This last week I've had some new experiences here--
Last weekend I attended a Women's Retreat in Jarabacoa with the theme "Letting Go."

The women from the retreat were from missionary organizations across the Dominican Republic-- There were approximately 75 women in attendance, with both Spanish and English speakers. Saturday afternoon we had some free time, and I was able to visit an orphanage called Kids Alive. The location has several houses where kids from preschool to high school age live with house parent's. Some of the children have no family to take them, while others have been taken out of the home for various reasons. Each home home has approximately 7 children, along with biological children.

The Monday we got back I went with Michelle to PriceMart to help her buy food for a Haitian School that she helps support. The school was started about three years ago by a former SCS teacher (who is Haitian), who taught French there. His last name is "Eves," but I'm not sure of the correct spelling. As soon as we got out of the car, we were greeted by many children that lived near the school (there was no school that day due to the holiday).

The children started helping us unload the food, wanting to carry whatever they could into the school. I got my phone out to take a few pictures, and immediately they "swarmed me," wanting to pose for the camera, and for me to take pictures of them! It was so sweet! The building is a school during the week, and then a church on Sundays. 

Yesterday (Saturday), the other SST teacher Arianny, invited me with her to Santo Domingo to the college class that she teaches there (I was up at 5:15 on a Saturday!). She teaches at an English University where it is a private (I think) school during the week, and then there are college classes on the weekends. The class that she teaches is called "Online Learning." It is designed for students to become familiar with using Moodle (similar to Blackboard) platform. That day they were discussing Blended Learning-- their class meets part face-to-face time-- and the rest of the time using the Moodle platform. There were about 40 students in the class-- Freshman/Sophomores. (all speaking in English) It was interesting to hear the discussion-- it seems like such a simple concept-- but for them, this was something new-- most likely with the lack of technology they had in school (though the majority of them had cellphones and tablets/computers there). 

We were going to go to the mall afterwards, but b/c of the massive traffic jams, we drove back to Santiago. Arianny's husband drove us, and he is a pastor of a church in Santiago. He doesn't speak English, so Arianny interpreted for us. Araianny also teaches a class in San Pedro, which is about an hour further from Santo Domingo, and she invited me to that class as well-- it's an Early Childhood Language Development class, all in Spanish. I'm not sure if I'm going to go or not. We would have to leave even earlier!

I've been working on interventions for a couple of possible SST students-- I have meetings with their parent's on Wednesday to get permission to do the standardized testing with them. After that I will do standardized testing to see if they would qualify for SST services. I've always been one who likes the challenge of "problem-solving," so I have enjoyed coming up with strategies/plans to do for the students, as well as being able to help the classroom teachers. 

The first full of week of school has (almost) been completed. Having two days of school last week was rather nice in transitioning back into the school year. It was fun to catch up with my students and hear about what they did over the break-- one of my students went to New York City to see the ball drop at Times Square! Fridays are usually pretty busy with students having tests. I have two 2nd graders from 8:00-8:30, and then from 8:30-10:30 I may have 5th graders taking a Bible, Math, and/or Reading Test (which today they are taking all 3), a 3rd grader taking a Reading test, and two 4th graders taking a Bible and/or Math test. Thankfully I also have my wonderful aide Ms. Siri to help balance it all out! It's also when having a lot of flexibility (and patience) comes into play.
Besides being able to see my family and friends over Christmas, it was also a blessing to be able to bring back a suitcase (and a carry-on) of school stuff! It's amazing what a difference having resources can make-- though I was doing well with what I had. I've had to rearrange me schedule a bit, but it mostly stays the same, for now. I'm sure it'll have to change some time this semester.

We have three days of school next week, and then we have a 5-day weekend! There is a holiday on Thursday and on Monday, so they gave us Friday off as well. I'm going to a Women's retreat in Jarabacoa with several SCS teacher's, Friday afternoon through Sunday.
The weather has been cooler in the mornings (though not in Nebraska standards!--then it would be balmy!)-- Temps have been in the lower 60's and you need a light jacket. Usually by mid-morning it is up to the 70's, and then high's will be in the low to mid 80's. There are going to be some days coming up where it could get to 90. Knowing that the heat will be returning, I take advantage of the cool weather as long as I can!
I signed my letter of intent for next year, and there was a small 'twinge' in signing it. I do really like teaching (As far as sped goes, I'm very spoiled, and it is so much less stressful) and living here (though sometimes what I wouldn't give for a Walmart/Target nearby....)---I will admit that I am still a bit 'homesick' for Nebraska/Kansas, probably a bit more now than when I first came here in July. But I know that this is where God wants me to be-- And I'm committed to what I'm here to do.

Christmas Surprise!

About a week before Christmas break, I had some dear friends surprise me with paying for a ticket to go home for Christmas! I decided to just tell my brother, and not my parent's... I flew in Saturday the 19th, and it ended up that my parent's were coming up for the day on Sunday, for my nephew Dylan's basketball game. I was able to surprise my parent's when they walked in the door of my brother's house! My nephew's birthday is January 6th, so we were also able to celebrate his birthday. He's really into Lego's and I helped him (or I should say, he told me what to do...) with putting together his Chima Lego's. I also was updated on all the different Lego characters!

I drove 7 hours to southwest Kansas to visit my best friend and her parent's. I had a lot of fun with Alicia and Brian's two daughters Alise and Bell, who are 3 1/2 and 7 weeks. I lived in southwest Kansas for 8 years, so I still have a lot of connections to the area.

I got my fill of snow (and the cold), as my parent's had about 6ish inches of snow, and then at my brother's in Omaha, they had almost 9 inches. I will say, it was nice to be able to wear my hoodies and sweats... something I don't have to do in the DR! 

I flew back Monday, and last night our neighbor Darlene took us to across from the Monument to see the Christmas lights displays and parade. They've been doing it every night since December 18th, and goes till the 7th. The lights were incredible, with several mini shows of dancers and acrobats. 

This morning Sarah and I helped our neighbor Darlene with cleaning. About a week and a half ago, her apartment caught fire, and had total smoke damage. It didn't spread to any of other apartments. She is now going through her stuff, cleaning it, and then packing it up. She's leaving February 1st to go on Furlough, and then will be back in July-- but she will not be back to the apartment. :-( It will take a lot of work for her apartment to be cleaned. We will really miss having her across from us! Please pray for her, as this is a very stressful thing to have to go through! 

School starts tomorrow!