Cultural Weekend

One hour after our return from living on a mountain with our students, the new teachers headed off to the capital in public transportation to spend the weekend learning about the culture of the Dominican Republic. The conference was held in a Catholic retreat center on a cliff overlooking the seascape. I learned a lot about the various family structures of my students and my own reactions to cultural differences. The weekend was exhausting, but I was thankful for the opportunity to learn more about the culture I am living in. There are so many miscommunications that occur due to differences in culture and I hope to be able to avoid more of them now. Living in a different culture is humbling and a great opportunity for personal growth. I highly recommend it to all of you. This picture is of all of the new Doulos staff. I thoroughly enjoy all of these teachers and we always have a lot of fun together. For more pictures, visit my web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/ewissema/