Some answers...

As to my mom's question about people, those conversations are better left over the phone.

The weather here is, well, hot & humid. Not a whole lot different from FL weather, but definitely lacking in the AC aspect of FL. It rains midday/early afternoon most days. It just gets too hot and the sky has no choice but to open up and pour. But mostly it's just hot & humid. I take my wet clothes off everynight and jump into a cold shower right before I climb under my mosquito net with the fan on high. In all honesty, though, it's not all that bad. It was rough, but expected at first, now it's just...there. You just get used to it, or something.

As for dinner last night, we had such a great time. When we got home we taught our little brother Uno (a new birthday present). It was really interesting trying to teach a game we knew well in English to him in Spanish. But we had a great time and laughed a LOT. He was so cute once he started to get the hang of it and started understanding the affects of the "good" cards.

I've learned a few new Spanish words since I've been here:
McDonald's--fine dining restaurant
AmBURger--sandwich made of ground beef
Cheeseburger--AmBURger with a yellow, dairy product
Coca-Cola--a brown beverage, soda/pop
Hotdog-- a long meat product served over bread

Size--a word to describe how small/large clothing (or shoes) are

This weekend we're going to the museum of the Sisters Maribel, martyrs of the Dominican Republic. I'm totally looking forward to that!! That's the one thing I knew I wanted to do before I got here. Sat I'm going to work on homework all day (test on Monday, paper due Monday). Sunday we're hopefully going to the beach with our family. Hopefully because our van broke down last Tuesday and we still haven't gotten it back yet.

Have a good weekend everyone!! I love you, all!!!

Poetry

Nothing really new happened today, just more class and more rice and beans. It's odd that they eat the same exact food every day. It hasn't gotten old yet, but I don't know that I could say that if I lived here and ate it every day of my life.

Today in class we were talking about poetry and the poems you make out of each letter of a word. As an example, our professor decided to have us create a poem with my name (guess Tina's short enough, or something). I was bright red and didn't add much. But here's "my" poem:

Totalmente chevere (totally cool)
Inteligente (Intelligent)
Nueva amiga mia (my new friend)
Amen

Good times, good times.

I guess that's about it for now, we're off to some Dominican McDonald's for our "little bro's" 8th birthday party.

Mi Rubia Negrita

Last night my Senora called me her "Rubia Negrita." Literally translated, it's something like my blonde blackie. But a direct translation doesn't really work. Negrita is word that is used to mean something like "sweetheart." It's a term of loving endearment. I was really touched. We've had a couple of really cool conversations lately and we're becoming close, pretty cool stuff.

Lisa, you'd love the fashion here. No one wears shorts, at all!! Everyone wears tight jeans (girls and guys) and shirts, not T-shirts, like fashion shirts, the kind of stuff I only wear when I'm trying to impress someone--which is never. No one wears tennis shoes, 'cept the gringos. Girls prance around in FM shoes (Lisa & Jen you know what that means--for the rest of you, high heels). It's rather odd. I'm wearing pants all the time and trying to dress as nice as I can...and I'm still way underdressed. But it's all good, my skin and hair does enough to make me stand out that the clothes don't really matter all that much.

That's it for today. Don't know if I'll be able to write an entry tomorrow, we're going to McDonald's for our "little brother's" birthday. Hope everyone is doing well!! Love you!

Jarabacoa

This weekend was fun. Friday afternoon we went to an English school. The students had to speak to us in English and we had to speak back in Spanish. It was pretty amusing. One of our students taught one of theirs the phrase "geterdone." We all about died when the 16 yo Dominican announced his new phrase to the rest of the group. We paired off with a student and talked for awhile. The girl I was with appeared to be very shy, but she talked better than she gave herself credit for and quite a bit, at that. Towards the end she admitted that she was very shy and if her mom saw her talking to me the way she was, she'd never believe it. She said that several times with a big smile on her face. It was pretty cool.

Then it was PARTY time. There were so many people in that house. It's not exactly a small house, but there were definitely more people than there should have been. Random people kept coming and going. It was pretty overwhelming to me and Tiffany. Everyone was young and talking fast to their friends and such. After awhile we ducked out because it was getting too stressful. But it was fun.

I finally talked to Tracy, for a few minutes Friday night. Sunday I tried to talk to him again, since he was not supposed to be working, but he was and I couldn't talk.

Saturday we went to Jarabacoa. It's a mountain town a little over an hour away. We went horse back riding all morning. My CMR crew would have been proud of me. It was so much fun!! We rode for awhile, stopped and walked down to a beautiful waterfall. Most people went in the water, either up to their knees, or all the way if they were wearing their suits. I didn't feel like getting in. I just wanted to watch the falls and take in all the beautiful surroundings on my own. So I sat on a big rock and let the mist cool me while (unknowingly) the sun baked me. It was magnificent to see God's glory cascading over the falls. Then we got back on our horses and headed back for lunch. Most of the group had never been on horses before and had a rough time. I have to admit, my thighs are a bit sore from the abnormal workout. Then we had lunch, but I was too thirsty and hot to eat. I just nibbled on some veggies and drank a TON of water. Then we were off to a pool to continue baking. We did nothing in or by the side of the pool for the rest of the afternoon. It was really the most fun I've had in quite awhile. By the time I got home and took a shower, my face was BRIGHT RED!!! I seriously haven't been that sunburned in quite some time. I keep saying, "I can't believe it, I just can't believe it." It's better now, still a bit red, but more tan.

Sunday, a bunch of people wanted to go to the beach. Between getting over my cold and still being a bit drained, my terrible sunburn, and my pile of homework, I decided I was better off staying at home and doing the beach thing another day. Besides, I'm from FL, most everyone else never gets to go to the beach. So I slept in just a bit and did some stuff in my room. Then I went to church with my family. I have a hard enough time following Catholic Masses in English. It was interesting trying to follow it in Spanish with a speaker system that reverberated quite a bit. For the most part I stood and sat when I was supposed to. I tried to follow the message, but that was too difficult. It was funny to hear the programmed responses in Spanish instead of English. So, I did that. If I get a chance, maybe I'll try again?

We had hamburgers for lunch. It's funny, whenever we have American food they ask if I like it better than in the states. I really can't taste much difference between the hotdogs, hamburgers, and pizza here than at home. But they certainly think there's a huge difference, and, of course, theirs is better! It's so funny.

For dinner our Senora made me mashed potatoes because I told her at one point that I like them. She's so worried that I don't like her cooking at told me she thought I was eating stuff when I wasn't home so I didn't have to eat as much of her cooking. I felt so bad and tried to convince her that I really wasn't eating anything other than what she was feeding me. Water and an occasional soda is all that I've had outside of the home. But we talked and I think things are getting better. We'll see.

Tiffany came home from the beach with stories and an upset stomach. Poor thing. My Senora said Tiffany was up all night puking again. One of our directors said she'd eaten at a street vender while she was at the beach. I hope she feels better soon!

A special note for Linda... The sewer systems here are more poorly constructed so you can't flush your toilet paper. It's been odd getting used to throwing it in the trash can. I don't think my stomach is ever going to be the same, though. Uff!

After being here for a couple weeks now, I can definitely say that hot showers are highly overrated (unless you have to wash your hair). We have to turn on the water heater before we take a shower and even then, it's only enough to make the water not freezing. I really don't mind though. After a long, hot, sweaty day, a nice cool shower is perfect before bed. Washing my hair has been a bit of a chore though. I just can't put my head under a cold tap. It's been interesting trying to figure out the best way to wash it, while trying to avoid washing it at all. My Senora said the salon services are really cheap, like $6 for a wash, cut, and dry, and are really good. So Tiffany and I might get our hair done before we leave. She also said it's about $7 for a full body massage. I think I'll definitely have to try that out before I leave ;).

A student in the program just came in and said her mom had a stroke. Her mom's name is Sonya Gibson. Please pray for both of them. She hasn't decided if she's going to go home or just stay here. I can't even imagine!! I love you, all!!

In response to Steve's question, my classes are in Spanish, but just with the students in my program. I have one culture & society class which so far has just been talking and watching movies. It's really interesting. Today we didn't have that class because our professor's father is very sick. My other class is rather boring. It's Hispanoamerican literature. Right now we're working on some older pieces that are more difficult to read and the professor isn't very helpful. We talk about random things in class and not much about what we're reading. Everyone is getting rather frustrated. But, I'm trying to take it in good stride... as much as I possibly can. We have a lot of homework that gets rather challenging, but we don't have homework in the other class, so it evens out. I have 4.5 hours of class every day. I got to both of my classes every day.

I think that's about all for now. Time to head home for lunch and my siesta. Of all things, I think the siesta is going to be the hardest to give up!!

Shopping

Today our Senora took us shopping. It was so much fun. We stopped and bought flowers to put in our "sister" office before she got to work (she was getting all dolled up for her boyfriend). Then we went off to find things to waste our money on. Tiffany found some shoes, I got a really awesome shirt, the school supply store was a ton of fun (don't ask), we got a pretty necklace/ earring set for Ivonne, I got a Spongebob book in Spanish for Tracy, and Senora got some shoes and waterpaint book for our "little brother." It was so much fun and we really did a lot. Afterward I was WIPED!!! This cold is kicking my butt! I'm tired and my nose is stuffy, but other than that, I really don't have much to complain about.

Can't wait for the festivities tonight! That's about it for now. I don't have a nifty digital camera like Grandpa, but the program does. I'll try to add it soon!!

Have a good weekend and I'll try to drop by on Monday to let you know about mine. Love you ALL!!!!

AHHH!!

It's official, I'm sick!!! BLAH!!! This is really getting old. I really wanted to go out with some people tonight (no classes in the morning) but it looks like an early evening for me :-(

Nothing really happened today. So I'll elaborate a bit on the culture here.

For one, every house has bars over everything. It doesn't appear that there's a lot of reason for it, but maybe it doesn't appear that way because the bad guys no they can't do much when there're bars and padlocks on everything. All the windows and doors are open all day and the windows all night. No screens here, though. Yes, I'm being eaten alive by mosquitos. At night we sleep with nets over our beds. The first night she showed us how to use our nets and I was exhausted and all I could think was, "Lady, you've got to be kidding me!" But, it's really not that bad and, hey, at least I don't get a million bites while I'm sleeping.

So in the States I'm overly frustrated with stupid drivers. Here, I'm not really sure how to describe the driving. It's down right crazy. They make up lanes, ignore traffic signs, and, accoring to one of my directors, green means go with your eyes open, red means go with your eyes closed. It's really funny. Actually there are very few accidents. I haven't seen any and have only heard about one. I guess when the police are worried about bigger problems, there's not much time to enforce silly traffic laws. It's pretty amusing. I'd never want to try my hand at it, though. I'll stick to the few retards occupying the streets in the States.

Okay, I'm getting pretty tired. I think I'm going to head home and maybe take a nap before dinner. Oy! Tomorrow we're off to find a bookstore and a present for our "sister" (it's her birthday tomorrow). Hope everyone is well!! Love you ALL!!

Just another day...

Last night was adventurous. Tiffany and I set out to get outselves some dinner. Where she wanted to go was too far and we don't know how to get around that well on our own. We tried someplace closer but it was too expensive for what they were offering. On our way home with a pizza place's number in our pocket, we found somewhere that had quite a bit to offer (at least according to their signs). Turns out they didn't. So we continued back to the house to order pizza. I speak and understand a bit better than Tiffany, so we decided I'd call for the pizza. That didn't work out. It was a good thing the maid was still there. She ordered it for us and we gave her a piece before she left. I swear, we INHAILED the first piece. There was plenty left over when our Senora got home, tired and hungry. She hadn't eaten all day, so it was nice to have something for her.

I swear, my body has got to adjust at some point. Everyday it's surprise to see how I'll be feeling. Seems as soon as I think I'm doing great, I'm back down again. I think my alergies are acting up--hoping it's not a cold. Oh well, just part of the experience.

I'm getting frustrated with the food thing though. My Senora insists that I don't eat enough. I really am eating a little bit of everything and really enjoying myself, but I really just don't eat that much. I tried to tell her that my mom and I ususally eat ONE chicken breast between the two of us. So today we had fried chicken for lunch. Not exactly what I was trying to do. I know she's just trying to be nice, but I wish she wouldn't worry about me so much. Tiffany feels bad 'cause she eats so much more than me and she feels like if she ate less it wouldn't look like I was eating so little. I don't think that's the case, but... Oh well.

Today, when I was sitting in my room just before lunch, I was overcome with homesickness. I'm not really sure why it hit me then and why in general. Maybe it's because I have such limited contact with everyone in the states.

Shoot, there was more I was going to write about, but the directors are hungry and it's closing time. Maybe I'll have a chance to get to everything tomorrow. Love you all and thanks for the encouraging comments!!!

Ranting

Fair warning, I'm going to complain. If you're not into complaints, just skip today's entry.

So as I was saying before, I totally am not getting along with some of the other rich chicks (I'd like to use another word, but I'll be nicer than them). They insist on arguing with me in class, trying to make me look bad/stupid, and laughing at me when I answer a question posed by the professor. I'm seriously getting very tired of the immaturity of these girls. They're more than over the heat and lack of airconditioning. They go out every night and complain about EVERYTHING. Yes, I know I complain quite a bit, but I'm nothing compared to them. I know that's hard to believe, but... I promise.

So I'm ready to kill them. Well, a couple in particular.

But oh well. All else is going fine. I just came from class where they were being little immature brats, so I'm a little fired up right now. It'll all work out and be good in the end.

We're off to find ourselves some dinner (probably something American) since our Senora has much more on her mind today than us. Hope everyone has a terrific night and all that fun stuff!!

Lots to tell not a whole lot of time

This weekend was terrific. We went to the capital city, Santo Domingo. We went to about a million museums (most about Christopher Columbus) and walked a gagillion miles!!! But it was so much fun. I can't tell you how much I have sweat down here. I swear I'm going to be 40 pounds lighter when I get home. Lots of the girls were complaining--but that's what a lot of the girls on the trip do best. Surprisingly, I took it in good stride. Everything was pretty fun if you didn't pay attention to your crispy shoulders and soaking wet clothes. We went to the lighthouse where they claim Columbus is "burried." It was pretty impressive.

The only complaint I really have is about the racism here. It's never occured to me that I'd be at the receiving end of racism. I'm the white, American chick. When we were going around with our tour guide, he'd occasionally translate things into english. But when he did, he'd look directly at me. Everyone on the streets stares at me and assumes I only speak english. It really got to me this weekend. I started crying at one of the churches we went to. But, I'm trying to not let it bother me.

The guys on our trip are awesome--really friendly. The majority of the chicks, however, I could do without. I guess I'll never get along with snobby rich kids. Oh well, I'm not here for them!!

Classes are going fine. Lots of work in one, not so much in the other. I'm having fun though. My family is great. My senora is worried about me not eating much, though. I'm really not being picky and I really do like most of the food placed in front of me. I just don't eat a whole lot, I guess. I don't like worrying people...

Oops!! Time for the office to close. Gotta run!!

1st Day of Classes

So today was my first day of classes. I had a blast. My culture class is going to be fun and I have a lot of the background information. My lit class is going to breeze over the book that I took the last half of last fall and am going to take the first half of this fall. YAY!! Now that the biggest part of the drama is over, I'm doing well again.

Last night was "Papi's" birthday. It was so much fun. There were a bunch of family members there and I couldn't keep all the relations straight, but... I'm constantly getting teased about being the gringa. I take it in good stride though! They were talking with us and it was hard to tell when they were switching from Spanish to English. Jokes, wine, rum, cake, and some really good Mexican dish!

All the food here is TERRIFIC and everyone is always happy. It's really so much fun. I don't have classes tomorrow but I already have a ton of homework. We have a meeting to talk about our weekend trip, but that's about it.

Okay, others are waiting for the computer, so I'd better get off now!! Leave me messages--make me feel loved!

I'm HERE!!!

So I'm here in the country of Spanish, Music, Food, and Fun!!! I'm having a BLAST!!! I've only been here two days but I feel like it's been much longer (in a good way). I miss everyone at home, of course, but as soon as I figure out a way to get around here, I'll be sure to pick up some snazzy souvenirs!! Today we went around the whole city with a student from the university who lives here. It was really fun, but very tiring. Time to go home and eat lunch (it's the biggest, main meal of the day) and maybe another siesta today.