working the earth

Our new place has a humongous back (and side and front) yard ready and waiting to be transformed into paradise garden. we got this place because it was finally the compromise we could live with - amalio's huge backyard and me not living in a tin-roof hut. (the house is pretty nice, too, but the yard is the crowning glory).

the day after we moved, amalio already had our potted plants in the ground, watered and was running to the nursery to get more. i was, less happily, surrounded by a hundred boxes wondering when in the world i'd ever even make a dent in the unpacking.

in an attempt to actually contribute to the backyard, i bought a bag of soil and had the kids plant tomato and pepper seeds. i forgot that we have chickens. 

no tomatoes and no peppers, but the kids had fun. 

(amalio has since partitioned off a part of the yard for vegetable plants where chicken-chicken, henry and mickey can't get to them)

we also let susan spray paint. i'm sorry if she turns into a delinquent.

the yard is taking shape - it needs a lot of work still, but once it's "see-able" i'll post some before and after pictures here!

monumental museum... and amely.

the tourism-factor is low in santiago. we've got a cultural museum... and a monument.
i'm always at a loss for what to do with visitors. there are some rivers to swim in and some of the scenery outside of the city is gorgeous, but the museum gets old. i've been there ten times since may. and the exhibits haven't changed. and it takes about 30 minutes to see all there is to see.

and the monument used to be fun,but now it's not. the craziness was taken away when the city government decided to spruce the place up and get rid of the riff-raff. the fun nights of merengue dancing in the streets are over, but don't fret! it's been replaced by a museum documenting the restoration of the republic. 

what's that? you ask. i have no idea. really. there are some two or three independence days and i get them confused. this one has something to do with haiti. or france. or spain.

the museum is filled with old-school dioramas and confusing explanations. the stairway to get to the top of the monument is worse than the spiral case in the statue of liberty.  but on the top floor, there are statue-replicas of carnival figures. each character of carnaval tells a cultural story - from the robalagallina woman with children hidden under her skirt to the lechones meant to scare evil away.

amely loves it. and since we don't do carnaval, this is a safe place for her to see her characters.

this woman is marchante or a market-woman. she strolls through the streets selling fruits and vegetables from the basket atop her head, flowers from her basket and beans from her apron. amely thinks that's too much work. 

the lechon wears a different mask in every region of the country. he carries a dried pigs bladder to beat people up with, and a rope whip to make a lot of noise. of course, he's amely's favorite.

the robalagallina is a man, dressed as a woman, with lots of little-ones hidden under the skirt. when they enter the colmados the children steal things - like hens (roba: steal, la gallina: hen). amely thinks it's funny.

Dinosaurs!

Dinosaurs have arrived in Santiago. 

The Jurassic Park (Bosque Jurasico) exhibit that drew crowds in Santo Domingo, in very Dominican fashion, headed north to see if they could continue their success. It happens a lot here - whenever an exhibit/park/circus does well in the capitol, it gets moved to Santiago (and usually just a bit cheaper). 

we weren't too sure what to expect, but we piled into a taxi and took off. tickets were 100 pesos cheaper than expected (yay!) and we got there just at the right time - no lines and no crowds.

 there were tons of animatronic dinosaurs throughout the park - they moved and roared and all over entertained. of course, there were some extra "pay" attractions: bounce houses and dino-rides. and the food was super over-priced. but the exhibit was nice, amely really liked it. so did max and zora.

samil was still in the campo, so amely got to have fun by herself
this time around.

she weasled her way into a dino-ride (without
a ticket) but by the end was freaking out.
(it didn't stop from wiling another ride out of the
poor teenage boy running the thing...)

look at zora ride!

the kids got free "dino" brand cookies. and their picture taken,
too.

preparation

it's hard for me to have a strong-willed child. amely is nothing if not stubborn. if you ask her to do something that she's not interested in, she'll tell you. no. maybe no chaaaank you. but, no. amely hits her brother and then cries when he looks at her. she draws on the wall, and then gets a rag to clean it off. she knows what she's doing is against the rules, but she does it anyway. she scrambles from bed to bed at night, looking for the cool air when it's hot and the warm bodies when it's chilly. and she pretends to sleep - even standing up - when you catch her at her game.

she is my child.
i admit it.

but she is also loving and kind and loves kisses and hugs and sings songs and dances. oh, this child twirls. she has some "princess" skirts and she would live in them if we let her. she has tap shoes (three sizes too big) and she click-clicks through the house. and thank god that this side outweighs the bullheaded side. 

after a long day of butting heads, she'll say "hug me mommy" and it makes the rest of the day go away.

samil is not like amely. he is calm and collected and helpful. you could ask samil to wipe the cow's heiny and he'd do it. because he's just that kid.

but this post is not really about my kids. it's about that kid in school this morning and how thankful i am for preparation.

i'm the principal. it's been announced and the kids know that i'm the boss. most of them take that pretty seriously. not all of them. and at enrollment last week i met a treasure of a child - the youngest of five, the only girl in the family. she's been with us all year, but since i was not really present enough to know the students, we'd never crossed paths. 

today, for some odd reason, they decided i should be the disciplinarian. this child would not do what any body told her to. she wanted to brush a little girl's hair - little girl was not having it. then she killed a lizard and showed it to all her little friends. 

all of the things that amely would do.

i enter with my big-bad-principal persona and put her in "time-out" - she's 4, how bad can this be? she sat for three seconds, then came back in the class. i stood her up, she sat down. i sat her down, she stood up. 

when i finally got her standing and in a safe place she screamed. for five minutes. blood-curdling howls. and while everyone else ran and hid, i sat calmly doing some paperwork.

after all, i had already been prepared. 

we don't always get what we want, but usually we get what we need.

three candles.

today is amely's birthday. she wants pizza, cupcakes and birthday hats, please. but most importantly, she wants a song. and for everyone to sing her happy birthday to me.


three years ago today, this precious little girl came into our lives - and has filled us with a joy we never knew. girls are, after all, very different from boys.

 she hasn't slept since she was born, and sometimes i think'it's just that she has too much to do. she's moving and shaking and dancing and laughing all.day.long. she is expressive and dramatic (don't know where that came from at all. ha).

 and to be sincere, there were times when she was just born that we didn't think she'd be long with us. the kid weighed 8lbs for three months. but she's here, and we cherish that, even if she's coloring on walls, hitting her brother or throwing things. difficult, sometimes, but so worth it.

she recently told us she wants to be a model, because "mami, i'm so pretty pretty pretty."and she is. but she's got more for the world than just good looks. (i might want to lay off the America's Next Top Model re-runs!)

Happy Birthday, Princesa! Te queremos.

what's been going on?

 i feel like i keep writing "i'll be back soon" - seriously. annoying, right?

it's just that we haven't had an internet connection and, more importantly, i hate making blog posts with no real pictures. and my camera is on the blitz - and by camera i mean my cell phone with flash camera (so if you've called and i haven't answered... forgive me please - it's going to the shop soon enough).

the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. i was on semester break at the university and i think i tried to fit every thing i possibly could into those blissful, work-free weeks. i took the kids to the campo to visit their grandpop and cousins the first weekend.

i love the campo for so many reasons - it's close to the beach (we didn't go), it's cooler than the city (it wasn't) and i don't really have to watch my kids (amely just about busted open her forehead), so the following weekend we went back - this time with friends, and a car (well, two). we hit one of my favorite beaches - a river/beach with just-right waves and spent time taking care of cows and reading and playing dominoes.

samil had a presentation at school - it was cute, but the whole process set my blood boiling a few times. the thing was delayed three times and in the end it started an hour later than stated. i know i should be used to this by now, and thankfully i was on vacation (or would have missed out on three days of work since not only was the activity postponed, but they didn't bother to inform until the actual days of the event). samil was a tree. and if you judge only by this picture, not a happy tree. but he took part in the english portion of the activity as well and told everyone his favorite "aminal" is a zebra, and neighed like a horse. too cute.

on the last weeked of my vacation, i turned 30. that's right, people the big 3-0. instead of dreading it, i celebrated (and am still celebrating!) we used my new grill (with a few hitches - it went out in the middle and we had to relight it) and had a barbecue (american style) complete with bachata and merengue dancing (dominican style). we, as a family, have been so blessed with good friends who share in the good and the bad with us - and we're all just as mixed and matched as any UN meeting :) (i do love diversity).

now, i'm back to work - working on some new projects and trying to get everything done and still enjoy it. i've been walking in the mornings again - and after a long time without any real exercise, i feel good. i don't know why i stopped, but it's back in the routine now and i'm feeling refreshed.

so, i've taken over the "leadership" of a school - working in collaboration with two amazing people i've known for so long (and am learning that i never really knew) to bring quality education in a faith-based environment to one of the most marginalized communities in santiago. i'm working with a friend to create job opportunities for impoverished women (more on that to come) and i've just finished a quickie (4 class) course on pregnancy and childbirth in our community. i'll be offering a more extensive course for pregnant teenagers starting june 9. i was blessed by a wonderful woman, tracy, with all the books i needed to get started, i've been blessed.

more is happening, but i just hope to get back on here on a more regular basis. i hope all you faithful (5) readers are content and healthy!

welcome, baby.

this little guy was born last thursday. i missed his birth by one day (live-births, the geeky-parents dream... child-of-the-geeky-parents' nightmare, i 'm sure).

he was all wobbly legged still, but samil and amely were able to "help" him milk, and learned all about milk-production (the breastfeeding mothers guide to milk production... from a cow!)

samil loves to help papa with the animals, but he won't really get too close during the milking process. he helps open the gate and will even run the cows from field to field, but milking freaks him out.

not amely.

my father-in-law will only let her in with this cow because if you'd let her, she'd ride the mama and put the baby on a leash. or take a bath with the milk. or! drink the milk right from the udder.

there are two more calves on the way and we might actually make it to the first birth mid-may.

slow down.

stations of the cross - local catholics have the stations set
up throughout the neighborhood - and rain or shine, celebrate the
real reason for Holy Week.

university students in the dominican republic study all year round - it still takes them four years to graduate and they take an insane amount of credits (i still haven't figured it all out.... but i'm sure it has to do with them studying for careers and not liberal arts...)

unfortunately this means no spring break, no two-month long vacation in the summer and minimal days for christmas. i can't complain too much, though, we get a few weeks in april, a few in august and about three in december.

i've been more tired lately (i blame the ridiculous schedule i had these past three months, but it could be the amount of extra-curriculars i've been part of, too) and so when i realized that for holy week, we'd only get two days, i  was frustrated.

easter breakfast group

i had a list of things to do six-miles long and two vacay days were just not enough. and my mom was visiting us that week, and i'd be stuck in class - meaning no time for the beach.

it worked out. the kids loved having granma around, and i just went to school and did what i had to do. my mom and i visited the hospital and handed out a ton of new baby stuff (donated through the midwives for DR) and i met some important people that i need to know in order to move around the hospital a little more freely. we had breakfast with my students and just hung out.

my house was a mess by thursday and the list was still six miles long (and if you added all of the dishes in the sink, it went to seven-miles long). but i had decided i needed a break.

science experiments with granma

on friday, we slept all.day.long and on saturday, too. in fact, i took a four hour nap today as well. i'm kind of behind in things that wanted to be done, but they'll get there. the necessities were taken care of - the kids were fed and played with and cared for (and other than amely's split lip this morning, we were injury free).

sometimes it's just more important to take it slow than race through life. spend time with people we love and not worry about that list of things we need to do - because usually it's not urgent.


this week i've got a full schedule, but i'm going into it fully rested and ready to take on the world.

sunnies.

since my schedule finally lightened up toward the end of this semester, i've been home on tuesday and thursday mornings with amely. mostly we've did hilarious exercise (three year olds doing zumba is hilarious, admit it!) and made lunch - i don't know where the morning goes. but, we do try to get to the corner store most of the time.

lately, amely's been into accesorizing - but, she's three. this is what happens to sunglasses on a twenty minute walk.

gettin' nerdy.

samil goes to school. and while i don't think that there is anything decidedly wrong about his school - and most preschools in this country - i don't think there's anything right either. i mean, he's learned 5 letter (the vowels) and can count to ten in spanish. sometimes he can tell me about things he learned in school - usually having to do with patriotism or singing songs - but mostly, he's learned what he's learned here, at home.

i would say something like "it's not that the educational system in the US is better persay..." but that would be a lie. because the dominican republic ranks last for education in the caribbean and south america (and by default, north america as well). so, while i'm hyper-aware of the budget cutting and program slashing that is going on in the states, believe me, it is nothing compared to the lack of budget that is even given to education here.

all that said. we, as a family, believe that education is what you make of it - amalio went to a rural school that until recently had two classrooms for grades 1-5, no running water for the bathroom and books so outdated, his grandparents might have used them (had they gone to school), and now is finishing his master's thesis.


we read and create and play.

this semester has been rough for me. i know i've written about being frustrated and stressed at work - and despite the best of intentions, it transferred into our home education. i have been tired and cranky and just wanting to veg out in front of the tv when i got home from work. and amalio's working on that thesis. disastrous for any kind of planning.

so, now that the semester is winding it's way down and i'm way less stressed, we've been on science overload here. we've been doing experiments every day, art projects and all the good stuff. this past week, we mixed colors.

milk , soap and food coloring mixing (milk repels dish soap - add some food coloring and you can see the reaction, it makes the colors "dance". mixing colored water and filling out a chart and, the kids' favorite, vinegar and baking soda surprise mixing - i put the food coloring on the spoons under the baking soda, so they didn't know what colors would happen until they mixed it all up - and watched it "explode".

not worms, melanie. parasites.

last week, a stomach bug ripped through our house - leaving tons of dirty sheets and towels and underoos in its wake. i moaned and complained about washing and drying and then washing again. once one was healthy, the persistent little bugger would infect another. for. ten. whole. days.

once everyone was more or less poop-free, i rejoiced. you doesn't shout for joy when there are no more 3am "my belly hurts?"

then we noticed that amely's belly was distended. again. and she stopped vomiting, but not the diarrhea (i know, who really likes to talk about diarrhea? but it's life, huh?) we took her to the doctor who then sent for blood, urine and stool analysis. all of which revealed nothing.

medicine on top of medicine. no relief.

so we went to a new doctor. this doctor took one look at amely's belly and knew. she just knew that there were parasites in there. so we tested the poop again.

and nothing.

i've made the mistake of calling these germs worms a few times. apparently that's offensive. i can talk about diarrhea and vomit all day long, but parasites are not worms, thankyouverymuch, and please don't talk about them here.

we're still not sure what's going on with that belly. the poor kid is taking an anti-parasite, (you know a de-wormer) just to make sure and if that doesn't help, we'll take her back next week to see what the next step is.

this is one of the downfalls of raising kids in the tropics. there are illnesses that just are not common in the states that here are so common that a routine workup includes "worm" tests. we de-worm every six months. and we can never drink the water from the spigot.

but the benefits still outweigh it - you know, like the beach in february, low cost of living and slow paced lifestyle in general.

this is the way we milk a cow.

last weekend, the dominican republic celebrated their independence (from haiti, i think), and since independence is a pretty big deal, we got a three day weekend. while most of the country flocked to carnaval celebrations, we piled into a van with some friends and headed to the campo to visit amalio's dad and hit the beach.
samil's been begging to see his "papa" for awhile now, but since he lives so far away and we're not montados in our own car, it's hard unless there are a significant amount of "no school days." luckily, we got a ride this time around.
samil loves his papa, but really what he loves is taking care of the vacas, which he'll classify for you as mommy cows, toros and becerritos - why he doesn't know the word for a heifer in spanish is beyond me - his only association with farm animals is most definitely not in english.
amely likes animals - and she's definitely more daring around them, grabbing chihuahuas and carrying cats - but she also likes to sleep in (mostly because she doesn't sleep at night), so she never really had experienced the milking process before this weekend. she got up early with her brother, and waited patiently (because they were awake before the farmer!) for papa to get back with the cows.
samil has gone from passive observer to gate-keeper for the calves. he opens and closes the door when papa tells him to. he also gets to walk the cows to pasture which he thinks is pretty cool, especially since papa let him take the calves all by himself - he ran them up the hill yelling "go baby cows, run, run, fast!" and was pretty concerned when he couldn't get the fence closed - he doesn't realize how dumb cows are yet... i mean what other animal lets a four-year old herd them?

amely loves the milk donkey - but she didn't get to see him this visit - in fact, it was raining so hard, i didn't even hear him pull up, and caught this picture of him leaving!

my belly hurts.

this weekend we had big plans. a date night to see the newest domincan-made movie "el rey de najayo", a trip to the park on sunday and maybe even visiting with some friends along the way. on friday night, my friend came over and we crafted. it was fun and relaxing and even samil helped.

we went to bed, and as normal, amely snuck in, snuggling between us in the early morning hours. amely is not easy to sleep with, and most of the time i just get up and leave. it's been futile so far to take her back to her bed - she just comes back. and i'm a witch without sleep.

shortly after i left i hear crying. whimpering, really. so i went to find out what happened - only to find amely, amalio and the bed covered in throw up. amalio bathes her down while i strip the bed and do the best i can to make it sleepable again. amely, being the princess she is, decides she can't possibly sleep in that bed with the throw up and relocates.

to her uncles (empty) bed. where she promptly begins to vomit again. i know, fun, right?

by the morning i had three sets of sheets and a pile of towels to wash. and while you probably thought this post was about amely's stomach ailments, it's not. it's about how hard it is to wash sheets and towels in a double-drum washing machine.

this isn't our machine (for some reason blogger and/or my internet connection are conspiring to not let me post pictures right now) but it's similar. two tanks - the one of the left gets filled with water and on the right is a spinner.

most of these washers have a hose attachment so you could, theoretically, just attach the hose to the sink and it'll fill up - except i've never seen a sink that is small enough for the hose that comes with the washer. so, mostly, you fill it up with buckets, throw in the clothes and wait for the "wash" cycle to finish. once it's through, you hand wring the clothes and transfer them to either another basin of water to rinse, or throw them on the floor and refill the washer. after they're rinsed, you wring again and put them in the spinner to dry.

i have a regular maytag, but it's been out of service for a month or two and i'm just too plain lazy to find someone to fix it. and really, this isn't so bad most of the time - it's time consuming, but it's relaxing in the mind-numbing way that most household chores can be.

i filled the sucker up five times yesterday to wash - it seemed like every time i thought i was finished, amely would spew forth and send me back to the bathroom to wash.

needless to say, i haven't seen the movie yet and we didn't go to the park.
maybe next week.

made ya look.

have i mentioned lately how much i adore these children?