What to do with your summer.

Hola. Though not in the States at the moment, surprisingly I’ve still managed to have a classic American summer so far. ...With Dominican twists and turns along the way. :) After all the planning and busyness of June’s Montessori Teacher Training, and now currently gearing up for Round 2 of Training at the beginning of August, July has been a catch-up/prepare/take-advantage-and-relax-when-you-can kind of month. Phew. And, gracias a Dios. Here’s a breakdown of July thus far. And, I guarantee that at least a couple items from the following list are part of your plans, too. You don’t need for me to tell you how to have a fun summer ...but hey, if I did, this is what I’d say: 

1. Attend a graduation.

The cultural center finally had the graduation! Here’s a shot of some of the certificates awarded to my English students.

2. Build something.

Gracias to USAID funds, our classrooms are going to look really sharp for the next school year. With a local carpenter, we’re building shelves, stands for the Montessori rugs (more on that below), backpack hooks, and a big staircase for students with trouble walking to practice climbing and descending stairs. I drew up blueprints for everything, and well to say the least, this carpenter has been busy. The workshop is right next to my house so I’m able to go often to hang out, check in, and on occasion build things. Woohoo!

panorama of all the construction projects and the workshop

3. Do a little decorating.

With the same fund mentioned previously, we bought 24 Montessori rugs for the school. We got them in Santo Domingo right next to the bus station (you know, just in case you’re ever in the DR and need to buy carpets), so it was really easy to pay and then send them here on Mao’s route. If you check out pictures from last month’s Training, you can see we used rugs in just about every single activity. So each of the classrooms will receive four rugs for the students to use with the new Montessori activities that we’ve made, and thanks to all of you who supported my project, the materials I’m bringing back from the States (more on that at the end).

4. Play with puppies.

Rosa, owner of my favorite colmado, has a dog and that dog has these adorable puppies! Naturally, I’m a little obsessed with them. Check out the eye contact in the first picture. And then that unison, tongues-hanging-out in the second. So darn cute.

and hanging out with my favorite puppy

5. Watch a sports game.

Another edition of Barrio Baseball

Dominoes.
(dominoes is competitive enough here to be put in the sports category!)

6. See the sunset every night.

Sunset over Buenos Aires

7. Barbecue.

One of the teachers invited me to a church barbecue. Here is her husband, and he recycled this gas tank, painted it, and now its a mint green grill! 

8. Hang out with kids.

Little host sister insisted on a photo shoot one afternoon, so here are just a few of my favorites.

The youth are planning another one of their fundraisers to raise money for the Father’s Day Party they are planning for early August.

9. Travel.

For the Fourth, a couple friends and I visited San Pedro de Marcoris and Juan Dolio. 

San Pedro

woke up to this view in Juan Dolio. not bad!

10. Beach it. Bring friends.

Last weekend I took a trip with all the teachers and their families. The school has a beach tradition together every July, and this year they planned it around my trip to the States so I could go with them too. I loved it. It was a great time - so much fun hanging out with everyone and all their kids. I’m lucky enough to have an amazing Peace Corps placement with people who are both really hardworking and fun to be around. Hopefully there are thousands of volunteers worldwide who love their sites just as much and would disagree, but I’m positive that my community is among the best. ...Which is probably why I hardly ever leave town. I’ll stop gushing, but to sum up: if you haven’t seen my site, you should. The weekend’s adventure started and ended with this scene from the guagua:

difficult to tell, but there are over 40 of us on this bus!

11. Visit family and friends.

Yes, exactly this. Hey there, America, I’ll be seeing you in a few short hours! (Currently using the airport’s wifi). Cannot wait! :D And hey there, my Dominicanos I’m bringing you back a little surprise (actually not a surprise at all, after months of planning, they know this is coming! But still, for writing’s sake..). Namely, 142 pounds of Montessori materials. Get excited, because I’m already pumped. A little photo preview courtesy of my mom:

Most of the Montessori materials have already arrived to Massachusetts. Cannot say thank you enough to everyone who made this part of the project possible!

And with that, see you all real soon!

XO