Saturday, January 23, 2010

An Interesting Saturday

This week has been much better than last week. I am starting to sleep better, and I am not feeling as sick. It has been sunny and hot, instead of cool and rainy. Thursday was a holiday and Monday is a holiday, so I am in the middle of a long weekend, which has been great.

On Thursday, the praise team came over for the day. They started with a meeting, then we had a very traditional Dominican lunch, and then we played Wii for a little while before they left to go practice. Most of the people on the praise team also work at the school, so they are the people that I see the most and have started to build relationships with. It is when I am with them that I really wish that I spoke Spanish and could communicate with them without a translator.

Shelley's friend Tammi works with "Hands of Grace" and has lived down here for a few years. She had a girl, Kelly, staying with her for a few weeks. Tammi had to leave yesterday morning to go to the states but Kelly wasn't leaving util today, so yesterday I went to Tammi's and hung out with her and stayed over there so that she wouldn't be by herself for two days. It was the first person that I met that spoke English, so I was pretty excited just because I could actually communicate with her. Last night we walked over to Allison's apartment. She graduated from Illiana with me and works as a teacher at Santiago Christian School (SCS). We went to have a burger and fries down the street with her and a couple other people that live in her building. It was pretty good, and it was nice to get to meet a few other Americans that live down here and also work at a mision school.

Today, we were bringing Kelly to the airport and the van overheated and broke down. Luckily, we were at a stoplight at an intersection where there were several guys selling different things on the road, so they pushed us to the side and were trying to help us until Guille got there. That is when I received my first marriage proposal. Because I don't speak any Spanish, Shelley was trying to communicate to him that I was more focused on doing God's work and that I wasn't looking for a husband, but it didn't really work, because he kept coming over to me and asking me for my phone number and bringing me pieces of candy and water. When Guille arrived, Shelley took the truck to bring Kelly to the airport and I stayed with the van and Guille because there was not extra room in the truck. That is when I recieved my second marriage proposal. He mimed it to me. He would point to himself and then to me and then point to his ring finger and then point up to the sky. When that didn't work he started talking to Guille about it. Guille didnt tell me everything he said, just that he wanted to marry me. At that point, I hid in the van, even though it was really hot. I had to have the window open so several guys came up to me several times to talk to me through the window. Guille thought it was hilarious. He said that this is how they always get around Americans. When they see an American they lose their mind a little and don't know what to do.

We are at home now and I am going to be staying here with the kids tonight and relax a little and maybe do some planning. Tomorrow we have church and then I am going to Allison's again to hang out for the rest of the day. I'm hoping to get to meet some of the other SCS teachers that live in her building as well.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Monday Morning Singing

Every Monday morning, all of the children have a time of singing when they get to school before going to their classrooms. This is a video of them singing one of the their favorite songs.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Sunday Afternoon

So I made it through my first week of teaching. It is definitely an experience. Most of the children don't get that I can't understand them. They keep talking to me and then they're confused that I am not answering them. :) I love teaching them, it's been a lot of fun but the language barrier is definitely an obstacle. Trying to make them understand how to play the game or do the activity without being able to tell them has been interesting. I love being able to interact with so many different classes and to be able to get to know so many of the children. They are so open to me. I already have a few who always want to sit by me or hold my hand or follow me around. They are so cute, they get so excited about telling me the english they know or saying 'good morning Ms. Carrie' when they see me. By the way, no one can say my name. I guess they don't have the sound 'ar' in the spanish language, event the adults struggle with it.

On Thursday, I was walking from the church down the road to the unfinished house where some of the grades have class. As I was walking I passed a stray dog and hoped he didn't attack me and then heard loud Dominican music blaring out of a house and followed three cows down the second road to get to the house. Through all of this I had one of those moments when you are suddenly aware of where you are and what you are doing, when it hits you in a way that it hadn't before. I realized that I'm here. This is where I live and this is what I am doing and it seems so crazy that its almost hard to believe.

I know that everyone is wondering about the earthquake and how everything is going. We are not seeing any of the effects of the earthquake here. I don't think I have any more information about the earthquake than you do. Everthing that I know is from CNN. I think the difference is that since we are so physically close to everything that is happening, it all feels much more real to us. We felt the earthquake, we see the sorrow in the faces around us, we know Haitians who go to our church and work at our school. My heart breaks for the people of Haiti and I am thinking about them all the time. When it starts pouring I am aware of all the people living on the street, when it gets dark I am aware of all the children lost and scared. I saw on the news today about a woman who had been trapped for two days when she was rescued. I think about the hundreds or thousands of people are also trapped and waiting for help and it may never come. Our school is collecting bottled water and other supplies to bring over to Haiti, but from everthing that I have heard, the best thing for Americans to do is to donate money to the Red Cross or another legitimate organization. Down the road there will be opportunities to help in other ways.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Everything in Perspective

Today was a day when everything seemed to go wrong. Dead cell phone, van that won't start, arranging and rearranging my English schedule, driving out into the country, getting lost on the way home, locked out of the house, and the list goes on.

However, at about 6 o'clock, there was an earthquake. I was warned that they do have earthquakes and that they have been expecting THE BIG ONE for years. We were outside in the street (locked out of the house) when it happened. It was not fun. I hated it. To feel the earth moving under you really makes you feel small and completely out of control. Cell phones lost service and we also have no water, but around here I don't think that there is any major destruction or problems.

When we finally got into the house I turned on CNN and saw how bad the earthquake really was. 7.0! Haiti is the poorest and most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere and their buildings are poorly constructed. Buildings, houses, hospitals all collapsed. Shortly after the earthquake it got dark. The emergency response there is already very poor and in the dark it is dangerous and much more difficult. I heard someone in Haiti being interviewed and he said that all he could hear was screaming and wailing as people were searching for missing family members under the rubble.

Suddenly my day doesn't seem so bad. I feel guilty for even complaining about everything that was going wrong. Everything in perspective.

We have several people that go to our church and work at the school who are from Haiti. (The DR shares an island with Haiti) I don't if they have family still there but I am sure that this is going to hit them hard. I don't know where we will go from here but I hope that we can help in some way.

Please keep the people in Haiti and their families in your prayers.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Last night we had the staff Christmas party and it was a lot of fun. It was nice to get to meet all of the other teachers and aides that I will be working with. Some of the highlights included them surprising me with another birthday cake and singing happy birthday to me and then i recieved my first frosting face smear. It is a Dominican tradition for people to smear the frosting in the face of the person whose birthday it is. Dominican frosting is very sticky, so it is pretty much like having chewed gum smeared on your face and in your hair. It was awesome. Another highlight was watching some of them play Wii bowling for the first time. I have never heard anyone cheer as loud as they did when someone got the first strike.

Today I participated in adult Sunday School before church. Thankfully, I was asked to do nursery during the sermon of the service, so I got a break from the Spanish for a little while. I also tasted my first Dominican Chinese food for lunch. It's a mix of Dominican food with some Chinese mixed in. I was a little nervous about but it was pretty good.

Tomorrow is the kid's first day back at school after a three week break. Things are going to be a little crazy but I am really excited about teaching English. I really liked my job over the last few months but I do miss teaching and I am looking forward to getting back to it.

I should probably get to bed since I have to get up at 6am tomorrow morning. I will definitely be taking pictures this week of the school and the students and try to post them by the end of the week.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

my room




Here are some pictures of my room. If you notice, there is no blanket on my bed. Yes, it's that warm.

pictures



Here is a picture of one of the classrooms, Guille, Shelley, Mark, and Sarah, and the church.

saturday morning

So I just finished what was probably my 20th peanut butter sandwich since I got here and hoping that the electricity comes back on soon so that I don't have to take a freezing cold shower today. However, I did find a couple English channels on the cable. I guess I am still getting used to life here in the DR.

Yesterday when we got to the church, Guille was there and Shelley's friend Tammi came a little bit later and they surprised me with some cake with a candle and sang happy birthday to me. At that point I did get a little emotional and a little home sick but I was able to hold it together. I was so touched by how hard they were trying to make me feel like part of the family that in return it made me realize that I was so far away from my family.

The rest of the afternoon was very productive, we went through all of the new school supplies that Shelley brought back with her, cleaned and organized the classrooms and office and started setting up for the Christmas party tonight. Unfortunately, on Thursday night, someone had tried to use the water and there must have been no running water at that point and they left the knob switched on. So when we got there on Friday afternoon, the water had come back on and two of the rooms were completely flooded. I guess this is not an uncommon occurance.

Some of the teachers came while we were there so it was nice to be able to meet them. Eddy, the PE teacher asked me, with the help of Tammi, if I would teach him English and return he would teach me Spanish. I told him he had a deal. I'm not sure how that is going to work but I guess we will see. I also was able to plan for my first week of classes and I am starting to get excited about getting to teach again.

I am going to try to post a couple of pictures of my room and some of the school and church, and then I am going to check if the electricity is back on. Wish me luck.


p.s. Ok, so I just need to make sure to clear this up. I only slept until 1 pm that one time. Otherwise I have been waking up around at a normal time. However starting tomorrow, I am going to have to wake up around 6 am, so that is definitely going to take some getting used to.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday and Shelley remembered before I did. When I walked into the living room her and the kids immediately started singing Happy Birthday to me, before that I had completely forgotten that it was my birthday. I wonder how long it would have taken me to remember.

Yesterday was a good day. I accidentally slept until 1 pm since I was kept awake all night by loud music and then all morning by haitians working on the house next door. Then we went to meet Darlene and saw the apartment that I will be living in starting March 9, it's really nice but it is intimidating to think about living here all by myself.

Last night we had church. It was nice to be back in a place that is familiar. Everyone is so welcoming, each one came up and said hi and gave me a hug. Well I'm not sure what they said, but I am sure it was nice and I ended up with a sleeping three year old in my lap for the first half of the service. I was actually surprised how much I was able to follow the sermon considering it was in Spanish, I was able to pick up a lot.

Today we are going to go work at the school and see the progress that has been made at the new building and tomorrow we have the staff Christmas party, so I will be able to meet the rest of my new co-workers. That is all for now. Sorry, no pictures yet. Soon, I promise.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

I made it

I arrived in Santiago last night and was welcomed by Shelley and Mark at the airport as well as by hot, humid, rainy weather. Quite a difference from the cold, snowy weather in Chicago. It is two hours later here, so it will probably take me a few days to get used to the change.

My first day in the Dominican Republic has been a good one. I somehow was able to sleep through the roosters crowing and the work crew working on the house next door and slept in pretty late. We got ready and headed into downtown to run some errands. The traffic still scares me, I had to close my eyes a few times until we got through certain intersections :) We went to the supermarket and got groceries and I was able to replace the shampoo and other things that I had to leave behind due to my suitcases being overweight.

I seem to know even less Spanish than I thought, but I am still hopeful that I will learn it fast. After we got home, I played Wii tennis and bowling with Mark and Sarah and didn't even win one game. That is all for now. Over the next couple days I will be getting the chance to meet more people, go to church, and do someone work at the school. But for now it has been nice to relax, and get settled in. I hope to post some pictures by the end of the week.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

My Testimony

On December 13, I was welcomed into Peace Christian Reformed Church. At the service I gave my testimony. Our advent theme was "God Breaks In." Pastor Blaauw asked me to talk about how God broke into my life and led me to the Dominican Republic. I decided to start my blog by posting that testimony. It is kind of long, but I feel like it is the best way to introduce myself and explain how I was led to the DR and the journey that my life has been for the past several months.

TESTIMONY – PEACE 12/13/09


"God broke into my life last February when I lost my job. I am teacher and had been teaching Early Childhood Special Ed for three years. When my boss informed me that I would not have a job the following school year, I immediately knew that God had a plan. I knew that God would lead me to something new.

Shortly after that meeting, I found a Bible passage that I have gone back to several times since. It's Revelations 3:7-8. “The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. I know your works. Behold I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but a little power, and yet you have kept my word and not denied my name.”

I knew that God had a place for me and that only He knew where it was. I decided to make myself available to every opportunity and let God close the doors He wanted to close and open the doors He wanted to open. I decided to spend my summer looking for opportunities to serve God instead of spending it worrying and being anxious. I signed up to help with a couple vacation Bible schools and found a mission trip to go on. When my mission trip was postponed, I remembered that I saw in the green sheet that Peace was taking to the Dominican Republic in August. I didn't know much about Peace and I didn't know anyone who was going, but I felt strongly that I should go, so I joined the team. I never could have imagined where that one decision would lead. That it would not only lead me to a new country but a also to a new church.

The next few months were a lesson in faith. I knew that God had a plan, but I had no idea what it was. Over those months God taught me that I didn't need to know what his plan was. He taught me to stop trying to control things that I had no control over. He taught me patience. He taught me to trust in His time table instead of my own. He taught me to trust that He was in control and the no matter where I ended up, He would take care of me. He taught me lesson after lesson on how to relinquish control of my life and give it to God completely, to follow Him wherever He led me. And when I did, I found a peace that I had never known. He continues to teach me this everyday. To let go of doubt and worry and follow Him. He taught me that no matter how much we plan, we all have an uncertain future, and instead of worrying about it and being anxious, we should have a peace because we know that God is there leading us. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

When we left for the Dominican Republic in the beginning of August, it had been almost six months since I began my journey. I thought for sure that I would have known by then what God's plan was, but I was still waiting. While I was in the Dominican Republic I thought a lot about what life would be like down there and about the strong feeling that I had that I was being called there. I started asking questions. I found out that it was, in fact, a Spanish-speaking school and that all the teachers were Dominican women. It seemed that there wasn't a place for me there. But then on Sunday afternoon Shelley approached me about coming down to help and told me that it was ok that I couldn't speak Spanish and that they really could use my help.

By that point, I knew that it was not my decision to make. God was in control and I surrendered to His will. He had put an open door in front of me and if He wanted me to go, then He would make sure that everything worked out, and no one would be able to shut that door. It is not an accident that I went on that mission trip and found out about the need that was there at a time in my life when I was completely available to go. It was not an accident, it was all in God's plan.

After I returned from the trip, God continued to lead me and provide for me. He started opening doors that made it possible for me to move down to the Dominican Republic. He found me a job, where I could work until it was time for me to move, and He lead me to Peace. After we returned from the trip, I had the opportunity to get involved with a couple of groups here and continue to get to know the members. One evening, a member of the DR team, who knew a little about the struggles that my previous church was having, came up to me and told me that I had a family here and not to hesitate to call if I need anything. Over the next couple months I came to realize that it was true. God had given me something that I had been praying for for a long time. He gave me a church where I fit, where I had a family in Christ, a group of people who welcomed me and supported me.

Today marks ten months since that meeting when my life was turned upside down and my future is still uncertain. I will be getting on a plane and moving to Santiago in three weeks. The ticket is booked, but a lot of the details are still unclear. I am not exactly sure where I am going to be living, I still have a lot of funding to raise, and I don't have a visa yet. But what the last ten months have taught me is that there is no reason to worry, because this is God's plan and He will work it out. If I can't get there in January, then that is in God's plan, and there is a reason for it. Over the past 10 months God has taught me to be at peace knowing my future is uncertain and to be excited about the many possibilities that my future could hold.I have dedicated myself to the rest of this school year and the whole of next school year. After that, I will just have to see where God leads.

The most important thing I learned through this whole experience is how to lean on God in everything. To accept that without Him, I am lost. That is something that I will definitely need to do as I move to a new country with a new culture and a language I don't speak. I have my moments of doubt and I start to get scared and anxious. I think that I have gotten myself way over my head. Who am I to be called for this? I am weak and I make mistakes and I stumble every single day. I am a sinner. How is it possible that I have been called to work for the kingdom of God? But I know that I just need to keep leaning on Him. Because He is strong, He doesn't make mistakes, and He doesn't stumble. And I know that, although I am a sinner, I have been forgiven and God will enable me to do things that I could have never done without His help, so that it will be for His glory. Just as he has given me faith and patience and peace, he will give me courage and strength as I continue on the path that God has made for me."