Run Forest Run

So this morning the Villanova team that is here went on a sunrise hike. They left at 5:45 to drive to El Morro and hike up little El Morro to catch the sunrise. Christine and I decided we would run (jog) to El Morro and catch a ride back with them so we did. We left around 6:25 and started on our journey. The run was 4 miles which was a great run. We passed many Dominican women walking out by the salt flats getting their exercise, passed pink flamingos in the ocean, and had a gorgeous view of the ocean and El Morro most of the way! The only kicker is to get to the top of the national park, you have to climb a hill that is about as steep as the hill from Vine Street up to High Street but 2-3 times longer. It was a bear to jog, although it may have been at a 20 minute mile pace, but I did it. That started out the day in a nice, refreshing way.

This quickly was erased when we showed up at the school and the kids were horrible today that we taught. They wouldn't stay seated, only about 4 out of 20 were paying any sort of attention and they were talking the whole time they tried to teach. I was the evil dictator walking around the room telling students to sit down and be quite. This is a 5th grade classroom, they should not have to be reminded every 2 seconds but they needed it today. The teacher was already gone when we showed up so all chaos broke out. It was quite stressful because I felt mean yelling at them but there was no control. Eventually we had to get the principal who came in and things turned around 180 in about 5 seconds. The straightened up their desks, sat in their own seats, and didn't make a peep. She stayed in there for 10-15 minutes and they were so good and participated and listened. Hopefully, they will be good tomorrow but we'll see. I threatened not to come back if they weren't good but it didn't seem to help. Be glad you teach in the states if you are a teacher!!!


At recess one of the little girls, that I didn't even know, brought me and Sharon a Skim Ice. These are like the flavored popsicles that are long and basically just flavored ice in the long plastic wrap that you buy in bulk as liquid and then freeze. They are so good and it was a nice treat especially since we were a little frustrated! I had tamarino, which is hard to explain but it is a fruit that they eat here but it kind of tastes like apple cider.


There is a little girl from 2nd grade named Emily that took a liking to me yesterday and found me immediately today and stayed by my side. She is super cute and very sweet! After recess, we walked back to the orphanage and the group had time to plan for tomorrow's lesson.


After lunch today, I took a nap because I was sleepy from the run this morning. I then went to play with some of the kids. I sat with Nicol, one of the oldest girls here, and just talked about nothing. It is always fun to hang out with some of the older kids and just talk instead of having to run around, chase, and hold the little ones. Both are nice but it was a great time to catch up with her and relax. Later the little ones were climbing up an old swing pole and hanging from the top and dropping onto an old mattress that had a big hole in it. Well about 2 minutes into playing, they started screaming and telling me to come over there. Another tarantula! Luis Alberto killed it with one of the girls shoes. Gross! We played here for a few minutes before I had to leave to go to school this afternoon.

This afternoon was much better than this morning. The class was pretty calm and seemed to pay attention pretty well. One kid was "dancing" dirty behind me when I was in the doorway and I didn't see it. Bryson happened to walk up at that point and disciplined the kid and threatened to take him to the principal. He got a frightened look on his face and said he was only dancing. Here they use corporal punishment so it isn't uncommon for them to get spanked, or an ear tugged, etc. After class, we had 15 minutes recess with the kids. At the end, I got to break up what was about to be a fight between two boys, luckily we were leaving and one of the teachers saw it and took control. It's amazing what happens at these schools!

After teaching, we went to a little museum here in Monte Cristi and then for ice cream. The lady at the ice cream shop kept telling us the flavors but they were all wrong. Eventually I asked what one was and she said "I'm not sure". Great business huh? Oh well, the volunteers enjoyed their ice cream. We came back to the orphanage and had about 30 minutes before dinner.

After dinner I went and hung out with the kids for a bit and then went to shower. I felt so sticky and nasty from sweating all day today. After showering, I came back and Koral, a 12 year old girl here was sitting on my lap like the little ones. She was wearing me out but she was funny also. Later David, a little 5 year old with the cutest smile but very mischevious, was sitting on the ledge crying so hard. I went and picked him up and rocked him until he fell asleep. I'm still not sure what he was crying about but he was so sad and cute b/c he just cuddled in my arms and was out in about 10 minutes. I went inside the comedor and tickled some of the little ones again. They love this for some reason!

I'm going to call it a night early tonight, the run made me tired. Will continue to try to get more pictures, especially of the orphanage kids. I might have to borrow some from Coco on Facebook so I can introduce you to all the kids because they often avoid pictures!