Kids, kids, and more kids!

Thursday we got to take the younger kids form the school to the local beach in Puerto Plata with the group. It was one of our student, Ruth's birthday, so we got to celebrate her special day on the beach and the Menold girls and I made her some cards and a birthday cinnamon muffin for her birthday! Later on in the day we got to go cheer the kids on in their first soccer game of the season! Cakito and Kelvin coach the soccer teams in different villages every day and today was their first time to pay each other this season! We had the games in the play in Montellano and a lot of the kids from the neighborhood gather around to watch the kids play. Although the soccer games is when the heat becomes much more noticeable, I love getting to watch the kids play because I know that for most of them, they love playing soccer and it is their favorite thing to do. The missions team that was here this week also helped us to get the audience to cheer for the teams and make the players feel as if it were a real game and that people actually cared. It was fun because when the teams were waiting for their turn to play the game, we were also playing an unofficial game on the side of the field. They just can't get enough soccer! When we got back to the house later we had a basketball tournament with some members from the group and some members from the Makarios staff and it was a blast, although tiring!

Friday I got up with 2 other member in the group and Belize, and we decided to go for a run to the top of the mountain and to be at the top in time to watch the sun rise. I do not like running, and I am definitely not good at it, but it was so cool to get to go to the top and watch the sun come out from the very top of the mountain. It is amazingly beautiful here, and getting to see the sunrise only added more beauty. I spent the rest of the day with the group in Cabarete for their beach day. It was so fun to get to watch the Menold kids play with the kids for the group, because I know that it is hard for them to live here and not really have friends like they used to in the states. We even caught a baby octopus! 

Saturday morning the group went home and Kelsey, Imani, and I spent the day in Santiago. Santiago isn't necessarily a city for tourist, but there is definitely more wealth there and they have malls, American food chains, and even a movie theatre! We spent the day exploring the city and going to the different malls and comparing how they were similar, yet different from those in the states. We even went to go see a movie at the theatre (which was very similar to the ones we have back home) and we had the option to see it in Spanish with English subtitles, or in English with Spanish subtitles. While in Santiago Imani ran into two different groups of people that she knew and it made me think about what a small world it is when you are in a different country, visiting a city you don't even live in, and you run into people you know as if it were normal. It made me realize how easy it is to feel so at home here, like I already do. 

Today Kelsey and I spent the day relaxing at Playa Sosua with Kelvin and Belize. Kelvin and Belize got to build their first real sand castle and I introduced them to Dr. Pepper, which they both loved. Before we headed home we went for an adventure in the grocery store to get some food for the week. It was such a nice day out with the sun shining, but not too hot. The beach was so crowded and we even ran into one of Belize's friends. 

The sun shines brighter day by day

Life has been CRAZY here the past week, but crazy good! Tuesday and Wednesday of last week we had school and then on Thursday we had a staff party at the river all day with Sancocho, a Dominican soup. Tuesday after school I got to help teach my first ESL classes of the summer and it was awesome! Wednesday night, we had our weekly bible study with the staff and then I got to spend some time with Imani and Perla for the rest of the night and hear all about Perla's wedding and how amazing it was. Friday I went to La Sirena with Jen to help her buy all of the groceries for group we had come on Saturday, and then I spent the rest of the day at Playa Sosua relaxing and recovering from the busy week. Saturday I spent all day preparing dinner for the welcome dinner with the group and the staff and I must say that I think I have become a much better chef after learning how to prepare all of the meals that Jen has taught me to prepare. The group that came is a family group with two families coming from Austin and one from Illinois. Later on we realized that I had actually babysat for one of the families that came from Austin a while ago, what a small world! Sunday morning we went to El Templo and then afterwards I came home to help Jen with preparations for the week. Belize and Kelvin came over later and we had a basketball tournament that was so fun and reminded me how much I love basketball! 


Monday was our first week of school with the younger kids (every other week we rotate) and then after school I got to help unpack all of the supplies the group brought with them for the school and the kids. It is so exciting to get to see everything that is brought to the school, now that I know how much it means to have new supplies, and even some of the smaller things that seem so unimportant. It is like Christmas at the school every time a group come and brings new stuff. It was also Andy's birthday,so of course as Dominican tradition goes, we got to soak him in water at the end of the day. Tuesday after school, the ESL kids got to make kites with the group during class time and then fly them. Today after school I went to Pancho with the group to play with the kids and we took the younger kids in the group to experience part of the day in the life of a Pancho kid. During this time we explained to them what it was like living in the conditions that the people live in here. We took the kids on a walk from the school to Pancho to show them what it was like to walk to far to school every day, no matter what the weather was like. (We drove the kids halfway and they only had to walk have of the distance, but they were able to realize just from the half of the walk that they did what the kids do everyday). And today I got to see Jenny again which made me so happy because she hasn't been home the past few times I went to Pancho!! During bible study tonight we spent a lot of time worshiping outside, which is definitely one of my favorite things to do here, if not my favorite. It was a perfect ending to the day and I can't wait to take the younger kids to the beach tomorrow! 

PRIMERA DIA DE LA ESCULA

Sunday morning Kelsey and I went to Sosua to visit the church here called New Life that is in English with some of the other Makarios staff just to see what it was like. It was awesome because most of the people there that I met were either here as missionaries or here with a group of a mission trip, so it was really easy to connect and talk to them because we are all here for the same reason. The sermon was about  dying and how when we die it means we are done with what God wants us to do here on Earth and we are ready to go home and this was possibly one of the best sermons I have heard in a long time and I was so happy I chose to go visit this church. After lunch we went to eat with some of the people from the church, which was great because I got to meet a lot of new people, as well as Rachel (who owns La Tienda) and her son. And then we all went to the Playa Alicia together for the rest of the day. It was a great day of rest/ adventure for me.

Monday was THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!! And it was the best day I have had here so far!! The kids were so excited and it was so great getting to see them and work with them in the classroom setting. It is so exciting seeing them at their homes and in the villages when they are running around crazy and playing and then in the classroom learning and working hard. Narolin and I had our first day of art class with the older kids and the day started with them eating breakfast all together and then the broke into their color groups that they would stay with and go from class to class with. So after the six groups rotated, we had recess then lunch and then the kids went home. After a brief staff meeting I came home to relax before I went back out with Kelsey to Pancho to play basketball with Cakito and his friends. It was so cool going into the village and having all of the kids see me and recognize me as Profe Paige! Haha I felt so old! But then Kelsey and I played basketball with Cakito and his friend Joel until we took a break and then I played with some of the younger boys in Pancho. We then relaxed and the boys got me some sugar cane to eat as a snack before I played with the older guys... full court (which I haven't done since 7th grade). After playing 2 games with them I was ready to pass out! When you play sports here it is so much more intense because they absolutely hate losing, so the games are so much more intense than in the U.S. but it was so worth it and I had so much fun getting to know Cakito's friends. We then came back to the house and hung out in the backyard with the Menold's, who had been in Santiago all day, and played while Josh was building the new, big blow up pool they had bought for the kids. Today was a busy, but very happy day!!

~ I finally figured out how to do a picture slideshow!

~ I have learned that if there is free time, you make it dance time! Here are some of the kids dancing around

~ Verse of the week: 1 Corinthians 6:19 

Overview of week 2

Tuesday we went up to the school in the morning and continued working on preparations for school. I spent most of my time working on preparations, but when I wasn't doing that, I was helping the group paint the classrooms. In the afternoon we came back to the house and all of the kids from the ESL class came over to the house and we took a trip to the river with them. When they first came over we went around in a circle and asked and answered basic questions in English, like whats your name? where are you from? how old are you? and it was awesome to see how much the kids have learned. I recognized most of them from previous years and they have already learned so much more English since I have last seen them. Then we all went to down to the river and spent a couple hours playing with them and we brought snacks and drinks for them to have as well. We had such a great time and it was so fun getting to see the kids playing together and playing with the group and the staff. When we were back at the house one of the girls had their friend Ruth over. Ruth goes to school at Makarios and is one of the sweetest, cutest little girl! We were all sitting on the couch playing games and then eventually we started singing Worship songs and playing music. This was definitely one of my highs of the whole week, just getting to see again how no matter where you are, God and Christianity is universal. 

1) Me, Nicole, Narolin, Genesis, Kelvin, Marnellia, and Bella preparing for school

2) Dena and Yomo cutting out crafts for the students
3) The first picture is of some of the kids from the neighborhood that came over to play at the school no the play ground and then they were eating a snack

4) The ESL kids at the house doing introductions

5) Sarah and Imani at the school

6) Playing with the kids at the river

7) Tate and Oli "being me"

8) Oli acting like Santa

9) Parlyn and Ruth playing instruments and singing this is the day that the Lord has made

Wednesday I spent the whole day at the school, again for most of the time Narolin and I worked on our lesson plans and when we finished early we helped some of the other teachers with their preparations. When the group arrived to paint, I also got to help paint the second layer of paint in some of the classrooms. It was a long day of work, but at the end of the day it is so great to get to look back and see everything we accomplished. Ashley and Kendall used to be teachers at the school last year and today they came up to the school to visit everyone again. It was great getting to see them again, because I remember talking to them when they were interns here and having conversations about why they came here and how to become an intern and they were the first ones I talked to that made me realize that I wanted to eventually come back here and intern! I sat on the roof this night and had some quiet time to myself and I have never ever seen so many stars in my life as there were in the sky this night, it was absolutely amazing!

1) The front of the Makarios school

2) Josh helping paint the classrooms 

3) Two of the kids who live by the school bathing

Thursday was beach day for the older kids!!! They all came to the school bright and early (way before they were supposed to be there) and waited to go to the beach. They were so incredibly excited and one of the boys even asked if he could spend the night in front of the school so he could be the first one there in the morning to go to the beach! Once we all met at the school, the kids had breakfast and then we were off to the local beach in Puerta Plata! Although the beach is so close, the kids never get to go over and play, so this was a real treat for them! All of the kids had so much fun swimming and playing in the sand and then we headed back to the school around lunch time. The staff fed the kids lunch and then after that they all went home and we got to set up our classrooms! It was so awesome having newly painted, bright walls and so we got to move all of our stuff into the rooms and decorate for the rest of the day! Before I left the school for the day I got to play with some of the kids, which included Diore and Eb! These were some of my favorite kids that I had met the first year I came here and it was so great getting to spend time with them! Once I got back to the house I got to spend some time with the Menold kids and the girls and I baked a rainbow cake off of pinterest! We had so much fun baking together, and we even had some extra help when Ruth and Sylvia, some of the neighbor girls, came over to play! 

1) The kids praying on the church of the school before we left for the day

2) Johan telling the kids the rules

3) PLAYING AT THE BEACH!

4) Me burying Rebecca in the sand

5) Me with Eb and Diore and some other friends

6) The Menold kids eating our cake!

7) What our cake looked like

8) The picture of the cake we were going off of

Friday I went to Cabarete for the day with the group for their beach day! We went to breakfast at a German Bakery there and then we spent the entire day at the beach. The water was perfect and it wasn't too unbearably hot outside! I really got to spend time talking to some of the group members at the beach and getting to know them, which was really awesome. And it was so neat getting to hear them talk about their week and everything they had experienced here. After we ate dinner we headed home and got to see the amazing sunset as we rode back and did reflections from the week on the roof. 

1) The group in the gua gua on the way to Cabarete

2) Fin couldn't get enough ice cream

3) A crab making its home by my chair

4) Looking at all of the sand dollars they found

5) Jen with Par and Fin walking into the water with all of the Kite and Wind Surfers in the back (Cabarete is known as the beach for Kite and Wind Surfing) 

This morning the group ate breakfast and then we said our goodbyes as they left to go home today. I had a great time with them and getting to know each of them it was sad to say goodbye, but I know that that like me, most of them are hoping to be returning back here again. It is so quiet without the group here, but it is nice to have some time to relax and prepare for school starting on Monday. I also spent the day hanging out with Nicole at her house. When I got there she was helping teach Sylvia how to write and read, but then Sylvia went home and then she took me to her uncle's house and then her grandparent's house to meet them and visit with them all day!

These pictures are from earlier in the week that one of the girls from the group took:

Sunday

1) Me and Par playing at the Point

2) The church we go to in Montellano 

3) Watching the choir sing at the church in the town square

These are from Monday when the group did a day of VBS at the school for the neighborhood kids and the picture below is in Chichigua. 

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Mark 16:15

Summer school is almost here!!

Today I spent the entire day up at the school doing preparations for summer school and it was so much fun! While we were doing preparations, the group was busy helping clean, reorganize, unpack donations, helping us with prep, chopping down dead trees, and repainting the walls. It was awesome to see everyone work together and the result at the end of the day after so much was accomplished! While doing preparations all day, I really got to bond with the other teachers and it was so great getting to learn more about them and their life. When the day was over and we were headed home for dinner, Josh decided to drive a different way and show us the view from the top of the mountain. It was absolutely beautiful getting to look over the city and you could see where all the different villages were. At the top of the mountain is where the water plant is and it was also neat to look at it and see how the entire city gets their water supply. I got to listen to the group do their highs and lows of the day tonight and it was so great to get to listen to what they are getting out of their experience here. I love getting to hear how God is changing their lives through this experience and how much joy they have after watching how joyful the people here are. The group did a VBS today for the kids and they talked about how wonderful and polite and thankful the kids are and it really made me happy just hearing that! Life is starting to get really busy with school quickly approaching, helping the group, and my online classes starting today, so I will do my best to blog as much as possible, but I don't know that I will have time to do it everyday. 

 ~Bella, me, Narolin, and Genesis after we got done making many many many cut out bears in order to teach the different parts of the body next week.

 ~Belizeur and Narolin laughing at Bella as she is playing with the masks she is making for her students. 

~The view from the top of the mountain. This is just a glimpse at how beautiful the DR is!

Seeing old friends never gets old

Today was an awesome day in the DR! We went to church today in Montellano, the same church that I have gotten to go to every year, and Josh actually got to preach today! There was a translator for him, but it was really great to hear the lesson in both English and Spanish. At church I got to see many familiar faces, which made my day! I sat with Sylvia and Magellina, who live in the same neighborhood as I do and I got to also meet their oldest sister whom I had never got to meet before! It was so great seeing them and they had fun passing me notes during the service practicing writing in English. After the service I got to see Perla, Jody's fiancé, and she told me all about their wedding this upcoming week and her new job and her trip to the U.S. this past year and I am so happy for her!! It sounds like she has been doing great and I am hoping I will get to see her again this week before the wedding! I talked to Perla and Jody for a while until it was time to leave and go to The Point (which is a historical sight in Puerta Plata). We all went to go walk around The Point and look at the beach for a while. There was a man there with a decorated donkey, but I didn't take a picture of it because he charges $5 if you want to take a picture of it. 

~ On the left is The Point, in the middle is my room mate Kelsey posing for a solo pic!, and on the right is Kelsey and I with Martha and Shelby.

~ The group from Austin Stone!

Next we went to go eat lunch and the kids had a blast playing on the playscape at the restaurant! The chicken, rice, and beans were amazing, as always, and then we took the group to La Sierena to look around and get anything they might want from the store to take home. Bon is the ice cream shop that they have everywhere in the DR and so of course we had to take the group to try it out! I don't know if they liked being in the air conditioning or the ice cream better! The Bon we went to was by the town square, so we got to walk around and look at the big church there while the choir was practicing. A Dominican local gave Tate and Oliver some seeds to feed to the birds and as soon as they opened their hands the birds came together and swarmed them! The boys loved it and had so much fun being surrounded for the next 30 minutes. The rest of the day at the house was very relaxing and I am ready for the upcoming week to be here!

~On the right is Tate and Oli playing on the playscape and on the right Kelsey and Jen are pushing the girls in the swings.

~Tate and Oli feeding the birds!

Full day of village visits

Today was the first full day with the group! It was so awesome to get to be around people who have never been to the DR before because a lot of the times I forget what it was like the first time I ever came here and saw for myself what it was like. It is a good reminder to myself that most people, especially in America, have absolutely no idea what it is like in a third world country. First we went to Chichigua, which is actually a Haitian village where some of our kids that go to the school live. In Chichigua I got to see all of my friends from the past years! First I went to find Sarah, Jessica, and Rebecca. These three girls are sisters that absolutely LOVE to sing and dance and are super fun and outgoing! We would always do our own little talent show (mainly them because they are amazing singers!) in the past years and it was so great just getting to see them today and spending the whole time talking about what has happened in their lives the past year. I spent almost 2 hours in their house talking to them and their mom and then I also got to see their baby brother Michael who is most definitely not a baby anymore! Last summer their mom had just given birth to their new baby sister, Angela, and when I saw her today she could not only walk, but also talk!! It was incredible and I am so happy that their family is doing well! I then made my way around Chichigua to see some other kids, but there wasn't much time left before the group was leaving to go to lunch, so my visits were short. Right as we were about to leave I was going to say goodbye to one of the moms in the village that I had known for the past couple years and I noticed that by her there was a little girl in a wheel chair. I found out that this was her daughter who was now ten years old and had cerebral palsy. I just couldn't believe that first of all I had never seen her before, and second of all that this was the second child with cerebral palsy that I had seen two days in a row.

~ On the left is Sarah (the oldest), Rebecca, Angela (the baby), and Michael (the boy) and on the right is Imani holding one of the little girls.

After eating my favorite meal for lunch, chicken, rice, and beans!!!!!!, we went to La Tienda. La Tienda was started by a friend of Sharla, who runs Makarios, and was meant to provide jobs for the women in order to keep them from being forced into prostitution. This is where I usually buy gifts for my friends and family when I am here because the women that make the jewelry, purses, candles, etc... are the ones getting to money for what they are making. I bought a pair of earrings today to wear and then send back to the US (my bible study group and I decided over the summer that we were going to have one thing we sent around from person to person including a picture of us wearing the item and a letter telling what we have been doing while wearing them in order to stay in touch, so I bought the earrings today to wear this week and then send on to the next person). 

 ~La Tienda

Pancho Mateo was the next stop where I went with the group and we just spent some time playing basketball, jumprope, and soccer with the kids. Some of the Dominican girls worked on their hair brading skills as well! The time went by so fast and before I knew it I was back at the house helping prepare dinner and making cupcakes for the group. It was Shirley, one of the group members, birthday, so we got to celebrate with her! All of the Dominican and American staff was here for dinner as well and I had an awesome time having "girl time" on the roof with Imani, Genesis, Bella, Narolin, and two of the girls that are here with the group that also go to UT. And then Bella, Genesis, Narolin, and I played basketball together before we did introductions of the Makarios staff and got to know the group as well. Although I was completely exhausted after I got back from Pancho, God suddenly provided me with a burst of energy to keep me going until the night was over. 

~One of the guys from the group being a cabio (horse)

~Kelvin giving the tour of Pancho to the group

~Andy and Yeri

~The group visiting Pancho for the first time

~The girls from the group getting their hair done

~Girl time on the roof!

*Sorry my blog was a day late, the internet connection was really slow last night!