¡Que locura!

Rancho Tipico with Jean, Carly, & Ariel Midweek distraction with Leila & Jean Randomness with Carly and Charlotte


So I have been slacking and that it has been 2 weeks since you've received an update (thanks for the reminder Viiiic), but life here has been a bit crazy!! No excuses...I know, I know but I'm just putting it out there!! ;) From traveling, to stressful working conditions, to unnecessary roomate drama, September has been a CrAzY month !!!
The first weekend of the Month Hurrican Ike was suppose to do some serious damage to Santiago so, my friend Carly and I decided to have a Hurricane Party...just good excuse to get all our favorite people under one cement roof for fun! We had a great time waiting out the storm however it really didn't do ANY damage here!! I was really hoping and praying that my school would get some extra rain so that we wouldn't have school but...no luck! On the flip side, Hurricane Ike did some serious damage back home in Houston and I was unable to talk to my family for about 2 weeks :( Thank God they are all alive and well!!
My students are still cute and crazy! See pictures for proof!! Also just to give you some idea on the stress level at this place in the past 5 years only 2 out of 15-20 Americans have completed the whole year. Also, one teacher at our school in the capital gracefully bowed out earlier this month...that's a new record!! lol That's all I am going to say about that.

In all honesty, they are not always bad...just most of the time!! Check out the new ways to sit in a desk and do your work..haha!

Okay so Tex Mex dinner party...WAS A HIT! Jean and I both being from Texas really started craving some GOOD Mexican food so we decided that we'd whip up a meal for us and all of our friends. We went with tacos and tequila. Well okay tequila was too freaking expensive so we had vodka instead but told everyone it was tequila and they all bought it...lol we had "tequila"sunrises and soap flavored piña coladas (yea, ewww) and of course cuba libres (rum with a splash of coke).

Also, I saw my favorite group ever, Aventura, in concert 2 nights in a row!!!! I laughed, I sang, and I cried...best show ever!!


So in a nutshell, I am loving life and truly blessed to be here at this moment.

xoxo

Teacher Crystal (Despite my efforts to get them to call me Miss St. Lucie, this is what my students insist on calling me...hehe)

So...I know you've missed my updates miserably but, I swear it wasn't my fault!! My laptop charger decided that after FIVE years of love that it would die on me during my second week here!!! Imagine the frustrated that followed...especially considering the fact that there isn't a well established postal service here so mailing anything takes WEEKS!!!! Needless to say...I have to catch up for lost time and I have tons to share!!!

What am I going to be doing in the DR you all ask?? As of right now I am a 3rd grade teacher at a private bilingual school, English professor at PUCMM (private university in Santiago where I actually went to school in 2004), volunteering, taking a language courses (French and/or Spanish), and traveling throughout this amazing country.

Where shall I begin...school started last Monday and let's just say I miss my 4th graders in Austin. My students this year are a bit of a handful and possibly unconsciously disrespectful toward authority. They whistle or say pssss to get my attention, it takes me saying their name about 10 times before they acknowledge my presence and once I do have their attention they give me the hand (which means to wait)...hahahha!!! After day one I was truly mesmerized and didn't know how to respond to it all, but after many afternoons of reflection and a few jumbo Presidentes I have come to the realization that what I encounter and perceive to be disrespectful maybe be a superficial judgment. I constantly remind myself that I am in their culture...and not vice versa. For the most part they all come from an elite Dominican population where they are overstimulated by TV, PSP, and whatever else there little hearts desire. My kids take weekend trips to the US to shop and have Doñas (maids) waiting on them hand and foot.

With that being said, my goal for the year, or maybe just the week is to find a way to keep my voice at a tolerable level and establish a respectful environment in my classroom. I must discover a way to dig deep in my kids and instill an appreciation for life love and learning....