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but a group of our students were in an automobile accident on their way home Monday. Their parents pay a driver to take the whole bunch of them to and from school every day. One girl got pretty bruised up, but nothing more serious than that, PTL. They missed yesterday and today, while the car is being repaired, but we are expecting them tomorrow.
A new student came in, and registered for the fall. She is 6 years old and has never been to school previously.
Two of the boys got into a fist fight during school today.
K. and I went to the grocery store this evening, and it was pouring when we got out. We were pretty wet by the time we got all our groceries into the house.
Fruit loops are about $11, but were on sale for just $9 the other day. But broccoli was just around a half dollar for a nice sized bunch. The moral of the story: buy as little imported food as possible, and especially avoid the cereal aisle. (Note "corn flay" is what you call all cold cereals.)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
End of school year coming up
It's official: the school year will end on Thursday June 14th.
One unusual thing about school here is that teachers are paid 13 months salary a year. They are paid during the summer, and, like other employees in this country, they receive a Christmas bonus of a full month's salary.
"Veta," our deaf teacher, having just begun with us in April, isn't entitled to full summer pay yet. She has chosen the option of continuing to work while the others are off, so that she'll have a summer salary.
It will be a blessing to have someone to work alongside me, as I won't be able to go to the States at all this summer. We will be continuing curriculum development, printing up books, and making some home visits, among other things.
My move is mostly complete, although there is still plenty to unpack. Moving involves some different things when you live in the DR. For one thing, you don't usually just turn off your electricity. Instead, you sell your contract with the electric company to the next person coming in. This includes the cost of the electric meter that you actually purchased from the previous occupant when you came in. The phone company does something similar if you want it, asking you to pass on your phone service to a friend or relative if you don't want to take it with you.
Normally when you move, you take everything, down to the light bulbs.
Weather? Hot and humid. It has been raining off and on for two days, and the forecasters promise a similar week, with scattered thunder showers. This is important, because it usually means low attendance, our students mostly arriving on public transportation.
The National School is telling us they will be sending more students over for next school year. Oh my! What will we do with them?! We are considering if we need to move. Our space is one factor that will limit our growth, if we stay in this location. Of course we don't even have permission to stay yet, but anticipate approval.
One unusual thing about school here is that teachers are paid 13 months salary a year. They are paid during the summer, and, like other employees in this country, they receive a Christmas bonus of a full month's salary.
"Veta," our deaf teacher, having just begun with us in April, isn't entitled to full summer pay yet. She has chosen the option of continuing to work while the others are off, so that she'll have a summer salary.
It will be a blessing to have someone to work alongside me, as I won't be able to go to the States at all this summer. We will be continuing curriculum development, printing up books, and making some home visits, among other things.
My move is mostly complete, although there is still plenty to unpack. Moving involves some different things when you live in the DR. For one thing, you don't usually just turn off your electricity. Instead, you sell your contract with the electric company to the next person coming in. This includes the cost of the electric meter that you actually purchased from the previous occupant when you came in. The phone company does something similar if you want it, asking you to pass on your phone service to a friend or relative if you don't want to take it with you.
Normally when you move, you take everything, down to the light bulbs.
Weather? Hot and humid. It has been raining off and on for two days, and the forecasters promise a similar week, with scattered thunder showers. This is important, because it usually means low attendance, our students mostly arriving on public transportation.
The National School is telling us they will be sending more students over for next school year. Oh my! What will we do with them?! We are considering if we need to move. Our space is one factor that will limit our growth, if we stay in this location. Of course we don't even have permission to stay yet, but anticipate approval.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Post move
My niece Karen arrived last week and has been helping out in the school. It is great to have her help, as we have our hands full all the time. We are putting her Signing skills to good use. She has learned to prepare a basic powerpoint presentation, which we use for teaching reading, and is beginning to read picture books to the students, among other things.
We've also been scoping out new transportation, since I've moved to the other side of town. It used to be 20 minutes to get to the school, in two public cars (sort of a shared taxi on a route.) Now it is over an hour with one or two cars, plus a bus. The first day it took two hours to arrive! We whittled the return trip down to an hour and forty minutes. Yesterday we tried a whole different route, and were pleased to find we arrived in a mere hour and 20 minutes! Looks like that is going to be the winner. It is just one bus and one car.
Some of the bus time can be redeemed, using the time to read, study, and plan. The car time is more difficult to use, as there is usually no space to work. We are crammed into the back seat of a car that comfortably seats two, but seats three in a pinch. How many ride in it here? Four. I always get the feeling I'll be getting out skinnier than I went in! When it rains, it will be taxi time, because there is a 20 minute walk to get to the transportation routes.
Some have asked why I don't just get a car. There are a few reasons. One, it would probably add another $500US to my monthly costs, between maintanence and gas at over $4.00 a gallon, as well as insurance. This doesn't even consider the original cost of the car, which could be pretty high. But the biggest reason is just that driving here is absolutely crazy. A couple of weeks ago, in a public car, we riders heard on the radio that the government was taking steps to make people stop driving so poorly. Everyone in the car laughed, including the driver, because we all knew there was no way.
If you get in an accident here, and there are any injuries, you are arrested! It doesn't matter if you are at fault or not. Being single, I don't have someone to run bail me out. So I will stick with public transportation.
We aren't in a routine yet, but between the bus rides and classes we put in a full day's work. The school computer printouts are temporarily suspended while I get all the computer equipment set up again. Right now we are coming home almost too tired to cook dinner. Between the intense heat and the stress of new transportation, we are quite worn out. This, I am sure, is for the moment, and will gradually subside, as we get used to the new circumstances.
We are probably finishing school around mid-june. We follow the schedule of the National School for the deaf, so we cannot fix a time until they do. It may seem surprising that we don't have the whole school calendar planned out in advance, but that is the way it is done here.
We've also been scoping out new transportation, since I've moved to the other side of town. It used to be 20 minutes to get to the school, in two public cars (sort of a shared taxi on a route.) Now it is over an hour with one or two cars, plus a bus. The first day it took two hours to arrive! We whittled the return trip down to an hour and forty minutes. Yesterday we tried a whole different route, and were pleased to find we arrived in a mere hour and 20 minutes! Looks like that is going to be the winner. It is just one bus and one car.
Some of the bus time can be redeemed, using the time to read, study, and plan. The car time is more difficult to use, as there is usually no space to work. We are crammed into the back seat of a car that comfortably seats two, but seats three in a pinch. How many ride in it here? Four. I always get the feeling I'll be getting out skinnier than I went in! When it rains, it will be taxi time, because there is a 20 minute walk to get to the transportation routes.
Some have asked why I don't just get a car. There are a few reasons. One, it would probably add another $500US to my monthly costs, between maintanence and gas at over $4.00 a gallon, as well as insurance. This doesn't even consider the original cost of the car, which could be pretty high. But the biggest reason is just that driving here is absolutely crazy. A couple of weeks ago, in a public car, we riders heard on the radio that the government was taking steps to make people stop driving so poorly. Everyone in the car laughed, including the driver, because we all knew there was no way.
If you get in an accident here, and there are any injuries, you are arrested! It doesn't matter if you are at fault or not. Being single, I don't have someone to run bail me out. So I will stick with public transportation.
We aren't in a routine yet, but between the bus rides and classes we put in a full day's work. The school computer printouts are temporarily suspended while I get all the computer equipment set up again. Right now we are coming home almost too tired to cook dinner. Between the intense heat and the stress of new transportation, we are quite worn out. This, I am sure, is for the moment, and will gradually subside, as we get used to the new circumstances.
We are probably finishing school around mid-june. We follow the schedule of the National School for the deaf, so we cannot fix a time until they do. It may seem surprising that we don't have the whole school calendar planned out in advance, but that is the way it is done here.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Times are a changin'
Last Thursday I sprained my ankle. By Friday evening, I could not walk on it. As a result, no school for me on Friday.
This Friday I will be missing for a very different reason: my niece is coming into the country, and I'll be meeting her at the airport. She is fluent in Sign Language and will be helping at the deaf school. But best of all, she is a faithful Christian woman.
Today I went to ask about our staying at the same location next year. As it turns out, the Episcopal church that rents us space is changing priests. So it will be the new guy's decision. He will probably say yes, and raise the rent. Our greatest difficulty as a school thus far has always been the location. This one has been good for us, although barely adequate in terms of space. It doesn't really leave us any room for growth.
The preschool the church currently has, is going to be turned into a regular school with all ages under the new priest. This is doubtless going to mean a lot of change for us. They will be tearing down one of the two buildings (not the one we are in) to rebuild it as a school, with two stories instead of one. I don't relish the idea of a lot of building going on while we are in school.
The other change is that I will be moving this Saturday to the other side of town, to house sit for a missionary couple I know. They will be in the States for a year. After that, I'll be looking to see where the Lord will have me next. I'm thankful for the time I've had here, but the Lord has made it abundantly clear I'm not to return after the year is up.
There will be lots of walking at the new location, and I'll be much farther from school. Maybe I'll walk enough to get skinny again! (I'm trying to look on the bright side.) It's been very hot these last few days, and walking in the sun, even with an umbrella, as the custom is here, is not one of my favorite things to do right now.
Yesterday I checked the weather online, and it said 89° and "feels like 99°; you gotta love the heat index. It is pretty humid right now, having just rained a few minutes ago.
My house is in total disarray, as I'm packing up. I don't have boxes to put things in, so I've been using plastic garbage bags. Temporarily, I won't be able to make any school materials, but by the end of next week, everything should all be set up and ready to go again.
This Friday I will be missing for a very different reason: my niece is coming into the country, and I'll be meeting her at the airport. She is fluent in Sign Language and will be helping at the deaf school. But best of all, she is a faithful Christian woman.
Today I went to ask about our staying at the same location next year. As it turns out, the Episcopal church that rents us space is changing priests. So it will be the new guy's decision. He will probably say yes, and raise the rent. Our greatest difficulty as a school thus far has always been the location. This one has been good for us, although barely adequate in terms of space. It doesn't really leave us any room for growth.
The preschool the church currently has, is going to be turned into a regular school with all ages under the new priest. This is doubtless going to mean a lot of change for us. They will be tearing down one of the two buildings (not the one we are in) to rebuild it as a school, with two stories instead of one. I don't relish the idea of a lot of building going on while we are in school.
The other change is that I will be moving this Saturday to the other side of town, to house sit for a missionary couple I know. They will be in the States for a year. After that, I'll be looking to see where the Lord will have me next. I'm thankful for the time I've had here, but the Lord has made it abundantly clear I'm not to return after the year is up.
There will be lots of walking at the new location, and I'll be much farther from school. Maybe I'll walk enough to get skinny again! (I'm trying to look on the bright side.) It's been very hot these last few days, and walking in the sun, even with an umbrella, as the custom is here, is not one of my favorite things to do right now.
Yesterday I checked the weather online, and it said 89° and "feels like 99°; you gotta love the heat index. It is pretty humid right now, having just rained a few minutes ago.
My house is in total disarray, as I'm packing up. I don't have boxes to put things in, so I've been using plastic garbage bags. Temporarily, I won't be able to make any school materials, but by the end of next week, everything should all be set up and ready to go again.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Death in the DR
Melvin died this evening. He never really had a chance once he broke his neck. It is a difficult situation anywhere, but in a developing country, it is almost a sure death sentence. The first doctor he saw sent him home didn't even recognize it, saying he would be better in the morning.
Then later, when he was taken to the ER and admitted, he lived on for a week. Other strange things went on towards the end. The family was told he was dead, then an hour later that he was still alive, but that he was dying. Imagine going through that.
Usually here people are not informed that a person is dead right away. Instead they are told in stages. First they are injured or sick (even though they have already passed away), then after a while when they get used to the idea, the person is informed of the death. As a result, when someone is only injured or very sick, people assume the worst--that the person may, in fact, be dead. This time they got it backwards.
I still remember my own hospital stay, when the front desk refused to talk to me because I was the patient. They said they would only talk to my relatives. When I informed them I had no relatives present in the DR, they would only talk to my friends! Both patients and relatives are often not allowed to know the full extent of the patient's condition. Sometimes one relative is let in on the secret, but makes the decision not to inform the others.
Then later, when he was taken to the ER and admitted, he lived on for a week. Other strange things went on towards the end. The family was told he was dead, then an hour later that he was still alive, but that he was dying. Imagine going through that.
Usually here people are not informed that a person is dead right away. Instead they are told in stages. First they are injured or sick (even though they have already passed away), then after a while when they get used to the idea, the person is informed of the death. As a result, when someone is only injured or very sick, people assume the worst--that the person may, in fact, be dead. This time they got it backwards.
I still remember my own hospital stay, when the front desk refused to talk to me because I was the patient. They said they would only talk to my relatives. When I informed them I had no relatives present in the DR, they would only talk to my friends! Both patients and relatives are often not allowed to know the full extent of the patient's condition. Sometimes one relative is let in on the secret, but makes the decision not to inform the others.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Sad
I only have five minutes before I run off to the school, but I wanted to note something. There is a deaf man, 18 years old, who broke his neck this past weekend. He is in the hospital a block from my house, and I'll go to see him today. I know he is paralyzed from the neck down. The public hospital is not prepared to deal with someone like him. I understand they have him in a neck brace--one like we might use for a bad case of whiplash.
More later.
More later.
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