From Newbie to Veteran....year 4!

1,179 days...that's how many days it has been since I arrived in the Dominican Republic. 1,179 days or in other words year 4 of being in this country. When did  I go from being a newbie to being a veteran? I think I felt most like a veteran this past weekend when I took my roommates and another friend to my "old" stomping grounds of Jarabacoa. I gave them their "first taste" of the campo and showed them the ways of the motoconcho, which is the only way to travel in Jarabacoa. Now they have officially been baptized in the Dominican Republic culture. Trust me, you aren't truly Dominican until you have taken a moto ride. I of course insisted that they ride the motos to the "salto or waterfall...thus trial by fire as it is a 20 minute moto ride. (didn't tell them any of this before hand or that it was up a mountain)... But it is/was a beautiful view and once you realize that a moto is basically a glorified bike with a motor (and doesn't go that much faster) you discover that it is the only way to travel, at least in the campo.

 My favorite part about Jarabacoa is its small town feel and that every time I visit, it feels like coming home. I ran into at least 10 people I knew (only 2 of which were on purpose) Some of those rendezvous(es?) came in handy as it was a friend driving by in a car. Sadly, I am convinced that all of my bible study friends have a story of me chasing after them for a ride, and now with this adventure, the saga continues. (Yes, Joyce, Amanda, Renee and Mallory, Suzanne has officially joined the "Has been chased down by Kara" club) 

It is also really fun to show people around who have never been to a place. You get it to see it all over again with fresh eyes and are less likely to stay inside and make a "butt print on the couch." I got to show my friends the best salto (waterfall) of Jarabacoa where the beginning of Jurassic Park was filmed and take them to my favorite restaurants. Also, I got to show them some of my favorite nature points such as the Confluencia where three rivers meet . 

The more difficult part of knowing a place is that you are expected to know how to get around and have connections, which I do...but comically too many. Anyways, getting ahead of myself.  While at the hostel I was looking for a moto concho driver in my contacts. Again, it has been years since I put numbers in, so I was hoping I would have a name instead of walking all the way into town to the station. In my phone was the name Anthony and Anthony is the name of the moto concho driver. So, I messaged him asking for a moto ride for me and my friends to the salto. I also went ahead and called him and spoke with him on the phone. I asked him for a ride to the salto and to bring another moto for my friends. He said he was on his way up the mountain to fly, but would come and get us in about half an hour. I found that statement odd, but didn't look into it. Half hour passed an hour passed. I was scrolling through my phone and found past conversations with Anthony in Whatsapp. Long story short I found the below picture

The Anthony I called was the Anthony I had gone para gliding with. He apparently must have thought I was asking for him to pick my friends up to go paragliding. EEKS!! I quickly tried to get ahold of him again to explain my error. It took several long conversations to get him to understand that NO we weren't planning on going paragliding, I had simply made a mistake. Oops. That would've been a surprise for my roommates, if a moto ride isn't scary enough, let's jump off the mountain.

All that to say it's year 4 and I'm beginning to feel more of a "veteran" than a newbie. Kind of like my senior year of college verses when I arrived as a scared little freshman 3 years ago. I have grown a lot, I don't see it in the day to day routine, but here is a list of things I can do now that I really hadn't ever done and would have scared me when I came 3 years ago. 

1. Can now speak on the phone in Spanish and not just to order pizza 

2. Conquered riding a moto

3. Checked paragliding, canyoning and white water rafting off my to do list here in the D.R.

4. Can pay electricity and internet bills (adulting I know)

5. Can get around the country using the bus system as well as the metro system. (getting on and off the bus by myself used to scare me, but now instead of riding one bus directly to Jarabacoa and back, I ride a guagua, a bus and take the metro because I've discovered it is "simpler" and well I like it better.

6. Can make food that is edible (not just bake cookies)

7. Can and love using Uber (I bought my first smart phone last year just because of Uber ) 

8. Have Whatsapp, and Instragram (officially entering the technological era, a couple years late)

9. Can arrive late to an event ( the fact that everyone in the country arrives late to every event used to frustrate me, now I guess, if you can't beat 'em...join 'em)

10. Can Trust God Completely- This one has been my favorite lesson and one I'm continuing to learn. 1,179 days ago to the day I was on the floor of my room, literally on my knees not knowing how  I was going to make it away from my family and everything I knew for a week, let alone a year. But then something incredible happened, God showed up. He showed up in incredible inexplicable ways reminding me that even when I'm weak, He is strong and will always be there. This is my testimony. I am a hopeless homebody and that has not changed. I am and was that one kid who always cried at summer camp, college and even on any trip that felt foreign. I'm in year 4, the 1,179th day of living abroad and I'm not homesick. Why? Because God is here, and He's taught me that where He is, I'm home.

Being Grateful for the Little Things

This week has been teaching us how to be grateful for the little things. Our appliances all decided to go on strike this week. To sum up, we have lost power for a night, had our refrigerator stop working, had a gas leak in our stove and not had running water. Our refrigerator hasn't been working right the past couple of weeks and we finally got someone in today to fix it. To celebrate the success, I believe I went out and emptied our local store of all of it's fresh fruits, cheeses, meats and yogurt.  Produce is a beautiful thing after eating crackers and water or ordering out the past couple of nights. Also, during the power outage last night, I was in the middle of doing laundry and so the washer actually held my clothes prisoner inside of it. The lid locked when the power was out, so all of my school shirts were locked inside of the washer. It would make a good excuse for not wearing my uniform, right? I'm sorry, my washer is currently holding them all hostage.

Anyways, welcome to October. My theory is that September and February are the slowest months of the year, even though neither one of them has more than 30 days. I know calling February long sounds almost ironic, but trust me on this.  They both are too far removed from the previous break and a far off distance from the next one. Flipping my calendar to October felt wonderful!  I love October, not just because it is a long awaited relief from September, but it is also the beginning of fall. October is the beginning of the trees painting the skies with colors of red, orange, and brown. It is also the season of pumpkins, sweaters, late night football games and hot coco. I know I don't actually experience any of those things here, but being able to live vicariously is still pretty wonderful and yes sometimes I crank up the a/c, pull out a blanket and drink hot chocolate in the D.R. just because I can.

School is going great.I adore my 13 little ones and their excitement to come to school every day. This year for calendar we are counting to 100 days of school by exercising. Every day we add a new exercise to do.. For example today we did 10 squats, 10 lunges, 10 pushups and 3 jumping jacks because it was the 33rd day of school.  I am convinced my students are trying to see me get winded because they always insist on pushups. We all take a minute after calendar to get a drink of water, because some of us, mainly me, desperately need one. We'll see how we do as we get closer and closer to 100.

I love teaching because I love learning from the kids. They teach me something new each and every day. I think one of my favorite and most important lessons has been be quick to forget and forgive and always commit 100%. My little first graders hold no grudges. You can call one of them out on something in front of all his peers and the next second he is giving you a hug or a picture that he drew as if the confrontation never happened. There is no grudge, they live in the moment and when the moment passes, they still love you. Also, my students have showed me to commit 100%, do everything like you mean it.  We should all attack our days like a kid trying to get a teacher's attention. Sitting on the very edge of his seat, waving his hand like a maniac, shouting, "I know, I know" and refusing to be ignored. I had one kid literally fall out of his chair trying to answer a simple math question. May we all show that much tenacity in our work and in our days.