The waterslide (to the right of the tiny falls). More pics of that to come... 

Each of those little dark hanging things are wasps nests. And there were more... 

Enjoying the sun... 

Us and pretty waterfall 

The Stadium 

Pretty Waterfall 

The Us (and yes, Daniel is wearing a Sox shirt. HA!) 

The Game 

The field 

A Dominican Baseball Game and Waterfalls

Hmmmm… what do those two things have in common? I’m not quite sure.

On Friday night we attended a Dominican Baseball (beisbol) game in Santiago. The Santiago team (Aguilas- Eagles) played another team (I’m not quite sure of the name). It was quite a cultural experience. We went with Steve (Erin and baby Ryan were still in the states), a couple our age, and Dylan (our neighbor’s son). First, we went to the Pasta House. It was yummy. We even ate mushrooms. Mmmmm…..mushrooms… Sorry, getting off track. Then we stopped briefly at Nacional (a real, big grocery store!), and then headed for the game. We bought our tickets and proceeded inside where we were all given a bag of two orange thunder/noise sticks to inflate. Then we found our seats (they were pretty low and had a good view). Apparently some major league U.S. players play in the Dominican league to keep in shape during the off season, so Miguel Tejada, and some other American players were on the Santiago team. It was nice to go some where in the D.R. and actually know what was going on! (Since baseball is baseball) (Daniel says “That’s deep.”) The cultural part came with the atmosphere. The music was, of course, Latin. There were “cheerleader” type girls who danced to Meringue with their pompoms. The place was pretty empty but it was LOUD! Between the music, cheering, and plastic horns that people were selling, we had to yell to each other to hear. In addition to this, TONS of people walked by selling things (way more than in the states). Food items, of course, were sold, such as hot dogs, pizza, pastalitos (sp?), fresh fruit, coffee, cheese and salami on toothpicks (big pieces!), etc. Phone cards, flashlights, lottery tickets, and the usual paraphernalia. All in all, we had a great time.

On Saturday we hiked down to the bamboo hole with 4 other teachers from our school (Regan, Katie, Renee, and Jen). We had a great time. We played, went down a natural water slide, and enjoyed the beautiful, summer-like weather. We even admired millions of wasps (from afar). Supposedly this waterfall and others near by were used in shots from Jurassic Park.

As for other news: this week is final exam week. Yay! We get to be on the other end and give the exams, which of course means grading. Ah well, the students have half days so we get plenty of time to do so. Another interesting piece of news is that we took Chai into the vet to get spayed. Poor Chai. L We won’t get her back until Thursday. An interesting thing is that I just read Ashley’s blog about supporting getting animals spayed and neutered. The Dominican Republic needs that badly!!! Especially for dogs, as stray dogs wander the streets constantly. And that is why we keep Chai in doors. Anyway, I don’t think we have anything else interesting to say, so I’ll close. Unless Daniel wants to add anything. Daniel?

Hi

Wow, that was insightful. Thank you Daniel.

God bless!

BAAAAAAAAA! ;) 

Christmas with the Parishes 

Christmas with the Gerigs 

Christmas with the Petersons 

Break and More

Pretend this was posted Wednesday ;) Teresa wrote the “MORE,” but Daniel was slow on the “BREAK.” ;)

BREAK: (Daniel)
Our break was good and relaxing… maybe too relaxing… to the point that we were often tired from not doing enough. We stayed at my (Daniel’s) parents’ house except for Christmas Eve when we were at the Gerig’s. New Year’s Eve we got to hang out with high school friends and then New Year’s Day we went down to Taylor for 3 days. I know this is way too brief, but you read this for the “more” anyway ;)

MORE: (Teresa)
Our trip back was exhausting. After 2 flights (our first one arriving early and our second one being delayed an hour, allowing us to catch it in spite of the very short lay-over) were the easy part. Then came the taxi ride where the taxi driver insisted on over charging us even though we have done the same taxi drive several times before. He also drove super slow and I was afraid we would miss our bus to Jarabacoa, which, if we did we would have to spend the night somewhere or pay more to take a bus to La Vega and a taxi to Jarabacoa. Luckily, we made it with 20 minutes to spare. After the 3 hour bus ride, we finally arrived in Jarabacoa and walked home. It was interesting being greeted at the bus station and having being ask us if we knew where we were going. (Yes, we're going home!) I was impressed though! Not a lot of Dominicans in Jarabacoa speak English. So after all of that, and constantly being worried about missing the next mode of transportation, we decided that we'd rather pay a little more and fly to and from Santiago. It's only 30 minutes away instead of 2-3 hours!
Anyway, we're slowly adjusting back to school life. It's good to be back, but it's hard to get in to the swing of working again. The hard part is making myself grade or plan after the school day. But, it is good to see my students again. I missed them.
Here's some interesting information about the weather. Apparently, it did not rain the whole time we were gone on break (which killed a few of our plants and left our house VERY dusty). Well, it started raining on Saturday. And rained on Sunday. And Monday. And Tuesday. And some on Wednesday. But then today it turned in to a beautiful, sunny, Carribean day. And don't worry, I'm not expecting you to feel sorry for us about the rain. We know we're spoiled with our 70's temperatures.
Well, that's about it. Sorry to bore you with the regulars of life. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened yet. But tomorrow we're going to a baseball game! Yay! We're almost hooked up with our Vonage. Give us a call! :) God bless!

We're home!!!!

We arrived safely at home on Saturday night. On Sunday we spent time with Daniel's extended family. Sunday night and Monday night we spent time with my family. During the days we've been shopping and wrapping and doing some relaxing. But now, we're finally done shopping and we can breath.
It's great to be back in Wheaton, but it's very cold! Although I'm glad to see snow and it's not to bad to be in the cold knowing we're going back to warmth in a few weeks.
Now that we're home, we'd love to talk to people and hang out. If you want us to call you, send us your number (Joanna and Ashley, I think I lost yours when I got rid of my cell). We'll email our vonage phone number out soon. :)
Alright, well, we'll update you when something exciting happens. hehe ;)

Almost there...

3 more days! I am so excited I'm about to burst. It's been so hard to concentrate on anything knowing that we'll be back in Wheaton soon. This week had dragged on. Every day I've been confused on what day it was (yesterday I thought it was Wed. Today I keep thinking it's Thur.) But, we only have two days of school left and then we leave on Saturday! In spite of the slow, tiring week, though, tonight was a bright spot. For bible study (there is a separate girl's and guy's English bible study on Wed. that some JCS and Escuela Caribe people attend) we've been going through the book of Hebrews. It's loaded with lots of deep connections to the Old Testment, comparing the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, etc. Tonight we went through Hebrews 9. It talked about Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice for our sins once and for all, fulfilling the Old Testament sacrifices that the people had to do continually. How blessed we are that our sins have been paid for- completely and totally! It amazes me how perfectly God fit everything- especially between the Old and New Testament. I've been going through the Christmas story with my students, and explaining some about how God prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus came how it would happen. It's like puzzle pieces fitting together to make a beautiful story. How glad I am to know that God is in control! Well, those are my ramblings for the night. Now that we have our own internet, we'll be able to share more about what's going on in our minds, not just in our house and school. :) God bless!

Weather, Pizza, and Cookies

What a beautiful Sunday! Esta Domingo lindo! It is very sunny and over 80 degrees. You can check it out here: http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/DRXX0004.
This is the weather report for La Vega, a city a little ways down the mountain. (1000 feet lower in elevation). It's the closest weather report we can find. It's hard to believe that it's almost Christmas and it's strange to listen to Christmas Carols when it's so warm out!

It's been a busy week for both of us, trying to catch up from last week and write final exams which are due on wed and thurs. Friday night we have the boys from my (Teresa's) class over to our house for pizza and games. All five of them came and we had a great time! They declared it was the best pizza they'd ever had. :) Aren't they sweet?
Saturday, after shopping at the Veggie market and having a huge Dominican lunch and ice cream for 180 pesos total (about $6), we had a JCS cookie baking day at our house. We made tons of sugar cookies, some for the JCS party next Friday, and many for all of us to keep. We also made graham cracker cookies with brown sugar and butter. We ate way too much sweets. Then for dinner Leah made us fajita pizza (a Leah speciality) and we went to another staff members house for a Christmas party. She lives with girls that work at other ministries in the area, so it was fun to meet people outside of JCS. All in all, we've had a good weekend and are soooo looking forward to coming to Wheaton in a week! Yay!:) It's almost here. I hope the next week goes quickly! :)

Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus (the Chases) 

The play 

Carolers 

Decorated for Christmas! 

The Christmas Program 

Our Christmas tree:) 

The "campout" 

Our first Thanksgiving together! 

Playing our guitars 

Our Thanksgiving meal 

Thanksgiving and the Christmas Program

It’s been a busy week! Last week we had Thanksgiving break. It was wonderful and relaxing! After a filling meal of the traditional Thanksgiving foods (except cranberry sauce L ), we went home to rest for a bit. Then in the evening we went to The Chase’s house (a couple that works at JCS) with some other teachers and “camped out.” We were going to go camping Friday night, but it had been rainy and wet, so we didn’t think it would be a good idea. So we decided to camp out at the Chases Thursday night. We played settlers, sang songs, watched a movie, and Daniel and I slept in their guest room. So it was nothing like camping out except that they had a tent set up in their living room that a few teachers slept in. The next morning Steve Chase made us a wonderful breakfast of waffles, scrambled eggs, and turkey (for Daniel who said it was a tradition to have turkey mixed with mayonnaise and garlic for breakfast the morning after Thanksgiving. We put mayonnaise and garlic powder on it. It was good). After a relaxing morning, we went back home and relaxed some more.
This past week was a crazy week for JCS. Last night (Friday) we had the Christmas program, which Daniel and I volunteered to help plan. It was a Christmas dinner combined with a school play and dancing. So all week we were preparing for that. It turned out pretty good (and Dominican- last minute changes, kids running everywhere, people showing up 45 minutes late who were supposed to run things, etc.) We had our Jesus change last minute too, and it was the first time we had everyone together who were in the play (students here have no concept of practice- none of them wanted to practice beforehand- it was like pulling teeth!) But, taking all that into account, it went pretty well. We did the story of the three trees (it’s a neat, short story, you can look it up online if you’ve never heard it). The three trees dream of becoming something great. But they become a tiny fishing boat, a manger, and a cross. They are very disappointed, but then realize that they played a part in something bigger than they could imagine- the story of Jesus Christ’s salvation! Included in the play we had ballet dancing, and to start it off, some of the older students danced a traditional Dominican dance. Then dinner was at 8:30 (early for Dominican programs!). Daniel, another teacher, and a group of students did a few caroling songs during dinner. It was the first time JCS did something this big for the Christmas Program, so I think people liked it.
In two weeks Daniel and I will be flying to Wheaton! We’re excited to see family and celebrate Christmas with them. On January 1st ish we’ll be driving over to Upland to visit people. Those of you there, let us know if you’ll be around and want to get together! Wheaton and area people- we want to see all of you!
Oh we also thought you might want to know that it’s about 80 degree and sunny here. In case you were wondering. ;)
P.S. We would love to hear from you and if you email us we will do our best to write back! :)

Our happenings

Our pictures pretty much show what's being going on. A few weeks ago we went hiking (view the pictures). We also went hiking a week later (a week ago). We hiked up one of the harder hikes in Jarabacoa but it was a beautiful view. Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera. This past weekend we got a lot of good work done. Daniel made a cat play tower thing out of wood. I re-organized and cleaned the pantry from bat doo-doo (after we cemented the holes we missed earlier). Unforatunately, I developed some strange rash covering my hands. I wore yellow rubber gloves all day so I could do things, but it was ouchy. Luckily, Daniel thought to go to the pharmacy and get some cream medicine. It cleared up quickly after that. Thank you Daniel! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to teach Monday (it hurt a lot). What a good husband! This Wed. we are going to one of my student's family's house to eat. Thursday is the Thanksgiving celebration. Friday we're going camping with JCS people. This weekend we're going to buy a little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree and decorate for Christmas! Yay! :)
We'll be in touch. :)

Our mighty jungle beast charges at the camera... 

Roasting a marshmallow using a toothpick and pliers.