samil and amely school

I’ve been trying to get us back on track – what with the move, a new work arrangement, elections in the DR (which is a huge show and if you know it, you’ll understand why and how it could throw your lives off track for a month) and my trip to Florida with Amely.
I have yet to unpack all of my school-y type things from boxes because, although our closets are way better (not bigger, just better) in this place, there are no extra shelves in the kids closet. I had paid, a while back, to have extra shelves hung in their closet to store all of our teaching/crafting/playing/random stuff in a more organized matter. This new closet has the basic shelves, but not the extras. Luckily, my dad is coming in July and he can do the job while he’s here.
However, I can’t just sit around waiting for him to get here to get the kids back in the game. So, we’ll probably be theme-less for at least a month and just working on the basics. Samil is a little speech delayed (and we’re a little conflicted on what to do about it. Amalio says it’s not a problem and I say we should see someone now in case it becomes a problem) so I’ve been working with him on some basic words and pronunciations (speech therapist I’m not, but all these languages have got to be killing the kid, so I’m flooding him with as much English as possible right now).
I got a ton of paint chips from Lowe’s when I was stateside, and I’ll tell you I felt kind of silly but now that I have them I’m glad I grabbed as many as I did. I have a ton of ideas for them – a color memory game, color matching, “mosaic” pictures, and of course, I’ve seen them on other blogs with tons of ideas, too. The best part is they’re free. This week, we worked on this file folder game I made from the chips – we matched colors and I had Samil try to say the colors and to find them with his finger. We took it with us to the doctor’s office, too, and it kept him entertained for a good twenty minutes while we waited for Amalio to get an allergy test done
I also got some floral decorating rocks with the flat bottom. I’m still coming up with ideas for these, but for now we made AB patterns with two colors.









Samil likes to paint, but he doesn’t like to get paint on himself, so we’ve been trying different ways to paint without the mess. I got these roller-ball paints from Michael’s on clearance. I had tried the idea before in a DIY version (old deodorant jars – the roll on type – pop out the ball, wash out, fill with paint, plop the ball back in and voila! Roller ball paints!) I think Amely likes it better than Samil.

We’ve been chalkin’ it up a lot, too – both on the chalkboard and on the roof. And our summer goal is to read at least two story books a day (that doesn’t include the baby books or counting books we tend to read a lot of anyway). I’m getting us down to a schedule (think flow chart, not hours!) and it’s working out well so far.
If you want to read other totschool posts, check out carisa’s blog, where you can find tons of simple, fun ideas to do with you toddlers!

Shop it up

I go through shirts like it’s my job. I know that I should separate my clothes into “house” clothes and “not-house” clothes – but when you work at home, the line gets blurred. I have a dress I wear a lot – a plain, red cotton dress but I cannot wear it out – it’s got bleach stains and is ripped in places, but it’s comfortable and if I’m just going to get more bleach stains and rips, why not keep them confined to one article of clothing?
The problem is that now I work outside of the house. I actually have to look presentable every single day. And it’s hot and I’m in public transportation and my clothes just get dirtier faster. And sometimes in the morning when I take the kids out and I change out of my ugly, red housedress, I forget to put it back on and end up dirtying up the “not-house” clothes.
So, I’ve got three nice work appropriate shirts and a ton of pants. I could make that work since I don’t work every day, right? The thing is that the pants are all patterned pants. And the shirts don’t match. Well, each shirt matches one bottom. No mixing and matching possible.
Shopping for clothes in the Dominican Republic is an exercise in futility. Most Dominican women wear clothes completely inappropriate for anyone older than 21 and at least 2 sizes too small. It’s charming when you’re on vacation and everyone seems to be perpetually youthful and fun but when you realize that it never changes, it’s not so charming.
Add that to the price of clothes and, well, it’s a wonder anyone who doesn’t want their boobs hanging out of the top of their shirt and their fat rolling out from under (because pants two sizes too small with give anyone a roll of fat) wears clothes at all. I thought it was a fashion thing, like that tight pants were sexier, until I actually went to a department store and realized they were only selling junior sizes. All the way to like size 19/21, but juniors clothing has a different cut and style than women’s clothing. Hence the fat and the boobies for the world to see!
I’ve only ever bought clothes here once – for my wedding. I just wore a simple, white peasant skirt and a brown top. It cost me more than a hundred dollars. A lot of people sell clothes from their homes, imported stuff they got off the clearance rack in the states, but for the prices they sell tee-shirts at I could buy a Gucci purse instead.
Most of my shopping is done in the states. And by most I mean 99%. The only thing I buy here is emergency things – maybe underwear or socks? When I worked in a school I had to buy some pants for the uniform and I’ve gotten Samil some shoes. (Amalio gets all of his clothes here. However, he is a clotheshorse and as per Dominican “teacher” culture gets a lot of his clothes as gifts from students, especially ties and dress shirts. I do, however, have to get his uniform shirts in the states because he tends to buy the cheapest thing he can find in the store, wears it and washes it every day and then wonders why is gets ruined in three weeks).
Some of my students have told me that I can get cheap, used clothes at the Haitian flea market (think Mexican flea markets in the states) but I haven’t been in ages and my outlook is dim. I feel like if there was such quality in the pulga (the word for flea in Spanish) then you’d see some of that quality on the street, and you don’t.
I get asked a lot what is hard about living here. And there you have it. The lack of decent, modest-ish clothes (because let’s be honest, I don’t wear turtle necks and floor length skirts either) at reasonable prices in sizes that fit. If Wal-mart could import their stores and prices down here, I’d be a happy girl (most of their merchandise is made in countries like this; they should at least hook up those low prices to their third-world laborers!)

techno-no-no

How many posts can I get out of a five day visit to Florida? Probably a lot. Especially considering that my real life is so boring and mundane that it’s not worth even writing about. And more so now that I’m on vacation in the house – doing laundry, dishes, cleaning and painting with the kids. Not so many exciting posts about that, huh?
We went to dinner at this quaint little Italian place. There was supposed to be a Tiki Bar party for Memorial Day, but it was raining (the by product, apparently, of travelling with my Aunt Lisa) so the party was cancelled. We ate. I had delicious Amaretto cheesecake because cheesecake, REAL cheesecake, is non-existent here. Sometimes you see the frozen mini-cakes in the big supermarket, but they’re not the real thing. I digress.
Remember that key? The fancy little memory stick looking thing for the sexy mini-van rental? It stopped working. We tried every trick in the book to get the stupid doors to click open to no avail. The local police were called, the rental agency was called. Nothing.
I was playing with the stupid thing when my aunt realized I had found a secret key that popped out. A secret key! On a stupid electronic opener! This technology never ceases to amaze me.
Luckily, the ignition worked even though the key wouldn’t open the doors and we made our way home. I was a little worried that on Monday, when I was alone with the car and the baby and without a cell phone, the stupid thing still wouldn’t work. Alas, the next time we left the house (for an important shopping trip; more on that in another post) the opener and ignition key worked without a problem.
I don’t know, I think I’m starting to be with my mom on the simplicity in cars. I’d rather have no automatic windows or locks and a regular old key than to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a techno-savvy car any day.

can of whoop...

My grandpop moved to a retirement community in Florida after my grandmom passed away. It’s one of those 55 and over places, complete with a pool, tennis courts – even a little doggie training park. I have to say, it’s much better than the place he used to go in LaBelle, Florida – 800 miles from NOWHERE. That place had a pool, too. And alligators.
I’ve always had this idea of what old is. You know, pinochle and spades, and occasionally an old Italian guy playing bocce ball at the beach. Old people meet in community centers and learn how to play on the computer and maybe send an email to the grandkids.
Old definitely didn’t include whooping ME in pickle ball. Or any kind of ball for that matter!
Pickle ball is like a hybrid of tennis and pingpong (shorter tennis court, bigger ping pong paddle). It’s super fun, even when you get schooled by a bunch of 70-somethings. And not only did they win, but they did it effortlessly. I was drenched in sweat and just a little out of breath and 80 year old Charlie skipped off to church after his big win.
I still don’t think that 40 year old ladies should be wearing junior-style clothes (read: halter tops and mini-skirts), but maybe there is more to life for old people than drinking tea and reading Reader’s Digest. I mean, there’s still the fake knees and hips, and probably a lot of medications and tea, but there can be more than that, I guess.
Before I would never have bet that I’d be beat by an oldie… and I feel a little bad about it. But still, next time I visit, I’m going to win the game …

oh how time flies!

I can hardly believe I’ve been out of high school for ten years already. It seems like yesterday that we roamed the halls, skipped classes and did as little schoolwork as possible. That was senioritis, right?
I’m not really a reminiscent kind of person. I can’t sit around remembering that time when… or wonder what would happen if I had… There was this boy my freshman year who was into me, and I blew him off ALL THE TIME. What if I hadn’t? Sophomore year I was really mean to someone really nice. Luckily it worked out in the end, but what if it hadn’t? Junior year I went to Japan and wanted to go back. Should I have pursued that? Senior year I slacked off, let a lot of my responsibility slide by. Remember how we used to sleep in the office instead of working on the newspaper?
Ten years. That warrants a little reflection, I suppose. I don’t actively keep in touch with anyone from high school. Sometimes I catch up when I’m back in the neighborhood, run into someone in a bar or at the mall. I don’t even facebook with people from high school. Here and there little reminders of that life pop up, we laugh and smile at those memories. But that’s all they are – memories.
I don’t know if they even planned a reunion. The class of ’99 did and had all types of fundraisers to make money for it. I think the class of ’98 had a reunion, too. Though, leave it up to the leadership that was my student government (two of the “leaders” falsely accused a beloved teacher of sexual harassment because he failed them… because they were stupid, not because they wouldn’t put out… because they would), there probably won’t be anything.

the fam van

My mom has a nice mini-van. Why she still has such a huge car with no kids left in the house is beyond me, but mini-van she has. Before they used to lease the van and turn it in for a new van every two or three years. The same van, but newer. Usually in the same color. And always with the same features. And by the same features, I mean no features.

No power locks, no alarm, no power windows.

And we make fun of her for it all the time. Because once a long, long time ago a teacher friend of hers’ car broke down on Halloween, and because it was Halloween she was dressed as a clown. The power windows wouldn’t work, so she had to stand on the highway, dressed as a clown, and get people to go around her.

Why the story? Well, I didn’t even know that we had progressed as a society beyond the automatic ignition. And what I knew about that was that you could start the car from far away, but you’d have to insert the key once you got in the car, right? I mean, come on, I grew up with no power windows or locks and now we can start our cars from the house! Amazing.

We rented a car in Florida. A sexy red mini-van with stow-and-go storage (and if I ever get a mini-van it WILL have stow-and-go) complete with power locks and windows. The guy tells us the key is in the car and I’m looking for a KEY. Who knew that they don’t make keys anymore? The damn thing looks like a memory stick. And my aunt tells me that in her car she doesn’t even need to put the key in the ignition, as long as the box is in the car, it’ll start.

I posted on my facebook while I was away that places like Wal-mart are sometimes overwhelming to me because that kind of super-store just doesn’t exist here. Needless to say, smart carkeys don’t exist here either (unless you’re uber-rich). They’re not things I miss but sometimes I just wish this technology would slow down so that it’s not all so overwhelming and crazy when I do go home.

There’s another story coming about the stupid smart key, but for now I’ll leave you with my complete awe and astonishment at a little plastic box that can start my car. I’m off to hang my clothes on the line and water the plants with the kids. No technology involved in that!

tot school.

it's been ages since i've been able to update about what we've been doing for school around these parts... and it's not because i've been internet-less.

with the move and the re-adjusting to mom working outside of the house, we've been kind of lax. that, and i haven't unpacked all of our boxes with school stuff. which is bad on two fronts... because school stuff is samil's stuff AND all the stuff i use to prepare my actual work classes. oops.

so this past week, i finally got some stuff out and we got back into a very non-organized school-y type play. we colored with pastel crayons, markers and crayons. we practiced small motor skills by making sticker collages and putting marbles into a tube.

while i'm in the states i'm going to try to pick up some stuff for the summer if i can and get back into the swing of things a.s.a.p. paint chips and foam shapes and maybe some sorting trays.

and i promise you, blog readers, some pictures now that the camera is back in working order.