Time with Friends

This weekend was a lot of fun!  On Saturday, my friends Miguel and Teresa and I cooked dinner for Sister Jean Gabriel.  It was both Dominican and American food.  We had pork chops, applesauce, cranberry sauce, candied carrots, dumplin, avacado, green beans with almonds, and sauteed vegetables and apple muffins for dessert!  It was all delicious.  They were very adventurous and tried all the American food.  Teresa absolutely hates cranberry sauce!  Otherwise, they said it was good.  Their favorite were the pork chops and both of them took some home to share with their families.  Teresa told me her kids ate up every speck of food and loved it.  

Miguel cooking up vegetables 

Teresa pretending to try a spoonful of applesauce and spoonful of carrots

Our American and Dominican feast (there were LOTS of leftovers!)

On Saturday night, I went to Karaoke with my friends Lissandra and Caroline.  No, I did not sing.  Lissandra did!  Actually, there was very little singing.  I think they did 5 songs around 11 pm and then they switched to just dance music and the bar became a dance club until about 2 am, and then the Karaoke started again for a few songs.  After, I spent the night at their house and we had breakfast in the morning. 

Lissandra and Caroline at the bar

Lissandra singing Karaoke

Lissandra and I at Karlos Bar

Because of the late night on Saturday and because I slept over Lissandra's, I didn't go to San Esteban for church on Sunday morning, but I went in the afternoon to Centro Buen Pastor.  After church there was a baptism class and a youth group meeting.  The youth group is helping San Esteban's youth group to conduct worship at San Esteban next weekend for Youth Sunday.  I'm sorry I'm going to miss it, but I'll be in Vermont for a wedding.  I fly to the US on Thursday and I'll be in VT until Sunday.  Its a good weekend to go because its a long weekend here, so there is no school on Friday anyways.  

It will be nice to see the fall weather in VT, but I know I'll be cold!  When it is below 90 degrees it feels refreshing here, and I'm sometimes cool at night when its about 78.  Last night I was shivering in the air conditioning at McDonald's.  It is supposed to be in the 60s in VT this weekend . . . BRRRRR!

Dios les bendiga,

Tina

A Typical Day

Many people have asked me what my daily life it like here, so I thought I'd post about the more normal things I'm doing.

I wake up, get ready for the day, grab some breakfast, pack my class supplies, and wait for my motoconcho (motorcycle taxi) friend, Miguel, to come and get me 3 days a week to go to Centro Buen Pastor.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays I go with Sister Jean Gabriel in the car driven by her chauffeur, Julio.  On Monday, I have morning study hall, on Tuesday and Thursday there is Mass followed by study hall, and on Wednesday and Friday I teach 45 min of English to each 3rd grade and 4th grade before study hall.  Around noon, Miguel picks me up, or I get in the car with Sister  and we go back to the convent for lunch. Nidia, the convent housekeeper, makes lunch for us every day.  Usually there are rice, beans, salad, pineapple or papaya, and chicken or another meat.  Sometimes she makes plantains or meatballs or other yummy food.  She made us sweet beans that are eaten as dessert a few times and they are delicious!  I am very spoiled with her cooking.

The Sisters' Car

Julio and his son in the car

After lunch, I head back out to Centro Buen Pastor.  Miguel picks me up again and I have afternoon study hall class followed by English class with the junior high and high school students who signed up to take my class.  After that, I hang around with my friends at the Center.  We do our nails, play basketball, go online in the computer lab, and just generally enjoy spending time together.  When afternoon school gets out, the younger kids from church who know me rush over to visit with me for a bit before they walk back home with their older siblings who wait to meet them after my class.

Drying our nails under a fan

After that, Miguel picks me up again, and we generally go visiting other people, go to the grocery store if anything is needed at the convent, or go down to the water front.  Sometimes, we visit his neighbor who is learning English and likes to talk to me for practice.  We usually end up stopping for ice cream about once a week.  He then drives me back to the convent to grab a bite for dinner (leftovers from lunch or a sandwich), watch some TV, usually CNN International with Sister Jean Gabriel, and/or go on my computer for awhile before reading and tucking myself under the mosquito netting into bed.

How I Get Around!

Really, it is all pretty normal.  The difference isn't what I'm doing as much as it is what is going on around me.  Commuting to school is very normal, but riding on the back of a motorcycle while maneuvering through the labyrinth of dirt roads (or sometimes paths), pot holes, puddles, rocks, construction debris, stray dogs, kids in the street, pigs, chickens, and a random cactus that got stuck in the spokes yesterday is not.  The houses I visit are either block cement and concrete one-story homes with bright colored walls or older shacks of wood and sheet metal with concrete floors.  The people have little, but I am always offered the most comfortable chair, usually out on a porch or next to a fan, and they are quick to offer water and food.  I've had some yummy fruit off the trees of my friends' backyards (I always peel it to avoid getting sick) and its nice to just sit and chat.  Sitting and visiting has been fabulous for my Spanish.  I can understand almost everything now, and my vocabulary is growing daily. I'm usually still nervous to speak with new people, but I'm getting very good at conversing with my friends.  I've also learned useful skills like how to repair a flip flop with some kite string and a long needle.  Nothing is wasted here.  Things are reused, repaired, and recycled so that they can still be used.

There are somethings that I have not liked.  When walking around, everyone throws their trash on the ground.  If you buy a candy, the wrapper just gets dropped, if you buy a drink in a bottle or cup, the empty container ends up in the gutter.  They look at me like I'm a complete pain when I ask if we can try to find a trash can (which is always impossible) or I stuff trash into my bag to throw away later.  It is something I don't think I will be able to get used to, but I also don't know how I can make my friends change this habit.

Overall, I'm comfortable with my daily routine.  On the weekends, Saturday is a free day which can mean the beach or other fun outings or just hanging around at the convent.  Sunday I go to church, sometimes both San Esteban at 9:30 am and Centro Buen Pastor at 4:00 pm.  In between, I visit or get things done and Sunday night is low key.  My friends and I have talked about going to the movies in La Romana one Saturday and the youth group at Centro Buen Pastor wants me to help them coordinate a food sale at church one week.

Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything you guys want to see pictures of!

Dios les bendiga.

~ Tina

School Photographer

This week I said my goodbyes at San Esteban and began to work full days at Centro Buen Pastor.  Sister Jean Gabriel is still working out exactly what she wants me to do in the mornings because she wants me both working with the younger school children and helping older students with study hall in the AM.  We are going to talk to the Director this week about making all of that work out.

Third grade at Centro Buen Pastor

I spent a few mornings this week taking photos for school records.  There are 30 full scholarship students at the school.  These scholarships are paid by Americans, either by groups (like churches) or individuals.  Each scholarship is $250 a year.  With that money, these students are enrolled full time in the school, get assistance with their uniforms and books, and get breakfast provided to them.  Most are also part of the government lunch plan so that they get 2 meals a day plus the education through the school.  Its a wonderful gift to these children who need so much.

I took head shots of all 30 of the students for the school records and we also asked them questions about themselves like "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "What do you do for fun?" and "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"  The younger kids then drew a picture to go along with the information in their files and the older kids write a letter about themselves.  Many of the kids who go to church on a regular basis were part of the group, so they were happy to get to see me during the day.  It was fun to get to meet the others who I will be working with shortly.  They are all really good kids, and it is obvious that The Centro Buen Pastor School does a fabulous job teaching them to be "gente" or good people.

Yesterday, I got to the beach for the first time!  It was gorgeous.  The water is so clear and warm.  There were lots of fish and some coral where I was and the sand is soft and white.  It was only a bus ride away, and I've had offers from some of my friends with motorcycles and cars to go back, so I think I may get to go every two weeks or so.  Not a bad way to spend my Saturdays!

The beach at Juan Dolio

Today, I am going to church at San Esteban in the morning and then going to the hospital with Sister Jean Gabriel to visit Vanessa, one of the volunteers who works at Centro Buen Pastor (she grew up going to the school there on scholarships and she is now getting a scholarship to go to secritarial school). She has sickle cell anemia and she had a crisis this week.  She is doing better, but will still be in the hospital for a bit while they get her fully hydrated.  Afterwards, we will return to Centro Buen Pastor for afternoon mass followed by baptism class for the parents who want to have their children baptized.

I hope all is well at home!  Let me know if you have any questions.

~ Tina

Visit to Santo Domingo

Catedral Episcopal de la Epifania

On Saturday, Sister Jean Gabriel and I joined people from Centro Buen Pastor and San Esteban in a trip to Santo Domingo for the dedication of the first Episcopal Cathedral in Dominican Republic.  This Santo Domingo church has been an Episcopal church for over 80 years, but now it is officially no longer a church, but the Cathedral.

There was an Episcopal Cathedral in on the island in Haiti, in Port au Prince, but it was demolished in the earth quake this year, making it even more meaningful for a new cathedral to be named.  

The mass of dedication included a large procession into the cathedral and the participation of bishops, priests, deacons, and acolytes from all over, including one bishop who was visiting from Ecuador.  The area bishop, Bishop Holguin oversaw the mass.  

Bishop Julio Cesar Holguin Khoury

After the mass was a luncheon for the hundreds of people who had come from all over the island for the dedication.  It was a wonderful time to see people who work for the Episcopal church who are not normally in San Pedro.  The whole day was quite a success.

If you have any questions about the mass, let me know!  There are many more photos on my facebook page.  This blog is very slow to load photos, so I can't add any more here.  

After the service, we went book shopping in Santo Domingo.  Sister Jean Gabriel took us to an alleyway that is filled with stands of used book vendors.  We went from stand to stand looking for books for one of the students Centro Buen Pastor supports.  Once we knew which stands had the books he needed available, we then haggled to find out which vendor had the best price.  It was a fun experience.  They give better prices to people who bring back old books to trade in, so students are told to keep their books in very good shape so that they will be better to trade next year.  Very different from the used book buy back we're used to in colleges in the US.

The edge of the used book vendor street in Santo Domingo

My schedule has changed yet again.  Due to complications and miscommunications, I am no longer going to be working at San Esteban School.  I am now a missionary for Centro Buen Pastor, though I will still attend Sunday Mass and other events at San Esteban and I will obviously still be close to all my friends there.  All this really means is that instead of going back and forth between the two schools, I'll concentrate on one.  I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing during the mornings at Centro Buen Pastor, but for now I will help Sister Jean Gabriel with taking photographs of the scholarship students for their records.  Eventually, I may be teaching English to the morning students or teaching a study group for students who are struggling who cannot attend my afternoon study session because they have afternoon school sessions.  Really, this simplifies things and helps keep me more focused.

This weekend my friends and I went out to McDonald's.  They were excited to go, and I went to appease them, but it made me chuckle that to them that was a big night out.  We also stopped by a small carnival fair, like the Topsfield Fair but much, much smaller.  There was a ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, the Zipper, and a few other rides along with stands of cheap things for sale, cotton candy and popcorn stands, and some fair games.  The big differences were the bar in the middle of the fair that sold everything from beer to shots and the gambling stations at the entrance that included dice games, craps, and roulette.  Overall, though, it was a lot like any other fair with crowds of families near the kids games and rides and crowds of teenagers near the scary rides and music booths.  I was too much of a wimp to go on any of the rides, but it was fun to walk around and the cotton candy was pretty good!

Settling In

The beginning of this week started out a little rocky when I found out that there had been a major communication break down between the director of the San Esteban School, the new priest, Father Alvero, and Sister Jean Gabriel and me.  Though Father Alvero had been telling me that I was going to be "the" English teacher for the school because of the financial problems they were having and that my schedule would change to just work with the older kids because that is what my specialty is, he was wrong.  Even before I got here, the director of the school knew that she was hiring a new English teacher for the school, but that the teacher wouldn't be able to start the first two weeks of school.  So, things changed rapidly and it turns out that they only had me working with all grades pre-k to 12 because I was filling in until the real teacher showed up.

Though this was all a HUGE surprise to me at the time, and we had to re-work my schedule once all this was discussed, it actually turns out that now my time is more flexible and I will be able to really focus on the classes I do have instead of spreading myself too thin, which I was very afraid of before.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I will spend the morning at the San Esteban working with the pre-k through 4th graders as a volunteer.  I also see some of the older kids around the school, but they won't be my students.  This week, because of the schedule upheaval, I only got to work with the pre-k and 3rd graders, but it was a lot of fun.  My pre-k kids can now count to 10 in English and they can ask for crayon colors in English.  There are two little boys that are very stubborn and won't talk to me, even in Spanish, but they cross their arms and glare at me (one is 3 and one is 5).  But one cracked a smile this week, the second time I've worked with their class, so I'm sure it'll be fine.  The 3rd graders are really good kids and they were so excited to tell me they already knew how to count to 8, so now they're up to 12.  They can say "hello," "good morning," "my name is ____," and other greeting things.  They are very excited to find out more about American and they love to sing and play games.

Working with little kids actually means I have to use my Spanish skills more, which is good practice for me.  Also, it means that I have to be very careful about my hand writing, which I never noticed as a problem working with high school kids.  Things have to be very clear for younger kids to copy off the board, and its good for me to be aware of that.  I went and bought colored chalk this week to help highlight different things for them (I hate writing on the chalk board, but I'll get used to it!) and I got colored construction paper to use with my pre-school and 1st and 2nd grade classes.

I will probably add in classes with the younger kids at Centro Buen Pastor on Thursday and Friday mornings now that I have that time free.  In the afternoons, my English lessons at Centro Buen Pastor are still going very well.  The kids are improving rapidly, and though there are various levels in my class, they are all getting a lot out of it.  Today they have their first presentation, and they must introduce themselves and talk about themselves based on a list of things they need to talk about.  They will get a grade for it, though because its a private class, the grades don't really count for anything.  It's still good to let them know how they are doing.

I'm getting very good at getting around.  I can take the Gua Gua (public vans) to and from each of the schools and I often walk with friends or have friends drive me on their motorcycles when I don't go with Sister Jean Gabriel's chauffeur.  This weekend, I'm going to a karaoke bar with one of other teachers at Centro Buen Pastor, and it should be interesting!  She said she wants me to sing in English, but I'll probably just watch.
 
On Saturday morning we are going to Santo Domingo, the capital, for the installation of the Episcopal Cathedral.  Its should be a really big event with people from the different Episcopal churches all over the island coming together to celebrate.  I don't know that much of what to expect at this point, but I will update about how it went this weekend.

On Sundays, I worship with San Esteban in the morning at 9:30 and with Centro Buen Pastor in the afternoon at 4:00.  It is a good way for me to see a lot of my friends in each community every week.  It is also a great way for me to practice my Spanish by listening to the service and participating.  I already know The Lord's Prayer in Spanish by heart and after a year I'm sure I'll know many hymns and prayers that they use on a regular basis.

My living arrangements starting in October are still up in the air, so I don't want to comment too much because after the school schedule changes I know that things can drastically change before they become permanent.

Sister Jean Gabriel and I have discussed how we can receive donations, as many of you have indicated you would like to send things.  The best way to do that is to send things in the luggage of people who will be visiting me, or in my luggage when I'm home for Christmas break.  If you do want to send packages, they would have to be sent to Florida first, and all shipping must be paid, but then additional shipping costs of about $1.50 per pound need to be sent to the Sisters of the Transfiguration so that Sister Jean Gabriel can pay to get the package from Florida to Dominican Republic.  If all of those shipping costs are not paid, then the donation becomes more expensive than helpful.  This makes it very hard to send things like notebooks.  There are many school supplies available here, though, and Sister Jean Gabriel is an expert at seeking out the lowest price, so she would gladly accept donations that are earmarked for specific things, like school supplies.  If you do want to ship something or make a donation, send me an e-mail and I'll give you the information on how to do it: sun4eva24@yahoo.com.

She did ask, however, for me to let you all know that backpacks are in VERY high demand and that she did not get enough of them this year for the kids she supports.  They are expensive here, and often hard to find.  In the US, I'm sure that October is a great time to get deals on the back-to-school leftovers, so please keep an eye out.  I hope to fill a whole suitcase with backpacks either when my Dad visits in November or when I return after Christmas.

I will update with photos and information about the installation this weekend.  Feel free to ask questions about any thing I'm doing too.  I really love talking to everyone at home.  I hope Earl isn't hitting you too badly.  Here, we just had two windy days and a few drops of rain, nothing exciting, but hurricane season lasts until December, so keep your fingers crossed!

Dios les bendiga.

Tina