Outrageous Mosquitoes

Week 2 of school has been going a lot smoother and the kids are getting into the routine of school slowly but surely...or atleast we don't have kids falling asleep after lunch. That's promising right? I am really enjoying being around these kids, even though they are a bit crazy at times. They always greet me in the morning with a great big hug and a kiss on the cheek..so precious. This week we started our a unit on "emotions." Today was actually quite funny because we focused on the emotion, scared. So my teacher and I gathered a few objects that we thought the kids could be scared of like a spider (all of these things are fake by the way),snake, lion etc. What we didn't plan for was the kids freaking out and screaming when we pulled them out. It was quite a ruckus. After the kids picked out something that they were scared of, my teacher talked about how God doesn't want us to be scared and he is there to protectus from whatever we are scared of. She asked one of the ladies that works in the kitchen to come and pray with the kids together that they would not be scared anymore. It was just a wonderful lesson. Thought I'd share.


Ok so my next few thoughts are a bit scattered, but these are just some things that I have found from the past few weeks being in the Dominican Republic. Enjoy.

Walking home. The streets were VERY empty that day.

1. Roosters don't just crow in the morning. There are tons of roosters and chickens that just walk around the streets here, and EVERY single one crows not only in the morning, but throughout the day as well. Who knew? Well you probably knew if you grew up on a farm or something, but I didn't.
2. Bug spray has become my new perfume. Haven't even used my actual perfume once, nor do I intend to. Hence the title of this blog entry...
3. I have come to never expect to just stop by casually as someone's house. As soon as you walk in the door they are offering for you to sit down...and even as much as you say no, they keep insisting. Not only is there hospitality unlike anything I've seen, they also have just an easy going mind set. Let's hope I pick up on this habit. So don't stop by someone's house if you have somewhere to be because you will have to stay for ATLEAST 30 mintues...
4. People always greet with a kiss on one cheek...so don't be alarmed if I come back greeting you in the same way when I see you. Also, when a person enters a room, they will greet each individual person. Well, I'm sure there are some exceptions in large parties, but thus far I have get to see someone NOT greet everyone.
5. When Dominican's say you can borrow anything or use something of theirs anytime you want...they really do mean it. I told Cecelia that I liked her shirt the other day, and she told me that I could borrow it anytime. I can guarentee that if I went in there today she would not deny me.
6. They are so thoughtful here. On Monday Robyn, Melinda and I were eating dinner and chatting with Maria about how we loved desserts. Just casual convo you know. Well yesterday we get homefrom school and Maria tells us that she has a surprise for us. Sure enough, she had made us bread pudding....excellent bread pudding at that.
7. Some new essentials I carry wherever I go: umbrella, bug spray and Benadryl spray to stop the bug bites from itching.
8. I have discovered 2 good things about a cold shower. 1) I don't have to wait for the shower to get hot. If I'm ready to shower I just turn the thing on and it's ready to go...unless of course we have no power which in that case there is no water (like right now). 2) There is no heat to dry out my skin. For all of you who know how much of a lotion addict I am, I only have to use it ONCE a day. It's a money saver really.
9. Today there was a students vs. teachers/staff soccer game. I learned that any soccer skills I ever had were surely trumped today at the sight of these kids playing. It is true...they are phenomenal.

Well, that's all for now. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions etc. A group of teachers are going to the beach this weekend to Cabarete and I'm sooo excited! Be looking for some stories and pics after the weekend!

PS. The Colbie Caillat cd came out yesterday and I'm dying to listen to it. I will receive it in the mail on Tuesday thanks to my wonderful mom! Moral of me saying this...don't take for granted the luxury of going to buy a cd the day it comes out. :)

First week of school

Melinda, Robyn and I on our first day of school!

So I made it through the first week of school...I will try my best to sum up this past week in the life of a kindergarten class. It is quite well um...crazy. We have 19 students in our class and it is their first year where the students have to stay all day long AND they are taught in English, so if you can imagine yourself as a 5 year old, it can be quite overwhelming. I mean I am 22 and I have been in school since18 years and its still tiring haha.

Basically the first week has consisted of trying to walk quietly in a line without pushing each other, lining up in less than 5 minutes (ok that's an exaggeration), sitting in our spot on the floor, really just a lot of procedures and routines that they need to learn in order for the classroom to run smoothly. They for sure have made improvements just from Monday to Friday, so it can only go up from here. I think the biggest challenge is trying to get them to understand what I am saying in English which requires A LOT of hang movements and acting out. Sometimes they just stare at you cluelessly, but hey I sometimes do they same when they try to say something to me. I really do love these kids though; they are absolutely precious! I will have to get a picture of them this week and post them on the blog!

I really feel like my Spanish learning is getting better day by day. I am learning a lot from just being in my classroom alone from my students and from my teacher because she will explain things sometimes in Spanish since it's their first week.

A highlight of the week: on Thursday I had my first Bible study. It is a group of about 6 other teachers (both old and new). We are studying out of a book called Devotional Classics, and if you have never heard of it or read it, I really suggest it! I am really excited about studying it and getting to know the other teachers. It was definitely just what I needed this week :) When we were talking one of the girls described this experience perfectly; this place is for "recovering perfectionists." SO well put! It is impossible to be in control whatsoever here, so it is definitely going to be a growing experience while I'm here. I am starting from scratch, and I just have to open myself to learning A LOT of new things!

This weekend was quite relaxing and just what I needed after the first week of school. On Friday night one of the Pre-K teachers that lives on the next street over from us invited us over to have tacos for dinner and hang out! It was such a blast! She is from the DR, so she speaks Spanish of course so it was a challenge to Melinda, Robyn and I to use only Spanish. She invited a few other Dominican teachers, so it was really great to get to know them on a more personal level. After dinner we played dominoes with her family and some of their other Dominican friends! How hilarious it was! First of all they play dominoes in a way that I have never seen before, and they take this game VERY seriously! I was not the best at the game which they thought was quite humorous. It was fun to sit around and teach them some words in English and us in Spanish. It made me laugh because I realized how ridiculous I probably sound majority of the time when I make sentences in Spanish...but o well, I'm learning. On Saturday one of the vet American teachers invited some of the new teachers over for lunch and just hang out time. It was such a wonderful time getting to know everyone there as well because we just went around telling life stories and such. Then we went to this AMAZING ice cream place and I got this frozen yogurt type thing that you can mix in whatever you want! I will definitely be making some trips there often. :) Last night we played we played a little hula-hooping. Found out I wasn't too shabby at it either! We went to go eat at Cecelia's restaurant because well we got fruit for dinner. It was very delicious fruit but there was a little mis-communication with our host mom (not unusual) about what we wanted for dinner haha. So we went to her restaurant and had some very yummy empanadas! One of the other teachers met us and he came over and played some games with us.

8 people crammed into a 5 person compact car on the way to Ciaras house. This is usual here.

I'm sure I have rambled on for quite some time, so thanks for reading if you made it this far! I will try to update twice a week, or atleast once a week. Be on the lookout for more pictures posted on facebook!

Keep me in your prayers as I head into week 2 of school! Hopefully it will keep getting better! Miss all of you and thank you again for all your prayers, and encouraging emails!

Week one

Lets's see...where did I leave off? Well on Tuesday I had my very first all day teacher workshop. I mean I have never been to one to compare it too, but I have a feeling it will be hard to top this one. Doulos had a man named Jim Linder come all the way from Illinois to come speak to us about Positive Discipline. Okay, for those of you who are not teachers, don't stop reading here...I won't go into too much detail about what he talked about. He covered so many valuable things about being a teacher and the importance of positive discipline. In short, his main point was "What you think about, gets bigger." Genius statement really...whether you are a teacher or not. Think about it...if all you think about is the negative in your life, then it will get bigger. So big in fact, it will be very difficult to see the good. It is definitely a statement to think about. In my classroom, if I always dwell on my troubles with my students, it will block the beauty in each of them. Likewise, if I walk into my day joyous to be serving children of God, I will hopefully get a glimpse of what He sees in them. I don't mean to be too mushy or even sound like I know how to do this because its hard...and I don't. I thought it could be something worth sharing to challenge us all. Do with it what you will...

On a lighter note, Melanie (the teacher I am serving under in Kindergarten) and I have been setting up the classroom all last week. I am really excited to be teaching with her. She is very purposeful with everything she does in her class. I feel like I've already learned how to be resourceful when creating things for my class.

So Melinda, Robyn and I have been compiling a list of things that other student teachers are NOT experiencing. This list will continue during our time here...we hope you like it.

1. Fitting 9 people into a 5 person car

2. Having a mouse creep through their room (FYI we are keeping a running tally in our house to see who can spot the most mice...so far (unfortunately) I am winning)

3. Not being able to communicate with your house mom and really most people in the community for that matter

4. Hiking to a magnificent waterfall on a Saturday afternoon

5. Walking 30 minutes to and from school

6. Getting to wear chacos to school everyday

7. Recieving welcoming yells and whistles for being an American...2 to 3 times a day

8. Watching cockroaches run across the floor...or counter...and laugh about it.

Be on the lookout for more to come as the weeks progress :)

On Saturday a group of teachers went hiking to a waterfall called the Upper Jimenoa. It was seriously the best day! I could not contain my excitement...and I'm sure some of you can picture my expression. I have some more pictures posted on my facebook if you would like to see. The water was soo cold but very refreshing after our walk. Right as we were about to leave it started to rain (as it does atleast once a day) and let me tell you...those mossy rocks are more slippery than they look. Lets just say I took a few spills... That night Melinda, Robyn and I got home and were exhausted. We took showers, or well atempted it and the water shut off halfway through my shower. Sidenote: when it rains here, which is everyday, the water shuts off so you really have to play it just right and get to it before it's all gone haha. We were beat from the day and went to bed at about 8:30...on a Saturday night...don't judge.

We started school today, but I am too exhausted to write about it just now, but I will post later on this week and let you know how it's going! I will sum it up in one word for now: PATIENCE.

Until next time mis amigos...

The beginning...

Hey everyone!

So Ive finally had time to set up my blog and I have so much to say! Ill take it one step at a time and try not to overload you guy! I would like to preface my blog by saying that if my puntuaction isnt correct its not because I am not aware, its because I dont know where to find things such as a question mark, apostrophe etc. on this spanish keyboard. Ill try my best to figure it out! haha.

For those of you that dont know exactly what I am doing here, Ill take some time to explain. I chose to do my student teaching in the Dominican Republic this past semester and I will be here until November 15. I am at a school in Jarabacoa, which is a beautiful city in the mountains, called Doulos Discovery School. You can check out their website if your interested at http://www.doulosdiscovery.org/. It was a school started about 7 years ago by 2 Aggies. It goes from grades prek through 12th, and I am working with the Kindergarten class! We have 19 students...and dont yet speak English. So it will be quite a learning experience which I am so so looking forward to.

Side note...in case you are interested in sending me packages or letters, we get mail every other Tuesday. The address is...

Leah Dodson
Unit 3017 - DDSDR
3170 Airmans Dr.
Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Well lets see...I will try my best to recap my last few days that I have been here. I got here on Saturday and have already experiences some different things. I am living with a host mom named Maria, and upstairs is her daughter, Cecelia and then Celelias daughter named Dennise who just turned 5! Although they are the only ones who actually live there, we have people in and out ALL the time! So far we have discovered that Maria has atleast 4 children...but there could be more haha. The other 2 student teachers live there too, Robyn and Melinda, who you will hear me talk about alot...so remember their names.

A few highlights....
1. found out we dont have any hot water which is going to take some getting used to
2. the food is great...especially the juice! Sounds crazy buts its SO fresh and I could drink it every moment of the day. My fav thus far is called chinola {i hope i spelled that right} which is passion fruit juice.
3. my spanish is terrible but Im trying. I can kinda understand what people are saying, but as far as making up my own sentences...it will take some time.
4. the clouds are PHENOMENAL! If you know me, you know thats my favorite thing in the world!
5. Childrens birthday parties equal an excuse for parent to party. Dennise turned 5 on Saturday so on Sunday I had my first birthday experience! Lets just say it was the best 5th bday ever! LOTS of dancing!


I must tell you about yesterday though! All of the Doulos staff went to the Directors house, Krista and Chad, and had a little retreat type thing. First of all their house is gorgeous! They live a little out of town literally up in the mountains so their view is nothing but the mountains. Not a neighbor in sight. We had some worship time in the morning which was indescribable. We sang songs both in Spanish and English. Really all I can say was there was nothing more beautiful than to simply worship the Lord in this way- with such genuine passion from everyone. Krista prepared a little Bible study about the sacrifices that were made in the Old Testament for the Lord and the fragrant aroma that came from that. She related it to the aroma that each and every one of us has that we give off not only to God but also to other around us. She gave us some perfect verses...which I dont have with me right now, so sorry. We were given some much needed reflective time with the Lord on our own. I must say there was nothing greater. I simply sat outside reading my Bible, journaling and spending quality time with my Jesus. I was able to just talk to Him laying in the grass looking up at the trees and the clouds listening to the music from nature that God has blessed me with. After that we did some team building games which were an amazing way to get to know the other staff members. I REALLY love the staff and I just cant wait to get to know them all!!

Thats enough for tonight, but next I cant wait to tell you about my experiences in the classroom. And who knows what other adventure I am going to experience here!

Thanks so so much for even reading my blog, but also for your prayers and encouragement. I cant get enough. A prayer request if youre interested: patience. Patience with myself. Im being challenged in so many new ways and its very hard not to get overwhelmed and exhausted.

Love you guys!

PS. In case you were wondering about the title of my blog...the nickname Doddy came from my friend Lauren and Leah {shoutout to them}...so I thought it was catchy

PPS. I apologize for the sideways picture but I dont know how to turn them. Yea, I know...embarassing. But for what its worth the computer is in Spanish so I cant read how to change it haha.