Back in the DR

I have safely returned to the wonderfully DRY and refreshingly warm Jarabacoa. It was 45˚F Monday morning in my bedroom, but it has warmed up to a toasty 85˚F in the afternoons. All of my students wanted to know what snow feels like. Hurricane season should be over and I am delighted to find the pipes in my apartment fully functional and the power hasn’t even gone out for 4 days straight! Now I just need to get used to cold showers again. Christmas break sped by so quickly that I still feel like I’m catching my breath. I recovered enough from an episode of bronchitis and sinus infections to jump on the plane without major ear trouble. I hit the ground running Monday morning at 7AM after having returned to my apartment at 10:30PM Sunday night. I am definitely in need of some rest and relaxation after the busy week. It has been wonderful to see my fellow teachers and friends in the DR, but it was difficult to leave my family and friends in Champaign-Urbana. My students have not seemed to calm down or miraculously become less rowdy over break, but we were happy to see each other. I seem to have quickly slipped back into the routine of life here. My teaching load has not improved, but I think I am learning how to handle it better. I am still working on funding for the year, but am very excited and thankful to have some donated art and science supplies to use this semester. I may be even more excited than my students to simulate a volcanic eruption with our new volcano kit! Returning to the states was a reminder of what an amazing family, small group, church, boyfriend, friends and support network I have in the US. It was hard to leave all of you, but I am blessed to have such wonderful support. It is wonderful and incredibly difficult to be here and I know that I would never be able to continue with this work without everyone’s support. I do feel a sense of peace and assurance that I am supposed to be teaching at Doulos even if I don’t feel like a superstar teacher every day. That’s it for now. I hope you are all starting off the year well and filled with joy in the Lord!

DR night

I hope you are all enjoying a blessed New Year and had a restful holiday season. After a delay in San Juan Puerto Rico, I finally made it home and spent some quality time with the many relatives staying in my parent's house in Champaign, IL. Unfortunately, I caught a bad cold and developed a low grade sinus infection and a touch of bronchitis just before New Years Eve. I am slowly recovering and am very thankful that I took some personal days to stay in the US until this coming weekend and attend a friend's wedding . It has been a huge blessing to rest, eat my mother's cooking, take hot showers, and visit with friends and family. However, I do miss my new friends and students in the DR. I think that you end up leading two lives once you have learned to love a new country.

You are all invited to hear about my experiences during the past 5 months while teaching in the Dominican Republic. I will be showing a slide show and talking about what life is like living in Jarabacoa and teaching at Doulos Discovery School. There will be coffee and juices from the DR afterwards. I look forward to being able to reconnect with many of you and hopefully provide you with a glimpse of what my life is like in the DR. I also want to be able to say thank you to all of the people who have been supporting me in so many ways. Please feel free to bring friends and family who might be interested in hearing more about what I’m doing.

Date: Wednesday, January 9th 2008
Time: 7:30-8:30 PM
Location: New Covenant Fellowship
Directions: corner of Randolph and White St. in Champaign, IL