It’s already been 5 weeks in the DR??

Somehow time has just flown by and we are heading back to Michigan tomorrow!

Last night we went out to dinner with our professor, Karen, our coordinator Bernadette, and our host moms Adela and Estela. It was so much fun! The restaurant was called El Conuco and besides yummy food there was music and dancing for entertainment. The dancers were so talented, I cannot believe the moves they were doing. The girls were spinning so fast I don’t know how they could stand up after. They taught some of us to dance too. I am an awful dancer and I didn’t want to be the entertainment for the whole restaurant so I joined the band instead. I do really want to take salsa dancing lessons when I get home because it looks like so much fun!

Today was our last day at school, and it was another half day of exams. My students took their Spanish and Sociales exams. I felt bad because I wasn’t much help to them because they obviously study Spanish at a much higher level than I am capable of and I do not know much about Dominican social studies. But, it’s not something I should worry about because I wasn’t expecting to become fluent in Spanish in the short time I’ve spent here. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and an intermediate course during college, but it has been 4 years since I’ve used it at all, so it took me a few weeks just to get used to the language again. I was looking through some old papers that I wrote for my Spanish 201 class and I was pretty good at Spanish back then, I wish I had kept practicing! I was proud of myself for writing a thank you note to my host family in Spanish though! So when I get home, the plan is to take Spanish and salsa lessons!

Thank you to my host teacher, Ms. Pacheco, my students, everyone at St. Thomas School, my professors, my host family, and of course the other 5 student teachers for making this an unforgettable experience. I will forever treasure the memories made here!

Top 10 Reasons I’m Excited to go Home and Not Ready to Leave

I’m ready to head back to Michigan because…

10. There is hot water at home. I can’t wait to take a warm shower.

9. I can brush my teeth with water from the faucet without potentially poisoning myself.

8. Going to a restaurant and ordering a water doesn’t mean paying for a bottle of water.

7. Feeling like I will probably survive car trips. I feel like kissing the ground every time I step out of a car alive here.

6. I can drink milk! It’s weird how much I love milk (I sometimes drink a half gallon a day). Milk is so strange here, it is super pasteurized and is kept warm on the store shelves for months. I can’t.

5. Knowing how much things cost. 500 pesos? Is that a lot? I don’t know. Take 5000 pesos out at the ATM, sure!

4. Not getting hissed at every time I walk down the street. Yes, we are a group of light skinned and blonde young women, but staring and hissing is unnecessary, and is not going to make us like you, sir.

3. Normal doors. The door to my apartment has a normal lock, a deadbolt, a chain lock, a latch lock, and bars with a padlock. The hallway to my bedroom also has padlocked bars. It literally takes 5 minutes to get out with all of the keys involved. What if there was a fire?

2. Having independence. I love just getting in the car by myself and going to do whatever it is I need to do. I can’t even go to the grocery store alone here!

1. To see my friends and family, of course! So much fun is planned for this weekend in celebration of graduation. I can’t wait to see everyone!

I’m really going to miss…

10. Being able to count on beans and rice at dinner every night. Lula makes the yummiest rice!

9. Being greeted by Adela when she gets home from work. She is the sweetest lady ever! I’m going to miss hearing “Hola chicos! ¿Como estan?”

8. Practicing my Spanish skills with native speakers. I really loved talking with Adela in Spanish. I want to take Spanish lessons when I get home because it would be so great to be fluent.

7. Everyday adventures. If you’ve kept up on my blog, you know what I mean.

6. Warm weather. When I looked at the weather this morning it was 4 degrees at home. I was chilly when it was 72 the other day. I will be the one at graduation with a snowsuit, blanket, boots, and mittens under my gown.

5. Panadero! The bread seller rides his bike cart in front of our house every evening yelling panadero. Estela always goes out to buy delicious bread for us. How convenient!

4. Colmado. Basically a 7-11, but you can hang out with your friends and watch the baseball game over a cold presidente.

3. Knowing that the ocean is so close.

2. Relaxing on the patio with good friends. The 6 of us student teachers have gotten pretty close in the past few weeks. Spending our evenings on the patio with a game of euchre and conversation has been great.

1. Time passing so slowly. Dominican minutes last twice as long as American minutes. If it feels like I’ve been at school for 4 hours, it’s only 10am. It seems like we have endless hours of free time after we have finished all of our work.

 

Week 3!

We are halfway through our Santo Domingo student teaching experience! =

Today I taught U.S. History again. We are still talking about World War I and I am having a great time with it. My favorite time period is from about 1900-1950. The world wars are a fun topic to teach because students find it very interesting and sometimes have stories to add if their grandparents or other relatives were around during the war. One of my favorite things to do while teaching about the wars is to analyze propaganda, it is a great way to see how people felt during the war, and how their government wanted them to feel. I will finish up the WWI unit after Thanksgiving.

In 8th grade Geography the students had a food day! They have just finished learning all about the North and South American continents so each student brought a dish from a different country. We had cheeseburgers and fries from the U.S., empanadas from Argentina, banana bread from Guatemala, nachos from Mexico and so much more! It was delicious. I thought it was funny that the student who brought nachos brought chips, salsa, and queso dip that were all Tostitos brand, and chili that was from Wendy’s. I would have thought they would have some delicious homemade nacho stuff down here, but they brought exactly what I would make at home in Michigan. Not that I’m complaining, I love Tostitos!

The 8th graders enjoying their feast!

Yummy!

Another random cultural observation is that Spanish is exhausting! George and I discussed this over the weekend while we were watching Semi Pro in Spanish on TV in our hotel. He thought the movie was just hilarious gibberish because he didn’t understand a word of it. To me it was almost stressful to watch because I was trying to keep up with what they were saying. This is how I feel everyday, because I understand Spanish except when they are speaking too fast, which is almost always. By the end of the day my brain is fried. I really hope that feeling means that my brain is learning more Spanish, like the way your muscles burn after a good work out. Reading in Spanish is so much easier for me, I think because I’m a visual learner, and because I can read at my own pace. I am so glad that I had really good high school and college Spanish teachers, because I would rather be struggling to understand than to have no idea what is being said at all. So a big thank you to Mrs. Chahbazi, Mrs. Cavric, and Mrs. Vernon for teaching me everything I know about this language!

Another Busy Day

I feel like I accomplished quite a bit today.

At school I continued teaching the French Revolution, and finished up the chapter on U.S. Imperialism. I also observed the 10th grade biology class. I wanted to see how science classes might be different in the Dominican Republic. They were learning about cell growth and division and the teacher showed a very interesting video that did a good job of explaining the topic. I enjoyed the class and hope to visit again. We did not have the 12th graders today because they were on a field trip to a local university. I asked my teacher about universities here and she said that students do not have to apply and be accepted or rejected to universities, they simply pay and go!

Probably the most interesting part of the day was 9th grade. The students are giving presentations on the Greek Gods. They each have to pretend to be a certain god or goddess, in costume, and explain their lives to the class. I could tell that the students put a lot of thought into their presentations. I will post pictures tomorrow after all students have presented!

After school I created a whole new resume for myself, added some items to my electronic teaching portfolio (which is already done, thankfully), worked on lesson plans, figured out some details of my weekend trip to Punta Cana, and even had time to read a little bit of the Hunger Games. I also had a very nice conversation with Adela, one of the ladies we are staying with. It was a good way to practice my Spanish. She would type in Spanish and I would read it then answer in Spanish. I have trouble understanding when they talk here because it is so much faster, and a little different than I am used to from high school Spanish classes, but I can read it pretty well.

Well tomorrow should be another busy day and breakfast is bright and early, so buenos noches!