What does Weston do during the weekends? Well, I could stay all couped up in our mission house or I could partake in the beach. I prefer the latter....very much so. Little over 2 bucks pays for my roundtrip public Gua-Gua ride to Cabarete Beach. However, yesterday brought a very unique situation: Ben brought his dirtbike. Our plan was for us two guys to take it up to the beach in order to stay after sunset while the girls took public......BUT we got Dominican. See, the Dominicans love to be efficient with their motos....so much so that whole families will ride on one moped. Well, we had a dirtbike...much bigger than a moped. Ding Ding. We decided to embrace our newfound culture and ride four on the bike. The two girls are about half my height so we put them in between Ben and me. I embraced both the girls while I sat on the tail of our transport device.
The trip was SPLENDID...and I did not fall off.
We spent all day on the beach and ate at this restaurant located right on the water. A few other missionaries showed up that work near our village. Along with the three girls, two Haitian babies and one 10 yr. old Haitian girl tagged along. Both the babies are being nursed back to health by two of the girls. The young girl lives with Rachel because she has not other place to live. You can imagine that a group of 7 whites with three Haitian children could make some heads turn. In addition to multiple onlookers, we were warmly welcomed by the staff at LAX...(they are use to our weekly visits)...and they love the kids. I cannot wait until I meet more young adults in Cabarete so that I can have a ministry there as well. Pray for that.
I love yall and miss yall so very much
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Who wants to fight?
Can there be more fighting in one day? No. A multitude of kids thought it was a great day to fight. I thought it was a good day to hangout. I was vetoed. Besides the kicking, slapping, and punching I enjoyed the day.
I took the advice of Miguel and laid down the law with the children before PE began. I got real serious and talked real sternly. Totally unlike my usual demeanor...ha. It worked though. The kids listened and no one disobeyed me really besides a few annoying girls.
Weston out.
I took the advice of Miguel and laid down the law with the children before PE began. I got real serious and talked real sternly. Totally unlike my usual demeanor...ha. It worked though. The kids listened and no one disobeyed me really besides a few annoying girls.
Weston out.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tired..
Hola friends. Soo tired today. I stayed up late talking to dear friends on Skype (if you want to hear my voice....tell me. I love sharing about my experiences via voice). Then...I ran around in the hot Caribbean sun playing soccer with the kiddos. Drained. During our breaks, I passed out in a chair. Children, teachers, and random locals tried to mess with me, but I slept through their childish ploys.
Why dont kids take me serious? I know I am the funny guys, but seriously. I need God to give me the words to say in Spanish and Creole to speak some sense and obedience into these little ones. Pray for that. However, not all is lost. My favorite, Daribelto, eats up every word I say and understands every game we play....I love him. On top of my boy, Gherlin, cute little big lipped Dominican, wanted me to hold her....I died. God truly blesses me in those moment.
All in all, today was a success with soccer. At one point playing with the older Haitians, I did not understand one word of their Creole. Ridiculous.
After school, we had surprise guests to visit us, three other female missionaries. Of course, they are girls....I dont think guy missionaries exist on the North Coast. We took them on our trip with the Pancho Mateo kids to their village. Truly an adventure.
When we got back to our homestead, being the Makarios Man, I was in charge of carrying in the huge filled propane tank. I attempted to wrap my arms around the massive tank and inch it over, but I am not that strong. Instead, out of nowhere, a random Dominican man came to my rescue. Where he came from, I do not know. Angel? Most likely. Watch the video on Facebook to see me in action and my guardian celestial being aiding me.
I am to the point where I am set on moving to Montellano to live with Dona Luz. I want to be surrounded by the people I minister do. Pray for that also.
Why dont kids take me serious? I know I am the funny guys, but seriously. I need God to give me the words to say in Spanish and Creole to speak some sense and obedience into these little ones. Pray for that. However, not all is lost. My favorite, Daribelto, eats up every word I say and understands every game we play....I love him. On top of my boy, Gherlin, cute little big lipped Dominican, wanted me to hold her....I died. God truly blesses me in those moment.
All in all, today was a success with soccer. At one point playing with the older Haitians, I did not understand one word of their Creole. Ridiculous.
After school, we had surprise guests to visit us, three other female missionaries. Of course, they are girls....I dont think guy missionaries exist on the North Coast. We took them on our trip with the Pancho Mateo kids to their village. Truly an adventure.
When we got back to our homestead, being the Makarios Man, I was in charge of carrying in the huge filled propane tank. I attempted to wrap my arms around the massive tank and inch it over, but I am not that strong. Instead, out of nowhere, a random Dominican man came to my rescue. Where he came from, I do not know. Angel? Most likely. Watch the video on Facebook to see me in action and my guardian celestial being aiding me.
I am to the point where I am set on moving to Montellano to live with Dona Luz. I want to be surrounded by the people I minister do. Pray for that also.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Week two in the MiX
After a longggg weekend thanks to Dominican holiday yesterday, week two of school commenced. What sports did I teach the kids today? Great question. Well, since I have preschool to 13 year olds throughout the day....I decided to do two different games: Hot Potato and Dodgeball. Take a guess which one I taught to the 3-5 year olds. I never thought Dodgeball could be that fun....I released a good deal of stress on the kids...JK. But seriously......funtimes were had. During one game of Dodgeball, I joined up with the weaker side (I am very compassionate). On the other team, William (13 year old Haitian) dominated his team. Soo...to be fair...I picked on him. I launched....launched the soft soccer ball right at the unsuspecting Haitian. However, William's cat-like reflexes kicked in and he successfully dodged the ball. However, his Spidey-sense did not lock onto the Banana tree to the right of him. Yes...thats right....William ran straight into the unsuspecting Banana tree......and then bounced off of it. It was a sight to see....i could not stop laughing. Dont worry....William was not the only kid I picked on. I was sure to spread my wailing on other chicos too. It rocked.
How did Hot Potato go? Some of the little boogers...esp. the Haitians, struggled with the concept of passing the ball. I enjoyed watching them repeat the song...Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Hot. Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Stop! Splendid.
Today was very hard though. Kids decided not to obey me. Not happy. For some reason they have this idea that I am the "Fun Guy" and they dont need to listen to me. Wrong! I had to restrain one child, Liso, in time out. He turned a deaf ear to me. In timeout, he thought it would be awesome to scream and cry at the top of his lungs.....I sent him inside and he finally calmed down. I bet God blesses me with an ill-behaving kid. He has a sense of humor.
Feel free to send me ideas for games for Preschoolers....I would love them.
How did Hot Potato go? Some of the little boogers...esp. the Haitians, struggled with the concept of passing the ball. I enjoyed watching them repeat the song...Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Hot. Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Hot Potato, Stop! Splendid.
Today was very hard though. Kids decided not to obey me. Not happy. For some reason they have this idea that I am the "Fun Guy" and they dont need to listen to me. Wrong! I had to restrain one child, Liso, in time out. He turned a deaf ear to me. In timeout, he thought it would be awesome to scream and cry at the top of his lungs.....I sent him inside and he finally calmed down. I bet God blesses me with an ill-behaving kid. He has a sense of humor.
Feel free to send me ideas for games for Preschoolers....I would love them.
Friday, September 21, 2007
First week of school is over
So....week one of Colegio Makarios is over. Wow. It is crazy to think that I am a PE teacher. Whats crazier is that I teach it in English to kids that only know Spanish and Creole.
I love it here. This is the toughest thing I have ever done before. I dont have my friends, family, or Texas food here. Amidst all the chaos, God is restoring my soul (Psalm 23). I have placed the Lord as the Shepherd of my life. He takes me to green pastures and tranquil waters. Here, in the Dominican Republic, I am becoming more at peace. Amazing.
For those that are not on facebook.....Please check out my pics on the link below:
I love it here. This is the toughest thing I have ever done before. I dont have my friends, family, or Texas food here. Amidst all the chaos, God is restoring my soul (Psalm 23). I have placed the Lord as the Shepherd of my life. He takes me to green pastures and tranquil waters. Here, in the Dominican Republic, I am becoming more at peace. Amazing.
For those that are not on facebook.....Please check out my pics on the link below:
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Day Two what it dO
Day 2.
The island is still in motion. Dominican Drop still has its grasp on me some. I will survive.
Highlights of my day included
-Three of my faves: Dabyburto, Ivi, and Vlady all behaved perfectly (usually they are terrors)
-None of the kids listened to me when they discovered the Cherry tree.
-My boy Moises, a big 11 year old, helped me with a game of freeze tag.
-P.S. How do you describe "Freeze Tag" when you dont know either of those words in Spanish?....but it was amazing.
-Witnessing a man bathing in the river when we took kids back to Pancho Mateo.
Today was good. Tomorrow will be interesting because I am really going to try to use only English for the Preschool kids. We shall see.
The island is still in motion. Dominican Drop still has its grasp on me some. I will survive.
Highlights of my day included
-Three of my faves: Dabyburto, Ivi, and Vlady all behaved perfectly (usually they are terrors)
-None of the kids listened to me when they discovered the Cherry tree.
-My boy Moises, a big 11 year old, helped me with a game of freeze tag.
-P.S. How do you describe "Freeze Tag" when you dont know either of those words in Spanish?....but it was amazing.
-Witnessing a man bathing in the river when we took kids back to Pancho Mateo.
Today was good. Tomorrow will be interesting because I am really going to try to use only English for the Preschool kids. We shall see.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The First Day of SKool
Pues, Pues, Pues. I spent my first day off right: spent some quality time with the Throne. Today marked my one month anniversary of being here in the DR soooo....the island gave me a present aka Montezuma's Revenge, Delhi Belly, or as I call it The Dominican Drop. What a great gift right? If I lived in the States, I would stay at home all day near my Bano. However, I am a missionary teacher and we do not have substitute teachers in place yet. Therefore, I prayed to God for mercy on my soul and took off with the other staff to where the school is located, Montellano. Now, our vehicle, The Gua-Gua, sits about 11 comfortably....so it also doubles as a school bus. This entailed our fearless commander, Sharla, to drop us off on the side of the road near one of the villages, Chichigua, where we pick kids up. Thats right. The teachers got three Motos (rundown mopeds) to take us to Pancho Mateo, another village next to Montellano. Are you still with me? hah. The motos were friendly but still charged us 50 pesos a piece (little over a dollar). When we arrived at Pancho we encountered some kids eager to learn. Here comes the tricky part: take 30 something kids across a river while they are wearing nice clothes and shoes. My official job title is P.E. Teacher....BUT my unofficial titles consists of:
House Dad (the only guy besides Los Tweems)
Heavy lifter dude
Caballito (thats what the kids call me...it means horse...cuz they ride on my back)
River Guide
The last name came into play today. In which, I along with the other staff present, got in the middle of the not clean river water and carried kids to safe dry ground.
This event was repeated 6 times during the course of the day.
Here was the rest of my schedule for the day:
830-10Am: attempted to learn kids names and drew many pictures on the ground with chalk
10-1030Am: took Pancho kids back across river, successfully pegged the smallest girl with my flip flop straight in the face, and picked up the Preschool kids
1030-130Pm: told kids to be quiet, come back, go. Also, hugged crying kids, watched a kid pee literally all over the bathroom walls, sink, floor, himself, and almost me BUT never actually in the toilet, showed kids how to kick a ball (they already knew how...duh they are Dominican)
130-2Pm: Crossed the river...yadada
2-330Pm: Managed to make it through the day...laughed a ton at kids doing ridiculous stuff
All in all...the day was tiring but awesome...oh yeah...and The Dominican Drop did not own me at all during the school day...I win for now.
Day one over....day two.....I dont have a clue what I am gonna do.....BUT stay alive.
House Dad (the only guy besides Los Tweems)
Heavy lifter dude
Caballito (thats what the kids call me...it means horse...cuz they ride on my back)
River Guide
The last name came into play today. In which, I along with the other staff present, got in the middle of the not clean river water and carried kids to safe dry ground.
This event was repeated 6 times during the course of the day.
Here was the rest of my schedule for the day:
830-10Am: attempted to learn kids names and drew many pictures on the ground with chalk
10-1030Am: took Pancho kids back across river, successfully pegged the smallest girl with my flip flop straight in the face, and picked up the Preschool kids
1030-130Pm: told kids to be quiet, come back, go. Also, hugged crying kids, watched a kid pee literally all over the bathroom walls, sink, floor, himself, and almost me BUT never actually in the toilet, showed kids how to kick a ball (they already knew how...duh they are Dominican)
130-2Pm: Crossed the river...yadada
2-330Pm: Managed to make it through the day...laughed a ton at kids doing ridiculous stuff
All in all...the day was tiring but awesome...oh yeah...and The Dominican Drop did not own me at all during the school day...I win for now.
Day one over....day two.....I dont have a clue what I am gonna do.....BUT stay alive.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
School starts tomorrow.....
Work, work, work. The school is almost done and classes begin tomorrow! Today was a great day. We moved all the school supplies including construction paper, notebooks, posters, underwear, socks, shoes, scissors......you know all those things that make school, school. Entertainment was provided by the local boys in underwear running around in the rain, namely Diori, an 8 year old Dominican who has a lazy eye. Culture was bestowed upon me by one of the workers, Juan, a 38 year old. He showed up a little drunk (really drunk) and had a heart to heart with Elizabeth and I. This was followed by Juan taking me to his home. This is what I found at Juan's house:
His mom (clothed in a towel)
His grandma
His daughter
His wife? (Dominicans have multiple ladies running around)
6 or 7 local kids....probably his relatives
a dog
One bucket with a huge turtle
One bucket with live crabs
One bucket with pigs feet....which Juan told me were really delicious
All in all, I learned more about my dear friend and this incredible culture. Everyone is up in each other's business...no need for email, texts, or facebook. I love it though. I have really been thinking about moving to Montellano, where Juan lives and the schools location. Our maid, Luz, lives there and has an extra bedroom. Talk about culture overload. However, I did not come here for a cushy fluffy comfortable vacation. I came here to become Dominican...I want to be Dominican....I will be Dominican.
For those of yall that have been wondering. As of now, I have fallen in love maybe 50 times with Dominican women. Right now my crush is on Ivi, a four year old girl that is too cute. She loves to punch and kick me....we are meant to be. It might just have to be a long long long engagement.
I love and miss yall very very very much, but God is rockin me down here....and I am diggin it. Start teaching PE tomorrow...so pray, pray, pray.
His mom (clothed in a towel)
His grandma
His daughter
His wife? (Dominicans have multiple ladies running around)
6 or 7 local kids....probably his relatives
a dog
One bucket with a huge turtle
One bucket with live crabs
One bucket with pigs feet....which Juan told me were really delicious
All in all, I learned more about my dear friend and this incredible culture. Everyone is up in each other's business...no need for email, texts, or facebook. I love it though. I have really been thinking about moving to Montellano, where Juan lives and the schools location. Our maid, Luz, lives there and has an extra bedroom. Talk about culture overload. However, I did not come here for a cushy fluffy comfortable vacation. I came here to become Dominican...I want to be Dominican....I will be Dominican.
For those of yall that have been wondering. As of now, I have fallen in love maybe 50 times with Dominican women. Right now my crush is on Ivi, a four year old girl that is too cute. She loves to punch and kick me....we are meant to be. It might just have to be a long long long engagement.
I love and miss yall very very very much, but God is rockin me down here....and I am diggin it. Start teaching PE tomorrow...so pray, pray, pray.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Its a Tuesday..
Hola Friends and Family....even though I send out a monthly e-mail, I decided to keep yall informed on a weekly basis.
Today began like any other day...well actually not. Yesterday I decided to travel with one of the interns, Phillip Orchard, to Santiago. Phil had to catch his return flight to the states in the morn and I was up for some man time. If you didnt already know, I am outnumbered in the Makarios by females. Some guys would love the extra estrogen...however, I needed a break from it ....ha. I was quite surprised about our form of transportation there: an air conditioned clean bus. The hour long trip provided me a few moments of sleep before the long night. When we arrived at the bus station in Santiago, Ben showed up on his dirt bike. Phillip grabbed a taxi and I hopped behind Ben and we took off for his house. Ben, an American, lived the majority of his life as a missionary kid in Haiti, but now lives and works alongside his parents in Santiago. Over the past three weeks, Ben and I have gotten close and I can say he is my "buddy"...ha. Anyways, the evening was spent relaxing on the porch looking up at the stars and rocking out to some music.
At 6AM the next morning, my annoying alarm clock woke me up....the sun was just cracking and the roosters were crowing. Although I hated to get up, I did so I could see Phillip off. Ben made me some delicious omelette's which gave me the necessary protein to begin my day. Around 8AM, we jumped back on the dirt bike...this time I donned a glorious helmet along with my stuffed backpack. Looking at us from a distance, one could easily picture Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. The trip through the mountain road was glorious....I loved the scenery and little villages we passed by...truly breathtaking. About an hour later, I hobbled off the bike feeling as if I had just ridden a horse. My fingers were kinda numb from my kung fu like grip while I rode....and ready to get my paint on....which I did all morning.
The DR is my home for the year....this is a crazy realization which I still come to terms with on a daily basis. I miss my family and friends the most...I also miss my dog and TexMex and McCallum Young Life!!!
Keep on praying
Weston
Today began like any other day...well actually not. Yesterday I decided to travel with one of the interns, Phillip Orchard, to Santiago. Phil had to catch his return flight to the states in the morn and I was up for some man time. If you didnt already know, I am outnumbered in the Makarios by females. Some guys would love the extra estrogen...however, I needed a break from it ....ha. I was quite surprised about our form of transportation there: an air conditioned clean bus. The hour long trip provided me a few moments of sleep before the long night. When we arrived at the bus station in Santiago, Ben showed up on his dirt bike. Phillip grabbed a taxi and I hopped behind Ben and we took off for his house. Ben, an American, lived the majority of his life as a missionary kid in Haiti, but now lives and works alongside his parents in Santiago. Over the past three weeks, Ben and I have gotten close and I can say he is my "buddy"...ha. Anyways, the evening was spent relaxing on the porch looking up at the stars and rocking out to some music.
At 6AM the next morning, my annoying alarm clock woke me up....the sun was just cracking and the roosters were crowing. Although I hated to get up, I did so I could see Phillip off. Ben made me some delicious omelette's which gave me the necessary protein to begin my day. Around 8AM, we jumped back on the dirt bike...this time I donned a glorious helmet along with my stuffed backpack. Looking at us from a distance, one could easily picture Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. The trip through the mountain road was glorious....I loved the scenery and little villages we passed by...truly breathtaking. About an hour later, I hobbled off the bike feeling as if I had just ridden a horse. My fingers were kinda numb from my kung fu like grip while I rode....and ready to get my paint on....which I did all morning.
The DR is my home for the year....this is a crazy realization which I still come to terms with on a daily basis. I miss my family and friends the most...I also miss my dog and TexMex and McCallum Young Life!!!
Keep on praying
Weston
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