A School, a Birthday, and the Fire Department

 We started the day off with a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs instead of the usual fried eggs. Then, we went to the school and as we got off the bus, and a lot of kids greeted us with warm hugs. Since today was not opening ceremonies or the day of the child, there were no special dances in the morning assembly, but they still sang the Dominican national anthem and the United States national anthem.

After the assembly, we went to a sixth-grade class where we stood in front of the class while the kids wrote fruits down on the smart board. Then we pronounced the fruits and they repeated them back. We also played a matching game where the students had to match a picture of the fruit to the English word for that fruit. The kids were very shy in the first part, but once we started playing the matching game, they all wanted to participate.

After spending time with the sixth-grade class, some of the people in our group went to teach the fourth graders animals in English outside with flashcards; and Poppy, Charlotte, and Zoe went to play with the preschoolers. The preschoolers were so sweet and cute! When we were there, we danced, learned about the Dominican flag, and played a game with a ball. All the kids wanted to be carried in our arms and hold our hands. They liked to play with our sunglasses and our necklaces.

After that, it was recess. When we came out from the preschool classroom, all the kids rushed to Poppy, Zoe, and me to give us hugs. We played thumb war, clapping games, and a new game that I didn’t know, where we spun around in a circle and they sang a song and then we had to freeze when the song stopped. Many of the students, including me, got many love letters from the kids that were so sweet! At the end of recess, it was a challenge to get back into our designated classroom because they all wanted to give us hugs!

Back at the hotel, we ate a delicious lunch of pork chops and fish, and we had an amazing juice with pineapple, banana, and something else that I didn’t know.

After lunch, we returned to the school and some went to a fourth grade class and others went to the preschool class. We introduced ourselves and said an animal that began with the same letter as our name, and then we acted out all the animals we could think of and the kids would have to guess what animal we were and then say it in English. We wrote all the animals down in Spanish and English so that at the end the students could copy down the English translations of these animals into their notebooks. This was hard because none of the kids wanted to do their work and they all just wanted to talk with us and play games, so we had to make sure they were on task, and for me, it was hard to say no to playing games.

Today is Corinne’s birthday and after school, the teachers prepared a birthday celebration, including refreshing juice, cake, balloons, and a sign. We all sang. It was such a kind gesture from the teachers!

We had to rush out from the teacher's birthday celebration to go to the fire station and meet with the chief and other firefighters. They were also so kind and friendly! They showed us how they slide down the fire pole and their fire trucks.

They also gave us a tour of their computer room, which contains computers that anyone in the community can use and are intended for homework. The room allows everyone to have access to the Internet. We also toured the chief firefighters' office. We took lots of pictures with the firefighters. At the end, we all circled up and they brought out a cake with a candle that looked like a sparkler for Corrine’s birthday.

Tonight, we will have game night after dinner. Dr Sanchez and several teachers from the school are expected to attend.