Las ballenas!

I SAW WHALES! And I have the picture(s) to prove it! (Granted, the whales turned out to be quite tricky and photo shy, so most of my pictures are of the blue ocean water. And since you already know that exists, I will not be posting those, only the one decent whale shot I managed to snap in time.)

A few weekends ago I went with a group of teachers from an English school nearby as they headed off to explore Samana, a beauuuutiful area on the NE coast. It was absolutely covered in palm trees, so much so that the mountains seemed to have a yellow tint from the sun-colored leaves. My favorite part was when we would be driving along up these mountains and all of a sudden the trees would part and you would catch an unobstructed view of the Atlantic Ocean far below, waves rolling across its surface as it shimmered farther than your eye could see. It's a good thing I wasn't driving or I probably would've plunged us over a ravine, staring as intently as I was at such a wonderous view as I had never seen before. And everywhere you looked-green, in every different shade and tone. We knew hidden down below was a bustling tourist town, but at the summits of each mountain it seemed quiet, as if we were the only ones privileged enough to earn glimpses of this. Quite possibly the best place I've visited yet

Saturday afternoon we spent scouting for whales in Las Terrenas, a nearby coastal town. We were on the boat for about 3 hours in deep waters, and they warned us ahead of time to take Drammamine if you thought you might get seasick. Certain this well-established company didn't know what they were talking about, I decided to throw caution to the wind. Coincidentally where I almost threw my lunch. Those were some BIG waves-I had no idea the "middle" of the ocean was so rough! I've never even seen "The Perfect Storm", but after that trip I really didn't feel like I needed to. I blame it on the whales.
Only a few boats are allowed at a time into the whale watching area, so after patiently waiting our turn we got our chance. And before hardly any time at all had passed, we saw something! It was a mother and her baby feeding and swimming around. They were super playful, and we got to see them jump and kick their tails a little. What a show!
We tried to find some more whale activity further out, but no such luck. And just when everyone was starting to lose their enthusiasm for the trip and look a little green all over again, they brought out snacks! Soda, saltines, and mints-the company was obviously willing to incur those expenses if it meant no puke duty. And everyone was so much the better afterwards!


It was an extremely relaxing weekend-a house within 50 ft of the beach, fantastic warm weather, a cute little shopping town. The only unrelaxing part was the drive there and back (let's just say Dominicans aren't the only ones who don't adhere to the rules of the road. I think legally we were actually flying, not driving).
And in case you had any doubt, I can now assure you from my first hand experience, whales really are big. Like, really big. Scouts honor.

CARNAVAL (aka what you've been missing)

So one of the biggest celebrations they have down here in the DR is for Carnaval, otherwise known as Mardi Gras.
Every Sunday in February they go all out. And I do mean they. go. all. out.
In every major city they have a parade downtown during which people dressed in the most outrageous costumes walk up and down showing off. Sounds pretty tame, right?
I guess that's because I forgot to mention that these people have whips. Yes that's right, whips that they crack as they stroll along. And put a whip in an adolescents hands and he is going to swing that thing around like there is no tomorrow (I say 'he' because girls are not given these weapons).
I went one Sunday to downtown Santiago, and I about had a heart attack every time I heard what sounded like a gunshot. I went into full-on "mom mode", constantly telling people to "Stay back!" and "Watch where you swing those things!". It beats me how there weren't more injuries because some of those people were just being careless now!


The coolest part about it all is the amazing costumes. Each city has its own style. Santiago is known for masks with really long horns covered in pointy spikes. The most well-known city during Carnaval time is La Vega, which is known for more modern, Halloween looking masks. La Vega is about 30 minutes away, and Carnaval is their time to shine. It's normally a fairly small, quiet town. But come February and they are ready to use up their noise violations for the rest of the year! People will spend THOUSANDS of dollars on the masks, and often it seemed money well spent because of how amazing they looked!




I went to La Vega one Sunday and like I said, they know what they're doing there. It is SO crowded and SO noisy and SO decorated, it's a little overwhelming really! La Vega is also known as the most dangerous Carnaval celebration. Why? Because of these fun little toys called pig bladders. Now in Santiago they have whips. In La Vega they trade their whips in for inflated pig bladders. They cover these with cloth, tie them at the end of a string, and voila! The most painful bruise you will ever experience. You can buy one for protection, but normally its the people in costumes who have them. And they rear up and smack you as hard as humanly possible. I've seen people fall over they got hit so hard. It's literally a war zone out there. If you see someone coming with a pig bladder you run. And you don't care who you knock over to get out of the way.
I scraped by with only 2 really significant bruises (both of which almost made me cry).
In conclusion, La Vega was an experience. You have to go once, but any more than that...ehh. Unless you like being in traction

Confetti also makes a big show at this festival, especially in Santiago. It seemed like the on-lookers were almost more interested in throwing confetti at each other than watching the costumes parading up and down the street. And the most fun? When you had the good fortune to throw confetti at someone right as they opened their mouth. (Ahh, the little things in life that give us pleasure!) The most memorable moment was when a young girl came right up to me and said "Hola". Not thinking twice I started to respond "Ho-" and then found my mouth stuffed with confetti. Props. (And she seemed so innocent!)

And now you know when to plan your trip to the DR! See you next year! :D

Vale la pena

One of my students sends me e-cards on the weekend telling me how much she misses me and how she can't wait until Monday.

It's things like that that make this job more than worth it

MLK's original speech

So I taught my kids about Martin Luther King, and for their homework I asked them to finish the sentence "I have a dream that...". I told them to think BIG! Think of their dream for the WORLD, for EVERYBODY. I told them not to write "I have a dream that I will eat chocolate ice cream". After I explained it I asked, "Do you understand?" and they said "Yeeeeessss"

"I have a dream that the Jonas Brothers come to my school and give a concert"
"I have a dream that the milk talk"

No they did NOT understand!

The other day I went to my first hastily put up carnival in the DR and it actually turned out quite well (I'm alive for one)! The price was discounted 1/2, and that sort of bad business started the worrying. There were maybe 15-20 rides, and about half of them were closed because they weren't working. Bad sign #2. And some of the fun houses that were open should've been closed . If the most you can offer me is 3 uneven steps + 1 fat mirror, then you're too lame to be open. And a slide you can't slide on, even after greasing it up with bug spray before sending me down? Come on now. Considering the fact that safety didn't really seem to be a big priority at this place, I'm happy with my experience (and for making it out in 1 piece)!

Then I got to try paintball for the first time! Boy that game is intense. My favorite part was in the first 3 minutes of the game, when a rush of bravery compelled me to run and slide behind an obstacle, thus causing me to drop 150/200 of my paintballs. Awesome

Super Bowl Sunday coming up! I am looking forward to some high quality US commercials. (It's been too long!) :D

Hope all is well! Miss you! (Yes, you!)

January brings holidays!

Though I was worried a bit that January would be rough, after having just spent 2 1/2 glorious weeks soaking up the sun and doing nothing but reading and relaxing, I needn't have been concerned. This month we have a couple holidays and yesterday we took advantage of the time off to go white water rafting in nearby mountain town Jarabacoa!
We got there early and stuffed ourselves with some good ol' Dominican mangu (smashed plantains) before wetsuiting up to brave the rapids. Our group was 10 strong, so we split into 2 boats. The first part was Class III rapids, and definitely came with its share of terrors. I was personally not a fan of the part where I fell out of the boat and bruised my body tumbling over pointy rocks, though I guess I should count myself lucky that I wasn't in the other boat that went headfirst into a cliff wall. Good times good times
It's the only place in the country where you can white water raft, and the river wound in and out of green scenic rolling mountains and sleepy barrios. Quite picturesque when you weren't cringing at the trash littered all along the side. The adventure company supplied you with (somewhat ill-fitting) helmets and life vests-about the safest I've ever felt down here in the DR! True our guides didn't speak much English aside from "Get down get down!" but that's really all you need to know, right??

My teacher assistant's birthday was last Friday and for that I had the class throw a little "surprise" celebration for her (though since I let both classes do it the emphasis was less on the "surprise" part for the 2nd group in the afternoon). We had confetti and kazoos and a princess crown ready for her to wear. Judging by their level of excitement and lack of attention span the rest of the day, I would venture a guess that it was the first time any of them had ever seen confetti. They seemed to really like rolling around on the floor in it. Cheap entertainment

My favorite student journal entry so far this year:
"What are you going to do this weekend?"
I gif Teacher Lesa uf cis.

Another holiday coming up on Monday...working 4 days off 3? Really not such a bad life :)

Conquering 27 fears

Today I went with a group of friends to overcome my butterflies about 27 Charcos (Waterfalls). Unfortunately it was raining so it wasn't as picturesque as it maybe could be, but even still it was so awesome!

Essentially it's this natural awe located more or less in the mountains. It's 27 consecutive waterfalls (though for some that word is a stretch in my opinion) and you climb up all 27 and then jump down all 27, and the adventure takes about 2-3 hours depending on the size and fear level of the people in your group. Now first I should make this known. I do not like heights. Not in the least. Sure I don't mind them when I'm safely strapped in or surrounded by secure walls, but free falling is not my thing. AND YET I DID IT! I hardly slept at all the night before because I was so terrified, but I lived to write about the tale!

A knowledgeable guide takes you up the waterfalls, showing you where and how to get up. A lot of times they end up pulling you up through cascading water or dragging you by the lifevest (you get a helmet too! about the safest you can get in the DR!) and it's absolutely ridiculous how strong they are. And how crazy they are too! They do it all without lifevests or helmets, jumping from even higher points and doing fancy dives just to show-off. Some waterfalls you jump, some you slide down. Only 2 of them are pretty intimidating heights, but luckily my friends were awesome and didn't express even the slightest annoyance when they had to wait for me to get up the courage.
You can get pretty banged up on those rocks, and it's certainly a hiking work out climbing up and over everything. But definitely well worth it, and I was so proud of myself for taking the plunge (literally!) and just going for it, even when my brain was not the least bit sure that was a good idea. (And in a way I didn't have a choice, because after you've gone all the way up the only way to go down is to jump!)

The day ended with me being able to cross one more thing off my "to do" list for the DR: banana boating! (Note: me and my friends not pictured) Definitely as fun as it looks



2009 is starting off oh so great! :D

Sextons in the DR

Now that things are back and are settling back into full swing again, I finally found some time to catch you all up! And I know you're been clamoring for more

Christmas break was fantastic, if not solely because I got to see my family! :D
I was able to show my sister a little bit around Santiago, after which she was well informed and able to give my parents the full report of life around here. We took a day trip to go horseback riding, and while she enjoyed it I have found out that horses and I only agree when BOTH of us have our feet planted firmly on the ground. I misinterpreted the set-up for the outing and we were stuck with all our bags, thus lading down the horses with so much stuff they were starting to tilt. So naturally I wasn't thrilled when I discovered my horse liked to gallop. Especially since he seemed to have no awareness of the fact that low-hanging branches affected me more than they did him. Flash to me getting a mouth full of leaves after going full canter through a forest path (all the while trying to control the bouncing around of the suitcases). Exhausting physically and mentally

Then with the whole gang down to Bayahibe for a week at an all-inclusive. If you ever get a chance to stay at an all-inclusive, DO IT. The food was amazing food-5 star dishes every night. We were lucky and got to try all 4 of the hotel restaurants-Mexican, Japanese, a Steak House, and Gourmet. The wait staff was so attentive and helpful, even when the language barrier was painfully obvious. But a lot of the people at the resort could speak at least a bit in 4 languages (Spanish, English, German, and French) because it was such an international place-popular with the Europeans. The activities staff was more energetic than I would've thought coming from people who work 16 hour days. Salsa, bachata, and merengue lessons; ocean aerobics; morning strolls; Step classes; and everybody's favorite: Bingo! We got to try snorkeling (always fun until you get sick from downing too much salt water) and scuba diving (free 'bottom of the pool' adventures to get a taste for it) and were lucky enough to attend a baseball game nearby. And since baseball games down here are nothing like those in the states (a little more...rowdy you could say!?) I think it was a great way of showing my family a taste of the Dominican culture.

It did certainly felt weird being out of the States for Christmas though. Even though crazy NC weather means I've already experienced a couple 70 degree Christmases, it still didn't seem quite the same down here. But the hotel did a good job of making it feel like the holidays, with lights strung around the palm trees lining the walk ways and a Christmas tree and a manger scene. And the stockings my parents brought down made it all that much sweeter!

I guess this past Christmas was more a reminder than anything, of what it's all about. Family and love and support and closeness. And even though there are always plenty of family tiffs that plague any extended vacation, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Dianne, for making the trek down here and spending Christmas with me. I already miss you all :)