The Start to a New Year

It’s nice to be back!  My students were full of hugs and excitement to be back at school.  My first weekend back included going to a mass to celebrate the anniversary of the school where I teach, catching up with friends, going to church, etc.  One of the biggest events of the weekend was a day trip to Iguana Park.  Iguana Park is a temporary theme park in the capital open during December and January.  It’s full of the rides you would see at a fair.  The purchase of a bracelet buys you the opportunity to ride as many spinning and twirling rides as you can handle.  J

Here are some pictures of my kids hard at work on recent activities.

Equality Activity

group work

Notice what is in the boy's hand...creating Tar Heel fans all over the world :)

On the 21^st I went to Samana.   Samana is the peninsula on the Northeastern coast of the island.  The peninsula is beautiful, but I went specifically to see the whales.  Each year the humpback whales come to the shores of the DR to mate and have babies.  They are only here from mid-January until the first of March.  I clearly saw 2 whales during the boat trip.  One time I saw the body of the whale and the other time I saw the tail.  There were other times I thought I saw a whale in the distance but these sightings were not confirmed.  After the boat ride I went to a beach called Cayo Levantado.

boat ride in search of whales  (way more seasickness than I ever want to see again)

Cayo Levantado

Here's a little video from the trip to see the ballenas(whales).

Lomas Lindas

A friend invited us to his family’s place at Lomas Lindas.  Lomas Lindas is beautiful hill country about 30 minutes outside of the city.  It was fun to see a new area and play in the river.

Lomas Lindas = Pretty Hills

beautiful

after "body rafting" down the river

Earthquakes

Before the past two weeks I had never been in an earthquake.  But, there have been five in the Dominican Republic in January.  Thankfully, all were small and there were no injuries or damage.  However, I have got to better at my earthquake detection.  I have not felt any of them.  I only know there has been an earthquake when the alarm sounds or someone tells me. Here’s the website I used to verify if the commotion about an earthquake is true or not.  You can see the 3 small ones we had yesterday and one on Monday.  

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html

Christmas

Since I’m in the blogging mode, I decided to go ahead a put up a little about my time in the US.  It was awesome to be at home for Christmas break.  I was able to spend time with my family and friends.  It was busy but full of good times like Christmas shopping, baking, Grandma’s house, Granny’s house, skiing, football bowl game, playing games, etc.  I return to the DR with mixed emotions.  I loved being home with friends and family but am excited to continue in the DR.

family on Christmas Eve

cousins

4 generations!  My Granny is 98 years old :)

One of the best places in the world....

December

Well, the lack of blog posting shows that December was very busy.  Here is a quick overview of December. 

School during December:

The 3^rd graders take midterms in December similar to a high schooler.  They have a cumulative exam in each subject.  This was a little stressful at times, but we all survived. 

The toddler through 2^nd grade classes performed una velada navidena (Christmas program) with lots of singing and dancing in costume.  It was adorable, of course.

Below are some pictures of students making Navajo Sand Paintings as part of our Social Studies unit on Native Americans.

Dec 2-4

Friday—I attended a Catholic church with a friend and then we had dinner at a cute Spanish sandwich restaurant.  I spent lots of time enjoying friends in the parque (park) that night.  Many weekend nights are spent in the parque.  The Dominican culture is much more inclined to be outside visiting with friends/family than inside their homes.  You can always see people sitting outside talking.  The parque is a town square with benches and a statue of Christopher Columbus in the middle.  The parque is the meeting point for everyone.  I love hanging out in the parque because you get to enjoy being outside while seeing your old friends and meeting new ones. 

Sat-I attended a professional Christmas play for children called Willy 3-D.  Willy is an elf that helps to reveal the true meaning of Christmas.  Even though we were in our 20s we still got the surprises that came with the ticket.

3-D glasses AND glow necklaces

coloring book and piggy bank....I guess you're only as old as you feel :)

Sun-We went to Hemingway beach.  It was beautiful day and an even better sunset.  One of the best parts of the day was something that happens to us quite often.  Another American teacher and I were invited to the beach day by a Dominican friend.  There was a big group of Dominicans that all knew each other.  Although we were the only newcomers, the group ensured that we felt welcomed and included.  But, it’s not merely that Dominicans are hospitable.  My observation is that Dominicans are genuinely hospitable; it’s never an act or forced.  I certainly will take back with me lessons on genuine hospitality.

Dec.9-11

I went to the final event for “Secret Santa” at work.  This is similar to work Secret Santa in the US (you draw names, secretly give/receive gifts, reveal your identify at the end) except that each teacher opens her gift from “Secret Santa” one by one in front of the group. 

I went to a friend’s birthday party Saturday night and a local concert at Cinema Café Sunday night.  Both were fun. :)

The city hosted an all day event called “Noche de los Museos”.  All of the museums in the city were opened to the public for free.  They also had many events/performances like concerts, dancers, etc.  

Gringas in a museum 

top of the fort in the Colonial Zone

 Christmas tree in the Plaza Espana 

Dec 16-18           

The work Christmas party was like no other work Christmas party I’ve ever attended.  The theme of the work party this year was “Dominican Traditions”.  This was a great theme for me because it allowed me to see/do many Dominicans things.  The entertainment included a band that played traditional music, dancers, and men on stilts.  The food included yaniqueques for appetizers, a dinner of pork with lime, baked chicken stuffed with mofongo, salad, sweet plantains with cheese casserole, rice and beans, bread, stuffed plantain leaves, and dessert (sweet potato bars, coconut candies, etc).  There was also a 3 carts that are commonly seen on the streets-sugar cane, frio frio, and coconut water. 

frio frio (snow cones)

Coconut Water: The guy uses a machete to cut open the coconut and then just pours the water into a cup.

Sugar Cane

My first time eating sugar cane...It was much better than I expected.

the band

traditional dancers

The Menu

My Plate

I went to a beach about 1.5 hours southwest of Santo Domingo for Saturday and Sunday.  I stayed at a house that was right on the water with mountains in the background.  The pictures explain it better than I can.

Palmar de Ocoa

gorgeous

I always love the sunsets.

You can't beat having the sea and the mountains in the same view.

The night before I left to return home for Christmas break I went to a baseball game-Licey Tigres vs Aguilas.  The baseball games are nonstop cheering, flag waving, horn blowing, and taunting the opposing fans.  Licey and Aguilas fans sit side by side and anytime a team does something positive their fans wave the flag, blow a horn or dance right in the face of an opposing team’s fan.  Surprisingly, they never get mad.  Dominicans are passionate about baseball and teasing other fans seems to be part of the fun.  

Thanksgiving in Puerto Rico

I spent Thanksgiving weekend on the neighbor island-Puerto Rico!

Thursday (Thanksgiving)- I had work on Thanksgiving Day so my friends and I arrived to Puerto Rico late on Thanksgiving night.  By the time I rented my first car (I guess that’s one of the perks of being 25), we had a late night dinner a restaurant near our hotel.  Although I didn’t have a traditional Thanksgiving meal, I did have a very American hamburger.

Our ride for the weekend

Friday-We went to el Yunque rainforest. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because I loved hiking and seeing the beautiful views and waterfalls.  We also swam under one of the waterfalls.  El Yunque rainforest is the only rainforest on US territory.

We swam under this waterfall. 

hiking to see waterfalls

The view from Mount Briton

among the clouds

beautiful rainforest 

taking time to smell the flowers :)

Friday night we went on a bio bay tour.  Prior to the tour I knew very little about bioluminescent bays, but they are fascinating!  The bio bay contains hundreds of thousands plankton that are bioluminescent. These dinoflagellates glow whenever they are moved.  Kayaked to the bay and then continuously played in the water to watch it glow.  Every time you touched the water it was like thousands of tiny, sparkling stars.  I especially loved letting the sparkling water run down my arm or leg.   It’s hard to describe but it was unbelievable to see.

Saturday-We took a ferry to a small island off the Puerto Rico called Vieques .  After the ferry ride we took a taxi to a practically deserted beach.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  

Vieques Island

clear, blue water

The island also had wild horses.

what a beautiful world we live in

I found this huge (empty) conch shell in the water.  

Sunday-We toured “Viejo San Juan” or Old San Juan.  This part of the city has two huge forts and pretty houses.   We toured both forts and took a guided tour with a park ranger of the underground tunnels (super interesting!).  I learned that the control of Puerto Rico was extremely important because it was the halfway point between Europe and South America, hence the forts.  

touring the fort

city street

 view of the city from the fort

Food-It was very nice to be able to drink the water the water in PR.  I had a popular snowcone called Piragua.  The man shaves the ice from a large block, and then pours your preferred juice over the ice shavings.  I had passion fruit, a newly discovered favorite flavor in the Caribbean.  

The man shaves the ice from this huge block.

many signs were in both English and Spanish, like the flavor choices for the piraguas

Puerto Ricans seem to like fried food.  Although fried food is not my favorite, I had a thin piece of dough with little pieces of fish, an empanada with conch, and a ball of mashed potatoes with meat in the middle (I think this should be the next food at the State Fair).

I'm eating an empanada stuffed with conch.

Every street seemed to have a man that had a cart with 3 orange coolers.  These coolers contain 3 flavors of ice cream-passion fruit, pineapple, and coconut.  

enjoying passion fruit and pineapple ice cream

 La Bombonera is a famous bakery/restaurant.  It is most famous for Mallorca-a baked piece of bread, toasted, and covered with powdered sugar.  Need I say more? haha

DELICIOUS

I'm obviously very excited about my new favorite  restaurant in  Puerto Rico.

Kasalta Is a famous local restaurant that has sandwiches and desserts.  President Obama ate there on his trip to PR this past summer.  I ordered their most popular sandwich-ham, pulled pork, mustard, and pickles.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and everything I did/saw/ate.  J