Saludos de la republica dominicana!

That means Greetings from the Dominican Republic, in case you don't speak Spanish! Wow, what to say about the last week!? The first week feels like a blur looking back on it- we had 3 days of pretty detailed orientation with all 16 college aged interns from the US/Canada as well as the missionaries here and the Dominican teachers at the various schools that Kids Alive runs across the D.R. On Friday I got all of my curriculum for the 5 week summer school program, and that was the first time I felt completely overwhelmed by not being able to speak Spanish as well as I'd like to! I am in charge of a 3rd grade class of about 10 students, and I have a helper (a 19 year old young man whose parents run the orphanage in Jarabacoa) who speaks both Spanish and English pretty well. Sunday night I was VERY nervous about the next day. The missionaries had prepared us that the classes might be a little crazy, and on top of that I was worried about not being able to understand anything the kids were saying and not being able to communicate effectively what they were supposed to do! God truly blessed me with peace and took away all my fears as my class walked in Monday morning- I have 10 adorable kids between the ages of 8 and 11, and they are really well behaved!! (well for the most part, I mean they are still kids) One of the missionaries suggested to me that I write out some of the things I was supposed to say in Spanish and let the kids read them. I was nervous about this but decided to try it. The first time I asked for "un voluntario" I was completely overwhelmed- EVERY single hand went up! The kids all LOVE to read and be the volunteer, so from now on I'm letting them read all the information about the Bible and countries in Europe and math and the solar system (those are our main themes). They are such a blessing! Some of the girls even stayed in from recess to talk to me, look at my pictures from home, and help me organize the classroom. They also drew me a picture at the end of the day. Needless to say, I'm loving it!

I also taught my first Irish Dancing class today! Wow, was it fun. I had a really hard time figuring out everything I wanted to say in Spanish (how do you say "lock your legs" "turn out your feet" "or point your toes" in Spanish!?), so I did a lot of demonstrating and saying "like this!" The girls absolutely loved it! I let them all put on soft shoes at the beginning of class and when I turned on the music they were all giggling and running around and jumping. Later I demonstrated a reel step for them and their favorite move is scissors, for those of you who know what those are- they are constantly trying to do them now, it's pretty funny! After class the girls even hop-1-2-3d out the door! (Or as we say here, "arriba-1-2-3!").

Tonight I am going to a bible study with the other 5 interns and some of the missionaries here. Pray for me that my Spanish will continue to improve and that I'll build strong relationships here! Also pray for myself and the other interns for the students in our classes and that we would be effective teachers and even more importantly just love the kids in our class and show them God's love! Thanks for your prayers, and I hope to update soon!