Back to the Beach ;)

This was a nice week because Wednesday was a holiday and I had the day off of school! Instead of sleeping in on the day off, I woke up early to drive to a place called 27 waterfalls. The name says it all, it's an area where there are 27 waterfalls and it is INCREDIBLE!

It's fun, adventurous, and intense! I went with a few teachers, some Young Life leaders and an exchange student I met from the University nearby. When you arrive at 27 falls you put a lifejacket and helmet on and you begin the journey. First we hiked up/around all 27 waterfalls, it’s neat because you actually rock climb to get to some. We had two Dominican guides that helped us. Once we got to the top it was time to come back down! Sometimes the only way to get down is to jump off the cliff into the bottom of the waterfall. Some of the jumps were about 30ft-40ft high. It was such a rush! A few of the waterfalls you must slide down and for a while we were laying in a lazy river going down stream. The water was so clean and the sights were breathtaking. We couldn't take cameras because we were jumping off cliffs into water and there would be no way to protect them so I have no pictues. We finished it all after a few hours and it was awesome. Without a doubt my favorite thing I have down here so far. So, if you're coming to visit, I'm ready to go again!

Wednesday night we also had Young Life - our theme was "Birthday Party". It turned out great and lots of students came. We decorated the Young Life house with tons of balloons, streamers, and birthday festivities. We even had one of the leaders dress up as a clown! There was a cake eating and decorating contest. At the end of the night we shared the gospel with the students. I LOVE HANGING OUT WITH THESE KIDS - THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN! The picture I posted is from our Young Life club this week.

Thursday after school we had our first volleyball game. Unfortunately the girls and guys team both lost close matches, but I was encouraged by the way we played. After school today I was relieved because it's FINALLY the weekend! It will be a nice break from school work and lesson planning. I'm leaving early in the morning to go to the beach and soak up some sun. I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather and the beauty of fall. I miss it. There are two seasons here, hot and hotter. Leaves don’t change colors and we don’t get the fresh brisk air. I am blessed to constantly have the warm weather and the beach, so I guess I’ll take advantage of that!

Love and prayers
Ash

Excited for Electricity!

This weekend I went on a Young Life leaders retreat to a Jarabocaca, a city in the mountains. It was BEAUTIFUL! We stayed at the Young Life camp and I had an opportunity to meet other DR Young Life staff. Friday night we had a dinner, did some team building and played board/card games. It was a blast! Since it’s high in the mountains, it's not as hot there, so we made smores and had hot chocolate. I even got to sleep under my sheets!

Saturday morning we had devotions, breakfast, and training and planning for the year. After we completed our planning we hiked to a small waterfall and played in the fresh water for a while. I had a great time and it was nice to get away from my apartment and enjoy God's creation. I got back Saturday night and was thrilled to have electricity again in my apartment!! Yahoo...unfortunately, it was gone again Sunday morning - but, that's life here. Things are running at the moment and that is all I can ask for.

Sunday morning we received a phone call in the morning that our school driver had been killed in a car accident the night before. This has been a difficult loss on our close school staff. There was a funeral and this week time will be spent with the family. The man who died, Renee, was an incredible man of God. I had an opportunity to spend a couple of hours with him Friday before he died while he was helping me take care of some bank business. He was a humble servant, and I know he is in a better place now.

School is going alright, it's keeping me busy. Volleyball is going great. Our team has our first game this Thursday. I'm excited; it will be interesting to see what a game is like here.

This Wednesday is a holiday in the DR so we do not have school (YES!) I think I have some exciting plans to go to a place called 27 Falls. This is a big attraction because you actually climb 27 waterfalls! Hopefully it all works out.

Continue to pray for me and my patience with my students as they have been a bit challenging lately! Love and miss you all!
Ash

Jesus is the Light!

HEY!!!
I don't even know where to begin. I'm on the rollercoaster of life here, last week I felt on top of the ride, this week not so much. It has been the most challenging few weeks since I've moved here. When God is working, Satan tries to find a way to intervene.

Between being robbed, no longer having electricity (hopefully in the next two weeks we will get it back), and school I'm a bit drained.

Yet through all of this I must look and be thankful because I am blessed. I am blessed that I am safe, healthy, and surrounded by a great support system! I'm also enjoying the chance to appreciate electricity more than anything..you never know how much you really appreciate something until you no longer have it!

I know this is a short post - but when things settle down I will try to fill you in on the recent happenings in the DR 

Please continue to pray for me and that I have the strength to push through the challenges I am faced with and I have the attitude of Jesus during these frustrating times!
I miss you and love you all! You are in my thoughts and prayers!

Choose Joy!

It's been an eventful week here in the DR..when isn't it! It's also been a tough week on me, sometimes life isn't always easy or fair. I've been challenged this week to remain joyful even when things are not always easy or fair. My sister is a great reminder with her simple phrase "Choose Joy". Think about it..it's a choice we make. In our lives we can chose to be mad, angry, bitter, and upset. Or, we can choose to live our lives full of the joy that God has given us. Just a thought to ponder on this week as it has been a great tool for me!

School is flying by and the students are keeping me busy. Teaching is going OK. It's been a lot of work lately, but that's part of the package of being a first year teacher! I love the relationships I continue to build with the students...if only we could just hang out all day..haha!

Wednesday was my roommates 24th birthday so a group of us went out to a nice little Italian restaurant for dinner (the bottom picture). The food was good and the atmosphere was unique. It was fun to be able to help celebrate her special day. I had all my students in my class make her birthday cards and they sang to her during the day.

Young Life (the high school Christian outreach organization) began this week and we had our kick-off "club". The theme was Fear Factor and it was great to be wild and crazy with a bunch of the high school students. I had an opportunity to meet many new people and learn many names that I have no idea how to pronounce. I'm really excited about Young Life this year. We have weekly club in the evening for the students and occasionally we have weekend trips/camps. I posted a picture of me and two of the other new YL leaders. We were dressed crazy and ready for FEAR FACTOR!!

I'm so blessed here by the friendships I am making. There are a great group of people here and I enjoy working with everyone!

Please continue to pray for me as first year teacher (I'm still learning a lot), for the students and children here that we may be able to share the gospel with, and pray for my continued safety.

A Trip to the Movies

Unfortunately my original weekend plans of traveling to the mountains for Young Life leadership training (the high school Christian outreach organization) was cancelled due to hurricane Ike :( but I still had a fun filled weekend.

Friday night, I had a delicious dinner with all the Young Life leaders. It was a great time meeting some new people and we played some crazy games and listened to some fun music and the night turned into a dance party!

Saturday I spent most of the day working on lesson plans and then my roommates and I walked to another one of the teachers apartments for a Mexican dinner. It was great to get out of our place. Then we went with a big group of people to the movie theater. It was exciting, most of the movies are in English and they have Spanish subtitles. We watched Wanted, interesting movie.

This morning I visited another new church...it's great going to all these different churches, but I'm kind of getting worn out on the "church hop". The church I went to this morning was nice. There is an American preacher who has a southern accent and preaches in Spanish. He speaks slow and announcates well. It was the service I have been able to understand best.

After church I hung out with the Young Life crew again and now I'm watching some American Football games on our neighboor's TV!!! Go COLTS!

A quick update on our weather, we are fine from the hurricanes so far, we just got lots of wind and rain, but nothing horrible. I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend and are ready for a new week!

Miss ya :)

Hurricane Day!!!

In the states I celebrated having school cancelled for snow days, but living in the DR we celebrate school cancellations for hurricane days! Yesterday, school was cancelled because of hurricane Hannah. The weather wasn't terrible but the hurricane was making an unpredictable path and looked like it was turning around and heading right back at us once it had passed. A day off here is a little different though. Not as exciting because there isn't much to do. I was going nuts being stuck in my apartment all day. I was able to watch a few movies at one of the other teacher's apartment and we made a delicious meal to eat. Then I tried to get ahead on some grading and lesson plans.

It was an exciting day because I was able to skype my dad (this is talking online and we use a webcam) while he was at the church and he decided to walk around the office and I had an opportunity to see and say hello to most of the church staff. It was nice and put a big smile on my face :)

Then, in the evening I had an oportunity to make some phone calls to the states. It was great. I spent a long time on the phone talking to some friends and my sister...it was a great way to end the day.

School attendance was low today because all of the public schools were still canceled due to the fear of the weather. During my weekly lunch duty I was embraced with the pleasant gift of having tons of screaming 5th and 6th grade students standing on tables making a huge scene because a huge, fuzzy tarantula was racing around the cafeteria. I had to try to look composed being the lunch monitor...but I was FREAKING OUT. Luckily one of the secretaries was there and she chased after it and killed it. It was a fiasco, the lunch room was loud and crazy. My principal came out from across campus to find out what was wrong. I hope I don't EVER see one of those again.

Tonight we finally had the Open House at the school. It's funny the way Dominican's handle this. At school today many of my girls were telling me that they had to go to the beauty salon to get their hair done and styled for the Open House. I was afraid I was going to look like a mop compared to them. The Open House was great, but long. We began as a big group and then parents were free to visit in the students classrooms with the teachers. I had lots of parents in my room. It was great and I really enjoyed all the parents. I had great conversations, but I was overwhelmed by all the activity. After about two hours I caught a ride with another teacher to go back instead of the bus..bad choice. We got a flat tire on the way back. It was dark out and we were in the street trying to change the tire and then the jack broke as we were in the process. We were trying to have a good attitude but it was frustrating and not so safe. My roomates and I walked to find a taxi to take home, but none of the taxi drivers would take us, it was frustrating..finally we found a taxi driver who was not being lazy and wantd to make some money and took us to our apartment. It made for a later night than what I wanted, but I'm finally back safe..hopefully they will get the car fixed and get back safe soon too.

We recieved a hurricane update at school today and they told us to be prepared because there are some hurricanes in the area and they always take unpredictable paths. I had planned to go on a Young Life leadership retreat this weekend in the mountains, but it was cancelled due to the weather threats :(

I feel fairly safe and secure since I live in a valley, but please keep those who have been harmed by the hurricanes in your prayers.

Whew..alright...off to bed... :)

The picture I attached is I guess what you call the elementary gym at school!

Teriffic Tuesday!

Sunday I went with one of the teachers to visit a new church that a student invited us to. We had no idea what to expect. It was air conditioned so that was exciting! I enjoyed the atmosphere of the church and the people. The worship was great and the people had great passion for God. My favorite song we sang was "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever". It's awesome to be able to worship in another language.

The pastor gave his sermon and I was able to understand the main theme of it (I've still got a lot of spanish to learn) but it was about how we as Christian need to be on fire and excited about God, we should not be cold Christians. There were some other interesting dynamics to the service that made it feel a bit businesslike, but overall it was a great expierence.

Orginally today was scheduled to be our school open house, but we are on the outskirts of hurricane Hannah so we are recieving lots of wind and rain. Since Dominicans don't leave home in the rain, the school postponed it.

Unfortunatley, the poor weather has postponed the mail service we recieve from the states every two weeks as well :( The camera my parents have sent was suppose to arrive today..now it might not come until next week :(.

Things are going great here. I'm really enjoying the relationships I have been able to make. I love coaching volleyball. Our team is improving with every practice and I practice with the girls sometimes to make an even number. There is a great community here and it's been a blessing.

Please continue to pray for me as I deal with the stresses of learning how to be flexible and live without the luxaries I am accustomed to. Power is always hit and miss, and water has been on and off a lot lately.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Keep working for his kingdom...
Much love,
Ash

I posted two pictures, one is my apartment building complex that I live in, and the other one is part of the school!