Christmas in the DR

On the 7^th of October I visited a family for their six-year-old daughter’s birthday party.  She ran out to greet me and pointed to the blinking icicle lights hanging from her balcony and said they had just put them up that day.  She was so happy to show them off and I told her how beautiful they were.  “That’s sweet,” I thought, “that her family put up lights to celebrate her birthday.”  During the next few days, though, I started to see more lights on houses.  My neighbor’s porch lit up with multi-colored strands wrapped around columns, and an upper balcony down the street started blinking with a colorful array of lights that are brighter and more visually stimulating than the strobe lights at a disco.  When the house two blocks away transformed their tropical front yard to a winter wonderland complete with white lights, icicle lighting, two blow-up snowmen, a blow-up Santa, and a blow-up evergreen Christmas tree, I finally figured out what was going on.  Christmas comes early here.

The hand and foot print Reindeer my 4th graders made

The hand print Christmas wreath we made in 3rd grade

The people of Dominican Republic are very religious, mostly Catholic, and they hold fast to tradition.  Navidad (Christmas) and La Dia de Los Reyes (Three Kings Day) are important religious celebrations here that arrived with the Spanish Conquistadores.  Also, though, Dominican Republic is close to the U.S. and our culture has had a strong impact on the culture here.  This combination has created a hybrid-Christmas celebration season that is uniquely Dominican. 

3rd grade drawing their hands for our wreath

Carolina showing off her Jingle Bell

Adrian cutting for his Reindeer

4th grade working hard on their Reindeers

3rd grade working on their 3D Trees and Snowmen

Junior tracing his foot for his Reindeer

4th graders working hard!

Just after I figured out what was going on with the lights, I noticed that my friends’ houses were decorated inside with Christmas tablecloths and other decorations.  Like at home, these decorations have been increasing as we get close to the holiday.  The first Christmas tree I saw inside was around the end of October.  They buy fake evergreen trees, completely in the style of the U.S. and some are decorated in our style too, but there are others that are decorated with more traditional Dominican Christmas decorations like huge ribbons and drapes of fabric in bright colors.  It is not unusual to see tropical and florescent colors on a tree, and sometimes they are so overly decorated, it is hard to see the tree underneath. 

Stores and companies take advantage of the season just like in the U.S., and stores brought out their Christmas merchandise as soon as they put away the school supplies at the end of September.  The cell phone companies started Christmas advertisements around the same time, letting us know that what our loved ones really need/want is a new phone and plan that allows them to talk to us and all their friends.  The internet companies, grocery stores, and furniture stores weren’t far behind, and now they are all advertising the perfect gifts and their store fronts are complete with red and green decorations. 

My neighbors' Christmas Tree

In mid-October the television channels started to celebrate with Christmas songs by famous Dominican singers airing during lulls in the programming and Christmas ideas and discussions on talk shows, cooking shows, and news programs. I have to say it was a bit jarring the first time I heard “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” being sung in Spanish on my TV while I was sweating in 90 degree heat, wearing a tank top and shorts. 

My Christmas Tree

I’ve now joined the holiday spirit though, and I have bought a small Christmas tree for myself that I’ve decorated with blinking colored lights and some gold star garland.  There is also a gold star on the top and I got mittens that say, “Feliz Navidad” to hang on it.  I also have blinking lights on my front door and a snowman welcoming everyone who comes to visit.  I play my favorite Christmas songs on my computer and IPod at home and in my classes and I’m going to look into getting some of the more popular Spanish Christmas Carols and my classes have been full of fun Christmas activities.

4th grade showing of the Jingle Bells we made
to play while we sing the song

I won’t be here for Christmas.  I’m coming home to Boxford on Tuesday for 2 weeks to celebrate the holiday with my family, but from what my friends have said, I won’t actually miss too much.  Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) is a family holiday.  Extended families come together to eat traditional Dominican Christmas food like Biscocho con Pasas (Cake with raisins) and Pasteles en Hojas (a tamale made with yucca and plantain filled with meat and spices and wrapped in a banana leaf).  I was also told by some of my friends that there has to be pork.  They said that if there isn’t pork, it doesn’t feel like Noche Buena, and that you can tell how good a year your family has had based on the amount of pork served.  It is a night of eating and visiting family, much like our Thanksgiving celebrations.  On Christmas Day, families relax and go to church.  They say that they eat leftovers from Noche Buena and take it easy.  It is a very low-key day.  My celebration at home will be more of event than Christmas here. 

I’ll be back in Dominican Republic in time for the real celebrations.  After the large parties and celebrations of New Years Eve and New Years Day, the Dominicans get ready for their big holiday celebration.  Their version of our American Christmas comes at Epiphany.  In Christian tradition, Epiphany is the day that the Three Magi arrive to bring the baby Jesus his gifts.  Spanish kids are given gifts not by Santa Claus, but by the Three Kings.  On January 5^th, the night before La Dia de Los Reyes, families get together again, sometimes exchanging some early gifts and preparing for the next day.  Kids leave grass for the King’s camels and mints or candies for the Kings to eat before going to sleep early because they know that the Kings won’t bring them their presents until they are tucked in their beds fast asleep.  The more traditional custom is for the Kings to leave the presents under the children’s beds, sometimes in shoes or shoe boxes, but the American tradition of presents under the Christmas tree has been adapted by many families.  American culture has also influenced the amount of presents, and families demonstrate their wealth with the size of the pile of presents they give their kids. 

Sister Priscilla teaching the Centro Buen Pastor kids about Advent

The middle-class and upper-class Dominicans have a Dia de Los Reyes that is very similar to our Christmas day.  After opening gifts in the morning, some families go to church, and others meet with extended family for meals and more celebrations.  There is more traditional food and festivities.  Often, wealthier families and companies will distribute gifts to the poor.  For many years there was a rich benefactor who supplied huge amounts of goods ranging in value from bags of rice and chickens to new refrigerators and stoves that were given out to people who got “tickets” which were distributed to the first few hundred people in line.  Each person with a ticket was entered into the drawing and given the “prize” that matched the number on their ticket.  The drawing was completely random and from what I can tell it would have been a crazy event, but very exciting and wonderful to the poor people who received the goods.  When the benefactor passed away, though, the event stopped and there isn’t anything like it today. 

The Advent Wreath at Centro Buen Pastor

Sister Priscilla with the younger kids at church

Not every family can have an American or Spanish style holiday celebration though.  I asked one of my students, who’s financial situation is so difficult that he had to ask for a scholarship to pay the $3 a month that my English class costs, about his Christmas plans.  He said that if he’s lucky, he’ll get to visit his mom that day (he lives with his grandmother) and she has a TV, so he’ll get to watch TV all day.  I asked him about special food and celebrations, and he said there wouldn’t be anything special.  He said that sometimes he gets a present on Dia de los Reyes, but not always, and they don’t do anything special that day either.  It was hard for me to hear such an obvious difference between his answer and the answer of my friends who had gone on and on about the traditions that they practice in their families for these important holidays. 

I’m looking forward to both my American Christmas and my first experience of Dominican Dia de Los Reyes.  I also will have my student and all those others whose families cannot afford to celebrate in my mind during my festivities.  My greatest Christmas wish is that, with the positive support and influences that this student and the other kids at Centro Buen Pastor are getting from the mission of the Sisters of the Transfiguration and our support, when they grow up, they will be able to get good jobs and be able to afford to celebrate with their families. 

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Dia de los Reyes!

~ Tina

Me with some of the 4th graders

 P.S.  I want to thank Gail Buckley, Susan Buckley and Susan Benzer for the fabulous donation of friendship bracelet string!  Its been so much fun teaching the kids who visit before and after my classes how to make these popular bracelets, and now that they know how to make them, they can make a whole bunch and sell them to their classmates or give them as gifts for the holidays.  They are all very happy to have a slew of them on their wrists!  Great idea!!!!  Thanks again!

Ebony helping Angelito make his first bracelet.

Jairo working on his first bracelet

Hilary is an expert and has made dozens!
(Showing off some she is wearing)

Moving and Letter to Santa

In my classes, this has been a fun couple of weeks.  My 3rd and 4th graders made Advent Calendars last Wednesday.  On Friday the 4^th graders worked on Christmas vocabulary and do a worksheet with a maze and a word search and the 3^rd graders made 3-D Christmas tree and snowmen decorations.  4^th grade is also learning “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and 3^rd grade is learning “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”  This week, 3rd grade made hand prints on a big roll of paper which I'm cutting out and making into a Christmas wreath and 4th grade made Reindeer out of their footprints and handprints.  I'll post pictures as soon as I can load them (I still have some camera issues).  We have 1 more class before I leave for Christmas break, and they will be full of Christmas vocabulary, Christmas carols, and fun Christmas activities.

4th Grade Christmas Caroling with their teacher before my class

Chrismary showing off her Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

One of the 3D Snowmen we made in 3rd grade

My high school students wrote letters to Santa this week.  Let me share them with you (unedited):

"Dear Santa,

           For Christmas I would like a sneakers style nike with Jordan, new cap brand New Era, belt brand Guccy, vest and bag, T-shirt red and black, a new cell phone.

          Thank you Santa,

          Celestino"

"Dear Santa,

          For Christmas I would like a laptop, a skateboard, a blackberry, a visa for New York, and look for a girlfriend.  That she is beautiful and white, medium, eyes blue, and that my love for ever.

          Thank you,

          Juan Francisco"

"Dear Santa,

           For Christmas, I would like a computer that is big is Windows 2010 that is laptop the brand Tochiba and cheap that is modern and good price and that is new.

           Thank you,

           Jairo"

"Dear Santa,

           For Christmas, I would like a new life, and my and my family, specifically to my Grandmother that God the blessing.

           Eveling"

My adult classes are going strong.  We are now working on how to describe someone.  I have a few faithful students, but I am posting announcements in the church bulletin to try to get more students.  We are focusing on Christmas words, traditions, and culture this week.

Sister Jean Gabriel and Sister Priscilla have arrived back in the Dominican Republic.  The hubbub of activity leading up to their arrival has been very exciting.  The people that work and volunteer for the sisters want to impress them and welcome them back warmly, and, to do this, they clean EVERYTHING!  The convent, the school buildings, the clinic, and the office building at Centro Buen Pastor have all been deep cleaned to the tiniest corners and the tallest fans.  The schoolchildren helped clean their classrooms on Friday, and the kids of many of the workers came when they weren’t in school to help their parents.  It was very interesting to watch this army of cleaners happily preparing for the Sisters.

Their arrival also means the end of my time watching their house.  I moved into an apartment this weekend.  The apartment is everything I need, a kitchen, living/dinning room, bathroom, and bedroom.  I even have a closet.  It is in a neighborhood I know well and near many friends of mine, so I feel safe and comfortable.  Moving into the apartment became a bit of a nightmare when I was promised the place for Wednesday, and Wednesday became Friday and then Friday they asked if I could wait till Sunday or maybe Tuesday.  I said I couldn't wait any longer, and they had to force a girl who was staying in the apartment while they had re-done the floor in her apartment to come on Friday night and move out so that I could move in (her floor had been done for days, so I don’t know why they hadn’t had her move back earlier or what was holding things up). Also, the furniture that I ordered from Ikea that was promised for Friday didn't arrive until Tuesday, so I lived without all of my furniture, like a mattress, for a few days, but once it got here, I set everything up and have a great place.

Two little boys in the neighborhood helped me move my luggage into my second floor apartment, and for their help, I gave them Silly Bandz.  This instantly made me popular with the kids that live near me, and they wave when they see me, hoping to figure out a way to earn more “gomas” as they call the Silly Bandz (which is the word for elastic bands).  Now, the kids ask me if I need favors, like having my trash taken out, so that they can earn more Silly Bandz from me.  One kid even traded a bracelet he made out of small elastic bands for Silly Bandz.  I was happy to make the trade!

I come home to the US on Tuesday the 14^th of December to spend Christmas with my family, and I will be home until the 30^th.  Hopefully I will get to see many of you during my visit.  I’ll also take donations back with me, so let me know if you have things for me to bring down here.

As always, if you have any questions, let me know!

Feliz Navidad!

Tina

Turkey and Goat

Thank you so much to all of you who donated the school supplies, clothes, and shoes that arrived here with my family.  I have unpacked it all, and it amazes me how much they brought!  All of it will go to good use.  I have already started using some of the crayons with my 3rd and 4th graders and when Sister Jean Gabriel and Sister Pricilla get here next weekend, we will go through it all and they will be able to distribute it to those in most need.  Gracias!

Dad, Gail, and Jeremy's visit was short, but wonderful.  They got to relax in the hotel and spend time with me and our Dominican friends.  We made it to church at Centro Buen Pastor on Sunday, on Monday night my friends and I took Jeremy out to the malecon, on Tuesday we had a Thanksgiving dinner with many old friends who visited Boxford 10 years ago and are still close friends today, and on Wednesday I made our second Thanksgiving Dinner and we ate with my co-workers and friends which we followed up by going out dancing.  It was a wonderful time!  Both meals were a perfect hybrid of American tradition (turkeys, cranberry sauce, and a lot of thankfulness for our friendship and time together) and Dominican tradition (plantains, rice, goat, Brugal, and music and dancing).  I am very Thankful that I got to share my family with my friends, and I got to share my friends with my family.  There was a lot of laughter and a lot of fun, even with the language barrier.

The Goat we had with Thanksgiving Dinner!
It was so delicious.
It was the only thing we didn't have leftovers of.

Me and the Turkey as I'm getting the table ready

Jeremy and I with our friend Madelin on the malecon

In my classes this week, I taught about the history and tradition of Thanksgiving.  They colored Thanksgiving pictures, learned about Pilgrims (who they were excited lived in my state), and shouted loudly, "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" and "GOBBLE GOBBLE."  I taught my adults and high school kids about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Football, and Black Friday as well.  It was a fun week!

Next week, I move into my new apartment.  It is small, but exactly what I need to live for the rest of my time here.   I'm going to buying some furniture and appliances this weekend and then little by little, I'll get what I need.  I won't need that much for the first two weeks before I go home for Christmas.  When I come back in January, I'll be able to make it a home.

As always, if you have any questions, let me know!

Feliz dia de accion de gracias! (Happy Thanksgiving)

Tina

Puppet Shows and Vacation Plans

My camera broke last weekend, so there are no pictures along with this post.  One of my friends is taking it to Santo Domingo to a shop that should be able to repair it, but I'm also having my dad bring my old camera as a back-up one this weekend when he comes in case the other one can't be fixed.

On Sunday, my Dad, Gail, and Jeremy arrive to celebrate Thanksgiving with me.  On Sunday, hopefully we will meet at the airport and then go to church at Centro Buen Pastor.  I'll spend some time at the hotel with them, enjoying the all inclusive food, pool, beach, and air conditioning!  (Though it might feel cold to me now that I'm used to the heat here.)  We also have plans to have dinner with some friends, to go out dancing one night, and to have a big Thanksgiving dinner with some of my friends.  It should be a great week.

My classes are going very well.  Things are pretty much routine now.  The high school kids have moved into buying and selling sports goods and toys (baseballs, roller blades, skateboards, Playstations etc) and they are working on "Wanted" and "For Sale" ads that they are making up into a "WantAds" page in a newspaper.  We've also continued working on selling and buying the items as they play the rolls of customer and client.  The adults are working on career names such at teacher, doctor, lawyer, construction worker etc.  These words add a lot to their vocabulary because occupations like "bus driver" teach no only the job name, but also "bus" and the verb "drive" so there is a lot to get out of this lesson.  They are learning fast, and their speaking skills are very impressive in such a short amount of time.  My 4th graders wrapped up "family" today and we are going to move on to "animals" next week. They are a little jealous of how much the 3rd graders get to sing, so I promised them we would sing more next week.  Animals have a lot more song options than the house and family vocabulary, so it will be easy to do.

3rd grade practiced answering, "How are you?" with emotions this week.  They loved that if they answered "bad" I would turn to the others with a worried face and say, "Be careful of her!  She said she's bad!  Watch out!"  If they answered "sad" I also made a big deal of trying to cheer them up.  They loved it, and my overreactions to their answers helped them understand what they were saying.  It was fun for me too!  Maybe I have a bit of Jeremy's acting in me after all.  Today, though, they were the actors.  When I arrived for class time, they had a puppet theatre set up.  Instead of class with me, they put on a puppet presentation skit about how God accepts all of us.  Basically, there was a town of people who were afraid of the wolf that lived in the woods, but one of the towns people knew that if he told the wolf to come and join the towns people and invited him to celebrate God with them, that the wolf would not harm them, because he is one of God's creatures too.  It was very cute.  After a practice show for me, the teacher then invited the other grades, the teachers, and the Director to come and watch.  It was wonderful to see how attentive and polite the other kids were as they watched and the 3rd graders were very proud of their work.  They were said when I left that we didn't have English class, but I told them that what they did was much more important and that I'd be back next week.  I was sad to not have my camera for the show, but hopefully they will put on more puppet shows this year and I'll be ready.

Tonight I'm going to my 2nd San Pedro Estrellas Occidentales game.  They are the local baseball team, and they are awesome to watch!  Like the old Red Sox (pre-2004) they come so close every year, but they haven't won the championship in over 60 years.  Right now, they're in first place in the Dominican Baseball league.  At the end of the season, there are playoffs and then one team wins the league.  That team then goes on to play the other countries' best teams in the Caribbean Series.  Its so fun to cheer on the Estrellas, and my friends said I'm becoming an Estrellita!  I'll be wearing my green hat with the star emblem proudly tonight, and cheering them on!  The baseball games are a lot of fun, and the cheers are very musical with whole rhythm sections set up in the stands (various drums, noise makers, tambourines, and maracas) and there are a few large horns.  The fans take their teams very seriously, and being a Boston fan, I understand this!  There were actually a lot of Red Sox hats and T-shirts mixed into the crowd last time I went, and I have to say that made me smile.

My next post will be after my family's visit, so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at home!

Dios les bendiga,

Tina

New Class Growth!

I'm very excited about my new adult class.  I now have 3 students!  My 4th is joining on Monday.  They are more motivated than my high school kids who are more interested in asking me about Justin Beiber.  So far I have a pre-school teacher, a stay at home mom, and a musician/music teacher.  The new student is also a teacher.  I think as word spreads, I will get more.  Right now, they know all the numbers (up to 1,000) and they know the alphabet, how to fill out information cards and identify themselves, and how to introduce themselves.  We're next going to talk about jobs and careers.  They are all much more interested in pronunciation than writing or reading, so we talk a lot, and that's great.  The stay at home mom is fabulous at speaking, but has to look everything up when I ask her to write stuff down.  Really though, it doesn't matter, because the speaking part is much more important for what she needs.  She wants to be able to talk to the volunteers that come here from the US, and she'll be able to do that without a problem!

The high school class has been "playing" clothing shop all week.  They take turns being the tourist and being the sales clerk.  They are practicing phrases like, "Can I help you?" "What size would you like?" "Would you like to try this on?" and "Thank you.  Please come again soon."  This is all very practical and could help them get a job anywhere near the tourist sections of the island, but their favorite part was that I cut out pictures of clothes from American magazines and we practiced things like, "That is so cute!"  "That's adorable,"  "I love this top," "What a great color!" and other "cool" phrases.  They even learned "mini-skirt," "low-rise jeans," "tube-top," "skinny jeans," and other fashion words that they thought were totally "heavy" (which is the word they use for "cool" right now - yes, it comes from the US).

My 4th grade are happily drawing houses with bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms etc. and full of family members.  This week they learned to say, "Where is the mom?  The mom is in the living room."  Though I actually had one kid protest that I messed up the placement because I had drawn the mother in the living room and the father in the kitchen.  Didn't I know it was supposed to be the other way around?  Someone said to me recently that culture here is like the 50s in the US, and at moments like that, I think there is some truth to that statement.

House vocabulary for 4th grade

My 3rd grade have calmed down some.  I think that they're getting used to the routine of having me come twice a week, but I also think the teacher and director of the school have been working hard to curb the behavior of the rowdy class, and its working well.  They are learning emotions like "I am happy" and "I am sad."  They asked me to add "confused" too, which I thought was funny.

3rd Grade with new seating plan

The 3rd Grade Box of Crayons before I added new ones for them

My friends are working very hard to get this American girl to dance.  I can dance a little, but not in the way I'm supposed to here.  I don't shake my hips enough and they tease that Americans only know how to jump around on the dance floor (which I guess is what I do?)  I don't want to cave and take the evening dance lessons that are offered downtown that a friend of mine from Texas has been taking, but I might have to.  Those who have tried to teach me a few moves say I learn fast though, and even though I can't tell the difference between a Meringue, a Salsa, and a Bachata, they say I'll get there.  Though, they did promise we can go to a Reggaeton club soon, which is more like American music and dancing.  You dance with a group of friends free-style instead of having to wait to be asked by a guy to dance and dancing a specific style like we do at the other clubs.

Next weekend, my family comes to visit, and they will be bringing a lot of supplies.  Thank you to those who have already donated.  If you are interested in donating or want to know more,  let me know.  Also, I have included a link to my Dominican Video Slide Show that I made for church last week.  It should work even for those of you that do not have facebook, but if you have problems viewing it, let me know.

http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=173701160

Dios les bendiga,

Tina

Hurricanes and Cholera

Right now I would normally be singing songs and practicing new vocabulary with my 4th grade class, but its raining.  Here, we have rain days, like snow days at home, when school is cancelled due to large down pours.  The roads are flooded and hard to pass; the motorcycles who are brave enough to go out have to drive very slowly through the mud and puddles and they try to keep dry with raincoats, garbage bags, umbrellas, and/or some combination of covering materials like cardboard boxes and newspapers; the people walking have usually given up entirely and are as wet as if they have been swimming; and the people at home are emptying the catch basins that they put under the many leaks in their roofs and raising their belongings off the floor so that if the overflow of rain comes in off the street, they can save what little they have.  This is what happens on a normal rainy day.  Today though, isn't a normal storm, its Hurricane Thomas.  My community is lucky to be far outside of the danger zone of this hurricane, and we'll only get up to 4 inches of rain (which is still a HUGE amount for a city that sees street flooding when there is anything beyond a sprinkle).  The other side of the country, closer to Haiti, will see up to 8 inches of rain.  There will probably be mudslides, overflowing rivers, and countless other problems that will occur from this storm.  They are in the "warning" zone.  Haiti is in the danger zone.  As if there aren't enough problems in that country already, they will be pummeled with up to 12 inches of water, high winds, and huge waves for about 78 hours.

This morning, as I couldn't sleep because of the wind whipping through the palms outside my window and the rain pelting on the metal roof, I was very thankful that I was inside, dry, and warm.  The water won't come in the convent house and the wind won't do any damage beyond knocking off a few extra mangos on the tree out back, and we have electricity and water (and if the electricity goes, there are back-up batteries, and a back-up, back-up generator).  I'm very lucky.

They are nervous that the massive amount of water that is flooding onto the island is going to increase the cholera problem.  I know that this problem has made the US news because Haiti is such a hot topic country right now.  There is cholera here too, but luckily not to the degree that they are seeing in Haiti.  My 4th grade English class last week was interrupted for about 10 minutes when some of the doctors from the Centro Buen Pastor health clinic came in to talk to the kids about cholera and how to prevent it. They were talking to the kids, about washing their hands when they use the bathroom and simple sanitary lessons, but they were really trying to reach the kids parents.  The kids were told to make sure their parents used clean water to cook and wash dishes, they were told how much chlorine should be added depending on the size of the water tank they had at their houses, and they were told how to explain to their parents that vegetables and fruits should be washed before eaten.  I have always believed that giving children access to education is a key element is curbing the problems of the third world, and it was exciting to see this in action as these 4th graders were being taught how to avoid cholera and how to keep their families healthy.  I've never seen them so excited and motivated as they rushed to the bathroom to wash their hands before eating snack.

Cholera Educational Posters at the school

On Sunday, I have been asked to speak about Risk Taking Mission at Second Church, and obviously I can't commute in to do so, so I have made a video that will be shown during worship with photos about my mission and the risks I am taking here.  I won't post it before it is shown at church, but I'll try to post it online afterwards for anyone who wants to see it.  This hurricane and the cholera out break remind me even more about the risks I'm taking.  I also wish that so many people wouldn't ask me if I'm nervous about living alone in the convent right now.  I don't think I'd be so nervous if they didn't keep insisting that I should be nervous so often!  But, I am living well and I am living well prepared.  I don't have to worry about unclean water because I have access to bottled for all my needs, the house is well built to prevent damage from hurricanes and to prevent invaders, and I the two dogs are wonderful watchdogs who make me feel very safe.

Keep Haiti, Dominican Republic, and the rest of the Caribbean in your prayers this week as Hurricane Thomas continues to pass through.

Dios les bendiga,


Tina

Halloween Party

The ice cream cone color project was a huge hit with the 3rd graders!  They are really getting into colors, and they love singing "Red and Orange, Green and Blue, shiny Yellow, Purple too!"  I think they especially like that we've been using the carefully guarded stash of crayons that the teacher keeps locked up in the classroom cabinet.  Some of them have their own colored pencils, but most don't have their own supplies to draw with colors.  I think I might extend the color lesson for a few more class periods before we move on to sports or animals.

Abagail holding up the finished ice cream cone of colors
The English and Spanish versions are now hanging on
their classroom wall

3rd grade writing their "color" vocabulary

Fourth grade is working hard on "family."  They have all the vocabulary of mother, father, sister, brother, grandfather, aunt, etc. and they've drawn families and labeled them.  They could either draw their own family or they could make up a family.  There were two flower families, a penguin family, a monkey family, a cat family, and a Dora the Explorer family.  All very well labeled!  Next I think we'll move on to houses and house vocabulary like kitchen and bedroom.  They are learning fast and they really enjoy class.  I need some more songs to sing with them though, so if anyone has suggestions for easy family or house songs to sing, let me know!

Euri showing off his "family" drawing (he drew a family of penguins)

I hosted a Halloween Party for my teenage English students this weekend.  A lot of them have plans to go to a big party next Saturday, so I decided to have it a week early.  I made American treats and bought some candy corn and a pumpkin at the store.  We lit our Jack-o-Lantern, ate sweets, and watched a scary movie.  All very American and very Halloween.  They didn't come in costumes, but Juan Francisco wore a skeleton shirt, which he was very excited to be complimented on.  They all laughed at how scared they were watching the movie and many said they weren't going to be able to sleep, but I think they (just like American kids) love the drama of acting scared!  It was a great evening.

This week in class, we've read an article on the history and culture of Halloween and how it has evolved over time and we have also studied some Halloween vocabulary (like zombie, witch, haunted house and other fun words!)  On Friday I'll bring them each a bag of treats (pens and pencils as well as some sweets) and we'll celebrate as we wrap up the end of the directions and descriptions unit we have been studying.

Our Jack-o-Lantern ($7 for this tiny pumpkin in the supermarket!)

My English class trying American treats
Rice Krispie Treats, Carmel Apples, Popcorn and Candy Corn

Watching a scary movie!  

Happy Halloween!

~ Tina

Ice Cream and Cake

Well, my adult education class is starting out slowly.  I have one student who has come to class, but she's very happy to have individual lessons.  Two other woman are signed up, but one can only come when she doesn't have night secretarial school and the other's son is sick, so she's been home with him this week.  I'll announce the class in church on Sunday and once word gets around, I'm sure I'll have more interest.  I'll post more about it when there is more to report!

My 3rd graders are a little unruly sometimes, and with 30 kids in the class, I'm always a little nervous what I will encounter when I teach them.  I've been working very hard to have structured lessons that include some time to sing (which they love, but they can get out of hand with this if we sing for too long), to draw (which works well with them except that when some finish early, they goof off waiting for the others to finish), speaking and repeating their English vocabulary, and taking notes in their notebooks (which is always very short).  Yesterday, we started colors and they colored ice cream scoops in different colors that I will put together into 2 giant ice cream cones, one with the colored scoops labled in English and an identical one with the scoops labled in Spanish so that they can see and read the colors in both languages.  We'll mount the cones on the wall after we talk about them and go over them more in class tomorrow.  They'll also learn a song about the colors, though they're sad we haven't been singing "This Old Man" anymore, so we might sing that too!  Even though they are a challenge, they rush to greet me with hugs and high fives and they love my class, and many of them are now experts at the alphabet and the numbers 1-20 in English. 

My 3rd grade class working on a color project

The kids here go to school 1/2 days.  They are either assigned to morning or afternoon sessions, so there are always kids out of school during the day with little to do.  There are a bunch of girls who have afternoon school that help their mom's with work around Centro Buen Pastor, and when I'm between classes, they come and visit me.  They like to sing songs from school and talk to me about what they are learning in class, but they especially like to write and draw.  I always have paper with me, which they don't have a lot of access to.  Sometimes they write things like their names or their siblings names, other times they draw pictures of houses.  Last time, the oldest one practiced her math tables and was proud to show me how much she knew.  They also have me write on their papers with comments, smiley faces, and "100"s.  I think we're basically playing school.  I'm probably going to go to the school library and borrow some books in Spanish that I can read to them, because kids here aren't read to often at all, and they probably don't own any books of their own to read.  

"Visitors" in the CBP office who come to draw with me

This week was Angelito's 10th birthday.  He is my friend Teresa's son and his dad is one of the teachers at Centro Buen Pastor.  We had dinner of hamburgers to celebrate and I made the cake.  His parents gave him a basketball which he's been asking for ever since they put up the new basketball hoop at the school.  It was a fun evening and he was really happy and emotional about having a special meal in his honor.  He actually cried as he was blowing out the candles because he was so excited.

Angelito with his new basketball and
his sister Angelita

Angelito blowing out his birthday candles

 The dogs, cats, and I are getting along well at the convent.  The dogs love me and they love that I pet them while I'm on the computer or watching TV.  The cats aren't sure if they trust me yet, but we've got a routine around feeding time and they're starting to nuzzle up to me more.  Most of the time, they are sleeping on the beds in the front room, and generally enjoying life.

Daisy, Molly, and Muffy lazing about

 Dios les bendiga,

Tina

Adding a class

The adults in the community of Centro Buen Pastor asked me to start a class for them, so we begin today.  After my high school students are done at 5, I´m going to give the adult class from 5:00 to 5:45.  Julio, the sisters´ driver, asked me if the class was going to be all about writing at ¨that grammar stuff.¨  I promised him it wouldn´t.  We´re going to focus on conversation and how to talk to Americans.  That is especially what they need to work with the American groups that come to help here and in future jobs they may have outside of Centro Buen Pastor.  Its going to be very basic to start, but hopefully we can get pretty far in the 8 months we´ll have class.

Sister Jean Gabriel is in the US right now.  She is taking vacation time and visiting the convent in Ohio, but she is also visiting churches that support the mission here at Centro Buen Pastor.  She will be in MA the end of this month.  On Wednesday, October 27, she will speak at Second Congregational Church in Boxford at 6:30 pm and on Sunday, October 31, she will attend mass at St. James Episcopal Church in Groveland and speak during fellowship afterwards.  She has a wonderful slide show that demonstrates how far the mission has come since they started working here in the 80s, including pictures of some of the babies that they were able to save who are now my high school English students.  It is pretty amazing what they have been able to do.  She will also have more information on how to support the mission and how to donate to the church, clinic, and school here.  If you want more information about her visit, let me know, or contact either church.

While Sister Jean Gabriel is away, I am watching her house and the cats and dogs.  I realized this weekend that without her here, I´ll be speaking a lot less English.  Besides my English classes (during which I always end up using Spanish to explain and help the students) the only English I´m speaking is to the pets (who are bilingual!) and with some of the adults who work at the center who have had a lot of English classes in high school and college, but generally they speak English to me and I answer in Spanish so we all get the practice we need.  Having Sister leave is almost like taking off the training wheels.  Now its time to see how I can really do here.

Janeidy jumping Chinese jump rope to practice directions

Afternoon studying and playing Uno 

Jairo trying to get his leg over the high rope for "Right"

My classes are still going very well.  I´ve run into some of my elementary school students walking around the neighborhood and they are always very excited to see me.  Its very sweet.  They are good kids, and they are having a lot of fun with my class.  They don´t have art or music class like elementary school students in the US, so I don´t mind incoporating a lot of singing and drawing into my English lessons, which help them with the language, but also let them be more creative.  Sister Jean Gabriel is really interested in starting a music program with instruments, but they need to get donations to cover the cost for that type of educational addition.  There are records for sale here, but the students can´t afford to buy their own, and the music and teaching hours would also need to be paid for by the school.  Hopefully it is something that can be added in the future.  She also said she´d really like some instruments for the older kids to play during church services.  Juan Francisco and Jairo, who are in my English class, play procussion instruments during mass at Centro Buen Pastor and at San Esteban.  Sister would like a new small bongo style drum for them to use during softer songs, because sometimes when they bang the large drum they have, it doesn´t fit with the mood of the songs.  They are very talented and it would be great to see them able to expand their musical knowledge. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

Dios les bendiga,

Tina

How to send things

Many people have asked me how to send supplies to me and Centro Buen Pastor.  The best way to ensure that things make it to me with the least cost and the most security is in the luggage of people who visit.  Each passenger can take 50lbs free and 100lbs for only $25 on JetBlue, which is a great shipping cost!  My Dad, Gail, and Jeremy are coming to visit in November, which means they can bring up to 300 lbs of supplies.  I will be home at Christmas and can bring back 100 lbs with me, and many of my friends have said they might visit this spring, but nothing is set in stone yet.

The other option, which is more costly, is to ship to the Episcopal Church in Santo Domingo where we can go and pick it up.  To do this ship to:

Sister Jean Gabriel Crothers attn: Tina Benson

c/o Agape Flights
DMG 13174
100 Airport Avenue
Venice, FL 34285-3901

In addition to the shipping cost to send it to FL, please also send a check worth $1.50 per pound shipped to Centro Buen Pastor to cover the extra shipping we need to pay to pick up the package. (Check payable to Centro Buen Pastor)  That is also the address where monetary donations to Centro Buen Pastor can be sent.

Centro Buen Pastor
c/o Convent of the Transfiguration
495 Albion Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45246

Ebony showing off her new backpack
(and wearing my boots)

Backpacks are still in demand, but I know that they are also in demand for American children who can not afford them.  We did get a handful in last week with a donation of school supplies, and a few of the kids who had bags that were ripped or really unusable to carry their books got them, but there are not enough to go around.  Thank you Sharon Rabe for the donation of notebooks and crayons!  The crayons will be Christmas presents along with other supplies we hope to get in for the younger kids and the notebooks will go to some of the older kids.  But again, we can still use many, many more.

One of my 4th graders working on Social Studies

In any school or any group of kids, kids covet what the others have, and that is true in my classes.  My third and forth graders especially eye what other kids have, and ask to borrow things they need that they themselves don't have.  At home, this tends to be IPods, Cellphones, and other electronics, games, toys, or fashion items.  Here, its pencils, erasers and pencil sharpeners.  I have had a full brawl break out in a class over a stolen eraser.  These kids treasure those things and try to make them last as long as possible. Kids who are lucky enough to have an eraser or pencil sharpener are constantly being interrupted by their classmates who need to use them and do not have their own.  It would be really great to have a large wall-mounted sharpener (the old wind the crank kind) for each classroom so that each student could sharpen his or her pencils any time they needed too (there are 8 classrooms in the primary school).

Some of my 3rd graders

There is never any end to the need for composition notebooks.  Each kid should have one for each subject to take notes and do their work, but with the cost of each about $1.00, that is a huge expense for families who, if they're lucky, make a few dollars a day.  When I first started working with the 3rd and 4th graders, many of them were panicked that I would require them to buy a separate notebook for my lessons, or even worse, a textbook.  But I reassured them that they would not need them, and they were grateful.  My older students who meet every afternoon have notebooks and texts that I bought for them, because they also can't afford such extras.  I also have many pens that my dad donated that they use for class and extras for them to use in school, and I bought some pencils and erasers for them to use in the class.

A 4th grader working copying new vocabulary

My 4th graders are having a blast learning "I like to Eat, Eat, Eat Apples and Bananas" and other songs we've been learning.  They love that the vowels change each verse, and the boys especially like to shout "I like to Ut, Ut, Ut, Upples and Banunus."  They can now talk about what they like to do and we're starting to work on what they don't like to do.  My 3rd graders are learning the numbers and they are all good up to about 6 or 7 and we've worked on up to 12.  After we get up to 20, I think we'll work on the alphabet.  My afternoon class is now starting directions and how to give someone directions.  This is one of my favorite units because we'll play hopscotch and Chinese jump rope games that require directions like: left, right, inside, outside, up, and down.  That will be a lot of fun.  After that, the next unit is clothes, and I've already started making cutouts of different clothing items we can use in our "store" so that they can "shop" and "sell" with each other.  It should be a lot of fun.

Hillary, Celestino, and Janeidy in study hall class

My study hall students are all coming on a semi-regular basis now.  They have all said they are doing well in school, and Emelyn was very excited to report that she got a perfect score on a quiz that she studied for with me and did very well on an oral presentation that we worked for a long time one afternoon so she could memorize it.  Its exciting to see them excited and proud about their work.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Dios les bendiga,

Tina