Picture Heavy

Some of our friends do not use Facebook to keep up with us so we wanted to share some photos with them. Enjoy a little peek into our new world....

Beans crashed on Miss Brooker's lap after a long day at the beach...

My awesome aide,Yudelka and I before our Open House.

A picture of the quad at SCS...pretty campus. The boys really like the whole big campus feel.The cafeteria. I get free lunch as a teacher and it is AMAZING! Not Ellio's pizza here!

My classroom!!!

The boys putting away the hand washed dishes...teamwork!

Monument to the Heroes of Restoration is close to our home. It sits on a hill overlooking Santiago and has wonderful views of the city. It was built by the dictator Trujillo but has since been renamed and his statue on top removed. The statue that is now n top is affectionately named "Touchdown Jesus" by one of our friends!

The following five pictures are taken from our roof.

As you will notice we are in a valley named Cibao and surrounded by the mountain ranges of the Cordillera Septentrional and the rugged Cordillera Central.

I shot this this morning in our shower.

I was thinking it beautiful to be surrounded by palm trees.

This sticker, which says "God Bless This House" was left by prior owners. I noticed it the first night we were here when the boys were stressing about things. Reassurance....

First day of school at Santiago Christian.

Bean's lost his first tooth!!! The tooth fairy left dollars AND pesos!

Our new truck...still trying to sell the old one!!!

Staff beach trip to Sosua...fun day! I kept saying "Pinch me. I LIVE here?!?!?"

Some new SCS friends enjoying lunch on the beach.

The view from our lunch table...aaahhh! So nice!

Limoncillo Drew bought on the beach and shared with all of us.

You squeeze the skin and suck on the fruit inside.

Much like the inside of a grape but with one big pit.

View down the beach in Sosua

Jake learning how to use a snorkel.

Isn't the water amazing?!?!?!?

Adam, happy to be on the beach again. And Noah loved snorkeling...little fish!

Jake, little poser! This is a security guard at our bank. ALL security guards carry shotguns.

A bit unnerving at first but actually reassuring now.

My new friend, Naomi, and I after we got our bank accounts. Woo hoo! Now we can get paid!

Week one...

What a week! First, we simply must say that Santiago Christian School has done an outstanding job making sure we are settled in and comfortable. I went to new teacher orientation each day which was very informational. So much too know about the school, the culture and the kids. SCS served us a fabulous lunch each day. Someone even overheard one of the teachers talking about loving yucca and changed the menu to include delicious yucca the next lunch. SO sweet!

Each day included a "field trip" to accomplish some daunting task like setting up a cell phone, getting our bank accounts and applying for residency which included a trip to Santo Domingo, blood/urine test and a chest x-ray. I cannot imagine trying to ANY of those things without the help of someone from here. It was easy breezy with the SCS team! This week on a personal note one or more teachers or staff from SCS helped us fix our stove, measure for screens, exchange our US dollars, set up a maid, take us to IKEA, loaned us tools to put together said IKEA purchases and ran out for a Gatorade when I was sick with dehydration. I'm sure I have forgotten something. Truly it is like an instant family. Brothers and sisters in Christ. I cannot imagine an international move any other way!

Little things this week:

We have had to acclimate to: (not complaints, just realities)
-NOT flushing toilet paper (Yup, it all goes in a little trash can next to the toilet.)
-hand washing and air drying dishes
-hanging clothes to dry
-driving worse than a New Yorker
-loud motorcycles setting off car alarms at all hours
-soaking our fruits and veggies in a bleach bath before we cut or eat them
-brushing our teeth with bottled water
-no air conditioning in our home
-applying bug spray 3-4 times a day
-booming bass out of 5 foot speakers in the back of a pick up truck
-very pleasant Latin American music played by our neighbors which we can hear of course because everyone keeps their windows open
-security guards and police carrying shotguns
-not texting on our cell phones
-having an employee test anything electronic or electrical before it leaves the store including light bulbs and televisions
-watching Phineas and Ferb in Espanol

Big things this week:
Well the truck we bought before we arrived was a bit worse for the wear for our comfort. With being here for awhile and wanting to take road trips on weekend to explore this beautiful island, we really weren't comfortable with possibly breaking down when our language skills are not quite up to par. So we reached out to our friend Ken George who ministers here through G.O. Ministries to see if he could suggest some options for buying and selling a vehicle. Lo and behold, he was selling HIS truck because he would be headed back to the US and not returning until 2011. His truck is 11 younger than the one we had and he also knows a guy here who put our old truck on his lot to sell. So we are now the proud owners of a 2006 Ford Eurosport. Of course, this was not on our financial radar so please pray our old truck sells quickly! :)

So this week we all start school. I start on Wednesday with an open house for my class and the boys start on Thursday full fledged. They have had some time on campus and have befriended many of the teachers so the last hurdle of comfort for them will be meeting their classmates. Pllease keep them in your prayers this week for peace and comfort and confidence in who they are as they seek out new friendships.

Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement! Praise God for a blessed first week and our new Dominican "family."

Love, love, love!

First Night in Santiago

This is a photo I took this morning from Noah's bed... :)

Saludos de Santiago, República Dominicana!!! We arrived Thursday night right on time to the happy face of Wayne Lynch, the executive director of Santiago Christian School. It was so nice to see a familiar face in the crowd. Adam whispered to me “I feel so out of place.” Viola! Lesson one: Adam got to first hand experience the feeling of being a minority if only in a small way. It will continue of course but we were able to have a conversation about how that feels and we talked about how sometimes foreigners in America or new kids in school, etc must feel when they enter new countries or situations.

The kids did great helping us handle our 20 suitcases through the airport. Once outside, it was immediately apparent what a friendly, relational group the Dominican people are. Loud, happy greetings and hugs to family arriving. It was almost like a party! Valerio, the SCS driver, loaded our luggage into the school van and then gave Tim immediate practice in Spanish for the ride to our apartment.

Arriving in the night was interesting and I have since heard from other new teachers and even missionary from another country that it is difficult to do. Hard to see, unsure of what you are seeing…then Adam spots someone holding a shotgun. Of course we later find out that most security guards are visibly armed however the mood of the night was now set. At least for the kids, gloomy and for us, well, not nervous but overwhelmed with all of the newness we will be facing.

I liken our arrival at the apartment to arriving at a rented beach house. At first you feel like a guest but after a few days it feels like home. So we unpacked and saw the light of day and things were much better. Our phone rang early in the day and another new SCS employee, Paul Gibbs who lives across the parking lot, said he was bringing us coffee. Woohoo! Someone who speaks our language!!! LOL! Things were already looking brighter. J

So the big realities for the kids is that they are now living in a city and never have. They will be immersed in a new language and are also attending a new school. SO much to adjust to. They are handling things amazingly!!! They could still use some prayers for sure. I was talking to Adam last night and told him to think about how easy Spanish class in high school will be for him once he returns. He said “Sweet! I didn’t ever think about that!” It’s those big picture things they really cannot know because they’ve not lived much of their lives yet.

We have SOOOOO much more to share but will add later. Don’t want to lose you with the length of posts. It’s amazing how much I could share with you from just of first three days!!!

Thanks so much for all of your payers and continued encouragement. Facebook chat us if you would like our Skype address. We LOVE “showing people around” our little spot in Santiago.

Abrazos!