A Big Fat Update

Blogging is not my gift, I know. In my defense...I teach first grade (enough said?) and every time I log into my blog I forget how to actually create a new post.  All the buttons are in Spanish and seeing that I am not up to speed on my blogging vocab in Spanish, I get frusturated and usually give up after 5 minutes of trying to post. We have a day off today, so I actually took the time to figure it out. Anyways, sorry to anybody out there who actually still might read this. Here is my life from the last 7 months. Ready...

... Go!

May

Friday kid read aloud

Things are coming to a close at school already. I can't believe it-12 school days left! I have come to know and love all of my students so much, despite some crazy times. A full class with lots of kiddos who need lots of help has been challenging to say the least, but I have learned so much! I am very proud of each of them.

                  

Friday Free time rocks!

I so wish I had taken pictures during this, but we had a special guest come to our 1st and 2nd graders this month. Miss Vanesa, a student's mom and a friend of mine, came to talk to us about dental care. She is a dentist here in Jarabacoa and sometimes travels to schools and communities to educate people on the importance of dental hygiene. We have been going through a hygiene unit in Science, so she came to visit us too. She did a fantastic job and we had a blast. Thanks, Miss Vanesa! 

May also brought my 2nd round of salmonella,so that has been fun! I think I have learned my lessons: check the expiration date on EVERYTHING that you eat and don't eat the
batter..no matter how awesome it is.

Elections are happening here. In fact, that is why we have the day off. The winner, Danilo Madina, was just announced today. Dominicans get WAY into elections, so its been a party all day.

April

April started out with Semana Santa (spring break)- what a great way to start a month. Amanda and I had friends come and visit. It was great to have a bit of home half way through the semester. They even came bearing gifts from America. I love American candy!  We spent some time in Jarabacoa and then went to the beach with some more teacher friends. Tyson, Angela and Cory-thanks again for coming. It was a great week off!

more semana santa pictures here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100277397386594311174/albums/5728711241377100689

April also means Easter; and Easter means the Easter story! We had lots of fun in 1st grade acting out the Easter story, opening "Resurrection Eggs", making Easter crafts and doing Easter centers. All this Easter fun did spark some great conversations with my kids. I actually had 4 kids tell me that they wanted to talk to and pray with me about Jesus being in their lives and 2 tell me that they already had done so when they were on their own at home!! 6 new lives and 6 parties up in Heaven! Pray for these little guys as almost all of them don't have parents that know Jesus or are attend church. Pray for me, also, that I can teach them as much as I can about being a Christian while I still have them in my class.

March
March was so busy- but fun busy. One of my favorite March highlights was having the opportunity to throw my friend Kristin her baby shower! The first shower I have hosted turned out to be a lot of work, but a huge blessing. I loved seeing everyone come and support Kristin as she prepares to have their first in June (or sooner!), here in the DR.

photo credit: www.jessicaensingphotography.blogspot.com
(Shout out to her for her sweet new blog-Check it out for more of the photo booth pictures)  

I also turned 24 in March! My great birthday plan was to go see the long awaited "Hunger Games" movie in Santiago the day it opened, which happened to be my actual birthday. Too good to be true? Yes. The Dominican theatres dropped the ball big time and the movie didn't end up coming here until the end of April. But to make up for it, I had lots of cards, flowers and cake delivered to me throughout the day from my teacher friends and students :)  I also received an unforgettable "gift" from our Biology teacher. Thinking it was a kind gift, I opened it at the end of the day in front of the kids. Bad idea. Inside lay a dead and preserved GIANT toad. So gross! The kids loved it and might not ever forget my reaction. To end the day, as is Dominican tradition, my kids soaked me with their water bottles...despite the pouring rain.

Soaked!
Photo Credit: Phyllis Brady

I also got two wonderful new co-workers in 1st grade this month. My new aide, Lydia, has been such a blessing as we have been short staffed and working like crazy this year. She is great with kids, great with paper work, and a great friend. After spending a year and half serving at JCS and helping me during my first couple years of teaching, Kristin took her maternity leave. I was sad to not see her everyday, but through it I gained a wonderful new co-teacher and friend- Ms. Brady. Phyllis is such a creative, passionate, and fun teacher and I feel so lucky to have worked along side two such gifted teachers during my time here.

Back in February we took some time to learn about butterflies. Luckily, we have a Butterfly farm right here in Jarabacoa. So we took a field trip! I don't think I had ever really thought about how cool butterflies are until that trip. We saw the eggs, caterpillars, cocoons and then finally got to walk in the butterfly atrium with the butterflies themselves. So much fun! During this trip, I was unknowingly, battling my first case of salmonella (fun!), but I think God did a special miracle on my body that day, and I didn't run to the bathroom to throw up...until the very moment we got back from the field trip.

Oh, and how can I forget...Dr. Seuss's birthday! I couldn't get a lot of pictures during our activities (we had lots of paint on our hands) but we had blast making Cat in the Hat hats, Thing 1/Thing 2 handprint pictures and writing about our fav Dr. Seuss book.

Cat in the Hat word family hat
Photo Credit: Natalie Rankin

February

Valentine's Day, of course! We spent alot of time talking about what it means to love others and love God in our classroom. One of my favorite teaching moments this month was in response to a Bible activity we did called "Heart Box Project ". I had a random box that I taped a paper heart (hence, the name "Heart Box") and filled it with slips of paper that had different ideas of how to show love at school. They included the following: make a kind note or picture for a friend at your group, share your snack with someone who doesn't have one, give a hug to a sad friend, clean out someone's cubby, pick up trash outside etc. I didn't actually think my kids would get into it ,but so many did! They had to do it during their own "free" time-i.e.,if they were finished with their phonics or math sheet, during lunch or recess, or after school. I had kids sharing, hugging, cleaning and loving on each other all day long. I was very very proud of them. Fighting has been a problem this year with the kids, and seeing them respond to something like that was a huge encouragement.

                                                                                          

                We of course also had a Valentine's Day party with pink cupcakes, crafts, notes and candy.

Leap Day happened this year! Since it doesn't happen every year, I leaped at the opportunity to do frog activities that week. We read "Froggy books" by Jonathan London (my favs), did Leapfrog math and phonics (of course) and leap day centers. I even taught them how to play Leapfrog in the classroom. A little insane, I know, but it did fit very nicely in between our animal unit and health unit (you know, exercise..?)  in science. A bit of a stretch, but luckily, I make my own standards here.

Carnival (Lent celebration) takes place in February and ends on the 28th with Independence Day. For a select few Carnival still holds reverent religious meaning, but Dominicans have a special gift at throwing  parties at any opportunity they get, and for most, Carnival is just that!

At school we also threw lots of mini-celebrations during our Spirit week, as a kid friendly alternative to Carnival. I still love to dress up, so this is one of my favorite weeks of the year! We ended the week with patriotic colors for our Independence Day celebration.

     

Career Day

Super Ballerina Girl! (she took off her cape, but probably my favorite costume of the day) 

Super Teachers-Super Butterfly and Super Pregnant teacher! 

 Independence day also gave us a day off and it happened to be during the week some Bethel friends were visiting on their Spring Break. Margie and Amy were in my building when I was a freshman RA at Bethel, and had spent a semester abroad here last year. They came back to visit and we had a great time catching up at the waterfall, Salto Baiguate.

January 
After 2 weeks of winter break I remember being in awe at how calm my kids were when they got back to start the new semester. We should take more breaks like that.

In January Brian finally got his long awaited bike!It was a behavior prize he had been working towards since last year with his dad, and a sponsor in the States made it possible for hid dad to finally buy it for him. He was PUMPED!

December 
Christmas parties, Christmas cookies, Christmas gifts, Christmas story, Christmas program, and finally...home.
I hosted my first graders' Christmas party at my house again this year and we spent the day decorating Christmas cookies, making gifts and cards for parents, making Santa Clause masks, and listening to the story "The Legend of the Candy Cane" by Lori Walburg: a great book that explains the history of the candy cane, tells the 1st Christmas story, and through which, gives the gospel message. I think I got 4 hours of sleep the night before, but adrenaline is one of my closest friends, so we had a packed, but fun day.

We also spent much of December prepping for our Christmas program, during which we sang the Dominican children's song "Mi Burrito Sabanero". It is about a boy who takes his little donkey on a journey to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. We even made our own paper ponchos and dressed up with cowboy boots and hats for the program. Lots of ponchos flying every which way, but they were so cute!

The school's Christmas banquet was also lots of fun-dressing up, pictures with kids, and a visit from Santa himself. 

I eventually got to fly home for Christmas for 2 weeks. THANK YOU VBC, friends and family for making that happen. It is a greater blessing than you realize to be able to go home and rest-no matter the occasion. Christmas makes it that much better. I loved winter break and felt so blessed to be able to spend it with family and friends back home.

November
I love learning about other cultures, but I have also discovered that I love teaching my kids about my own. Thanksgiving was the perfect opportunity to do that. Because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, I taught my students about the first Thanksgiving celebration in the United States and about giving thanks. We wrote thank you notes to cleaning staff and even to God himself.

The school also had a Thanksgiving program in which we sang two songs about giving thanks. One of the songs had a great rap break in the middle of it, so we had one of our very talented first graders beat-box and lip-sync the words. He even surprisingly broke out in break dance during the middle of it! Not part of the plan, but very popular with the crowd-especially the highschoolers! Video soon to come...whenever I find the person who filmed it.

Because the school has so many American teachers, we got two days off for Thanksgiving break. My friends and I spent a couple of days at the beach relaxing after a busy month. I am so thankful for the beach and for friends!

There you have it! My life as much as I can remember from this last semester. Now, I am sure you are tired of reading, and I am very sure that I am tired of writing. Adios for now! 

"Do your work for the Lord"

Every week my students have a bible verse they have to memorize for a test on Friday. We usually do different things to spice up our memorizing process...i.e.,make up motions, use our "big strong voices" our "little baby voices", or my personal favorite the "0 voice" (students only mouth the words and do the motions :D) Anyways, these paraphrased verses are so short that they usually have a little rhythm to them when we say them, so they usually get stuck in my head. Especially this week's verse: "Do your work for the Lord." Colossians 3:23 (Imagine it in 4/4 time, for you musicians out there).

"Do your work for the Lord" This was something God wanted me to remind me of this week. The sing-songy sound of it stuck in my head all week was kinda annoying, but it got my attention. I finally looked up the actual verse (the one in big kid language) and this is how it reads in the NIV: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

"Do your work for the Lord" I am not always very good this. Especially lately. To be honest its been really tough. And hearing it so many times coming from the very mouths I want to tape shut sometimes( Wait, did I just really say that??)it has been humbling. Humbling, because I am telling them what that verse means, but don't know if I am really modeling it for them. So, I had to look back at the last few weeks and ask myself...

How do I "Do my work for the Lord?" when...

-there is no power...meaning no fan...no copier...and no running water
-my classroom gets flooded and I have to throw away supplies
-someone in authority over me makes a decision that I don't agree with...ouch.
-little "Bobby" steals little "Timmy"'s snack money...again.
-I'm tired.
-It is a full moon and the kids are completely different creatures from the little angels they were yesterday. (Yes, I do believe in all that full moon crazy)
-someone stop me, because I think this is starting to become just an excuse to complain.

My attitude can be kinda crappy sometimes. And I am pretty sure that's not "doing my work for the Lord." In the midst of all the above, and even more, I have to remember why I am here and that I am doing it not for myself, not for my resume, not for my boss, but for my kids, and ultimately"...for the Lord." That means I have to submit everything to him and he will give me the strength that I need.

With that, I will leave you with this little clip of my 6 year olds practicing their bible verse just before their test. Hopefully, it gets stuck in your head too!

Thankfully, God made weekends so that we don't have to be at work all week long. Happy Friday!!

Jarabacoa-Round 2!

(Maybe that should read "Jarabacoa-Round 3!")

Okay, its official. I am a horrible blogger. Ironically, I love to write, but as you might find out in the following paragraphs I am perhaps too busy for my own good, so blogging often goes on the back burner.

Well, this is going to be a quick update on my life. Nothing too fancy or too detailed, (or edited!), but I feel like I should write something!

After spending a very short, but very sweet summer back home in Illinois I'm back in Jarabacoa! I'm so glad I came back. Living here is so much easier the 2nd time around. Its fun being here and actually enjoying the life I made here. I think you know a place is home when you can walk into the vegetable market and the vendors immediately know you. I love it :)

As for teaching, I am really enjoying that the second time around too. This year is a big reality check though. I know it might not sound like it to you fellow American "edgies" and teachers, but 19 kids is alot for our school to have in one classroom.The rooms are small, there is no air conditioning, and children here are just raised to act very differently than most children in the States. Oh, and most of them don't speak or understand alot of english. Joy! Needless to say both the 1st grades at JCS are packed with kids and Kristin, the other teacher, and I are both exhausted. But I am learning alot and growing so much as a teacher.

Brian is also in my class again this year. He is a special needs boy who is from the barrio (the slums) right behind my house. It has been so so exciting to see the improvements he has made since last year. He knows so much English and his behavior is miles beyond what it was last year. God is so good :)

Brian and his friends will come over every once in a while and hang out. Its fun, but also dangerous. I hate to be so blunt, but some of the people who live in the barrio are hard to trust. There were actually some things stolen from the house below us this last week by some people from the barrio. They use kids to get into small places and that's what happened in this case. Anyways, its been rough knowing how to handle ministering to these boys. They need so much love and care, but we also never know if they are being sent by adults to steal. Its a really sad reality of living here. So, if you think of it, pray for wisdom. And pray that the stolen belongings be some how compensated for. Also, they think that the man who robbed the house is the same man who was connected to another robbery that same night. He stole a moto, kidnapped an underage girl, bought a bunch of drugs and took off for another city. In this country the sex slave industry is huge. Its actually #3 in the world. Pray that that girl is not sold as a prostitute and returned home. I don't know her personally, but she is from our neighborhood.

Speaking of all that, Kristin will be leaving JCS in January to start a safe house for girls that are rescued from sex trafficking. In fact, they have already started the house and I was just there helping them set up and hang out with the girls. I am so happy for her and her husband, Dave, to start this new ministry. Kristin is my best teacher friend here. She is so great at school and has taught me so much about teaching. Its going to be hard teaching without her.

God is incredible. Everyday I am learning more to trust in him to give me the strength, peace, love, patience..(the list goes on) to live here. He is teaching me what it really means to have a relationship with him, like he is my friend. Its so hard sometimes, but knowing him is so worth it.

Post comments, or write my on facebook. I want to hear about whats going on on the home front!

Visitors!

I have been so blessed to have two sets of visitors these past few weeks. My best friend, Melody, her boyfriend, Chris and my other college friend, Cory, were our first visitors this month. It was so nice to have Melody here with me, because she was my roommate during my semester abroad here in 2007. It was exciting to visit with our host families and friends again and remember our very fist experiences in the Dominican. The whole time I was simply blown away at God's faithfulness and provision. 3 1/2 years ago, I would never have imagined myself returning to a place that I was so scared to go to in the first place. I am only 23 years old, but God has challenged me so many times in my life plans . The fact that I am here is proof that he really does know best.
Our friends were excellent sports about going along with our crazy lives here. Besides visiting old friends and family, they helped us tutor kids at school and joined in on a birthday celebration for a boy at church. Yankaury,a new Christian, has spent alot of time with our group of friends at church. He had never had a birthday party before, and he told our friend, Jim, that all he wanted for his 17th birthday was to hang out with his friends. So...we surprised him!



After our week in Jarabacoa we of course hit the beach :) Here are some of the pictures from our beatiful weekend at Playa Durada.



This past week was Semana Santa, the equivalent of Spring Break in Latin Culture. I was so lucky to have my parents come visit me for most of the week. Amanda's parents were also visiting, so did a lot of traveling together.
I loved having my parents here in Jarabacoa. This place has been a big part of my life since I was 19 and it meant alot that they could be here. My parents met my students, rode motos, experienced a moto flat tire, ate real Dominican food, met my Dominican friends and host families, and drove with me through capital city traffic! I think they now understand some of the joys and frustrations that can come with living overseas!
After spending time in Jarabacoa we went to a north coast beach for two days and then down to the capital, Santo Domingo, on the south coast. Again, God's provision was apparent as we traveled across the country. We hit a few "bumps" along the way, one of which literally took out the power steering on our rental mini-van. Luckily, we had just come off the winding and narrow mountain road less than 5 minutes before and had entered onto the country's main (straight) highway when it broke ! The sight of our fathers (neither of whom speak Spanish) trying to communicate the concept of a power steering pulley to some helpful Dominicans is something I will never forget. Luckily, the rental company was able to switch the van out for a much nicer, but smaller, SUV. Our smallest passengers, my mom and friend, Rachel, had to take their seats with the luggage in order for us all to fit. Once we were on the road again we realized that this new vehicle's battery was not at it's best and we had a couple of close calls in the middle of heavy city traffic. Lets just say that Dominican vehicles are not the most reliable machines on the planet.
Despite the vehicle issues, we really did enjoy our vacation! Here are some pictures from their visit.

Motorcycles in Manaboa

Hello Friends! I know I have been bad at keeping up with my blog, but my friend, Jim, just showed me how to post a slide show! I thought I would try it out with these pictures from a recent motorcycle trip. Enjoy!

A White Christmas

JCS ended classes on the 21st of December and I was finally home for Christmas on the 22nd! This meant that I had one day to unpack, do laundry, and do some last minute shopping before our family celebrations started on the 24th!

Luckily my family "took off" the 25th from Christmas craziness and we had a day to work around the house. It was actually very nice to not have to do something that day. That evening we ordered in Chinese and went to see a movie. How American are we :) It was actually one of my favorite days of break. We relaxed and enjoyed each other and that is just fine with me.

I got a new camera for Christmas..yeah!! (All my blog pictures since November have been stolen from various friends' computers).

My two and a half weeks home were so so great. It was just what I needed after a crazy first semester of teaching overseas. I don't think I realized how much I missed my family, friends and life in the States until I was actually there after a 5 month absence.

Here are just a few highlights of my trip...

(Melody, I totally stole some of these from your facebook. I guess I am still in the habit even with my new camera.)

Christmas with the family

(I have decided that my family needs to take more pictures...)

Christmas cooking with Melody

Friends in Chicago

Brothers! Way to go Andrew.

Gingerbread house with my two best friends! :)

Thank you for all your prayers for safety and transitions as I have been traveling back and forth!

Peace and Blessings,

Jo ♥

Christmas Crazy

Well, I am very overdue for an update so I am going to chunk everything into a few posts.

Before I begin to tell you all of our 1st grade Christmas activities, I should remind you of the way most kids are right before the holidays-hyper! So our normal energy level was heightened...just a little.

Christmas Program

Every year JCS has a Christmas program in which each class presents a Christmas song, dance or skit. Of course, as over achieving 1st graders, we decided to perform two songs: Donde esta Santa Clause? and Rudolph. Kristin and I combined forces and worked hard to coordinate music, costumes, and of course, the children for the performance. Our first song went as planned... for the first 30 seconds, after which our music went out. But the kids didn't miss a beat. I was so proud of them. They kept singing as loud as they could. And so did I :)

Snap shots from the girls' dressing room while we were waiting to go on stage...

Here is a little of our version of Rudolph. If you listen to the end you might notice the "Dominican-ized" ending. Usually where we would add "like George Washington", we said "like Pablo Duarte", one of the Dominican founding fathers.

That night Kristin and I also performed a dance to Joyful Joyful ( Sister Act style of course) with our dance class. 3 songs back to back made for a crazy night but it was so much to fun to enjoy it with all the kids.

After the program with my roomies :)

Christmas Party

Kristin and I also joined forces once more for a Christmas party at my house. We had lots of crafts, cookie decorating and a short Christmas-themed gospel presentation. A very fun day, but I am still finding glitter in my house!

Christmas cookies!

Christmas Banquet

That night JCS held its annual Christmas banquet fundraiser at one of the local hotels. It was a very fun evening with lots of food, merengue dancing, and visiting with my students- three things that make for a very happy Johanna :)

A few of my boys all dressed up. It doesn't look it, but I promise they were very happy to see me! C'mon boys, smile!

Amanda, Allison, Me and Anna

Dominican-style Christmas is a lot of fun! Crazy, but fun. However, it never really felt like Christmas in 70 degree weather. I actually started missing the cold and of course, snow! Who would have thought. Needless to say I was ready to be home, cold and all, with my family for Christmas.

Feliz Navidad!

Peace and Blessings,

Jo ♥