Muy divertido!

Hola! This week has been very fun, yet also very tiring so far! I am having a great time planning and teaching reading and English classes. I'm finding it difficult to lead a guided reading lesson (sorry, that's teacher talk) without much ability to ask questions in Spanish or understand my students' answers. I just do my best to piece together questions (sometimes they look at me funny :) and usually nod my head at the answers they give me just because they are participating. This method would never fly in the US, but it seems to work for me in a village where there are no books except what we bring. I am having a lot of fun teaching the English classes because I get to speak more English, and they eat it up! Today our whole group was really tired in Cercadillo because we had such a busy day yesterday.

We have a group of women in from Massachusetts (they are doing a census of Cercadillo for Ina, sewing classes, a health session, and some Bible studies) so we went and did some extra sight-seeing yesterday. We went down to the Colonial City where all of the Christopher Columbus (Cristoval Colon en espanol) sights are. We visited the outside of the first church built in the Americas (I didn't pay to go in because they charge $16 per person and I went two years ago with TIME), a fortress from just after Columbus's time, and a park commemorating the three founding fathers, Duarte, Sanchez, and Mella. The park has some walls around it from just after Columbus's time and some amazing opportunities for flower photograpy. I have recently developed a love for taking pictures of flowers so I was in heaven! Surrounding the park where the "three dead guys" (as Ina likes to call them) are buried was an amazing display of photographs remembering the group of people who led the uprising against Trujillo. It was very interesting and informative. I am interested to learn more about this time in the Dominican Republic's history.

We finished our afternoon by visiting the Mercado where you can find gifts and souviners for awesome prices if you know how to bargain. I'm still learning this skill! After that we had some time to kill before our dinner reservations so we went to a beautiful spot to overlook the Caribbean. We were fortunate to be able to walk out on some rocks and sit out on a ledge where the ocean waves crashed underneath us! It was breathtaking with the ocean before me and only the sound of the waves crashing! I could have sat there forever, but more adventures awaited us! We ended our day by eating authentic Dominican cuisine at a restaurant called El Conuco that featured Dominican dancers and the opportunity to Merengue (the dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. Most of our team danced at least one dance with either Esteban, a friend from TIME, or the famous "man in the red hat"! Both amazing dancers. Hopefully we will be able to go one more time before I head home. I know, sounds like some "mission trip":)

Today we were in Cercadillo all day (yes, that means peeing in the bushes :) teaching reading and English classes and beginning a sewing project with the ladies from Massachusetts that we affectionately call the "Ocho Mujeres"! Tomorrow morning the women will be doing a much needed health information class and handing out hygiene and first aid kits to each household who sends a representative to the class as well as finishing the sewing projects. In the afternoon, we will be doing a lot of fun activities for the kids with the help of a group of junior high students who are currently working here with TIME Ministries. We are excited about this because they are planning everything so we get an evening off tonight!

Until next time please be praying for our team's energy level and some time of relaxation that is much needed but seeming to elude us. Please also continue praying for the Spirit to move in Cercadillo as we are planting seeds! Thank you for being part of our team!!! Until next time...