welcome to life in the DR

after a wonderful few weeks of orientation, sharla and kate have both returned to the states. that leaves camille and i here with ian for about 2.5 weeks until jenny returns. so how are we doing with life on our own in the DR?

well, we're not completely alone yet. this week we are at the White's in Santiago helping out with a group of doctors who have come to perform a few surgeries. while here, we've had a chance to relax and take care of 3 beautiful babies.

while we were still in Puerto Plata we had many transportation lessons. we walked from the house, through the ranchito, to la calle principal. from there we caught a guagua to the road that takes us to chichigua. from there we rode a motoconcho to the bateye. we did this all backwards to go home. other than the first guagua man trying to make us pay 400 pesos for a 20 peso ride and then stopping halfway before our destination, things went pretty smoothly.

we've also had a few lessons in driving a stick shift. camille and i have yet to be in the car at the same time, but i'm pretty sure she's doing better than me. yet i was assured that tackling the parking lot at Nacional is quite a task, even for well seasoned drivers. i don't think we'll be stranded for too long.

we have successfully eaten colorful salsa to our hearts content, called for a water truck, paid bills and accomplished a variety of other exciting and not so exciting tasks.

once we return to Puerto Plata early next week we'll have about 2 weeks to get organized and plan for the upcoming school year, which begins the first week of september. we held registration last week and currently have appx. 180 students signed up for our classes! i will upload pictures of these beautiful children to shutterfly in the near future.

isaac and jacob are now back together again for good, and they have both gotten quite fat!

ian has been doing great. he is now eating small chunks of food and enjoys bathtime with lots of giggles. i will post a more detailed update about his progress, along with a picture, soon.