The other really fun "dinner parties" that I had involved about 8 of the neighborhood muchachos. They all bring as many little pesos as they can (usually about 5-10), and we buy plantains and salami. Then, THEY were actually "cooking" (all we did is fry everything)!! Granted, there was a lot of wrestling and running around my house, but they were generally well-behaved (to my surprise). They played my board games, read books, and colored so much that I ran out of paper. The only problem--they also went through about 10 plantains, a BOTTLE of ketsup, and THREE packets of juice! I love having them over but they eat me out of house and home! And now I have little muchachos over literally everyday...so I think I might have to start taking some days off =)
Right after my summer camp ended, I had to go to our Three-Month In-Service Training, where we basically had 8 days to learn more about how to raise money for our projects, design and implement work plans, and deal with possible challenges. We also had tons of time to hang out in these AWESOME rocking chairs, eat tons of food, and have "reggaeton dance parties." The site was really beautiful (hopefully I will be getting pictures from Robyn soon)...it was in the mountains so we actually WEREN'T sweating all day! We learned a lot about how to write grant proposals, which will hopefully help me build my library! All in all, it was a great escape from our sites!
This is the veiw of my precious school (taken from the cable car). It´s so huge! You would be able to see my host family´s house, but it is hidden by the trees. Anyway, Dengue made me mad because I had to miss pretty much the first week and 2 days...of our THREE week camp. Plus, I missed the field trip to Ocean World! ¡Què triste! Anyway, I did get to spend the rest of the time working with half of our group-about 12 kids. Though I had very little time to prepare and had NO clue what they had been studying, I threw some stuff together and we worked everyday from 8 until almost noon. We colored a lot, and we had a little reading circle everyday. I was SO thrilled that they loved the books! Even though just about everything else was a bit chaotic, they always sat quietly and attentively for reading time. So thanks for all of the books, mom! Being their teacher was probably one of the most challenging things I have ever done, so I have already learned A LOT. For the most part, however, I had a lot of fun working with them and look forward to similar programs in the next two years! Here they are standing by all of the work that I posted on the wall, and to the right is a group of kid playing one of our homemade reading games.
After all of this time living in Puerto Plata, I FINALLY went to our most popular tourist beach. Kelsi and Jen came up from their sites outside of Santiago to baske with me in the best thing that this country has to offer-the BEACH. A 20 peso guagua ride got us to the entrance of Playa Dorada. We randomly wandered around until we found a pretty spot on the beach, and sat down on the lawn chairs that belong to some resort. We´re pretty sure that we were at some all-inclusive resort area but, since we are gringas, no one bothered us! My host dad said that people are not allowed to eat outside food on the beach (only the resort food)...but, again the gringa thing, we got away with it. My host mom wouldn´t let me leave the house without packing us food, so I´m pretty sure we were the only people on the beach eating mangù (which is mashed plantains) with fried salami and onions. We are SO dominican sometimes. The water was like bath water and, aside from the tiny white crab that bit my toe, there was nothing but clear sand (no seaweed!!). We had an awesome, relaxing day and have vowed to go to Playa Dorada once month! Hopefully, this can actually happen soon (once I get my OWN apartment!).
Normally, when the Dominicans say,"Let´s go the rìo," I shudder with images of dirty, shallow, FREEZING rivers full of Dominicans drinking and bathing. Naturally, then, when I was invited on an end-of-the year teacher trip to the river, I wasn´t exactly thrilled. I mean, we live in Puerto Plata...doesn´t ANYONE like the beach?!?! Anyway, things started to look brighter when we piled up about 20 teachers, BUCKETS full of rice, plantains, etc., TWO coolers of Presidente, about 15 bottles of pop, and rum into a guagua. We drove east along the coast for about an hour, until we got to the river, in a place that I think is called Jamao. I was shocked to discover that the river was GORGEOUS! They actually had garbage cans so the landscape wasn´t covered in trash, and people were actually swimming! The whole day ended up being pretty fun. Although most of the teachers (like all dominicans) don´t know how to swim, this time there were a few who do swim, and we were climbing up rocks and jumping off cliffs. There was even a vine to swing from! (Pictured: A member of our cleaning staff swinging from the rope vine). The food was hilarious-we literally had a BUCKET full of moro (rice mixed with beans), a BUCKET of boiled plantains, two crates full of roasted pork, salad, roasted vegetables, gallons and gallons of homemade juices and, my personal favorite--about 100 mangos. There was swimming, volleyball, cards, dominoes, and drinking. All in all a really fun day, except for when our creepy bus driver started talking to me all about how I could have a boyfriend here and at home. After my attempt to explain to him that I have values didn´t work, I just told him that I wasn´t interested in having either! I still hate being a creepster magnet, but the river was SWEET.
