day 83
Yesterday morning I woke up bright and early and started getting ready for school. It had occurred to me just before I left that Sophie, Martin and Chloé were still in bed, but I didn’t fancy waking them at 6.30am to find out why so I left.
When I arrived the school was completely deserted. I looked at my taxi driver and he cried, “Oh but today’s a public holiday! I could have told you that!”
So why didn’t you? I thought as I paid him to drive me home again.
I was secretly hoping the same would happen again this morning but unfortunately everyone decided to turn up today.
day 47
All is well in the Republican Dominic (as my mum likes to call it!) and today I finished work on the school’s web site. I registered the domain name colegiobuenavista.com this morning and got the Spanish version online. I’m uploading the English version at the moment but it’s taking a while as internet connections in this country are a joke. The French version is also on its way but needs some serious proof reading before I dare put it online. Please have a visit and give me some feedback, even if it’s just to report a typo. Note that the English version is written in American English on purpose, hence all the Z’s where us normal people would tend to use an S (not to mention “enrol” instead of “enroll” and all the badly formatted dates). Ok, I’m being pedantic. Let’s move on.
In other news, I’ve had two colds since my arrival here thanks to the combination of the baking heat outdoors and the icy cold air-conditioning indoors. So the other day I went to the chemist’s to buy some cough mixture. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the sign outside the door.
It turns out even seeking medical advice in this country is a bit of a lottery. Anyway, not knowing the word for cough mixture, I gesticulated frantically and gave a very long-winded explanation. They eventually understood. And if ever you happen to find yourself in a similar situation and want to avoid gesticulating like a monkey and getting funny looks, the word for cough mixture is “jarabe para la tos”.
Looks like the English version of the school web site has finished uploading. Looking forward to some constructive criticism from any one who dares! 
day 7
Last weekend I went to the capital to buy five new computers for the school. The old ones – which looked like were made by cavemen – were in a sorry state and only two of them still worked, so these new machines, with their sexy flat screens, have put a smile on everybody’s face including mine.
I’ve started teaching the older classes how to create a web page from scratch using HTML. They were all surprisingly enthusiastic and the results prove it. Everyone was able to create a basic page using different colours, incorporating images and formatting text. As boring as this may sound, it is actually a very rewarding feeling you get when you type what appears to be gibberish into Notepad and it turns into a nicely rendered page when viewed in a browser. My reward was that they enjoyed it, so I couldn’t be happier. Philippe says he’ll send me back to the capital next month to buy five more computers. This is great news because at the moment I take my classes in two separate groups and they still have to share a computer as there aren’t enough to round.
Life at Sophie’s is also hunky-dory. I get on so well with her daughter who, it has to be said, is the cutest two-year-old I’ve ever met. It’s been decided that I’ll be living with Sophie for as long as I’m here as it’s cheaper for everyone and it means I have some company in the evenings. It also means I’m in a fully furnished and well-equipped apartment with everything I need at my disposal, including a room with a view, a petrol-powered generator for when the power goes (la planta) and a washing machine.
Having said that, I’d probably be better off washing my clothes by hand because when I got home today I put a load in the machine and washed them with floor cleaner by accident. Thankfully Sophie noticed that my wash didn’t smell quite right and she added some washing powder. Next time I’ll read the label before throwing in half a pint of the first liquid I see. I do hope my clothes aren’t ruined, but if they are, at least they’ll smell good.
the end is nigh
My Dominican adventure is coming to an end and I thought I should give you all an update after a month or more of neglect in this area.
All is well at school. Octavo have started their exams and the others will follow shortly. They completed their written exams on Wednesday and I did the orals yesterday. Some were a complete disaster – those from pupils who spend a good 80% of the lesson facing the back of the classroom – and others did very well.
The school has been competing in a number of volleyball tournaments recently, turning most of the playground into pro volleyball wannabes. While making it exceedingly dangerous to walk past the volleyball net at lunchtimes, it can also liven things up as it did on Friday afternoon. I only had half an hour with one class after lunch on Friday before the all-afternoon volleyball tournament got under way, which made for an interesting afternoon of watching testosterone-filled teenage boys think they’re the best and the girls simply proving beyond a doubt that they aren’t the best and never will be.
Despite the fact that no one was very good at volleyball it was all good fun because most classes were cancelled and everyone came out to watch and cheer on their mates.
Last week I went to see a school production of Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Christelle and I went to two performances of it and enjoyed it very much. Even managed to film it and take a few photos.
King of the Jews – Jesus Christ Superstar
As I mentioned above, the end of the year is approaching fast. I have decided not to stay on next year, instead resuming my studies. School finishes around 20 June and I’m flying back to Brussels on 4 July.
u.s.a. today
At long last I have finished my exams and although they’re not perfect they’re certainly an improvement on the last batch.
It’s 4am and I have to be up in a little over two hours to go to school. Luckily I’m only there half a day as we’ll be leaving to the airport around noon. Very much looking forward to Florida. Hope to be able to keep you posted while I’m there.
Apart from that I don’t have much else to report. It’s been raining non-stop for about a week. Exams have stressed me out quite a lot but on the other hand my writing has improved. The end of the school year is approaching fast. It’s still three months away but I have a feeling the time will fly by what with revision, exams and corrections.
I will be taking my phone to the US but I’m doubtful that it’ll actually work over there. In any case I don’t think any of you will be phoning me. As usual you can get in touch by email or blog. If it’s urgent leave a message on my Belgian voicemail. Back on Friday 6th.
Off to bed now.
P.S.
Happy birthday on Saturday, Nat! Have a good one and I’m sorry I can’t be there to join in the celebrations.
cryptic script
It’s that time of the year again when one must think about preparing one’s exams and practicing one’s handwriting. In case you were “one-dering”, I am referring to myself in the third person. Laughably crap joke, I do apologise.
Exams start in June but we must have them ready for Friday in order to have them copied and bound in good time. I have finished my draft copies but that was the easy bit because I did them on the computer. I now have to write them in that cryptic script they call calligraphy.
As those of you who read about the Christmas exams will know, I failed miserably to impress the school with my abominable handwriting that time round and it looks like I’m heading for another knock out in round 2.
Don’t get me wrong, I have practiced over the past few months but no matter how hard I try and how good my letters look individually, it all ends up becoming one big mess when I join them all up.
Anyway, I’m giving it my best shot and looking forward to the Easter break when I will be spending a week in Florida. I will try and get my hands on a camera for the occasion as we will be visiting Disney World!! Very much looking forward to that and I will try and give you an update while I’m there.
cough, splutter and mutter a few words…
Today I was supposed to join Christelle and family on a boating excursion to a nearby island. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling my best and spent the day in bed. As a result, I didn’t get anything productive done and I’m still feeling a bit under the weather. That said, the weather here is as good as it gets for a February afternoon.
Meanwhile, Christelle’s godparents have joined me in the apartment during their two week stay in the country. They arrived last week and will be leaving on 6 March.
I have been enjoying the luxuries of having an internet connection at home. This is only my second post since the installation because I’ve been spending so long reacquainting myself with the wonders of high-speed surfing, what with downloading the latest episodes of 24, Prison Break, Lost, and so on.
Lately I’ve been doing some interesting activities in the classroom; interviews, getting the kids to teach a lesson and surveys. I dare say most of them enjoyed it compared to your average lesson.
It’s time again to think about exam preparation and that dreaded calligraphy!! Exams aren’t for a few months but from what I understand they must be submitted by April to be checked, copied and bound.
I’ve had a nasty cough for the past couple of weeks which doesn’t seem to want to go away. Must get something for it when I’m feeling up to the challenge.
Back in January I promised you all a photo of that plane I was on that got a rabbit stuck in one of its engines. Here it is.
The infamous plane that was brought down by a rabbit, of all things holy.
Note: I’ve just updated the blogroll down the left side of this page with a few links to a couple of blogs and other pages of interest.
new news
Hello all. Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I’ve been waiting to get internet in my apartment but it’s taking longer than expected due to a number of cock-ups along the way, as is usually the case in this country. As a result, I’m still waiting for news from my friends at Verizon on that front. Anyway, I’m taking advantage to give you an update now as I’m at Christelle’s with the laptop and wireless internet at my disposal.
On the Friday of my first week back at school, Christelle’s dog gave birth to eleven cute-looking puppies. After running a few errands, I rushed over to see the youngsters but unfortunately they had all popped out by the time I got there. Anyhow, I got some great photos of them (which, once again, I will post when I have my camera and some new batteries).
Last weekend I went quading in the fields with Christelle and co. It all started well but we ran into trouble when the smaller of the two quads was rendered unusable due to a problem with the chain. We stopped for a bite to eat and a swim in the river and set off again for home. Christelle drove the big quad which towed the small one. I was given the job of steering it while the rest of the family followed close behind in the car. Little did I know at the time that Philippe had asked Christelle to purposefully drive through every possible puddle to make my trip home as muddy and uncomfortable as possible (ha-ha-ha…).
The first puddle was all well and good. When we approached the second puddle I started to feel a little anxious. At this point I was covered in mud and thoroughly pissed off, much to the amusement of the others. I told Christelle that if she drove through another puddle I would jump off to save myself from another shower of mud. As we approached the third puddle, I was convinced that she would take me straight through it – this, apparently, is not true as she was simply avoiding a bump in the road. However, I was expecting another drenching and thought that at 20km/hour it would be perfectly safe to make a break for it by jumping. I jumped in quite a controlled and effective way and landed on both feet but because it’s been a while since I’ve had a physics lesson, I forgot that the laws of motion would cause me to keep moving at the same speed as we were going before my leap for safety. Upon landing I was forced forward and forced to run in order to keep my balance. Unfortunately I didn’t run fast enough and fell. I grazed the palms of my hands and my thigh. Apart from that I was fine but not in a good enough state to keep going on the quad. Philippe offered to take the small quad and I drove the car. Five minutes later the small quad had a puncture and we had to pump it up temporarily to get ourselves home. We eventually got home in one piece.
Back at school all is well. Today was “La marcha de Juan Pablo Duarte” (have a look on Wikipedia for his life story). The kids made little speeches and had a sing song to celebrate the occasion. I took lots of photos and everyone had a good time.
Battery life is low, gotta go.
NOTE: Excuse the embarrassing amount of spelling mistakes and typos in the previous version of this post. Here is the new and improved revision.
homecoming
It’s Sunday and I’ve spent a relaxing weekend helping Christelle study for exams and indulging in a little reading. I’m back on Bryson and enjoying it immensely. Down Under recounts his adventures in Australia and is very funny yet informative, as per usual with Bryson. His books and style of writing have definitely influenced and inspired me in the writing of this blog. I’m waiting for his next book about the Caribbean and, in particular, the D.R. entitled Se Fue La Luz.
Enough of my lame jokes. Tomorrow I start my last week of school before flying back to not-so-sunny Belgium on Friday. BBC World Weather forecasts very respectable day-time temperatures in La Romana of 30 degrees Centigrade throughout the week while dropping to a rather chillier 7 or 8 degrees in Brussels on the day of my return – and that’s during the day. At night it will drop to an unbearable 2 degrees! And don’t even get me started on snow; I’ve pretty much forgotten what that is.
As you can well imagine, I am having second thoughts about coming back to Belgium. I am already capable of catching a cold in a room air-conditioned at 20 degrees so I expect I’ll freeze through upon arrival and spend two weeks thawing in the washroom where temperatures are on par with the Dominican outdoors… at night… in winter. Nah, even that’s an overstatement. I’ll need putting in the microwave on de-frost. I think you get the idea.
My flight leaves at 9am on Friday morning but because of the time difference, the ridiculous number of connections I have to catch, the absolute certainty that at least one of my flights will be delayed and the fact that I land in Paris and have to catch a Thalys to Brussels from there, I will only be arriving on Saturday afternoon (morning if I’m lucky).
I start my journey back on Thursday afternoon. It just so happens that that is Pauline’s birthday and the Warot’s will be driving to the capital to celebrate. They have kindly allowed me to hitch a lift and join in the celebration. We’ll be staying in a hotel for the night and they’ll see me off in the morning.
From Santo Domingo I fly to the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan (if I’m not mistaken). From there I fly to New York where I (hopefully) catch my connecting flight to Paris CDG. It’s going to be a long day and if it’s anything like the journey over here in September, you’ll be sure to read about it here.
So, providing I actually get back and remember to dress like an eskimo, I should be able to go out and see you all. Hope you’re as excited as I am. Don’t let me forget the ones I won’t be seeing, namely the British side of my family including my Dad. Am very sorry I won’t get to see you this time round but will certainly be paying you all a visit over the summer, even if that seems like a long way off at the moment.
xmas exams
Last week I started the oral exams with all my classes. The vast majority were a success and that put my students in good stead to start their writtens this week. A 40 out of 40 on the oral, for instance, gives you 40% of your overall final mark which is of course very encouraging.
Writtens started on Monday and finish at the end of next week. My exams (I had a total of six – two per day) finished today. Now you would have thought that a week with no lessons and no lesson planning would have been a breeze. Allow me to correct that fallacy.
Note: While writing this a guy on a moto-concho just sped by and crashed into a bunch of parked moto-conchos outside the cyber cafe. Luckily he was not carrying any passengers and no one was injured/killed. That’s what happens when you buy your driver’s licence.
Back on topic. I’ve spent the past three days supervising and correcting 148 exams. I’ve never been so brainwashed by correction. After five or ten goes at correcting identical papers your brain switches on auto-pilot and starts ticking and crossing appropriately. It sounds silly but this is actually a fairly accurate description of what happens. Nevertheless, it took time and very nearly drove me insane. Thankfully my mental health was unaffected, or at least back to normal.
The vast majority of the marks were very good, surprisingly so in some cases. A couple of my classes have an average of 85% (!) overall, which means most people got 90% or more and a few did very badly. Whether this was the result of good teaching, good learning, well-timed cheating or a combination of them all, I’m thrilled to bits. A lot of my students have this knack of giving me the impression they don’t care or they’re not listening, yet when it comes to the exam they prove me seriously wrong. Either that or they study very very hard, though that’s highly unlikely if you ask me.
