a very much needed....

VACATION! 
people always say teachers have it so lucky because they get at least two whole weeks for vacation for Christmas and a long summer off of work. well.... 


it is very much earned. 


seriously. 


I will be honest. As soon as lights and Christmas trees went up, roommates began playing Christmas music, and talk of going home for the holidays started - things got super HARD. Why? Well, this was my first Christmas away from my family. I spent every day after Thanksgiving pretending like Christmas wasn't happening to try to feel better about the whole situation.  


On top of all this, the last month before school gets out for Christmas break is CHAOS! The kids really do go crazy. I'm not making this up. 


So, with all this being said, this Christmas break was very much needed. And really, Christmas break wasn't all that bad! Luckily, I wasn't completely alone on Christmas. My amazing boyfriend, Brian, stayed in Jarabacoa as well.  

We spent a lot of time together, with friends who also stayed in the country, and his brother who came to visit for a week.  Also during the break, I house-sat for a missionary family and took care of their dog.  As much as I really wanted to be in Hawaii, I don't think I could have asked for a better vacation.  

And now....TUESDAY. we go back to school Tuesday. We have some staff changes, new staff coming, and regular staff skeptical about how this next semester will run. please God help! Prayers are definitely needed for JCS right now. 


By the way, for our JCS Christmas program this year I had my students sing Mele Kalikimaka and a song called Santa's Got a Sunburn.  It was so cute! I'll try posting a video soon :)

by the way,theres some big news. but i'll leave that for another blog entry ;)