dominican journal

It’s now been two months since my arrival in this country. On the one hand, the time has flown by so fast that it’s difficult to believe that Christmas is fast approaching and exams need to be prepared. On the other hand, I feel like I’ve been here for years. Days seem to pass me by like minutes, weeks like hours. It’s madness.

I am really getting to know my students and lately we’ve been doing some interesting work. The older classes are really showing their colours and have been preparing presentations on a topic of their choice. To prepare them for the presentation, I asked them to prepare some food, bring it in and explain to the class how they prepared it and what ingredients they used. They seem to enjoy this especially as we all have a little taste afterwards.

I am still having discipline problems but there is a meeting about this at the end of the week, which I hope will teach me a thing or two about taming the wild ones that don’t do as they’re told.

Talking of meetings, I was in one today with the parents of Octavo students, which consisted of a quick run through the end-of-year exam system (roughly equivalent to GCSE in terms of importance), introduction of new teachers (namely myself, as Adeline couldn’t join us), and a reminder to parents that their kids should be punctual and well behaved.

The meeting went well despite the last minute rush to get it organised. Four of us were in the office writing evaluations, averaging marks, signing the evaluation forms and stamping them for each student before 17:00 when the parents arrived.

Private lessons with my student in Septimo are going very well. We have two hours a week: Mondays and Wednesdays after school. She is really making progress and that feels very rewarding for both me and her. It is, however, unfortunate that there are others in her class who struggle far more in English and would benefit even more from private lessons if only they had the inclination and I had the time.

My Spanish is definitely coming along. The other day Christelle and I went to watch a Dominican film at the cinema. The film was rubbish and we left half way through but the point is I understood the majority of it. My spoken Spanish is coming along more slowly but I still feel that I’m making progress. Spanish lessons are certainly helping in that respect, although lately I haven’t had any because Fior, my teacher, has been very busy with other school business. What I really need are some Dominican friends that I can talk to all the time. Unfortunately, I don’t spend very much time with the Dominicans I know and I am obliged to speak English with my students. Christelle occasionally says the odd thing in Spanish but she speaks far too fast and, in any case, we mainly speak English as she needs the practice. So with whom do I speak Spanish, I hear you ask? Well, with the staff at the pizzeria, the guy at the cyber cafe, Fior, and now and then with my students in the playground.

I mentioned the weather in my last post. Rainy days are becoming ever more frequent. I’m told that between now and the end of the year this won’t change. But, like I said, showers are short and heavy. They never seem to last more than ten or fifteen minutes, during which time it literally pours down in buckets, and then stops just as abruptly as it began.

Marie-Christine has moved out and is now living and working in a hotel in Bayahibe. Hope it goes well for her because I’ve been told that working in hotels isn’t easy and staff get fired very easily. It is also very seasonal so the second they don’t need her anymore she will have no choice but to find a new job and lodgings.

Apart from all that, I’ve been reading a lot. Just finished The Celestine Prophecy, which I enjoyed very much and would recommend to anyone fascinated by meaningful coincidences and spirituality.

At the end of next week we have a week’s holiday. I will be spending most of that time preparing exams, which need to be finished by 13 November, but it will still be a welcome break from nine weeks of hard yet rewarding work.

Goodnight.