Feliz Navidad!

I don't know why, but lately I have had this crazy urge to sing "Jingle Bells" all the time. Oh yeah! It's Christmas time!! I just love this time of year. Who doesn't like this time of year? Who doesn't love beautifully decorated houses and Christmas trees, Christmas songs playing everywhere, presents at every corner, and Christmas programs galore. Well, not much is different here when it comes to Christmas in the Dominican Republic, but at the same time, everything is different. I thought that you might enjoy hearing about the Christmas that we have been introduced to.

1) Our students had their Christmas program last Thursday and it was so much fun. They were all so cute up there on the stage in their beautiful red and green outfits. Sounds pretty normal, right? But I bet you never thought of having a Christmas program outside in December with parents who have little respect for concert etiquette. It was mass chaos, but then again everything here is chaos.

2) Remember all those wonderful Christmas songs that we look forward to hearing this time of year. We look forward so much to hearing them that we start playing them wayyyyy to early. Songs like Silent Night, Jingle Bell Rock, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and many more. Well, they sure love their Christmas songs here too, except their Christmas songs revolve around one song--Feliz Navidad. Yes that's right everywhere you go, you will here Feliz Navidad. We are pretty sure that is the only Christmas song they now. But one good thing has come out of hearing Feliz Navidad some many times this holiday season...we learned the true clap that goes between each phrase of Feliz Navidad. I bet you didn't know that there was a right and wrong way to clap in the song. Well, if you ever want to know it, just ask. We are experts at it now.

3) Alright, now the best of all...PRESENTS! Admit it, you know its true, that the one thing you love most about Christmas is the presents. It's the same for me. I love getting gifts and the good thing is that the people here love giving gifts. It's a great combination. Our gift receiving extravaganza started at our annual Teacher and Staff Christmas Banquet. We had such a nice, lovely American dinner and at the end we were visited by "The Three Orient Kings" (three staff members with Burger King crowns on) who blessed us with a lovely Santiago Christian School umbrella. Everyone LOVED it. It sounds funny to like getting an umbrella so much but in the 2 weeks we have had it, it has rained a some point almost everyday. The second gift we received while living here in the DR is a beautiful wool coat. Yes, you heard me right, a wool coat. You probably didn't think we would ever need wool coats here in the DR. Well, you are right. We don't. There was a parent, who wanted to give every teacher a free wool coat for Christmas. I don't know why, but it was very generous of him. So we gave him our size and received a coat in exchange. The good thing is that now I have something to wear when I return to the States next week. On the other side of the gift giving extravaganza is the giving gifts part. Purchasing gifts this year has been a bit different. We have had to do everything on-line and have it sent to our parents. It was a little weird, but it was nice to just sit down in front of the computer and get all our Christmas shopping done in one day.

4) Many of you have annual traditions when it comes to decorating your Christmas tree. Maybe you gather your family together, drink hot chocolate and put ornaments on your tree or maybe you sing Christmas carols around the piano while you each take turns putting an ornament up. Well, since this is our first Christmas together as a married couple, we thought that it would be appropriate to start our own Christmas tree decorating tradition. So Jon and I got together one night for the big event. Together, we placed our one lone Christmas ornament on a nail in the wall in the living room. Yep, that was it. Sure it sounds easy, but you don't realize how long it took me to decide just what nail to hang it on. We are quite proud of our lovely decorating.

Well, that's enough fun for one night. So, let me close up this blog by saying...Christmas isn't quite the same here, but we are enjoying it a lot. However, I am looking forward to coming home for a snow filled Christmas in my new wool coat.

It's All About the Benjamins

Maybe it started when I saw the animated Robin Hood as a child, the one with the dashing fox starring as Robin Hood. Maybe it was growing up on Indianapolis' east side making fun of all the "rich kids" that lived on the north side. Maybe it was all the movies like, Slumdog Millionaire, I watched over the years whose heroes were the determined, poor child who overcame all odds to succeed. Whatever it was, it has been ingrained in my mind that the poor are the underdogs who need to be rooted for and helped. The upper classes were just people who put on a facade all their lives that I could care less about. This thinking is one of the reasons why I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be the one who would help the poor and the needy. I wanted to be that "hero" teacher for those children whose homes were in turmoil. Whatever problems they faced outside of school, I would help them succeed in school and in life. With all this in mind, how did I end up where I am today?

I teach at a Christian school in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The vast majority of students that attend the school, are very wealthy. They have the material things of the world at their hands. They have the silver spoon in their mouth with a nanny using it to feed them. "What could I offer them?" This is not the demographic that I intended to serve when going into this profession. I wondered aloud, "Have I taken a step backwards in fulfilling my goal to be that "hero" teacher?" There was a verse that echoed in my mind though: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

These same rich that I showed a disregard towards in my early life, are in a dire situation. Jesus explicitly mentioned the difficulty they would face in coming to his kingdom. There is more in this world for them to cling to making it difficult for them to humble themselves before Christ. Judging from the verse, they are the people that you look at and say, there is no possible way that they could be saved. And that is the beauty of it all. There is no way they could be saved apart from a miracle. And that miracle takes the form of Jesus Christ, for all things are possible with God. And it is in this setting that Becki and I have been placed as teachers. These students may know wealth like I will never know, but that does not mean that they are not in need. They are in need for a salvation that is impossible apart from God. Therefore, I have not taken a step back in fulfilling a goal for my life, I have taken a front seat in watching God miraculously work in these children's lives with the best part being that in all of this, I get to be the avenue through which they hear about this God who loves them.

Why I Love Music on Tuesday's

Every Tuesday, I find myself preparing to go to my Spanish Class. I say prepare, because active thought goes into each decision I make as I travel to and from the class. I leave my watch and wallet at home so I will have few valuables at hand in case I am stopped by anyone. I stuff several dollars in my pockets so I can have something to offer anyone who wishes to stop me. I leave my keys at home so I don't have to worry about losing them. The first portion of the trip is relaxed as I walk on a main street. When I turn off that street onto the dimly lit side streets, my senses are turned up and I become tense. My heart beats a little faster and I am jumpy. This last section of the trip is characterized by fear. Fear of what may be in those shadows. It's always a relief when I see the apartment where the class is held. I know that I have made it. There is always the return trip though. The same emotions of fear run through my mind. I quickly run/walk as I weave through the side streets. As I run, my ears hear something. It is coming from the barbershop that I pass to and from on my way to the Spanish Class. There are two men sitting along the wall in white, plastic chairs. They each hold an accordion in their hands and laps. One is the barber and the other his friend. They sit across from each other gently playing their accordions. Their is no fear in their eyes, only peace and contentment as they relax from a long day of work. As I approach these musicians, my mind goes back to a book I read several years ago, The Book Thief, in which one of the main characters is an excellent accordion player. That makes me think of the person who recommended that book to me, my sister. "I wonder what she's up to" I think to myself. Then I think of my mother-in-law who never really liked that book. "I shouldn't have recommended it to her, I guess" I say to myself. And before I know it, the fear has been driven from my mind. No longer am I worried about what may happen to me, but instead, I'm thinking about all of these faces from home. I finally realize why Saul had David play the harp for him. It is that mysterious element of music that drives out fear and puts one at ease.

I thought that you might enjoy seeing a couple of pictures of my lovely students that I get to spend time with everyday. They are such a joy, but can drive me absolutely CRAZY!

Also, just a quick update. Some things have totally changed and now there is a cheerleading squad. I have 12 girls on the team and things are going great so far. They are getting me back into shape.

Being an Adult

Well, after yesterday I can officially say that I am an adult. I am past the years of college and have entered into my 23rd year of life. I am almost into my mid-20's and it is quite a scary thing to think about. Here are a few highlights of the events that unfolded on my birthday.

1.) In the morning, we went up to a place high in the mountains called Camp David to have breakfast with our principal. It was absolutely beautiful and was a great start to a wonderful day. Also up at the camp were several cars that belonged to a past dictator in the DR named Trujillo. One of those cars just happened to be a Fleetwood Cadillac. Jon was pretty excited about that. We included two pictures of him with the car.

2.) Another couple (Diane and Raul Moya--Raul is Dominican.) here who is very familiar with the area and where to get good deals came over to do some shopping with us. You see, part of the deal when we came here is that we were allowed to use someone else's furniture until December when that family returned. It was such a huge blessing to come here and not have to buy furniture right away, but the family will be returning in about 3 weeks and we haven't bought a single piece of furniture. So, the Moya's took us out shopping for good souveniers, but we ended up buying a kitchen table. We have finally made out first furniture purchase as a married couple. The funny thing is that we weren't expecting to actually buy any furniture yet so we didn't have enough money with us. We thought that we were going to have to go back to our apartment to get money, but the furniture company told us that we could just pay them when they delivered the table. They followed us home that day, we paid them, and they set up the table for us. Talk about a quick delivery.

3.) The Moya's stayed at our apartment for a few hours to break in our new table. We taught them how to play "Dutch Blitz" which was quite hilarious because Raul is Dominican and doesn't speak all the greatest English. He was so funny trying to understand how to play the game. He kept cheating but not knowing it at all. The good thing is that I got to practice a lot of Spanish. I think I spoke more Spanish in that 2 hours that I have the whole time I was here. We had such a wonderful time.

4.) The day ended with dinner out (just Jon and I) at an Italian restaurant here in Santiago. I have been wanting to go there for a long time and Jon promised to take me for my birthday. It reminded us a lot of The Old Spaghetti Factory. The food was amazing and for the first time we felt very "at home." And we got to have ice cream after dinner.

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you everyone who thought about me and sent me birthday wishes!

The Legend of Zelda

Growing up, I had one of those massive, gray Game Boys. I shared it with my brother along with a game called The Legend of Zelda. When we first got the game, I was determined to conquer the game and free Princess Zelda. I would play it whenever possible. I would bring it in the car and on long trips in a never ending attempt to beat the game. It was so fun. I would unlock new levels regularly, opening the door to new and more exciting stages of the game. Eventually, I came to this cave of some sort where I had to jump over lava to retrieve a key to unlock the next level. I kept trying and kept failing. I needed to find some way to defeat that stage.

Coming here, I was on one of those massive, gray airplanes. I shared it with my wife along with many other people on some sort of adventure all their own. When we first arrived, I was determined to conquer the language of Spanish and free my tongue from the binds placed on it thanks to the Tower of Babel. I would practice whenever possible. In taxi cars and trips to the supermarket in a never ending attempt to learn this language. It was fun and exciting. I started unlocking new levels such as greetings and an assortment of adjectives. After these levels, came new levels like small talk to discover what people where doing. I wanted to move on though. I looked for some key to allow me to advance in this adventure to conquer the language of Spanish. I tried a key called Spanish class and I tried a key called talking with strangers on the street for practice. I kept trying and kept failing. I needed to find some way to defeat this stage and move on.

After hours spent searching high and low for how I could jump over the lava to unlock the next level, I grew tired and frustrated. I played the game less and less until the game sat in the back of the desk drawer, collecting dust. It was not meant for me to free Princess Zelda.

After hours, days, weeks, and 3 months searching for ways to unlock more levels in this adventure, I find myself tired and frustrated at times. Surely there is a key that will instantly open my ears and loosen my tongue. If I spent my time looking for the key to instant understanding, I imagine my desire to learn the language would lessen until it eventually found a dusty corner in my brain to atrophy. There is no easy solution though. It will take time. I am determined, however, that this adventure to learn the language of Spanish will end better than my experience with the Legend of Zelda. Princess Zelda may be forever locked in her castle, but one day my tongue will be free and will speak Spanish. It may not be eloquent but it will be efficient

Life After 3 Months

Alright, this is Becki. (Sorry, I know my writing is not as good as Jon's) I am writing to let you know what is going on here. Basically, our lives our very hectic and it doesn't even seem possible that it has already been 3 months here in the Dominican Republic. Everyday is completely different--some days are good and some are not as good, but I wouldn't say that there are any bad days.

School
Well, we just finished up our first quarter as teachers. We learned a lot in those first 9 weeks. I learned a lot about how to fail with flair. That's right FAIL! I failed a lot this quarter, but honestly I am glad that I did. It was very humbling. I came into this whole teaching thing with probably a little too much confidence in myself and not enough confidence in God. Math has proven to be much harder to teach than I thought. I understand it very well, but understanding and teaching are two completely separate things. Also, I learned that a lot of what I learned in the states about teaching can basically be tossed out the window when dealing with these kids. Being ESL (English as a Second Language) students, I have really had to alter my teaching philosophy. Textbooks are harder for them to understand. Tests are harder for them to take. When I give them a definition for a word, they don't always understand all the words in the definition. I have to do a lot more guiding and explaining than what I am use to. Also, coming into this year, I decided that rewards were going to be very few and far between in my classroom. I wanted the students to work hard and try their best because it was the right thing to do, not because there was a prize at the end of the tunnel. Well, that went down the toilet. The truth is, they need a little something to make them want to do it. It's like another teacher told me...We wouldn't work if we weren't going to be getting paid. TRUE!! So, I am trying to give the students more rewards and they seem so much more happier. I love my students so much. They are such a joy and I can never get enough hugs from them. That's right...I can actually hug my students here and won't get in trouble.

Well, with the end of the first quarter comes Parent-Teacher Conferences. SCARY?? No not really! I was actually quite excited. I have always felt that I am very good at talking to adults. Most of my conferences went very very well, but you always have that one parent that no matter what you do you can never make them happy. Yeah, I have one of them in my class. Supposedly, according to her, I have taken away her daughter's desire to learn and she thinks that I am way to uptight and strict. (Honestly, I wanted to be that way and I am quite glad that she thinks I am strict.) I don't know. All I can say from this first quarter is that I have a lot to learn.

Extra-Curricular
Well, enough about school. Maybe you want to know about what we do besides school..not much. We don't have too much time, because we do a lot of school even after school. However, we have managed to find some other things to do. Jon plays basketball at the school every Sunday afternoon with about 15 other guys. It just gives him a nice chance to get out some energy, get some exercise, and let some steam off from the week. It also gives us a chance to be away from each other for a little while. Although we are still madly in love, it is nice to get a break from each other every once in a while. I am sure all you married people out there understand. Also, Jon is going to be starting up some tutoring in the next week, which will not only get him more connected at the school, but it will also give us a little extra spending money.

Now, about me...did you honestly think that I was going to be able to make it a whole two years without some sort of gymnastics or cheerleading in my schedule. Impossible! Word came to me that the boys basketball team really wanted cheerleaders. So, I talked to the athletic director and we decided to hold an informational meeting to find out how much interest there would be. So we put out flyers and announced it at chapel. The truth is, they have tried cheerleading in the past but it has never worked so they kind of just gave up. Well, I had the meeting yesterday and only 5 girls showed up. Two girls said they were only doing it because their friends wanted them to and three of them said they only wanted to do it for the cute little outfits. So, I decided that cheerleading may not happen this year. SAD!! Oh well. The next thing up my sleeve is elementary gymnastics class, which supposedly have always had GREAT success at the school. I hope that it works out because I need something to do to get out some energy. Otherwise, I just might go crazy. For the past 8 years of my life I have taught gymnastics and cheerleading on the side as a way to excerise, avoid work, and let out some steam. I have quickly discovered that I still need that. Please pray that it gets started and that lots of girls would be interested.

Social
After about two months being here, we were starting to feel a little discouraged when it came to our social lives. We didn't really feel like we fit in with most people. Either the people were our age, but not married or they were married and were older or had kids. We were kind of in limbo land and were really wanting someone to hang out. Well, we decided that instead of sitting around and doing nothing about it (like we usually do), we would give some people a call and invite them over for a little something that we loved to do back home....play games. Well, it has been a great success so far. We have had two game nights with different families and they have all really enjoyed it so far. Also, last weekend a family at the school invited us to go to the beach with them. I attached a couple of pictures. It was beautiful.


Well, life seems to be going a little better here lately. We are starting to feel a little less homesick and a little more like part of the family here. However, with holidays and my birthday coming up soon, we might get a little homesick. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouraging words. It really does help. We love you all and can't wait to come home to snow on the ground.

The Teacher Man

If I had to make a list of my Top Ten favorite songs of all time, one of them would be Billy Joel's Piano Man. I like this song so much because when I close my eyes as I listen to the song, it feels like I'm transported to the scene. I can overhear Paul, the real-estate novelist talking with Davy who's still in the navy. I can hear the waitress practicing politics. I love the collection of characters this song has and how Billy Joel wrote it in such a way that you feel like you are there with them.

Here are some of the characters I have met so far in this scene called the Dominican Republic. Hopefully this gives you a better idea of what life is like for us.

Vicente - Every morning that I go to school, Vicente is working on the school grounds. He is an older man somewhere in his 60's. He is hunched over raking up leaves every morning at this time. He wears an old Pittsburgh Pirates hat that has been saturated with sweat. I walk to where he is so I can greet him. I shake his calloused hands. They are worn from years of hard work and many hours spent clutching his rake. We greet each other and wish each other a good day. I try to take my Spanish to a further level and ask him what he did over the weekend. I understand the first part but as his conversation picks up speed, he loses me as I take on the look of that deer in the headlights. There is one thing I will always remember about Vicente: his smile. No matter what job he is working at or how hot it is, he always smiles at me when he sees me. He always shifts the rake to one side and leans on it as he stops to talk to me. He never rushes our conversations to get back to his work. He takes his time as he says hello and smiles at me. I walk away from him feeling encouraged to do whatever work is before me.

Lorenzo - As I mentioned earlier, it is my job to take the trash out. Next to our dumpster is the entrance to a gated neighborhood. At the entrance is a security house where a man named Lorenzo works everyday from 7 in the morning to 7 at night. He is young, in his 30's, with dark, gelled hair. He greets me by saying "Hello, my friend." I reply to him in Spanish and then in English. He follows our greetings by telling me that I look very white today. "I know" I say, "I am very white everyday." He tells me this every time I see him so obviously 2 months here has not darkened my skin enough. He promises to teach me Spanish if I teach him English.

Simon - Simon is a 13 year old boy that lives in my apartment complex. He plays baseball in the apartment parking lot looking up to our window in an effort to catch my eye. If that doesn't work, he calls out my name. When he finally catches my attention, he asks in English if I want to play baseball. Of course, I can't turn that offer down. I quickly ask Becki for permission to go play, unlock the door, and hurry down the stairs to join him in a game of home run derby. He only speaks to me in English and I only speak to him in Spanish. We are both trying to practice the little we know of each other's language. We are unwilling to give in and speak the same language so we continue in our two-language conversations.

Manny - At the end of our street sit several taxi drivers waiting for their next customer to come by. They pass their time playing cards with the loser doing push-ups in the dirt. One of these drivers is a middle-aged man in his 40's named Manny. He always waves to us as we pass by him. He was born in Venezuela but moved to the DR after 6 months. He lived in New York City for 12 years working at a Mexican restaurant near Central Park. That experience has left him with a thick New York accent. He tries to teach us Spanish but I have no idea what he is saying. I just smile and nod because his Spanish is so rushed and slurred together. We ask him how he his doing and he replies with the same answer everyday "I can't complain." He always finds a way to work into the conversation the need for us to exercise. "You need to lift weights and walk around." We tell him that we will start soon. Then we walk off to the grocery store.

This is our life and these are the people who are here to share it with us. It is these people who make this foreign place feel more like home.

Lessons Learned

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

As a child, my family would pile into my mom's station wagon and drive to Wisconsin to see our grandparents. It's only a 5-6 hour drive to my grandparent's house but that was an eternity in my mind at that age. To pass the time, we had our family repertoire of cassette tapes to listen to. They were Psalty the Song Book, the Donut Man, and Steve Green's children's album. It was during these trips to and from Wisconsin that I first remember hearing the verse Philippians 4.13 found in a song on Steve Green's children's album.

Growing up, I always knew that verse although I never gave it much thought. In many ways it seemed like another cliche that was tattooed on a professional athlete's bicep. In my mind, it only applied to those individuals who were out in the world, accomplishing extraordinary feats. It didn't impact my life because I was just living a simple, ordinary life.

I have gained a different perspective of that verse over the past year, especially the last few weeks here in the Dominican Republic. I finally paid closer attention to the verses preceding Philippians 4.13:

"I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need."

It struck me that Philippians 4.13 is not meant to be just a trite answer given by those who have accomplished extraordinary deeds but it is a light at the end of the tunnel for the person who feels like darkness has overtaken him. Yes, maybe he is at his wit's end with no reason why he should have hope, but he knows that even in this low estate, he has a strength beyond measure. A strength that can only be supernatural.

We are doing well here in the DR. But after years of learning how to face plenty and abundance, we finally get the chance to face hunger and need. And in that, we know that we can do all things through him who strengthens us.

Jose O'Shay's and Philly Cheesesteaks

I went camping this weekend on a beach on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. For supper we ate a restaurant called Jose O'Shay's. I had to show you the sign as proof that a place called Jose O'Shay's really does exist. Everytime I think of the name, I laugh to myself. It never gets old. Supposedly, O'Shay's has the best Philly Cheesesteak's around. The cheesesteak wasn't bad but I imagine it's claim to cheesesteak supremacy in this country is safe considering the competition is lacking.

The picture in the middle is next to the beach where I went camping. You can't tell from the picture but it is actually a golf course that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. This begins my search to find golf courses to keep my father-in-law entertained when he comes to visit.

What's Been Going On?

Alright, I know that I am far overdue for a new entry in our blog. Well, I had wanted to write an entry two days ago, but when we got home from school on Tuesday we came home to no internet and no phone. We were completely disconnected. We thought that maybe it was because we hadn't paid our bill. The Dominican Republic is really bad and slow about getting you your bill on time, but really quick to cut your line. The next day we talked to someone at the school, who called the phone/internet company to find out what in the world was going on. Come to find out...we didn't owe any money, but they had accidentally cut off our line. So, today we were able to come home to a communication hot zone. Jon was going crazy without internet. The good thing though is that we got a lot of grading done!

So that tells you one thing that has been going on lately, but I have a couple more quick stories to tell you all.

First of all, we finally got to go to the beach for the first time. We took the equivalent of a Greyhound. It was so nice and very cool. I actually had to put on a sweater. It felt heavenly. When we got their, we were bombarded with vendors of all sorts. We quickly learned that the magic words to get them to leave you alone was, "We might shop later!" Either that or you could just completely ignore them. I was really good at that! Anyways, the beach was so beautiful. The sand was like walking on cotton. It was so soft and clean. It felt so wonderful. It was such a nice day. The sun was shining bright. The waves were gentle and calming, but also lots of fun as you will see from the video I posted of Jon getting much amusement from those very waves. It was a much needed day of relaxation. (Oh by the way...we got to go to the beach because school was canceled last Friday. School was canceled because of strikes in the area. We get snow days in Indiana, but strike days in the DR. We can't complain!)

Now, here is our God moment from last week. For starters, in the DR, you don't buy phone plans...you just buy phone cards for your phones. Well both of our phones were out of minutes. We could receive calls, but we couldn't make calls. Moving on...the pastor of the church we have been attending (an American pastor) decided to have all the new attendees over for dinner to get to know us better. He called us earlier to give us his phone number and address. (Side note: Addresses in the DR are useless. Streets aren't labeled and many streets have the same names) So we went out to one of the taxi drivers at the end of our street and showed him the address. He finally figured out where it was and told us to get in. We drove to an area, which he thought was right, but turned out to not be right. He figured that out quickly and started asking around where it might be. After just a few minutes, we finally found it. We got out of the taxi, paid him, and he left us. With the taxi driver finally gone, we rang the buzzer to have the pastor open the apartment door. The person who shot out the 4th floor window was not the pastor and come to find out...the pastor did not even live their. Now what were we to do? The taxi driver was gone and we didn't have phones that could call out. We were stranded. We started walking around trying to ask people if they knew the directions that we had been given. (Another side note: People in the DR are not ones to tell you that they don't know. If they don't know something...instead of just telling you that they don't know, they will make something up.) After about 10 minutes walking many blocks in circles, asking many people who didn't really know what they were talking about, I started getting really upset. I wanted to go home. Not just home to our apartment, but home to Indiana...where streets had names, I had a car and a cell phone, and I could speak the language. But Jon, being the optimistic person that he has become since we got here, continued to do his best to find someone who would truly know what they were talking about. We continued walking around and around, until finally (I don't know what came over me), I started to laugh. I realized that this was just another funny experience that God was putting us through...just another moment for us to learn to trust in God. I laughed because I knew that God was testing us and I had completely over reacted to something that I had needed to trust in Him for. I surrendered it all over and what do you know....I looked up and there it was. We had made it. I guess it really does pay to trust in God.

Well, now you are caught up on a few things going on here. We really are having a great time. We are going through a little bit of homesickness, but not too bad. The people here are nice and very helpful. Thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray that we would learn the language quickly.

Beisbol

As I was telling my class what their homework would be for the night, the head of the Parent's Association gave me papers to be sent home to the parents. I quickly scanned the papers to see what was so important that they hand-delivered these messages to me before the school day ended. The bold letters at the bottom of the page caught my eye: Classes Canceled Tomorrow. There were to be strikes near the school so the school was closing for safety reasons. Those welcome words gave me an immediate boost in my step. I happily sent the children on their way and sat through an hour long meeting knowing that I had a long weekend ahead of me.

The bus dropping people off was filled with a buzz that is lacking on most afternoons. People all spoke of their weekend plans. Everyone kept mentioning a baseball game that was going on that evening. It was part of a Mini World Series for teams of boys 13-15 years old and there were several students from our school playing on the national team. Caught up with the excitement of no school for the next day, we agreed to go to this game.

We arrived at the stadium thinking we might be a little late but discovered that they weren't even close to being ready to play. The first thing that we noticed was the section of the Dominican "pep band". It looked more like a group of angry villagers each carrying their makeshift instrument. One instrument looked almost like a mailbox with no post, another looked like a water pitcher, and the main instrument looked like a metal pipe that flared out at the end. Surprisingly out of this strange collection of fans and instruments, came a catchy tune. They played the same 8 second segment non-stop throughout the night but somehow it never got old to hear them play with such enthusiasm. Thursday night happened to be the opening ceremony of this event. There were teams from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Finally, the Catholic priest gave his prayer and led the stadium in signing the cross and the beisbol could begin. Carried by the pep band and the home field advantage the Dominican team stormed out to an early 3-0 lead. The Mexican team took advantage of several errors to cut the lead to 1. We left with the Dominican team up 4-2. For one night, we could forget about all the stresses of lesson planning and grading papers and enjoy the environment around us.

Pugilistic Pupils

At some point Wednesday afternoon, I was beginning to think of careers other than teaching that interested me. I felt like Sonny Liston in that iconic photograph with Muhammad Ali. I was an enthusiastic teacher ready to take on the world but in the opening round of my fight I had been humiliated. The students were testing my patience and I had let them get to me. I was morphing into a negative teacher that had no control of the classroom. This transformation amazed me because I could see and hear myself growing more frustrated but I was helpless in trying to stop it. The end of the school day couldn't have come any faster.

I sat at home that night just reflecting on everything that went wrong during that day. I was determined to not let these students get under my skin. I prayed for a positive attitude knowing that my teaching career was destined to failure if I allowed negativity to overtake me. Thankfully, my frustrations started to peel away as the evening passed. By the time I was ready for bed, I was excited to get back into the ring.

With renewed energy and a positive attitude, I welcomed the students into my classroom. As I went through that day, I seemed to have an extra measure of patience that had been given to me. My whole outlook towards the students had even changed. No longer were they imps trying to torment me, they were children desperately in need of someone to help them. Returning to my classroom at the end of the day, I found myself wearing this goofy grin on my face that simply said, "Thank you God."

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Alright, I have what I think is a funny little story to share with you. I know that I should probably share my 5th grade stories with you but when I saw this 1st grade story I just had to share it with you. I was cracking up. So here it goes.

Last night, Jon decided to come up with a really easy fill-in-the-blank little worksheet for his 1st graders to help them with their Bible verse for the week. We worked together to come up with the best and most easy little worksheet. The verse was this...(Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart so that I will not sin against you.") His fill-in-the-blank worksheet looked like this...(Psalm 119:11 "I have _________ your ______ in my ______ so that I will not _____ against ________.") Easy right? Well, this evening when Jon took the papers out to grade he started laughing. I asked him what he was laughing about and he said that the Bible fill-in-the-blank worksheet didn't go so well today. He overestimated the abilities of these 1st graders. We are both still getting use to the abilities of our grade levels.

Well, Jon handed out the worksheet to the students and told them the verse, told them exactly what to write in the blanks, and pointed them to the place on the board to see the answers as well. Well.....this is what, after much hard work, one of the little first graders Bible verse came out to be. Psalm 119:11 "I have love your hidden in my uno so that I will not he against word." Boy am I looking forward to what this kid writes on his Bible verse on Friday. Let's just hope that his parents do a little bit of studying with him.

Pictures From Afar

A picture is worth a thousand words. I don't have a picture for this story so a thousand words will have to do.

It was Monday morning and the trash was ready to be taken out. The responsibility for that job has been assigned to me ever since Becki took one glance at the apartment's dumpster. I decided that I would just bring the trash with me as I left for school and drop it off at the dumpster. I carefully walked towards the dumpster with its rotting food and dirty diapers that had not made it inside. Several feet away from the dumpster I took one last breath before I made it any closer. Not wanting to get my whole hand dirty, I grabbed the gate to the dumpster gingerly between my forefinger and my thumb. It caught on something so I rattled the latch back and forth. I finally forced open the gate. Immediately, I jumped back as an enormous rat ran out of the garbage. I quickly threw my trash into the dumpster and tried to close the gate. While I was trying to shut the door, another rat jumped from the other side and ran across the pavement. I had had enough of these rats so I left the door open and briskly walked to the end of our street so we could get back on our way to school. As I walked away I doused my hands in hand sanitizer solution sickened by all the trash and the rodents. With that episode still fresh in my mind, I waited at the corner for our bus to pick us up. As we waited, an elderly man came slowly riding by on his bicycle. He turned onto our street and came to a stop in front of the dumpster. Getting off his bike, he opened the gate and walked straight into the garbage. Every once in a while I would see his arm poke out with a glass beer bottle placing it in the basket on the front of his bicycle. It's like they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

First Day of School

Well, we have officially finished the first day of what some people would call the worst year of teaching--our first year. I think Jon and I would both agree that it was all just one big blur. Jon was surprised that he thought he seemed a little more strict than he thought he would be and I thought it seemed that I was a little more easy than I thought I would be. Who knows though? I wish that I could just call today's first day of school a practice run and try it all over again tomorrow, but I can't get another first day of school back until next school year. It's not that it was a bad day (far from that). It's just that I feel I could have done a little better job had I had a little more practice. I guess I will get that practice the longer I teach. All in all though, I felt that today was a pretty successful day. Some things went better than expected, but some didn't go as well. I felt pretty scatter-brained all day. (Sorry my writing isn't as eloquent as Jon's.) Jon said that one of his students cried at the sight of seeing that she would be having a male teacher. She actually ended up getting switched to the other "female" teacher. I had a student notice my many hand habits and ended up asking me if I was nervous or something. That really took me by surprise. I didn't think that I was acting nervous, but maybe I was. Hopefully she was the only one who noticed it. I just can't believe that I am sitting here tell you all about my first day of teaching. I truly thought that it would never come. I have been dreaming about this day since kindergarten. And three days I didn't even think that it was possible for me to pull this day off. I was having quite an emotional breakdown...feeling that I didn't have enough time to get everything done. There was just so much to do and not even close to enough time for me to get it done. I couldn't figure out what was important for me to do and what wasn't important. I finally just came begging to God to help me know what needed to be done to help me get through the first day of school. Yesterday, when I realized that there was nothing more for me to do, I realized that it was only by the help of God that I felt prepared for today. More evidence that nothing can be accomplished without the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. I guess that I will be taking it at a day by day basis and praying daily for God to get me through each day.

Over My Head

Our days have been filled with meetings both this week and last. There has been time the last few days for us to work in our classrooms. We were finally able to see and work in our classrooms on Friday. As I stepped in my classroom that afternoon, I was hit with this overwhelming feeling of fear and awe. Fear that I wouldn't be a good teacher and awe that it was my responsibility to teach a whole group of children how to read, write, and to do arithmetic. I had to get to work on my room but I wasn't sure where to begin. I started at the only place that seemed logical to me, music to put me at ease. I looked for any CD in the classroom that I could play on the the class CD player. The only one I found was WOW 30 which took me back to the times when I would know all the songs on those CD's. I pressed play on the CD player.

Two hours later, still sitting at my desk, I was still wallowing in that mixture of fear and awe. Almost nothing had been accomplished in that time either. Then out of nowhere I heard the CD still playing. It was playing a song where the singer was telling us that he was in over his head. I could relate to that so I continued to listen. There was something different about this song though. The singer was happy that he was in over his head because at this same time, he had found rest and peace in God.

Two weeks ago this evening Becki and I arrived in Santiago. During those two weeks, it seems that we have been constantly in over our heads. Whether it was in taxis, downtown grocery stores, crowded streets, or cluttered classrooms we continue to feel overwhelmed. All of these experiences have shaken us to some extent and made us more aware of how God is at work in each of these events. I'm beginning to agree with that singer, maybe being in over our heads isn't such a bad thing.

Back on the Horse

After last Tuesday's taxi ride, we kept a low profile on the taxi scene. I even avoided looking at the taxi drivers at the end of our street in the following days. I knew that the driver from our eventful trip was sitting there and I saw him as a harsh reminder of my inability to navigate this city with my limited Spanish. This impasse between myself and the taxis begin to fade by Friday. We ended up meeting one of the taxi drivers and spoke to him for a while (he could speak a little English). After that, the entire group of taxi drivers warmed up to us. They began to wave and say hi to us whenever we passed. Seeing there friendliness, I figured that they deserved another chance. We felt that we were ready once again to test that water. Armed with the same notecard of necessary phrases we ventured out into the streets Santiago. The difference this time was night and day. The driver understood me and even laughed at my feeble attempt at a joke. We are already looking at what our next baby step could be.

Here is a picture of us at the premiere country club in Santiago. You can see the city in the background. We met the parent association from the school but still found time to get a picture in. The second picture shows all the new teachers at the school. The last picture is us in front of a beautiful fountain at the country club.

Baby Steps

Becki and I have been slowly dipping our toes into the Dominican culture day by day. Over this first week, we have walked through our neighborhood, held brief conversations with strangers, and tasted some Dominican food. Today we felt like we were ready to take the next big step: a taxi ride, just the two of us and our limited Spanish vocabulary with the driver. I had all the necessary phrases written down on a notecard, a Spanish/English dictionary, and a map of the city to accompany me on this adventure. It started out well, agreeing to a price with the driver and choosing the location. We decided to visit a nice store we had been to already to look for a few items. I told the driver I would need change since I only had large bills and I thought he understood, so we set off. We slowly weaved our way through the city towards the center of town. As we got closer, the streets began to narrow and the pedestrians multiplied. I know little of the geography of Santiago but I knew for sure that wherever we were going was not the place I had in mind. He then jerked the car over to the side of the road in front of three men holding large wads of cash, both Dominican pesos and US dollars. I told them that all I needed was smaller bills for my large bill. They kept holding out $100 US bills and I knew there was a misunderstanding. Finally a man who spoke very little English intervened and gave me my small bills. I took a sigh of relief to get that completed when the car stopped once again. The driver told us our stop had come, now we could get out. I looked at the building incredulously because we had never been to this store or to this side of town. Sure enough, it was the same store but they apparently have two locations, one in the heart of the city and one in the "suburbs". Unsure of where we were and uncomfortable from the mass of people packed in this small store, we quickly got our necessary supplies and headed for the door. Wondering if we would have to walk all the way back home we found another taxi driver. He wasn't too sure of where we lived but we were just anxious to get out of our current situation so we drove off. He finally delivered us from the heart of the city and I was able to throw in a few lefts and rights to lead him to our apartment. With the door locked behind us and our safe apartment before us, we agreed that it might be awhile before we do that again, maybe even until tomorrow.

One of my goals in coming here was to learn Spanish. Becki was not as concerned with learning the language since she assumed that she could rely on me to do the speaking for us. She should have have known that she wouldn't want to rely on anyone else to do her talking. Since our arrival last week, her desire to learn Spanish has increased greatly. Combining our desire to learn the language and our training as elementary school teachers, we have plastered our apartment with 3x5 notecards labeling all sorts of items from the door to our carrots. Maybe we are unable to separate life from work with the outcome being an apartment that looks like a classroom.

We also went to our first Spanish speaking church service this morning. We enjoyed singing along with the songs. They sang Spanish versions of "Shine, Jesus, Shine" and "Indescribable" so we were able to sing along since we knew the tune. They also had the words on the overhead so we could figure out the meaning of many of the words. My bilingual Bible also helped us follow along in the sermon. From the verses, we knew that the sermon was on the topic of sin. Whenever the pastor spoke apart from the Bible, we were lost. The bright side is that our understanding of these sermons can only grow. I must say that the pastor of the church was an extremely nice man. I was truly impressed with him.

Getting acquainted with the city

Yesterday and today we spent the entire day going around with Mark Gonzalaz (our personal American guide and another teacher from the school). He took us to many grocery stores, a hardware store, a place like our Wal-Mart and a place like our Target. It was all very overwhelming, but a lot of fun. We have been learning a lot of new phrases, but we are still unable to communicate at all. Jon understands a lot more than I do and he got to have one little conversation with a retired man at SCS (Santiago Christian School). When we aren't out shopping, we are working on setting up our apartment. We have a living room, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a study, and two bedrooms. Plus, we have a little utility room with a maids quarters attached. It is all really nice, but just very very simple.
The traffic and driving is horrific, but really funny. There are people all over the streets selling fruit, phone cards, puppies, window tinting, sunglasses, baseball hats, and much more. They walk all over in the streets and come right up to your windows. There are also beggars everywhere and people who will just come up and wash your car windows for money. Despite all of this, I feel very safe. The Gonzalaz family has been teaching us a lot about the Dominican culture and what is acceptable and what is not. They are very helpful and very encouraging. They also took us to visit SCS and we got the privilage of meeting our principal (Eileen Baas).
Right now, as we settle in for the night and relax a little, we are both very exhausted and very overwhelmed. Please pray that we sleep well at night and that we are quickly able to get along without the Gonzalaz family guiding us along every step of the way. Also pray that we would be able to step out of our comfort zone and converse with people without fear of making mistakes with the language. We love you all and hope that you enjoy some of the pictures that we have put up of our life in the DR so far.

We're finally here!

Yesterday (July 29th) we landed in Santiago, Dominican Republic. We were so excited when we found all of our luggage to have arrived with us and customs to be quite simple. However, the second we stepped out of the airport we were hit with what would be a big part of our life for the next two years. What is this you may ask? The HEAT!!!! Yes, it is so hot here. We never quite expected this kind of heat, but I think we are going to make it. All we need to do is drink 2 gallons of water a day, have 10 fans running in the house at all times and take four showers a day. Haha! That is a bit of a stretch, but it really is very hot.
We arrived in Santiago at about 9:30 p.m. so we were not really able to see much of the city at first. We were taken straight to our apartment and let off of our leash. We didn't know quite were to start so we decided that the first thing we should do was to call our parents and let them know that we made it safely. I moved the couch in search of an outlet to plug our phone in, when what to my wandering eyes did appear; a gecko so transparent and clear. He told us that if we left him alone that he would eat our mosquito's for us, so we agreed and left him alone. Our night ended with a bit of unpacking and a lot of sweating.