may 10. 2017
it was such a beautiful day-the sun and clouds made for a perfect day for swimming. jarom took the girls out on the catamaran, but there wasn’t much wind near the dock, so he hopped down and swam it in-we were laughing as well as others on the dock:) jarom was also flying his drone and a couple guys came over to talk to him-and they were russian-which has been a lot of fun for jarom since he served his mission in St. Petersburg, Russia for two years. who knew he would be speaking so much russian in the dominican republic! they are so many tourists from russia here. we swam, snorkeled, and laid out-snorkeling here is amazing-schools of fish will just swim in front of you or by you. it’s like having your own aquarium to swim in-it’s completely fascinating!
we got ready and gathered our supplies that we bought for school, and headed to the lobby for a bit where there is wifi, and finished writing up some flashcards to play games and teach the kids with. we finished up and then drove the 10 minutes to bayahibe to the school. on monday, mario had told the policeman who works in the parking lot where we park that we will be teaching at the school if he could waive the fee, and the policemen agreed-so that was great. so we parked, and got to our first classroom. they are probably 6 or 7 years old. they saw us, and ran out calling us their amigos and hugging us…like a huge group hug, it was so awesome! you just love these kids instantly. time flew today, in each class, i think since we were able to plan and have some supplies this time. we still need to figure out more and better ways to teach i think. we hope they are getting something out of this! we certainly are, if not a love for the people of this island.
after we finished teaching, we drove the two minutes to the main part of bayahibe, parked, and ordered some empanadas-which were amazing, and only 50 pesos each…we ordered 11! we were so hungry, but had dinner for $10.50 for 6 people.
alex ended up staying home today not feeling well, so we got back to the apartment, got her, and we all headed out to the beach and pier to watch the sunset and let the kids play in the water a little more. we enjoyed the peaceful and tranquil views of the sun setting over the gorgeous green water.
i only wish there was a way i was more business minded to start a business or to get investors, so that i could have a business down here and employ dominicans and help more people down here. one begins to wish these kids to have a great future, a safe future, a happy future. i don’t know what the probability is here for them to continue in their education, get good jobs, and be able to provide for themselves or for a family, but i know it isn’t as good as the u.s. they are a kind people. i love it here.
