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.