What can you buy on the streets of Santo Domingo?

Well… just about anything…

Super man kites?

Coconuts?

Skim Ice… it’s like Flavor-Ice, but way better!

Puppy Dogs?

Oranges?

.

Children?… no not really, but you can buy their service – window washing?

 

Drinks, soda, water, even alcohol?

 

Cell phone chargers, Ipod adapters, Blackberry covers?

Reloadable cell phone minutes, cigarettes, news papers, magazines, small chickens, life size wall maps, globes, sugar cane, cookies, sunglasses, t-shirts, dvds…. you name it you can probably get it all through your car window. AND, if they don’t have it, with in a whistle or two they will have someone at your window who does… all for a small  fee.

Life in the DR… It’s never dull!

Science Fair

All month students have been preparing for Science Fair. Tomorrow are their presentations. This isn’t just a “bring in your poster and explain” kind of thing. THIS is SCIENCE FAIR! aka… art fair, take the whole week to paint fair, skip all your classes fair. The kind of fair where nothing else matter except SCIENCE.

We did spend most of the afternoon putting final touches on the room.

Girls were busy working…

And the boys… well… boys will be boys.

At the end of the day they all sat around and sang a very cool song. I thought it was kind of neat. When I asked what they were singing, they looked at me and held up a glue stick. The words were “this glue sticks- UGH (brand name)”… they had made it up on the spot. I thought it was a real song- they were singing in Spanish.

Here is some photos from the day of presentations. I had a lot of comments on the students’ work. They did a GREAT job. It makes a teacher proud ! 

   

We had the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grader in the room watching too. It makes my room look really BIG having all the kids in my room.

Marvin and his class came to watch.

  

 

BAKE SALES!

Throughout the year each class has sales they participate in so they can raise money for graduation. This week was our bake sale… yes also the week of Science Fair. We were pressed for time so we decided to make Rice Krispie treats, something easy and fun. So Thursday after school, 8 of my 9th graders headed over to the house to BAKE. We made 10 batches of RKT for a total of 100 pieces, we ate as we baked as well. On Friday, we sold all of them!! Making a total of $75 for their class. It was an easy $75 too!

FFM

I am.... watching Marvin play Mario
I should...be doing something physical
I dream....rarely, I sleep to hard
I want....subway
I know... Jesus loves me.
I don't like…when the power goes out
I hear....racing motor bikes by our window
I fear....being eaten alive by mosquitoes

I search...for teaching jobs for next year
I regret....giving Fran a bath today
I wonder....how baking Rice Krispie Treats on Thursday with 13 9th graders is going to go
I crave....Subway
I remember...snow in Michigan, sort of miss it actually

I need.....air conditioning
I feel....lazy and a little bored

I can....hop on one foot
I can't....hop in the air and click my heals twice
I am happy....to live with my best friend- MCV
I sing....when songs get stuck in my head

I listen...to podcasts, Dave Ramsey, ABC News, NPR
I shop.....at Jumbo, a lame comparison to Target

I eat....pizza tonight, Papa John’s

I love.....getting a good deal, not many to be had here
Happy Tuesday!!!

Click on over to Becca’s to see another post like this.

How do things like this happen?

My sister in law has a blog that I like to read. One of her posts include a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell posting. I’m titling this one the same…

Marvin was washing chicken and then all of a sudden bang… no more kitchen sink.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly! Volume 1

So it seems like everyone in the blogging world is doing something like this lately- volumes of random happenings in their neck of the woods. So here is ours… what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s down right ugly about the DR… Issue Numero Uno!

The Good- fabulous lakeside sunsets

The Bad- Crazy traffic

The Ugly- This is just plain gross, add to it no toilet paper and no soap… I think I’ll just wait til I get home 

Thank you for subscribing to THE GBU Blog… more to come!

It’s a whale of a tale!

Last weekend Marvin and I when on a whale watching tour just off the north coast in Samana. It was an adventure! We drove up early on Saturday morning and decided to take the 1:30 tour. We ate lunch at a little cafe and walked the board walk before the tour. The board walk reminded us a little of Grand Haven.

We took a tour with Kim on board Victoria II. There were about 75 people on the boat so it wasn’t that crowded.

Once we got to the HOT SPOT we saw whales for about an hour. We encountered a mom here baby which was only a month old and a male escort which is common for female women with children to have.  One of my students when the weekend before us and said they saw them jumping and flipping and all that stuff. We caught them “logging” which means a resting time. They came very close to the boat though.

      

We took about 10 videos and this was the one that you could see the most. But I can’t get them to upload. I think it’s the format I’m using. Marvin is going to look at it. If we get it working I’ll post later. :(

On the way back to the harbor I caught some photos along the coast

    

Then for the Dominican Holiday they started to have a parade- All of a sudden it seemed like. You can never tell if there is a parade going on here because people sit next to the road with their lawn chair and snacks all the time! We got stuck right in the middle of it. It was a little scary because people told us they can get violent. People in masks carry around bags filled with rice and try to hit you with them. It’s said to be good luck if you get hit, but you do get a very large welt! I’d rather have bad luck.