Mountain Adventures

It's impossible to pick just a few photos of the days we spent in the mountains last week, so I feel obligated to warn you...you may want to get a cup of coffee and make yourself cozy...because this is going to be the epic post of preschool preparation...enjoy!

We spent Monday through Thursday at Rita and Diego's house while we dove full-time into curriculum writing, room design, planning, planning, and planning...in addition to our regular weekly commitments. Nancy's trip was a working one, you see...and so we worked hard!

Here are the gorgeous accommodations we enjoyed (albeit without electricity and water the majority of the time...the view was still great!).

Nancy met the neighbors, Minin & Icidro, who are scheming something big, I'm sure.

And she got to enjoy Cheima lunch.

And got the tour of the clinic and new school site.

We began at sunrise each day. Began drinking coffee and absorbing the beauty of the mountains, that is...this is the Caribbean, after all. And, we're not crazy.

As soon as we finished breakfast, we got to work though. Tuesday was preschool day at the clinic site. The new toys Nancy brought were a big hit!

We laughed...

We cried...

We asked...you actually think I'm going to share these trucks?

Professor Nancy taught the kiddos to use a scissor (open...shut...open...shut)...and how to do a puzzle.

We went crazy over bubbles...

And although this picture doesn't exactly capture it, I do mean really, really crazy.

After class we took a time-out for another Cheima lunch and un chin de café (a bit of coffee). Totally essential.

Before long, the LOGXCEST girls showed up to work on our Christmas ornament fund-drive project.

Painting giant seeds that we collected on the farm...

The night passed quickly as we discussed more details of the new project, and played a few hands of Pinnochle by candlelight. The sunrise the next morning was beautiful...we could have sat and enjoyed the view all day.

But we didn't. Instead we walked up the road to the local school (which is actually being held in a warehouse while the actual school is getting repaired...or so the story goes). A visit with the Kindergarten class was very interesting. This teacher had her hands full! And, very few resources.

But compared to the preschool in Tinajita, the warehouse didn't seem that bad. Here we are getting the students at our second preschool site into a line. It only took about half and hour...or so. :)

These kids aren't used to much. Our small pile of toys keep them entertained.

And so does the scissor lesson! This little guy parroted everything Nancy said. His favorite was "Oh my gosh!"

The new block and Matchbox car set was pretty exciting.

Before eating snack, we said our prayers.

After snack we played outside with bubbles & hula hoops...

And then listened to Red Bear at circle time. We only had to sit on a few to keep them still...

To finish off the day, we spent time outside reading books in small groups. These kids love to look at their books (and kiss the pictures inside and lick the pages it turns out, especially when Micah is around to get them all silly!).

By the look on these faces, I'd say we had a great day.

We packed up our bags and began the walk home. Here the teacher's aids stop at the local store before they went to get ready for school.

Tinajita is a secluded village, since it is situated at the bottom of a hill that is impossible to pass in most cars. It's really gorgeous...

...and the hike out is strenuous. We had to stop at the colmado to get some refreshments once we got to the top.

And we even considered calling a taxi to take us the rest of the way home. But we didn't know if this local "taxi" would carry all three of us...

...so we pressed on. Only to find that Minin, Icidro, and Moreno were preparing a special treat for us!

Dulce de coco! Hooray!

The local sugar-filled sweet. As in a pound of sugar per pound of coconut sweet. No wonder this stuff tastes so yummy!

After saying a few goodbyes to the neighbors, we ventured back into the city to get Nancy to the airport.

Thanks for coming and for helping so immensely with the preschool, Nancy! We hope you had as much fun as we did!

First Visitor

We were SO lucky to have a very fun visit from Micah's mom Nancy last week....we took so many pictures of her time here that we'll have to post them as separate days. You all won't believe how busy we kept her; we've promised that when she comes back in March we'll relax a little more.

On her first day in Santiago, I held Nancy hostage in the apartment for several hours while we worked on curriculum for the new preschool (more on that later!)...the only "site" we really saw was of our fruit & veggie man rolling by our place selling his goods.

By lunch time, however, we ventured into the city to meet Micah at the hospital for a mini-tour. After a huge lunch spread put on by our downstairs neighbors (see below) we were absolutely stuffed. We walked around Santiago a bit (and forgot our camera so there are no pictures of the sights...whoops!) and bought ingredients to make the Nancy Johnson specialty...

...chocolate chip cookies! YUM! How we've missed baking and baked goods. They were a real treat.

On Saturday morning we took a trip to the beach. The ride there was a bit horrible (think windy roads, a lead-footed driver, a warmish bus, and empty bellies...turns out to be a bad combo). Once we arrived, we did manage to relax thoroughly on the beach before eating some yummy fresh fish at an oceanside restaurant.

So for now, we'll leave you with the impression that we had a very nice relaxing time for Nancy planned....for now. Coming tomorrow, we'll post the pictures of what we accomplished in the mountains for the preschool. Prepare to be amazed!

Dominican Halloween, American Style

BOO!

We did Halloween classic-style this year with the help of some friends from the States who are studying abroad in the DR this semester.

Meet Mollie & Stacy, aka the Tooth Fairy and the Witch. Along with the Fantisma (ghost) and a Hippy, a sweet old-fashioned Halloween was brought to the DR.

And we think that these Dominican ghouls enjoyed themselves.

There were sugar cookie pumpkins to be decorated...here is Dr. Claudia Rodriguez with her son Alberto, making some sweet beauties...
...and our downstairs neighbor Doris and her daughter Lisbet decorated, too.
We had nachos and homemade salsa (thanks for the recipe Liz) and Doris helped us make a Dominican comfort food as well--mangú (mashed plantains with a vinegar-onion topping).
We also made caramel apples.
Here are two residents from the hospital, Ferre and Paola.
And several other people, from the HIV clinic, the hospital, our apartment, and more students from the US.
Micah the Fantasma led us in a rousing game of "Pin the Stem on the Pumpkin"...
Which I really think I won...or at least I was really close...never mind that I'm pointed in the opposite direction as the board right now....
And then we bobbed for apples.
We stumbled into bed on a sugar-high that took a few days to shake, so I think by Halloween standards, our party was a major success.
In fact, we just popped the balloon decor today...we really rode out the season this year!

Surfing

Since we've moved to the Dominican Republic, surfing has become our weekend past-time. We've been to Playa Encuentro four times now, and are just about brave enough to venture out into the big waves... We usually hop on a bus in Santiago in the morning, arrive before noon, and surf hard until the bus leaves back for Santiago at 6 pm. With only a few breaks for water and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, our bodies are quite beat up by the time we make it back home.

Before we get to the action shots, a little about the beach. Playa Encuentro is a secluded beach near Cabarete, on the north coast. The only people there are people who want to surf, as the abundance of spiky coral makes the beach unappealing to people who just want to lay on the beach and swim. The waves, however, are spectacular. The surf shop that we've been going to, Buena Onda, rents boards for about $11 per day.

Who said there are no nude beaches in the DR? This little guy was so excited to get into the water he forgot his shorts!

On this day, the waves were really quite big. We stayed in close to shore and were thus able to get some pictures. Rebekah in action.

And Micah:

A quick video to give you a sense of the waves.