On that Thursday Melinda, Clay, Robyn (the other student teacher) paid a visit to our host family from last year. It was way more special that I had expected. I forgot just how much I missed them, and oddly enough it was like a little taste of home. Not sure how. Perhaps because Maria had been our mom for 3 1/2 months. Also another bonus was that we know WAY more Spanish than before so we were able to communicate a little better.
[the family in La Colonia]
The week really did seem to get progressively better, especially when we went to the BEACH on Friday! Man, was it exactly what I needed.
To give my mind a break.
To give my heart a break.
To give myself a break.
I found myself working ALL day until I go to bed, so going to the beach I was pretty much forced not to think about school. Got to soak up some rays, eat some good food, see the brilliant stars with no street lights blocking my view and have some good quiet time with God and with my friends.
[eating some breakfast. i especially love the Friends sign above us]
[3 amigos again in Cabarete]
[THIS is why i love the beach]
[9 people in 1 car on the way home. check. whitney and i are sitting cozily in the front seat]
-----------------------------------------------
On another note, I feel like I am getting better at just enjoying my students. I have such a special class and I need to take time to listen to their silly stories, laugh at how ridiculous they are sometimes, and really just love them better. Last Friday they were chosen for "5 minutes of fame" at Revolution (which is a little assembly type thing every other Friday that we have with the whole school). They chose to do a step routine that my assistant, Jerry, taught them, who is also the dance teacher! They were so incredibly adorable and I felt like a proud momma!
[abigail and nalleli eating their snack at recess]
[ms. leahs 3rd grade class]
[my whiteboard finally arrived! it was more exciting than you think]
---------------------------------------------
Little funny Dominican story for you: So the policeman here are called aumets (not really sure how to spell that one). But they are quite inconsistent with the way they enforce laws. The wearing a helmet when you drive a motorcycle law to be exact. They really just got on these sprees of enforcing the law. So one day we are walking home from school and there is a crowd of about 15 people standing there and their motos were being loaded onto the back of a truck. I also would like to add that most of them were women. But just wait the story gets better. We walk a little further and there is an aumet standing in the middle of the road with no moto or car or weapon trying to stop these motorcycles that were zooming right past him. We stood there for a few minutes watching this poor aumet helplessly trying to stop them. So really the people would just speed up and swerve right past him. Oddly enough it seemed to kind of bond the community becuase as we walked down the road there would be groups of Dominicans chatting and probably laughing about how they dodged the aumet and warning other people driving that way.---------------------------------------
Lastly, this weekend has been QUITE restful. I've babysat twice, and today Amanda and I spent decorating our house. Well to be honest we had about 15 unfinished things going on at the same time. Our dirty kitchen from lunch, doing laundry, pictures out all over the table, our Bibles out trying to pick a verse to paint on our wall, cut burlap trying to make some wall hangings, a hot glue gun from another various craft, pictures in my room that I was hanging, my half cleaned bathroom, and my half made bed from me changing my sheets. Someone tell me why I must be so ADD? Perhaps it was the coffee I drank this morning for the first time in months....
until next time friends.
