New Job

Hello friends! I'm now heading into my forth week living here in Santiago.  Last post I shared how I ended up here just 10 days after being offer the job and only 3 weeks after learning that the school, Santiago Christian School, had an open position.  I might add that coming on staff at the last minute does have certain advantages.  First, everyone thinks your a saint (okay, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration) for coming and makes a big deal about how brave I am to do it. I guess they don't realize that staying is a dream come true for me :D   Second, coming at the last minute means that my housing had to me arranged at the last minute. So I ended up with the nicest and biggest apartment--the school just remolded it (last week they installed granite countertops in the kitchen!). 

Now to answer a few questions that I've been asked often these past weeks

What's it like? Well the SCS Family is amazing. From the minute I got here I felt welcomed into the wonderful staff community. Friendships began to develop almost immediately and the fellowship among the staff amazed me. I'm so blessed to work with people who enjoyed starting each day of in-service with worship. And a school where each week begins with Monday morning worship. Hey, maybe Mondays won't be so bad :)  I've felt so welcomed and cared  for these past 3 weeks--staff cook-outs, a snorkeling outing, returning staff members who take us running, shopping, out to eat (and refuse to let us pay), or to church.  

What grade am I teaching? I'm not teaching any particular grade. I'm a full time substitute. That means I could be in any K-12 class on any given day.  I'm the primary elementary substitute so I'll mostly be there but I will also sub for the secondary classes when needed. Sometimes I may have my subbing assignments in advance but other times I might not know until the day of...you never know when a teacher might wake up sick.  This week Thursday I begin 8 days in a Kindergarten class while the teacher is in the States!! I've been with this class most of the time since school started last week and already love them to pieces.  

So what do I do if there's no one to sub for?  The last few weeks have been interesting. Since I don't have my   own classroom I've had lots of free time during our in-service weeks. I bounced between classrooms, helping teachers set up, helped make bulletin boards for the library, and somehow volunteered myself as Data Entry Assistant. I´ve spent the past few weeks working on a new dismissal system for the school. I assigned each of the nearly 400 families in the school a number to be used as a dismissal code. Rather than having to call all four names of the children in one family (as we do now), all four siblings have the same code.  1 thing to say instead of 4. We're hoping once the new system is introduced in September dismissal will run much more smoothly.

Where will I live? SCS arranges housing for their staff. I've been blessed to be in a huge, beautiful apartment that's just been remodeled. The school's trying to sell to so eventually I'll have to move out, but that probably won't be for a while yet. Typically, (single) SCS staff would share with other staff. This semester instead of rooming with staff members I'm sharing the apartment with two loving student teachers. Having student taught in the DR myself just last fall, I'm pretty familiar with what that's like. 

Don't b afraid to send me your question if I didn't answer it--it could a great topic for my next post :)

Now that it's taken me all week to get this written, I'm not longer heading into my forth week as I said at the beginning. I've nearly done with it. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings :)

Good Things

Let all that I am praise the Lord, with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget the good things he does for me.  Psalm 103:1-2

It's been quite a while since one of my 'weekly' blog posts. It's about time I share with all of you how I ended up where I am now--living and working (yes, working: a full time paid job) in the Dominican Republic. The answer is actually just one word, God. However, I'm guessing you are reading this because you want the story behind all that and how God lead me here. Great! I'm hoping so :)

I'm a chronological thinker, so I'm going to write this out in timeline form. So from the beginning:

May 11, 2013: Graduated from Trinity International University with a degree in Elementary Education

May 25: Flew to the Dominican Republic for a 2 1/2 month internship with SCORE International. End date was set as August 3.

At this point I had no job lined up once the internship ended. I planned to apply online to Lake County school districts or schools near my parents. During the first week I discovered that completing online applications with an iPad proved difficult and tedious. That combined with my responsibilities as an intern meant I didn't get very far in the job hunt process. 

June 25: I decided to Google English taught schools within the Dominican Republic. I'd heard of a few and thought I'd find out more about them.  The Santiago Christian School website would not load on my iPad; I didn't think much of it.

June 26: While at Highlands (the sports complex), I ended up talking with the board president of a Christian school in Santo Domingo. His school was holding a soccer camp there. He was not sure if there where any open positions but gives me his email and says to email him my resume. I told him about my Google searches the night before and he said maybe this is what they call 'God coincidences'.  I send my resume in the following Saturday and he replied saying he'd sent it on to the Head of School.

July 5: I sent a follow up email to the school in Santo Domingo. I never heard back from the board president or the Head of School. This planted in my mind that it might actually to possible to work at a school here. Yet, at this point, I still continued to work on a job application for a US school district. 

July 8: TIU Division of Education sends an email about an opening at a Christian school in Paraguay.  Not the DR but still a Spanish speaking country.  The email includes a link to the Mission: Teach website, which lists positions for Christian school worldwide. Roadblock: I can't upload my resume from the iPad.

July 13: I am able to borrow a laptop to upload m resume to the Mission: Teach website. I send an inquiry to the school in Paraguay, but then begin to look through the schools listed to see if any are in the DR. Santiago Christian School had both 1st and 3rd grade positions listed as open.  I immediately send an email to the school.  About 8 hours later, the elementary principal has emailed me back--there's currently an open position for a full time substitute. There was definitely some screaming, cheering, and excitement as I shared this news with my fellow intern girls!! Three week whirlwind begins.

July 16: After 2 1/2 days of working on the SCS job application--resume, work history, personal essays, testimony, medical forms and contacting references--I submit the completed application and related documents. (And thanks to Haley for the use of her laptop.)  A few days later a job interview is set up for Monday.

July 22: Skype interview with Santiago Christian School. I felt it had gone very well.

July 25: Officially offered the position as full-time substitute. 

July 29: After much prayer over the weekend, I officially  accept the position. God reminded me of my quote at the top of this blog, 'Go to the people. Live among them.'

August 4: I move to Santiago!

I began this blog with Psalm 103:1-2. That last line really sums up the past few weeks.  "May I never forget the good things he does for me." When I first flew to the DR this summer, I had packed for an internship. Shorts and t-shirts, stuff that could get muddy and sweaty in Bateys (sugar cane villages). Not exactly the stuff you wear to teach in. My suitcases were actually the lightest   I've ever packed them. I was even able to take a few books out of my carry-on and pack them in my checked bag. I didn't need bedding, towels, or kitchen supplies since I'd be living at the SCORE complex. 

Once people found out I had the job, even before it was certain, I started to receive all sorts of things. My intern director allowed me to look through the ministry supply closet for clothes and other items I could use. I found clothes, shoes, an alarm clock, Sensodyne tooth paste (this in itself is a huge blessing since my wisdom teeth have been cutting all summer), towels, and bed sheets. Various groups had given us interns all their left over toiletries. My roommate and I spilt what we had; I still ended up with over 3 ziplock bags (2 1/2 gallon size) full of sunscreen, bug spray, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and more. There's more than enough to get me through the entire school year. 

A few days before my move, I'm just chatting with one of the leaders from the group that week. I told her about this new job.  A few hours later, myself and another intern are helping her with the donations her church brought. She asks if I need anything and starts digging through this huge pile of clothes. She somehow pulls out all really nice clothes that I could wear to work. Then, she takes me to her room and gives me one of her very own skirts. It's super cute and looks practically brand new.  Blessings, blessings! So many blessings. 

By the time I was all packed up my suitcases could barely close. These suitcases were right at 50 pounds when I flew down here and easily had room for more stuff. One man who, thankfully, helped me carry them up two flights of stairs estimated they were close to 100 pounds each!

This post is so long already and I'm just to moving day now.  How these first two weeks in Santiago have gone will have to wait for the next post. 

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support. Thank you Lord for the millions of blessings I've been given!