That's a broma.

I am proud to announce that I am officially used to taking cold showers. I don't know if I mentioned this in my last post, but we don't have hot water here, so cold showers are something we must endure. However, I am writing this post with a towel on my head announcing to cyberspace that I didn't even shiver once from the cold water. So there's that.

Our favorite thing to say currently is "That's a broma." Broma means "joke," for those who don't know Spanish. You know what's a broma? The fact I'm sick. And crocs. I still don't understand them.

Last week we went on vacation to Santo Domingo, the capital of the DR. We stayed in the temple hostel for two nights and then the Courtyard Marriott for one night. Both were heavenly because we FINALLY had HOT showers, excellent WiFi, good food (and fast food), and had many adventures. We went Thursday-Sunday, so let me break it down day-by-day for you.

THURSDAY: We left at about 7:45 a.m., 45 minutes behind schedule, I'll add. A man who works for the Dominican Starfish Foundation, Jose, drove us and our Native Coordinator, Amarillis, joined us as well. We went to the Agora Mall, chosen because it had a Forever21 and a Victoria's Secret. Side note on the VS: it's just perfume and body lotion--a small little store. Step up your game, VS. Forever21 was glorious though. I bought two dresses, a shirt, a jacket, and sunglasses. I also bought a swimsuit from a store called Jumbo, which is like a Walmart. Melia's uncle ended up being in town on business and met up with us and bought us Quizno's. Also saw Tomorrowland in IMAX so that was pretty freaking fantastic.

FRIDAY: Went to a bakery for breakfast, went to La Zona Colonial and looked around and chilled in the Cathedral there for a bit. Then, we went to a touristy shopping street in La Zona Colonial called El Conde. Your girl bargained her little heart the best she could and got many souvenirs for herself and others for cheaper than they were priced. After that we went to Los Tres Ojos, which is a national park that's like lakes hidden in caves. Totes mesmerizing. I got McDonald's for dinner and I was so freaking happy. I don't even like McDonald's food, but it was a treat to have something I'm used to to eat. Then, I got to do temple baptisms and confirmations in the Santo Domingo Temple. Hands down favorite part of the trip.

SATURDAY: We moved over to the Marriott and Aly, Megan, Jyll, Haley, and I went to a beach in Santo Domingo. We road a banana boat. That was a joyous ride. I can now say I've swam in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea and I feel like such a little adventurer. The Caribbean Sea is warm water, btdubs. AUNT MADDY IF YOU READ THIS: my favorite beach I've been to is definitely Sosua. It's the most clean, clear, and very friendly. Then we just chilled at hotel a bit. Ashley and I stayed back at Marriott while the other six girls went dancing. I actually got some sad news later that night and I'm so thankful for my chicas for being so kind and comforting me through it that night and since then.

SUNDAY: Got to chill in the hotel until noon. Hung by the pool and had McDonald's for breakfast. Then, we went home.

This last week, I taught shop, which is where you build stuff to use. Some of the things we made included sling shots, a pirate ship, and pan flutes. Wednesday my niece, Avery, graduated preschool. I'm proud. Thursday my brother Ryan graduated high school. Also proud. On Friday, Melia, Jyll, and I went to the Sosua. We actually took a motorcycle and fit four people on it! The motorcycles here are pretty small. We met some friends at the beach and hung with them. We then took a guagua (the public bus type thing) back and pretty much were hanging out of it since we were just standing in the door way as we road in it. Last night we went to Amarillis's house where she made us Cordon Bleu for dinner and we danced and sang karaoke songs.

Today marks five weeks of being here. CRAZY. I actually didn't go to church because I woke up feeling pretty sick and threw up a few times. (Ew, Lo). Megan and Melia didn't go either. I just slept most of the time and prepared tomorrow's lesson.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY LESSONS FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!!! I'm teaching drama and have decided that I'm going to teach and have the kids act out all Disney movies. This week is Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Tangled, and Mulan. I think I'll enjoy the lessons more than my kids but that's perfectly okay with me.

Five weeks. Can't really think about how I feel about that. I'm so hungry right now so I'm just gonna wrap this post up.

And here are pics:

All the love,
Lo

DR: The First Three Weeks

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon!

Today marks 3 weeks since I arrived in the Dominican Republic.I am living and teaching in La Union, which is a pretty poor area. In all honesty, it's all such a blur that sometimes it feels like I've barely been here and other times I feel like I've been here for way longer than I actually have. The days definitely feel like weeks and the weeks for sure feel like days. I'm loving it all, though.

I LOVE the seven other girls in my ILP group here: Aly, Melia, McKenzie, Megan, Jyll, Haley, and Ashley. We all get along super well. Many laughs have been had amongst us all. Speaking of laughing, we've discovered that there's such a thing as "laughing yoga." Look it up on YouTube, it's a thing and we find it hilarious.

I can't remember too much of what's occurred these last three weeks off the top of my head, so I'll break it down by week and share what I can remember and then share some side notes at the end with pictures--as per usual.

Week 1: I arrived on Sunday, May 10. Sunday-Wednesday were pretty much just prep days to train and get ready to teach. Thursday and Friday were our first two days of teaching and it was definitely something I had to get used to. On Saturday of that week we got to go to the beach in Sosua (out of two we've been to so far this is the one I prefer). The beach is my heaven. We also got to go to church at an LDS ward in Puerto Plata on Sunday.

Week 2: Week 2 was different compared to the first week. It was all just teaching, teaching, teaching Monday-Friday. Let me tell you, my kids may be cute, but they're trying. I teach the 6-8 year olds, and my morning class is needing more patience from me than my afternoon class. My kids are testing me as a teacher in regards to their choosing to misbehave and defy me. I've actually discovered that I'm pretty strict with kids as a teacher--some of the other girls find it hilarious.

My kids defy me in that they know one of the rules is that they can't speak Spanish, but do so just to annoy me. My coping mechanism is just to tell them in front of their faces how they're frustrating me in English since they don't understand me. It usually goes "I don't understand why you're so disobedient but it really peeves me that you are and it's not funny," or  (if one is laughing) "Why are you laughing? I didn't say anything funny so I don't get why you're laughing."

However, I still love my students to bits.

On Saturday of week two we got to go to Mount Isabel de Torres and ride the cable cars and explore the mountain. Gorgeous view and amazing. We also got to go to the beach in Puerto Plata. Did I mention I LOVE the beach?

We also went to church on Sunday and performed "Come Thou Fount" in Sacrament meeting for the ward.

Week 3: My kids were worse in their levels of disobedience this week, but because I'm becoming more strict and they're learning to respect me, I'm able to put them in their place rather quickly and still accomplish the fact that they adore me even though I may scare them sometimes.

We got to walk around for a couple minutes for both the morning and afternoon sessions doing Aly's job as Head Teacher and got to just look at each other's classes and help out and discipline kids if we have to. I liked it. I felt very powerful--only because I felt when I would take kids aside and talk with them or discipline them it had some sort of helpful affect on them.

Yesterday we went to the beach in Sosua again, which was an adventure in itself since we originally bargained for a taxi, which ended up breaking down, had to wave down some of the public "bus" transportation and ride it's sketchy butt the rest of the way to the beach. We also made some friends with a few German teenagers who are foreign exchange students here, so that's cool.

Today we went to a different ward for church, which was still great. We got to talk with a few missionaries since McKenzie knows one of them serving in that ward from back in her home ward in Idaho.

We're all elated since this Thursday-Sunday we get a vacation and are going to Santo Domingo. We get to visit the temple, go to the MALL, and do some other fun stuff. This means only THREE days of teaching this week!!!

FUN FACTS: Your girl, Lo, is getting way tanner than her white self used to be only after three weeks here. There are prominent tan lines that I am way proud of. Card games are becoming a daily thing for us in our apartment. We only have cold water, so that means cold showers. Our water and electricity also go off on random times, too. There is an orange cat who has decided to live with us and is not afraid of us.. I named her Lilo.

Men of all ages cat call at us, making our self esteem boost pretty nicely. Passion fruit juice is the shiz. It is my favorite thing I've had here and can't get enough of it. Larimar is the national stone of the DR, in case you were wondering. We pretty much watch movies every night. We look forward to Tuesday nights since I found the current Bachelorette season online and we can watch it that night.

I adore my afternoon class: Joelbis, Gabi, Garialis, Angeli, and Kenide. They are all so sweet--especially compared to my morning class--and Garialis and Angeli in particular are so quick in picking up English. Angeli is also such an artist and has made me several things and gifted them to me. Garialis is picking up on my sass and we get along quite well. Joelbis is the cutest and sweetest little boy on the face of the planet. Gabi is quiet, but seems to understand a lot. Kenide always tries to glue herself to me. 

Okay, I'm sick of typing and I can't think of a lot more else to say. My Instagram has a ton of pictures already posted that you can check out. (Look at that self promo).

Alright, here's the cool part, some pictures! I've picked out my favorites to share:

 

Living the adventure...

<3 Lo