Sans water

Well, Day 2 without water is off to a good start. The pump decided to stop working sometime prior to Saturday morning, and once the Tinacum (essentially a plastic well on the roof) drains, there is no water being pumped through the pipes. So no showers, no dishes, no flushing. Fortunately, we have a random spigot in our overgrown yard that does have water. We have been filling pots and pans with water to do dishes and flush the toilet when necessary. Our friends are providing us with showers.

We're hoping it will get fixed tomorrow. Holls and Brooke ran out of gas for their stove on Friday, and the Stanley's ran out today...so hopefully ours will last!! Otherwise, we'll be out of water and cooking fuel...and if the power goes out after that, we could be in some trouble. :) My life is an adventure!

Spirit Week

It was school spirit week at JCS!! That means no uniforms...which I highly support! First up, Monday was crazy day. I had a very confusing facebook chat conversation with one of my students' mothers. I'm about 100% certain she was using an online translation site:
Mom: Tomorrow bunion must go madman's garment
Me: que??
Mom: Or with the uniform it(he,she) is that not entidi only a mad hairdo or the gown also
Mom: If but the debit to go with mad gown or only the hairdo
[This is where I realized she must be talking about crazy day]

It turned out ok though, check him out!:
Tuesday was JCS colors day, and Wednesday was Accident Day. Darwin and I were apparently twins! (He's in my second grade reading class.):


This weekend should be interesting, since our pump has decided not to work and thus we have no running water. Could get a little smelly around here...

Weekend!

For the second Saturday in a row, we went to the Upper Jimenoa waterfall. Fortunately nothing was broken or taken when we got back this week. Jenny's mom and aunt are in town and it's fun to have some new people to show around.

This is us last Saturday, armed with a myriad of weapons for any more uninvited house guests: Jenny with mace, I have a machete, Holly with tabasco sauce, and Brooke with a rolling pin.

I've been spending today as a quiet and uneventful Sunday catching up on some sleep. Weekend's are too short; I am not ready to teach again tomorrow! Time is flying.

Safety!

We have a gate on our door!! (see above) Our landlord has really come around and delivered for us. I feel alot safer. Tomorrow he's going to seal our kitchen door and put some locks on the back doors. The girls upstairs have bars on their windows now!! Look:


I think we will all sleep better now. I know I will!

The bars and door involved alot of metal cutting, which occurred on our front porch without safety goggles. Naturally. Now, you may imagine this welder requires some power. And this is how they hooked up their extension cord:

Yes, those are live wires. I love this place.

water and thieves

Well, I think it's safe to say that this weekend is all over the place. On Friday night I finally got to watch The Blind Side, and it was fantastic!!! It's a great movie even if you're NOT from Baltimore, but since I am, I felt especially proud.

Yesterday morning, my two roommates went out for their usual Saturday morning activities (hair appointment and Awana), and I went with Holly, Brooke, the Stanley's and Mr. Stanley Sr. (visiting from MN) to a little something called the Upper Jimenoa. Which is a HUGE, gorgeous waterfall. The hike down was great; the hike back up is a little rough. But either way, the waterfall is amazing.

We were all set to get home and nap or eat, but about a minute after I went into my house, Holly and Brooke came down in near tears because their house had been broken into while we were gone. Their laptops have been stolen as well as money and their American cell phones. The laptops are the biggest loss though, since we use them to stay in touch with people at home. Whoever it was came in through a window and then used a rolling pin to bust off the door knobs on their bedroom doors (which were locked). It was a crazy afternoon with police reports (written in what appears to be a composition notebook...very official), stress, and trepidation.

We had a large sleepover in their living room last night complete with machete and mace, just in case. It resulted in not alot of concrete rest for me, so a nap is sounding pretty good right now. If anyone hears of or knows someone that would want to donate a used laptop, let me know! :)

Ironic thought for the night:

I'm currently writing an email to a close friend from college, who I lived next to Sophomore year. This reminded me to blog about something I have remembered before but kept forgetting to post. During my spring semester of that year, I took a Caribbean culture and society class. I was extremely frustrated with the grading system - about 5 multiple choice tests. (I am more of a paper writer. In terms of tests, I am more of an essay test taker). I was complaining to this friend and her roommate, and on more than one occasion I specifically remember bemoaning about the preciseness of the questions:
"Honestly, when am I EVER going to need to know what side of the road people drive on in the Dominican Republic??!!"

Too tempting of a question, it would appear. God has a sense of humor...

Happy .5!!

This is probably the most promptly that I've ever reported anything, but I am very excited about this one! Tonight my family down here threw me a surprise half birthday party! (Technically my half birthday is tomorrow, but Holly and I will be at Young Life, so they threw it tonight!) I was completely surprised and it was wonderful. I have a superb crown made by Karyn, and Brewer distracted me while everyone went to Holly's. Then we ate Chinese. It may be the first half birthday party I've ever had, but I think there's a good chance it will always be the best, too. Thanks to my wonderful amigas for all the love!