monday. may 8. 2017
we woke up at about 10:30. we just cannot get our time rolled back like i would like. i was hoping to start kayaking at 9am, but haven’t made it yet. we got up, most of us got our swimsuits on, went outside, and it was overcast and beautiful and breezy. we headed out to the long dock, and jarom and some of the girls snorkeled and took pictures of all the underwater fish. the water is so clear!
we then got ready quickly to meet mario-our friend who works at the resort, and who offered to come with us and translate for us-outside the resort gates. he was told the resort didn’t need him this week, so he offered to help us a couple of the days. he took a bus from la romana-45 minutes away one way-to come and help translate for us-he offered completely on his own…so awesome, what a blessing.
we met him outside the gates, and we headed to bayahibe 10 minutes away. we got to the school, and it was so nice having a translator with us. the director told us we could go to the classrooms for 50 minutes each. we weren’t prepared to teach english, but it’s pretty easy to just jump in, so we did. we started with the alphabet and numbers, simple phrases, teaching head-shoulders-knees and toes song from primary, playing learning games with what we taught them with the ball…they were super friendly and open to having us-i couldn’t have imagined a kinder place to welcome us. and of course, we taught colors with m&m’s, and even rewarded with m&m’s to encourage the older cooler boys in the back of one class to get involved-yep-it totally worked. i’m so grateful jarom and i were guided to find the school in that little town.
we were there from 2:00-5:30pm teaching. i don’t remember sweating so much, but it didn’t bother me too much. jarom got his drone out, and the kids did really good not touching it and just watching it-it’s so fun to see how happy and excited they get.
it made my heart happy, i absolutely loved every minute. i love these kids, and how we are instant friends. one boy was showing me pictures and telling me words in spanish of the museum he visited in santo domingo. can we just stay here? i love that our girls just jump in and enjoy the journey. no complaining. just have fun.
the fam jumped in the pool after we hoarded whatever food we could find and eat back at the apartment, i think we were all just starving. it was a good day.
