one.

one year ago today, samil came to us... a little late, but he's dominican and dominicans like to take their time. this year has been an adventure and i wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
happy birthday, little man!

samil's first day.

samil at one month.
samil at six months
samil in the please touch museum in july.
please touch museum, july.

samil invited some of his little friends over tomorrow for a pool party. i will post pictures then.

gustav.

just a quick post to let you all know that gustav was friendly with us here in santiago -- heavy rains but really no winds or hurricane like activity.

however, please keep in your thoughts and prayers the victims of this same hurricane just a two-hour busride south from us in santo domingo all the way west into haiti.

i forgot.

i had this really long post all written in my head. well, it wasn't that long. but it was formed. witty. something, i'm sure, about the stupidity of people or how much i'm bothered by something. but for the life of me i can't remember what it was.

samil is eating honey-nut cheerios right now because when amalio called from the store last night i forgot to specify no sugar. not that it's a problem to eat the honey-os occasionally, they're the only snacky food samil's got right now, so we're going to have a kid on permanent sugar high until the box is empty.

this is my last week of semi-freedom before my kids school program starts. that's not to say i've not been working, but i don't really consider teaching adults work. they do most of it, if they wanna learn they put in all the effort and i just have to try to keep it interesting. but kids? that's different and requires pretty specific, strategic lesson planning that i'm just not really fond of. class always goes better when its done, but doing it make me want to pull my hair out. one little hair at a time.

today consists of getting ready for my mom's visit. she arrives tomorrow - hopefully loaded with presents. because that's what i really love about visitors... that and i don't have to really change diapers for a week :)

clean house.

just some advice for the future...

don't rent an apartment on a dirt road if there are no screens on the windows.

i swear i sweep everyday. sometimes twice a day. and we live in the back of the apartment complex. i really feel for people who live in the front.

we've got nothing in the fridge. nothing. usually we have some condiments, at least. but the black-outs have been longer than normal - sometimes lasting 10 hours at a time, right in the middle of a very hot august. i don't really know what happened to the condiments, because they dont' spoil, at least not as fast as other foods. monday we're supposed to go to the market, but really it depends on how the light looks this weekend. no point stocking up on food that's just going to go bad.

this is normally not a problem - there's a small store just outside the complex that delivers everything we need. it's not the most cost-efficient shopping (but neither is letting everything rot) but my mom gets here on monday and when she sees an empty fridge she thinks we're poor. she and my dad have gotten better at that, but i know it's still worrisome for them. (even if it's not for us).

i've been super productive today and still have a few things to do, hope you enjoyed the pictures yesterday, there probably won't be more until samil's birthday.

por fin!

this was my morning...

missed

in case you're wondering what happened to samil's sunday post... well, i don't have any pictures. that's right i'm a slacker.

and samil is getting his first molar. so he's not been a happy baby anyway. i mean, don't get me wrong, he's still cute as ever, but the screaming makes it hard to get a good shot. i think though that at the very least this first one is almost all the way through and we should have some time before the next ones.

right now, samil is throwing all of his toys out of the play pen one at a time. good thing i put like 600 toys in there.

responsibility.

so the neighbor's called a meeting. against the neighbor's association.

i had to teach so i showed up late to the meeting. imagine my surprise when i show up and the same old thief is ranting and raving about all the stuff he's done and what a great man he is. what happened?

well, nobody wanted to knock him down. this small group of neighbors who sits and complains and conspires behind his back didn't have the guts to tell it to his face. i stood up and took over the meeting, only to be verbally attacked by the man's wife and when all was said and done, we're in the same situation.

the thief (as i'll refer to him from here on) turned over the "records" for me. only because i threathened to call the police. normally here that wouldn't be a threat, but thief man knows that we know some of the higher-ups in the police department. the records look like those of a 4th grade student council and not a real adult organization. there are no receipts for anything he's ever told me (for example, how much the employees make, who has paid or hasn't or the supposed purchases of things for the complex) and no real proof of, well, anything.

so, i spent friday on the phone with some lawyers who would be in charge of coming to collect money and pay the bills. they charge 10% of all income, but after the meeting where everyone who swore they were "in this" stayed quiet, i think it's necessary to put this in someone else's hands.

i don't have the time to do it. nor do i have the face to knock on people's doors asking for money. that's not me. and the fact is we're still living without streetlamps or waterpumps. i'm just hoping that the owners of these "condos" - those who actually live here - will get their mess together to get a contract with the electric company soon. if not, we're giving it a month and looking for a house to rent.