We are having a LOT of fun

Last Day in ILP

Today was my last day in the ILP program. Tomorrow morning I am off to Costambar. My parents arrive on Thursday and I am ohhhh so excited.

Fotos

Ultima dia en escuela

Last day of school! Going to miss these kiddos.

2 More Days of School

School was so much fun today! I am teaching drama this week, and I am loving it! My lesson today was that we all pretended to work at a clothing store. We cut out our 'fabric' (paper) and colored it and drew on designs. At the end we signed everyones design. I then brought out a real t-shirt and all of my students signed it. I am excited to have this to take home.

I stayed after school again to walk home with Franceska and Cassandra. I love walking home with them and I also needed to be sure of where they live so I can visit them when we don't have school. I went to Franceska's classroom to pick her up. She was still finishing up on of her assignments. The teacher had written on the board for the students to write in their notebooks up to 400. It seemed like an odd task to me.

After Franckeska was ready we left to go pick up her sister Cassandra. She was no where to be found. On of the Spanish teachers told us that she went  home sick. Franckeska and I left the school hand in hand. I think that Franceska likes walking home with me, almost as much as I do with her.

Before I dropped her off at her aunt's house (which is where her family usually is) I noticed that the straps of her shoes had fallen off. Her mother noticed to and shook her head. I asked if I could take Franckeska with me for a while. Her mother smiled and called Cassandra who was apparently feeling much better. At least enough to go out with Teacher Carsyn. We headed over to the leather shop. I gave Jose Franceska's shoes and he sewed on a new buckle and fastened the ends. He even cleaned and shined her shoes for her. Franceska was so proud when she put her shoes back on.

Dinner tonight was very special. Our coordinator through us a party which contained a lot of food and dancing. She also gave each of the teachers a wooden pot to take home as a gift from her.

Loving the Green!

Last weekend trip

Sadly no paragliding occurred for me this weekend. My entire group got to go but as soon as it was my turn it started to rain. The weather did not improve for the following day.

However I did get to enjoy a new waterfall. This one was huge! It was also very special because scenes from Jurassic Park included this waterfall! It was very impressive. The hike was only 40 minutes but it was very, very steep.

Rainy Day

It was one rainy school day in Puerta Plata! This was a tad bit difficult as I am teaching gym this week. We took many puddle jumping breaks as you can see!

I took Franceska and Cassandra to the store with me to day. I had to withdraw some pesos for this weekend. I am (weather depending) going paragliding and waterfall jumping! They were fascinated by the ATM and pushed the same button as me to see if it would let out some more money. Franceska even asked politely in English "More moneys please"
I bought them both french chocolate rolls from the store because I just love spoiling these cuties. Their mother is comfortable with me taking them with me after school and we are loving the extra time together.

Only 6 more precious days at school with my kiddos! I am in denial and my fingernails are non existent.

Shoes

These are the shoes I ordered from the leather shop! The bottoms are made from recycled tire.

Naked baby

Barefoot

I was organizing my room when one of my roommates came in and told me that some kids were calling for me by the gate. I continued putting things away, planning to come down in a minute and they she said "One of them said her name is Franceska." I dropped what I was doing.

Outside my gate were 8 of my adorable neighbors, and Franceska. I hugged and kissed them all and they asked me to walk with them to their house. I started walking and then realized that I was not wearing any shoes. I walked anyway. We have had a lot of rain lately so we plunged through many puddles. The kids all took turns holding my hands and getting piggy back rides. They all were screaming "Teacher Carsyn mira! Mira! Yo! Teacher CARSYN!" Franceska was excited to show off our handshake to the group.  Franceska'a little brother was  in the group tonight and he is a CUTIE. He made sure to tell my fellow teachers that the red gringa was his friend only.

I played with all of them for a long time. We played handshake games and noise games. I can talk and sing with my mouth closed and they love it. They puff their cheeks out and hum when they want me to do it. I pretend not to understand what they want for a while just because its so cute to watch.

I love playing with the kids in my cute little town. I don't know what I am going to do when I get home and kids don't run up to hug me yelling "teacher teacher."

Rick's

Today was so much fun! We got a new teacher last week and she asked me if we could go get fresh smoothies in town. I knew just where to take her. Rick's Cafe! On our way there we ran into Franceska! I was so happy to see her. I had tried to find her last night to take her out to get ice cream.  I don't know where her actual house is because she is usually at a different family members house. I asked her mother if I could take her with me for 40 minutes and she smiled and said it was no problem. After we started walking she said "Take this one too" in Spanish and told Franceska's little sister Casandra to put on her shoes.

We got to Rick's and I ordered a smoothie for myself. One for the girls to share in two glasses and a small papas fritas for us all to share. The girls loved the cafe. The cafe is right by a hotel with a pool and they both loved looking at the pool. I plan to take them to the beach on my last weekend here.

We used the Cafe's wifi to talk to a few people!

 (Don't worry she is not driving! She pulled over)

We talked to Mom and Grandpa as well but I didn't have enough time to screenshot. I lost connection when on the phone with Mom and I called Grandpa when he was out shopping.

The girls loved talking to my family. They thought they were all beautiful and loved their names. It was a lot of smiles and giggles.

I carried Casandra on my back for the walk home. 2 miles when its really hot is a lot for a 5 year old.

What a fun day!

Cabarete Photos

It might not look like it but I have never been this tan! 

I am also excited for next week because I ordered some leather shoes from our local leather shop! I am excited to see how they turn out, and I also got a great deal. 

Good Friday

It's good Friday which means most things are closed today. A lot of people have work off this weekend so the beaches are supposed to be packed with thousands of people.

On of my favorite traditions has been all of the hair braiding. Just about everyone here has cornrows. Most also have multicolored rope braided with their normal hair. My students all have bright blue, red, yellow, ect. hair braided all the way down their backs. It is beautiful! And.. you guessed it, I have cornrows again.

I went to Caberete with a group yesterday. The weather could not have been more perfect. I splurged and rented a chair for 100 pesos for the first time. I also had a great time playing in the ocean. Caberete is famous for its strong winds and waves.
After a sufficient amount of beach time we got lunch/dinner at a local restaurant called "Fresh Fresh." I got to have vegetables which is a rare treat for me. I had an amazing eggplant salad and a fresh fruit smoothie. The restaurant had a 'build your own' smoothie option for a great price. I filled mine with local fruits (mango y pina). I am not trying to sound cliche but it was the best smoothie that I have ever had in my life.

I am starting to book activities for me and my parents to do when they arrive. I am so excited because they are going to be here so soon! There is so much to see so we will be very busy.

I go back to school on Monday. I am excited because I miss my students. I am teaching gym next week and I have so many fun activities planned. I channeled my Dad for the ideas and even used some of his P.E games from a book he has been working. I am excited to see how my students like these games.

I am nervous because I know the next 2 weeks are going to fly by way too quickly.

(My fellow teachers)

Explaining goodbye

Today Franceska realized that we only had to school weeks left together, and it broke both of our hearts. I am not ready for what is coming.

School School School

I was dreading school today. One of the teachers I work with was sick so she wasn't able to come. This meant I was going to have an extra four students in every rotation. The groups we have now were carefully made to separate the students that are the most violent. Today was a recipe for chaos. And it was, but it was also wonderful. Because of the one missing teacher I got to teach two of my classes in a room with just me and my students. (We usually have two groups in a class.) I loved it because it was easier to keep my students focused.

My favorite part of my day is a little devious. After school I was playing with the kids by myself. The teachers were enjoying taking pictures of the students because they were out of uniform today. Some of the teachers I work with came over to me and started chanting "I love.." and inserting their own name and trying to take videos of the students yelling for them. This was when all of my students were outside after school. The kids played along for a little while and then switched to yelling "Teacher Carsyn, I love teacher Carsyn, Teacher Carsyn is the best!" This ruined their videos that the girls were trying to take, but I couldn't help but smile. I love my students. After tomorrow, I only have two weeks left with them and it is breaking my heart.

Wonderful Views

Paradise Island was dreamy. It was a small sandbank in the middle of the ocean. The only thing on it was two shacks located in the very middle. We had to take a boat to get to it and the ride itself was beautiful. We rode through another natural park and got to learn about the local wildlife. Once on the bank we were taken snorkeling! The location was unreal. We were surrounded by thousands of colorful fish. We were given food to feed them so they came very close.  We stayed on the island for about 3 hours (I was in the water the entire time) and started to head back. We ate at a comedor which is a buffet of cafeteria style dominican food. Great food and you can not beat the price!

On Sunday I finally made it out to see the Christ Statue in Puerto Plata. I got to take a cable car up into the mountains and was surrounded in clouds. It was very chilly!  It was nice to see more of this towns history. This statue is their main attraction. 

3 weeks left of teaching! I am home in 5. This is the home stretch and I am happy and sad about it!

Walks around

Walking around town taking pictures is one of my favorite leisure activities. The woman in the picture below is one of my neighbors. I walk by her 3 or 4 times a day in walking to school and to and from other places in the neighborhood. She is always working and always has a beautiful smile on her face. Today I asked her "Puedo sacar un foto por favor?" Can I take a picture. "Tu is muy linda" You are very beautiful. The picture was taken right after I called her beautiful. She laughed and told me she loved me very much. It is moments like this when for a while this place feels like my home. 

Tomorrow I am off to paradise Island for the day. Lots of sun and snorkeling!

3 weeks left of teaching

School was rough today. We had some major behavioral problems in class today.  Several fights started as soon as we walked in the door. I watched as one of my older boys punched Franceska right in her face. She is not a fighter and will tears rolling down her face she ran over to me for a hug. 

Did I mention how fast the time is flying by? I am very excited for my parents to come visit. Facetiming is nice, but not the same. 

Also, this is Joel. He is determined that we are going to get married. He told a friend of mine that she will be the godmother to our children. He told one of my friends her that he plans to ask my father permission for my hand when he comes to visit. Heads up Dad!

Time

Time, I am running out of time. I only have 3 weeks and two days left of teaching. I am savoring every minute in the classroom. I have learned so much from my students. I am currently trying to make 50 friendship bracelets in my spare time because I made one for Franceska and she showed it off.

My favorite part of the day is walking my students home. I wait the extra 30 minute after my last rotation for school to finish.

In other news...

Avocados are out of season :( but corn is in!

I am going to try and transport some dogs to America so they can be with their forever families!

People eat cough drops like candy here.

It finally stopped raining and we are warm once again! A toasty 90 degrees today.

My students have started chanting "Teacher Carsyn is the best" When I walk in with my teaching group. I swear I did not teach them this.

Different Culture, Different Problems

Last night at about 10:20 p.m. I was sitting on my bed talking with one of my roommates. We were discussing the cultural that we now find ourselves in and what we have learned.  Out of no where we heard loud shots outside of our house. We turned to each other quickly. "Firecrackers?" I asked. And then the noise happened again and we knew it was much more dangerous than firecrackers. After we sat frozen for a few seconds were heard more noise and moved to our common living area upstairs. More of our roommates ran in distrust and out of breath. They informed us that they had been at the basketball courts right next to the gunfire. They told us that everyone started to run and slam their doors. We counted all of our people and locked our gates and doors. And then we waited to hear more. We heard a few more shots but we were all safe inside. I could feel my heart beating louder than ever before. I called my parents and a few others to give a brief summary of what was going on. We learned later that a group of people robbed a store in town and then fled to our part of the neighborhood. They were stopped by the police and that was the gunfire that we heard. We are waiting to hear more about the situation.


Today we resumed life as normal and are locking up everything early tonight.


Here are some pictures from walking to school and to the store for school supplies today.

Enjoy, I love you all.

One of my students sisters. 

One of my students! I was welcomed into her house by her mother. She was happy to bring me a chair and to show me her puppy. Sierna wants to learn English so she can communicate with her father who lives in New York. 

One of my neighbors!

More cuties that live right next to me.

I let one of the older girls on my block take my picture because she asked so sweetly and was very careful. Brought a big smile to her face.

Shelling peas on the corner.

I tried sugar cane today! 50 pesos per stock. You chew out the sugar and discard the stock when it has lost its flavor. Don't worry I didn't eat too much because I ran into one of my favorite students and was happy to share with her. 

Rain, Rain

It is only 75 degrees today. So naturally we are all freezing. We are not used to this cold of weather. The entire town is dressed up with beanies and big coats. Even I rummaged through my suitcase to find the one sweater I had packed.

It has been raining almost non stop for a few days. School was canceled today for safety reasons. Yesterday our coordinator stopped by and asked us how we were doing with the rain. We all smiled and told her about the games we were playing and laughing about the flooding in our house. Our smiles dropped when she told us that a family that lives close to us passed away when they tried to drive over a river in the street. Their car was swept away and tragically their were no survivors. Another sad occurrence in our community to remind us that conditions here are not a game.

I left the house today in a break in the rain to go to our local clinic. I got some bug bites on my leg last week and they have doubled in size.

We have been advised to stay indoors. I have been writing and reading The Help by Katheryn Stockett. I have read this book before but it has a completely different meaning to me as I am reading it here.

I only have 4 weeks left of teaching and 6 weeks left in the Dominican Republic. Time sure does fly.

Cuties everywhere!

Mas Fotos

Whales in Samana