sundays

i promised a seasonal explanation in my last post...
my friend jenny teaches first grade in santo domingo. somehow she is supposed to teach little dominican babies about the four seasons. one of those little nuances that makes me dislike bilingual education. 4 seasons are wonderful. if you have them.
there are no seasons here.
the greenery is, well, perpetually green. you can grow tomatoes year round. there is no particular "harvest" season where everything gets done. (except with coffee, but that's the only exception). want bananas? you're sure to find a banana tree with ripe fruit at any time of the year, not just in august. there is no hibernation for the foliage. no changing of colors, no falling of leaves. the "spring" brings new flowers. but so does summer. and fall. and winter, for that matter.

we've come to divide seasons in our house into how many showers you take during the day. there is a slight change in temperature throughout the year. in december and january it gets pretty chilly - i mean compared to, say april. in december and january you really only need to take 1 shower a day. no heavy sweating, cool nights.
however, once march rolls around... 3 showers are necessary. one in the morning, evening and afternoon. it's hot here. sticky and gross.
in fact, for me, it's even hotter in april than it is in august.
however, august remains the 4-shower season. it rains everyday and the extra shower is mostly attributed to being dirty more than the heat. especially if you're like us and live on a dirt road.
what americans know as fall is the 2-shower season. it's the end of hurricane season so there is usually a nice breeze and the nights cool off considerably, but the noon-sun could kill you.

i miss seasons. the colors of fall, the fresh, newness of spring. but there's something amazing in having life abundant all year round, something delicious to eat - fresh - all year, something wonderful in death coming at the end of long life and not at the end of a season.

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SUNDAY FOR SAMIL
without further ado.
i've finally been able to post ON sunday!
samil is almost 8 months old. he's got 4 teeth.
he's still scooting around and not really crawling, but he gets around quickly. do to the fact that he likes to eat dirt, we've got to be like eagles, making sure he doesn't get into anything. for being so small, he sure does get into a lot.
as seen in his last post, he pulls himself up and is starting to walk with his pushtoys. but we don't think he'll be an early walker. he's very clumsy and still doesn't have much balance.
he loves to eat. he loves his friend sarah. he loves his papi. and if we're in the living and i ask where papi is, he scoots his way to the door and stares at it like a puppy waiting for its owner to come home.
we've been walking/jogging every other day, but the jogging stroller has a busted tire so we'll just be walking until we get a new tube. samil likes being outside. and likes to swing in the playground with his babysitter marlyn. (she's my student who watches him while i teach in the institute).

enough said. pictures:

like i said, samil L.O.V.E.S. to eat

he makes funny faces too

we took this picture this morning after church. we plan to take some more family pictures soon.