Orientation

Orientation

In front of our apartment, waiting for the school bus to pick us up.

 Orientation. That has been the big idea for our family in every regard these past two weeks. Not only orientation at the school, but also orientation in a different and new way of life. A new life on the fourth floor of an apartment, a new life of taking the taxi instead of the old Dutch bike, a new life of not being able to rely on English alone, a new life of new friends and colleagues who have come from all over North and South America, a life of new smells, new do's and don'ts, new gestures, new jokes, etc., etc. The past weeks have been full of excitement for our family.

Spanish classes are a must for the new teachers.

 "Timoteo, te presento a mi esposo Sherilyn." "Encantado, Sherilyn". We're in Spanish class, and I am introducing Sherilyn to one of our new friends, Tim Houck. Our group of 'students' is a lot of fun, and Katie, our colleague and Spanish teacher, is doing an excellent job in getting us started with our new language. Although we will be teaching in English at the school, Spanish is still predominantly spoken everywhere. We'll need it every day, somewhere. So we're pronouncing, repeating, and scribbling 'saludos' (greetings), respuestas (responses), sustantivos (nouns), and so on, for a few hours of class every day. It's amazing how fast the kids pick up on the 'sounds' of the language. Mattais and Kaelie are already saying words like 'bien', 'como esta', or sometimes just some made-up words that have a definite Spanish tone! 
   

 Sherilyn and Tracey on the SCS playground.

Getting to know the (new) staff members from SCS and many other people from the Christian community in Santiago has been nice and a great blessing. Many warm welcomes. Wonderful. It's great to listen to the different stories of where people are from, how long they have been here, or what motivated them to move to Santiago, what they are involved with, and so on.

          Of course, being Canadian, we look around for other Canadians. We haven't met many yet, but we've made a start. Tim and Tracey Houck, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, are a wonderful couple, also new to the staff and community. We share our stories of 'how it came about to move to the DR', we talk about our children (they have three), our interests, share a few laughs, and before long we feel as if we've known these new friends for years already.

 "This is a good Dominican lunch, everyone. Fried chicken, rice and beans, and salad."

While we attend meetings and classes, Mattais and Kaelie have their own 'orientation', together with their new friends and some of the teenage supervisors. They play basketball in the covered school court, skip rope, read books in the library, draw and colour, have a snack time or two, and look for geckos and other new bugs. There are plenty of new things to explore and enjoy!

 We're all new friends! Very exciting.

 Ready to go home after another orientation day at school.

Making fresh papaya juice

After a busy day of orientation at the school, we're happy to be at home again. A large, juicy papaya is going into the juicer for a thirst quencher. These papayas are huge! And tasty! Not all the pieces end up in the juicer. Nope, some pieces go straight into our mouths! Aaahhhh..... Bien!

 While mom and dad are in Spanish class, we read books in the library.

 Yo aprendo.....

 At Playa Dorada with many of the new staff members.



After our busy first week, we spent two days at Playa Dorada with many of the new staff members as well as several senior staff members and administrators. We not only had a great chance to relax as a family, but also had a great time sharing thoughts and ideas with our new colleagues. Some of our colleagues have already lived in the DR for many years, so there were great stories of life at school, riding jam-packed taxis, and playing dominos. The devotional times during the day and evening were also  wonderful, leaving everyone with many thoughts about the great works of God, and how we may also serve Him in shaping the lives of children with a Christian education and telling others of His love and grace.

Sand and water. The kids couldn't get enough.