Fleetwood Familia

The Solid Rock Cafe

2011-04-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I can officially say that the 5th graders at Santiago Christian School have successfully performed another musical under the direction of Mrs. Rebekah Fleetwood and my amazing coworker, Miss Emily Millard. It was a crazy amount of work for everyone involved, but it was so rewarding. The students truly enjoyed it and I am sure that they will never forget the wonderful songs and the message that was taught through the songs. The parents were fully impressed and thrilled at all the hard work that the students did. It was said to have been even better than last year, which I just might have to agree. I am sure that if we were to stay longer, the 5th grade musical would just get better and better. As you can tell from the title of this blog, the name of this musical was "The Solid Rock Cafe." It was about building your life on Jesus and having a life focused on Him. It had such a great message and I really hope that it goes with these 40 fifth grade blessings for the rest of their lives. I have attached two pictures. The first one is from the night of the performance while they are performing one of the musical numbers. The second one is a picture of the beautiful flowers and adorable homemade sign that the students gave me. I will really miss these kids. They have been a real blessing and joy to my life.

Widow's Peaks

2011-03-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Becki has always made fun of my hairline telling me that it is receding. I always tell her that something can't be receding if it was never there. I clarify her criticism reminding her that it is a widow's peak hairline, not a receding hairline.

During a Spelling Test today, a student drew a rather detailed picture of me on the back of his test. It had all of the details: the striped shirt that I was wearing, ears, mouth, eyes, eyebrows, my name, and even the widow's peak.

February Festivities and March Madness Memories

2011-03-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

First of all, I am only writing this blog because my tyrant of a husband told me I had to. We haven't written in a long time because quite frankly we have been too busy catching up on our reading, watching too much TV, and working a little bit on the side. So here it goes. I am going to make this blog be in two parts. First I will tell you about what we did since the last time we wrote and then I will tell you what we are looking forward to in the next month.

During the month of February we had a lot of fabulous fun things happen. Our life was frantic and fun-filled during February. First of all, we made a grand appearance at two first grade birthday parties, both of which we were welcomed with great enthusiasm as 20 or more little 1st grade eyes came running toward us. Both were quite eventful and we were definitely appreciative of the free meals provided. Second, was the annual Santiago Christian School "Family Day" put on by the Parents Association. It was quite an event and we were shocked by the turnout. There were games, inflatable games, and bucking bull, a haunted house, and much more. It was a big "to do" but also a lot of fun. Next, was of course Valentine's Day. You have not had a Valentine's Day until you have had it in the Dominican Republic. Between Jon and I, we received enough candy to last us a month (if we eat about 5 pieces each a night). You wouldn't believe some of the things that were brought in and given to us and the other students. These are the times that it is great being a teacher, well that is if you aren't a teacher trying to lose a few pounds. Last and best of all, was the amazing Independence Day program put on by the Spanish department. Dominican Independence Day is February 27 and so to celebrate the students worked very hard to put together a program which celebrated the history of the island and their independence. It was an amazing program! They all did a fabulous job. Well, I think that is about all for the month of February. So I will move on to the next part of my blog.

As we come upon our last 3 1/2 months in the country that we currently call home, we have many things to look forward to. First of all, we will be visited by two groups of visitors, both of which we are anxiously awaiting. The first visit will be by Jon's parents and his sister and her fiance from France. We are going to have so much fun and we are so excited about that, but the thing we are most excited about is that we get to take off 3 days of school when they come. The next group of visitors will arrive 6 days later and will be my mom and dad. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to have all six of these people come here. It is almost too much excitement for me to hold in. I just think that I might burst if it doesn't come soon. Thankfully, God has taught me a lot about patience in the past 2 years here so I think that I can wait. The next thing that I have to look forward to in the next 3 months is the annual 5th grade musical. It is going to be amazing this year and I think we just might outdo ourselves this year. Emily (the other 5th grade teacher) and I make an amazing team and together, with a "little" help from our students, we are going to give the best 5th grade musical in Santiago Christian School history.

And the last, most exciting thing that we have to look forward to is COMING HOME! We are so excited to come home. At first we were still a little nervous and not completely confident in our decision to come home, but God has settled our hearts and confirmed out decision to come home in many amazing ways. All we need is two jobs and we will be set to go. So please pray for that. But whether we have a job or not we will be "Back Home Again in Indiana" soon and we are just absolutely pumped about it.

Prayer and B.F. Skinner

2011-01-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

I learned so many different names and theories in Educational Psychology that it is difficult to keep them all straight. But I did remember one, B.F. Skinner. I think it was due to his quote that has always stayed in my mind: Give me a child and I'll shape him into anything. I was thinking of these things the past week because I have realized I succumb to many of Skinner's Behaviorist thoughts without knowing it. I wrongly assume that I am in control of my student's behaviors. I see a student misbehaving and rack my brain thinking of what action I can take so that the student has no choice but to start following my directions and acting in an appropriate behavior. I go on somewhat of a power trip thinking that I can somehow control my student's behaviors through the different reinforcements I give them. But sometimes, like last week, there is a student that in spite of my best efforts, still chooses to disobey. I had tried many things and they had all failed. So without giving it much thought, I mentioned this student as a prayer request to Becki. We prayed for the student that morning and I went on with my day. And unbelievably, it was one of the best days that this student has had this year. I don't expect this student to be a model student for the remainder of the year, but I was reminded that it is not my innovative disciplining strategies that mold students. Rather, it is God who works in the lives of these students and I have been given the opportunity to be one of the tools that God uses to help educate these children.

Decisions! Decisions!

2011-01-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I know it has been a very long time since we have written and you are all probably very mad at us for not doing so, but today calls for a long awaited blog entry and decision. So here it goes!

If you remember, we asked a long time ago for you to pray for us as we made our decision for whether we should stay in the DR another year or go back to the United States. And we have been praying and pondering over this decision very hard over the past year. It is probably one of the biggest decisions we have ever had to make and we have definitely not taken it lightly.

Well, today was the day that we had to inform our school of our intentions for the next year and until Sunday we still had absolutely no clue what to do. But on Sunday we sat down and made our decision. So after all this prayer and discussion we write this blog to tell you about our decision for next year. With great excitement for what is to come and sadness for what we will be missing we write to you to tell you that.......

We are coming back home to our dear dear Indiana in the wonderful United States of America.

So, we thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts over the past year while we made our decision. It was a hard one.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T15:24:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about my own experience and listening to the other teachers talk about their Thanksgiving Breaks and decided that the break came at a perfect time. It helped give people the rest they needed so they could be re-energized for the final stretch of the 1st semester. That thought of a perfectly-timed break sounded familiar. It's familiar because that's how I feel about all breaks: they come at the perfect time. Here are some things we did on our break:

To kick off the break, 1st grade had a Thanksgiving Feast. It was hectic in the moment but fun in hindsight. So many Pilgrims too.

Becki and I shared a Thanksgiving with 20+ other people from school on Wednesday evening. God has blessed us in providing people to share life with even though we are away from our family.

We spent actual Thanksgiving Day at the beach. Very un-traditional but I'm not complaining. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in the DR so we started to forget about what day it was. Forgetting what day it was until we ran into this inflatable reminder.

Beauty Around Us!

2010-11-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

I was looking through my e-mails today and I found this picture that was taken by another teacher at our school. I meant to put it up last week, but I forgot. I just thought that you might enjoy this beautiful scene that we all witnessed last week while the hurricane was approaching the country. It was taken at school. Even though all week last week was dark and dreery, God still managed to give us something beautiful to look at. Enjoy!

Comfort Food

2010-11-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

We have not been homesick for the majority of the time we have been here. But there are days where we really miss home. Those days usually fall near milestones. Milestones like the birth of a niece, Thanksgiving, and birthdays. I distinctly remember having a rough birthday last year although Becki did all that she could to make my day better. Today is Becki's birthday and it was my turn yesterday to encourage her. She was feeling homesick and I wasn't sure what to do. I sat quietly listening to how she was feeling until I thought of exactly what she needed. She needed food. That makes any situation better. And not just any food, American food. So I worked up the courage to order Papa John's over the phone last night. It was a rousing success. I understood the questions they asked me over the phone. The pizza arrived at our apartment and we enjoyed the garlic breadsticks. I was so pleased with how the delivery worked out, I decided we ought to order more food. I called the frozen yogurt store and once again, understood his questions and placed my order. I even used a coupon. It was another success. And as we followed our pizza with some excellent frozen yogurt, the feelings of homesick-ness left until the next milestone. Thankfully we do not feel homesick too often or we would be much fatter and much poorer.

Rats and Stories

2010-11-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

I read a rather depressing book last year called Firmin, Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife. Reading it put me in one of those melancholy moods as I read about Firmin, a rat who's love for reading alienated him from his fellow rats and who's rodent appearance alienated him from the humans he had become enamored with. In the words of the author, Sam Savage, "Firmin is faced with what he can only regard as an utterly meaningless life". Firmin feels that through the books he reads, he can rescue himself from his meaningless rat life. He not only wants to read these books, he wants to be a part of them because he "is aware of the relation between a meaningful life and some sort of encompassing narrative". Thus his goal is "to become a character in a story". He recognizes that to live simply for himself, mindlessly eating the worn pages of books like his rat siblings, is to live a meaningless life. He wants to be a part of something larger, something bigger than just himself.

I think the reason that I enjoyed reading that book in spite of its melancholic mood, was that the desire to live a meaningful life is a desire all humans have. We want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves whether we realize it or not. That is the great thing about Christianity. It gives us meaning. It allows us to play a part in a story much greater than ourselves. I was reminded of this when a young girl sitting in the back row of my class asked me directly, "Why did Jesus die on the cross for us?" In that moment, I was not a teacher simply earning a paycheck. I was an agent of God's love and story to children who didn't know him. I was pointing these children beyond myself to a God that loves them so much that he sent his son to die on the cross to take away their sins.

I think that I have enjoyed the last year and a half so much here because at more than any other point in my life, it is clear to me that I am part of a bigger plan that God has. I can see the meaning God has for my life.

Here are two pictures from my class. The first are several students of mine. The second is an enormous birthday cake we had for one of the boy's classroom. It was so wide they had to carry it in at an angle to fit it through the door of the classroom.

Cuts and Colors

2010-11-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know this is probably really random; not the kind of thing you put on a blog, but it's life and it's something I am excited about!

Today, I got my first haircut in the Dominican Republic. I was a little skeptical at first, because I am pretty particular about who cuts my hair, but after many recommendations, I decided to give this place a try. And since it is my birthday on Sunday, Jon said that I could go get my hair and nails done for my birthday present. I was super excited. It was quite an experience and super economical. They do your hair, toes, and fingers all at the same time! I was very impressed. And it only cost $35 to do everything: haircut, manicure, pedicure. ONLY $35! What a deal!

Well, tell me what you think! I did not ask them to make it so fancy, but that's just how they do things here. It's very typical Dominican!I am sure that once all the curls come out, I will better be able to see what it will look like!

Fall in the Dominican!

2010-11-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

FALL!! Fall is probably the thing that we miss the most while living here in the Dominican. We miss the apples, the fall leaf colors, the orchards, the caramel, the cider, bonfires, the cool sweatshirt weather, football, and many other things. You see...it is never fall here. It feels like a never ending summer. Who would have thought that one could ever get tired of summer?

Well, we tried to make the best of our situation this year and I would say that we have had a pretty good fall this year. We get apples every week at the grocery (even though they are a little bit expensive) and Jon's mom sent us caramel so that we could have caramel apples. We got to have hot apple cider last week at a teacher fall party. We have even been able to watch several COLTS games on TV this year. It has been quite an eventful "fall" season. We have included a few pictures of our last few weeks here in the Dominican Republic during our "fall" season. The first one is a picture of the boys that I (Becki) tutors eating my pumpkin cookies that I made (thanks to Elaine for sending the pumpkin). The next picture is of Jon and I dressed up like old people for a fall costume party that we went to. The last picture is of a Halloween lunch that was made for us by a dear dear new friend of ours named Akari (She is from Japan and one of the most creative people I have ever met.) Please take notice of all the amazing Halloween details she put into it. The thing in the back right is suppose to look like a hand coming out of the ground. It is really just sausage coming out of eggs. Enjoy!

Becki's Class

2010-10-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

This year has been quite a challenging year so far. My class this year is much more energetic and talkative than I would like, but I love them none the less. Today was picture day and although I couldn't resist taking tons of pictures of them today, I felt that this picture best represented the energy in my classroom this year. Enjoy!

An Unexpected Joy

2010-09-25T05:43:00.000-07:00

Looking back at my time preparing to become a teacher, I realize I was very naive about something. Back then, I thought that all a teacher had to do was teach. I knew there would be occasional meetings but I figured those would just be informational, not additional work. I have only been teaching for a year and one quarter but I've quickly learned there is so much more to teaching. There are committees to evaluate curriculum, committees to rewrite curriculum, committees to focus on the mission of the school, and many more committees. I'm in too good of a mood to focus on those things though. Rather, I want to tell you about a different, unexpected part of teaching that I have grown to enjoy. I have really enjoyed working with the parents of the students in my class. I never gave much thought about working with parents prior to teaching but I am beginning to realize how important working with parents is. I really enjoy working alongside parents who really want to help their child. I know that I have been blessed by having great parents to work with but I truly have enjoyed that aspect of teaching more than I could have imagined. Here is an example of some of the parents helping out with our first grade food group lunch.

There is also another picture I took in my WWKD campaign. The Dominican Republic has some excellent iron work. I think that it is because they have so much practice working with iron considering all of the bars on windows and gates that surround the city.

WWKD (What Would Katie Do)

2010-09-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

My life is closely connected to the computer and the internet. Therefore, I was like a chicken with its head cutoff last Thursday when our internet was down. It was still down Friday morning and I was getting worried thinking of what I would do to pass the time during the coming weekend. We had someone contact the phone company to report the problem. The company said that they would have someone come and check the problem out and that they would be there any time from Friday to the next Tuesday. I started grumbling about the situation with thoughts that this would never happen in the States. It challenged me to think about my dependence on the internet. Because in all honesty, it's not that imperative to check my email constantly or to research the history of water polo on Wikipedia. But thankfully even small prayers are answered, because there was a small crew of workers cutting and putting wires together late into the night Friday. And sure enough, the internet was back up that night. I quickly got on the internet and went to all those websites that I have to check on a daily basis. Email, check. ESPN, check. IndyStar, check. Google News, check. DominicanToday, check. katiefleetwood.blogspot.com, check.

Reading through Katie's well kept blog made me feel guilty. Sure, her stories were much more entertaining, but I expected that. It was all the pictures she has. She has proof of the life that she lives. I only have stories. I was determined to try to compete with her. I knew I would be going to a church fair the next day. I would be walking probably 1-2 miles to the church by myself. So I decided to bring my camera along for the walk and show you some of the things I'm doing here. I was very glad I did because as soon as I walked up to the church, I saw the most amazing bread maker. I quickly pulled out my camera and documented the machine. I thought, "I bet you Katie would have taken a picture of this if she was here." I won't ruin it by talking about it, because the picture will do it more justice.

Go Fish

2010-09-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

When I tell someone new that I am a teacher, they nod in understanding. Then I add that I teach first grade and that understanding nod turns into a look of complete unbelief. Even I don't quite believe myself all the time when I say that. Becki will tell you that I can be awkward around young children since I talk to them like they are adults. In fact, this is how the scenario almost always seems to play out: I see one of my students in the mall, store, restaurant, etc., I try to speak with them, and we walk away as Becki reminds me, "Jon, you can't speak to them like they're an adult." For some reason though, all that changes when I'm teaching. I feel totally comfortable and I become a different person on that stage called the classroom. Because of that, my relationships with students are always very defined. I am the teacher, they are the students and I don't stray from those roles. Today was different though. For some reason, when one of my students begged to stay in at recess and play cards with me, I gave in. I taught the student the easiest game I knew, Go Fish. We played for the entire recess. Strangely enough, I wasn't worried about the copies I needed to make. I was worried that they might beat me. The student wore a smile that I hadn't seen or noticed yet this year. It was a contagious smile that brought a smile to my own face. They showed an enthusiasm for life that I thought was dormant. It was an enthusiasm that renewed my enthusiasm for teaching. It gave me a whole new perspective on this student. No longer were they the difficult student who wouldn't listen to directions. They were the student who has problems like everyone else, but who wants to know that someone cares for them. And all of this happened with just a deck of cards and a mere 15 minutes. What a small price to pay for a look into the life of a student I never would have seen from teaching them math.

The Dog Days of August

2010-08-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

The first few weeks of this school year have been extremely difficult and challenging for me. I had grown accustomed to what a 1st grader can do at the end of the year and had somehow forgotten what a 1st grader at the beginning of the year can and can't do. The frustrations seemed to multiply and frustrations were festering in my mind. I felt like I had reached rock bottom of teaching. I shared some of these feelings with someone and they suggested that I go back and look at some of my blogs from the beginning of last year. I did that and memories that had faded came back in vivid color. I saw Sonny Liston helplessly looking up at the menacing Muhammad Ali and thought to myself, now I remember. That gave me some relief to know that I had felt this way before but it didn't ease my frustrations.

The frustrations came to a culmination yesterday. It was a day where it seemed that I was set up to fail. We left our apartment and headed to school. It was a difficult day in the classroom as I continued to strain to teach these young children how things are done in my classroom. There was an after school faculty meeting. Then there was an Open House that went longer than expected. We finally arrived back at our apartment 15 1/2 hours after we had first set out, well after my bed time. I seemingly had every right to complain and dwell on my frustrations but that's not how things turned out. Thanks to many small prayers throughout the day and my wife constantly badgering me to see the good in things, I made it home in one piece. Then, unexpectedly, God abundantly blessed me today. He gave me the best day I've had this year with my students. He gave me energy to teach and not once did I feel tired from the previous day. I finally felt like I could see progress in my students. It's as if he spent the last few weeks humbling me in and out of the classroom showing me all of my flaws and failures until I was finally ready to accept that I need to rely on him to meet my every need.

Restoration Day

2010-08-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

The past year had caused me to forget how much 1st graders need to learn at the beginning of the school year and how much energy they require. I was quickly reminded of those things on Thursday, the first day of school. We were fortunate, though, to have had only two days of school last week because we were exhausted. By the time Friday came around, we were sprawled motionless on our couch mindlessly watching television. Thankfully, after those grueling two days, we already have a day off. The name of the holiday is fitting considering how we feel: Restoration Day. It came at a perfect time to restore us for the next week. The only bad news is that I've checked the calendar and there is no Rejuvenation Day next Monday.

First Day of School for the Second Time

2010-08-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

Our first day of school is complete. It was a good day and although we miss our old students, we are proud of them that they have moved on and look forward to seeing what God has in store for a full year with our new students. We have a long way to go with the new students, but it was a great start. Please pray for these next couple of stressful weeks as we get back in the hang of things and try to train these new students in our classroom rules and procedures. It is quite a long process and can be quite discouraging at time.

Here is a picture of us on our first day of school. We took the same picture last year and thought that it would be a good tradition to start. Just like parents taking pictures of their kids heading of to school every year on the first day...why not let teacher take a picture of their first day of school too. So here it is. It is at the end of the day so my hair has already gone up and our faces are quite shiny from sweat. Oh yeah...and we are exhausted. Apart from that, it is a good memory. ENJOY!

Return and Prayer Requests

2010-08-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, we are back! In case you didn't know or didn't realize, we went back home to Indiana for the summer to enjoy some time off with our family and friends. We had a wonderful time, but when it came time to come back here to the DR, we were ready to go. We arrived yesterday at about 10:30 p.m. after a few compounding problems which delayed our plane by about 3 hours. However, God kept us safe and allowed us to return to our wonderful, but dull apartment last night. It felt so different than last year when we came for the very first time. We know the airport, the city, the people picking us up, and the apartment that we arrived to. Believe it or not...it felt like we were home...to our home with our stuff. God really has answered our prayer by allowing us to enjoy it here and easily make it through last year and look forward to this year.

So as some of your know, we spoke at a church this summer to tell about our many adventures and new life here in the Dominican Republic. We listed four prayer requests that others can pray for about us. After a little bit of thought, we decided that we would post those four requests here on our blog so that our other followers could prayer for us as well.

1.) Pray for our incoming students that will be in our classroom this coming year, that they would be accepting of the Word and of what we have to teach them.
2.) Pray for our slow learning of Spanish, that we would learn it more quickly and that we could use it to better our ministry here.
3.) Pray that God would provide us with some good friends to encourage us in every area of life.
4.) Pray as we make our decision about staying in the DR another year or returning to the US at the end of this year.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and thoughts. You have no clue how much they have helped. We enjoyed seeing most of your this summer and look forward to seeing you again soon. You are in our thoughts always.

Window of Opportunity

2010-06-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have spent the past school year trying to teach my students everything they need to know. From addition to subtraction, from sounding out words to reading paragraphs, from capitalization to punctuation, from nouns to verbs, from rocks to plants, from pilgrims to maps, from raising their hands to speak to keeping their hands and feet to themselves, from walking in a straight line to sitting quietly. Today I stopped teaching them and they left the room much different people than they were a year ago. They are going to 2nd grade and that makes me nervous. Nervous that maybe in the course of the school year I forgot to teach them something they needed to know. Nervous that they won't be ready for 2nd grade. This is what I imagine a parent feels when they drop their child off at college for the first time. The feeling that my window of opportunity for shaping and preparing them for the next level has passed. The feeling that I've done the best that I can and now I must simply watch. That's where the similarities end though. For another window of opportunity is just now opening to a whole new class of students. And now I have experiences that have prepared me to better help this new class.

A bad dress rehearsal means a good performance

2010-05-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

"This is the director speaking. Listen up! Keep your arms to your side! Sing louder! Smile! Quite moving around! Always watch me! But most importantly...have fun!"

Last Thursday was the long awaited 5th Grade Musical. We had been practicing for 6 long weeks. We had solo tryouts. We had speaking tryouts. We learned choreography. We had props. We had music. We had lighting. The speakers had memorized their parts. Now, we just had one more task before the big night...dress rehearsal!

I ran around all day trying to make sure that everything was in its place and everyone that needed to be there would be there. I copied off programs and then had to copy brand new ones when the first ones turned out to be wrong. I was stressed out of my mind with everything in preparation for the big night. At 1:15 our dress rehearsal would begin. After lunch, the 5th graders would meet me over at the stage and we would begin. Everything was all set...or so I thought.

The sound man arrived 15 minutes late and took another 15 to get set up. Finally everything is all set up, the first song starts and then quickly ends when the soloists don't know when to start singing or how to sing in a microphone. So we start again and it went a little bit better. Then the first song is over...it's the actors turn, but they haven't practiced on stage before or with props yet. They are confused out of their mind about what to do. Next song comes on and the 5th graders don't know which part comes next or which words to sing or when to start and you can hardly hear them because they're not singing loud enough. I had thought that they were all ready and knew all their songs, but now everything was going wrong and I just couldn't figure out why.

We are finally 4 songs into our dress rehearsal and I realized what was wrong. The background vocals that they had always practiced with had somehow disappeared from the music and the 5th grade was singing all their songs completely by themselves. That was why they didn't know the words and when to start and stop singing. They had grown so use to singing it with the background vocals that they were relying on the help of other children their own age to back them up. I was stressed out of my mind when I figured it out. I honestly didn't think that they could do it. They are good, but not that good. However, the sound man said he didn't know why it happened and he didn't know how to fix it. So no background vocals for this performance.

I told the class about the problem and without any hesitation, their faces and postures changed and they were up for the challenge. They were ready to face this battle head on and prove to me that they could do it. Well, it was by far one of the worst dress rehearsals of my life, but I knew these kids were not going to give up without a fight. I gave them a little pep talk at the end and told them they were going to do great, but inside I was just about ready to burst out into tears. I had worked so hard and this was something that I love to do. It was going to be my first big performance and well.....I wanted to prove to myself and the rest of the school that I could put on a great performance.

I prayed and prayed when I got home that afternoon. I prayed that even if everything went completely wrong (and I was expecting it to) that at least the kids would have fun, the parents would be proud, and God would be glorified.

I arrived at school at 6:00. The program started at 7:00. Kids started coming in at about 6:15. They were looking pumped and ready, but I was shaking in my shoes nervous. By 6:50 every 5th grader was present. I took a last minute bathroom break and a quick potty prayer and headed back in to give one last "good luck" to the 5th graders. We prayed together and headed downstairs for our performance.

With smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts, the first song started and the kids sung as loud as they could. They hit every note. They knew every word. They had smiles on their faces. They stood still. And my goodness...they had fun. The rest of the night went on without a single glitch.

Last Thursday was the long awaited 5th Grade Musical. It was said to have been the best 5th grade musical ever put on at Santiago Christian School. And their director could never be so proud!

The Lord gives and takes away, gives and takes away, and gives...couches

2010-05-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Lord has used couches to show me how true that verse is. There were two comfortable, matching couches in our apartment waiting for us when we first arrived. We knew that we would lose them in December but there was always the hope of holding on to them longer. December came and we lost both couches. Now, a bare living room greeted us every day after work. Then, we were blessed with two different couches in January. They were not a match but they did complement each other well. We were happy because we had seen how God had provided for us. In April, one of the couches was taken back and I started to worry. If they could take back one couch, they could take back the other, so I started looking for more permanent options. And once again, the Lord provided in that also. Last week, we finally purchased our own couches.

Our apartment may be a revolving door of couches but I have learned that through it all, the Lord will provide for us and there will be some place for us to sit.

The picture above is one that I wanted to show everyone. This is what I've been learning to do lately on the weekends.

Hanging 10

2010-04-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today we learned how to surf! It was so much fun and we would definitely do it again. Here are some pictures of proof that we did indeed do what we said.

Skipping Spring

2010-04-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

As you are all probably saying..."Spring is in the air...la la la la la la." So I have been hearing about how wonderful the weather is back in the States and I am quite jealous. It completely skipped Spring here and went right to the blistering heat of summer. It is hot again here! Reminds us of our first few months. I come home from school and take a shower. Then I take another shower before I go to bed. Well, I just take a lot of showers. Trust me...you would want me to, because after a long day with smelly fifth graders, no AC, and the trash burning in the lot behind us that comes in my window, you would want me to take a shower too. With these ridiculously hot past few days, we have been missing home as we think about our upcoming summer in the States. We are so excited to see everyone and know that it just won't be long enough.

On another note...I am directing a musical and am loving every minute of it. I will videotape part of it and try to post it. It is called "Lifesong" and it is about these kids who go to a leadership camp to learn how to lead like Jesus. The 5th graders are putting it on and they are doing such a fabulous job.

And on another note...please pray for us right now. We are a bit discouraged with some things at school and could use some prayers as we try to find the strength to finish this year out strong.

We love you all and miss you dearly. Thanks for you prayers and we look forward to seeing you soon. Departure date is June 15. See you soon!

Spring Break

2010-04-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

The anticipation for Spring Break was like waiting for Christmas, anxious to see family, open gifts, and get a break from everything related to school. But like Christmas, it came so quickly and left even more quickly. So after that whirlwind of a week, here we are back at school.

Spring Break did accomplish some of its purposes. I do feel rested from the break and have regained the patience towards the students that I had lost those few weeks leading up to Spring Break. Unfortunately, Spring Break did stir up desires to go home that had been successfully suppressed. Seeing family and enjoying warm weather on a beach felt more like summer making it more difficult to bear down and finish the last quarter of the school year. These feelings made the first few days back at school long but thankfully after a week back, it seems that I have regained my mid-season form. I'm back to the grind and have put dreams of summer on the back-burner. I better take advantage of this mindset because who knows how long it will last.

Dreams of a Child

2010-03-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Supernatural strength and x-ray vision were tempting, but my dreams were always to fly. That was the coolest superpower I could think of for the majority of my childhood. Sure, there were those few years in middle school where I wanted to be invisible, but overall, the dream was always to fly. Those dreams have been tossed aside as I have matured. Flying can take you to many places but what are you going to do when you get there? I have bigger dreams now. The ability to speak any language at a moment's notice with no accent. Now that is something that would really be helpful.

Until I am bitten by a radioactive spider or fall into a vat of radioactive sludge, I have had to find other avenues to learn Spanish. Sometimes, it's me driving Becki crazy as I watch Bob Esponja (SpongeBob Squarepants) after a long day of work. Other times, it's talking to the security guard near our dumpster. And every week it's going to a Spanish class. It's not glamorous but I'm just trying to live the dream.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2010-03-13T04:29:00.001-08:00

I have always felt that the most difficult stretch of school, as a student and teacher, is that stretch between Christmas Break and Spring Break. It is so long and with the cold, winter weather, there is nothing to do. It always felt like I was cooped up in the classroom, dying for some break from school. I assumed this was a problem endemic to parts of the world that experienced cold, long winters. Coming to teach in this Caribbean country, I thought I would escape all of that. It may be a long stretch from Christmas Break to Spring Break but at least the weather would be nice and allow for me to get out and relax. I was wrong.

The past few weeks have been hard. It has been much easier to become negative. I have been quick to become frustrated with my students. I was much less tolerant of their little concerns that they brought to me. I was feeling overwhelmed . The students made me feel like the pieces of bread I throw into Dale Hollow Lake every summer. The fish swarming around me, violating my personal space and slowly picking me apart until there's nothing left of me. I had a revelation on Wednesday though. Spring Break is only 2 weeks away. Surely I can make it till then. If I can make it till then, everything will fine. I will be refreshed and ready to face the end of the year. Hopefully the fish don't pick apart everything though in the next two weeks.

5th Grade Vocabulary

2010-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

This week one of our 5th grade vocabulary words was legal. I always start the week by introducing the words with their definitions and then give a couple of examples. From there, I ask the students to come up with their own examples. One student brought up that people had the right to bare arms, therefore it was legal to bear arms. I was quite impressed with this example and with the way the discussion went from there, I knew that they would remember it. Well I was very right.

On Friday, I give the students a vocabulary test to see if they really know the words or not. Well, of course legal was on the test. I always pick 5 of the vocabulary words for them to write their own sentence about it. Here is the sentence that one student wrote for legal.

"Having bear arms is legal."

Well, maybe it is legal to have bear arms, but until someone actually does then we will never know.

Paleface

2010-02-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday, Becki and I went to Santo Domingo with the other first year teachers to begin the long process of getting our visas to live here. When I first heard the news of the trip, I was excited because I am always happy to see other parts of the country. That excitement quickly passed when I realized that this particular trip was the medical exam of the process because I assumed that the exam would involve needles and blood. I was right.

In preparation for the trip, I loaded my pockets with suckers, cookies, and an apple. Anything that would help me feel better in case I started feeling sick. So when the nurse called me to the small, cramped room in the back to have a seat in her chair, there were bulges in both front pockets of all my snacks. I had my iPod playing loudly as I sat in her chair. I closed my eyes, started praying, and gave her my left arm. Not all prayers are answered as I would like though. I felt myself losing it. I pulled out my sucker but unfortunately, that only made me feel worse. And with inopportune timing, I forgot how to say "to lay down". With that phrase gone from my vocabulary, I could only tell the nurse that I didn't want to stand up and that I wanted the floor. She wouldn't let me though so I continued my misery in her chair. Finally, they let Becki come back to me and she helped me walk across the hall to the only spot where I could lay down. After 10 minutes and one apple, I finally felt good enough to walk out. Their eyes followed me out as if they were expecting me to collapse at any moment. I made it out though, thankful that the exam was behind me.

Bittersweet Symphony

2010-02-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

If I had to make a guess, I would say that my dad has been to over 95% of every sporting or extracurricular event that I have ever been involved in. This has profoundly influenced the way I view love and friendship. I expect someone who truly cares for me, to be there for me when I need them because that is what I saw lived out with my dad. Likewise, I want to be the type of person who won't forget about his friends and family. That's why it's so hard to be here now.

My dad had a doctor's appointment last Friday concerning the hole he has in his heart. I wanted to be there to show him I cared, but I was here.

My brother and sister-in-law had their first child today making me and Becki an aunt and uncle. I want to be there to show them and the baby that I love them and will be there for them, but I am here.

It's out of my hands though. I can't be there for them which is a good thing because I would ultimately let them down. Thankfully, there is a God who is there and won't let them down.

Long Awaited Update

2010-02-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! I know it's been quite a long time since we wrote last and the reason for this is quite silly. It's not that we've been too busy or that we have been forgetting. The truth is that we have thought about it almost every night, but have been arguing over who was going to have to write it. You see we just didn't seem to have anything to write about and we both find it much more easier to write when we have inspiration. We kind of feel like authors with an audience waiting to read the sequal to our first book but having no inspiration to write it. The publishers keep bugging and bugging but nothing is coming. Well, we greatly apologize for making you wait so long. We wish that it wasn't the case.

Now you may be thinking that I finally have something to right about, but I still don't. I'm only writing because I finally feel so bad about my lack of writing that Jon was finally able to convince me to write. So, sorry that this may be a little boring. I am only going to tell you about the few things that have been going on here lately.

The first and most important thing going on is that for the first time since we have moved here, our apartment finally feels like a home. As you might have read in a previous blog, we had some people donate two couches and a TV to us. Then, about 2 weeks ago we got an e-mail from some missionaries who were moving and selling most things in their house. We were able to buy several things from...a TV stand so that our TV no longer sits on the floor...a desk so that our computer no longer sits on the kitchen table...two end tables to add some comfort to our living room...and a ceiling fan to go in our living room for some much needed relief from the heat (it's been unseasonably hot here in the DR which seems weird since it has been unseasonably cold everywhere in the states). All these things have really helped make life more comfortable and take some of the stresses away from our long day at school.

My cheerleaders have had their first few games this past month and despite that fact that the basketball team is sooooo bad, the cheerleaders have been doing a wonderful job. It made me remember my first game to cheer at in 7th grade. Oh those were the days! We ordered uniforms from the states and the girls look great.

Speaking of basketball and cheerleading...this past Friday we had a really fun event that the school hosted called Hoops for Haiti. It was a benefit game to raise money for Haiti. The male faculty from our school played the male faculty from another nearby school. People would pledge money for the amount of points scored and all that money would go to support our French teacher (she is Haitian and lost several family members in the earthquake) and two other organizations that we are aquianted with. The whole high school, middle school, and upper elementary got out of school early to come watch the game. It was quite an event. The cheerleaders got to cheer. But the most exciting thing of the whole game was watching my husband (a.k.a The Admiral--nicknamed by the announcers for the game) score 9 points at the game and have the time of his life running around the court crazy like he was actually young again. What a sight. The pictures don't even do it justice.

Well, until next time...please keep praying for Haiti and our small bit of homesickness that comes and goes. Thanks so much for you prayers. You are all in our thoughts frequently. Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

Help for Haiti

2010-01-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

Students from Kindergarten to 6th grade were asked earlier this week to donate money to help out an orphanage in Haiti that was affected by the earthquake. The response was overwhelming. Over $2,000 US Dollars were raised by these students who can't be more than 275 in number. As I walked around the classroom collecting the money from my students, one student stopped me to tell me the origin of his donation. It was all the money he had received from losing his front tooth. I was amazed at this 7 year old's generosity.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

2010-01-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

About a month before we first flew into Santiago, we were told that our apartment would be completely furnished when we arrived. There was one condition though: we would lose everything sometime in December. This was an answer to prayer, though, since it allowed us to put off purchasing furniture until we were more familiar with the area stores and our budget while we slowly accumulated our own furniture. Days passed, weeks passed, and months passed until the calendar finally stopped in December. We still had not purchased any furniture of our own for our apartment. Then the fateful day came when after a long day, we came home to an empty living room. As we slowly came in, our voices echoed off the empty walls. We talked about what we could do until we finally decided to drag the mattress from an extra twin size bed to the living room, converting it to a couch with no legs and no back. Trying to remain optimistic, I told Becki of all the memories we were making. Of how we could look back on this time with such fondness years from now. Of how a twin size mattress really isn't that bad, we could have nothing. Those attempts at optimism bounced off the empty walls, bouncing around in my consciousness but never sinking in, because in all honesty, coming home to an empty living room is not all that inviting.

Several days before break, a friend asked me if I had any prayer requests as I returned to the DR. I told him, "Yeah, it's small, but please pray that we would find some good furniture for our apartment." His reply seemed funny at the time, "Well, I'll pray that you find some furniture that has your name on it." "I wonder what that would look like?" I thought to myself.

The first day back at school, I was stopped by the head maintenance man at the school. He said that he had found a couch and a t.v. that he was going to give us. I was shocked. I immediately went to find Becki to tell her of the good news. Later that same day, we heard from someone else who didn't need one of their couches anymore. They wanted us to have it. I was shocked. It truly was an answer to prayers, furniture that had my name on it.

I Feel Sick!

2010-01-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

It was Tuesday afternoon. Jon and I had just gotten home from school. I was getting dinner ready. Jon was sitting on the couch grading papers. Here are our stories:

Becki: "I was standing at the sink peeling carrots for Jon to eat. He loves his carrots for dinner and I try as often as possible to have some for him, although it is such a hassle here and I hate doing it. Well, I had been standing there for quite a while concentrating quite hard on not hurting myself, when the carrot in my hand starting looking blurry and my body was swaying a little bit. (You know when you have been staring at the computer for a long time concentrating on reading what's on the screen and it starts looking a little blurry. So you have to refocus yourself by shutting your eyes for a moment.) Well, I felt the same way. So I stopped what I was doing, shook my head a little bit, repositioned my feet, and continued what I was doing--peeling carrots. Only this time when I started peeling the carrots, it felt worse. I thought, 'man I must really be feeling sick or something.' Finally, I stopped what I was doing and looked around. Then I looked at Jon. We made eye contact and I could tell that we were thinking the same thing."

Jon: "I was sitting slouched on the couch grading writing papers from the days activities. As I graded papers it felt as if everything around me was rocking front and back. I set my papers down and placed my hands on the couch to steady myself. The rocking continued, so I figured that I must really be sick. It was so bad I crawled to the ground and laid on my back in hopes of settling my stomach and curing this sickness that I was feeling. The feeling did not go away, however. In fact it just got worse. Something just did not feel right. I heard Becki's footsteps and looked up towards her. She said exactly what was running through my mind."

At approximately 5:45 in the afternoon on Tuesday evening January 12, 2009, Jon and I experienced our very first earthquake. The epicenter was located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (approximately 124 miles from our apartment in Santiago, Dominican Republic) and measured a 7.0 on the Richter scale.

Please pray from all the people in Haiti who have suffered this horrific tragedy.

Things That I Thought This Christmas Part 1

2010-01-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

Becki comes from a family of storytellers. The stories range from the time her grandpa stood next to Fulgencio Batista, the Cuban Dictator who was overthrown by Castro, to the time her dad was stopped at a gas station by an avid fan of his singing group that last performed in the mid 1980's ,or the time Becki sent her dad to the hospital with an errant golf swing. But there's one story I've thought a lot about this Christmas Break. It involves Sarah (Becki's sister), her father, Dale Hollow Lake, and a fishing boat.

Sarah and Becki's father were going across Dale Hollow Lake in the family fishing boat. Sarah was at the steering wheel, confidently guiding the small boat through the choppy waves of Dale Hollow Lake. Through the heart of the lake, angling the boat to avoid the brunt force of the waves and watching the shoreline to make sure she was in the channel, Sarah was in charge. She looked to the back of the boat to check her surroundings and became enraged. There was her dad, using the trolling motor to steer the boat. Suddenly, her confidence was shattered. She had never been in control. It was just an illusion with her dad guiding them all along.

It was late July when we first came to the Dominican Repulblic. Shortly after, I looked to the back of my own boat and realized that to my own disgust, I was never in control of my own boat. It took little things like sitting in a taxi cab not knowing where I was headed and standing in my classroom wondering how I would teach 21 students to realize I was not the captain of my ship. I had to learn to trust that God had a plan and was in total control.

I stood silently in the house. I looked out the kitchen window not saying a word, only thinking of everything that could be happening. I waited for the next phone call from my sister telling me how my dad was. I knew that I was not in control and I had to keep reminding myself that God had a plan. Then, I began to think of those times sitting scared to death in taxi cabs and humiliated in classrooms that first made me realize I was not in control. These were the same things that prepared me to handle this moment.

Feliz Navidad!

2009-12-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T16:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-10T14:38:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-08T04:55:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-09-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-18T15:52:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-08T17:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

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.