Primera Semana de Regreso

"The first week back" for those of you who do not speak spanish, and it was a great first week. The beginning started out a bit rough. I had that typical missionary feeling that most missionaries get going out on the field. You long to just have the normal, comfortable American way of life with friends and family close by, but at the same time you know this is where you are suppose to be, where God wants you. I had a wonderful summer in Dallas and in Austin, and therefore naturally it was hard to leave, but I knew once I got back here and back in the routine, I would fall right back in love with it. So this week...
We went to Santiago Monday and Tuesday, which is in hour away from here. We had lots of team time and went to a museum to learn about Dominican history. I went on a tour through an area of the La Aurora cigar making factory, pretty cool huh? http://www.miamicigarcompany.com/miamicigar/aurora/home.htm. He explained how they are made uniquely, being just as good as Cuban cigars, except La Aurora's has more variety. The guy we watched make some had been rolling cigars for 30 years! talk about monotonous. After watching that, Ashley and I walked together through the museum and at one point decided we wanted to take silly pictures. Little did we know, there was a security guy walking around making sure no one did that. After we took a couple pictures, one specifically of me kissing a cardboard poster of a Dominican man, the security guy came around the corner. I had the camera in my hand, and as he walked up, Ashley told me to hide it. Well I could not simply put it in my bag because that would be too obvious so I decided to hold it on the side he could not see, and as he circled around me, Ashley would tell me which way to turn (the benefit of speaking another language than the country we live in) and eventually we just walked away. Of course he followed us the whole rest of the time. You can only imagine how silly and immature I got during and after that, trying not to laugh every time he would pop up. Ashley thought we should take a pic of him, but we decided with better judgment not to.
Wednesday I went to Chichigua for the first time since I have gotten back, and it was sooo great to see the kids. I saw Memo first, and he immediately jumped in my arms for me to hold him. Not going to lie, that felt great! I kept holding him for about 10 minutes until, well, some of you can probably guess who I saw...Weeson! (Wilson). I handed Mems over to Holly and picked up Wilson. He had just woken up and was a bit groggy, which I love because that is when he just likes to sit in my lap or just let me hold him. I have been a bit sad lately because when some of the girls went to ask the parents who was coming back to the school, Wilson's mom said he was not going to. I will get back to this later.
Thursday and Friday we planned for our staff/parent meeting we were going to hold on Friday. We put a meeting together of what we should say, and then went out to the three villages to tell the parents and other parents who have kids that do not come to the school. We were a bit worried that we would not get a full roster because we are now going to have four classes with a total of 60 kids. Knowing some kids might not come back, the thought crossed our minds that we would come short... oh ye of little faith. The room was packed with parents! And...Wilson's mom came to sign him up! yay! We gave each of our speeches (yes I did speak to the parents in Spanish. I was super nervous, and Cristina decided to let the parents know right before I spoke that I am learning so they need to pay attention more when I spoke. For those who know me well, you know that I have a huge fear of public speaking in my own language let alone a second language. At the end of the meeting, we got a full roster and even had a waiting list! The Lord is so faithful. This is when it hit me why I am here and why I love doing what I am doing. By the way, I will now officially be a teacher's aide for four teachers. crazy talk. I will switch rooms after each day so that I can go take notes of each student to see how they are progressing week by week. Even though it may be kind of stressful, I cannot wait to get to know the students individually and of course be with my old students again.
Alright, love you guys. And yes, the picture at the end is what you think it is, but no worries, I did not eat it. Bleh.

And the adventure begins again...

So I am sitting here knowing I should write this blog about Colorado and my arrival in the Dominican Republic, but all that is really going on is me looking around my room at all the stuff laying around, in and out of my suitcases, thinking about the stuff that I need to go get that will organize everything, and the books that I need to read for work...dang multitasking. But I will conquer my one track mind :). For those of you that do not know yet, I will be living in an apartment with three of the girls I worked with the last time I was here: Ashley, Robin, and Cara. I have the room that is suppose to be an office so as of right now there is no closet, storage space, or...a door! haha it really is not a big deal right now hopefully I can rig some kind of pole/curtain thing to make a door.
Colorado. I left August 3 for a three week training program called SPLICE at Mission Training International right outside of Colorado Springs. Beautiful! There were beautiful mountains by us, the Santa Fe Trail to walk on, and an ice cream place down one end of the trail...you know I hit that up several times throughout the trip. I always forget how wonderful Colorado is especially during the summer when the temperature is perfect. Anyways, we spent three grilling weeks of learning about ourselves (conflict, stress, rest, etc), our team, and how we are going to handle the culture when certain situations differ from the norms of our American culture. One of the simulations we had to go through to see how we handle stress went a little something like this...We showed up for the morning session, and the two men in charge put us in two groups. Once I got in my group, I was led with my group to a small dark room with a wooden box inside about 8 ft long and 5 ft wide that all 22 of us were suppose to fit in. Once we got inside we had to close the door, only getting air from some small holes at the top of the box, and there was a track playing that sounded like bombs, gun shots, and airplanes flying around. Now I know reading this does not quite get the feel across, but standing in this box, sweating in pure darkness, and realizing that some of these people will be in this situation in their country made the situation very real for me. We had to make deals with this man who was the enemy, and one of the deals failed so a guy who had gotten caught was "shot." That was it for me...thankfully I kept calm and scratched the back of the girl crying next to me haha. So not me. Like I said, this was to show us how we handle stress, and what I got out of it was that I sweat, I am quiet, and I try to calm others.
I got back from Colorado on the 21st and had a week at home. It was so much fun hanging out with my family and with some of my friends, but the time went by too quick. I had a lil bday party with the family, went and saw mamma mia second row with my dad, and had a going away night with my friends (thank you so much to those who came :) ). I left yesterday for the DR with a full day of traveling, and when I got here, Robin, Anne, and Garrett picked me up at the airport. When they brought Robin and I to our apartment, I walked into my room, and Robin had made me a little welcome home present. So sweet, especially since I was a bit tender when I first got here. The night was sooo crazy...sike. I unpacked some of my stuff that I could, went to get pizza with Robin (Katy I know you will appreciate that), and then we watched Sense and Sensibility.
Well that is it for now. We have three weeks of workshop stuff for the school, and then school starts on September 21. Hopefully I will have some time to go see my kiddos this week. I miss them so much, especially lil Weeson (Wilson). Love you guys and miss you already. Email me anytime to let me know how you are doing, or even if you just have a prayer request I can pray about. Peace out.

Months of the Year...Dominican Style

Ok, so I know I did not write many blogs my last few weeks plus this one is a bit late, but it is definitely worth looking at. Here we go...
The last week of school ended on a Wednesday, which was May 20, and then Thursday and Friday were set up for an American dentist to come and pull our students' teeth. During the Thursday morning period our preschoolers played in the classrooms and waited patiently, either reading books or running around like little kids do. I do not know why I got the urge to do this, but I was sitting with Ricardo and decided to record him singing the Months of the Year song on my camera.

As you can see, Ricardo still needs some work on his speech, and well, just knowing what the months actually are. He is only three so no worries. I have a year to work on that boy :).
After Ricardo, Estiven decides it is his turn. This boy is a smarty; therefore, his singing skills were perfecto.


Now Regina has caught on to the lil game and decides it is her turn. Ricardo wants to watch so he sits at the table by her. While she is singing, watch her face and Ricardo...


All I have to say is I was trying not to laugh, and of course I failed. So wrong of me...oops. We always call Ricardo the school thug, and well he definitely lived up to that name in the video...awesome haha. Next on the list is Ambiorix who got too ADD to finish and just wanted to destroy a book and me.


That was the last of the videos. Hope you enjoyed! cuz I know I sure did.
As you all probably already know, I am going back to the Dominican Republic at the end of August for a year. Crazy talk I know, but I loved it that much and miss my kiddos. This will be my last blog till September so until then, adios!

Funny Stuff

All the pics in this blog are from hanging out in Chigs on Friday with Lubi (Robin).


So I don't have much to say about this last week, but I will leave a few tidbits for you...

i have at least 22 bites on one arm from mosquitoes...not counting the rest of my body. Those lil suckers are everywhere.
My cobrador (the man who opens the door to the gua gua and takes your money) this morning had a groomed unibrow. It was almost as if he penciled in the middle part because he thought the uni looked good.
Katy and I ate lunch with Wilson today, who works at the airport, and he gave us the lowdown on DR airport security. Several times workers have tested the security, and here are two of the stories he told...A girl filled out one of those lovely sheets we all love about her information at the airport, and she gave a guy's name on the name line and said her destination was "the batman cave"...she got through. Second story. A man went through the metal detector with a gun in one pocket and a cell phone in the other pocket. The detector went off, and he pulled out his phone and said that was why it went off. They said okay and let him go. Awesome. All that to say, come visit me :) haha.
So I couldn't be any more immature than I already am, well maybe. Saturday night at church this girl got on stage to do a choreographed dance. Now, it is not like I was expecting this awesome performance, and let me add that I was kinda hyper that night with Katy. Throughout the whole dance, I had to do one of three things: bite my straw (I had some juice from Luis' colmado), bite my lip, or think of something sad. I knew if Katy, Robin, Cara, or Ashley even dared to look at me, I would lose it. I survived not offending the church, well until Katy turned to me and said, "We will be dancing like that tonight at home." I lost it. Silent laugh of course. And yes, we did go home and do some of those awesome dance moves.

Stand by Me.Ben E. King

I once complained about the rain...big mistake. Did you say steak? (That one is for you Kelly) The hot hot hot weather has finally begun. We are sweating constantly, which in a way makes me feel better because I am not the only one now. haha, gross. Walking up the hill one day, Katy and I were talking about the constant sweat, and then we immediately both started day dreaming of snow cones and how wonderful it would be to have one. If you have seen the snow cones in the DR, which I am assuming you have not, you would know not to even think about going there. Recipe for a some kind of parasite, having no idea where the ice or the sketch sugar juices come from. And since I have experienced the sicky part of living here, I would rather not test my limits. Despite the hot weather and the sweatiness it brings, this week has been my best week in the DR when it comes to looks. I do not mean this in a prideful way, moreso humorous. I have gotten the most hisses, "you are beautiful"s from random muchachos on the street, and a sweet serenade from a cobrador. The best was Friday when I was waiting for Katy in the colmado. This lady came up to me and asked if I spoke Spanish and asked if I was Canadian. After Katy told her no, she said, "tu eres gordita." Katy then responded with a confused look as did I and said, "Tu eres gordita??" For those of you who do not know, gordo means fat...just lovely. Thankfully, Robin and Rachel told me later that it did not mean anything in a bad way. It meant curvy in a good way. Gordissimo is fat in a bad way. I love this country. So Katy and I came home to a puppy on Monday at the house. His name is Miles, and he is half terrier and half lab. He is a cutie, but the picture above is what we came home to. At times I think I start to grow attached to him when I walk outside, and he yawns and comes up to me all lazy and calm. I pet him for awhile and then go back inside feeling bad about not spending more time with him. Then there are the times I walk outside, and he is jumping high up in the air and scratching my legs while attempting to bite my hand (out of playfulness of course). Like Katy says everyday, "He's just being Miley." haha love it. Though we do love him, Miles is leaving soon because our landlord says he cannot be here. I guess you could call it a failed attempt at replacing or covering up our true love for E-Shadow, one of the school dogs who apparently has now "got the mange" according to Katy.



This week since Cristina was on a mission trip, Cara had to teach in my class so she could not have her usual class time. Instead we did recess with the both classes for about thirty minutes. Naturally, the little kid in me was all about it. The first day I sat under the gazebo with the girls and let them braid my hair. Instead I ended up with a side pony, compliments of Neifi and Escarlet. As this was happening, I noticed a trend in our kids pretending like they were pregs. Wilson and Luis Fernando both came up to me with a ball in their shirt at two different times pretending to be preggers. Then at the end of recess I looked over and saw the funniest sight. Wildania was laying in the grass with a ball in her shirt. Marta and Yery were acting like doctors helping her give birth while Raidi was standing by her super confused as to what was going on. Anyways, it made me wonder how many of these kids have actually seen a pregnancy go on in their villages. Awesome. Pics are below for your amusement...


Sweet victory...Katy and I went to Pancho Mateo Thursday because I told Sili I would come to play basketball again with him. Ernesto and Felipe came to the school on the Chig guagua so I brought them along with us. Marta and Manuela walked with us, and it was too cute because Marta held the bottom of my shirt the whole way there while we had some intense convos :) (Note the pic below) When we got there, we decided to match up me and Ernesto against Sili and Felipe. Knowing that Chichigua does not have a basketball hoop, I was not surprised when Felipe gave up after one shot, and Ernesto double dribbled his way through the game after a kid named Alfredo took Felipe's spot. Alfredo was a skinny short lil dude, and when Sili asked him to play, I turned to Sili and asked, "Is he good?" and he just goes, "I don't know." Little did I know that Sili was playing it cool until Alfredo schooled me to the hoop. Silly, silly Sili. Ernesto and I eventually beat them despite Ernesto's double dribbles/traveling. I then proceeded to play Sili and won...ok I know I sound awful since he is younger, but I let him win the week before, and he bragged about it all week. He came to school this Friday saying, "Mucha suerte", which obviously means I have to win again this next week to show him what's up. So as you all know, or I guess I should say should know, the Mavs and Spurs are now playing in the playoffs. We do not have a tv at the house, and I have never wished for one, well until...now! If you have ever seen me in the past years watch the Mavs in the playoffs, you know how crazy (possibly a bit of yelling at the tv) I get during these games and how much they mean to me. Yes I know a lil dramatic, but really I love my basketball. I decided I would watch the first game online. Well, that was unsuccessful since Espn will not let me watch it from the DR so I try to listen, which was just as unsuccessful as the first idea; therefore, I am watching the animated play-by-play. Awwwwesome :(. To add to the effect, Katy and I decided to jam to some jock jams while I was watching. Yes I do have Jock jams on my ipod, thanks to Brookis. Go Mavs!...sorry Timothy. One down, three more to go. Side note: Baby G could possibly be born in time while the mavs are still in the playoffs...get out those Mavs converse I gave him Brooke and Jim :). They better not be in the trash!
Sorry for the longest blog eva...I am a rambler...plus I have not blogged in oh say hmm about a month so I thought I would make it doubly long :) love you guys!

landslide.fleetwood mac

This past week was...awesome! I don't even really know how to explain it fully, and if I tried, this blog would maybe be a bit too long. Being here has been wonderful, and I have known this is definitely where God called me, but it was not until this week that I truly felt it. I felt the passion I have for each of the students in my classroom and for the kids in the villages especially Chigs. I will give you a lil look see of my past week...We had a highschool group of about 35 people from Austin come. Let's just say we were a little cramped in the casa. Not going to lie, I was somewhat dreading the week, not because of the help but because of the small personal space. At the end of the day, we are exhausted, and sometimes all I want to do is hide away and read a book or get on my computer. With 35 extra peeps, this is not possible. On a more positive note, they ended up being an awesome group who were very mature for their age, and them being here allowed me and Katy to do some of the group activities because group members were helping with los tweems. That is where the fun began. Monday and Tuesday after school, we took the preschoolers to the playa. Monday was assigned for Ashley/Katy's class, and Tuesday was for Cristina/my class, but I went for both days. The kids were beyond excited. They sang some beach chants in the car, and right when we got to the beach, they ran straight out to where we were headed. I took as many pictures as I could of them running from the waves, getting buried in the sand, and running around in their lil undies. If you are on facebook, you can see pics of the cuties on there. Otherwise, email me, and I can send you some.
Wednesday was the usual go after school for house visits time so Katy and I went to Chichigua and took four of the group members to Rebeka and Jeson's House. If you have read my previous blogs, you are probably thinking, "Hmm...house visits...shouldn't you be visiting more than their house?" And my response would be yes we do visit other houses, but I cannot help stopping by their casa every time. Their family is so loving. Anyways, their dad Soni talked to the four boys from the group for a bit while I sat with Yesica (she is the one who always tries to teach me Spanish). She brought a children's book in English to me and started to try and read it. I was so impressed and helped her along the way. After some pages, Yesica (who is in one of the pictures toward the end of this blog) and her sister grabbed a spiral and asked me about the English alphabet. I then proceeded to write each letter also saying its sound and a word that starts with it. All that to say, I gave a mini English lesson to these girls who had such a strong desire to learn it. Sometimes, in this culture, people expect things from you without wanting to work for anything. With Yesica's family, I have learned this does not apply to them. It was awesome to see their dad Soni (who knows seven languages) instilling in his children the same desire he has to be educated. After leaving their house, we resorted to finding Ronal to cut down some sugar cane for the group members y Katy and watched the Chigs boys play some futbal. Yes, I am holding a machete in the picture below :).
Friday was my turn to take care of Los Tweems, but I had told Yesica I would try to come to the afternoon Bible class. Thankfully, Sharla did not mind so I showed up only to see that Yesica did not show up because she had to take care of her baby brother. The majority of the afternoon class are some rowdy boys who love to cause "trouble" and beat each other up (do not worry...it is always playful). The sad part about all of that is I love these rowdy boys. I do not have a brother but have secretly always wanted one in the Blackwood fam. When I go to Mexico, I love play fighting with some of the boys there I have known for a long time...I know, mature right? So class begins, and the boys will be boys, or I guess I should say the boys were being boys. I talked about Ernesto in my last blog who gave me a ring he made. This time he gave me a gold colored one that had a heart on it. I love it besides the fact that it turns my finger green haha oh well, I am just glad I am becoming buddies with the Friday kids. We ended early and let them play outside with some of the soccer balls. Sili, one of the super sweet older boys from Pancho Mateo who knows English, had his basketball with him and was bouncing it right outside the classroom door. Naturally I had to go up to him and steal it away, which turned into a "dribbling take the ball away from the other person" game inside the classroom...oops. Soon, Ronal and Ernesto joined in, and we started a game of keep away. At one point. Sili jumped on the table pretending to dunk the ball, which I thought we would for sure get in trouble for if anyone saw. Ya I know, I am supposed to be the responsible teacher who is making sure everyone gets homes safe, pshh how could I resist a game of basketball. It was finally time for them to go home, and I said to Sili, "Some time soon I need to come to Pancho and play you in basketball", which lead him to say, "Today!" I had to get back to taking care of the twins at home, but I will let you readers know when that happens and how it goes.
Yesterday I went with Katy to meet Robin for a birthday partay in Chigs. Katy and I brought Coke, and Robin brought the cookies. For a majority of the time, I chased Memo my cutie valentine around and carried him upside down around the village. I also promised Yesica (pictured above) and Sara that I would take them to the beach sometime soon, which I think will be so fun.
All in all, I have started to see myself more courageous to form relationships with these kids, getting more involved in playing with them or visiting their homes, which has really been great for me to stop and think about. Even though I do not speak their language, the Lord is so much greater than that. By just hanging out or simply saying, "Hola, como estas?" the Lord has continually provided openings for me. I have started to understand more Spanish and speak choppy sentences, but please continue to pray for me in that area.
So sorry this blog is now a novel, but I just could not stop...Love you all soooo much, and I will be seeing some of you in less than two weeks :).

Your Hands Are Cold.Dario Marianelli

Cutest/Funniest Part of my week...so I got to school Wednesday, and Cristina did not have a lesson plan ready for the morning. La letra K was the new letter of the week, and if you know Spanish, you would know that you are super limited when it comes to teaching children different words to help remember the letter K. She gave me koala and karate, hmm not so helpful when coming up with something in a matter of minutes. With a bit of help from Ashley, I told Cristina that the kids could do some karate moves during carpet time, and then I would do the lesson of my name where Profe Kendall was written at the top of a sheet of paper. I would go over individually with each student that my name starts with la letra K, and after a few times of repeating that, they would have to draw a picture of me. Cristina had me read Dora during carpet time, which I once again butchered and was not ready for at all, and then she asked me to teach them karate. Sometimes I think she thinks I am tricking her and know more Spanish than I say I do...trust me on this one, I have no tricks up my sleeves. I laughed inside having no idea what the heck I was going to say. I pointed to la letra K, asked what it was, then said, "La letra K es para karate." Complex, eh? Right then and there, I started doing karate moves and tried to get them to do the moves also. They looked at me like I was crazy. I would punch and kick and say the sound for K at the same time. Finally, Cristina said something to them, and they followed along. They loved it! Yes you are right. This was the cute part. Now the funny part comes with the lesson of drawing a picture of me. Modeling is important for teaching so I did my own drawing of myself to show them (btw my example of my name looks pretty shabby in the pic above. I of course made theirs cuter). Ok the modeling thing was to try to make you all think I know what I am talking about. Really, I drew it so they would not look at me weird when I tried to explain in Spanish what to do. I go through the first table, and apparently I wear no clothes, have huge hair, or have really stick-like long fingers :). Next, Ambiorix comes and sits by me. Everything is going great, well until he is done drawing the basic stick figure of me. Usually, I would have to tell them, "Yo necesito un camisa, pantalones, y zapatos." Before I could even say that, Ambiorix reaches over to my drawn picture and decides to add two details to it as you can see from the pic up above. If you were wondering why I put up such an inappropriate picture on my blog, well now you know why. He immediately looked at me and gave me that cute lil Ambiorix smile that he always gives. I felt like I was Will Ferrell in the movie Anchorman: "I'm not even mad." I started laughing along with him, and then told him to put his paper in his bucket. Awesome.

Best Part of my week...I went to Chichigua like usual Wednesday afternoon with Katy and two people who are visiting the DR. As we were walking them around Chigs, one of the boys from our Bible school on Fridays walked by. I remembered his name from Robin and Cara, but I had never talked to him before. I do not know where the urge came from, but I looked at him and said, "Tu nombre es Ernesto, si?" Ernesto smiled, said yes, and like an embarrassed junior high boy naturally ran away. Now, fast forward past Thursday and Friday during the day. I got really sick those two days so I was kinda down in the dumps...haha no pun intended. I am so mature, and I bet attractive now too. Anyways, we all went to dinner Friday, and when Robin got there, she took a silver ring off her finger and gave it to me. She said it was made by Ernesto! Yesica gave it to Robin to give to me because he was too embarrassed. Let me back it up to say, these rings are no ordinary rings. The boys in Chichigua make them for fun, and they are sold nowhere. They at first used pesos to make them then decided to use pipe metal instead. After they get the metal into a ring, they put star-like designs on it. I have been wanting one for a long time, but since I did not know any of the boys or ever attempt to talk to them, this was not possible. Not only did getting the ring completely make up for the awful past two days, but it reminded me how important our relationships are with these children.

Most interesting Part of my week...Saturday we went to a seminar in Santiago about Islam. It had my attention the whole time, and I learned some pretty crazy facts about the religion, such as:
*Muslims pray five times a day, which most know, but what you probably did not know is if they miss one of those five prayers, they are already sentenced to 40,000 years in Hell.
*Muslims believe in the Trinity: God, Mary, and Jesus. God had relations with Mary, and then Mary had Jesus.
*A majority of Muslims have not even read the Koran/Qu'ran.
*Only 5% of Muslims are extremists that either support or are terrorists.
*Most say that Islam is the fastest growing religion, but that is true only because of family growth. Christianity is the fastest growing by conversion.
...hope you enjoy the facts! The speaker was a man from Closed Door Ministries and was one of the most legit missionaries I have ever seen/heard.

Side note for the blog...I had a dream last night that I was waiting at Burger House for my meal when all of a sudden Michael Jordan walked by and started talking to me. I would like to challenge you all to beat that dream. I do not think it is possible!
ps. I will be visiting home in 4 weeks! kinda crazy to think about.