Some of the Highlights.... and Randoms...
- I've seen the north end of DR (Gran Ventana-- Puerto Plata) and the south end (Santo Domingo), as well as the mountains-- Jarabacoa. I think my favorite is probably the mountains.
- It can still be excessively hot in October... And always sweating is just... normal.
- And I never thought I would be thankful for 89 degree weather! I love being able to wear a hoodie, and having the sweatshirt weather-- I am missing that right now. But the cooler weather is on the horizon...
- This week it's actually been relatively comfortable (though kind of humid), and it's rained several days this week.
- I had my first experience with a Dominican doctor/hospital-- I woke up with pain in my ear last week, that turned out to be inflammation in my jaw, from clenching my jaw in my sleep. I actually had this happen 6 or 7 years ago, but I guess I had forgotten what the pain was like! I had someone that spoke Spanish go with me, and the Dr (who spoke English) prescribed me some muscle relaxants with anti-inflammatory, and it helped greatly, but made me very woozy.
- It appears that I need to still have my "bubble" to protect me-- for those who know me very well, I'm a bit of a klutz, and it appears to have followed me here as well. My foot caught the hole in the sidewalk at school, and I fell forward, landing on my arm and shoulder. I have a nice scab on my arm that I get to explain about what happened a lot!
- Yuca has become one of my favorite foods--it's similar to a potato, but has a different taste to it. It's really good mashed, as well as fried. Also Yogenfruz-- it's frozen yogurt that mixes in fruit you can choose, with the yogurt. They even deliver. :-)
- Wednesdays is one of my favorite days (besides Saturdays of course!), b/c that's the day our maid Murielle comes-- our apartment is so nice after she's been here! She also makes us chinola juice, which is similar to passion fruit.
- I need to get better about cooking-- I know how to cook, (my mom taught me well)-- I just do not like to cook (sorry Mom!). My roommate Sarah does not cook either, but my other roommate Kyla will do some cooking. We always get our noon meal provided at school-- it's always some sort of a rice dish, a meat, and a green salad with cucumber and tomatoes. So I do get one meal for the day!
- It almost feels a bit strange that I don't have to do quarterly progress reports, IEP meetings, or writing IEP's. In some ways I do miss the structure of having an IEP, b/c I know what goals and objectives I'm working towards with my students. We have our PT conferences next week, and I think I'll still write up something about my students' progress.
- I think I'm not surprised by anything too much anymore-- from having my doorknob to my school being broken and trapped inside my room, to having the legs of my table in my classroom randomly coming off while I'm teaching--- my 2nd grade boy student-- "Here, I'll hold the table for you." This last week my phone in my classroom didn't work, my computer wouldn't print, and for awhile I couldn't access my files on my drive. All this means to plan accordingly and in advance! (Or just go to Plan B!) Thankfully, it's all fixed now!
- I still have been drinking my Hill of Beans coffee from Omaha, but I have realized that from drinking the coffee in the teacher's lounge, I drink my coffee at home a bit stronger.
- I've picked up some Spanish, but not a lot. It's going to be a long process... but I've gotten good at ordering the water in Spanish! I'm not afraid to try....
- The Teachers Pay Teachers website and anything "e-book" related have become my teaching friends, since it takes longer for Amazon to get here (and it costs more for shipping). I still haven't gotten very good at not spending money on school stuff... My latest find that is so helpful with assessment: Reading Intervention Assessment for 2nd Grade
- Having a VPN has made it useful to be able to watch online television-- otherwise you're not able to use the websites out of the U.S.
- There are times that I miss Kansas and Nebraska-- especially my nephew Dylan, and missing events that he has in his life-- as well as Zach and Caleigh.
- We don't have Daylight Savings Time, so in November I will be 2 hours ahead of Central Time Zone.
- Next week we have a half day in-service Thursday afternoon, and then we have PT conferences on Friday.
Please pray for the teacher's of our school. We have been having a lot of teachers that have been having health issues,and getting sick. My roommate Sarah has been having a constant migraines for many weeks now, and she is having tests done to see if they can figure out what is causing them.
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