Service Week

June 02, 2017

Service Week

Last week we finished teaching for a while to let the kids have a small summer break. This next week and a half is our service week, followed by our first ten-day vacation. Santo Domingo, here we come!

As usual, I'll start with an update of my kids. These last few weeks I've taught mostly three to six-year-olds at Isabelita in the morning, and 2nd graders in the afternoon. They each have their good things, their bad things, and reasons why I love teaching them.

Isabelita is so fun. I love it there. The kids are so little and so cute, I want to put all of them in my suitcase to bring home (which would probably work because they are small enough to fit). If you can keep their attention, and keep them cornered so they don't start bouncing off the walls (literally), then they are willing to be taught. I want to cuddle with them all day. One hard thing that comes with teaching smaller kids is that often they aren't old enough to understand the rules. When I ask them if they need an X when they are being noddy (which may result in them losing their prize for the day), they usually nod and say "teacha I want an X!". They imitate what they've seen before, so if they've seen aggression of misbehavior in the neighborhood or at home, they will act similarly and do it while laughing their head off. This can be so frustrating, but also so funny.

Javillar has been a harder school for me, but I have come to love the kids and learn how to keep them involved! This is where I teach my older kids, who know exactly how to push the teacher's buttons. Sometimes they can get too involved in beating up each other to focus on listening to me, but I've learned ways to capture their attention. When this happens, they are very excited to speak English, please the teacher, and do what they need to earn tickets. For example, any lesson involving games (trash basketball), drinks from teacher's water bottle, or Down by the Banks works like a charm. Now I just need to figure out lessons other than these that will keep them off of each other!

This last weekend, we got to travel to Cabarete, which is another beach here in the DR. It reminded me a lot of California, because it was super touristy, clean, and big! It felt so nice to have some space to breathe. We got smoothies at Fresh Fresh Cafe (amazing), got fried (our bodies, not food-suprisingly), and were able to see some beautiful art on the streets. It's been my favorite beach so far. I love the sun here!!

For service this week, we've been able to help paint two houses whose walls were damaged by flooding, level the floor of a woman's house, and we are going to visit a hospital and distribute clothing within the next few days. It's felt so good to be able to perform service and help on more of a direct level.

This next Wednesday we leave for vacation. While living by the beach, playing with our neighborhood kids, and eating Italian food every night has been fun, I can't wait to see more of the country!