March Madness

FYI: The following does not reference basketball brackets in any way, shape, or form. (Claro. Writing a post predicting sports championship playoffs would really make me a changed person).

At this point, we are well into March, and it has been a frightening, and busy month so far. There’s a lot going on, and there’s much to come in the next couple weeks. So welcome to my March Madness post - a recap about the start of this crazy month, a preview of what’s up next, and my last update until the next one.

Things here have been moving quickly. I have English classes four times a week, two youth groups and a community meeting on the weekends. At my primary site, the school, I have been working more with the students and helping the teachers with daily projects while waiting for grants. Most recently these daily projects have been environment and water awareness activities. A couple weeks ago I gave a charla about water for a teacher training event, the goal of which was to provide the teachers with concrete, hands-on activities, then brainstorm ways to teach in their classrooms about the importance of water. It went alright (someday my Spanish will be perfect...si Dios quiere). Overall though, the event served its purpose - after my talk, the teachers were sharing ideas, and selecting activities to teach their students about clean water. 

In general during this month and the last, there have been many fun school-wide activities. Naturally, there's a ton of pictures on this post (even 2 videos if this slow internet cooperates!)

Aside from school, last weekend was the town's Carnaval, and two volunteers visited. Carnaval here had similar elements to last year’s in the Capital, but on a smaller scale. Still fun though! At the end of this week, a new trainee will be here for a Volunteer Visit (remember last year's visit?), which is exciting. Oh yes, and I have been living in the Dominican Republic for over a year! And from day one to a year later, everyone from our original group is still here. Pretty darn awesome. :D

Valentine's Day

The Firefighters' Visit

:

Nuestra Identidad event 

trekking through town

park!

neighborhood meeting

birthday wishes from one of my English classes

And lastly, an update on my puppy. She’s really sweet, follows me everywhere, and is excited to meet everyone and everything that moves. She has recently learned to bark, and due to my indecision, she also now responds to a variety of names. Surprisingly, this tiny puppy helps with my street cred, too. No longer am I just “that girl from Nueba Yol who lives alone, wears a helmet on a moto, doesn’t cook rice, and isn’t married.” Well, still a weirdo Americana, of course - now with a puppy in tow. 

thank you for reading & stay well,

XO

Happy (belated) Birthday, Angela!

Happy Birthday to Danielle!

& Happy (early) Birthday, KC!

miss you all <3