~Chillllen, QUE CHULO~

Wow, I’m officially a bad blogger. That is only because all of my readers apparently have no reaction/commentary/feelings to their reading material. However, a few of you wonderful gem of gems (you know who you are) do request more writing. So let me start with wow…ummm…we’ll go way back in case I forgot something, which in that case you all probably forgot too. Keep in mind, that not writing blogs has helped lead to the deterioration of my native tongue.
The last few days of January went by quick, along with the rest of the month. I missed the class trip to the Museum of the Mirabel Sisters. They were 4 sisters who went against the regime of General Rafael Trujillo in the years of his rule (1931-1960). He had his people murder three of the four sisters. It eventually outraged people, and he was assassinated six months later. There is a great movie in English, titled “The Time of the Butterflies,” with Selma Hayak which is a great movie and related to the history of this country. The other sister is still alive, and she came and spoke to the group. I was writing my beautiful Communication School application essay, which if you haven’t heard by now…I’M OFFICIALLY IN☺ Side note: it’s weird, I feel like in anything I’ve ever done or applied for, I’ve succeeded. Maybe I just feel that way, but I have never had to deal with a disappointment or rejection. It makes me confident in my future…whatever it may be. I feel that even with the current state of the economy being crappier than a toilet in the Dominican Republic, I can find a good job. Maybe I’m being conceded or self-confident, but I really feel that people like my personality and have confidence or high expectations for me. I recently took a personality test that resulted in this to some degree. Ok…off the random side note (and patting myself on the back), FEBRUARY!
February is the month of carnival. I didn’t go the first week because it’s not very big. Homework started to pick up, and my volunteer job needed lesson plans. The first weekend was a rural work retreat to the countryside, but due to all the rain we’ve had this season it was cancelled. Nobody went out much this weekend because the rain was falling heavy. The second week I started my student teaching for English class at the university=NERVERACKING!!! The kids were really great though, thinking they were hilarious to yell, “I LOVE YOU” in English in the middle of class. During my Wednesday night volleyball practice, I hurt my ankle so bad. I twisted it off the step because the court is elevated. You have probably seen pictures. It’s been six weeks today, and it’s still a little fat but getting better. I am going to practice tonight for the first time since the incident. During this weekend, the group went to Constanza. This is 3 ½ hours away, tucked into the mountains. The climate was comparable to Steamboat in the summertime-PERFECT. I roomed with Amanda and Sarah. The weekend was filled with intense hikes (where I had to stay back☹), barbeques, dancing, bonfire, waterfall, and even a safari. We got back on a Sunday and a few of us went to eat street food and catch the tail end of carnival here in Santiago. The next week of classes were the same as always!! We were supposed to visit the Zonas Francas (free zones with many American companies, i.e. Victoria Secret & Levi’s) for a field trip, but it keeps getting cancelled and rescheduled. I have yet to go. On Friday, some of the group went on a co-pay trip to the 27 Charcos (waterfalls), where you have to wear helmets and life jackets. Intense waterfall jumping, which I had to pass on because of my stupid KANKLE. On Sunday, the group went on a day trip to La Vega for the biggest, best carnival of the season. Sarah, Vankat, and I ditched the group and went on our own. We took a guagua for RD$40, a little over US$1.00. I would be generous and say the van’s capacity was ten people, but we had twenty-one people in with room to spare. The kind woman next to me decided to start a prayer, like the people in the south do at church, chanting away…Hallelujah Jesus! So entertaining. I had a video of the guagua, but not of the pre-carnival prayers. Carnival was awesome, but really crazy. The costumes were beautiful and elaborate. The people carry baton-like things to keep people out of the street while the parade is going on. I was hit only a few times, which hurt!! But so much fun!!!! The next week was so busy. I had more student teaching. I had a thirty-minute presentation on the Zonas Francas (yeah, the one we never went to, ugh). I made a great PowerPoint though. THIRTY minutes in Spanish…UGHHHHH!! On Wednesday, I had CIEE seminar, where we speak English. We had to create skits about interactions we’ve had here. The twist, you had to create “thought-bubbles” of what you were actually thinking but didn’t say. My group decided to act out the scene of the American exchange student wearing jeans, t-shirt, flip-flops, and a backpack to class. She had an encounter with a typical Dominican girl; heels, jeans, matching shirt tucked it, matching jewelry, matching bag, and make-up. It was a friendly encounter, but they both made fun of each other in their thoughts. It was a fun activity. On Wednesday afternoon, I left for the capital. I had dinner with Joe and some other Dominicans (lawyers) and American investors into real estate here. We had dinner at a place called Sophia’s, great seafood. I had a shrimp pasta..mmmm! We went out to a club for a bit, but overall a chill night. On Thursday, I went to the airport in the capital to pick up mom and Hannah. We chilled in the Zona Colonial district of Santo Domingo for the day and night. On Friday, it was Independence Day so we went to a parade. Saturday, we came to Santiago and chilled. They saw my house and my city. Sunday, we returned back to Santo Domingo for the parade of carnival from every region/city in the country. It was great, colorful, and fun!! Hannah even bought an imitation of the batons that they hit people with. I took them to the airport in the morning on Monday, got stuck in a traffic jam, and took the bus back to Santiago. Later that day, I had to go visit a poor neighborhood with Sarah and Vankat to write an essay for class. We stopped and played checkers with the people, chatted, and played with the cutest baby. It was really sad to see the poor neighborhoods, but it was great to see the happiness of the people and the sense of community flourishing the their hood.

MARCH:
The rest of the week=boring. Friday, Sarah and I left for Cabarete. We stayed at a cute place near the beach. I am not one to complain if I’m in the sun and ocean, but Cabarete isn’t my type of place. The nightlife was cool, but as far as the beach goes, no me gusta. Swimming was not great because of the whitecaps and all the wind-surfers. A surfboard could have easily decapitated me. It was very windy, which makes sense why it’s the windsurfing capital of the world, but not great for a relaxing day at the beach. I still had lots of fun though. On Monday, Sarah and I went to the theater here to watch Jazz. It was such a cool environment. They have all the instruments, and musicians all take turns playing together. It was a mezcla of jazz, blues, Indian sounding music. On Tuesday, my Spanish class took a field trip to Centro Leon (nice museum of culture) and the cigar factory. It was a cool trip, but I had to leave early to teach English. On Wednesday, lots of my friends went out because it was the birthday of my Haitian friends (twins). We went to the university bar and listened to karaoke. On Thursday, it was Amanda’s birthday! It was the best night here ever. It started by having a pancake dinner and mimosas (that’s what she wanted) at her house. It was a great mixture of people though. There were 4 of her Dominican friends, and 5 of us Americans. Afterwards, we went out to this club called “La O.” Everyone in the program was there (minus 5), and everyone was having/being so much fun! We danced all night long, to the point where I was sore the next day. On Friday night, I chilled out and relaxed. Saturday, Sarah and I went to the beach. We went with her host-sisters German fiancée. She was in the capital for a class, so we took him with us. He is a pretty cool guy, full of funny American stereotypes. Sunday, day of rest. Sarah and I cooked salmon and pasta at my house. We had wine and dinner with my host mom, and she had 3 glasses!! So precious! Monday came around again, Jazz night. Tuesday was St. Patrick’s Day. We went out for a bit, but everyone was tired. Thursday was great because Amanda, Sarah, Vankat, Anthony, Julie (Amanda’s friend from home), and I went to Las Terrenas. We caught the 11:30 guagua. We were on the beach by 3:30. We stayed at a cute hotel with 5 beds and a kitchen for $93 a night. We cooked dinner every night so it was $1.50 for dinner per person. We planned on renting a beach and going to Playa Rincon on Friday, but we were too tired from dancing the night before. Turns out, it was for the better because it rained most of the day. It was a great day though, relaxing, and the first time I’ve heard thunder in awhile. At night, we went to a colmado and played dominoes all night. I know how to play, but my Dominican partner taught me the in’s and out’s of cheating in dominoes…hahaha! Now I feel very Dominican in my domino playing☺ Saturday we rented the car, and I got to drive! We went to Playa Rincon (about 1 ½ away). It is definitely the most beautiful beach in the Caribbean, maybe even the world (I guess I’ll find out one day). We got so lucky with perfect sun, no clouds all day long. The beach has a few lean-tos that cook fresh fish, so delicious. Other than that, no structures, I think that’s the beauty of it. The waves were big, and fun to jump. I got eaten by a huge wave where I got caught in the under toe. It was actually kind of fun because I knew that I couldn’t struggle or fight it, rather just let it take me in, and I just let it flip me in circles. Not gunna lie, it was pretty cool. There is a river along side the beach as well. Dominicans put on a funny jumping show for everyone watching. I will post videos soon. We went home and relaxed all night again too, with more rain. Sunday we left town, and Sunday night some friends and I went to see the movie, “Push.” Perhaps one of the first times that I’ve gone to see a movie without ever seeing a preview, let alone hearing the title.
This week has been school as always, but amazing life. I will write a few more details later, but I have class now. I am playing volleyball for the first time tonight. This weekend we are heading to Las Terrenas again, but with the whole group…I can’t wait!!! Hope all is well on the home front. I would like to say I miss you all, but then I would be lying…haha, just kidding. I just don’t think I’m human on that whole missing people/anything thing. I can’t say I miss anything about the states. Life is great here, thanks to everyone who is making it possible☺ My tan could be a little better though. And tell these darn mosquitoes that my blood isn’t sweeter than Dominicans blood. OK, I’m out. I wish I had a cool sign off phrase, but I don’t. CHAOOOOOOOO!