Chicken Delivery!

So a lot of things get sold on the streets of the Dominican Republic.  There are fruit trucks, banana guys, and even chicken trucks!  The guy drives the streets of town, and with a loudspeaker blaring announces that he has chickens for sale.  The kids will flag him down and give him money.  In return, he grabs a live chicken from the cage, turns it upside down, and proceeds to drown it in the bucket of water in the back of his truck (You can see part of the metal bucket in this picture).  He then hands the dead chicken to the children who run off and give it to their mother who will then pluck, butcher, and cook it!

This is the view directly across the street
from their house -- a house that is in ruins.

A view down the other side
of the street.

Today's post is mostly about what the area looks like immediately around where Alexa lives.

The house the teacher's live in -- tall
metal bars with a locked gate surround
the building for safety. 

They have a terrace on the second floor of
their home where they hang their laundry
to dry and can sit outside for some
cooler air -- although I hear that it is very
noisy outside with the neighbors playing
music loudly in the evenings, and children
always knocking on their gates and calling
out to them!

Evening view from their 2nd floor terrace.

The view from the 2nd floor facing the other
side of the street. 

 

This is the swampy field directly behind their house.  The big
grey thing in the middle is a wild pig, which has a whole
bunch of babies.  The teachers are forbidden to go back there
due to unsafe conditions, both environmental and personal.

A storefront and some house a bit farther down
the street.

This is their kitchen -- no oven or traditional stove, the green
burners you see on the right are where the cook does
all of her cooking!

The school Alexa is teaching at currently.

And when one is extremely bored, one builds
a veritable skyscraper with popsicle sticks
and elmer's glue!

Alexa's favorite student, Miguel.  He wrote her
a note that says "Miguel and teacher Cat"
(Cat is what the kids call her because they
can't say Kathryn!)

The group went rafting over the weekend.

Whew! It's hot!

   This is what school looks like - sometimes!  The classroom is full of kids who want to learn English, and not so they can go to college one day, but so that they can get a better job in the tourist town they live in.  If they don't know any English then their jobs will be as cooks, maids, or unemployed.  If they know some English they have a chance at a slightly better job, like street stand vendor, taxi driver or something.  However, if they are very fluent in English then they will have the jobs that involve interacting with the tourists (who bring in the money!) like desk clerks, tour guides, restaurant hosts. etc.  These teachers are there to teach the children enough English that they can help to provide for their families and themselves in a slightly better way than what they have now.

 The girls have a favorite leather works shop that will make them anything they can dream of!  They can show the owner a picture of some sandals, a purse, a wallet, a belt, etc, and come back a week later to pick it up.  Many girls have ordered items, apparently the prices are cheap too!  Alexa had this really cute purse made!

                                                                     

 The weather is so hot right now -- the lowest it gets each day is 75 degrees, with the highs generally 90 degrees.  Doesn't sound too bad until you realize that the "real-feel" temperature is generally 102 degrees with 90 percent humidity.  And they have no air conditioning.  No one does.  Thus they spend a lot of time at the beach!  Recently many of the girls took a trip to Santo Domingo for a couple of days and then went on to Punta Cana to stay at a resort for half a week.

The Punta Cana group -- dressed for a night of fun!

 

    

And yes, I just had to throw this picture in.
That is a decaying dog on the side of the road!

Humanitarian Service Week!

Kids playing on the street next to
Alexa's house (on the left).

Alexa and Jocelyn.

 So much has been going on during the last two weeks!  The girls have been not so busy teaching due to school testing and vacation, but they have found ways to use their time! They attended a semi-pro soccer game and were treated to pictures with the players, kisses on checks,  and invites to the beach after party, which they politely declined!

 The girls also went to a place called "27 Waterfall", which is exactly that, 27 waterfalls connected by narrow rivers surrounded by rock walls.  They had a lot of fun.

A starving dog that the girls
have adopted and feed
regularly.  He just wants
to be loved!

Eggplant growing in the
front yard!

The girls also volunteered at a nursing home for senior citizens.  They helped feed them lunch, then went around holding hands, rubbing arms, and giving them a bit of love.  Alexa is so good at this, she loves elderly people and they can feel that.  They just melt under her touch!  She introduced them to Snapchat and the funny faces she could make on them with it!  Definitely a third world care center though -- not the best conditions she says.

They also volunteered at a local hospital.  They delivered clothes to the various patients and sang songs to the families.  She said that all the women were in one big room, all the men in another, the children in another, and the babies in another.  Not at all like the hospitals in America.  The mothers loved to have their newborns held and one even tried to offer the girls the opportunity to be godparents if they would take the baby to America.  Be glad you live where you do!

BBQ on the beach!

Alexa says this jam is
oh so good!

The kids are always out on the street
wanting the teachers to play with
them.  Alexa has such a big heart!

Fruits, and Dogs, and Beaches, Oh My!

 Alexa has been in the Dominican Republic for 1 month!  Time flies!  She has seen and experienced so much just in these last four weeks.  This is a picture of the house she and all the teachers live in.  There is a gated cement fence around the whole house, with a locked gate.  This keeps out stray dogs, children, and other curious residents.  Most days children will come to the gates and call out for the teachers to come play with them.  At night the starving stray dogs will try to squeeze between the bars to get

to the garbage.  These dogs are bone thin and whine and cry in hunger.  Alexa often takes pity on them and throws them hot dogs.  When the girls want to buy fresh fruit they can walk down the street to the fruit trucks, which are actual trucks filled with all kinds of tropical fruit.  Many mornings a truck will bring a giant bunch of bananas to the street outside their house and the girls can come out and purchase bananas fresh from the tree.

The seller will cut off what they want right there! Alexa says they taste so good -- the fruit is sweeter and more delicious in the DR!  This little girl, one of Alexa's students, is standing outside her home holding her sibling.

This past weekend a group of 8 girls took a taxi, then a guagua (like a large van, crammed full of people) to Cabarete Beach, about an hours journey from home.  She said it was the best beach so far!  They enjoyed a delicious lunch with milkshakes!  The tropical smoothies are always a big hit when it is hot, which is always!  I have looked at the temperature in  Puerto Plata and the low is always a balmy 75 degrees, with the highs ranging from 80 to 100 degrees, with a realfeel far higher!  Hot and humid!

 Last night the townspeople lined the streets with candles to commemorate a 40 year man who was shot and killed.  She said it looked really cool.

This was the view the girls were treated to on their guagua ride home from the beach!