Hoy es domingo

Happy Sunday!!

I'm so sorry Mother (and Grace) for having not written sooner. This past week Senora and I started classes at the Seminary and boy have we been busy.

The seminarians are incredible! Their hearts are so joyfull, it's contagieous. Please note, Grace, that some of the boys make a habit of comparing my teaching style to yours. Apparently they really did enjoy playing bingo and apparently I don't play it enough.
I've discovered a new food here called Mangu. It's made with platno and it looks like green mashed pototoes.
But my favorite food? Pina! (Pineapple)
The pineapple here is picked fresh - and mom - you have not lived until you have tasted the sweetness of a fresh, ripened pineapple. The cooks here know how much I like it and so they keep serving it for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. Padre Poncho confided in me that my love for pina was my vice - but he loves coffee with chocolate milk - so who's the one with a vice now??

My daily schedule is:
6:00am Wake up, get dressed and brush my teeth. We have to wash our mouths with bottled water because the tap water here will make you sick.

7:15am Mass. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the masses are in English to help the boys learn the language. But every other day of the week, it's in Spanish.

7:35am Breakfast. At the seminary, Senora and I eat in our own isolated room with Padre Nelson and Padre Poncho (because we are guests and ....women...) Our food is cooked for us by the cooks here and it is soooooo delicious. Yet still there is something to be said for American cooking. The best food I've had in the DR has been at Grace's house (I still dream about that sweet and sour chicken) - but the seminary food is still really good.

8:00am Classes begin. My first class of the day is with the advanced students. Their English is very good. We play a lot of games and do a lot of role-playing in English.

12:30pm Lunch time!!! Lunch here is siesta style - meaning it lasts two hours. It's the biggest meal of the day and takes about an hour to eat with Padre Pancho and Padre Nelson. After lunch, Senora and I usually run up to our room to talk about the morning classes and make changes and additions to the afternoon lesson plans according to need.

2:30pm Afternoon classes. In the afternoon I work with the Basic level class. The activities are typically the same as with the Advanced, only on a more elementary level. And when I say elementary, i mean like, in this last week they have learned what took me half a semester to learn....


6:30 DINNER TIME!! Also with a dessert of some nice pina

7:30 - 11:00pm Senora and I go back into our rooms and prepare lessons for the following day. We usually are able to take showers and get to bed by 11:00pm.

It's a lot of work, but it's even more fun. :)

This past weekend was just incredible. I want to write more about it; however, I've got to go help Senora finished a test for the boys to take tomorrow morning.

I love you and I miss you like a blind kid at target practice.

besos!!
(kisses)