New post!

NEW POST on A Different Sort of Adventure that has nothing (mostly) to do with what I'm eating! (Only my mental consumption...)

posting...

I really need to start working...this is what I did for three hours last week: http://www.ADifferentSortOfAdventure.blogspot.com

new blog...

Well everyone, I want to thank you for following my journey this year. Since I'm no longer "traveling" per se, I think I will keep tiertravels on the backburner until I go somewhere else. But fear not! You can find my new adventures in the treacherous suburbs of Baltimore at ADifferentSortOfAdventure.blogspot.com. Follow me!

Home Sweet (sometimes) Home

Well, seeing as I've been home for 2 (is it 3?) weeks now, I guess I should update...I'm back! The first day was bizarre, but then I was fine. I miss my friends so much, but it's great to be back in America. I'm attempting to move back into my tiny room at home and find gainful employment. I'm also super excited to be starting a Masters program in Baltimore for secondary education in September!

It's hard to be here and know that my roots are here for at least two years, but I know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

It was a great year...thanks everyone for the prayers and cards!! I hope to see you all soon if I haven't already.

I haven't yet decided whether I'll keep up the blog or not...we'll see how it goes!

36 hours left in the DR

I don't really know how this happened; all of a sudden it's almost time to go! I went to the east shore this past Tuesday-Thursday with Holly, Brewer, and Karyn, and it was lovely. Now I have to get packing and cleaning!! It's very difficult to completely clear out of a house like this. It's a sad and exciting time...so I'm just taking it little by little. In honor of a great year, and in the spirit of Stuff White People Like and Stuff Christians Like, a few of us have tried to compile an accurate list of our own. If you haven't read either of the above blogs, they are intended to be both humorous and accurate. (That's my disclaimer for any Dominicans reading this who get offended.) So without further ado,

Stuff Dominicans Like

Sweeping water
Sheer shirts
Patterned bras
Riding motorcycles with umbrellas
Dancing at every event
Hair nets
the Reggaeton bass line
Not working
Cement buildings
Arriving 2 hours late
Daddy Yankee
Skinny jeans
Drinking alcohol
Cramming multiple people in/on vehicles
Rice and beans
Hard bread
Eating at midnight
Imported American clothes
New York
Spoon feeding children until age 10
Halls menthols as candy
Improper clothing for outdoor excursions
Avoiding rain
Heels
Pronouncing English words in Hispanic accents
Birthday parties
Loud music
Speakers on the back of trucks
Hair salons
Political caravans
Excuses
Plantains
Miami
Machetes
Roosters
Straightened hair
Getting nails done
Colmados
Dressing up
Dominoes
Hot dogs on sticks
Baseball
Accessories
Winter clothes in non-winter weather
Paying later
Horses
Sitting on porches
Break time
Mannequins with large body parts
Bachata music
Gold jewelry

Motos carrying large objects...

Dominicans like to carry large and improbably objects on their motorcycles. I have developed the skill of reaching into my purse, getting my camera out, turning it on, and taking a picture all while maintaining the speed of my motorcycle. Don't tell my mom. Anyway, carrying gas tanks is fairly common, as you can see:

Strangely enough, carrying a washer or dryer is also common; this is not the first one I've seen on the road.

School's Out!

Wow, I can't believe today was the last day of school... mind blown. It was a great day. Chaotic, but still great. I took the above video when alot of the classes were outside just relaxing... doing water balloons, throwing water at each other, just being joyous. Then the firefighters came and sprayed water over the entire basketball court (hence the photo the right) and it was just fabulous.
Hopefully I will still get to see some of my students on Monday night when I give out report cards. I'm really going to miss the little munchkins!

Video time!

A short documentary on my favorite thing in the DR.

Birthday Season...

We've just emerged from a huge amount of birthdays...Laura turned 26 on May 28, Fisk turned 27 on May 31, and Brewer turned 24 on June 2. Here are the photos celebrated these occasions!

To the right, you see Brewer and little Jose. They share a birthday! Jose's mom brought him that stellar hat and some great cake. The picture of all of us together is also Brewer's birthday; we got together for cheesecake!!


Yes, you see this one right...Miss Fisk is a little obsessed with Robert Pattinson and Twilight, so we made her an awesome card with Rob P as the centerfold. That sounds awkward, but you know what I mean.

Trash Talk

So, this is our trash. Please note the plant in the top trash can, the cinder block, and the rope lashing the whole pyramid to our windows. Some of you have caught on: dogs. I believe it was Thursday or Friday that we somehow got some visitors overnight. There are two street dogs that are getting into our backyard (despite the fence) and walking around to our carport and utterly tearing the crap out of our trash bags. We have had to pick up alot of trash lately. EXCEPT this morning. This is actually model #2; model #1 involved the three cans just being roped to the window so they couldn't be knocked over. Of course, this did not prevent the vermin from pulling things out of the cans. Our new and improved plan, as you can see, is more more effective: cinder block on Can 1, blocking access; Can 3 on Can 2; and a heavy plant in Can 3. Voila, success!

Regalo

I got my first teacher gift on Friday...this awesome towel with my name cross stitched on it!! Haha. I'm aware that it looks a little old ladyish, but I love it!! Brewer had Dariel's brother Dalbert last year, so she also has a personalized towel, although they spelled her name Nately. Note to the fam, this is MINE. It has my name on it!

THREE WEEKS!

Yes, it's sad and happy at the same time, but it's true. I'm leaving the DR in 3 weeks to go back to the Best Coast. I'm having mixed feelings, and by mixed I mean a true mezcla. I'm excited, sad, ready, not ready, stressed about packing, overwhelmed by that stuff that has to get done, etc.

We have 2 weeks of school left, although the last week is half days, so I'm counting on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to do the teaching on one of those days.

We're right in the middle of a collection of birthdays! Laura turned 26 on Friday, Fisk will be 27 tomorrow, and Brewer is 24 on Wednesday. (Coincidentally she and Jose share a birthday! Also the one year anniversary of my Lasik surgery :).) So we're having fun making their days special.

Topping that off, Tobi, a high school sophomore at the other American school in town, had a birthda party last night. We've gotten to know Tobi through Young Life and she is a lot of fun. Her parents have a beautiful house in the mountains, so last night they threw her a Sweet Sixteen party. I was appalled to be in the older set of guests, but that's how it goes I guess. Unbeknown to us, her parents and older siblings set up a Scavenger hunt all over their housing community. It was a long affair so I won't get into details, but rest assured that it had been raining and I face planted and slipped in the mud several times. At one point I was knee deep in what I was certain was sewage, but now I think it was just smelly mud. That's what I'm going with. Today I have minuscule thorns stuck in my hands, probably from diving several times into plant life to avoid the "policia" aka Tobi's brother and brother in law driving around on four wheelers. It was a pretty fun Sweet Sixteen party.

We have a vistor! Messiah sends down teams of workers during the summer for a week to help at Students International, another organization here in Jarabacoa. One of the juniors is staying to volunteer at school for a week. It's so great to have another Messiah student here! I like using words that only we know :)

well its getting close to dinner time...I am having trouble convincing my body that I need to move...all the running and hiding last night has me a little sore.

21 days!

Jose!

For awhile I've been meaning to post some of Jose's art. Jose is a special little angel in my class with diabetes. Before you feel too sorry for him, please know that he has more energy than I have in my small toe, and he never stays in his seat. He's also very small.

Most of our art projects involve cutting out and gluing paper to make animals. For some reason, Jose likes to add special extras to his projects. I have three of them here, and I'm just sorry I didn't think to photograph the duck he did before I sent it home.

I made sure to include one of the other animals in each picture so that you can see what a normal one looks like.

First, his ladybug:

I don't really know if it's an angry ladybug with propellers or what, but you can see my point.

Now, his bird:

You're probably thinking that one doesn't look so bad. Which is why I saved his turtle for last:

It's up for debate whether it's a dragon turtle or just a turtle with machine guns. I myself go back and forth daily...

stuck

Well, my computer cord broke again. And that new one I had broke too. So now I have two broken cords, and a new one on the way...but the DR customs rules just changed, so all our mail that was supposed to be here on Tuesday will be here May 25th.

That being the case, I'm probably going to cancel my affiliation with the mail service after May. So feel free to send me cards until the end of the month :)

It's another glorious three day weekend that we're about to head into, due to the elections. Elections here are different; everything is CRAZY. There are mile long parades with flags of the political parties colors weaving through town. Last night there was a concert hosted by the red (not communist related) party's congressman candidate and mayor candidate. My plan is to stay inside this weekend as much as possible to stay away from the craziness. They say there will probably be lots of recounts and possible burning of tires by the losers in protest of the winners. Sounds like a good time.

We're also having this crazy weather where it will suddenly and without warning downpour for 10 minutes, then lessen and stop. About 20-30 minutes later the whole thing starts over.

Looks like it's about time to go pick up my kids. just 2.5 more hours!

Happy Birthday little brother!

3 Day weekend!

Sort of. I'll explain:

Today is Dominican Labor Day, which you would think schools would get off for, and you'd be right EXCEPT for when the Secretary of Education decides the week before that everyone needs to go to school. So we had about 2 hours of "school in session" i.e. we went to school and sat in our rooms and organized our iTunes folders. At least that's what I did.

Then we/I went home to eat lunch, and watched a washcloth light on fire on the gas stove while Cecilia was cooking. So, send care packages with washcloths, but not really, because DR customs decided sometime last week that they need to tax all incoming packages to non-profits, regardless of price. (I think there was a big meeting with all important Dominican personnel where they sat around looking blankly at one another, until finally someone got uncomfortable with the silence and proposed random, last minute changes to crucial things like calendars and incoming mail.)

Aside from that, it was a low key weekend: some swimming and eating. Oh, Saturday we hiked from the Lower Jimenoa waterfall to the Upper Jimenoa (the giant waterfall in most of my pictures). It was pretty fantastic. We did get bitten by some serious insects though, and I have been liberally applying the Hydro-cortisone.

Now for the photos!

This, my friends, is a real live STICK BUG!!! I had never seen one!!

This is a view of the Upper Jimenoa from the path!

perro

Literally almost adopted a dog about 3 hours ago. No lie; please don't tell my mom. A small, whimpering puppy showed up on our lawn trying to hide from the random cat that likes to peruse our trash. I have no pictures, but trust me, it was one of the cutest dogs I've ever seen. Fortunately for my roommates and my family a neighbor decided to take it when I walked around looking for a home for it.

And that's Wednesday.

Lots of Tiers...

Well, for the first time in 3 weeks, I am visitorless! Three weeks ago I picked up Ryan, who was still here the following Friday (April 9) when my whole family flew down!!. They left last Sunday, but Kels got to stay until yesterday, when she flew home. So I'm pretty much just decompressing in my room all day. I had a great time with all of them here. We did some great waterfall adventuring! On the first Saturday they were here we hiked the Upper Jimenoa: Tim and Laura took us rock climbing around that area, and a week later we were at 27 Waterfalls near Puerto Plata:My dad had alot of fun resurrecting his rusty Spanish skills. My mom just enjoyed relaxing and not having to worry about cooking.

On Monday they came to my class, and all the boys loved my brother and my dad. The 4th graders required a "conferencia" with them, during which I think most of the girls acquired a crush on Jordan. Please note Smirna's story for the day:
By the time she left yesterday, two of my girls had attached themselves to Kels, and they made her a lot of cute cards.

So, now I am alone for the remaining 7 or however many weeks are left. That's ok; I've got plenty to keep me busy! Maybe now I'll start blogging with some regularity...

Playa

No matter what my post says, it's about 9:45 am on a Thursday, and right about now somewhere inland, my kids are going outside for their morning break. I, on the other hand, have just woken up, and in my peripheral vision I can see my brother on his iPod, and my sister standing at the gate across the yard that separates us from the beach. Still watching creepily...she appears to be contemplating whether to walk down there or not.

It's a little disheartening to realize that my brother will head back to the States on Sunday. We've been having a wonderful time in Jarabacoa and again here at the beach. I will miss them when they leave, but it suddenly hits me that I'm five days away from having only two months left in this country. Two months! Where has the time gone?? Better question, what on earth will I do back in the States? Live with air conditioning and power 24/7? I might have to just turn everything off in the house once or twice to make it feel right.

I'm also happy to remember that I have ALL of the two months left! That can be a long time if I want it to. Thank goodness, because I'm not quite done with the waterfalls yet. There are still places to ride my bike, still some mountains that need climbing.
This is SUCH a beautiful country! If somehow I could have a tunnel from here to Baldimore, I would be set. I do like to have my cake, with sprinkles, and eat it too. With ice cream. Speaking of which, it's time for breakfast!

Hiatus

Ok I'm going to need some forgiveness on infrequent posting! A little over a week ago on Saturday, Jenny and I headed down to Santo Domingo to pick up my good friend Ryan. He's been working in Haiti for 4 weeks, and we managed to arrange him coming up to visit me in Jarabacoa for a week! So he and I have been busy visiting waterfalls and getting ready for last Friday...when I got some special visitors!! I am currently sleeping in the same room as my sister, which is FANTASTIC! So, I'll have to update on that later. Here is a photo of Ryan and I at something called the Confluencia, which is where two rivers (the Yaque and the Jimenoa) meet together!

Kels and I are packing for the beach right now...hopefully (don't hold me to it) I'll update when we return!!