How It All Came About...

I have thought about teaching abroad off and on for a long time, but have never started the process. I've just "looked." Well, about 3 weeks ago, I posted on a Christian Teaching Facebook Group I'm a member of, and was flooded with responses and advice about various positions/websites to use. So, I started looking even further. I found a sped job at Santiago Christian School (International) in Santiago, Dominican Republic. 

This time, however I actually went through the application process (which I still can't believe that I did!), submitted the application, last Tuesday evening, and then Wednesday morning, I got an email from the principal wanting an interview with me! When I emailed her back, she had said that it would be Wednesday, but in the process of emailing, she asked about doing it then (It was 7:30 in the evening)-- and I ended up being on phone with her for over 2 hrs!! In a nutshell, I basically could have the job-- she was very impressed with my background and qualifications. I was very impressed with how strong her Christian faith was, the quality of the school, the support that she gives her teachers, especially new teachers. I will have a 3-week orientation in July before school starts-- from how how to set up a bank account, cell phone, to how to find my way around the city. There's about 600 in their school, K-12, with about a graduating class of about 50. It's a private school, rather Americanized-- using Common Core Standards, Reading Street Reading, and Every Day Math. A lot of the assessments they used, I had heard of. Spanish is the students' first language, but they start learning English pretty early-- the school has ESL teachers as well. They don't have Speech or OT, so the students that need those services would probably not be at the school. I got an email from one of the sped teachers, and it was all positives about teaching and living there. The sped teacher is from the states and the principal is from Pennsylvania, with being the principal there for four years.

One of the bigger influences/things I took from the phone interview, was Stacy (my principal) actually prayed for me over the phone before I hung up, asking for wisdom of whether or not God wanted me to have the job, and for a meeting that I had mentioned I was having the next day. That had a really big impression on me.
Santiago (Dominican Republic) has all the modern conveniences that the state has-- movie theaters, shopping mall, fast food, technology. The night I had the interview, I Googled how far it was from Omaha to Dr I got 4 hours-- Well.... in searching further... it's more like anywhere from a 9 hour flight to 20! So, scratch that of it being just a hop, skip, and a jump home! I'm sure there will more that I'll find out that is different than what I thought/expected!

Probably the biggest factor was of course-- being away from my family (it's a 2-year commitment), and 2 -- the financial factor (It does have good health ins)-- I was assured by my principal that the cost of living is a lot less, and that I would be able to save money-- but my salary is going to be a lot less than I'm used to! My housing can be deducted from my salary, and it's about $400 (if I have a roommate, it's half, which I'm hoping that I can have one to help with the transition), They pay for 2 round trip flights, and I'm able to come back to the states in the summer. I can travel Christmas and Spring Break, but most likely hoping that I'll have people that come visit me then!!  

This is from May 20th-- It's official! Now begins the process of the passport/Visa, and the very thorough health assessment!