Hola Michigan!

I've now been back in Michigan for almost 5 months, here's what's been happening in my "new" life in nutshell:

July: cottage, sun, family, friends, fireworks, food and games. (Then job hunting).

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August: got a job teaching Kindergarten Spanish Immersion in West Ottawa...moved to Holland, Michigan :).

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September: caught up with old friends and getting to know new ones! Started the Visa process for Natan to move here!!! We probably won't hear anything until February, so we're learning lots of patience! Trying to settle into the "American way" again, and into a new school.

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October: Feeling less overwhelmed at school, love seeing how much Spanish my kids have learned, celebrated Halloween, and loving the fall colors, pumpkin spice lattes, and chilly days. Here's my morning class...

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and my afternoon class...

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November: So far, time has flown! I'm loving my new home, being close to my family again, and having some of the comforts that I missed while living in the DR (hot water, a dryer, a dishwasher, and no cockroaches)! I'm so thankful for the way that everything has fallen into place so perfectly!!! I'm really looking forward to seeing Natan in a month (I'm going down for a week the day after Christmas). Please pray for the Visa process to go smoothly and quickly so Natan can share in all this with me!

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Hopefully I'll see you all soon!

adios DR

My last week in the D.R. was really tough but very special. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to pack everything, sell some things and find people in need for the rest of my stuff. Thanks for all your prayers for that crazy time...here's some pictures of how I spent my last week.

I visited lots of families and friends and like always, ate lots of good food. Here's me with Crismeiry (from my class last year), her dad Cristian who works at the Cafe at school, their son Cristofer and the biggest sweetheart, Mercedes, who cleaned our house all year. They made tacos knowing that they're my favorite...and admitted it was to convince me to stay :).

Here's me up at the monastery with the Monks that I taught English to on Wednesdays the past two years. This past year wasn't as consistent due to my health, but I still love them to pieces and they see me as an adopted daughter in the family :).

Here's me with some of my favorite parents of my students this year and last. We went to eat ice cream and spent a very nice evening together.

And here's Miss Lindsay with the kids :).

Here's Claumery, me and Nina. Nina made me lunch almost every Saturday and her family grew to become like my family down there. I met Nina when she was the cook at Pico Escondido my first summer down there working for Young Life, Claumery goes to Doulos, and I miss them so much already...they are a beautiful family that have gone through so much; they have so little but continue giving (and feeding me not to mention many others in their neighborhood), and just love so largely.

Here's my last day in the D.R...even in my sadness, these girls made me laugh and smile and eased my burden. Though it's hard because they may not remember their "tia" next time I see them, I know that their family loves them so much and that their smiles and laughter won't stop.

And last but not least...the biggest reason it was so hard to leave, here's Natan and I at the beach. Now that I've experienced his life in the DR and made it mine...now it's his turn!!!

More to come on my time in Michigan so far...

el ultimo en la RD

This will most likely be my last blog entry while living in the DR...it's a crazy/weird/good/sad feeling! School got out on Thursday and Friday was the last day with the staff, so my days have been filled with lots of goodbyes but thankfully lots of quality time.

Our little going-away party for Amanda and I was a blast. People are still talking about it and labeling it "The party of the year :)." Here's some pics:

The last few days with my kids was also full of fun...as part of our service project, we walked down the Avenida to the river (about an hour and a half walk) to pick up all the trash on the sides of the road. We live in such a beautiful country, but there is trash everywhere, it's really very sad but my kids were excited to serve in that way. They were tired after walking in the heat, but still found enough energy to swim in the river after!

The last day with everyone was very special. We did our awards for the students, then the younger ones had a water party. So, more swimming, plus some hotdogs and ice cream :).

Here's Idarlenne and I...she won "Doulos of the Year" for my class...Doulos=Servant.

Here's all my students that had 90 or better overall on their Report Cards (Frandy, David, Jeremy, Pricila, Ariela and Eliezer). I'm so proud of them and all my students!

And then the water party :):

I wanted to just post a few pictures for today, but I will do more reflecting on my two years here when I write again...until then, take care and I'll see those of you that live in Michigan in a week!

mas fiestas, etc.

The craziness of the end of the year continues and we still have a week with the kids! Our "going-away" party is this Saturday for Amanda and I at our house so we're excited about that. See what else has been going on...

Kyla and Jake had a chocolate party last weekend...I was in my glory :), and enjoyed winning lots of games of Dominoes!

Here's a part of the group at the party...

We celebrated Mother's Day here last weekend at Natan's mom's house. There's his sister Pachi (the one who has the twins), Natan, his Mom, and brother, Elias. His other brother, Alberto, couldn't be there but it was still a fun day with the family!

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I was very thankful for one of my first cultural experiences here with the Fine Arts...living in a small town really makes me miss (and excited to go back to) art, dance, museums, and concerts. But here is one of my students, Ariela at her ballet recital. They were so precious :)!

I will update again before I head back to Michigan on the 24th, but for now, please pray for all the details that are adding up. I'm sending lots of boxes this Tuesday so I pray that they arrive, and I'm still trying to sell my car here, so these are things you can pray for if you remember; also, for this emotional rollercoaster that I'm on to smooth out :). Thanks so much for all your love and support...take care and check back again soon!

recientemente

The end of the year is always really busy, but thankfully we've had some days off from elections and random holidays to be able to relax and spend extra time with friends. The beach trip was just what I needed! Here's a part of the big group in the pool at Kaoba.

Here's Natan and I at Lax...

and Amanda, Shelly and I, too.

I've also since the last post learned how to make my favorite Dominican dish...pastelon con platanos maduros (it's like a ripe plantain casserole which sounds funny, but it is delicious!) Natan's sister, Pachi, taught me how to make it and I'm very excited because we have all the ingredients in the States so I can make it when I move back.

Here's me with my Pastelon...

and here's the twins being cute like always!

We only have 14 days left of school...then I have a week and a half to pack up my life here and say "adios." I move back to Michigan June 24 - so mark your calendars and be ready for some sort of celebration to say THANK YOU to all of you that have supported me and prayed for me and loved me from thousands of miles away :).

Elecciones

Due to heavy campaigning, heavy drinking, loud discussions and loud music, school is cancelled the next 3 days for the Dominican Republic Presidential Elections which take place on Friday. I've had some interesting conversations with some Dominican friends and have been comparing their complaints and desires with those of us Americans who have also been discussing who should be the next President of the United States. Here are some comments I've heard, "The ones in power have all of the money, the price of food is rising, the electricity is still inconsistent, we've heard too many promises that can't be kept." A few of those may sound familiar...but there are for sure more economical complaints since this country is still struggling so much with poverty. These issues above (corruption - money and power, food prices, electricity) are of equal importance to Dominicans as to Americans are our war, health care, environmental issues. So who will it be?

Leonel again? "E' pa' 'lante q' vamo Presidente."


Miguel Vargas - MVP? "Ya se va, ya se va...e' pa' fuera q' van."

or Amable? "Para los pobres."

I do care, but I am not hopeful that much will change with any of them...what a sad situation. But I will be celebrating whoever wins at the beach this weekend with a group of 15 friends! It's our last hoorah with everyone together...I can't wait to relax and do some body surfing in the ocean with my favorite people here.

de to un poco

A little bit about everything...first, here's some pics of what's been going on the last few weeks:


I feel like I've been working a lot - this time of year is always so busy! Here's Krista (our director), Tara (2nd grade teacher), Melanie (Kindergarten teacher) and I during our planning meeting last week. Just wanted to show you the normal and mundane of my life as a teacher...and look how beautiful the teacher's lounge is now thanks to our last work team!

Here's Pricila from my class with her mom and little brother, Ezdra...they are always such a fun family to visit - and Sra. Delgado always serves me my favorite fruits :)!

Here's Gibran and Elias (Natan's cousin and brother) and I at the Pizzeria...another normal part of my life. I'm so thankful I can eat pizza again with no problems...my body seems to be handling its "gall bladder-less-ness :) just fine."

Okay, and here's Stephen Levy, author of the book "Starting from Scratch" and expert on Experiential learning. This is the 3rd time he's visited Doulos to do workshops for us about this way of teaching and it's always such a blessing having him here!

As I talked with him after lunch one day I was especially blessed by our conversation. Let me preface it with this...

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This may be news to some of you, but I have made the decision to move back to Michigan at the end of June. I have no idea what I'll be doing or where I'll be living, but hopefully I'll be teaching and living in the GR area. It obviously is a hard decision and I know it will be very difficult to leave, but with my health issues and now money issues due to my past health issues, I believe it is the best decision.

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So my conversation with Steven was mainly me expressing my frustration and doubt because the main reason I had decided to leave was because my health...but now I finally feel healthy! So each day is different, feeling peace and excited to go back to MI, and some days feeling like I want to stay here longer. He encouraged me by saying that this something he has seen over and over again in his life. The pattern is, each time he needed or wanted to move because of a certain reason, that reason would disappear a few months before he was moving. Sounds similar! Now that I have been telling people I'm leaving and starting to make plans, the reason of my health issues has disappeared.

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It was just comforting to know that maybe this is a God-thing...the word "urgency" keeps coming up. It was more urgent for me to start mentally preparing to move away when I was sick all the time. Now the "urgency" is gone, but I have begun that mental preparation and have starting facing it and telling the people in my life here that I'm leaving...even though it's really hard.

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Please pray for the plans for my life "post-DR"...that I will feel so much peace about leaving and that opportunities will open up for me in GR. Please pray for all the little decisions that are coming with this big decision and that I continue to have good health so I can enjoy my last 8 weeks in this beautiful place.

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Keep checking for more pics of my kids, and the last hoorah's - beach trips, parties, end of the year presentations, etc.

Paz y amor.