Updated Pictures

They've finally updated the picture site. Check it out!!

http://www.pixagogo.com/4224145145

HOME!!!!

Thursday night was our Farewell dinner. It was really nice. It was in this patio area with a bunch of tables and decorations. There was a nice covered dance floor. It started around 8 and we mingled and talked and hung out with our families until dinner at 10. Dinner was delicious!! Mom asked me what we had and I tried to explain it, didn't really work out. Rice, chicken, beef, salad, cheese potatoes, and rolls doesn't really begin to cover the delicatessen we were served. After dinner we had a sort of Secret Santa/White Elephant kind of gift time. They call it "angelitos" (little angels in Spanish). The students knew which family name they had drawn, but the families didn't draw names until we got there. Each person was to buy a small present less than $5. The students were told cookies or candy or something along those lines while the families were told something typical, souvenir type gift. I bought "my" family flowers (they were really filler, white, daisy looking things, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?). The family that drew my name gave me a pretty bracelet, very typical for the Dominican. When each person got up to give their present they were asked to say something about their experience either with their student or their family. It was SO hard for me to get up there and talk, I was so choked up. I had to quit before I'd really said what I wanted to say because I was crying. When Mami got up, it was waterworks all over again. I'm really going to miss them. Afterwards, we took some pictures and went home. We stayed up for a while talking, as usual. None of us really slept that night, too many emotions on top of a very late night (we didn't get home until after midnight) and Tiffany was worried about her test the next morning.

Friday was rough and kind of dragged on. I got up at my usual time and Tiffany was already off to take her test. I just moped around the house and tried to come up with things to occupy myself. I wound up laying in bed feeling sorry for myself and being sleepy for a good part of the morning. After lunch we took our last nap in the DR (I sure am going to miss those). Then we hopped into the car to run some errands--I really do like doing that. We went to the store to buy a few things for that evening and Mami picked up some Smirnoffs for us to drink and enjoy. Rough translation: "Since we're all going to have trouble sleeping and none of us slept last night, we'll drink these before bed and get some sleep!" She's so cute. Then we were off to get gas for the van. We passed two or three perfectly good gas stations and I asked her if there was some place in particular she was going to get gas. She told me she had had the van converted over to the gas you use to cook with. We were going somewhere to fill up with natural gas. I thought that was SOO cool. She said with $200 pesos (about $6.75) she could either get 2 gallons of gasoline or 8 gallons of natural gas, and that one gallon of natural gas goes farther than a gallon of gasoline. Funny, a undeveloped country has made that form of fuel available to their citizens while a developed country where everyone drives EVERYWHERE hasn't put forth the effort to make this more enviro friendly option available. Hmmmm....

Then we went to the market. Tiffany still needed some gifts for her family. On our way, we stopped and got some Coconut milk. The guy just chopped off the top of a coconut, put some ice and sugar in a cup, poured out the coconut and mixed....right there in the middle of the street. It was really cool to watch. I wasn't really a big fan of the drink. It had a sweet but salty flavor. It reminded me of drinking my own sweat. I felt really bad that Mami bought it for me then I didn't like it, but she wasn't offended. I had tried it and taken several sips to try to get accustomed, but it just didn't work. We tried to stop in and visit her daughter, the dentist, in her office, but she wasn't there. So Mami gave the rest of the coco milk to her secretary then decided the pictures were all hung in the wrong places and needed to be arranged. Five minutes later we were back on the street. It was so funny.

Then it was time to go home to help Ivonne set up for her dinner party. She and 15 other young adults have been planning a week long summer camp for late-teenagers up in the mountains. They're finally done with the planning and getting ready to start, so this was a nice dinner to relax and take pictures and just have fun after so much work. Mami, Tiffany, and I stayed out of the way and just hung out. We started drinking the Smirnoffs and before too long we were all giggly and happy and trying to forget that we'd have to say good-bye in a few short hours. We had such a good night!! Around 2 am we finally decided we'd had enough and tried to go to bed. I had to be up at 6 the next day, anyway.

Saturday was DEFINITELY hard. I got up and got ready ahead of time (who can sleep with so much going on in your mind). So I changed my sheets and set the bed up like it was set for me when I got there. Then I woke up Mami (upon her request) and finished getting ready and taking my stuff downstairs and all of that. Mami was mad at me for not waking her up in time to make me pancakes like she'd promised, but I just couldn't wake her up to make me food when I know she didn't go to sleep until after 2 (there were still people at our house until after 2 and I'm sure she didn't go to bed until everyone was gone and the house quiet). So we loaded the car and we were off to drop me off at the office (where we were meeting to have the program take us to the airport). When we got there Mami dug $5 American dollars out of her purse and shoved it into my backpack and told me to buy myself something to eat for breakfast. It was so cute. Once out of the car, we waited for everyone else that was going to the airport on that run. Neither one of us would look at the other, it was just too hard. Then everyone got there and we had to say our tearful goodbyes.

The airport was just like any other airport experience. It was hard saying goodbye to the people who weren't on my flight and I was grateful that there were several others from the program flying out with me, including one of the directors.

Then it was time to finally GO HOME!!!! It was so nice to finally see Mommy again! We hopped in the car and started our 4 hour drive back to Tampa (from Miami), chit chatting and catching up the whole way. There are so many stories to tell!! We talked all the way home and all evening. One houred my pics and we went through them and all my souvenirs.

It's so nice to be home, although I know I will miss my family in the DR terribly. I had such a wonderful experience! I can't tell you all how much your comments and encouragements helped me while I was so far away from everything "normal." One last thank you and I love you. YAY! I'm finally home!

Pop-Final Exam

So, I just took a pop final exam in my literature class. We watched a movie in class yesterday that embodied the characteristics of the romantic period of literature. We get to class today and he tells us that our final exam is going to be on the movie. After rambling about nothing for awhile, he reads off these extremely hard questions then says we can use this pack of papers he gave us which basically spelled out the answers. It was rather interesting. I think I did okay, though. I hope. So far I've done fairly well in his class (my lowest grade is an A-) so I think I'll be okay.

Tiffany, Latosha, and Mami are going to the salon to get their nails done. I'm going to watch. Mami got onto me about being more feminine and taking care of my appearance more today. Funny, I can't get away from that here either. Well, I'd better be off, I need to change before we go, my pants are soaked from the lastest downpour.

One down, one to go

This week is getting longer and shorter all at the same time. I finished my first paper, took my first final, one class over. The paper went okay, I think. The assignment was 2-4 pages on any Dominican subject. I wrote 3.5 pages on the Mirabal sisters and their contribution to the country. Then I had my oral final exam this morning. I had to talk about why the Dominicans are "closer" to Puerto Rico and New York than to Cuba. I talked about the opportunities and the networks that the United States has to offer verses the poverty and hardships Cuba has to offer. Then we talked for a bit about the Cubans in Florida. I talked about the differences between the Cubans in Tampa and the Cubans in Miami. Then he asked me about the class and all that. I turned the question around on him and asked him about my performance in his class. He said that it was obvious that I was interested and had a lot to say. He only wishes that I would have spoken up more often and said what I was thinking. It would have made the class more interesting and it was clear that I did have something to say that I was holding back. Funny, I spent the entire time keeping my mouth shut because the students complained that I was annoying and said too much in class. hmmmmm...Guess I shouldn't have listened to everyone else and just stuck with my gut. Next time.

I'm off to start writing my other paper. Not much time left. Oy!

Good morning!

Today's a sleepy day filled with the increasing dread of finals and leaving. The bittersweet anxiety/excitement of going home is becoming unbearable. At this point all I want to do is go home. But at the same time, I never want to leave. It's a really interesting oxymoron. I have to get through the next few days of papers and exams, then the farewell dinner. Friday I have the day free and hopefully Mami and I can do something fun together in the morning. I have to do homework at lunch today, write a paper tonight, prepare for my final oral exam tomorrow morning, write another paper tomorrow night, and then prepare for my final exam Thursday afternoon. Thursday evening is our farewell dinner. Friday Tiffany has exams in the morning, but the rest of the day will be free. Friday night our host sister is having a dinner party for a bunch of people from church (they've been working on putting together a summer camp or something since I've been here). Then, I'm off early Saturday morning. I'll have to figure out how I'm going to pack everything. I really didn't think I'd bought that much, but now I realize I got more than I thought I did. Maybe that's why I'm almost out of cash.....nah, can't be.

I find it interesting that as any large event with large amounts of people comes to an end, everyone gets grumpy and starts fighting and complaining more than ever. It's happened several times (graduating from high school for example) and I have yet to be amused by it. It seems that people just start pushing everyone and everything away to prevent getting hurt when they leave. Just a theory, maybe I'll explore it more as I get more into my psychology stuff.

Oh, last night we had cornbread for dinner again. This time it was actually made with corn meal and tasted so good. She made one with sugar and one without. It was like Grandma Tanis meets Grandma Perry. It's funny that I'm satisfied with a piece or two of cornbread and a cup of hot chocolate for dinner. We'll see how long it takes me to get back to my nothing lunches and gargantuous dinners again.

That's about it for now. Nothing new is really happening since we're winding down. Love you, miss you, mean it!

PARTY!!!!

So this weekend was terrific. We stayed at a 3.5 star all-inclusive resort. It was pretty nice. We left early Friday morning. But, before we went to the hotel, we stopped in a neighbor hood that's a little less privileged than ours. It was originally created back in the day when the entire island was covered in sugar fields, but slavery was outlawed. Since they couldn't have slaves, and sugar production requires a large amount of labor for only a few months a year, they decided to created these neighborhoods owned by the sugar plantations for the workers to live year-round. Basically, it was a more modern twist on slavery. To say the least, these people lived in blatent poverty. Now, this particular neighborhood isn't related to sugar, but still to various agricultural products. The people live in house literally made out of old tin cans. You can still read the labels of the products they once contained. I wanted to take pictures, and I forced myself to take a couple before we left, but I just felt so guilty whipping out my relatively cheap camera that cost more than their monthly salary and taking advantage of their poverty for the sake of my scrapbook. I didn't talk to anyone while we were there, no one in my group. I just couldn't. I definitely don't have the heart of the missionary. I just drew in and tried to understand what I was seeing. One little girl who was about 3 years old grabbed a hold of my leg. I honestly didn't know what to do. A lot of the other students were playing with the kids and whatnot, but I just froze. Odd, since I love children. It was a really hard experience and I really just shut down. I couldn't bring myself to pull my headphones back out on the way to the hotel.

A few hours later we got to the hotel and by that time I was so horribly car sick from driving through the mountains and hungry since it was after 2 and we hadn't eaten yet, that I put the morning excursion out of my mind. The hotel was nice. The food reminded me of the good ole HC dining hall, but, eh, there's got to be some down side. The rooms were ice cold, almost too cold, but the AC was nice for a change. The beach was beautiful. Brown sand but NO shells. I didn't realize it the time before when we went to the beach, but there are no shells or worry stones or anything on the beaches here, not even seaweed. It's so odd!!! Friday we chilled in the pools and hot tub. There is a regular swimming pool and two "relaxing" pools. The relaxing pools were various shapes with boulders and waterfalls and all of that.

Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful sun. I woke up early and went down to breakfast. Then I took a long walk on the beach. I'm pretty sure God was speaking English Saturday morning; at least I'm pretty sure he was listening in English. I walked for a long time and took in the sand and ocean and unfortunately the sun. Then I went back, changed and headed for the beach again, this time in my swim suit and headed straight for the water. We were seriously in the water for a few hours, talking and hanging out. (When I say we, I mean me and at least one other person from our group...numbers and people vary on just about every occasion). Then I hit up the pools for a bit before lunch. After lunch I changed my suit and hit the pools again. This time I tried to stay as far hidden in the shade as possible, I could already feel the suffering I was going to deal with later. By late afternoon, I was done. The sun had beaten me to a pulp! After dinner everyone was planning on going out. I got dressed and planned to join them, but the sun had really just killed me and I was getting grumpy, I decided to call it a night.

Sunday I hit up the pool and the ocean a bit before lunch. We had to check out at noon, but we were staying until 4. Along with some other students, we found a really nice shaded area with some comfy chairs. We relaxed and enjoyed the few hours left in relative coolness.

Last night it was so nice to come home to Mami. She was waiting for us and wanted to hear all about our weekend. When we told her the food was terrible, she fixed us a nice dinner. The house was noticeably quieter. We realized that Moises, our 8 year old brother was MIA. We asked Mami and she said he went to the south part of the country to spend a week with his uncle down there. He won't be back before we leave. I was so sad. I have pictures of him, but now he won't be at the farewell dinner or in any family shots. :'(

Today we watched a movie in class. It got rather comical when the power went out for the third time. The power here is never very reliable. It goes out randomly and for untold lengths of times. Where we are, everyone has generators that charge when the power is on. So, it wasn't that big of a deal, but everytime the main power goes, it takes a few seconds for the backup to come back on (the reverse transition is smooth). It went out a few times last night, too. The fans struggle a bit more when they're running on the generator, so I woke up when I heard the motor straining. Just another part of the culture.

Okay, rice and beans are screaming my name. Hope everyone had a terrific weekend back home!!! Love you all, and see most of you soon (that's so bittersweet).

The Market

Okay, so I found out what the markets used to be like. Markets, as in all the food you'd never want to eat on display, on the ground, in piles, EVERYWHERE. It was a fun experience, though. Walking on beds of rotten lettuce and rotten mangos is definitely something I've never done in the states. Along side all the places to buy food were this little shops that sold religious items. Not really sure how it works, but there's catholic stuff, Voo Doo stuff, and Santaria stuff (a religion that mixes Catholicism with original African religions). Somehow that just doesn't compute in my mind. I bought a Voo Doo Doll for Kelly Miller, if you don't know her, don't ask, if you do, you don't have to. She's my odd friend that ate 5 year old peanut butter then couldn't figure out why she got sick. While there I also bought Miss Cathy (uber catholic friend of the family) a picture of the virgin Mary....Go Figure!

When I got home, I seriously smelled like I'd bathed in garbage water. I have gone 25 days with showering and worn dirty clothes for almost as long (on Outward Bound) and never in my life have I had the same desire to shower for hours on end and burn my clothing. It was pretty skank. I was really glad our housekeeper was doing laundry; didn't have to have those nasty clothes in my room, YES!!

We had our "midterm" exam in my lit class today. It's nice that we had it today, after 4 weeks of our 5 week term. The multiple choice questions were so absurdly worded that everyone complained. I mean how many times have you seen a multiple choice answer start with "although" or "but"...I mean seriously!! The essay part wasn't that bad though. We haven't gotten any of our work back so I'm really not sure what to expect from his grading....so I can't really say if I think I did well or not. Hopefully so!

I guess that's about it for now. We're off for the weekend to chill in an all inclusive resort. It's like a cruise that doesn't leave shore, nor is in a boat. But you get the idea. We're all looking forward to some sun, fun, and relaxation (provided Emily doesn't decide to crash the part, but at this point we're looking okay). Hope everyone has a terrific weekend. One more week and I'll be back in the good ol' US of A! Peace Out!

New Quote

We went over this quote in class and I thought it was very fitting for my situation. It comes from a poem that's a parable about an eagle and a spider. The spider is trying to capture the eagle in it's web of lies.

Contra el verdadero mérito y la
buena opinión que con él se gana,
nada pueden las calumnias de la
envidia

My Translation: Against the true merits and the good opinion of he who wins, noone can create lies with envy

My translation is pretty rough, but it gives you the idea.

No news

There's nothing really new happening today. The hurricane track is looking better and better. Now the cone isn't even going to touch the island. Maybe our weekend trip won't be completely ruined.

Last night Mami made corn bread for dinner. That's all we had for dinner. She didn't use corn meal, instead she mashed fresh corn or something. It didn't taste all that bad, but the texture was making Tiffany and I gag. I felt really bad because she was so proud of it and we just couldn't eat too much of it.

Finally got some sleep last night, but I'm still really tired. We watched another depressing Latin American movie (this time about Cuba) in class today. You know, I swear that they don't make happy movies about LA. Maybe because there's nothing happy to film about. Uff.

Hope Steve has fun in Spain...does he need a translator, I'd be happy to accompany him if so!!

Okay, I'm off, maybe I'll take my nap before lunch today. Good night, all!

Recap

Sorry, I haven't exactly been keeping up to date with the blog. Busy weekend followed by entirely too much drama yesterday has kept me away.

Friday I ran errands with Mami. I love doing stuff like that. It was just to two of us and we went all over getting souvenirs for people, stuff for the house, and Mami bought me a present to remember her by. It's a Giraffe that converts from an odd shaped animal to a pillow (almohada). It's really cute and a nice snuggle buddy since I don't have my purring furball to sleep with here. I think because it's just me and Mom at home and days like that are nice for catching up, I really appreciate the time out, time to talk about things without having to wonder who might be listening. She agreed that she enjoyed doing things like that. She said running errands with me reminds her of running errands with her daughter who now lives in Columbus (small world huh?), that I kind of fill that void. I was really touched.

The afternoon we had a dance class. FOUR hours with less than 10 minutes of rest. It was hard core, but UBER fun. We leared the Merengue and Bachata; two dance forms that originated here and are characteristic of La Republica. We came home COVERED head to toe with sweat (there are places on my body that I now know can sweat). But, it was worth the $3.00 and we really did have fun. When we got home Tiffany and I were sitting in my room chatting and trying to stop sweating before fighting for the shower. Mami came up with some Smirnoff Ices for the three of us, and we're pretty sure she'd already had something. She sat on my dresser as we all talked and drank. It was so different. Mom would NEVER have done something like that. Good times, good times. Friday night Tiffany and I went to a bar with another friend George. It was okay, but just not my scene.

Saturday I read. ALL DAY!!! I was kind of behind and it takes me SOOO much longer to read in Spanish. It's rather frustrating actually because I want the book to move faster, and it would if I was reading in English, but I just can't comprehend as fast in Spanish. Oh well. In the after noon we made "rounds." We stopped at a friends house for a few minutes, coffee and conversation. Then we went to Mami's husband's mother's house--not that he was with us, heaven forbid he visit his mother. She is at least mid-80's but I don't remember exactly how old. Time has taken it's toll on her, and it appeared a stroke had helped it along. She didn't have her teeth in when we were there. It was an interesting visit. You know you're finally getting the language when you can kind of sort of understand someone without their teeth in. Mami wasn't even catching everything. She was a really sweet lady and I felt so sorry that her kids never come to visit her. But we did and had a nice visit.

Sunday was nice and slow. In the morning I just relaxed and ate breakfast and chilled. Then it was time for church, again. This time was a little better, I'm getting the pattern down, sort of. I even kind of sang along with one of the songs they always sing. I still didn't really understand the lesson, but oh well. It's rather interesting to feel God's presence in a different language. After church, Mami didn't want to cook, so we went to McDonald's. She loves the fact the one of my travel IDs gets a discount there. Back home it was nap time and homework time. I read some of the driest material on Cuba. When my migraine started to kick in I gave up, took a vicidin, and went downstairs to see what was going on. We left shortly there after to help a friend move into her GIGANTIC house. This place was big enough for the entire Tanis clan. I didn't really do too much since I felt icky, but I tried and made sure they knew I wasn't feeling well and not that I didn't want to work. We hung around for awhile talking. I love how everyone talks all the time. By then it was getting late, so we went home for dinner.

Yesterday we didn't have class in the morning because our professor's dad finally passed away. It was sad, I think everyone was a little relieved that we didn't have to go to class, we were all tired from the weekend. On our way out on of the other girls on the trip confronted with with things I supposedly said and blah blah blah. I'd rather not get into it, the details really aren't that important. I just seriously want to know when I'm going to have to stop dealing with high school shenanigans.

Tropical Storm Emily is heading our way. Luckily the path has changed quite a bit and we might just be in for some icky rain. Still doesn't do much for our weekend at the beach, but as one of the directors pointed out, it is an all inclusive hotel, so even if it's nasty outside, hopefully there will be fun stuff to keep us busy inside.

I'm off to get a quick tutoring lesson. It's funny, before I came here I was fine using the three or four verb tenses that I knew best. Now I know there's other tenses and more correct ways of expressing myself, but I can't remember the grammar I learned over a year ago...oops! So, one of the directors is going to give me a quick refresher and hopefully I can master a few more tenses before I leave. Hope everyone is doing well!! Have fun with the last effects of Dennis in Ohio!! Take care all, Love you!!

You've got to be kidding me!!!

So much for the plans of a weekend at the beach in an all inclusive resort! I'll write about my weekend later.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at5+shtml/091555.shtml?5day

Our professor's father passed. Keep him and his family in your prayers.

Hurricane Dennis

Hello from Hurricane Land. You know I swear one of these days I'm going to go somewhere where they don't have hurricanes!! The worst has passed us by at this point. It's still really dark and raining, but the storm is off the coast and heading for Jamaica. I think we got hit with the worst of it last night. It was raining and SOOO windy. Mami didn't think we'd have classes today, but...we did. Oh well, no hurricane days here I guess. Now I'm worried about Mom.

So, life back home is kind of rough, from what I hear. I'd appreciate it if you guys could keep some people in your prayers. Chad's (a friend of mine) dad is going through some rough times with a previous brain injury that's acting up. He's out of the hospital, now, but it's been very taxing on Chad. They Joe's (my ex-boyfriend) mom apparently had an emergency operation. I haven't talked to him (not really wanting to). He sent me a text message asking for my prayers with limited details. Our professor's father is gravely ill and in the hospital here. My friend Brian is getting ready to take a new job in Maryland, far from his FL home. Tracy's still struggling with job issues. My friend Jensen is currently in London, about two blocks away from where the bombings happened. He's fine, but all the phone lines are down and I'm sure it's rather stressful. So...if you could say an extra pray for all of them and for Mom to be kept safe, I'd really appreciate it.

I guess that's about it for now. I'm pretty beat--time for lunch and a nap!! Hope everyone back home is safe and sound. Love ya'll!!

Grocery Shopping

Yesterday was a nice, relaxed day. Our afternoon class was cancelled (he had some other obligation), so once I got home for lunch, I was done for the day. I lounged about, did some reading, ate some terrific soup, talked to Tracy for awhile, fell asleep while reading (oops), and then we went to the grocery store.

It was an interesting trip. Mami, her daughter-in-law, Moises (8), Manuel (4) and I piled into the van and headed off for more of an adventure than I was bargaining for. I've dealt with kids a lot in my life from babysitting to afterschool care to little cousin and the sort...I guess I've never attempted to grocery shop with 2 rambunctious little boys. Holy COW!!! The bottom half of the store was like any grocery store you'd find in the US. For some odd reason, I almost fit in. Maybe because everyone there was there for a reason and didn't take the time to notice the white chick wondering around, or maybe it was because I was with my family, or something, but I felt markedly less uncomfortable than I normally do in public. The upper level of the grocery store was kind of like a Wal-Mart. So I guess it was like Super Wal-Mart, just split into two levels. They didn't have my camera battery and the curling irons were REALLY expensive, so I passed. I did buy a present for Grandma & Grandpa, though!

A few days/weeks (something) ago Mami was asking us about our favorite dishes at home. I started telling her about Cornflake chicken with spaghetti and broccoli. I thought nothing of it until last night at dinner. I came downstairs to find a platter of spaghetti and broccoli. It was so sweet I almost started crying. She made it with a creamier sauce than Mom's but it was still superb. I was so touched. She said she always asks her girls their favorite dishes then trys to make them for them. "Cooking's just a game. I can make anything, really." It really made my day/night.

Like I mentioned, I talked to Tracy yesterday; I talked to Lisa for awhile, too. Between talking to the two of them and the e-mails with my mom and all the friendly comments, I'm doing better on the homesickness issue. We're in the home stretch and I think that's making it hard. But I really will miss my family when I leave. They're so great.

I think the rain might be letting up...but I probably just jinxed myself. It's so odd for it to rain for days straight here, for them and for us. The whole time we've been here it's been hot and maybe rained once for less than 20-30 minutes at lunch time. Tiffany and I are running out of clothes because they can't do our laundry because there's no way for them to dry. All the laundry gets hung out on the clothes lines in the back yard. One day our little brother asked his mom why they don't just buy an electric dryer. Her response was, "Why do we need to buy something when we've got the bright shining sun to dry our clothes?" It was so cute.

Well, it's lunch and siesta time again, and I am hungry and sleepy. Guess I'd better head home and see what's cooking today.

The 4th without the festivities

So yesterday was the birthday of the country I tend to call home. No big celebrations here, though. It was really hard thinking about all the family gathered together up in Loveland, my mom home alone, and me a million miles away speaking a different language with people who barely cared that a big holiday was being celebrated in the country that oppresses them. I tried to keep my head up, but I was really homesick.

Last night we (Mami, Tiffany, and I) went to the salon (Moises was in tow, but he didn't get his buzz cut styled). It was definitely an adventure. I was really never taught "what to say in a Latin American salon." Must have been sick that day or something. Between they lady cutting my hair trying her hardest to express herself, Mami trying to put what she was saying into words I knew, and my horribly broken Spanish we finally came to an agreement on what to do with my hair. Oops, didn't realize that was the agreement we came to. It looks nice, but it's very different from my straight, unstyled hair that I've always had and always been too afraid to stray away from. I kinda like it...I think it's just so different that I'm having trouble adjusting. The front is shorter, layered almost, to frame my face. The back is long, like always. It's hard to explain. But, everyone else loves it and I'm sure I'll get used to it. Maybe I'll buy a curling iron and see what I can come up with (although with all this rain, it just might be pointless). I have to go find a camera battery anyway, so we'll see what happens.

Then we went out for pizza. Tiffany and I wanted something American on our non-holiday. We treated Mami & Moises to an all American dinner, complete with breadsticks and red soda (strawberry flavor, but they just call it red). It was really fun and nice to treat our family to dinner in honor of our holiday. We had such a good time. It's so nice to be able to spend time with our family. Other students don't have nearly as close of a relationship with their families, but Tiffany and I love ours. Mami loves talking to us and doing stuff with us, taking us to the mall, beach, salon, whatever. It's really nice to have someone here care for me so much when I'm missing my family so much. It's going to be really hard to leave.

It's week four of six and I'm getting pretty homesick (I know, completely opposite of what I just said). There are people I want to talk to, but I can't. Phone cards aren't that expensive, but they are...and you have to buy them with cash, which I'm running low on. People are doing stuff back home, friends hanging out without me, Mom's busy being Mom and doing random things to our house, life goes on and I'm so far away. I don't know, I guess I'm just mopey today, or something. Let's blame it on the incessant rain.

Well, I'm starving and it is getting close to lunch time. I think I'll wander home in the rain and see what's for lunch (other than the assured rice and beans--which I'm still loving). Happy pseudo-Monday for all those who enjoyed the day off yesterday and Happy Tuesday to the rest.

RAIN!!!

So how about after I typed that last entry I started for home. Literally as soon as I walked out the doors, the flood gates of heaven opened up and POURED on me. I was soaked to the bone by the time I got home--remember I lent my umbrella to a friend of the family. I could wring out my underwear I was so wet. I was pretty suspicious of the cool breeze this morning, and rightfully so, I know now. Oh well, another day in Paradise. Time for the salon!!

Vamos a la playa

Thursday we went to the Dominican flea market as part of our culture class. As was to be expected, it was crowded, hot, and full of random stuff. There was a TON of shoes and clothes and it was difficult to tell whether the stuff was new or used. I wondered around with some guys and we had fun. At one point we saw a bunch of shirts in a pile with American companies on the back. It looked like one of those shirts they give away at events. Sure enough we turned it over and it was a shirt from the Race for the Cure. Another time we saw shirts that said, "Vote Yes on Nov. 2." The whole thing was pretty funny. One guy reached out and touched my arm and I brushed him off (eww). He got kinda pissy, but dude, don't touch me. I expected that kind of stuff though, I'm white, a chick, REALLY AMERICAN, and we were at the flea market. So I took it in good stride.

Friday was fun. The morning was slow and I did a bunch of homework and talked with our Senora. In the afternoon, Tiffany and I went with the directors to the Mirabel sisters museum. I had such a "good" time. It was so sad, but it was cool to know the history as I walked through the rooms. So that the rest of this makes sense, I'm going to add in a condensed version of the history. There were four Mirabel sisters. Three of the four began and ran an underground movement against the Trujillo regime (a brutal dictator of the Dominican Republic for 30+ years). One day the three fighters were driving through the mountains on the way back from visiting their husbands in jail (because they too were fighting against the regime) and their car "randomly drove off the side of the mountain." However, they were actually beaten to death, then put back in the car before the car was pushed off the road. The museum was in the house they'd lived in for the last 10 months of their lives. All the furniture and clothes and artifacts were original. There was one display that had their purses, shoes, rosaries, and such from the car they were killed in. Next to it was one of their shirts, covered in blood to show that they were brutally murdered rather than died in a freak car accident. I almost started crying. On the 40th anniversary of their death, they moved the girls' remains from the town cemetery to the garden of the house. I really enjoyed the trip. I bought a book about the true history, which is slightly varied from the fictional account I'd read by Julia Alvarez. (Gram, it's in Spanish, but you can borrow if you'd like--once I'm done, of course!) Oh, and I bought Lisa a present (no Spanish, I promise).

On our way back from the museum (in a taxi) we went over a REALLY high speed bump. We went really slow, but it didn't matter. The speed bump was so high that you could feel the ground push against the bottom of the car. I jokingly apologized for eating too many rice and beans for lunch. A few minutes later we pulled over--flat tire. They teased me as we got out of the car and I offered to change the tire. My director from here gave me a look like I was the craziest white chick she'd ever met and just started laughing. It was really funny. I couldn't help but think about the bus incident of last summer.

Friday night we went to the mall (yes, there is a mall here) with our "sister." We had breadsticks from Pizza Hut and then went to the movies. We saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It was in English with Spanish subtitles. It was nice to have a break from Spanish for a little while. We had so much fun with Ivonne!!!

Saturday was a day for rest and HOMEWORK. I had so much to do this weekend. I tried to stay as concentrated as I possibly could, but it was really hard. I got my essay for one class written and a good bit of reading done. Saturday afternoon we went to the mall again. I FINALLY found the book Dr. Gosser wanted me to pick up for her here (after two stores that didn't have it and probably half a dozen phone calls to other stores). I also picked up The Purpose Driven Life (in Spanish) for our Senora. She's having a rough time right now, and I thought it would help. I asked her if she'd ever read it before and she said no and started looking through it. She didn't realize that I'd taken one to the register. When we were leaving I handed it to her and said I really wanted her to have it and that she needed to read it. She was pretty overcome and graciously accepted it. She said from what she'd seen, she really wanted to read it and was going to look for it later (presumably where she could find it cheaper or something). It made me feel so good to connect with her like that. Before we left the mall, Tiffany and I stopped for dinner at Taco Bell. Yes, Mom, I found the Taco Bell here. It wasn't the same as at home, but still good.

After our outing, we went to church again. This time the sound system was better and I thought I might actually follow it this time. Nope. There had been a wedding just before the evening mass, so there were these GIGANTIC flower, greenery arrangements in the front that blocked the view of the people speaking (it's much easier for me to understand Spanish if I can read the lips at the same time). To top it all off, the Priest was from Spain so he spoke with a VERY different accent. The Spanish accent sounds like the person is talking with a lisp, among other things. But I tried! I sang along with one of the really repetitive, simple songs, and I prayed in English. I feel His presence and figured He would be able to figure out what I was saying even if I couldn't figure out what He was saying.

Sunday we went to the beach with our family. I sent a text message to Mom that said "Vamos a la playa" which means "We're going to the beach." Several minutes later I got a text back in English saying to have fun and don't forget my sunscreen. Mami, Papi, Moises (lil bro-8), Mami's son, his wife, his son (4), and his wife's sister (16). It was SO much fun. The beach was beautiful (it was the same beach as in the pictures online, if you want to see for yourself)!!! Yes, I took, wore, and reapplied sunscreen, but this white skin just can't handle it. I'm pretty toasty today. We played in the water, I passed on playing in the sand, ate lunch, read for a bit (they were all in the shade while I sadistically laid in the sun), and went shopping. They bought us icecream from some dude walking the beach selling presumably homemade icecream, and they bought some Dominican candy--it was PURE sugar, but really good!! While we were sitting there, an old man passed out near the water's edge. He was old, frail, and DRUNK! I was really worried and about to use my CPR certification for real, this time. Most of the rest of the family wasn't concerned. They said that's not unusual, sad, but not unusual. Papi went to help and told us he was just passed out and fine. Mami's son laughed, "He may be alive, but fine...no." They were amused by my concern and more so by my offer to do CPR. Finally some of his family showed up and half way started helping him. After a bit, we went shopping. I was on a bargaining role. I bought some souvenirs, including something special for my mommy!!! Nope, not telling!!

On our way back we went through the country side. We stopped at a lot with a half built house. They told us that that land had belonged to Papi's family. The house on the lot had burned down when the electrical wires over head snapped. They're rebuilding it out of block for a weekend/summer/party home. It was really nice. Then we stopped at a river where a bunch of people were swimming. We got in too, to rinse off the salt and sand. It was cool and refreshing. It was so much fun!!! We stopped somewhere on the road at a seemingly random location to buy some more candy. It was different from the candy on the beach, but still REALLY good. We drove most of the way home with the van door open so enough air would circulate. It was SO odd. But hey, whatever works!!

Then it was back home for some chilling out and more homework. I had to write another (one page) essay and prepare for my oral exam this morning. I just finished the exam, actually. It went really well. He gave us 4 questions several days ago for us to prepare. Today, he picked one of them for us to talk about individually. He picked the question I was most comfortable with so I was glad. Then he started asking me rhetorical questions related to the topic. I started fumbling trying to answer them and he smiled and said, "there's really no answer, just something to think about." Whew!! I had no idea how I was going to come up with an answer to those!! But overall, I think it went okay.

Okay, time to go home and read, eat lunch, siesta, and read some more before class this afternoon. I'm REALLY going to miss my siestas when I get home. Hope everyone has a terrific 4th, sucks not being able to celebrate with everyone!! Love you all and miss you bunches!!!

Pictures

Check it!!

http://www.pixagogo.com/4224145145