Powerless: Week 4 in the D.R

The fourth week here in the Dominican has been one of the most interesting yet.  I have realized more than ever, that as much as I would like to think that I am in control, I am definitely not.  I think I needed that reminded that God is in control and there is so much that happens that I have no control or power over and I just need to accept that.  I can just be in control of myself and nothing else.

Teaching fourth grade in the morning is getting easier as we now have a routine of sorts, if there is such a thing in the D.R.  Mondays are always the most challenging day, but I guess that is why people everywhere say, “oh it’s just a Monday!”  I had 5 boys in the class on Monday and not a single one of them was happy with another, but they were particularly mad at one of the boys.  I still don’t know what the problem was, but before I knew it I had 2 boys one side of the room and 3 on the other.  They were all up in each other’s faces and for a moment I thought we were going to have a brawl in our classroom!!! Finally we just had to keep them separated and that resolved that issue.  By the next morning they were over whatever the problem had been, and thankfully the rest of the week was a lot more peaceful and calm.

This week in the afternoon program I was teaching a class on how to make friendship bracelets.  My sister Emily had mailed me embroidery thread and the necessary supplies to make them.  Let me that first day was possibly the most two chaotic hours of my life.  Because the power had been out that afternoon I did not get to print off instructions, but instead was left to my own devices to try to explain to everyone how to make them.  I thought I would have just a few kids but I ended up having fairly large groups for both hours.  The kids all showed up at once and started grabbing thread and were asking a million questions at once.  Unfortunately there was only one of me to go around and explain how to make them; I needed about 5 of me to handle the chaos.  As the week went on the afternoon program got less stressful.  Not as many kids showed up and the ones that kept coming back already knew how to make the bracelets.  In the end it turned out to be a lot of fun and I really got to know some of the kids well.

Life in our house has been an interesting one this week.  On Monday night the light bulb in our bathroom went out.  The next day we went and bought a new one only to realize that it did not fit in the socket.  Turns out the right size is very hard to come by and almost a week later we still are lightless.  I have become very good at taking showers by candlelight.  This experience was apparently just preparing us for what would come later in the week.  On Thursday our power got turned off at both the house I am staying at and the house the rest of the interns are at across the street because the bill was late.  Friday morning the bill got paid and the power company was supposed to come turn it back on, of course this did not happen.  By this point we were out of water and all rather grumpy from not having any power.  That night Rachel and I were home alone and decided we were going to investigate the power situation; we had heard that they just flip something around to turn the power on and off, so thought we could probably handled that.  After spending some time looking at the meter boxes we found the one that went to the intern house and it was the only one with an actual switch and it just happened to be unlocked, so of course we flipped it! Low and behold that worked and the intern house had power once again.  Unfortunately we could not get it turned on at Katie and Mallory’s (which is where I live), but thankfully the power company came Saturday morning and fixed it after much complaining.

The other interns from the rest of the island arrived in Jarabacoa Friday for a weekend for all of us to catch up.  Those of us who live here were in charge of dinner for 25 people, but it all went surprisingly well. On Saturday we all headed to the capitol, Santo Domingo.  We got a late start on the day and then had a tire blow out, but eventually made it.  While there we toured the colonial zone and saw the oldest cathedral in the America’s, Diego Columbus’s palace, and several other historical sites.  There was a lot of neat stuff to see, but my goodness was it hot there.  It made me very thankful that we are living up in the mountains, we all thought it was hot here in Jarabacoa but it has nothing on Santo Domingo.  After we went on the guided tour we had time to shop or check out other places that weren’t on our tour.  The Monte Plata interns left us in Santo Domingo to head back to their site and the rest of us headed home through Constanza to drop the interns off their and tour the Ark there, but unfortunately it was dark by the time we arrived there so we did not get to tour the facilities there.  It was a long day but was great to catch up with the other interns and was fun to get to go to the capitol.

I found out when I got down here that the girl I have been sponsoring for close to 9 years is no longer in the program.  She had failed sixth grade and repeated it but then failed seventh grade and when that happened her father pulled her out of the program.  This made me sad that I wouldn’t get to see her and that she probably wouldn’t be finishing her education, and in turn her future is probably not too bright.  While all of this was going on my mom emailed me to let me know I had been assigned a new child, but I had the option to decline and choose my own since I was down here.  Her name is Diovelis, she is 5 years old, and in Kindergarten, which Mallory teaches.  As soon as I saw which little girl she was, I thought she was possibly the cutest kid I have ever seen.  I put a lot of thought into whether I wanted to pick a kid I already had a connection with to sponsor, but have decided to become her sponsor. I am excited to get to spend some more time with her in the next two weeks and hopefully get to know her better.

I can’t believe we only have 2 weeks left here, but as sad as I will be to leave I am also excited and ready to be at home.  Being here has really made me appreciate the people and life I have back at home. 

The Honeymoon's Over: Week 3

It's hard to believe this last week was our third week here and that Monday marks the halfway point.  In one aspect it feels like we have been here so long because everyday is so long and so much happens in a day, but at the other I think it is crazy to think we have already been here 21 days!

This past week was a busy one, but that is just to be expected.  I feel like my co-teacher and I have kind of gotten into a groove in our classroom and things are going well. We make a good team.  The kids in my class are finally starting to warm up to me and respect me so that is encouraging, and hopefully it will continue to improve even more. We had even more kids attend school this week, my biggest class was 12.  This week in the afternoon I ended up helping teach swimming lessons at the pool.  I was not aware I would be doing this and the first day ended up swimming in my clothes, but that is very typical here in the D.R.

 On top of school our week was filled with a lot of other activities.  On Monday several of the girls went to the Trautwein’s house to help make pies for the upcoming 4^th of July party. Tuesday night was bible study, which is always a late night affair here no matter how quick we try to be.  On Wednesday for the 4^th the all of the Americans who live here in Jarabacoa plus a few Canadians gathered at the Trautwein’s for a BBQ.  It was a fun time socializing with people, and I got to have my first hamburger in several weeks, which made me quite happy! There were also a lot of delicious pies and all around good food. Friday we had the afternoon off and headed into town to do some shopping and then headed out for dinner.  On Friday evenings in the summer the Ark has a thing called Grand Circulo which is like a talent show that all the kids participate in. Two of our interns participated.  Paige sang and played the guitar while Olivia juggled.  The rest of us got a pretty good kick out of this and had a lot of fun. Saturday we went on a hike to a waterfall.  It was a really nice day out and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous, for most of the hike we walked in the river which was nice and refreshing.  We had planned on swimming when we got to the waterfall, but the water was so cold we only braved it for a few minutes before getting out.  Today after attending church in the morning we went tubing down the river.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon and we all had a lot of fun.

On Saturday night we added two new girls to our posse of interns, and so now there are 11 of us total.  It’s been an interesting transition for us, and I am sure will continue to be.  I never realized how hard it is to cook for 11 people, and how much food 11 girls really do eat!! Nothing lasts very long around our house as far as food goes that’s for sure.

I personally had kind of a rough week knowing about all the fires in Wyoming.  It was really hard for me to be here when my family was having to evacuate our house and were fighting to protect our livelihood.  I felt so helpless and out of the loop down here.  I was very glad to find out that everyone is safe, and so is our house.  On Friday I came down with pink eye, but thanks to some antibiotics I am on the mend.  It is already clearing up and looking better.

There is so much that happens everyday it is hard to write about all of it.  I can’t wait to be home and share my stories and pictures with everyone.  I am learning something new everyday and overall having a great experience! I want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, and ask for continued ones.

Bushwacked: Week 2 in the D.R

The second week here was even busier than the first one, I wasn't sure that was possible but it is!  On Saturday we ran the "marathon at the Ark.  This was an interesting experience in itself.  The marathon was around 3 miles and the majority of it was uphill! It was around 96 degrees that day and around 85% humidity probably.  Needless to say it was a long day and I thought I might die, but we all finished!

Our first week of summer school started Monday.  Let me tell you it was nothing like I expected, which was both good and bad.  In my fourth grade class we had nine students show up the first day and 10 the rest of the week.  The week was filled with chaos and naughty kids, but I managed to survive.  I have a lot to work on when it comes to the teaching aspect of things, but it is a work in progress.  I was having a hard time this week trying to figure out what my purpose was and was just really frustrated.  On Thursday during our lunch break we went to the barrios where two of my students live along with some other kids from school.  This was an eye opening experience to see where some of my students live and come from.  We spent time visiting their houses and hanging out with them while they swam in the river.  We saw a little girl who was pregnant and only 13, it made me so sad for her that she quit school because of this and most likely didn't even know who the father was.  She was watching the other kids swimming and just looked so sad.  It made me sad for one of the girls in my class who lives in the area and is 14, and the chances of her facing the same fate is most likely good.  It was just the attitude adjustment I needed.  It made me realize that even if I was frustrated with teaching and not being able to communicate well that the most important thing I can do is love these kids and for the 3 hours I am with them everyday to help them escape from the harsh realities they come from.

In the afternoon one of the other interns and I have been teaching a photography class to the middle schoolers.  This has been a lot of fun since it is just a fun relaxed time.  We usually talk about some lesson of the day and then go and walk around town and let the kids take pictures.  Getting to know the middle schoolers has been fun, they are so full of energy and actually know some english so we can communicate really well.  It is fun to see how excited the kids get over getting to take pictures, they are so proud of themselves! There is no school on Friday so in the morning we plan and prepare for the next week of school, as bad as it sounds it was almost a relief to be able to catch up without all the kids around.

On Saturday we sat out on a trek to hike Mt. Magote.  All of us interns had heard bad things about this hike but we decided we were going to try and master it. It was quite the adventure!  About 3/4 of the way to the top some of made it across this part where the land was sliding away but the rest of the group did not.  Those of us that had made it across kept going up to the next clearing to wait for the others to find an alternative route to meet up with us.  We spent over an hour waiting when the conclusion was made they weren't going to make it so instead of continuing to the top we needed to turn around and head back down.  The only problem was because of the bad area we had to find an alternative way down. We had to create our own path part of the way to meet into one we could see, as to which Vic stated we would be "bushwacking" it, this of course was pretty funny to all of us and became the summary of our day.  After much adventure, some wild dogs, and trespassing on some guys we met up with the rest of the group and headed down the mountain.  While on the hike we came across a field with some cattle and I was amazed to see how many of my fellow interns are scared of cows!! I got a pretty good kick out of this, the cows were simply curious as to why we were there and weren't mean in the least bit.  Our leader Vic claimed he could speak cow and was trying to get them to go away, which was also quite funny! Coming from Wyoming and raising cows I had never thought about how other people reacted to cows.  On the way back through the pasture several of the girls claimed the cows were chasing us and took off running to the nearest fence, in all reality they were just following us!  All in all it was a long day of hiking, we went about 10 miles, but it made for a good story for sure.

 Please continue to keep our group in your prayers, especially since this will probably be a hard week for all of being the 4th of July this week and all.  

Changing Lives One Lentil At A Time

The first week here in the Dominican has been a busy one!!! We arrived in Jarabacoa late Monday night, but it was fun to get to meet all of the other interns and get settled into our houses. Myself and one of the other interns are staying with two single missionary ladies, Katie and Mallory, in their home, while the other interns are in a house across the street from us.

The next several days were spent in orientation and training.  We got to meet all of the other Kids Alive employees throughout the D.R. which was a fun and neat experience. It was a overwhelming experience to meet so many people who God has called to serve here, and to here stories of how lives have been changed thanks to this program.  I feel so honored to be apart of this organization.

I found out I will be teaching 4th grade at the ANIJA school along with a Dominican youth.  We will have anywhere from 16-25 4th graders every morning.  I am very nervous for school to start as I am not feeling like my Spanish skills are up to par just normally speaking, let alone teaching a classroom full of children! So that will definitely be an interesting life experience, but by the time I come home I should be a much better Spanish speaker.  

It has been great to get to know the other interns.  Yesterday we split up groups, and the rest of the interns went to their separate locations.  So now there is only 9 of us interns here in Jarabacoa, but in two weeks another intern will be joining us, but sadly one will also be leaving us.  We have spent several hours building tools to be used for math tutoring out of popsicle sticks and lentils, and let me tell you that doesn't sound fun but we all had so much fun and laughed so hard.  Last night the power was out for several hours for the first time since we have been here so that was an experience that led to a lot of laughter and great stories! We have also come to find out that our cooking skills need much improvement, so hopefully we improve upon that or it might be a long 6 weeks of eating pancake crumbles and mangos for dinner. We are the house that people do not want to join for dinner! 

Tonight we are headed into to town to eat Pico Pollo and then tomorrow there is a "marathon" (which is only like 3 miles) at the Ark so that should be a fun way to spend our weekend. Hopefully I will be able to update soon. I would appreciate your continued prayers!

Preparing for Departure

I have decided to start a blog about my summer experience as a Kids Alive intern in the Dominican Republic.  I am very new at this blogging business but everyone try and bare with me.

As our departure date is quickly approaching (less than 5 days) I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed at all that I have to do before I leave!  Who knew packing for 6 weeks in a foreign country would be such a daunting task?  I am the worst decision maker when it comes to packing and will probably end up with enough clothes in my suitcase to clothe a small army!

As my team and I are preparing to leave I would ask that you all keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  The nerves of going to a new place and meeting new people are starting to grow, not to mention the fear of not being able to talk to our loved ones on a regular basis.  I would ask that you pray we all adjust well to our new home for the next few weeks and that our hearts are opened and prepared to make an impact in the community and especially on the children we will be working with.