Swimming Lessons - 2009

Today was the last day of swimming lessons for Kayli and Kambrielle. They started them the end of may and they ended today. This week was sort of a make-up for missed lessons due to pool closures and the teacher being sick. We had lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:30. The nice thing was that the teacher came here and they were held at our pool. Not too bad of a commute!


This is the girls with their teacher Angeli. She is a marathon and triathlon competitor and teaches PE and Chemistry during the school year. She does swimming lessons during the summers to augment her amazingly high teacher salary. (If you thought teachers in the US were paid bad.....)

Kayli perfected her freestyle stroke this summer and learned the back stroke and the butterfly. Her butterfly is really strong.......I see a swim team member in high school! She started learning Olympic turns this week and her homework was to work on them the rest of the summer. Not her favorite thing to do, but they sure look cool when people do them!

Kambrielle came to the DR five months ago with pretty much no swimming skills. I had signed her up for lessons but things kept getting in the way and then last year they closed the pools in Utah due to cryptosporum (sp?) and so her lessons were cancelled. The breaks of being the last child!

Since she has been swimming all the time and having great lessons she is now an outstanding swimmer. She has the crawl stroke down to a T, with the right breathing technique, can do the back stroke, and started the butterfly this week. Pretty good for a 7 year old! Plus, she looks so cute in her new yellow swimsuit, mirror goggles and lime green swimcap!

An Amazing Experience

Today I had an amazing experience! It was truly fabulous and life changing. "What was it", you ask breathlessly.......... swimming with dolphins, a pedicure on the beach with the wind blowing my hair, watching the whales swim off the side of my boat while we race thru the water? No, none of those.

This was better.

Today I had a maid clean my house. Not just any maid, but a real maid. One that I didn't have to explain anything to. One that scrubbed down my walls, cleaned out the fridges, made the glass shower stalls look like glass again..... I could go on and on. If this blog were auditory, you would be hearing the Hallelujah chorus right now.

No, I didn't sit on the couch eating bon bons while she worked. I was sorting through the piles of papers that are sitting on my kitchen counter, my desk and my dresser. Maybe some day I will be able to have a place for everything and everything in its place, but for now I am just so excited that the toilets are clean and you can see the top of the dryer.

When I found out that we were moving here lots of people asked me if I would get a maid. "Of course not," I scoffed. I was a modern American woman who could do everything. Well, I have fallen off my high horse. I can't do everything. And so, I am very grateful for a humble, hard working woman named Morena who is willing to help me and for so little pay.

And the best part........ she comes again next week!

-Kim

PS: Kierstin comes in a few days...... then there will be posts with actual pictures from my camera, as she will be helping her technology impaired mom with her blogging skills!

I can have it my way......right?

We Americans are spoiled. Yes, you say, we are...... but I want to tell you how spoiled we are. Really, Really, Really spoiled. I didn't understand how spoiled until moving here.

One of my favorite things to do in Syracuse, on the drive home from the gym, was to drive thru the gas station (yes, I didn't even have to get out of my car!) and pick up a 44 ounce diet coke (caffeine free, even, since it was Utah!) for only 89 cents. This would get me happily thru the day. Throw in some of their 99 cent tater babies with the free dipping sauce and life was really good. Love that carbonation and crunchy ice. Ummmm, I am drooling just thinking about it.

Fast forward to the DR and here you get teeny tiny drinks with your meals. I am talking Happy Meal size for this 44 ounce girl. And don't even suggest asking for no ice so that you get more drink.....no way. AND (gasp here) no refills. Really. No where. So, when you finish those fries, which were given to you with one small ketchup packet that you had to beg for, and your throat is parched because it is like 90 degrees with 95% humidity it is just too bad for you.

Imagine our excitement when we found a new Burger King a few weeks ago that has a drink machine in the dining room, instead of under lock and key back with the employees. We saw stars and exploding fireworks! The excitement!!! The possibilities!!! Needless to say we were excited to try it out. (insert here kids home from school.....mom can we go? mom can we go? mom can we go? Get the picture?)

Today the fumigator came to kill the disgusting bugs that like to live in my apartment and so I saw a perfect opportunity. We have to vacate for awhile after he is done spraying the toxic fumes and so we went to Burger King where there is not only a drink machine, but also a play land. Could life get any better?

The kiddos ordered their combos and when the food was ready Kambrielle was inspecting her hamburger to make sure no disgusting things were lurking there. It had just ketchup on it and so I thought things would be fine.

" There are no pickles here" she said with an interesting face.

So, I trooped up to the front and tried to remember how to say pickles in Spanish to get the mishap resolved. When I told the "server" that we were missing the pickles the following conversation ensued:

" I am just missing the pickles on this hamburger"

" They don't come with pickles."

" Yes they do."
"No, they don't"

"Yes, they do."
" No, they don't"

"Look at the picture. There are pickles there." (pointing to the kids meal picture over her head)

"No there aren't"

"Yes, a hamburger comes with ketchup, mustard, and pickles. I just need the pickles"

"There are no pickles on it"

From the lady standing in line next to me....."Yes, there are pickles on the picture."

" It doesn't come with pickles"

"PLEASE, just give me the pickles"

At this point the huffy lady hands the burger to another worker, who takes it back to talk to another worker, who points to it and then talks to another worker, who nods in agreement. (I am watching this all carefully to make sure no "extra" liquids end up on Kami's burger) Finally the third worker takes out three pickle slices, places two on top of the hamburger, vascillates for a moment about whether to "throw in" the third pickle, decides not to and puts it back and rewraps the burger and brings it back to me. All the while I have a smile pasted on my face, so that they don't think that I am an "ugly American".

Remember, this is all at Burger King, where the motto is "Have it your way"

Fabulous Fideo

So, I am really missing Cafe Rio. Yes, Jenn, Kathi and Billie Kaye, I know that you are all shocked! :-) Each day of the week Cafe Rio has a special. Fridays are Fideo Friday and I would sometimes get that when we would go out for date night. It is really delicous there and I was hoping to recreate it. While this is not exactly Cafe Rio, I think that your family will enjoy it. It was a hit at our house!

Fideo:
2 Tbsp. oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) package fideo ( I used a 14 ounce package, because that is what they sold!)
5 Roma tomatoes (I used 4 large salad type)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground cumin ( I use a little extra!)
salt and pepper to taste
2 (plus) cups of chicken broth (or water with boullion)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (that is all they have here. At home I would use a 1/2 cheddar 1/2 monterey jack blend)(or colby is good too!)
fresh cilantro
sour cream
tortilla strips ( I don't know how to do these.....any help Heidi?)

Put the oil into a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts in the oil until nicely browned on the outside (and cooked through). Remove from the skillet and set aside. Add the onion and pepper to the oil and cook until tender, but not brown. Add the fideo noodles. Cook, stirring constantly until the fideo is lightly browned. Drain off any excess oil and add tomatoes and seasonings. Dice the chicken breasts and return to the skillet. Pour in the water, cover and simmer over medium-low heat until pasta is tender and water has been absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.

Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro and tortilla strips. Eat it and think loving thoughts about me!

A word about the noodles and the water:
They sell fideo in any supermarket. I always bought mine at Walmart or an IGA store. If you can't find them with the regular noodles, look for them with the Mexican food items. At home I only saw them sold as Fideos Corto, which is Cut Fideo..... so they were in small pieces. Here they sold them as very long pieces, all wound up together (coiled vermicelli). Because of this I used like 4-5 cups of broth when I made this last week. You want the noodles covered while it cooks and the Fideos very moist when served. Mess around with the amount of water, checking every few minutes and adding when necessary. I think it probably uses less water is it is the Fideos Corto. You want it saucy when it is done, but not soup.

You can also make this a beef version by using beef broth and cooking steak strips, in place of the chicken. Personally, I wouldn't cook it with hamburger, but to each his own.

The really interesting thing is that this is called "Mexican Spaghetti" by some. When I told my neighbor, Emma Munives, who is from Mexico City, that I was making fideos for dinner she said that in Mexico fideo is only a soup. She had never had it the way that I prepared it (and had assumed was Mexican!) but she really liked it!

So, give this a try. It is relatively inexpensive and way good!
As they say here in the DR "Buen Provecho!"
-Kim

Free Chocolate Friday

Today, May 15th, Mars (makers of my favorite, peanut M&M's) is giving out coupons for a free Mars candy to the first 500,000 people who go to their site http://www.realchocolate.com/ and simply ask for the coupon!

I filled one out and put in Kierstin's name, as the coupon won't do me much good, and it only took a minute. One per e-mail address and 4 per mailing address. You get it in about 6 weeks.....how's that for delayed gratification?

SO, who doesn't love free chocolate? Get one and enjoy it for me!

Do I have sucker stamped across my forehead?......wait, yes, I think I do

Today my new friend Denise came over to help me with my overwhelming house. I am at that point where there are piles of things sitting around because I just don't know where to put them. (Kind of like I have been for the last 20 years!) It is always easier to get something done when you have a friend there to keep you going and motivated and so she came over to kick my bum into gear.

We tidied and I emptied a big box and we got everything off of the floor in the "great room" area. It earned this remark from the kids when they came home from school. "Hey wait, it's clean in here. What happened?" (said in an incredulous voice). Well, after all that work we definitely needed some lunch out and so we hopped in the marvelous mini-van and toodled down the road in search of a place to eat lunch.

There was a place called "Don Pinchos" that we have passed on our frantic trips down the one-way streets of the capital. With all of these one way streets and no left turn signs around here you get to see a lot of areas you never would have traveled on. So we decided to be brave and give it a try. Remember, we are 2 ladies from northern Utah with a very minimal hold of the language going into a lunch spot that is teeming with locals. (Denise got here 1 month after me. She is from Layton, Utah and her husband is the new director of Church Welfare here. They have 6 adult kids and are here being empty-nesters. They are here on a three year assignment. We have a good time laughing at ourselves and our hacking of the language)

When we entered the restaurant we came in a door right next to the bathrooms. I thought that we must have gone in the back door, but that was the front! There was a buffet type area where everyone was walking down the line and giving a lady their order (kind of like a line in the school cafeteria when you grew up) and then paying at the end of the line. The food looked good, but as we were struggling to try to ask the server some questions a waiter came up to us, shook his head, and directed us to a table with some menus. Well, this looked promising. Denise and I commenced trying to guess what the items were. We knew it was some kind of beef or some kind of pork, or some kind of chicken or a mixture of something, but exactly what it was we were ordering was still a small mystery. I went for the easy way out and got a chicken sandwich while Denise was brave and went for Pinchos Mixtos which ended up being a delectable shish-kabob made of beef, chicken breast and pork. The meal was yummy, but no one else seemed to be eating what we were. When the bill came around, my sandwich (insert sandwich only, no pickle, chips or fries accompanied that lonely plate) was $150 pesos and Denise's kabobs with salad and rice were $315 pesos. Add on to that a 26% tax and a tip and you've got the idea. We paid up and while Denise used the restroom I asked the serving lady at the line, in my broken Spanish, how we would do the line, if we came again. She informed me that the cafeteria style line came with your choice of several rice dishes, a meat choice and a salad for $90 pesos.......no tax and no gratuity added on top.......... and then she smiled and sadly shook her head at me. Yep, that waiter saw me coming..........

That is one thing that makes me crazy here. I feel like I constantly have to be on the defensive against being ripped off. They expect a tip for everything and there is someone at every corner asking for money or selling something and they will not leave you alone. I just say no, shake my head and wave my pointer finger back and forth (that's the way you say no here) and then pretend they are not there. Which, by the way, is against all the courtesy and charity lessons I ever received in the US in Relief Society!!!! The prices are always higher for me, because of my white skin, unless it is at a store where they scan things in. Several times my friend Emily Munives, from Mexico, has taken me to the farmer's market. When I come with, the prices are higher than when she goes alone. The last time the guy actually gave her one price for a pineapple and then told her my price would be higher. Now I have to sit in the car when they shop. :-) Her mom went and got the plants that I wanted for the house for me. When I was there they were 1,200 pesos for one. When she went back without me, she got 3 for $1,200 pesos. Now we have a system where I show them or tell them what I want and then they go buy it for me..... making sure that the seller doesn't see us together!

Isn't discrimination illegal?

Rain, Rain, Go Away....Come Again Tomorrow About 2:00

I can't find my camera!!! Darn it all. I hope that it is just misplaced and hasn't "walked away", like some things like to do here. Unfortunately, with all of the different people who come into my home to work on the constant leaks, outages, etc. things can sometimes dissappear! I have things that I want to post, but I always think "How boring!" without a picture, but I will forge on and hope that the camera shows up.

We have just begun the rainy season. Tonight I went to Domino's for pizza (yes, Kevin is gone and I just couldn't cook tonight!). Kambrielle and I drove in to get the pizza and while we were waiting the downpour began. It is hard to describe without seeing it. The rain pours down in sheets and when the wind blows you can see the rain moving...... it looks just like in one of those really bad 1960's movies with the terrible special effects. We waited an extra 5 minutes and decided we would have to run for it. By the time that we got to the car(it was parked close to the door) we were soaked. Kami was laughing her head off. It is really refreshing!


By the time it had been coming down 10-15 minutes the streets were flooding. Imagine that much rain at home and then try to imagine it trying to drain with inadequate or even non-existant storm drains. The streets became swimming pools at certain places, but were just fine in others. Everyone was just mainly driving down the middle of the 2 lane road, so that the puddles were to the side of your car. These rains can come and then be gone in a matter of a minute or two, or can last for 20-30 minutes, or you can have them for a long time during a storm. I can't imagine what it will be like during a tropical storm. My friend says that is why so many people have 4 wheel drive. I am not sure that my mini-van will be able to handle it. Maybe I can get it jacked up and have some mondo tires installed...... Something to think about!

I am glad for the rains as it cleans up the dirty air. It poured on us once when we were trying to put a mattress in our car at PriceSmart (Latin America's poor version of Costco) and in 2 minutes we were drenched to the skin. Kayli was with us and she had on a white shirt. It was just filthy from the rain when she made it into the car. Our car was also dirtier after the rain than before!

The interesting thing about this rainy season, according to the Dominicans that I have talked to, is that it generally only rains in the afternoon! Weird, huh? It will generally be clear in the morning and then there will be an afternoon shower which will only last a little while and then it may rain during the night (generally while you are asleep). I bet everyone in Oregon wishes that they could have scheduled rain like that!