4th of July

Dear America,
Some days I miss you more than I should. There are many adventures here, some harder than others. Finding piece and quiet is very difficult. Even when the power goes out, someone on the street always has some battery power to blast their music. The only benefit is instead of hearing 8 songs at once, you only hear one. This weekend was a three day weekend and extra loud because yesterday was Independence Day for the DR. All weekend was filled with loud music and blow-horns going off non-stop. No fireworks really, that's more of a Christmas thing here. I successfully avoided the streets that were filled with drinking, dancing, costumes, and "butt-whipping" that goes on during the time called Carnival. I was able to watch some movies and stay inside. Here's a picture of our school during their independence celebration on Friday. It was awesome, there were amazing skits, dances, and poems by the kids. Here they're dancing with their flag. Miss you all.
Love
Andrew

Olympia!!!

Well, unfortunately the winter olympics aren't here in la Republica Dominicana do to the lack of cold. There's no "we are Jamaica we have a bobsled team - COOL RUNNINGS." However, yesterday was a historic day for Andrew Sivertsen. I wore a fleece the entire day! The temperature maybe reached a high in the upper 60s, and spent the rest of the day in the upper 50s/lower 60s. I think the sun cracked for 15 minutes in the afternoon. Hence the chilly weather. Not too many updates from el caribe. My new science room is a few steps closer to completion, and classes are still going well. We made pressure rockets the other day to describe Newton's laws of motion! They were pretty rad. On the sadder side of things, my pet chicken who ended up growing into a fine looking rooster was murdered the other day by another rooster, and no I was not training him for gallistico aka cock fighting. We have another work team coming this weekend, so we are expecting big things to happen. In service class, I will go with 6th and 7th grade next week to help paint classrooms at a public school called Bario Blanco. The kids are always excited to serve. I was leading worship today for several classes during devotions today, and remembered how blessed I am and excited to be here whether rain or shine.
Love y'all,
Andrew

Three and a half weeks in!

Hello ,
Sorry its been so long since I've told you how much that I love you. Dominican life is going well! My dirt bike is back in commission and running again. Student discipline switches on and off quicker than the power shortages in this country. Weather is like a beautiful Colorado summer: Warm days and cool nights! Although, the rain is more unpredictable than the Dominican lottery, which though I haven't played I think that it is rigged. Science has been full of tons of experiments. 6th and 7th grade are studying physics. This week we made parachutes for action figures! 8th grade is studying space, so we've been surfing the net for info and learning all about NASA's expensive trips to comets and planets. ESL is reading The Boxcar Children. Service class is going to help a work team pour concrete, and team-building has been working on brain teasers. Here's our latest, http://users.skynet.be/tiekenei/games/puzzle/river/river.htm Good luck! Personal news, I have a girlfriend her name is Grace Anne and she teaches PE. She's a blessing to the Dominican Republic and is from North Carolina. Pray that this community will continue to be captivated by Jesus, we are entering into a month that celebrates Carnival, which is very similar to Mardis Gras. Miss yall.
Love
Andrew