When I arrived in the Dominican Republic in 1974 to teach, I was able to get around pretty well with public transportation. To get to school and back, the school provided a van that picked up the teachers each morning. However, after two years, the school decided to leave the transportation to and from school to the teachers. That was a bit of a hassle. A motorcycle seemed the answer. I wished that I could afford to buy a car,…
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In 1974 I moved to the Dominican Republic to teach in a school. However, my presence there was under the guidance of the Free Methodist Church so being a part of the church was an expected part of my responsibilities there. It was in the church that I really encountered much of the cultural challenges that I had in the country. While teaching I worked mostly with American adults. At the church I was with Dominicans. I had much to…
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I went to the Dominican Republic in 1974 to teach. Santiago Christian School (SCS) hired me to teach 5th and 6th grades. The school was an English speaking school that had been started to teach the children of missionaries in the area. However, over time that focus expanded, and the school admitted anyone who wanted instruction in English. It became an international school while maintaining its Christian perspective. The students at the school came from a number of different backgrounds.…
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In 1974 I moved to the Dominican Republic. I lived there for almost four years. The journey began when I graduated from college in 1973. I had a teaching degree but so did a lot of other Baby Boomers. Finding a teaching job was tough. I ended up subbing that first year out of college. What I really wanted to do was teach overseas, but every school I looked at wanted teaching experience which I obviously didn’t have. One day…
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We all know the purpose of an airport is to enter and leave a location by means of an airplane. Thus in many ways airports are very utilitarian structures. However, as airports have become more and more significant parts of our life, they have changed. Airports now seek to be places for comfort, shopping, and perhaps even culture. Here are some of the interesting things I have seen in airports around the world. We all know the basics of an…
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Travel can be a great experience until it’s not. It’s wonderful when everything falls easily into place, but unfortunately that doesn’t always happen. In real life the unexpected can occur and not always for the good. This can be particularly true of flying. Sometimes, however, what may seem like a problem ends up to be another great adventure. Other times they are just that, problems. Over my years of traveling I have had my share of challenges. Here are a…
When I began this blog over a year ago, my intent was to encourage people to explore our world. For me traveling is the best way to learn about the cultures and peoples of our very diverse world. While we can read about places and peoples in books, see travel shows on TV, or watch documentaries or movies from different locations, nothing compares to actually being in a place. Places are more than what we see. They are smells and…
I did not grow up in a coffee drinking family. My parents seldom drank any. They were much more likely to drink tea. In fact, as my father grew older, he would always have a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator. Coffee was just not part of our life. Shortly after college I moved to the Dominican Republic for four years. There I began to have some exposure to coffee. The Dominicans would serve coffee in small demitasse cups…
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It’s Christmas season once more. The signs are everywhere. A visit to a store or mall and all the decor will tell you that the Christmas season is here. Christmas themes of late seem to revolve mostly around snow and winter scenes. Snowmen and Christmas trees along with Santa have come to dominate the holiday decor. However, it is important not to ignore the reason there’s a Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. One way to celebrate that is to…
