Beach Weekend Preview

Last Friday we took a 4 hour bus ride to one of the most beautiful places in the world--Las Terrenas. I should be packing right now, and getting ready to go the the clinic (we're heading up tonight to play basketball with the boys club boys, and then we'll stay overnight so we're ready for Thursday's activities--preschool, boys club, clinic, girls club).

I can't help but give you a little preview of Las Terrenas, though. It's the low season right now, and we basically had these beaches to ourselves. We swam, ate a lot of fish, surfed, kayaked...more to come!!

It's Officially Melted

My heart, that is. And surprisingly, it's not because of the heat. It's because of these sweet kiddos--check out those eyes!

When we arrived in the DR, I had no idea how I would spend my time here. I did visit some English schools when we first got to Santiago but I really didn't connect with the directors or with their educational philosophies. I knew that if I was patient, something would come up, and when Jim & Rita told me that they really wanted to start a preschool up in the mountains, I said hooray! I'll do it! On Tuesday, we had our first class at La Escuelita in Los Pajones, on site at the clinic. Here's a peek of what it looks like.

We had to use what was available for the space, but I think it turned out okay, and we'll keep adding things as we find them. The kids (3 and 4 years old) seemed to enjoy playing with toys, play-do, listening to stories and singing songs. For not being away from their parents or relatives pretty much ever, they did an amazing job of marching right in and getting down to business! Those little shirts and scarves are their "uniforms" and the lady in the yellow is Yunessy, a helper (whose Spanish, unlike mine, never fails her).

(We have 12 kids at each school, but a few were hiding and didn't make the photo). My other "helper" is Máximon, who hangs out at Cheima's house (the neighbor) all day. He has trouble at school because of some learning issues, but he did a really nice job helping out!

Thursday was the first day of La Escuelita in La Tinajita. Here's the road to get to the Club de Madres (Mother's Club) where we meet for this school. It's a pretty secluded village, around 25 minutes of walking from the main road to get there. Hence, it's hard to make money, or to be in touch with the rest of the world, but there is a lot of good farm land around.

I got there early to set up, and I had to lock the door to keep the kids out until 9:30! (And the helpers. I think around 20 people wanted to come in and help...they were excited!). Aren't these kids adorable? This guy was moving so fast I had trouble catching him.

The girls playing "house."He really liked the Play-Do.And he really liked the trucks.And they all really liked the snack.
One little guy was hunched over his milk looking sad, and when I asked him what was wrong he shook his carton at me...it was empty! So we squeezed it really hard until some more came out. And then another little goober put his on the ground and jumped on it--I think he was making to lick it up but I didn't let him...they're clever!So this is where I'll be spending Tuesday and Thursday mornings! If you think if it, say a little prayer for these schools, and these sweet kids, that they might be nourished both with food and with learning.

Now it's time to pack for our weekend adventure to Las Terrenas! We'll be celebrating 2 years of married fun!

Pequeños Pasitos

I've been spending two days per week in this clinic up in the mountains. It gives free primary care to residents of the 5 local villages, with a focus on mother and child care. The couple that runs the clinic, Jim and Rita, are very involved in the community. They have various public health campaigns that they facilitate, including malaria and dengue prevention. The clinic opens at 9 am; there are no appointments, patients are simply seen in the order that they arrive. Patients begin arriving quite early in the morning, and the schedule for the day is usually filled up shortly after 9. A lot of what is seen in the clinic is very similar to what one would see in the US (colds, ear infections, etc...), but the clinic also sees it's share of intestinal parasites, dengue and leptospirosis.

Here, a view from outside the clinic.
The reception/waiting area for patients.

The pharmacy. Patients receive free meds if the clinic has them in stock - the meds are paid for by donations.

Taking inventory on some recent donations.
A beautiful dental set-up; unfortunately, they haven't had a dentist around for over 6 months. Anybody know a good dentist? wink wink!

Colors

News from the home front says that the leaves are already starting to change in Minnesota. Ah, what's better than those crisp nights and fall colors and the beginning of football season? (This is the only time you'll hear 2 Carleton alums say this, so get ready..."Go Gusties" football! Hope you have a great season, Zach!).

Fall weather doesn't happen in the Caribbean, but we're not going to pout. Instead, we'll show you some Dominican colors.

These are from "Super Colmado Ada" where Micah & Las Aguillas meet. Here it is zoomed out a bit.
And this is Ada! She's in LOGxCEST (the girls' club) and is in her final year of high school. Her dad owns this little shop.

We did find a way to get a flavor of fall--we can watch the Vikings games online (Favre in purple? Weird!). Hope you're enjoying some cool breezes and growing some pumpkins, too!

In the Kitchen with Cheima

Cheima (sitting in chair on the right) lives across the way from Pequeños Pasitos (the mountain clinic). She's an amazing cook, and as far as I can tell, she feeds the entire community (and the clinic staff) lunch every day. Her house is typical of the houses in the area, and she's a true Dominican chef. I invited myself over to her house to have a little cooking lesson, and she seemed happy to show me around her kitchen.We made the usual delicious fare: habichuelas rojas (red saucy beans), arroz (rice), and berenjena (eggplant). Cheima cooks both indoors on her gas stove and outdoors on a smokeless wood stove (that the clinic helps to build in the communities around here). Although there is a sink, there is no running water, and it is truly amazing at how tight of a ship this little lady runs out here. She truly works with what she has and serves those around her with a generous heart.

These beans are really really good. The orange color comes from squash puree that Cheima uses to thicken the beans.

Here's Reina (a neighbor who was helping out that day) with the rice. Dominicans specialize in concón which is the crunchy rice that forms on the sides and bottom of the rice pot. They scrape it out and serve it in a special bowl; it's a delicacy and an art form here. (You don't want to accidentally mix your concón up with the other rice or you might break a tooth; Micah has dubbed it "burnt rice" but we pretend we like it...we're so Norwegian.)

We learned a new way to cook plantains today, and we're still eating as many mangoes as we can before the season ends!

Las Aguilas

Rebekah and I have been spending two days per week at a clinic in a nearby village. Started by some volunteers at the clinic, Las Aguilas (The Eagles) is a boys club that I've been helping coordinate/lead. It's really been rewarding; these kids are thirsty for knowledge and love to learn, they just don't have the resources or direction to focus their energy! For example: On thursday, I was late for the meeting. Expecting to see the group of young boys horsing around and throwing spitballs at each other, I was amazed when a was greeted by a group of kids hunched around 4 notebooks practicing their multiplication tables! One of the older kids had decided to give an impromptu math lesson while they waited. Here are some pictures of the horsing around we ended up doing once their "leader" arrived...

Trying to teach numbers in English with a rousing game of BINGO.
Playing kickball on the local "play." Their favorite sport, of course, is baseball, but we didn't have enough equipment for a full team. Kickball was just as good to let them let their competitive sides show!
More action...

Weekend Escape...

...to Constanza!

Okay, this weekend we learned that if you sign up to go on the Linea Junior guagua to Constanza, they will call you at 4:30 am to confirm your seats. And they'll arrive at your door at 6:30 am, and will impatiently honk their horn (waking the entire neighborhood) until you finish your dishes and run downstairs to climb aboard. But the ride will be comfy and scenic, and the climb up the mountain will bring fresh air and the promise of a few days without sweating through your clothes. Here's a peek at our lovely weekend in Constanza!

We hiked up the mountainside to check out a hotel in the outskirts of town (it didn't work out but we got some got some great photos on our way back...). Constanza is a small farming community situated in a valley high in the mountains. In the 1950s Trujillo (the Dominican dictator at the time) essentially gave land to 50 Japanese families in the hopes that they would develop it into a thriving agricultural community. As the soil and climate provide a perfect setting for growing many crops, Constanza now supplies lots of fruits and veggies (and flowers) for the country.

These greenhouses are growing pepinos (cucumbers) and...we can't remember what else. The field below is habichuelas (beans) and tomates (no translation needed, right?). These guys were telling us all about the area. The little guy in the speedo was practicing his cannonballs into the water reservoir (which you can kind of see behind them).
Can anyone identify this bird for us? There were several in the field...they can fly...
These flowers were beeeeeeautiful!
We took around 1,000 photos of them, so if you want to see more, let us know.
Just to prove we were there, too...
Every evening, there are softball games at the local field. Here, the Indios (Constanza's team) are about to get destroyed by a much older and bigger team from Santo Domingo.
There was a chill (almost) in the air--hallelujah!
And Micah is so not happy about putting this last photo in...but we found a really nice old lady who cut his hair. For $2.50. And, she really thought he was looking spiffy after she slicked it back like this...we ran back to the hotel busting up and quickly documented his style (and then he undid it).
I think he looks great! (Hands off, ladies, he's mine!).