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!!