So Many Adventures

So many things have been happening, I somehow have lost the time to inform those of you that read this what's been going on.  School's been crazy.  It seems like third quarter is the worst quarter for our students in regards to their behavior.  It has been difficult dealing with some of the discipline cases.  I had one student that received a referral and then went and punched a wall because he was upset and broke his hand.  Of all the quarters, this has been the one that I have had to write the most office referrals.  In addition to the discipline issues, I also received an additional prep this quarter.  I now teach Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus every day of the week and Personal Finance and Advisory one day a week.  It is much more work.  The new class is the twelfth grade calculus class.  I was pretty nervous picking up the new class, but it's really going well and I enjoy teaching it. 
We bought a car. A manual Volkswagen Golf.  When we purchased the car the power steering was not working, so we had to get that fixed before we started using it.  It was supposed to be a one day job, but it turned into a week and a half repair.  During the time it was getting fixed, I made a trip home to surprise my family and meet my new niece Natalie.  It was great being home especially for such an exciting time in our family.  When I came back to the country, the car was fixed and we started driving it. 
The next weekend we decided to take a trip up to the north coast for a couple days on the beach.  We spent Friday in Monte Plata and then Saturday morning I decided to test my memory of driving stick shift and drove the car to the beach.  It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  We made it up to the beach in about two hours, which included a long drive up and over the mountain.  I was a little nervous to be driving the mountain since it's a very curvy and steep road, but we made it up and over and to the place we were staying.  On Sunday our plan was to leave early enough to make it to the capitol to see our high school girls soccer game.  As we started going up the mountain (my roommate was driving), the car decided it didn't want to stay in gear.  We ended up having to roll backwards down the mountain in neutral (not my favorite activity).  We went to the place we had stayed the night before realizing that God always has a purpose in everything.  Another guest at the place we were staying happened to be a mechanic and checked the car for us and told us that the clutch was burned out and needed to be replaced. We left the car in the hands of the owners of the place we were staying who told us they would take the car to the mechanic on Monday since it wasn't open on Sunday. 
We enjoyed some extra time by the pool as we waited for a bus to take us back.  We went back to work on Monday with another week of school.  On Friday, we then took another bus back to the beach to pick up our fixed car.  It was like driving a different car.  I had to get used to the new clutch and its sensitivity.  I stalled it probably about five times in a row right in front of a restaurant. 
An older Italian man came up and leaned against the window and asked if I needed any help.  I told him I could do it and he told me to just calm down.  After that I didn't have any problems, except for at the gas station when I couldn't get the car to go because I forgot to take the emergency brake off and when I started going up the mountain and didn't have enough momentum and had to roll back down to a flatter part to get a "running start."  I drove it back through the mountains and then through Santo Domingo Sunday traffic, which was a little scary since rules are not observed and there are lots of cars, but we made it in one piece back to the apartment and all was well.
Monday morning I woke up at three in the morning feeling that something was wrong with my stomach.  After emptying the contents of my stomach, I went back to sleep feeling okay and thinking I had just had some food poisoning.  Unfortunately, when I woke up to get ready to go to school I felt just as bad as I had at three.  I then decided it was time to call my supervisor and the principal to tell them I would not be coming to school.  I spent the rest of the day between my bed and the bathroom.  I got some frantic calls from the teachers at school telling me I should go to the hospital, but I was convinced it was just a 24 hour bug. The other teachers were not easily convinced but they gave me 24 hours.  By the afternoon, I was feeling pretty tired and dehydrated, but I wasn't feeling sick any more and was able to keep down water and then later crackers.  Plans are to go to school tomorrow. 
It has definitely been a crazy couple of months, but I know that this is where I am supposed to be.