Last Sunday, our orientation group went to another church in Santiago-- Iglesia Christiana Oasis-- I really enjoyed the praise and worship music- there were some songs that I recognized the melodies, but I didn't know the names of them. The Senior Pastor is on Sabbatical in the states, so it was the Associate Pastor that preached. We had an interpreter that we listened to on a radio station with our cell phones.  On a side note, there was a car alarm that kept going on during the service-- those have become white noise to me, as they are continually going off all the time... But it was noticeable while we were in the service.
This next Sunday, we were going to go to a different church, but that fell through, so we're free to decide where we want to go. I haven't quite decided yet which church I want to go to yet....
This week I was again meeting with parent's to sign contracts, testing students, planning schedules, trying to learn my new curriculum, and start to put together materials for my student's. On Mondays, all the faculty and students meet at the flag pole at 8:00, one of the classes is in charge of raising the flag, and then we sing the national anthem. Also on Mondays and Wednesdays, all faculty and staff meet at 7:30 for devotions, where we have songs, prayer, and a devotional message. I have spent quite a few hours this week staring at a computer screen trying to make sure all my student's pull-out Reading and Math services were scheduled for the correct times, as well as trying to cover their push- in services for Reading and Math. I have several student's that I'm doing grades for, so I'm also trying to find independent work for them to use. I've been so used to being able to just go online, order something, and have it be here in 2 (Thanks to Amazon Prime) or even 5 days. With the way the mail system is here, it isn't that easy.... which can be a bit stressful (and frustrating), so I've been trying to be more "creative," with trying to find things online and downloadable PDF's. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at finding resources online, as much googling as I've done! LOL With not having school on Friday due to the hurricane, it kind of put a damper on testing some of my student's and also working on planning the curriculum that I'm going to be teaching. Good thing I'm flexible! :-)
We finally got our bank accounts this week (they came to school for us to sign the paperwork and to give us our ATM/Debit cards), so we now don't have to cash our checks at the bank, and they can be automatically deposited. I went today to the bank (which is in La Sirena) to get my online account set up, but I found out due to the hurricane, all the banks in DR had closed at 1:00!
Thursday, the nurse from school took me to the chiropractor, which I was actually extremely excited about going to. In the states I was going to the chiropractor at least once a week, so not going for over six weeks has taken a toll on my body. There have been several other SCS teachers that have gone to him before, and thought that he had helped them. Before I could get an adjustment, I had to get x-rays, so we drove to a radiology place several minutes away (in rush hour traffic). I was surprised how fast I was able to get in, and it took maybe 30-45ish minutes to get back to the chiropractor. The adjustment wasn't quite the same as the previous chiropractor I went to (Nicole at Wellsville Chiropractic is awesome!) but I was able to get some relief, so that was definitely a plus!
The last several days, a lot of the conversations have been about hurricane Danny and Erika. Unfortunately we didn't get anything from Danny, but everyone was hoping we would get something from Erika. On Friday, we were on the bus, on the way to pick up the last staff member, when the bus driver received a call that school had been cancelled!! It was a pretty funny moment, as everyone cheered, and we were in disbelief that they actually cancelled school! -- It had started raining while we were on the bus, but not that hard. Evidently the Ministry of Education had called off school for the nation due to the hurricane.
It felt weird to be dropped off at 7:30 in the morning, walking back from the bus, and it wasn't even raining then! I ordered water from the colmado, and then after it was delivered, we walked to the grocery store Nacional (It was a very hot walk, and it wasn't even raining). Next to Nacional is a home goods and office store, so while we waited for them to open at 10, we decided to stop for a coffee drink at Santa Domingo. :-)

Pasion de Chocolate (or something like that)

So good!! It was hard to not drink it in an instant!

It seemed that everyone needed groceries at Nacional, b/c it was insanely busy. Also there was a couple from SCS, and they were kind enough to give us a ride home. In a typical snow-day fashion, why stay home when you have the day off? (and it was barely even raining or windy)-- so we went over to friends' apartment, eat Wendy's and play a trivia game. 

At some point, it got hazy enough that we couldn't see the buildings across the city from the rain, but when we left late afternoon, it was only lightly raining. 

I've been trying to find poster Command strips to hang some pictures, so I went to Baillon (the Home Depot store) only to find out that they were closing as well.... I'm guessing that there were quite a few businesses that closed early.

And finally.... RAIN!! (Though this was from the evening before it got to us.) Last night and this morning the weather has been absolutely PERFECT!! Kyla and I watched a movie on Netflix in our living room, and for the first time since we've been here, it was not warm! During the night I woke up and closed my windows a bit, because I was getting rain on my face (my bed is right below my windows), and then woke up again, b/c they weren't closed enough. So I finally just closed them up tight. When I woke up this morning, the weather was again the best it's ever been. So happy!!! :-)
It's wonderful that we got rain-- I don't know how much we got, but I'm guessing it wasn't nearly enough, and we still need a lot more.

It was nice to have a break yesterday (almost like a Labor Day, since we don't have that day off!), and now to the weekend....