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!