One frustration for five Appreciations!

Soapbox warning ahead: Want to know one of my “favorite” parts about being here?  Every time someone from here or the US says “You’ll be fluent in Spanish by the time you’re done living in the DR!”  Now let me preface this with my Spanish is coming along fine and I do understand a lot.  I can get by in daily tasks of taking a taxi or going to the grocery store, etc.   I may even take some lessons for extra practice. However living here for two or three years does NOT guarantee fluency especially when as a family, we speak English in our home.   Most people that have moved to a new country and learned the language were studying the language simultaneously or studied it right before they left.  I studied Spanish a number of years ago (I can’t even remember how many) and I am LUCKY that a lot of it has come back to me.  Think for a moment about all the people in America who aren’t fluent in English.  Just because you live somewhere doesn’t guarantee fluency.  Maybe I’ll become fluent, maybe I won’t but I don’t need the added pressure with a false precedent.

Now that I’m off my soapbox…let me tell you some of my new appreciations since being here!  I love the rain!  I was always indifferent to the rain in Minnesota…in fact it was almost a hassle.  But here I love how strong the rain gets and I love the breeze it brings to the normally hot weather. I love how beautiful the curtains look when they blow through the large glass doors of our balcony.  Check out the attached video to see what I mean. I also have an appreciation for mountains!  I live in the middle of the mountains and they are so gorgeous to me.  One of the few other places I’ve seen mountains is Utah and those are much more brown (still beautiful) while here they are more green.  It’s even cool to see it raining at the top of the mountains when it’s not raining in the valley below.  I also have an appreciation for taking baths.  Personally, I’m a shower taker but when the tub is filled with bubbles and jets, it’s not so bad!  I’ve also grown fonder of swimming. I’ve always loved it (or at least playing in the water) but here I have been practicing my stroke and noticed I have become a better swimmer.  I also have a new appreciation for exercising since my new work out class started.  The trainer is so good and honestly going to this class is probably my favorite part of living here!  It makes me so happy and makes me feel so good about what I’ve accomplished afterwards. I’ve enjoyed other work out classes but none have pushed me as much as this. I am hoping to get visible results but if nothing else I can already feel non-visible results like extra strength and endurance I didn’t have before. 

View of the mountains

Finally I can’t forget the appreciation I have for being a stay at home mom!  I love so much being able to be with Joaquin.  He is literally my joy, not to mention, the strongest baby in the world lately!  I wish everyone appreciated how hard stay at home moms worked!  I don’t even have a full appreciation because I have help three times a week. When we first moved here we didn’t bring anything besides our clothes and I was spending a lot of time shopping and trying to set up our large apartment.  With the craziness of that and a baby we hired someone to help us clean (at first we were the only ones in our apartment who didn't have help).  She is fabulous and I’ve learned a whole new way of cleaning actually.  Joaquin needs so much attention that I can’t leave the room to clean without him or he is ready to knock down the TV, the fan or cry because I’ve left his sight.  Even with help, I still find my self so busy because when he naps I want to write my blog or study for the English class I teach or set up doctor appointments for the family or whatever other errands need to be done.  I will actually have a stronger appreciation for stay at home moms soon because we are going to stop having the lady clean because she’s a little pricey and we can’t afford it.  I heard you can get someone to clean here for $8 a day which would be reasonable three times a week but the person we hired costs more than that so we are just going to do away with it all for now.  Now that I have enough to get by in my apartment I have more time for cleaning and everything else while Joaquin takes his naps.  I feel settled and a lot less stressed than in the beginning so I’m ready to handle my normal life again!

My strong baby!  We helped him to his feet first but he's already able to get up on his knees and will likely be to his feet on his own any day now.

Things are starting to happen for me!

I think the thing that makes this adventure living in the DR hardest for me is that I call it an “adventure!”  Although it is…I need to remember to call it home.  I often think about how things will be when we move back to the US but that is dangerous thinking for me because I need to remember I live here right now.  I’ve gotten a lot of advice from people that have studied abroad or served a mission here or moved here to teach English…all adventure kind of things.  While I do appreciate all of the advice, I feel different because I didn’t come here as a young college student or someone looking for an adventure.  I came here as a thirty year old mother whose husband got a job and I am here raising my family.  It’s just a different scenario.  However let me now tell you that things are starting to happen!

First, I picked up a job teaching English part time.  I figured since I’m a teacher by trade, why not use my skills to get out of the house, do some good and meet more people?  So that’s what I’m doing and so far I really like it! I teach a class of 15-ten to twelve year olds. The school serves pre-school through high school so it seems to be doing rather well.  I’ve only taught for three weeks and already love the kids in my class.  During the week I am on call to go to the corporate office in a different city and help the Director teach adults but I haven’t had to go yet.  I am really looking forward to a different professional atmosphere to teach in!

I don't have a good picture of all my kids or the whole school yet so this will have to suffice.

 I also joined a very intense work out class at my apartment.  There are about 6 or 7 girls that come and we all work with this trainer cycling through sit ups, push ups, lunges, running and more all non-stop.  I have never felt so much pain from working out and I seriously thought I was going to puke the first day.  I was in pain the rest of the week but the classes have gotten a little easier each time and I really love it. 

This is an accurate before and after of how I feel on a daily basis in this class

Last night I also received a calling at church!  I am going to serve with the young women as a counselor in the Presidency. Serving with the youth is always fun and they are more likely to speak English than the older people.  For those of you who aren’t LDS, in our congregations, people are given different callings (jobs) to do to help the congregation function.  People teach Sunday school, work with the youth or the children, keep track of secretarial duties and other responsibilities.  None of it is paid and it is all done by service including the Bishop who leads the congregation. Jesus also received a calling and will be teaching in the Elders Quorum.  Although he is bilingual, he thinks in English first so is nervous to teach in Spanish but I’m so excited for him to do it!

Tonight we had another couple and their baby over for Family Home Evening.  (There’s some more LDS jargon…Family home evening is a time for families to get together typically on Monday evenings to share a spiritual thought, play games, eat treats, do family planning, go on outings or essentially whatever you want).  This couple is great! For the spiritual thought, we talked about families and how we’ve been entrusted by the Lord to raise new little spirits and then we played some “Minute to Win it” games at our house and ate pizza. Thanks Katy for the minute to win it FHE idea!  It was so fun to get to know this couple better!  We’ve met a few other young couples as well so I am going to try and be my ”social butterfly” self and bring us all together.  Nothing will me the same as when the Showleys, Lines, Gilles and Druckers got together often in MN but you better believe I am going to try and make something happen!  And maybe these moms can come hang out with me during the day since I think we all don’t work full time…cross your fingers for me!  

One minute to pull all the tissues out of the box one by one using one hand

One minute to grab a peso out of each panty hose leg and your hands must work independently not touching the other

One minute to get two oreos in your mouth from your forehead using only your facial muscles and no hands