Service Week

Hello Family and Friends!

Here are some pictures of the three trips we took on service week! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything...enjoy!

Trip #1: Delicias Yogurt!

The workers at Delicias Yogurt showing the kids how they boiled the milk etc. to make the yogurt!

They people here were so amazing - they let the kids put on the labels for the yogurt - Pablo (in the red) and Weidy (to the left of him) - really got into it! Note Pablo using his lips to point - that's how Dominicans point instead of using their finger!

More labeling...

Showing the kids how they pour out the hot milk and cool it down as part of the yogurt-making process

And one of the best parts...getting their snack of yogurt and a biscuit! (Dodyel)

Enjoying their snack (L-R - Roberly, Jesse (the new student from Haiti), Elaine, Layshah)

Yogurt mustache! (L-R - Roberly, Pablo, Dorisbell, Elaine)

Group shot with the amazing staff of Delicias Yogurt! It's owned by a family of Columbians - the man in the earlier picture helping with the yogurt (he's to the left of me in this picture) is the husband of my Spanish tutor, Nelly!

A gua-gua (taxi) - this is how we traveled to Delicias Yogurt and the Monastery

Piling in!

Trip #2 - The Monastery

Up at the monastery - it is so gorgeous!

Beginning our tour

Learning how the bread is made

We decided to walk to the waterfall...the kids loved it...I was just waiting for someone to fall and break open their head! Seli, the Spanish teacher (to the right of me), was able to come with us on this trip and the trip to Delicias Yogurt - it was amazing to have a Spanish-speaking adult with us!

Melisa, Jaquidys, and my brother Josh at the waterfall

Clambering over rocks...

After the walk back up the hill - they were getting tired by this point! (Elaine, Josh, Melisa)

Enjoying some delicious "Pan de los Monjes" (Monk bread)

Getting their bread

Group shot!

Trip #3 - The Dulceria (Candy shop)

Yes - those are three huge pots of boiling milk. Beneath them was an open gas flame...and the room was REALLY tiny. Somehow, someway, amidst all the jostling to have a turn at stirring, we finished this trip with no major or minor injuries!

They were having a great time...as I was frantically trying to make sure it didn't get totally out of control!! :)

Group shot in the Dulceria

We walked to the Dulceria - here we are walking up the final hill back to school

Josh and I at the Lower Jimenoa - we had big plans of visiting several waterfalls after school - but after the field trips, we were fine with just relaxing most of the days! I was really glad we made the trip out to this one at least! :)

Thanks so much for reading! I'm really going to try to be more regular about posting this last semester!

Blessings,

Erica

Field trip #2 - The Dentist's office!

Dear family and friends,

Yesterday (Tuesday), I went on another field trip with my students - this time to the dentist's office! We have been learning about teeth health as part of our expedition, so it fit in well. Except the unexpected 30-40 minute wait in the dentist's office (they wouldn't have lasted much longer, but I had enough coloring pages and books to tide them over!), it went really well. As you'll see from the pictures, some of them were pretty scared! Hopefully, if nothing else, they have less fear of going to the dentist!


Walking to the dentist office - it was about a 10 minute walk.

Roberly, Katherine, Layshah and Jenny waiting...

David, Pablo and Dorisbel - they all did so well in the waiting room!

Melisa, Katherine, Layshah and Pablo - I just love the faces in this one! Katherine especially was so afraid to go to the dentist's office! I think she was showing them a tool she uses to clean teeth here...or it might have been something to clean out cavities (that would make more sense judging from the looks on their faces!) - she spoke in Spanish, so I caught most, but not all of it!

I loved the expressions on Frenesi and Elaine's faces in this one - this was at the beginning of her presentation, and they were, as you can see, just a little apprehensive!

Elaine got to sit in the chair and have her teeth examined!

Singing a song about cleaning their teeth

Group shot with the dentist

Thanks for looking! Hope you're enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season!

Blessings,

Erica

Gardening, Kristen's visit and school pictures

Dear Family and Friends,

Here are some photos of November events so far!
A picture of my classroom building - the garden and pond in front was designed by the fourth grade class a few years ago!

I took the kids out in groups of four to work in the garden with Felo, the gardener. They were able to help him transplant lots of lettuce plants - the kids were all able to get some experience helping in the garden...and it was SO much easier than taking out a group of 17 first graders (when you're never sure what they're doing...catching bugs? Picking and eating lettuce? Stomping on the plants? And more possibilities that only a first grader could think of!!)

Here's a picture of all of the students gathered at the ampitheater for Revolution, a gathering we have every other Friday where students can present their work, sing, and just have a good time as a school!

A large view of the garden!

Showing how to plant the lettuce

My sister Kristen visited in November - she was able to talk to the kids about being a nurse and teach them about being healthy! The kids loved the stethoscope - I always love the faces Pablo makes in pictures!! They were so excited when they were able to hear their heart beat!

And with Melisa

The front of the house I live in - the front porch is where I usually end up if I'm spending time at the house - especially when it was SO hot for the first few months!

Jungla Taina - the playground!

The garden (designed and planted by the fourth graders several years ago) with the huge mango tree in front of my building (unfortunately, it doesn't produce mangoes anymore!)

The Cafe Taino - our cafeteria

The ampitheater - designed by the fifth grade class three years ago! It is where we meet every morning for flag time, and every other Friday for Revolution.

Thanks for reading and looking!

Blessings,

Erica

Random pictures

Hi everyone,

Here are just a few pictures of some of the fun things I've gotten to do on weekends - more to come later! Also, I'll be posting some pictures of the school grounds soon as well!

This is at Cabarete, a beach that we went to for a weekend in August - it was after the first two weeks of school, so it was an amazing time of rest and recuperation - at the time, I just needed to get away and completely forget about school for a few days!

This is what it looked like outside of the house I stayed in at Cabarete - it was an amazing place!

This is the upper Himenoa waterfall - I went there on a day hike one of the first weekends I was here - it is so amazingly beautiful!

On the left is Shanell, the 11-year-old that lives at my home-stay. The girl on the right is her friend Cynthia - this was taken the first or second night I was here.

In September, a large group of us went camping at Manabao (about a 45 minute taxi ride from Jarabacoa) - we hiked to another waterfall while there - this was the view from our tent!

There's just a few pictures - I have some friends here who have taken lots of pictures that I plan on getting and posting later!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings,

Erica