buy. Not that easy in the Dominican. One, I don't have a great way to get around whenever I need to get something. Two, I CAN'T speak Spanish! I can find someone who speaks some English occasionally. Three, they don't have a lot of the same things here in the DR, so you have to know what you are looking for (and I normally don't). Four, there doesn't seem to be the same rush to get things done in the DR as in the United States. Patience is definitely a must. (Whether it is waiting for labs to be drawn or waiting for something to be fixed.) Five, I HATE having to ask for help- I know God started working with me on this the first day I arrived. God has me in a good place though and has been teaching me a lot of these lessons over the last year. The blessings of living here outweigh the struggles I've encountered! I'm reminded daily the importance of relationships and communication. 

This week will be busy. Open house for the SCS families is on Tuesday. Spanish lessons start Thursday- I wonder if I'll be able to instantly speak conversational Spanish. And, Lord willing, I'll have my air conditioner installed. Life is always interesting living here in the Dominican and I'd have it no other way....