Mail Service

Friends and Family,

I meant to add this on to the email yesterday, but as of January 1, I will no longer have mail service down in the Dominican Republic.  This fall, I only received 2 packages, and I decided that the $180 affiliation fee wasn't worth only receiving 2 packages. 

IF you feel the need to send me a package or a card, ask me how you can get it to me!

Thanks!

Natalie

Where to Begin?

Okay...so one of my goals this year has been to have my students over more often. I think I have successfully completed this goal! :) at least thus far. I've been blessed to have many students over, both from this year and last.

So here's a quick recap of all of my students' home visits.

1. Rosa and Rosemary.

Rosemary was my student last year and her sister, Rosa, who is one of Miss Staats's favorite students. They came over and we made cookies and ate pizza and talked. It was great!

Rosemary checking out the cookies

Rosa putting cookies on the tray.

2. The triplets

I was super blessed to have a trio of triplets in my class last year. They are bright, mischievous, fun loving boys, and I love spending time with them. They came over one day to play some X-box.

3. Laura, Maryed, and Ana

I decided that it would probably be a good idea to get to know some of the students in my class this year too! :) So I began by inviting 3 wonderful girls over. We made bead bracelets, brownies, and ate pizza. It was awesome. and fun. Enjoy the pictures!

Ana and me bringing the pizza in!

Maryed and Laura making the brownies with excellent teamwork. :)

Maryed, Laura, Ana, and me sporting our new bracelets!

4. THE BOYS

Most recently, this past Friday, I had all the boys in my class over. WOW. What a lot of fun! We made pizzas, played X-box, played basketball, ate a TON, and just hung out. I loved it. (although I was ready for them to go home after 3 hours!)

The boys: Estanli, Cristofer, Luis, Emmanuel, Brian, Ronnie, and Fernando

The pizzas they made!

Luis, Brian, and Emmanuel chillin. :)

The boys got to talk with their friend Dylan who moved back to the United States! They were so excited!

The aftereffects. Wow! What a whirlwind! :)

TO SEE MORE PICTURES: click here

Fun Trips

I've been blessed to take a fun trips lately! I thank God that I have the opportunity to do crazy fun things on this tropical island!

One of the most fun things that I've done is 27 Charcos. Basically you hike up this path, climbing up waterfalls, swimming, getting drenched and physically exhausted, and then at the end you get to jump down these beautiful waterfalls. I couldn't take my camera with me because it would get drenched (if you would like to buy me a waterproof digital camera so I could take it with me next time I go, that would be awesome) but I have pictures from the before and after! I'm attaching the slideshow for you to watch!

For Karyn's birthday weekend, we went to a Dominican baseball game and then on to the beach! The baseball game (Aguilas vs. Licey) was very much like an American baseball game except louder. Not extreme, blow out your eardrums loud, but there was definitely just NOISE all the time. We went with a group of young adults from church so it was good to spend time with both Americans and Dominicans. Karyn and I then went on to Cabarete, our favorite beach, to celebrate her birthday! It was so fun to relax, eat good ice cream, good food, and just enjoy spending time with my friend!

The next weekend, a group of 9 of us piled into a Honda CRV and took off to the beach, with a stop to drop off the two youngins' at Mamacedes house. :) We got to the beach, took one look at our beautiful beach house and felt instantly relaxed. I spent the weekend playing in the HUGE ocean waves, swimming in our pool, and watching football...AMERICAN football. Can life get any better? Probably not. We ate good food, enjoyed good company, and just relaxed.

Update Email!

I just sent out an update email! Let me know if you want to receive it too! :)

The Colts.

Me way happy to be watching my boys! :)

As most of you know, I am a big Colts fan. I miss a lot watching Peyton and the boys. :) So, praise the Lord, I found a website that I could stream the games live. Only problem? It's in Danish. :)

So there ya have it. I love modern technology! :)

Art Class

Since we have yet to find an art/music teacher, the teachers at our school have stepped up to teach our own kids art. 4th grade has done some pretty awesome projects so far, such as magazine collages, insects made out of leaves/twigs/rocks/etc, 'old' paper, and paintings of Charlotte's Web. It's actually been fun teaching art (thank you Art for Teachers class and Kathy Herrmann!). Anyways, if you have any more ideas about a good art project for 2-3 days a week, let me know! Next up: puppet shows for Charlotte's Web. This week: dancing. practicing for Día de la Raza!

nature's insects

my collage ^

students' collages

My Classroom!

Welcome to 4th Grade! :)

the classic door.

the cubby area, behind here is the reading corner

my favorite--the reading corner. it's a little nook. the kids love reading there.

the back of the classroom

the front of the classroom

The back of the classroom--jobs, world map, birthdays, insect poster, and the Stoplight, Stop, Go signs that Josue posted. oh and the most essential classroom object in the top left corner--the fan!

Charlotte's Web bulletin board. yes. i did make the web.

writing corner...with the Scientific Method poster

our daily schedule

the bulletin board outside--we made collages in Art the first week, the kids loved it! (we don't have an art teacher yet, so all the teachers teach their own art classes. I love it!)

Miss Brewer's collage (click on the picture to make it bigger. please note the: Miss Brewer Rocks along the bottom...yes.)

enjoy! it doesn't look too bad, eh? :)

A video tour

The other day (and by the other day, I mean a few weeks ago) Karyn and I were traveling back from Santiago visiting my friend Kristen and we had to take a gua-gua. What is a "gua-gua" you ask? Basically it's an old beat up van that we shoved 20 people into with all their belongings...aka plants, bags of groceries, etc. I snapped a few pictures of the trip and a few videos too. I've uploaded the videos onto my blog and uploaded a slideshow of the few pictures that I took. I hope you can get a picture of what it's like to drive up the mountain into the valley of Jarabacoa. :)

I am not sure if you can tell, but these little roadside stands are RIGHT next to the riverbank. Literally if you took one step backwards, you would fall into the river. It's crazy!

chipotle ain't got nothin'! :)

yes. here are glorious pictures of the masterpiece created by the one and only karyn staats. now do you understand why i have her as a roommate? bam-son.

1st day of school!

Hooray! Today was the long-awaited first day of school. I was excited beyond belief, as I'm sure some of you can imagine, to see my students from last year, this year, and my young friends from 1st and 2nd grade.

Today definitely lived up to its expectation. The triplets were shy (except for Josue!) and the rest of my kids from last year gave me hugs. I got a good surprise as one of the students that I thought was going to the US, actually is back here again this year! Hooray! :)

I was so excited because this week I am teaching both 3rd and 4th grade. Our 3rd grade teacher (hopefully coming soon!!) is not here yet, so many of us are having to double up our first week. Thankfully my schedule works almost perfectly to be able to teach both without much overlap.

Having 18 kids this year (6 more desks than last year!) is certainly overwhelming and exciting at the same time. It makes my classroom seem so much smaller, but I'm really thankful to be able to have all of the kids that I do have. Hopefully we can keep everything running smoothly and in great order.

As far as recruiting stuff goes, we're still looking for a 2nd and 6th grade teacher. We have an "almost certain" 3rd grade teacher but awaiting final confirmation. Things have definitely settled down here a lot, as we had much turmoil at the beginning of the year. now we're just playing the waiting game...and planning for the weeks ahead! :)

Have I ever mentioned that I love teaching? because I do.

and to top it all off, my amazing amiga is making faux-Chipotle burritos for dinner. can life get any better?

Rabbits and Hot Dogs

The other day when I was walking home...after I walked in the gate, I looked at the tree across the fence and there was a hairless rabbit hanging from the tree. The only hair that was still on the rabbit was its head! :) Ay! After much deliberation, I decided to go ask the young man if I could take a picture of his nasty rabbit. Of course he agreed for the "Americana" so here it is...in all its glory! :) (sans head...and insides)

AND one of the best parts about being back in the Dominican Republic is the HOT DOGS! The first night after we were here, Karyn and I ordered yummy Moshe's hot dogs (our favorites!)...and maybe to you it may not look that appetizing, but for me...yummmmmmmmm!! :) Just imagine...hot dog, perfectly cooked, sliced open with mayonaise, ketchup, lettuce, cheese, and (new addition recently) beef delicately strewn upon the glory. The hot dog bun toasted to a golden brown warm and not too thick. Wow. Can life get better? :)

DR Round 2!

Ahhhh being back in the DR has been such a relief and a blessing! I've enjoyed reconnecting with friends and coworkers and setting up my classroom!

a few things that I absolutely love about coming back to the DR:

1. in Jarabacoa (my village) I am completely surrounded by mountains

2. we can get vegetables and fruits for so cheap...and they taste so fresh

3. being bold in speaking a language that I am nowhere near fluent in

4. seeing the students again - the hugs especially

5. playing videogames and watching movies on the projector

6. MFI (our mail service) Tuesdays

7. the beach being SO close (although I have yet to visit in my week back....ha!)

8. talking daily to my landlord Guido who loves me so very much

9. gearing up for another awesome year of school

10. seeing wonderful sights on motorcycles -- many people, lawn mowers, washers, etc.

Teacher training starts today...pray for us! haha

Question Number 2 Addendum

I hope you have good, paved sidewalks and roads! What do you do when it rains? Does it rain a lot there?

Well, when it rains, it rains. We just have to walk into town or do whatever in the rain. That's why rain coats and umbrellas come in very handy! :)

And no, not all of our roads have good sidewalks and roads. The road that we live on is dirt (with a ton of potholes!) and the road to the school is dirt, so basically I don't walk on pavement when I walk to school.

I think it rains a lot. Especially during rainy season. and hurricane season. and winter season. and all of the other seasons that they make up that include rain. :) Generally it's nice in the morning and then in the afternoon it rains (which was unfortunate for my students who had PE in the afternoon!). The rain keeps it cool, which I enjoy. Although in the winter the rain is a little much when it is so cold already!

Question Number 3

Do you have electricity and running water? Is the water safe to drink?

The easy answer to that is: Sometimes, yes, and no.

Well, electricity in the DR is an interesting question. Sometimes it goes off for an entire afternoon, or in the evening, or overnight. It really varies, and especially when it is hurricane season our electricity is less consistent. The worst part is when it is so hot in the afternoons with the sun beating off of the tin roof without a fan when there is no electricity. Generally we just grin and bear it, drink lots of water, and continue on with the day...although all we want to do is lie around and sleep.

Yes we always have running water. We have a thing called a Tinako (whoa, don't know how to spell it but that's how you say it!) on top of our landlord's house that makes flows with gravity down to our house...as long as our power isn't out for a long time we'll have plenty of water. Generally our water runs with a pump (when there's electricity).

No! The water is not safe to drink! We buy 5 gallon bottles of water for our house (and that's what we have at school to drink) and we have a pump, so that's how we get our water for drinking. I, personally, use the tap water to brush my teeth, but many others don't. And, knock on wood, I haven't gotten any parasites yet! :)

Question Number Two

What kind of transportation do you have? How do you get to school, to the store, to church, or other places?

The easy answer to that is: Walking.

Whenever I go into town, it's generally on the two feet that God has blessed me with. :) It's about a 15 minute walk into town. When I'm going to school (just around the block--about 3 minutes) or to the store (about 15 minute walk) I have to walk. Then I have to carry back all the groceries in my backpack or just holding them. Needless to say it inhibits my desire to walk into town. That is also a reason why I am fundraising for a pasola. When I got to church, I get picked up by the pastor's wife who generously picks us up and takes us home. When I'm traveling throughout the country and to the beach, we generally ride public transportation (which is a charter bus) or rent a car. Renting a car is expensive but when split between many girls, it doesn't seem so expensive.

Question Number 1

Do I teach in English or in Spanish?

The easy answer to that is: English.

Our school is a bilingual school that is primarily taught in English, especially in pre-kindergarten and elementary school. I teach all in English and then throughout the day they have to classes that are taught in Spanish: their Spanish language class and their Dominican history class (Sociales). Their art/music and PE classes are also taught in Spanish.

Q & A with Natalie

Many people have questions about my life down in the Dominican Republic. I would love to spend time with each of you individually and tell you about my life, but I am realizing that it is not realistic. Therefore, if you have any questions you would like to ask, anything you would like to know about my life down in the D.R, then post a question as a 'comment' and I'll answer.

Lengthier Update

It's hard to believe that I've been home for over 2 weeks! It seems like just yesterday I was teaching my 12 kids, walking into town, and eating Gilberto's! I'm excited to go back and be a better teacher this year! I found out yeasterday that there is going to be only one 4th grade class with 19 students. I'm SO excited about it. There is a sweet place in my heart for those kids! I feel blessed that I am going to get to teach them all.

This year was a hard year but one of grace, forgiveness, and love. I learned a lot about myself as a teacher and as a person. God gave me some amazing friends. I'm so proud of the work that these men and women that I have come to know and love and their willingness to serve our Lord.

I hope that you read back through the amazing times that I've had over the past year...

I'll be updating my blog soon with updates about fundraising information and about my upcoming year in the Dominican Republic!

Four little words...

Ahhhhh...a relaxing glimpse of the end of the school year has come. We finished school on a half day on Wednesday. We had our class party (complete with dance party), watched part of Bolt, and then the real fun began! The bomberos (firemen) came and brought their firehose. So then we had a big water party! It was so fun to play with the kids, grab the timid ones and bring them into the water, and just play. Another awesome Dominican tradition that is unknown in the United States but dearly loved here!

Tonight I heard the four words that I dread hearing the most. Quick! Get a shoe. I know that I am about to face some sort of monster that I am going to crunch. Tonight it was a cockroach. We've had an infestation of cockroaches lately. I think I've killed about 1 or 2 a day for the past few days. GROSS. and the other day we had a HUGE bombing of flying ants. Probably around 100!!! (maybe a slight exaggeration, but not by much!) Yeah, it's been great.

Speaking of the animal kingdom, today Karyn and I were washing dishes after breakfast and we saw 2 lizards mating. It was like the Discovery Channel. Neither of us could look away. What an interesting interactive day it has been with the creatures of the earth. :)

I'm coming home on Tuesday!!!

IN other NEWS:

We are seeking more teachers! If you are interested, please email your resume to director@jarabacoachristianschool.org

My parents visited! 3.27.09-4.4.09

So, maybe I'm blogging a little out of order, but I was waiting until I got more pictures!

My parents got a sweet treat to the Caribbean to visit their favorite oldest daughter. :)  We went to the beach, a waterfall, and to school with my kids.  My students enjoyed meeting my mom (who they had skyped with many times) and had so much fun making rockets and shooting them off with my mom and dad.  To cap off the trip, we headed up the mountain to eat dinner overlooking the town of Jarabacoa at sunset.  Que wonderful it was!

It was so fun to spend time with them in my life down here and at the beach too! :)

Here's a peak of their trip here!

Acuario Nacional y Museo Trampolin 5.12.09

I took a field trip with my students to the Acuario Nacional y Museo Trampolin.  It was so neat to experience my students in another setting outside of school.  I love being able to interact with them in a different way than I do in the classroom.  Check out my picture slideshow!

When Godly People do Ungodly Things

I have officially finished my bible study, When Godly People do Ungodly Things by Beth Moore.  It was a challenging and sometimes downright confusing, but I know that I learned so much through it.  

It mostly talked about why Christians sin.  Why do we as Christians still fall into the pit of allowing Satan to control our thoughts, our actions, our words?  This study has become so pertinent as I've traveled down the road of allowing Satan to control my thoughts, my words.  As I've so often learned in the DR, we need to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.  And let me tell you, it's not easy.  Just today I was so discouraged and hurt, but then I realized that no one is my judge.  no one knows my heart like God does.

My favorite part of what we studied was studying the Word in 1 Samuel.  Focusing on 12:20-25.

 ²⁰"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²² For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

I love it.  

The Lord delights in us.  Do not be afraid.  Don't turn away from the Lord despite all you have done.  It's good stuff.

Goodbye sweet roof.

well, today marks the day.

Guido has begun the building of our second floor...by unloading (not him, but 3 strapping young Dominicans) an entire flat-bet semiload of concrete blocks and cement powder. 

all while I was trying to nap off a late previous night.

(these two pictures were taken through the screen in our windows.  I was trying to, you know, be discreet or something.)

the brick wall that now resides outside my window.  whatta view!

the strapping young Dominican men (yes of course, Brooke did try and strike up a conversation with them, but once she realized they only wanted a Visa, she dropped them like a hotcake.)

Visitors 3.26.09

Brooke, Dr. Quinn, and me all in uniform.  :)

Haley and I in my classroom.  She got to spend the whole day with me!

Dr. Quinn reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

I was so blessed to have one of my favorite professors from college come visit for a day.  He led a spring break trip from Taylor to Jarabacoa and spent the afternoon playing dodgeball with my students, catch with our PE teacher, and reading to students in both Brooke and my class.  Even better, Dr. Quinn's daughter was able to come.  My students loved Haley, and they convinced her to play with them during PE, help them with their math quiz, and get her to talk about middle school.   I feel so blessed to have a part of my Taylor family here to spend time with me. 

Independence Day 2/27/09

July 4th?  NOPE!  February 27th.  

February 27th is the Dominican Independence Day.  There are streets named the 27th of February in Santiago.  How funny, huh?  

Anyways, we had the day off on the 27th, so on the 26th our school had a big program to celebrate the independence of the DR.

This video is of my kids saying their part of the play 

(don't worry it's in Spanish...I have no idea what they are talking about.)  haha

My cute 4th graders saying their part in the program

The 7th graders putting on a play

A super cute play with some 7th graders and Axel (cutest 1st grader ever)

My favorite 1st graders watching intently

If you would like to see more pictures and videos from the program, feel free to look:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dominicanatalie/IndependenceDay22709#

Carnaval 2/22/09

I am going to attempt to update you on many of the exciting things that have been going on here.

Carnaval is a big deal here in the DR.  La Vega (a town about 30 min. away from us) supposedly has the best Carnaval celebration outside of Brazil.  Cool, huh?

Brooke, Karyn, and I ventured down to the square in town to see what it had to offer.  I had heard of many bad things happening to people, so I was a little fearful.  Apparently they hold these plastic bludgeons that they hit people with.  If you're in the street then you get hit with them.  When we got there, we stayed high up on the square so that we wouldn't be close to the road.  

It was amazing to see the ornate costumes, the crazy music, and the people who were there.  

The video below is a "team" or a group of people who dress up in similar costumes.  These are "Los Lobos"

I believe there were 4 different teams of Carnaval-ers all with matching, ornate costumes.   

Carnaval wasn't as scary of an experience as I had imagined.   It was actually really neat.  We were there for about 4 hours, and I loved watching the people in their shiny, large costumes.  I loved watching the little kids in their costumes.  Some of the costumes were CRAZY scary looking and people were putting their babies and small children with them like they were Santa Claus at the mall.  I would be one terrified child if my mom or dad had put me with a scary, Satanic looking person.

A little kid in his costume all dressed up for Carnaval

One of the teams coming out

Los Lobos coming out

Parents forcing their child to sit with the scary creature

If you want to see more pictures and another video, check out this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dominicanatalie/Carnaval

SUPER exciting update! :)

Friends and Family,

I'm so excited to share with you some potentially big news. This week at school we received our Letters of Intent. I kindly told the director of our school that he could keep it because it makes me want to vomit looking at it and deciding whether or not to commit to another year of the Natalie's Life: Dominican Republic chapter. Although I have been praying about it for quite a while, thinking about it quite often, and just plain wondering what God wants me to do, I've been so scared of making a commitment either way about how I want to spend the next year.

BUT as of right now, I am planning on staying another year at JCS. There it is. Phew. It's like a load off my chest. As I continue to talk to the director about some of the "accommodations" that I request for next year, he has been very encouraging and willing to try to do everything he can for me. (These accommodations include actually having curriculum, and...well, that's about it.) It makes me excited to be settled in a job, having a year of experience, becoming a better teacher, and enjoying another year on this blissful tropical island. :) Although this year hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine, I can clearly see God working in my heart, in the hearts of the other staff, and in the hearts of our students.

I also want to share with you somewhat of a need or maybe more of a desire of my heart that you could potentially help out with. At our school, JCS, we are encouraged to build relationships with our students, the other staff, and the community members. It presents a problem when we're not "allowed" (recommended...strongly) to be out after dark by ourselves and many of my students don't live close to my house. I want to be able to take my students (or just students in general) on adventures, take them out for dinner, or just out to get ice cream. I think that this is one of the best ways to get involved in the community. So this is what I ask: I am going to try and raise money to buy a pasola (a scooter-type thing--think a Yamaha Jog scooter). I wouldn't be asking if I was only planning on staying for 3 and a half more months, but I think that it would be worth it for another year, another year of building relationships and fortifying already made relationships. A pasola in the Dominican Republic costs around 800-1000 dollars. I know that seemsThe easiest and quickest way to support me is by sending a check to my house in Indiana, but if you would like to do a tax-deductible donation, you can send it through New Horizons. One of the visions I have is taking some of the scholarship students whose families don't have a lot of money to go get ice cream or dinner, to share with them the gifts that God has blessed me with.

Natalie's Home Address
17522 McDuffee Rd.
Churubusco, IN 46723

New Horizons (make sure my name is somewhere on the check)
New Horizons Youth Foundation
Attn: Jarabacoa Christian School Staff Support Fund
701 S. Clinton St. Suite 112
Fort Wayne, IN 46802

I appreciate all of your continued support, whether through email, thoughts, prayers, or financial support. I feel so blessed by each and every person. Thank you in advance for helping me advance the ministry that God has placed me down here to do.

Natalie :)

Time flies!

Whoa.  how time flies!  I look up one day and a month has passed!  This has been a good month, sure it's been full of ups and downs, but overall God has been good.  School has been going so much better this semester.  I feel more confident as a teacher, feel like I know what I'm doing more, feel more confident as a member of the staff at school.  As I have been praying about things about next year, it has become more clear what it means to be a staff member, a part of a team, striving for better school, better students, and to be a better team.

Some awesome, significant things that have happened in the last week or two:

1.  Juan Luis Guerra concert

Last weekend 6 of us boarded Caribe Tours and headed to the Capitol (Santo Domingo) for a day of relaxing, enjoyment, and eating. :)  Our purpose for the trip was to go see Juan Luis Guerra in concert.  The bonus part of our trip was getting to stay in a beautiful house of one of our friends down here, Job.  We relaxed the afternoon away, sitting by the pool (some of us swimming...) and doing a crossword puzzle. :)  can life get any better?  then we saddled up, put on our Sunday best and headed downtown for a quick dinner and to the concert.

The concert was unlike anything I've ever been to before.  It was in a big soccer (I think?) stadium.  We were not in the cheap bleacher seats, oh absolutely not!  We were in the middle of the field, surrounded by the happy claps of many Dominicans surrounding us in the bleachers.  We were crammed tight, struggling to move forward to be as close to the legend himself as possible.  When we realized that this wasn't the best move, we decided to go stand near the back where it was less crowded, we would have more room to move around.

The concert was...AMAZING.  I cannot even describe how much fun it was.  I loved it so much.  Christie and I hoised Christy up on our shoulders.  Yeah, we got crazy.  :)  We did a lot of dancing, a lot of laughing, a lot of loving life.  It was so fun.  UNfortunately, I didn't take any pictures (only one, I think the whole weekend!  who am i?!) so I have no goodness to show you.  But let me just say, Juan Luis Guerra rocked my socks.  Yes indeed.  He did.   If you don't know who he is, look him up.  ASAP.  like now.  okay.  

Brooke, Karyn, and I went to Carnaval yesterday.  WHAT an experience.  I want to write about that later...

Adventuring!

This past weekend, 5 girls and I went on an adventure to the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic to the Samaná Peninsula.  We had an idea of what an adventure we wanted to have, but we had no idea what adventure we really would have!  Armed with a 3-day weekend, a rented Honda CRV, and 6 girls waiting to have a great adventure, we were bound to have one. :)

Day 1:  Saturday - Driving to Samaná, Playa Las Galeras.

Saturday was an adventure in itself.  with Christy at the wheel, we rolled out of Jarabacoa at around 7:30 am.  of course, being girls, we had to run back into the houses a few more times to collect things that were forgotten, but we were still outta here by that early!  Aren't you proud?  With Christy and Karyn in the front; Brooke, Anna, and I in the backseat; and Christie Collver snuggly fit in the trunk area, we were finally off.  We were all a little groggy, but the drive was fun.  It was good to get out of Jarabacoa, seeing the sights, wow.  Happy day it was.  Our first stop was in San Francisco de Macoris  (no golden gate bridge here...) at La Serena to grab groceries, a rest stop, and potty break.  After that, we were back in the car for another leg of our trip.  While driving through San Fancisco de Macoris and its surrounding areas, we saw many rice paddies (Christy wanted to stop and harvest some rice...okay.)  and then we saw combines and I saw 2 crop dusters!  My first glimpse of small airplanes since I've been here, and let me tell you what, it was a welcome sight. :)  After San Francisco, we lost the comfort (literally.) of kind, paved roads.  Unfortunately we hit something and a piece of plastic underneath our car started dragging, so we had to stop and immediately had 6 Dominican men there willing to help us fix it.  What can we say?  They can't resist our white skin and blond hair!  

After that, I had the chance to drive!   Wow!  What an experience driving in the Dominican.  It's a constant fear of hitting potholes (which I rocked the car on a few...) swerving to miss people on motorcycles, and trying to glimpse the amazing vistas that you are constantly driving by. 

 

It was so fun to have the experience driving, and although I wasn't too scared of it, I think my passengers had a small amount of fear.  :)  After a while, we finally arrived in Las Galeras, our stopping point.  After 6 hours, I was exhausted and ready to take a nap.  Others were off to the beach.  After a short nap, I was ready to hit the beach.  It was so nice to relax, to sit, and to feel the water (albeit, it was a bit chilly.)  Christy and Christie decided to swim to this island that was semi-far out in the ocean.  Afterwards, we ate dinner (pizza!), did backrubs, then went to bed.  Our hotel room was 3 full size beds, 1 bathroom, and a small kitchen area.  Perfect for us.  :)

Day 2:  Sunday-  Frontón.  oh wait.  nope!  Playa Rincón.

What a crazy day this turned out to be!  We woke up super early to be on the road to Frontón.  We ate breakfast, and went out to the car...to find that the car wasn't working.  It wouldn't start.  AWESOME.  So we went and asked the lady at the hotel to help us.  She found a guy named "Loco" and asked him to find someone to help us jump our car.  After that unsuccessful attempt, Christy and I went walking to see if we could find someone to help us.  She finally found someone who was willing to look at the car.  

Needless to say, after about 4 hours, the car was fixed, but our trip to Frontón was not going to happen.  ENTONCES We decided to venture off to Playa Rincón.  None of us had any idea what

 we were getting into, but we knew the road was crazy bumpy and it  came highly recommended by one of the other teachers from the school.

Christy braved the treacherous roads and we finally arrived.

What awaited us there, was almost enough to make us throw in the towel.  There was a large stretch of land that was knee-deep (we saw people walking through it...) in that was between us and the beach.  At this point, we were all exhausted, frustrated, and just wanted things to be easy!  Well, praise the Lord, look what rolled  up, an Estilo Tours bus.  Hallelujah.  After Christy flagged them down and asked them if we could pay them to ride across, we were on our way!  We drove through the crazy high water (see picture below) and were so thankful that we didn't have to walk through that.  

The beach was BEAUTIFUL.  I love living on a tropical island.  Have I mentioned that before?  It was great to sit on the beach, relax in the sand, frolic in the waves, and enjoy friends.  

Then it was back to the hotel, another nap, dinner, and sleep. 

Day 3:  Monday - FINALLY Frontón.

Our day began like the one before, although praise the Lord our car started!  We were off. 

 Christy and Christie dropped us off at the beginning of the trail, went back, and dropped the car off at Negrito's house then we were finally on our way.  Frontón is a secluded beach that you can

only get to by hiking for an hour and a half or by boat.  We chose to hike.  After a beautiful hike, many glimpses of the beautiful ocean, and beautiful music.  :)  I took my speakers that I had gotten from my aunt for Christmas, so we were entertained with some Spanish music and Enrique Iglesias.  

When we finally got to Frontón, we were marveled by the beauty.  On one side was the beautiful ocean and reef and on the other side was a high cliff.  BEAUTIFUL.  I loved relaxing on the beach and frolicking in the ocean, and walking on the beach.  Some of the girls enjoyed snorkeling!  It was so great.  

Happy day.

The scariest part of the trip:  Boca del Diablo.  HOLY COW.  This was the scariest thing I've ever seen.  "The aptly named Devil's Mouth is a blow hole gouged out of the rocks that roars when it spouts water, sometimes up to 150 feet."  SCARY is what I call it.  Basically it sounds like Satan roaring and then it blows stuff out of it.  like water.  or if you correctly time it, a huge palm branch.  I made Karyn hold my hand the whole time we were near it because it was so scary.  I tried to find a video on YouTube or something, but seriously nothing does the noise or the scariness justice! :)  (here is one link though...boca del diablo)

All in all, que buen adventure! :)

...more soon...