To be a teacher

Compared to my previous three years as an upper elementary teacher, there was definitely something very different about this year. You'd think with 9 students, life would be a breeze, but surprisingly this year challenged me more than any of my others. With my small group of students, I often felt more of a mother than a teacher. Pencils and homework were thrown out windows, and they picked on each other in ways that only siblings could, knowing exactly what to say to get on the each other's nerves.

The first week was very exhausting and I think I went to bed before 8 most of the nights, dead on my feet and wondering how I would ever get through the year. Well, as the year is beginning to come to a close, I'm beginning to wonder how I'll say goodbye to these kids. 

I had a dream that it was June 18 and I was already home for the summer at my house in Michigan. It was relaxing and rejuvenating and yet I felt uncomfortable with the fact that I couldn't remember how the year ended. I didn't remember how finals went or how the final goodbyes were said and it made me sad that I couldn't remember the end of the year. When I woke up in my own bed in Jarabacoa, the first thing I felt was relief. Relief that I had the chance to finish the last three weeks with these students and send them off into the big world of fifth graders.

As teachers, there are so many hoops we need to jump through. So many grades to note, lessons to plan and behavior to manage. It's so easy to caught up in the daily struggles and grind of the school week and not realize that the things that take up the most time, are not really the most important things. With the influx technology, the passing on of knowledge and giving grades is becoming more and more arbitrary and it is no longer the most important thing teachers can do. I think the most important job  is to be able to look at a student and say, "I see you...I see your potential, now let's help you become all that you can be." 

It is our jobs are teachers, not to be the flame for the students, not to teach them to rely on us, but to ignite the flame for themselves. I had a parent once tell me that anyone could be a teacher, you just have to find worksheets online, print them out and pass them out. But he as well as other people are completely missing the point. Learning isn't about memorizing a teacher's words or phrases and spitting them back out on a worksheet. Anyone can do that, that's easy, but that's not teaching. Teaching is about truly seeing your students for who they are and teaching them the value of hard work, creating their own perspectives and inspiring a love of knowledge within them.  Teaching them how to get along with others, practicing how to respond when they're feeling overwhelmed or anxious, and learning how to be proud of a job well done. I have given a worksheet on occasion to just supplement a lesson taught or a skill learned, but a worksheet passer outer would be a sorry excuse for what it truly means to be a teacher.

Adventures of a Month's Time

April was definitely filled with many overwhelming and beautiful adventures.I'll stick to the main three for time's sake: climbing Pico Duarte, birthday adventures and a half marathon to cap off the month.

Climbing Pico Duarte

 During spring break we took on the highest mountain in the Caribbean (Pico Duarte) which is about 10,164 feet tall. There was a group of about 13 of us and we all carried a backpack with a sleeping bag, clothes as well as some of the food for the 3 day journey. We also traveled with 3 guides on mules and there was one mule to carry pots and pans for cooking at camp and also an "emergency mule" if anything were to happen. Day 1 was definitely the hardest, the trail winds up and up through mud and rocks without much respite for the first 5 hours of hiking.
There were times when it took all the mental power inside of you to put one foot in front of the other as you looked up and saw a path seeming to lead to the sky.  We stopped every hour to rest and make sure everyone was caught up and of course snag a few handfuls of trail mix. At about hour 6, the path started leveling out.

We got to the camp La Comportacion which is about 2 miles from the summit at around 4 in the afternoon. We threw on our sweatshirts, sweatpants and sat around a fire. At La Comportacion there was running water and a large cabin to sleep in, but no electricity. Without books, ipads or phones to entertain us, we sat around the fire and just talked. There is something very freeing about not having technology and just being present with those around us. It was nice to be able to talk without any distractions and enjoy the view. The downside of being up so high was the biting cold.  Even the sleeping bag didn't provide enough warmth and the hardest debate was between wearing my sweatshirt while in my sleeping bag, or using it as a pillow.

On Day 2, we summited Pico Duarte and had lunch at the top overlooking the valleys below. When you're up so high the surrounding nature of pine trees looks more like something you'd find in upper Michigan and not on a tropical island. There is a bust of Pablo Duarte at the top and a statue of him laying broken  a couple feet over the cliff. Some say the statue fell, others say he was pushed. It didn't take nearly as long to climb to the top and back down, so we spent the rest of the day at La Comportacion.

On Day 3, we headed down the mountain.. this time there were no breaks, just full steam ahead. I think after being in the wilderness for 3 days, everyone was looking forward to showers and beds and the Dominicans were looking forward to "no more gringa food." After eating peanut butter, trail mix and spaghetti for three days, they were ready for their pica pollo, rice and beans After leaving camp, I never saw the Dominicans the rest of the trip.  It was very nice to get back to level ground again and take off the layer of mud and dirt that had been caked on.

It was probably the first and last time that I climb Pico Duarte. It was an amazing experience with amazing views and I got to get to know people on a whole new level, but it's hard to erase those first five hours of that hike....perhaps next time I'd ride a mule.


Birthday Adventures

My 26th birthday also occurred during this month on April 27. I didn't know if I should plan something or if Rovian was going to plan something for me, so I asked my friend to figure it out. She told me sneakily to not make plans for Friday and so I didn't. On Wednesday is our traditional bible study night where we all meet to make dinner, share about our week and learn more about God, so I was confident nothing was happening on Wednesday. I was told that Suzanne, the host of Bible study that night, had already gotten all the ingredients for dinner and all I would need to bring would be 50 pesos.

Rovian came over after school and told me he could  take me to bible study since it was a little too far to walk. He said he was first going to get something to eat, I could come with or stay at my house. I decided to go with him and also that I needed to go to the supermarket. After eating a pastelito at my favorite restaurant, we drove over to Suzanne's house to discover the door locked. I decided to skip Bible study then and head on home.

Lo and Behold upon coming in to find everyone from bible study as well as people from school standing around my living room underneath birthday banners and decorations and a table lined with delicious breakfast foods. I was speechless for words since I never saw it coming. Everyone had played it very cool. Looking around the room...I just felt very blessed to see my friends who had become my family away from home.
In the pictures on the left are members of my bible study and on the right are the two sneaky party planners. 

 



Final Chapter of April: Adventure Half Marathon

So we found out there was going to be a half marathon in Jarabacoa, so all of my running buddies and I signed up for it way back in March. I never read the details, just thought a leisurely run through the roads of Jarabacoa would be super fun and beautiful, also we wouldn't have to travel anywhere for the race.

During one run, we decided that we'd run the course and see how it was. It was a trail run and at the very beginning there was a hill that wound up and up and up,very similar to Pico Duarte and after that the trail was an adventure trail that involved many steep hills and even river crossings. After about 3 miles of the trail, we actually couldn't figure out which way it could possibly go and ended up turning back. This "practice run" on the course definitely made me very apprehensive about the race. I had thought it would be a road race when it turned out to be a route similar to Pico Duarte.

On the night of the race we went together to get our race packets and we even made shirts to show that we were united with our names on the back. We were the "team traditionally built" coined by  "The Number one Ladies' Detective Agency books, but the Dominicans still called us the gringa team. We had pasta together and played games and of course took pictures in our new shirts.

The race administrators told us that the marathon started at 7:00 and the half marathon started at 7:30.  We ended up getting to the course around 6:55, a little earlier than expected and we were dallying around as the administrators called for the 3 minute warning, 2 minute warning for the race at 7:00. Allison went up to someone and asked if the marathon was started soon and the guy said, it wasn't just the marathon, but the half as well. With 30 seconds left we started trying to find our whole group of five and hurry to the starting line. We got a little extra running, because we basically got there as the person shouting "3, 2, 1...Go!"

The course was as imagined, though the first half was more downhill than I expected. Unfortunately that meant that the second half was going to be an uphill battle, literally. There were a few small hills, but majority of the hills were too steep and rocky to run up and so most of the hills were speed walking or in the second half, slowly walking. There was even a river crossing where you came down  a hill...splashed through the water which reached your lower calf and then started climbing the next hill.

One of the natural obstacles of the race was a group of bulls that emerged in front of us on the path. The drivers of the bull told us to keep back and it was too narrow to pass, so we ended up literally walking behind the bulls for a good mile as the drivers tried to urge the bulls forward. Only in the Dominican, would your race be interrupted by a group of bulls. Eventually though, they did take another way.

At the halfway mark, I unfortunately lost the other girls as I got stuck behind someone else on a very narrow part where it was impossible to see the path due to the weeds. The last 6.5 miles were torturous...there were hills that went up and up and even walking was painful. At mile 11, I ended up even walking the straight parts and only running the down hills. Finally after 2 hours and 45 minutes of running, almost an hour longer than my previous half, I made it to the end. I've never been more happy to see a finish line before in my life.

That was definitely one of the most physically exhausting things I've ever done in my life, but I'm proud of us and our accomplishments. If you never push forward and try new things, you'll never know what you're capable of. I'm very thankful for this strong,fierce ladies, who took on a mountain and are the very best running buddies.