blow me away

TOTALLY understand why all the kite surfers come out afternoonish in cabarete.. oh my gosh, the WIND! they fly through the air when they jump!

we couldn't stop laughing one weekend because it was extraordinarily windy.. gritty snot, sand-plugged ears, squinted eyes.. watch out orifices. almost painful, we could hardly read because the pages were flipping all over the place.. so we took a few pictures. of course they don't do justice to the strength of the wind.. but i will go ahead and share a few:

me and cara

me, kendall, katy.. sweet shades.

..aaand one of cara's attempts to protect herself from the flying sand

happy birthday, miguel!

we went to go eat pizza for miguel's birthday, jennie made a cake, we attacked miguel with silly string.. all these things were funnn BUT the point of this post is this picture:

diego and his papi. are you kidding me? cuh-ute.

oh yes, happy birthday, miguel!!

my FAMILY came!!

to explain what life is actually like here can be really difficult using just words. it is hard to understand if your only frames of reference are photographs or an attempted explanation. i often try to describe what my kids are like, what i actually do everyday, who i interact with, etc but my words just fall so short. i want people to get their feet dirty in the villages and hear my preschoolers sing and cry and shriek. i want people to feel the sun so strong and wake up already pouring in sweat. i want people to taste the difference between beans and rice when cooked together or separate. i want people to see and know that God is moving and is in everything.

for my family to come visit meant so much to me. there was definitely some good time to relax together on the beach and be able to talk in person. it was so good to be able to introduce them to the north coast. good to show them where my kids live. good to play in the ocean. good to share meals together. good to introduce them to the incredible people i work with. good to laugh together. good to show them my classroom. good to squish them into a gua-gua.. just good.

i could never hope to explain life here adequately or to exemplify what it is really like, but they did get a little peak. for that i am so grateful.



thank you for coming. i love you guys so much.

a la playa!

with the HCCSA spring break group (really solid group of high schoolers.. that were so FUN) we took the preschoolers to the BEACH! yeah! the kids talk about it ALL day long and after lunch it was finally time to go.. here are a few photos:

me and my little man, luis fernando, ready to go!

when the clouds come out and we stop running around.. it is COLD (by our standards..)! they're all wrapped up :) (good opportunity to share, right? yeah? high five, kids!)

little g-man all buried in the sand.. he was warmer and super excited for about 3 seconds. then he realized he was stuck.

gigantic sand castle/tunnel thing they all made!

sorry no super cool story.. "soooo we went to the beach.." about sums it up :)

masters of the ocean

normally when i think "triathlon" i think yeah ok biking, swimming, running.. got it.

BUT now picture this: surfing, kitesurfing, and windsurfing. a triathlon in the OCEAN! sweet. turns out the north coast of the good ol' DR is just wonderful for conditions needed (which is where we are for those of you who are not so geographically inclined.. like myself).

and OF COURSE we wanted to go see who, you know, the "master of the ocean" is these days.. turns out Ño ño (as we call him.. real name- emmanuel) ROCKED it. yeah!

cara and i spent the weekend with a good college friend of robin's, crystal. it was really fun and such a good break for us.. much needed. :)

me and cara.. after sprinting through the street after the all-of-a-sudden DOWNPOUR of rain after dinner.. we were SOAKED.

could not have imagined better weather.. ahhh..

crystal and cara watching the kitesurfing part at encuentro

cara and me.. so so FUN

we ran into garrett.. who accidentally competed. haha awesome.

i think this is jan marco during the kite surfing part. sweet. this guy can get some air. oh how i wish i could be this awesome..

i think everyone should come visit next year when the competition comes back.. yeah? is that a plan?