Life Update

Hello Everyone. I have not written in awhile. Partially because I am designing a new webpage on my Mac. It’s way cooler than blogspot. More fun for me to create, rather than just type on Microsoft Word about my life. The other reason is basically because you all (correction: most) are really lame. No one calls me (some of you don’t even know my phone number), no one emails, and no one comments on my blog. I would like to be updated on your lives too:) Ok, as always, I will run you through my week, which is getting more routine/repetitive.
Tuesday, I had class all day and a nice ration of...you guessed it, homework. For Spanish class, we went to a museum in town. It had old masks from Carnival all over the country. It was an eclectic place, but very neat. I am taking all my visitors there.
Wednesday was a little more exciting. I worked all day on classes and homework. I am almost dreading going to volleyball class. It’s nice that I am making friends with the girls, yet very weird being the only American. The teacher is still impossible to understand! The girls in my class say they have trouble hearing him as well, so I don’t feel as incompetent. He really bugs me, though. I want to drop the class. He did invite me to play on the team for the school, however. After my last class on Wednesday (at 8pm), I went to the courts for my game. We won. Then my neighbor picked me up and gave me a ride home, which is super nice because I missed the bus because of the game. My neighbor and I ended up going out for a beer with his friends and to watch the Caribbean Series (baseball tournament) since the DR was playing Mexico. The Dominican lost 7-9.
Thursday, I got to sleep in past 6am! My 8am class was cancelled. My TESL class was also shortened to one hour, rather than 2. After class, I had lunch at the house. It was raining on Thursday, so we had sancocho. This is a soup that they make everytime it rains. It consist of broth, yucca(potato family), rice, chicken, meat, carrots, broccoli, and other random foods. It tastes really good. After lunch, I taught my first class. It went really well. We went over their names, the alphabet, numbers (1-10), and the months of the year. The kids are great, I love them already!! Thursday night was so much fun as well. Sarah, Vankat, and I (The Usual Suspects, jaja).We went out to La Cana to hang out with our Haitian friends and celebrate a birthday. We caught the second half of the Celtics vs. Lakers game, which was great.
Friday, more rain! I LOVE RAIN! There was a work retreat scheduled, but it was cancelled due to flooding. I cannot remember what I did on Friday afternoon. Friday night, Sarah and I ate at a Mexican restaurant next door to my house. Then,my American neighbor, Julio, took Vankat, Sarah, and I to the museum, Centro Leon. Every Friday night, the museum shows a concert (on a video screen) outside. There is a restaurant that serves food, wine, beer, etc. The concert on Friday night was a Jazz concert, which was half in Portuguese, half English. I ran into my History of the Caribbean teacher, who apparently works there when he is not teaching. After the concert, we went home.
Saturday, more rain! I spend the afternoon at an outdoor cafe that has WI-FI. I stayed there Skyping, downloading a movie, chatting, and doing some homework. It is really close to my house and quickly became my new favorite spot:) I was there for six hours. When I got home,I watched “Jerry McGuire” on my laptop, then went to bed.
This morning, I got waken up by heavy rainfall and my phone. My friend, Oscar, called to invite Sarah and I to Carnival in La Vega (a town 45 minutes away). They have a party bus that includes food, drinks, and transportation for $500RD. We didn’t end up going because of the rain. Carnival starts to get really big next weekend, so I will go then. I think I am going back to the restaurant/cafe to enjoy some coffee and internet. Also, Sarah and I share a text book for Political Processes. Seeing as we have to read seventy pages and write a short report by Tuesday, we need to get started.Overall, a relaxing weekend of rain and chilling.
As always: random notes... People in the program told me that McDonald’s serves beer. For example: You want a #5 with either a soft drink or beer. February is the month for Carnival, and it goes on each Sunday of the month. It is chilly when it rains, maybe I should have brought more sweatshirts! Oh, I rarely wear my glasses here (almost never), and I don’t get headaches. OK, that’s all I got. Talk to you all later.