Post Pink Eye

2 and a half weeks in and I've already eaten my weight in rice and mystery meat. This country does wonderful things for your health.

 


We started teaching our kids last week, and it has been a definite wake up call. I adore them so much and still come so close to losing my mind on them every day. I've seen kids punch each other, slap each other, kick, and bite each other, flip each other off, lick the walls, hump each other, and shed some tears and blood. Most of the time, lessons don't really work out for more than ten minutes. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "teacha"while being poked in the back/face/arm/eye, my trip probably would've been paid for! 

As frustrating as it can be, I love seeing these kids!  They have so much energy, and no matter how much of a failure my lesson is, they are always happy to come back the next day and give me a second chance. They always help me out with singing songs, remembering names, and laughing at all my jokes that really aren't funny. They have gotten more and more obedient as time has gone on, and are slowly getting used to the idea that I will be there daily. Everyone in this country is similar in that way, where they can be wary of you at first, but the longer you are there, the more they love and shower you with lots of hugs and kisses!

Two of my Isabelita littles: Ellory and Ashley.

Casually found these kids chewing on an old, used paintbrush.

These kids are hilarious! Last week my kids were not having an attentive day, so I decided to let them play with Play Dough to keep them occupied. Little did I know that the humidity had basically liquified it. They all still wanted to play with some, and within seconds they all had sticky, goopy Play Dough on their hands and smeared on the walls. After taking the first one to the bathroom to wash off his hands, I came back, and the rest had licked their hands clean and eaten the rest. I'm hoping the creators of Play Dough made it safe to eat.

I had once of my students tell me that she didn't like my double piercings, and then made a motion to heaven to tell me that God was watching. In another lesson, I had the students repeat the phrase "I can see" while looking through a tube. When they asked me what "can see" was, I tried explaining it. Apparently, I didn't do very well, because they went the rest of the day thinking my name was Teacher Cansi. These kids are smarter than me already.

Favorite moment of the week: in one of my classes we were singing "Popcorn Popping", and as we sang the line "I can take an armful and make a treat", I made the motion of gathering popcorn with my hands. The kids thought I was asking for a hug, so they all ran towards me and gave me the best group hug of all time. They are my bestest friends.

1/2 eyes down. Below are my fellow pink eye pioneers.

Breaking the junk food fast with Domino's for Haley's birthday! Supermarkets are my strength through this all.

The mention of health earlier was a shoutout to my pink eye crew. Last week, it decided to take the island by storm, and the last half of the week was spent locked in my room with goopy, swollen eyelids. Not long after, some of my bug bites decided to get infected, and I look like a leper with all the bandages on my legs! This all was a little frustrating because at the same time, our power has been out for the past four days, which also means no WiFi and no talking to my family, friends, mom and dad (that was a hard one). We FINALLY regained spotty Internet and power today, my pink eye is gone, and my scabs still look pretty gross, but I get to make up cool stories to tell the kids about them. So sorry about the long wait, I'm still new to this whole thing. Thank you all for supporting me in this crazy, scary, fun, life-changing summer!

More to come :)

View from Christ the Redeemer statue.

Beware of sand fleas. Make bug repellent your best friend.

Me and Emma feeding pigeons in downtown Puerto Plata. I peed my pants.  

My lovelies!!

 **Late Mother's Day shoutout to my momma. Best lady in the world, glad you're my go-to gal! I love you!