We worked hard on the presentations, and had class for the teachers 6 hours a day. I taught about motivation, the classroom environment, setting expectations, and behavior management. I was intimidated at first because I was presenting with two people who have been in country for over a year now, and their Spanish is SO superior to mine. But I asked the teachers to pardon me, explaining that I was a new volunteer, and they were very patient and helpful towards me!
*****
Pictures of me bumbling in Spanish:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
*****
We spent the nights hanging out, listening to American music (not bachatas blaring from colmados!), and working on didactic materials for the demonstration that would be occurring on Friday. And we ate! We ate delicious SPICY non-Dominican foods. One night we had tacos, another night vegetarian chili, and another night peanut butter and jelly. Sadly, even those these meals would be fairly blasé if cooked in the States, these dishes are all like gourmet delicacies here, and my mouth is watering now just thinking about them… And she had rice cakes! I didn’t have to eat my “sandwiches” on casabe! I had rice cakes! (I think my eyes got a little teary with happiness when I saw them.)
*****
Pictures of Sam, Kim, and me being waaaay too excited about tacos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
*****
I ended up staying an extra day in Sabana de la Mar because a fortuitous thing happened. The first day of our class, as we were returning to the school for the session after lunch, a woman ran over a dog in the street with her moto, totally sinverguenza. It was as if she was aiming for it. The dog yelped and limped along, but it didn’t die. It just seemed to have a broken leg. We asked who the dog belonged to, and she said it was hers. Samantha yelled at her and said if she couldn’t take care of it, she should give it to someone who would. The woman responded that Sam could take it, but we had a class to teach so we had to go.
As we were teaching the class, I thought more and more about that poor dog. And I thought about how I have been planning to adopt a dog once I get my own house. And I thought that I would just call my host family and see if maybe they wouldn’t mind if I brought a dog home with me and kept it in a box on the porch at night until I move out to my own place.
So that night when we got to Sam’s house, I tried calling my family, but I couldn’t get through. However, I decided that this dog needed a different home. And I knew that my host family was one of the rare Dominican families that actually likes pets and treats animals with respect, so I didn’t think they would mind as long as I was the one taking care of the dog. So the following day, I went to the house and said I would take it. However, a man there told me that someone else had already adopted it and taken it to the vet the day before and that it was fine. (This was all a lie because the dog was limping around the house, but whatever…) So, basically I couldn’t have it.
But there were children swarming around Samantha and I in the street because wherever there is a gringa/o, children are sure to follow. The group of children told me that they had puppies in their house and that I should come look at the puppies to see if I wanted one. So I did, and they were darling, healthy little things. The children told me that the mother was a Chihuahua, though, and I am not a fan of little yippy things. Plus, I would like a dog that will eventually be able to proteger me in my own house, so a healthy little Chihuahua just wasn’t going to do. But then, another kid from across the street walked into the casita carrying a little dog in the most inhumane way possible. He had one front paw in each of his hands with the back legs hanging down. The puppy had goop coming out of both eyes, sores on it’s body (that was sparsely covered with hair), visible fleas and ticks, and a bariga of a belly that looked like a sure sign of parasites. When he put the dog on the ground, she could barely stand, and her legs wobbled precariously as she walked. And I knew that this was the dog I wanted.
Her name is Cha-Cha, a derivative of muchacha. Her apodo is Chachita. And she is preciousa! I took her home to Sam’s and bathed her and fed her our leftover tuna from lunch. She pounced on the dish as if she had never eaten in her life! About an hour after she finished a plate of tuna, she finished a container of yogurt and a bowl of water. This little girl had been deprived!
Right now she is in the vet in the capital, where they confirmed that she does have parasites, anemia, fleas, ticks, and mange. (I didn’t even know mange really existed. Now I know where the expression “mangy mutt” comes from, because that was the pure definition for Cha-Cha when I found her.) I am going back on Saturday to pick her up and bring her home. I am so excited about seeing the potential that this dog will have once she is finally healthy! Aw, she is my little Dominican baby!
*****
Pictures of Cha-Cha:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/specialuv
*****