Sunday, April 1, 2012
11:44AM
Sitting on the back porch looking at my clothes on the line
Drinking hazelnut coffee and eating ac Emerald’s Breakfast on the go! pack.
I added several names to my emailing lists this morning. Sorry if you haven’t been getting the emails/Word documents. Some of you may not be caught up on details if you don’t attend Ridgepoint Church or work at COLE. Either way, ask someone to fwd you the others.
Things are going well. I am on Semana Santa this week. That is Holy Week and we are on Spring Break. I have not gotten a parasite yet and that is so nice! J is officially over her double parasite and Salmonella MESS. She went back for her check up the other day and she is good as far as they know. Some other girl just stopped working bc her liver and lungs have ballooned from her parasites and she needs to just not work anymore until this thing stops multiplying at warp speed. She needs to take her butt to the US and get some freaking help. You bet if I was sick like that, I would call my church up to fly my butt home immediately! We aren’t all as fortunate to have a home church, I suppose, to rescue us. The hospital is shady here, let’s be honest. My kids are always getting shots in their arms or booties and I don’t know what the heck they are giving them! N had a parasite and she needed an IV? I don’t know what it was, but it was over a month ago and she still has trails up her arms from it. She was allergic to something, she thinks. The lady had problems with the IV, so she was stuck in both arms. She was in the hospital for a few days, too. Naomi, don’t read this -.there is some clinic here where there is no water or soap available and blood on counters, floor, etc. What, at a health facility?? I am not in an area where people live in cardboard homes, so I find that so off. The bathrooms don’t have running water or toilet paper, which is common in public, but I would assume this to be different. Santiago has a big hospital that is clean. That is where Kristin will deliver and I WILL GO if I get sick anytime soon. I don’t think Ill get any kind of needles, ever.
Halls cough drops either make candy for kids?? Or, this place eats Halls as candy. We had an Easter egg hunt for our first graders and we got 32 pieces of small candy at the comedor up the road. Half of the candy was Halls. Alllllll sorts of flavors that I have never seen, like candy flavored (green apple, watermelon, etc) I didn’t like filling it with that, but Johanna, my teammate, said it is perfectly normal.
One of our Board members bought our school a new water tank, so we shouldn’t have to go without water anymore. Praise, babyyyyy Jesus. We still have towels to dry our hands. The crazy thing is that after you have been here for some time, you just accept things. One of the American teachers looked at me like I was crazy asking why we use a towel in school and some public places and said, youre just supposed to wipe your hands on your clothes or shake ‘em in the air. (Oh, sheesh).
I have completely accepted that the power goes out daily during the week. I don’t even notice most of the time, unless I have to pee and then I’m livid. They don’t hold it. Heck, I don’t even hold it anymore if I really have to pee. Being honest. Someone give me a Dominican badge, I’m in with the urine committee. People still use the bathroom for 2! and it is perfectly normal to do so. Hmmm. I am not joining that team. To hear someone say, we are on a “black-out”—sounds perfectly normal to me now. I use batteries to back up my alarm clock and always have my laptop/kindle plugged into a surge protector in case it happens when they are plugged in. I have no idea how I teach my kids without all the US technology I had in the US. I would love a board that I can write on, even a new chalkboard. I bought myself a clock yesterday. Well, my church did. I didn’t even have a clock in my class. My watch battery bit the dust, so I never knew what the heck time it was w/o my laptop. Pencils have been ordered, no more sharing those! Some of these parents have money! I dont know why I cant get supplies out of them. I told a mom that my church and friends are purchasing things, she said good! Seriously? You pay for your kid to go to the best school in the DR (from what I have heard) and you don’t care that he shares a pencil with his partner?? Odd.
Staff are supposed to be at school at 730, yet no one ever shows up then. We also don’t have anyone opening the door to the classroom hallways until 7:45, sometimes later. They are a very, very lax culture. I am a very lax person! This place makes me a little crazy at times. At 5PM, you bet those doors are locked! Someone locked me in last week and I panicked thinking I was going to sleep there. No one stays after 5 for security purposes.
A rooster just walked up beside my porch and won’t shut up. This place cracks me up!!! As I walk to the store, I cant believe I live here sometimes. I still cant believe it feels so normal.
Randoms:
Ketchup and mayo are on everything, even tacos. WHYYYY!? I try to order take out without it and they don’t care. They put it on there. I order a burger without. They don’t care; they put it on there. I am so glad that mustard is not their staple condiment, I would never, ever eat anywhere bc I refuse to scrape that off!! One of the girls was ordering me food on the phone and the guy didn’t care to modify my order and didn’t even ask what I wanted for my drink. He just delivered it with whatever he picked. What?? Normal operating procedures.
Nothing is of quality that I purchase either. My coffee pot must be smacked ont eh top 3-5 times and a few on the sides to brew. Then, I come back and smack it a couple more times. I paid 20 dollars, that is a piece of gold right there!! I got a table at La Sirena (walmart DR style) last night for 30 dollars. It is white and the legs look like someone has used it, a million times. Scratches and black marks up the legs…not in a box but shrink wrapped. The lady at the front of the store said if I spend a certain amount they will deliver. I asked her how much do I have to spend, she says she doesn’t know. It depends. Im like on what? On the price. WHAT PRICE DO I HAVE TO SPEND TO GET A DELIVERY. She doesn’t know. I walk away. I ask the guy in the back of the store if they will deliver this table and 1 chair to my house. He says they don’t deliver anything. I tell him in the worst Spanish ever that another lady said they do! He says, “oh, let me see” What? He comes back and says if I spent mil pesos, they will deliver. Another man walks over and says I have to spend 6mil pesos. We just jumped 6 times the amount. Forget it. I wouldn’t know b/c I am white, but I asked E why are people looking at us like that? Why are those kids staring at me? She said, “cause you’re white.” There was a taste I had never tasted before. What, wow. There is an eye opener. They take advantage of whites. I took a bus like van to La Vega with E. She pretty much speaks Spanish fluently after a year of being here. The van guy made me pay more for E and I. I didn’t argue, E did. I don’t care. We have the money and I don’t speak his language to argue. I will when I get the language down. He also wouldn’t take 1 cent pesos, that is when I got mad. I opened his hand and put the coins in it. Money is money; don’t tell me you aren’t taking single pesos b/c it takes up space! I am already on this van and we are going to La Vega!! E was like, “he said he doesn’t want pesos.” Ya, I know. I understood him but I was totally playing that I didn’t get the language. I told her I didn’t care what he wanted. Take the money and get away from us. He wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to have to get off, so I gave him a bigger coin in exchange, that I found in my bag. Sometimes, I can play Dominican (if I don’t talk!) and other times, I am white. The lady next to me was breastfeeding. This is a cultural norm to do it uncovered in public. I am totally fine with it now. I have seen enough in Honduras and here, BUT her kid wasn’t eating..he was sleeping now. I just wanted to be like, “ma’am, could you put that away? K, thanks!” She just didn’t even care. Ay yi yi. Personal space is nonexistent. After the other lady got off, she didn’t bother to move off my arm, she just stayed there touching even though she had so much room to move. People are always so close to me that I think there has got to be a ‘candid camera” around. I am at the bank and I can feel the person behind me breathing on my neck! Back up!! Back upppp! Sometimes they stand next to you in line at the bank. Here I am with a handful of money and they are touching my arm they are so close. My love language is touch; I’m a touchy person!!! but these people are too much most of the time. My kids are always touching me. Stop touching me and each other!!! They pet each other and hold hands.
I met some friend and his wife of E’s yesterday and before they left he kissed my cheek. Handshake is fine, buddy. It threw me off, I feel bad when I screw it up…I went for the handshake and he grabbed it and pulled me to his body to kiss me. Crap! Ahhh, are we handshaking or kissing??!!! Someone clue me in on the rules here!! I need the handbook.
11:44AM
Sitting on the back porch looking at my clothes on the line
Drinking hazelnut coffee and eating ac Emerald’s Breakfast on the go! pack.
I added several names to my emailing lists this morning. Sorry if you haven’t been getting the emails/Word documents. Some of you may not be caught up on details if you don’t attend Ridgepoint Church or work at COLE. Either way, ask someone to fwd you the others.
Things are going well. I am on Semana Santa this week. That is Holy Week and we are on Spring Break. I have not gotten a parasite yet and that is so nice! J is officially over her double parasite and Salmonella MESS. She went back for her check up the other day and she is good as far as they know. Some other girl just stopped working bc her liver and lungs have ballooned from her parasites and she needs to just not work anymore until this thing stops multiplying at warp speed. She needs to take her butt to the US and get some freaking help. You bet if I was sick like that, I would call my church up to fly my butt home immediately! We aren’t all as fortunate to have a home church, I suppose, to rescue us. The hospital is shady here, let’s be honest. My kids are always getting shots in their arms or booties and I don’t know what the heck they are giving them! N had a parasite and she needed an IV? I don’t know what it was, but it was over a month ago and she still has trails up her arms from it. She was allergic to something, she thinks. The lady had problems with the IV, so she was stuck in both arms. She was in the hospital for a few days, too. Naomi, don’t read this -.there is some clinic here where there is no water or soap available and blood on counters, floor, etc. What, at a health facility?? I am not in an area where people live in cardboard homes, so I find that so off. The bathrooms don’t have running water or toilet paper, which is common in public, but I would assume this to be different. Santiago has a big hospital that is clean. That is where Kristin will deliver and I WILL GO if I get sick anytime soon. I don’t think Ill get any kind of needles, ever.
Halls cough drops either make candy for kids?? Or, this place eats Halls as candy. We had an Easter egg hunt for our first graders and we got 32 pieces of small candy at the comedor up the road. Half of the candy was Halls. Alllllll sorts of flavors that I have never seen, like candy flavored (green apple, watermelon, etc) I didn’t like filling it with that, but Johanna, my teammate, said it is perfectly normal.
One of our Board members bought our school a new water tank, so we shouldn’t have to go without water anymore. Praise, babyyyyy Jesus. We still have towels to dry our hands. The crazy thing is that after you have been here for some time, you just accept things. One of the American teachers looked at me like I was crazy asking why we use a towel in school and some public places and said, youre just supposed to wipe your hands on your clothes or shake ‘em in the air. (Oh, sheesh).
I have completely accepted that the power goes out daily during the week. I don’t even notice most of the time, unless I have to pee and then I’m livid. They don’t hold it. Heck, I don’t even hold it anymore if I really have to pee. Being honest. Someone give me a Dominican badge, I’m in with the urine committee. People still use the bathroom for 2! and it is perfectly normal to do so. Hmmm. I am not joining that team. To hear someone say, we are on a “black-out”—sounds perfectly normal to me now. I use batteries to back up my alarm clock and always have my laptop/kindle plugged into a surge protector in case it happens when they are plugged in. I have no idea how I teach my kids without all the US technology I had in the US. I would love a board that I can write on, even a new chalkboard. I bought myself a clock yesterday. Well, my church did. I didn’t even have a clock in my class. My watch battery bit the dust, so I never knew what the heck time it was w/o my laptop. Pencils have been ordered, no more sharing those! Some of these parents have money! I dont know why I cant get supplies out of them. I told a mom that my church and friends are purchasing things, she said good! Seriously? You pay for your kid to go to the best school in the DR (from what I have heard) and you don’t care that he shares a pencil with his partner?? Odd.
Staff are supposed to be at school at 730, yet no one ever shows up then. We also don’t have anyone opening the door to the classroom hallways until 7:45, sometimes later. They are a very, very lax culture. I am a very lax person! This place makes me a little crazy at times. At 5PM, you bet those doors are locked! Someone locked me in last week and I panicked thinking I was going to sleep there. No one stays after 5 for security purposes.
A rooster just walked up beside my porch and won’t shut up. This place cracks me up!!! As I walk to the store, I cant believe I live here sometimes. I still cant believe it feels so normal.
Randoms:
Ketchup and mayo are on everything, even tacos. WHYYYY!? I try to order take out without it and they don’t care. They put it on there. I order a burger without. They don’t care; they put it on there. I am so glad that mustard is not their staple condiment, I would never, ever eat anywhere bc I refuse to scrape that off!! One of the girls was ordering me food on the phone and the guy didn’t care to modify my order and didn’t even ask what I wanted for my drink. He just delivered it with whatever he picked. What?? Normal operating procedures.
Nothing is of quality that I purchase either. My coffee pot must be smacked ont eh top 3-5 times and a few on the sides to brew. Then, I come back and smack it a couple more times. I paid 20 dollars, that is a piece of gold right there!! I got a table at La Sirena (walmart DR style) last night for 30 dollars. It is white and the legs look like someone has used it, a million times. Scratches and black marks up the legs…not in a box but shrink wrapped. The lady at the front of the store said if I spend a certain amount they will deliver. I asked her how much do I have to spend, she says she doesn’t know. It depends. Im like on what? On the price. WHAT PRICE DO I HAVE TO SPEND TO GET A DELIVERY. She doesn’t know. I walk away. I ask the guy in the back of the store if they will deliver this table and 1 chair to my house. He says they don’t deliver anything. I tell him in the worst Spanish ever that another lady said they do! He says, “oh, let me see” What? He comes back and says if I spent mil pesos, they will deliver. Another man walks over and says I have to spend 6mil pesos. We just jumped 6 times the amount. Forget it. I wouldn’t know b/c I am white, but I asked E why are people looking at us like that? Why are those kids staring at me? She said, “cause you’re white.” There was a taste I had never tasted before. What, wow. There is an eye opener. They take advantage of whites. I took a bus like van to La Vega with E. She pretty much speaks Spanish fluently after a year of being here. The van guy made me pay more for E and I. I didn’t argue, E did. I don’t care. We have the money and I don’t speak his language to argue. I will when I get the language down. He also wouldn’t take 1 cent pesos, that is when I got mad. I opened his hand and put the coins in it. Money is money; don’t tell me you aren’t taking single pesos b/c it takes up space! I am already on this van and we are going to La Vega!! E was like, “he said he doesn’t want pesos.” Ya, I know. I understood him but I was totally playing that I didn’t get the language. I told her I didn’t care what he wanted. Take the money and get away from us. He wouldn’t budge and I didn’t want to have to get off, so I gave him a bigger coin in exchange, that I found in my bag. Sometimes, I can play Dominican (if I don’t talk!) and other times, I am white. The lady next to me was breastfeeding. This is a cultural norm to do it uncovered in public. I am totally fine with it now. I have seen enough in Honduras and here, BUT her kid wasn’t eating..he was sleeping now. I just wanted to be like, “ma’am, could you put that away? K, thanks!” She just didn’t even care. Ay yi yi. Personal space is nonexistent. After the other lady got off, she didn’t bother to move off my arm, she just stayed there touching even though she had so much room to move. People are always so close to me that I think there has got to be a ‘candid camera” around. I am at the bank and I can feel the person behind me breathing on my neck! Back up!! Back upppp! Sometimes they stand next to you in line at the bank. Here I am with a handful of money and they are touching my arm they are so close. My love language is touch; I’m a touchy person!!! but these people are too much most of the time. My kids are always touching me. Stop touching me and each other!!! They pet each other and hold hands.
I met some friend and his wife of E’s yesterday and before they left he kissed my cheek. Handshake is fine, buddy. It threw me off, I feel bad when I screw it up…I went for the handshake and he grabbed it and pulled me to his body to kiss me. Crap! Ahhh, are we handshaking or kissing??!!! Someone clue me in on the rules here!! I need the handbook.
Nah, I don’t mind the cheek kiss. I find it so endearing. I love that about this culture. I’ve seen parents of students do it, but I really don’t want my dads to be kissing my check. My moms do it all the time to greet me and say goodbye. (I did learn that if their kid is in trouble and they heard about it before me, that they don’t want a kiss hello. Learned that from the death stare I got and rigid body of the madre de Rosmairys when she wasn’t on the top color and I tried to greet her. Oops. Note to self.) We have a 2 hour break in town, so all the parents come eat with their kids. Banks and teachers don’t do the siesta unless it is a public school.
I tried to tell my secretary I need her to take me to the bank to open a DR account. She didn’t care and said I didn’t need an account. I reassured her I WANT ONE. I need to deposit my BIG FAT peso check that was like equivalent of 153 dollars for half the month of working. Their currency is ridiculous, so I am carrying around a lot of bills for very little US money. I could be jumped with that kind of cash in my pockets. That is jackpot to most, which I don’t understand how anyone buys all these products that ARE MORE expensive here than the US. The products here aren’t worth it. The shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, and mousse were all name brands yet horrible. Maybe because they are shipped to the DR and heat is a factor. Maybe they sit on the shelves too long here. Oh, and my table has some stripped screw holes and it isn’t like I would take it back or complain. You just deal with it. I left 2 screws out. It is working fine.
I haven’t carried a real purse, straightened my hair, or worn a pair of heels since I got here. I am very low key, if you know me. Most things I own cost less than 15 dollars. I would say most things I own cost less than 10dollars! But I love some clearance cute heels and straight hair. I dont even bother. I walk everywhere and heels aren’t made for that. I can get ready faster than I ever have here, I still take an hour to drink my coffee before I leave.
I tried to tell my secretary I need her to take me to the bank to open a DR account. She didn’t care and said I didn’t need an account. I reassured her I WANT ONE. I need to deposit my BIG FAT peso check that was like equivalent of 153 dollars for half the month of working. Their currency is ridiculous, so I am carrying around a lot of bills for very little US money. I could be jumped with that kind of cash in my pockets. That is jackpot to most, which I don’t understand how anyone buys all these products that ARE MORE expensive here than the US. The products here aren’t worth it. The shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, and mousse were all name brands yet horrible. Maybe because they are shipped to the DR and heat is a factor. Maybe they sit on the shelves too long here. Oh, and my table has some stripped screw holes and it isn’t like I would take it back or complain. You just deal with it. I left 2 screws out. It is working fine.
I haven’t carried a real purse, straightened my hair, or worn a pair of heels since I got here. I am very low key, if you know me. Most things I own cost less than 15 dollars. I would say most things I own cost less than 10dollars! But I love some clearance cute heels and straight hair. I dont even bother. I walk everywhere and heels aren’t made for that. I can get ready faster than I ever have here, I still take an hour to drink my coffee before I leave.
The weather is ahhhmazing, but it rains often and I don’t bother wasting my time to straighten it. The humidity is very high here. It isn’t hot up in the mountain but the hair is so wet. I went down the mountain last night and it was much warmer!! When we came home it was so cool and I AM SO THANKFUL I live up here. I sleep just fine without A/C. I went into a bank the other day and they had A/C! Holy crap! I haven’t felt this in weeeeeks!!!! Most places don’t have a/c. School we have the windows open for a breeze to pass in if there is one. Plus, the windows give me light for when we are out of power.
I love being able to play some Jamie Grace with my kids and dance with Jesus every morning for worship. It is so cute to listen to them sing “You lead, Ill follow” and “Show Jesus.” I love to listen to their little hearts say that God led me to the DR and all I had to do was follow Him. They are so sweet. We are working on praying in class. They do this weird repetitive praying, so we had to have a talk about talking to God like he is our bff or like Ms. B, real! Not some far off being, but God that is everywhere and seeing everything. I know they are 1st graders and this is probably common to say the same stuff over and over every day, but if this is how it starts out for Christians, and I have friends that still do this at 30, maybe we need to help kids see at a young age that God is who we say He is. I don’t want people coming to me mumbling crap, I doubt God cares to hear some blanket prayer that has no emotion and no expectations for Him to do what you ask..barely believing He is even real. The Lord may never give me kids, but while He gives me these ones, I will teach them what I know and what He tells me. Right now it is praying. Ive been sharing with them things I prayed for God to do to get me here and how He did miracles. I love sharing Luke and Nay’s process of moving here with them, too. My aid is in the room, too, during Bible. She pops her head up from grading and sometimes, says, “seriously? God did that? Im like, “YUP!” They need to see what God is doing right now, today in our lives, not just what was done in the past. I tell them about all the scripture that was so alive and spoken to me during my move, and how God used it to speak. They know that they “have to learn how to read, so they can read His word and hear Him speak through it. We know what to do in life bc we read His word for Truth. How can you hear Him loudly like Ms B if you don’t care if you can read or not!?” God reminds me of this with my low, low readers. ESOL to a new dimension coupled with academically low is exactly what my reading group is right now. “Phyllis, you are teaching them to read, so they can read my Word one day” Ok!!! As I want to pull my hair out!
I love being able to play some Jamie Grace with my kids and dance with Jesus every morning for worship. It is so cute to listen to them sing “You lead, Ill follow” and “Show Jesus.” I love to listen to their little hearts say that God led me to the DR and all I had to do was follow Him. They are so sweet. We are working on praying in class. They do this weird repetitive praying, so we had to have a talk about talking to God like he is our bff or like Ms. B, real! Not some far off being, but God that is everywhere and seeing everything. I know they are 1st graders and this is probably common to say the same stuff over and over every day, but if this is how it starts out for Christians, and I have friends that still do this at 30, maybe we need to help kids see at a young age that God is who we say He is. I don’t want people coming to me mumbling crap, I doubt God cares to hear some blanket prayer that has no emotion and no expectations for Him to do what you ask..barely believing He is even real. The Lord may never give me kids, but while He gives me these ones, I will teach them what I know and what He tells me. Right now it is praying. Ive been sharing with them things I prayed for God to do to get me here and how He did miracles. I love sharing Luke and Nay’s process of moving here with them, too. My aid is in the room, too, during Bible. She pops her head up from grading and sometimes, says, “seriously? God did that? Im like, “YUP!” They need to see what God is doing right now, today in our lives, not just what was done in the past. I tell them about all the scripture that was so alive and spoken to me during my move, and how God used it to speak. They know that they “have to learn how to read, so they can read His word and hear Him speak through it. We know what to do in life bc we read His word for Truth. How can you hear Him loudly like Ms B if you don’t care if you can read or not!?” God reminds me of this with my low, low readers. ESOL to a new dimension coupled with academically low is exactly what my reading group is right now. “Phyllis, you are teaching them to read, so they can read my Word one day” Ok!!! As I want to pull my hair out!
Kidding, I have always secretly loved the low kids more than the rest; especially ESOL for some reason, so I am not shocked that God gave me the lowest group in 1st grade right now. This isn’t just teaching. This is teaching for Him. He has always told me that. That is why I struggled so much with test taking in the US. It was against what I knew was Truth. I cant teach to a test when life isn’t about a test score. I could talk for hours. Love you guys. Until next time…
Okay this is long enough. I need to go do something productive.
Okay this is long enough. I need to go do something productive.
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