much overdue life update!

ay-yi-yi! i'm not so good at updating...

but here are some highlights of the past week or so.

1. PARADE!
I was privileged to be a chaperone in a parade for the 7th and 8th graders this past Friday to help kick off the 150th Anniversary of Jarabacoa being a city. Basically all the schools in the town marched around the city waving and smiling at all the people who were lined up (and coincidentally not at work...since it was like 9am.) Anyways, I loved my life because how many people can say they were in a parade in the DR? Not too many. And I got to be with some awesome teacher friends Karyn and Daniel.
Karyn and I loving the coveted JCS red polos. and the parade.


a small glimpse of the amount of students in the parade



2. MOVING!
This weekend we had the privilege of helping the Janicke family move to their beautiful new house! Let me tell you, it was one of the most fun experiences I've had in a long time. Thankfully the Janicke's had everything ready to move, and we were blessed with having a father of one of the families in our school (also. the father of 25% of my class---the triplets.) loan us his truck to help us. Well, they apparently don't believe in bungee cords in the DR, so we basically had to ride in the back of the truck every time to ensure that nothing would fall out of the back. LET ME TELL YOU. I have never been more fearful for my life as when we were taking a sharp turn, my center of gravity was really high, and I was trying to keep the fridge and stove both on the bed of the truck. Good news. I didn't fall out. but I think I was close a few times. THEN when we got there and we were putting the last load inside. and BOOM goes the dynamite. the kitchen table doesn't fit through the doorway. shoots. We troubleshoot that bad boy and decide to park the truck as close as we can to the side of the house and lift that sucker right over the railing onto the balcony (heaven forbid there be any rope for us to use...) so Kelsey, Melanio (my triplets' father), and I heaved that sucker up and the rest of the crew dead lifted it up onto the balcony where it easily slipped into the house. JACKPOT. i am woman. hear me roar.
special shout out to Karyn Statz who took the amazing pictures of us hoisting...
us lifting up the kitchen table over the railing!



3. SALTO BAIGUATE!
On Sunday the wonderful Christy Elmer took my three housemates and I to a beautiful waterfall not too terribly far from our house! It was maybe a 10 minute drive by taxi. As an added bonus, we were able to stop and pick up the pisola (like a motor scooter...)that used to be owned by Christie and take that to the waterfall as well. We just were able to relax and love the water. Christy decided to tackle me, which was awesome. I'm not gonna lie, the water was cold. BUT I was refreshed and definitely cooled down.
a group shot by the waterfall (Kelsey, Anna, me, Brooke, Christy)


4. FúTBOL
So lately I've been playing soccer at recess with the 1st and 2nd graders. It's been a great experience to get to know other students and play a little bit...not to mention definitely practicing my Spanish because they cannot speak English very well. I've learned random phrases like "SIN MANOS!" (without hands) "CON Tú CABEZA!" (with your head...i'm trying to teach them to do headers...it's really funny!) ...also "Quieres jugar?" (Do you want to play?) I knew that one before...but just reusing it FREQUENTLY. They all try and speak to me in Spanish...so I have to try and decipher what the heck they are saying...haha or saying "que?!" (what?) or "mas despacio." (slower...) or "esta bien!" (it's okay) anytime I see any small child during the day, I always say "vas a jugar hoy?" (are you going to play today?)
I'm basically the cool aunt to the 1st and 2nd graders. ballllllin'. I think I'm going to start helping coach the 1st-3rd grade soccer on Fridays (but it conflicts with the girls basketball...tough decision...)
Not gonna lie. it's the highlight of my day.



*BONUS funny story:
My students were creating projects for their Sociales (Dominican history) class which required posters. After confiscating one because it was rolled and the students were hitting each other with it. I was carrying it around all day and mock-threatening to hit my students. :) One of my triplets was kind of being a silly 4th grader. I was getting frustrated with his misbehavior, so I asked him to come in the hall with me. As he walked out, I turned to the rest of the students and gave them the Dominican "sign" for "awkward, ay-yi-yi, you're in trouble" kind of a thing...As I was still holding the rolled up poster board. I talked to him for a minute about how I was not happy with how he was acting and how I loved him and know that he can be a better student. After that, I hugged him and said, let's have some fun. I'm going to smack the poster board REALLY hard against the metal railing (right outside the door) and then you need to scream really loud. He did a GREAT job.
SMACK! OWWWWWWWWW!
SMACK! OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
SMACK! OWWWWWWWWWW!
Then we both walked back into the classroom. He did a good job of keeping a straight face and pretending like he hurt. It was classic. Professional? Not so much. but fun. very fun. for both of us.


*bonus numero deuce.
i've recently become obsessed with old(er) rock music. daily you can hear me singing "shot through the heart and you're to blame. you give love a bad name." over and over and over. i love it. the end.


*EXCELLENT NEWS:
no school Wedensday. Dia de la Mercedes.
beauty.