It's Delightful, It's Delicious, It's De-minican!!!

2009-04-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Last week here! No matter how many times I say it, I still don’t believe it. Maybe when I’m boarding the plane, it will sink it, but in this final week I am going to enjoy my time!

From where I last left off, Anne’s program’s goodbye dinner was at a fairly nice restaurant. None of us (the fam, that is) knew any of the other people there, but the four of us had a really wonderful time together! The next day was our trip to the “poor ferry,” which was on a dam in the Cibao Valley, the same region as us, near a town called Cotui, about 2 hours southeast of Santiago. But in this country, one can never really travel Point A to Point B directly, so as the crow flies, it’s probably much closer. Anyways, we finally got on our way around noon (we were supposed to leave at 10), and then we had to get food in Santiago to take with us, then gas, then we had to stop in La Vega so that Gloria’s boyfriend could measure some office space, and then finally we were on our way! It was the three youngins’ crammed in the back, but we had a grand ole’ time . . . well Anne slept but Lenissa and I had fun. The drive through the valley is always wonderful for me, you can see so far in both cirections because the land is so flat. In that part of the country there is lots of rice and pineapple fields. The highway was pretty bad, if you can call it a highway, more like a straight two-lane country road that at times was paved, at times has gigantic speed bumps every 10 meters, and at times had remnants of burned tires and trees on the road from when they had been protesting a few weeks ago the lack of government maintenance of the road. I guess it hadn’t rained for a while because parts were so dusty that all the houses and cars and plants and trees were COVERED in a half-inch of dust, if not more. We finally get to the dam, which is snuggled amongst small rolling mountains and is just a pristine view of the countryside. The ferry itself was not quite as pristine. It basically was a pontoon boat with hard floor, some supports and a small staircase and then another level, with a little fence around it so people wouldn’t fall off. It had tables, chairs, and, of course, dominoes. We had to wait an hour and a half before we actually took off since we were only 5 and there had to be at least 15 people, but finally a larger group arrived (supposed to arrive at 4, came at 5, Dominican time . . . ) and soon after that we were off, music blasting, drinks and snacks being sold on board, and us puttering around the damn with two motorboat motors to push us along. Needless to say, it was not a thrilling ride, but it was beautiful and the sun was setting so we got some wonderful clouds and light at dusk. After about an hour we were ready to leave, but the other group was still partying, so they got a smaller “ferry” to take us in to shore, and we finally arrived home at about 10pm that night.

Sunday evening my friend Matt, who lived here while I was studying abroad, was in the country at a resort with some friends. On Sunday night I was waiting for a phone call from him, but instead I hear him yelling for me in the street, outside my building. That night his friends and I went to some bars and ended up at a casino playing Black Jack. I knew how to play, but I didn’t know how to bet on that game, but with Matt and his friend advising me, I came out up $300 pesos, or about 10 bucks, which I was proud of for my first time. They all won a hundred dollars, but bet a lot more money than I did. Anyways, they invited me to visit them at their resort that week, which I thought would be pretty fun, and the resort, Riu Mambo, is one of the best on the north coast.

Monday evening was Lenissa, Anne and I’s final dinner together, so we went to get sushi and then the chocolate roll from our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was nice to have sisters-only time. I know that us leaving has been really hard on Lenissa, she has grown really attached to us (and us to her too!) and she says she is always going to compare the other students to us. It’s true that she and Anne and I have been an excellent combination. Anne left on Wednesday and her absence is noted in the house.

So on Tuesday I go to the resort and buy a day pass for $35, which wasn’t cheap, but at the same time, not exorbitant. The only catch was I had to leave by 6pm, and they kept my license. We had a great day there: barbeque lunch on the beach, swim-up bar at the pool, and before we knew it, it was 5pm. Now my friends are pretty creative and I noticed that only the outsiders wore wrist bracelets, not the actual guests. So we realized that if I got my license back at 6pm, I could just take off the bracelet, leave the resort, and walk back in a different part. This resort is actually 3 different resorts in one, so three reception desks, three entrances. So that it what we did, and I spent the rest of the night (up till 4am!) having a great time there, ending the night with champagne on the beach. I had to leave early the next morning so that I could get home in time to take Anne to the airport, after which is started to downpour for hours, so I took a long and well-deserved nap.

Thursday was fairly uneventful, went to Fausto’s neighborhood and spent time with his neighbors and their kids. Friday I went to the beach with Emmanuel, and since it had rained there a bit in the morning, and it is low season right now, there was practically no one else on the beach and the weather was wonderful. I taught Emmanuel how to float (a LOT of Dominicans don’t know how to swim) and we had a nice post-lunch nap in the sun, a very relaxing day. On Saturday I helped give oral exams at work and in the evening Marla came up from the capital. We got coffee with a mutual friend, went to Zokalo for dinner (and had my favorite dessert!) and crashed early since we were both tired. She had to leave early the next morning to get back to her puppies, but it was nice to see her before I left. The rest of the day I did absolutely nothing, and ti was wonderful. In the eveing I went back to Fausto’s neighbors and we made pizza with the kids, this time Hawaiin style, with pineapple and ham. I asked them if they knew where Hawaii was, and Whitman told me “they have one in Haiti.” Regardless, they really liked it, and I am going there next weekend to play dominoes one last time.

So this week I have a fair amount to do, lots of people to see, a few last things to buy. I’m going to Lunes de Jazz tonight with some friends from work, and Friday and Saturday night I have dinner plans. Some time in there I have to pack, and I want to spend as much time with the fam as I can. Tia finally came back from Puerto Rico on Thursday and it’s as if nothing has changed, already cleaning the whole house.

I hope everyone has a great week and I will see you all soon!! And Feliz Cumpleaños to Aunt Judy and Pierre!!

The Final Countdown

2009-04-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Passover everyone! Or as they say here, Easter of the Jews. The Spanish word is “Pascua,” which looks to me like a direct translation of “pesach” which is the Hebrew word. So I think it really shouldn’t be Easter of the Jews, because it was our holiday, it’s our word, and so now I say Passover of the Christians instead of Easter . . . I think it could really take off!

As Aunt Judy noted, I know my blogs are few and far between, but the internet that we were stealing in our apt was changed and now has a password on it, so I have to schlep down to the bar where my comp doesn’t always get the signal, or up to the university, but only during the daytime because they turn it off at night. Right now I am sitting in my room writing this and I will upload it later because there is no interent around here since the school is closed and the network at the bar isn’t working. Ah, what I wouldn’t give for my own network!

Anyways, since Mom left, I have had a pretty busy time. My last week of classes went well, it was nice just to have my normal group again and not be subbing in the daycare. A friend who studied abroad last semester came to visit during here spring break, so it was good to catch up. Anne and I took her to our now weekly dinner of sushi from Sushi Ya and then the BEST dessert ever at Zokalo, the Mexican restaurant down the street from there. It’s called a “Chocolate Roll” but it isn’t cakey, neither is it like mousse, it is a little bit crispy, a little but moist, and just utterly amazing.

After she left I went down to the capital for the weekend to visit Marla. Our first meal when we get there? Sushi! Although I prefer it in Santiago because everything is expensive in the capital, like the difference between Baltimore and DC. That evening we went to see a Dominican movie called Megadiva. Now first, let me say that Dominican cinema is not known for it’s quality, in fact it is pretty much mocked by all Dominicans about its lack of quality, but they see all the movies anyways, which isn’t that many, I would say about one every month or two. Imagine a really cheesy grade B movie, and that is typical Dominican cinema. Well apparently, this was one of the best quality movies made, and it wasn’t that bad, but to Ammerican standards, it was pretty terrible, but there were a few chuckles, and I was happy that I could follow the whole thing without getting confused, and that I understood the jokes!

The next day Marla and I went to this wonderful cave with sulfur pools called Cueva de los Tres Ojos, or three eyes, because there are three distinct pools. It is an open air cavern with stalagmites and stalagtites that grow as much as 2 inches a year. There are turtles and fish and the water glows blue in the sunlight and it is a really beautiful park, except that we had to run across the highway to get to it. We were surprised that it was free, but then we realized that we came in through some back employee entrance and nobody told us to pay! After that we went to the old city, or the Colonial Zone, and walked down the main drag with lots of gift shops and art stores. We stumbled upon a restaurant called “Cibao Café” (Cibao being the region I live in) and we went in and found ourselves in this EXTREMELY luxurious hotel with a pool and garden and huge suites and all wood interior, etc . . . and nobody noticed two outsiders wandering around for a while.

The next week there were no classes, but I was subbing (I know, again) in the daycare for only three days. Unfortunately I was with a different group, 10 3-4 year olds and they are MUCH more difficult than the group I had before. Monday morning started off with a boy peeing his pants before 8 am, and the day went on from there. Anyways, I survived that and I really don’t dislike it THAT much, it is just very difficult at some points and tiring all the time. That first Monday afternoon was March 30th, which is the day of a battle in the revolution, so there was a big parade in Santiago. I went down to see it, but of course, it was supposed to start at 3:30 and I got there at 4:30 and it hadn’t started because the President hadn’t arrived yet. So rather than wait, I just walked backwards along the parade route to see all the folks. Did I mention it was a military parade? Basically the entire armed forces was lined up on the street, and I mean EVERY single branch of any type of military personnel, even the First Aid rescue squad or something like that. They had boats from the coast guard, they had the mounted soldiers, they had everything, so I took a bunch of photos there and saw the parade start on tv about an hour later. I think Santiago was the safest part of the country that afternoon.

The rest of the week I was at New York Center in the morning and the afternoon handing out grades which was pretty uneventful, but Emmanuel and Rodolfo, two of my closest friends there, were with me the whole time, so we were just being paid to hang out.

Then on Saturday Jamie, one of my best friends, and James, her boyfriend, came to visit! We had this whole fantastic trip planned with a few days in Santiago and then off to the beach for 5 days! We had a delicious traditional Dominican lunch the first day they came and then got sushi and Anne and my’s favorite dessert that evening for dinner. On Sunday we went to brunch with Emmanuel at a buffet restaurant that is perched on a hill that overlooks Santiago and part of the valley, it was a really beautiful view (it’s also an equestrian complex, so they had horses walking around practically inside the restaurant!) We then went to the Monument and Centro Leon, two of my favorite places in the city. Sunday night Anne and I made them dinner of fried cheese, fried salami, and tostones (fried green plantains) . . . and we had salad too, to be a bit healthy. The next day we were off to the beach, and to my favorite hotel, Casa Valeria, with the courtyard filled with plants and a swimming pool. We basically spent Monday and Tuesday on the beach and eating at really good restaurants. It was a bit of an adjustment for me since I have basically been doing everything as cheaply as I can here, but since I only had about a month left, I knew I wanted to spend more money when they were here, so it was nice to not really worry about the cost of things and just enjoy the fancier part of vacationing.

So Julia, what did you do? Well we spent two days on the beach in Sosua, then on Wednesday we traveled east to one of the most famous beaches in the country, called Playa Grande, which lives up to its name, it is huge and on each side are cliffs and the waves were extremely calm that day, which is very rare (it’s one of the roughest beaches on the north coast). We even saw a humpback whale cresting far off in the water!! I taught them how to play dominoes and we had piña coladas from a pineapple, and James ordered conch for lunch. Thursday we went west to Puerto Plata to climb the mountain there, called Isabel del Torres (the same Isabel that helped fund Columbus’ trip, he named it after her). The mountain is about a 5 minute gondola ride to the top, and you get just an amazing 360 degree view of the coast and countryside. It was a bit cloudy (and we were inside a cloud at some points) but that made for wonderful breezes that made the walk through their extensive botanical gardens really pleasant. Some Dominicans weren’t having as much fun, I heard one complain “I’m SICK of looking at plants and trees!” That afternoon we paddled around in the pool at our hotel and relaxed for our last evening in Sosua. Friday we checked out of the hotel, bought our bus tickets, and then went to the beach for the day (our bus wasn’t until 6pm). Since it was the first official day off for everyone, all Dominicans came, I had never seen the beach so packed! More vendors, everything was more expensive, but there was no boat traffic allowed near the beach, so it was a little bit quieter. Also, since it was Good Friday, no one was allowed to play music (not even the bars until midnight), so the whole town was quiet (except for everyone on the beach). Dominicans have a traditional beach food which they bring with them: spaghetti. I’m not kidding, I can’t think of anything less beachy, perhaps fondue. They bring it in big pots and eat it with bread, and lots of sand.

When we got to the bus station, there was a minibus there, which I thought was going to take us to Puerto Plata, and from there we would get on a big bus and go to Santiago, but instead, we packed as many people as there were seats, and even had room for a surfboard, and we went straight to Santiago. What happened was the last bus was supposed to be at 3, but the ticket seller made a mistake and sold tickets for the later bus, so they had to provide us some way to get back (and we could bypass Puerto Plata). But we didn’t take the normal highway, we took the old mountain trek (which is ironically called the tourist highway) which is a beautiful climb through the mountains, but you can imagine how well-maintained it is with sprawling stretches without pavement, landslides on either side of the road, and an open sinkhole here and there. Needless to say, Jamie and James got a truly authentic experience of the Dominican!

So now I am in my last three weeks here! Monday and Tuesday I subbed (I know, again) in the daycare for the same 10 kids, and it was just as tiring, but we had fun, or at least I hope they did! All afternoon all this week I am sitting in a chair on the second floor of New York Center handing out grades to latecomers, so really not doing anything, but if they want to pay me, I won’t complain! Friday night is the farewell dinner for Anne’s program, so the whole family is going to a nice buffet dinner with them, Saturday Gloria is taking us to the “poor ferry” as she calls it. It is basically a little ferry boat that meanders around a damn for the afternoon and people bring food and drinks and hang out. I think we are bringing spaghetti, oy vey. Anne leaves next Wednesday, I can’t believe so soon! And after that I only have 10 days left, weird. I know I made the right decision coming home early, though, because although it will be really sad to leave, I am ready to come home. And I won’t be home for very long before I’m off to El Salvador at the end of May to spend the summer there with Fausto. I am REALLY excited for that new adventure!

So for those of you who made it to the end of this long post, here are some photos to enjoy!

Visita de Mom!

2009-03-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

Well, Mom’s visit star Ted off before she even got here! I was at work in the afternoon and I get a call from her saying that she got to San Juan fine, but how far was the actual city of San Juan from the airport, and if it was worth her gong, which I told her it was, and she did end up going to Old San Juan which has a lovely square where she at tapas, a huge park with a big fort at the end of it, and she in general had a lovely time!

When I got to the airport, she was just coming out, she got there a bit early, and we spent the first evening just relaxing. The next morning, we got up early, got our rental car, a Mitsubishi Nativa, which was more like a gigantic car-masher, but it worked just fine. We drove out of the city successfully (it is extremely stressful driving down here), and made it to the rest stop about an hour south, where we were meeting my friends. From there we followed them through Bonao, a small “city” about halfway between Santo Domingo and Santiago, and from there over two rivers and up into the mountains. Now this seems easy, and it should have been with the beast that I was driving, but it was all bark and no bite, and as we slowly pulled ourselves up these steep hills and down even steeper ones, we finally got to the hotel, which is part of a huge piece of property where a Federation runs all sorts of eco-friendly and poverty-eliminating projects.

Our room was on the second floor and had just the best views of a plunging valley to one side and a rising mountain to the other. Every angle was prettier than the next. We were the only ones at the hotel, so Ramon, our personal guide, showed us around. They have dormitories for work groups to come in, as well as dormitories for the hotel workers and the kids of surrounding communities to live in if they live far away (since most people’s transport is motorcycle, horse, or foot). At that moment the kids who lived there were in a computer science class, where they are learning about all that technology. Normally during the day they are in school and in the afternoon they go to the bamboo workshop and make all sorts of chair and tables and mirror frames, etc. Kelvin, one of the best students, gave us a quick demonstration of how the workshop functions, that their teacher comes everyday and first they learn how to cut a piece straight. Once they can do that, they learn how to make holes, then how to cut an even curve, then how to bend it, and finally they begin to start to make furniture. After Kelvin’s demonstration, he invited me to try to make it, and you can let the picture judge, but I must say I was pretty good. Mom thought she was video-taping a lot of it, but she just had the video function on my camera, but didn’t actually record anything.

After that we saw the organic garden, which will be growing a million tomatoes or something like that, as well as the coffee drying, and the bunnies, which were sold as pets . . . or food. All the bunny droppings are collected and made into compost, which they will use for their organic food. They also have another vegetable garden where they grow all the food that they eat and serve there. In the afternoon, we chugged out big weak monster mobile a little higher up the mountain to see a beautifully slender waterfall with crisp, cold, and extremely clear water. That evening we read on the porch and I taught Mom to play dominoes (the real Dominican national pastime) and we played with the other guides and kids who lived there. I say “played” but really just sat there as they figured out the whole game from just one round and we were really only pawns to put pieces down. But we had a wonderful time anyways. That night it rained harder than I have heard it rain in a looooong time, but the next morning was fresh and cool, and we walked through a path just totally covered with flora, down to the river Blanco, and then up another path through a bamboo forest that they had planted (the same one they use for the workshop). The whole mountainside was just completely covered with a beautiful variety of plants and trees, some really weird looping ones, and palm trees that were 50 feet high!

In the afternoon we came home and relaxed the rest of the day. Monday we went to work, it was my last day at the daycare, and I was really glad that mom got to see it. She was very impressed and just exhausted watching me work, it made me happy to hear what a good teacher she thought I was (boy do I have her fooled). We came home for lunch and in the afternoon walked to work again for my conversation class with the teenagers, which she also liked very much. That evening we had sushi for dinner with sweet plantains in it and a honey sauce that is to die for. Tuesday was our first day to sleep in and boy did we! All the way to 8:30! Haha. We made pancakes for breakfast and spent the morning reading and generally doing nothing. In the afternoon we went with Anne to One Respe (which means Honor Respect in Creole) to see the school she volunteers at, as well as their center. We bought some jewelry, said hi to the kids, and then went to my favorite museum (in the country), Centro Leon. I am sure I have talked about this place before, and their new exhibit is no exception, wonderfully displayed and fascinating in its topic, a Spanish photographer documenting all aspects of Dominican life in the 70s and 80s. Mom really liked it too and loved the museum. That night we all got dressed up and Mom took Anne, Lenissa, Gloria, and me out to Marisco Centro, a very posh seafood restaurant. We had a great time since Anne, Lenissa and I spoke both languages, and Gloria and Mom can understand a fair amount of the other language. It was a really nice time (and the food was a-may-zing!)

Wednesday was another relaxing morning; in the afternoon we went to Fausto’s neighborhood where Mom met Fausto’s mom and his neighbors with the three kids with whom we play dominoes a lot. After that we went to Zokalo, my favorite Mexican restaurant here, where we met up with Emmanuel, my friend from work, and we had Nachos Extreme (which the three of us couldn’t finish) and then my favorite desert, rollo de chocolate (or chocolate roll) which is just the best thing on earth. That evening we relaxed at home, read some, did a crossword puzzle, for old time’s sake, and chatted. She left the next morning.

I had a blast and I think she did too, she said that she felt like she really got to see how I live down here and that was what she wanted. And the trip to the mountains was just out of this world. Check out the new photos of our trip!!

Up next: work ends this week, although next week I will be subbing (for only 2 days) in the daycare and helping to hand out grades. This weekend I’m going to Santo Domingo to visit my friend Marla, and then the week after that my best friend Jamie and her boyfriend are coming to visit for Semana Santa! I can’t wait!

ps. here is the link to the photos

Mom's visit!!!

2009-03-13T13:22:00.001-07:00

Mom should be arriving in just 2 and a half hours! I am suuuuuuuuuuuper excited, as you can imagine. We have plans to go to a rustic hotel in the mountains this weekend, and on Monday she is coming to work with me, to see the daycare and my normal class, and then we have Tuesday and Wednesday to frolic about the city! No beach this time, but I figured, eh, the beaches are beautiful here, but the mountains are just breath-taking, and not as easy to get to if you are a tourist.

I only have one day left in the daycare, which is sad, but more of a relief. I will miss the kids a lot, but not being with them from 7:45am to 12:30pm. The kids I love, well, all but a few, but what I don’t like is the way the daycare is managed. I will give you the perfect example. On Monday, a new boy started with us. Not only is a REALLY late in the school year for him to be starting, but no one had given us ANY notice that he was coming. He arrived at 7:45 am and that was the first time we had heard of him. His mother told us his name, but we didn’t know his age in order to figure out which class he should be in. It was him, through his little tears because he wanted his mother, that told us he was 3. So I go down to the director of New York Center and ask her who he was, when was he registered, and how come nobody had let us know beforehand. And she told me that it wasn’t her, it was Hillary, a subdirector, who is specifically in charge of the daycare, among other things. Okay, fine, Hillary let him in and didn’t tell us. Irresponsible, but that is how things are done at NYC often. But wait! So Hillary is sick for a few days, and so when I see her again on Wednesday, we are talking in the hallway, and she sees the new boy, Samuel, and asks me “Who is that?” I was dumbfounded. “Raphy said that you had registered him. He came on Monday with no warning.” “No,” she said, “I have never heard of him before in my life.” I couldn’t believe it. How did this mystery child arrive?! He even had the uniform. There is no one else that would have registered him, but I suppose it will remain a mystery. And what annoys me more than the disorganization of that whole situation, is that no one seemed worried about how dangerous it is. I mean, I don’t think anyone even knows his last name. What if he got hurt, or he ran out of the school or a myriad of other things. We don’t know his last name, I don’t know if we know how to contact his family, etc. It’s things like that which happen on a regular basis at New York Center, which make me not so sad to be done with the daycare.

Ok, enough kvetching, but I did want to post something since Jack is now trying to outblog me with his adventures in Buenos Aires. Let’s see if he can outblog this next story.

So one of my best friends here from work is Emmanuel, the evangelical Christian who doesn’t drink or even dance. Well the other day we were on one of our regular coffee dates, for lack of a better term, when I was telling him how Anne and I had done yoga the day before and how glad I was to be doing it again. He looked shocked and said, “You can’t do yoga, you’re a Jew!” And said that religion has nothing to do with yoga, it’s a physical exercise, but he said, no, that it was developed by Buddhists, and thus it was like practicing another religion. I thought it was pretty amusing because I had never heard anyone accuse someone of being heretical for doing yoga, but I can always appreciate different points of view. I argued that it was, yes, developed by another religion, but not for religious practice, but self-awareness and inner focus, whether you want to focus on Buddha, Jesus, or even ice cream, that was fine. And his point was that if someone is opening their mind of unknown things, that is the perfect time for Satan to infiltrate. So from now on, when I talk about it with him, I call it “The Devil’s Yoga.” Aside from that, we have had some delicious coffee all over Santiago. Who knew there would be such a variety in a country where coffeehouses don’t really exist.

Well, I leave it at that. It looks like it is going to downpour any second now, a nice welcome for mom. Welcome to the Caribbean, just in time for a tropical downpour!!

2009-03-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, over a month since I last updated this! And February here has been quite happening, to say the least. First off, check out my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/jjjjules to see some new ones.

So first off, two weeks ago, I began substituting in the daycare at my job. I have to get there at 7:45 in the morning, which is early, but most of the kids don’t arrive till 8:15, so I have a few moments of calm to organize for the day. Anyways, I am with them until about 12:30, so it is a long morning, and an even longer day on Mon, Tues, and Thurs, because I have class that afternoon from 3-6. So nowadays if I am in bed at 11 pm, that is too late for me! But aside from it being tiring, I actually am having a really good time with the kids. It is MUCH better organized now, not three teachers with 30 kids, but each teacher has their own age group the whole morning, they are only all together for TV Time and snack time. My kids are the oldest (between 4 and 5) and there are only 8 of them, and they all have been at the school for a few years, so they know the routine and the rules, and they are much easier to communicate with than the littler kids, especially the babies. Last week we went on a field trip with the older half of the kids to see some weird and very poorly produced (but energetically performed) children’s theater production that was something like Alice in Wonderland, but had techno music in it, as well as Disney songs. We couldn’t quite figure it out, but the kids loved it. When we were leaving, we had the youngest kids, and we were trying to get all of them on the bus and count to make sure thy were all there, and we almost left one of the kids on the sidewalk. Needless to say, he pouted most of the way home, not a happy camper.

Fausto and I went to the other project of his friend, Tony, in the mountains, and this was MUCH bigger than the first coffee factory. It was this whole federation, sponsored by the EU, and had a hotel, and dorms for groups to come and help work, it had a bamboo forest that they harvested, and had a workshop where the kids of the villages learned how to make furniture from bamboo. The whole complex was pretty amazing, and in a beautiful mountain range with a plunging valley below. That part of the mountains is called the “Mother of waters” because two of the major rivers in the country originate there, one that goes south to the capital and one north to Santiago and regions north. There are small waterfalls all throughout the valley. When mom comes to visit, we are going to spend a weekend at that hotel, a part of the Dominican that most visitors don’t get to see.

Two weeks ago Fausto and I went down to the capital for 4 days, which was nice to have so much time there since he had about 150 people to see, and I had a few too. We were going to stay with Jenny’s family there, they have an extra apartment, but the day we were supposed to leave, they discovered there was no water. So at the last minute, a good friend of mine from study abroad who lives there now let us stay with her. She lives in this apartment/dormitory that is owned by her job (a bilingual school) and lets the foreign teachers live there. We had a great time with her (and two puppies she had rescued from the street early that week, now named Paco and Murphey) who were only 3 weeks old and just precious. We visited a bunch of Fausto’s friends, and we saw Jenny’s family also, and her nephews are ginormous now. We didn’t do much touristy stuff, which was fine with me, although we did walk on the Malecón, the seaside highway, so it was nice to see the Caribbean Sea (the water on the north coast is technically the Atlantic Ocean). On our way back from Santo Domingo, we stopped in La Vega to see Carnival, the most famous (and infamous) Carnaval in the country, and it certainly lives up to its name. Many of you may remember my epic bruise that a I proudly showed three years ago, and it was also from La Vega, although this time they didn’t hit me as hard. But the place was PACKED and the costumes were stunning, and it was even rumored that Mel Gibson was in the VIP Government Viewing Seats.

On the last Sunday of Carnival, Santiago had it’s parade, which we left after 4 hours and it was still going. Unfortunately, this year’s Carnival has been no different in that many people use the crowds and party atmosphere to commit crimes, and not just petty theft. For example, when we were in La Vega, just an hour and a half after we left, someone was killed right where we were sitting. And when we were at the Carnival in Santiaog last week, someone else was killed about 3 blocks from where we were standing. People have been blaming the crisis for the rise in violence, and ti is true that people are more and more desperate, and there have been more large-scale robberies (and here people get killed a lot more in crimes like that), but a producer at a really famous nightclub was stopped on the highway and killed, and the son of the big rum owner was almost killed last weekend too. Now please don’t worry, I don’t feel any more unsafe here than I did before, but I can’t tell you how disenchanted I feel about the police here more and more every day. The ones that you see on the street carry more of a fearful and menacing presence than one of friendliness and protection. The most common interaction I have with the cops is when they are catcalling me from their patrol cars. Of the two groups of people Fausto said were the most dangerous in the country, the cops were one of them (in that you are most likely to end up dead if they are in a bad mood). And they seem to only enforce traffic laws and give tickets when they want a little kickback. Crimes only get solved if the victim was someone of prominence, otherwise it remains “under investigation” indefinitely. Also, they have these ridiculous motorcycles that look like something batman would have, and they always ride around in twos, and they love to get bribes from Haitians, who are supposed to carry their papers at all times. So a cop will often ask a Haitian for his papers, and if he doesn’t have them, he threatens to arrest him if he doesn’t get a bribe. So the Haitian gives him some money and the cop goes away. But it is kind of an empty threat because if the cop is on a motorcycle, he isn’t really going to arrest the guy, and if the Haitian really has no money, it isn’t worth the cops time to take him down to the station because he gets no money for it. He didn’t want to arrest him in the first place, he just wanted some money.
The level of corruption here is really disgusting, and it’s not as if there isn’t corruption in the States, but it is just so obvious here, and so candid that the corrupt act as if what they were doing was okay, because it is okay here. Who is going to stop them? The cops? The politicians? They are the most openly corrupt of them all.

On the cheerier things. Well, not so cheery, but Fausto left today. He was sad to leave, but also really excited to begin his classes again in El Salvador. Also, for those of you interested in an important and extremely tight election, the presidential elections are next Sunday in El Salvador, and for the first time since the Civil War, the progressive party has a chance of winning. The campaign has been pretty brutal, and the conservative candidate is using fear tactics, such as saying that if the Progressive Candidate wins, then Chavez will be running the country, etc. But apparently, Obama’s election has given some of the people hope that “change” can happen in El Salvador too. So stay tuned!

Well, that is enough for now! I’m uploading some more photos soon! And I finally got my new camera so expect lots of photos from Mom’s visit, etc!

pictures!

2009-02-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

check out the latest batch of photos, although I already have a bunch more to put up! stay tuned for the next chapter!!!

Jan. 29

2009-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!!! Hope all you East-coasters are enjoying the snow this winter! You might think I’m crazy to say this, but I do miss snowy winters, it’s hard to feel the year passing when the weather is pretty much always the same! I’m so used to having 4 seasons, that the other day I realized, wow, we are right in the middle of winter when not much has even changed since I arrived here in September.

So, Julia, if the weather is staying the same, what have you been up to? Why haven’t you blogged in soooo long? Well, Julia, very interesting question, let me fill you in!

Last time I told you about the organic coffee factory that Fausto and I went to, and tomorrow he and I are going to La Vega again to met with Tony again, to go to another tiny mountain village even farther out, where he has a very similar project, but on a much larger scale, so I am looking forward to that.

The day after we went there a few weeks ago, Fausto’s cousin took us up into the mountains again, close in geography, but a world away technology-wise. This town, Jarabacoa, is much more modern, it is more like a little city. Anyways, it is just beautiful (the scenery, the town itself is pretty dirty and polluted like many cities and towns here), in these soaring mountains and plunging valleys. We went to the Jarabacoa River Club, which was built on both sides of a river and had decks and patios and tons of gardens and plants and a rope bridge across the river and pools on both sides and was just a beautiful place to spend the afternoon. It was a little cloudy, but you could see the mountaintops above the clouds and it was just stunning. I took tons of pictures, but unfortunately they were lost because at some point over the next two days, my camera was stolen. It happened when Fausto and I went to the beach for the weekend. We stayed at a beautiful hotel that had a large courtyard and pool and was just totally surrounded by all different types of trees and flowers, you felt you were in another world. But I think it was there that my camera went missing. So it goes, and besides the camera itself, I only lost one day of photos.

Work has been good, and not very often, since right now it’s only 9 hours a week. I know have 9 students, which is much better than 6, and I’ve been having a great time with them. We do weekly compositions, and I have them peer-editing them as well, so I think their writing will improve a lot. On Monday I did a lesson on Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights’ Movement, which coincided perfectly with the inauguration the next day. They were all really interested, and really surprised to learn about the harsh realities of racism in the US at that time, and we talked about the similarities and differences of that time in the US and now in the DR with racism towards Haitians, as well as the racism that many Dominicans experience when they travel to Spain (apparently they suffer a lot of discrimination there). Aunt Judy emailed me a copy of her pamphlet she still had from the March on Washington in ‘63, and I showed that to the students and we read part of “I Have a Dream,” and I was really happy with how involved the students were.

Last Tuesday was extremely memorable, that goes without saying, and Fausto and Anne and I were glued to the television all morning and afternoon until I had to go to class. Throughout the day I called Mom to ask where she was, and at one point she told me “I saw Garrison Keeler and P. Diddy,” to which I asked “Together?” No. I bought a copy of the paper here, in which Obama is on the cover, people here were really excited about his “toma de posesion,” and they understood that it was really important because Obama was the first black president, but at the same time, everyone here is some shade of black, so it wasn’t such a huge stretch for them, probably best put by Fausto’s mom, saying “And they consider him black?!”

Last weekend was a 4 day weekend for me (no class on Fridays, and Monday was Duarte Day, the father of their revolution), so Fausto and I went to Las Terrenas, a small tourist town in the North coast of the Peninsula Samaná. It’s a 4 hour drive and we left at 6:30 am, so I slept most of the time, except when we stopped at a small rest stop that is famous for it’s fresh cheese, it was delicious! Samaná is definitely the most tropical-looking part of the country because they haven’t really changed the landscape to farm, most of what they grow is cacao and coffee, which grow in forests, so the mountains that cover the landscape are very wild looking. We had a great time there, when it wasn’t raining cats and dogs, but we ate very well (lots of French tourists, so GREAT bakeries there), including paella, gourmet pizza, lots of cafés con leche, and an olive bread to die for. It had rained so much that one day on the beach, all these Dominicans were gathering, all with some sort of baseball equipment, and it turned out that they were going to have a baseball tournament, but the field was two wet, so they just had it on the beach. On Sunday we went to a small town in the hills called Limón, where you can rent horses and guides and they take you into a National Park and climb up to El Salto Limón, the tallest waterfall in the country. It’s 52 meters high, and because of all the rain from the week before, it was about double the amount of water than normal. It was so immense that you could barely walk up to it from the amount of spray coming off of it, trying to swim below it was just about impossible, but it was so beautiful! The path, however, was a little interesting, with the horses slipping a bit, and having to cross two small rivers, which were pretty high after all the rain. But we made it fine, and had a great time, and on the way out, we passed a stand where a man sells fresh cacao bars, about the freshest chocolate I have ever seen. We made hot chocolate last night with it, and it was AMAAAAAAAZINGLY delicious!

In other news, Fausto and I have been cooking a lot lately, we made cannelloni noodles stuffed with eggplant and cheese, and last night we made bruschetta with tomato-topping and white beans. Besides cooking, we have been playing dominos about 4 times a week with the children of Fausto’s neighbors. They are 8 and 9 and don’t play with any strategy, but they are really fun and we have a running championship going (I play with one kid and Fausto with the other). Byron, my teammate, named us the Lions, and went as far as to print out a picture or a lion and made it into a mask and had his two year old brother put it on as our mascot. So Fausto and Whitman (the other kid) made their own team based on Daddy Yankee, and had New York baseball caps and everything. The game got pretty brutal, but Byron and I lost, as usual, but we always have a good time. If you are wondering about the names, the parents’ deal was the father named the boys and the mother the girls. They had three boys. And the father, Milton, loves English poetry, so the first he named Whitman, the second Byron, and the third John (after John Milton, but the father was already named Milton, and he didn’t want a Jr).

We I have chatted long enough, hope you enjoyed. Send me emails and let me know how you all are doing! Love you all!

2009-01-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

Feliz Año Nuevo!! It’s great to be back here, where the sun is super hot and the sky is crystal blue! Let me update a bit since I last wrote, it’s been a while and my month has been chock full of adventures!

So before I came home, Fausto got back a few days before I left. After that, I think I slept a few hours total, hanging out with Fausto and his friends as well as continuing my classes, although luckily we were giving exams for the most of the week, which meant I didn’t really have to do too much except give oral exams or proctor written ones.

Sooooo the day after classes I went home, where I was able to see pretty much all of my friends and family, although some visits were short, I had a great time being home. But I must say, that having a few months to acclimate to the cold makes a Baltimore winter MUCH more bearable than having three seconds. For most of the trip, whether outside OR inside, I wore two jackets, two pairs of socks, and mittens, but I did survive! Chincoteague, as always, was wonderful, and I think I was pretty successful in making a authentic Dominican dinner for the fam. The menu was rice and beans, yucca patties, eggplant balls with tomato sauce, and sweet plantains over ice cream for dessert. It was DELICIOUS and it made me realize how happy I was to come back to the DR, not mostly for the food, but that is part of it.

On my way home (Santiago home, not Baltimore home), I had a long layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a good friend of mine from here, Richard, is from there and was there on vacation, so he picked me up from the airport and took me around Old San Juan. Not only was it beautiful (and very touristy), it was really interesting to see the difference between San Juan and the DR. Although not the same, the cultures are very similar, but I felt like I was seeing how the DR would be if it was a first world country--there was infrastructure, the streets were fairly free of litter, and even in the poor neighborhoods, the poverty didn’t seem as desperate or despondent, and there was much more green space in the city and the city was better laid out. It was really interesting to see the comparison. We walked around an old fort, with a HUGE park where lots of people were flying kites and playing sports, then we went to get a traditional sandwich called “Malorca” which is basically ham and cheese but the bread it a sweetish bread with powdered sugar on top, delish!!!

Back in the DR, Fausto and I spent New Year’s Eve at his best friend, Leo’s house, and I went to bed around 3:30, although one of the bars down the street was singing karaoke till 6am. The next few days we were expecting Anne, as well as Lenissa and Gloria, to arrive any day, but none of them appeared. Gloria and Lenissa are supposed to arrive this Tuesday, and Anne had parasites, so she had to wait till this Monday to come back, so it has been quite in the house here, just Tia and I, although I spend a lot of my time out with Fausto.

One day we went to visit a friend of his in La Vega, a town a little to the south of Santiago. His friend, Tony, wanted to show us the non-profit that he had been developing, an organic coffee farm. Basically, we had to head up into the mountains in his gigantic pickup truck that took 45 minutes climbing up a dirt road that occasionally was just plain mud, I mean we were REALLY in the middle of nowhere, they just got electricity a year ago. But to run cable lines up the mountain is really inefficient, but the towns would be PREFECT places for using solar energy to give them electricity. Anyways, when we finally arrived they showed us around the coffee factory, which contained a small warehouse, a few greenhouses to dry the coffee beans, and a machine to separate and clean them. But they had all sorts of ways of conserving water in the process, and not letting any of the waste go back into the environment, filtering the dirty water in bamboo, letting the coffee husks decompose into fertilizer, which they then give back to the farmers, and they have it all organized in a community cooperative, so everyone benefits from the profits made. We ate lunch with one of the workers, and it was like a trip back 100 years. Their house was still that agrarain style of the kitchen being a whole separated part of the house, and they litereally cooked over a gigantic stone hearth, and we drank more coffee that day, but it tasted extra good. Anways, the factory was amazing and the views from the mountain were just gorgeous. I’ll post some photos of that day on my next album.

2009-01-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Feliz Año Nuevo!!

It's been a looooong time since I updated this, but once Fausto came, I didn't have much time to check my email, and then I came back home for Christmas and now I am back in the hot hot January tropics. And it is lovely! I don't have much time to update now, since Lyle is visiting me for the week and then Britney, who I studied abroad with, is coming for a few days next week, so sorry if I don't get to update for another week or so. Classes also start next week, but I hope to only be working a few hours a day, and only 4 or 5 days a week! what luxury!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the newest album I put online!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjjjules/ChristmasALaCaribe?feat=directlink

Written Dec. 11 . . . .

2008-12-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated my blog, so don’t worry, I’ll tell you about every single second! Just kidding, just every minute.

Okay, enough with the lame jokes--so first let me tell you about thanksgiving dinner. As I had said in the last blog, Anne and I were going to make a sweet potato or sweet yam souffle-type dish, but a few days before that, Anne ate some food that had gone bad, and she spent about three days not being able to keep any food inside her body, if you know what I mean. She had to go to the doctor twice and was on a diet of white rice, crackers, and yucca. Not even fruits or vegetables, and she was just so exhausted and weak, that when we finally went to the grocery store to get the ingredients, she had to run to bathroom every 5 minutes, and we couldn’t find sweet sweet potatoes or sweet yams NOR either of them in cans . . . so we did what anyone would have done . . . we made a salad! Well, let me just tell you it was pretty much the best damn salad I have ever eaten, we even made our own croutons! So it was a big success, and we had so much that we ate it for a whole week after.

So the actual dinner was really nice, and all the host families were there too, and Lenissa came with Anne and I, although no one else was at our table, we had a great time, just the three of us. I am posting a few pictures from the dinner, including one of the three of us, which is one of my favorite pictures taken so far this trip. So for dinner we had TWO types of turkeys, as well as ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheeses AND spicy macaroni and cheese, wild rice, plus three homemade apple pies (even the crust was homemade because they didn’t sell it at the store!), cake, ice cream, and a Caribbean apple cider, in that it was basically warm apple juice with spices, delicious none the less. I wasn’t hungry till lunch the next day!

After that, nothing really exciting has happened . . . I went to an excellent art show at the Cultural Center and Museum here in Santiago. It was their annual art competition and the variety and quality of the art was really impressive. I thought it was very interesting that there was lots of art dealing with the dynamic of Dominican culture on the island and in New York, it really is an important theme in this country, since pretty much every single person had family in New York, and how this separation affects the people down here on the island, but also the people in New York, who yes assimilate into American culture, but are still EXTREMELY connected to life back here, even if they don’t visit often. However, many do come visit because I read yesterday that the country is estimating that about 200,000 Dominicans will be coming back here for Christmas. 200,000!!!! I think the island might sink a little bit with all the extra weight.

Classes have been going well, I did a great lesson with my teenagers about the history of thanksgiving and the effect of colonists on indigenous cultures. Now I can’t say that I am at all qualified or talented at leading these sorts of discussions, but my students seem to really like learning about things that aren’t in the book--lord only knows how many times they have talked about tourists, customs, vacations, careers, etc. Most of the books have the same basic themes, and one student told me that this was the first class where they learned so much history.

I also have to tell you about the lesson I did on religion. It was raining pretty hard, so I only have 9 students instead of 21, but I think they really enjoyed it. First I presented them with a history of Hinduism, and I was going to have them each read some material I brought in about Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but since we only had 9, I just had them each present on Judaism, because they had been asking about that since they found out it was my religion. For their homework I had them research Shinto, Buddhism, and Voodoo, since that religion is extremely prominent right next door, and many Dominicans just see it as violent witchcraft. I was really happy with their presentations, although next semester, I am going to take more time to do this topic. But at least they are getting exposed to it.

To fully appreciate this though, I need to relate to you the conversation we had about my religion:
Students: Teacher, what religion are you?
Me: I’m Jewish.
Ss: Not you aren’t teacher, that’s not true.
Me: Not true?! Why would I lie?
Ss: But you can’t be Jewish, there aren’t Jews in the Dominican Republic.
Me: But where am I from? What religions are there where I’m from?
Ss: The US, but there are Protestants there.
Me: And where are the Jews then?
Ss: Israel? Anyways teacher, you don’t look Jewish.
Me: What does a Jew look like, then?
Now starts the one student who had been to Manhattan: They look crazy, teacher.
Me: Crazy? What does crazy mean?
S: Well, they have the large black hats, and the long black coats, and the woman have fake hair and long skirts.

It was then that I realized that her, and their general experience, of Jews had been the Lubovitch Orthodox Jews in New York. Well dear lord, I thought, I would think Jews were crazy too if that was all I knew, but that is like assuming all Catholics dress like the Pope! So I went on to explain to them the different types of Judaism, and they understood better, but still thought the Lubovitchers were crazy, I said, they aren’t crazy, but yes, they do look crazy in that clothing in the middle of summer. After that, I think they believed me that I was Jewish.

Anyways, this class is so smart, I really like doing things outside of the book, so yesterday we talked about human rights and racism, etc since it was the International Day of Human Rights, and on Friday we are going to watch “The Kite Runner,” which I hope will spark a conversation about countries BEFORE dicatorships, because the way they talk about Iraq and Iran and countries like that, I don’t think they have a sense that these places weren’t always battlefields. Not that many Americans don’t think that same way, but I like making them think about thigns in a different perspective. And this country is unique in that not even 50 years ago they were just coming out of an extremely violent dicatorship, so they can understand in a way that Americans like us can’t.

Okay, I will get off of my soap box not, but suffice to say, I am having a really good time!!! And Fausto comes home on Tuesday, so I am SUPER excited for that. And then I come home in less than two weeks!! I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by!!

Dec. 11

2008-12-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias!!!

2008-11-27T07:49:00.000-08:00

I write you this while wearing all the warm clothing that I have with me down here, and that consists of one pair of long pajama pants, one long sleeve shirt and one cardigan made of the thinnest cotton I have ever seen. Don’t know if anyone has been looking at the Caribbean lately, but there is a tropical depression or cyclone or just some general ginormous cloud cover over the entire sea and boy is it cold! I mean it has gotten down to 67 degrees here! Now, before you try to strangle me for complaining about that, you have to remember that I have had three straight months of nothing lower than 75, and I didn’t plan for anything less than that, so suffice to say that vestiment-wise, I am not prepared for this. But it’s not just the cold that is making everyone miserable, it’s the unending drizzling rain that makes everything damp and chilly. I keep telling people that this is the most American weather I have ever seen here. Literally from Friday to Monday there was maybe an hour of sunlight and it was raining (a cold drizzle) more than it wasn’t. Yesterday was the first day I was able to walk to work, and I saw my shadow, I was so excited. Now, in comparison, just before this weekend of frigidity, it had been EXTREMELY hot for almost three weeks, so the break was nice, at first, but once the rain didn’t cease, people just locked themselves in their houses. Really, people use rain as an excuse not to go to class or go out. On Wednesday it was raining also, and it was cold, and out of 21 students, only 9 showed up. And that is pretty normal. I love when a student tells me “I couldn’t come because it was raining,” and I think “couldn’t? really? or DIDN’T WANT?” Now in truth, there are some people who can’t leave because roads are flooded or their house might get flooded, but not my students, not where they live. But I must say that the same thing is japanning to me, with this awful cold drizzle, I just want to stay inside and drink hot chocolate! BUT IM IN THE CARIBBEAN!!! Thanks, global warming, for making it cold :( But according to the weather channel, it should be passing in the next day or two, and then we will be back to hot weather with the occasional downpour, not the prolonged cold drizzle.

In other news, I went out to the countryside on Sunday to judge a beauty pageant, representing my work, New York Center. Yes, I got to judge, and it was fantastic. So it was literally in the middle of nowhere, where the center of town had a Banca (or gambling center) a little gazebo, a church/school, and this gigantic warehouse type building where the pageant was. It was basically covered dirt because the floor wasn’t complelty cemented, more like a hodge podge of level floor, gravel, and dirt, I could barely walk in my normal shoes and some of the woman had their 4 inch heels on. So first the other judges and I are interviewing all the contestants, boys and girls, all teenagers. It really wasn’t based on beauty, which I really liked, and of course the girls had a TON of makeup on, but everyone was fairly normal looking. So we asked them questions about what they wanted to study in college, what they thought of gang violence and the environment, etc. One poor girl said she wanted to study psychology and a judge asked her what she thought of Sigmund Freud and she had never heard of him, but she played it off well. Two judges consistently asked every participant what they thought of homosexuality which I thought was odd for three reasons. First, they varied all the other questions, but not this one. Second, there was the cultural difference, no one asks questions like that in the US pageants, at least not so obviously. And third, the question didn’t elicit interesting or individual answers, pretty much every one said that they didn’t agree with it because it was a sin, but they won’t discriminate against them. Anyways, maybe a cultural thing I didn’t get.

But back to the fun stuff, so after the interviews we went back into the main hall, which by this time was PACKED with people, I’d say about 800 to 1000 people, and us judges got to sit at a little table in front of the stage. And we sat there for about an hour and a half before the whole thing got started, two hours late of course. The theme was nature or something like that, so all the contestants came out dancing dressed as cavemen and women, it was pretty hilarious. They did some very poorly coreagraphed dance, but boy did they put all of their energy into it. I have photos and videos, don’t worry! The men also had to carry these sugar cane stalks, it was quite a sight to see. In between the actual competition, they had little songs or dances, which were of the same caliber as the first, and the hosts kept thanking the sponsors every chance they got, it was quite a scene. My favorite part was when I had to go get a plaque on behalf of New York Center, and right before that they did this very strange dance with Wonder Woman being played by the queen from last year, and then when I came out to get my plaque, it sure enough was Wonder Woman who gave it to me!

So it lasted about two hours and I think everyone had a good time, I certainly did, and I’ll post the photos and videos soon.

And that brings us around to Turkey Day! I am very sad to not be celebrating with the fam, but the Thompson’s Turkey recipe will be there next year too. Tomorrow I’m going with Anne to thanksgiving at her director’s house with the other study abroad students and their families, which should be really fun. She and I are making a sweet potato, pecan, and marshmallow concoction. Well, it will really be yams, walnuts, and marshmallows because we can’t find sweet sweet potatoes, just normal sweet potatoes, which are the kind they have here, and pecans are hard to find as well. Either way, there will be marshmallows involved, so it will be tasty. And I think on Sunday the boys also want to do some type of thanksgiving dinner.

November 12 . . . it just takes me a while to upload them :)

2008-11-14T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! Happy almost 2 months left of George Bush! But enough politics for now, I am sure everyone in the states is relieved that the unending campaigns are over, even if it didn’t go as some people hoped, I’m just glad the media circus is over! It was nice to be able to escape it here, all I had to do was not check the internet and not watch tv and poof! no election madness. I mean of course people here were very excited because Obama is black, and they recognized the historic importance of the election, but they also hate Bush about as much as any American does, so they were glad to have someone elected who was from the other party.

But onto other things, such as my various and sundry adventures here. Last week I started a twice-weekly class, one in which I am the student, it is a training course for new teachers at New York Center, and it will continue for two months. There are about 5 students, and the teacher is another language teacher who as taught at all sorts of language institutes all over Santiago. They call the course “Pedagogy,” but it is part theory and part application, kind of like Sam’s grad school classes. We talk about language acquisition (which I really like because I had to study that a bit in college in my linguistics class), but we also talk about warm-ups, or introducing vocabulary and grammar, etc. I like starting the class after I have some classroom experience, because not only can I start applying what I learned immediately, but I understand better what I am learning because I have already had actual experience, it isn’t unknown at all. It’s also nice to share problems and ideas with the other teachers in the class.

On Saturday we had the “Pregraduation Activity” with all the graduating students, including my two classes. They divided us into two teams and we had to do little English games, such as guessing the movie theme song, professing love for one another using random words, karaoke, etc. My team (the red team) won every single competition, but we lost the last one, which was really the only one that counted, whoever won that won the whole competition. We had to modernize and Dominicanize a fairy tale (Snow White), and ours was actually pretty well done, and the other one was just fart jokes (fake farts provided by a student of mine) and the judges liked that better! How do you like that! Sheesh! But it was a fun afternoon, and this Friday is their real graduation, and after that is the annual teachers dinner, I’m looking forward to spending time out of work with the teachers, because we get along very well while we are there, but only for a few minutes between classes.

On Sunday, I didn’t have anything to do, which I love . . . So I finished translating a report for Fausto into English, and then got my weekly cup of Helados Bon, the most delicious ice cream. In the afternoon Anne and I spent about an hour putting wax into our friend’s dreadlocks. I have been thinking again about putting my hair into dreadlocks (when it gets longer, probably when I come back to the states), so I thought learning about how to care for them would be interesting.

Anyways, that evening Anne’s program director had a mini beer pong tournament, which really ended up being us sitting around since there wasn’t a table big enough, and the cups were these tiny little plastic cups that the ping-pong balls barely fit in, the ping-pong balls which we had to scour the house for and luckily found a few dented ones in the bedroom of the director’s son.

And Monday was a holiday so Anne and I were going to the beach!! To my favorite beach, actually, Playa Costambar. We got to the bus station of Caribe Tours (which I have always hated because the buses are freezing--we literally bring extra pants and shirts for the bus ride--and there is always a problem) at 9 to take the 9:15 bus. Well with Caribe Tours, it doesn’t matter the time of day, the day of the week, or the destination, whichever bus you want, it is always full and you have to get the next one. No exception on Monday, we had to wait for the 10:15. So we got some coffee and bummed around and 10:15 finally rolls around and so far our bus hadn’t come. Fifteen minutes later I go in to ask the woman where the bus was, because at least they are usually on time. She says the bus already left, at 10am. Which she didn’t announce, although she claimed she told us. Regardless, we had to wait for the bus AFTER that and we finally got to the beach at 1:30. Once we got to the beach everything was fine, except for the first 90 minutes of clouds, but then it cleared up and we had a great time. We were going to take the 6pm bus home, so before we went to the beach, we bought return tickets, just in case the bus filled up. The worker told us to be at the station by 5:30, and sure enough we got there at 5:15. Well the bus comes at 5:30, but its full already because people from the 4:30 bus had to get onto ours because THEIRS was full!! So yet again we waited and finally headed out at 7pm. I think we spent more time waiting for buses than we did on the beach, but it was a great day regardless, nothing can ruin a day spent on the beach!

On a side note, I had decided that from now on, every time I leave my apartment I am going to act as if someone I know is watching me at all times, because not only did I run into a New York Center teacher at the beach, but yesterday another student told me she saw me at the beach too! And she wasn’t even my student, I was subbing a class! And another student in that class told me he saw me at a mall a few weeks before. And almost daily I have students, or other teachers says “I saw you crossing the street!” “I saw you using your computer!” “I saw you getting into a concho!” “I saw you leaving the gym!” I won’t lie, I like that this place is so small and they you always know people, but it’s funny that they see me and I don’t see them as often, but I think I stand out more.

The rest of this week is nice because I don’t have work on Friday because of the graduation or on Saturday because it’s the day after the graduation, so I only have a 3 day week!!! I was going to go to Santo Domingo to visit a friend, but she told me she has Dengue Fever right now, so it’ll have to be another time. I guess I’ll just rest and enjoy having nothing to do!!!

new photos!!

2008-11-04T08:04:00.001-08:00

hello!! when you have a chance, i just put up some photos from halloween, etc. here is the link to all my albums, the newest one is on the left.

enjoy!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjjjules

Dia de las Elecciones!!!!!! Finally! (although this was written last night)

2008-11-04T07:13:00.000-08:00

Wow it’s been a while since I updated this, but things here have been fantastic, per usual.

Last Saturday night I went to a concert with another teacher, Rodolfo, from work. We went because yet another teacher, Manuel, was playing in it and had invited us. Now it wasn’t just any concert, it was a concert through his church, and not just any church concert, but a “youth revival” church concert, and not just any church, but an evangelical church. Now Rodolfo (who is totally anti-religion) and I both knew about this, but he was much more apprehensive than I was, I just chalk it all up to “cultural experiences.” In the end, the music was really good, Rodolfo was very surprised, Manuel was an excellent guitarist, and we all had a great time, and most importantly, Manuel was thrilled that we came. I think it is so funny that Manuel and Rodolfo are friends since they have nothing in common except the guitar, they don’t even like the same type of music. For example, Rodolfo asked Manuel if he knew of the song “Stairway to Heaven,” and Manuel said no because he heard that it had subliminal messages in it, which Rodolfo, who eats sleeps and breaths 70s Brit Rock, thought that pretty much epitomized Manuel’s view of the world, which is accurate, but that isn’t to say he isn’t a wonderfully nice guy. Rodolfo, on the other hand, wears black flair jeans, has tattoos on his arms and chest and neck, and has two different pairs of cowboy boots. He spends his free time reading about conspiracy threories on the internet, as well as modern history. And yet they get along extremely well, and enjoy my company as well! Go figure!

On Tuesday I had them both over my house for lunch, which was a lot of fun, especially when we started talking about fashion. Not only does Rodolfo wear cowboy boots, which Manuel thought was insane (and it is down here), but he also used to have dreadlocks, which is also weird around here. But what I find most amusing is that here, the general word for any weird, outdated style is “hippie.” You wear cowboy boots? You are a hippe. You have flair jeans? You are a hippie. You wear all black? Well, I guess you are Goth or Emo according to them, but in a hippie way. I don’t even think that cowboy boots were that popular among hippies, but regardless, I enjoy hearing the hippie idea being kept alive, even if they say it “ee-pee” as if it rhymed with tee-pee.

Anyways, next Monday Manuel is going to be playing at the Jazz night, so Rodolfo and I are excited to see him play there (although swing music he said, no Christian rock). Also, Manuel and I have made a semi-tradition of getting cappuccinos at McDonald’s after work sometimes. The first time we did it I told him it was the first time I had ever stepped foot in a McDonald’s in this country, but they have a NesCafe machine, so the cappuccino is a super sugary delight! I think we are going today after work again.

Ok, well let’s move on . . . School has been good. My class of little kids if extremely challenging, but a good experience, and I do like the kids, they just behave like little monsters. We had our first exam on Thursday, and some did really well and some did terribly, I mean the best was 96 and the worst 25, so a large range. I feel that the bad grades were somewhat due to my teaching ability, so I’m going to try some different techniques before the second exam and see how it goes. My conversation students are brilliant and pass their exams with ease, but that isn’t due to me since they already learned all their English, they just practice with me, but it does make me feel good to know how much they adore me . . . which is a lot. Who knew I was so cool?! Well, at least to 14 year olds, I am.

Next Friday is the school’s annual graduation, and my 40 conversation students will all be graduating (although the end of the semester is about a month later), which I am excited about. This Saturday we have a pre-graduation activity day, in which all the graduating students play English word games and such. And then next Friday, after graduation, the school is having a teacher’s dinner, in which everyone gets all dressed up for, so don’t worry, I’ll take lots of photos!

Speaking of photos, you will have to check out the new ones I am going to put up because they include Halloween!!! At school we had a Halloween party in class, and me and one other teacher were the only ones dressed up, but I had a great time anyways. I was a cowgirl, thanks to a borrowed cowboy hat, borrowed belt, and borrowed cowboy boots (Rodolfo’s boots, actually!) I played Halloween games with my kids, like hangman and a spooooooky charades, and my favorite wrapping each other in toilet paper to make mummies.

That evening Anne, dressed as a hippie, and I went out with our friends and we were the only people dressed up in the bars, but we had a great time anyways and our costumes were fantastic, if I do say so. Richard used pencil to make himself a zombie, DP drew all over his arms and face to make himself look scary, Angel dressed like Michael Jackson, but with a mask, and Alex went as Hunter S. Thompson a la “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” All in all we looked pretty darn festive!

And yesterday we were going to make sushi, but the sushi store was closed (as is everything on Sundays), so we ended up making a delicious (and vegetarian!) meal of whole wheat pasta with walnut pesto (which I made from scratch!) along with baked eggplant, carrots, tomatoes, and green peppers and some green beans as well. We also made a fruit salad and Richard made Oreo pie, which is basically what is sounds like. However we couldn’t find whipped cream, so we had to use whipping cream, which tasted not as sweet, but much fresher! I’ll put up some pictures of dinner too, which started off a little disastrous since the powr went out so we did most of the prep work in the dark with the aid of my keychain light and another battery light.

Speaking of which, lately the power has been out a lot, like up to 18 hours sometimes. They say there isn’t enough oil to make the energy, but who knows. You make do with what you have. On Tuesday at school, the power went out about 3 times in 40 minutes, and it was too dark to continure teaching, so we would wait for a while and it would come back on, and them some classrooms had light and others not . . . who knows why, and eventually it was fixed. Ah the developing world, what more surprises will you pull out of your hat?!

Ok, well this has gotten quite long, so I’ll end here. Needless to say, it is still super hot here, and I am having a blast! Hope you all had a happy Halloween and I cannot WAIT for tomorrow!!! I told my friends we are having a party if Obama wins, and if McCain wins, I’m not moving back to the States :)

photos!

2008-10-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

hello everyone! just a quick note that I will be putting photos up on my gmail account, so you can see them there. here are some so far, some i already posted here, some new. some that i posted here didnt work so i thought this might be better. enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjjjules/JuliaSAllInclusiveGuideToTheDominicanRepublic#

2008-10-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hola todos!!! Como estan?!

Aqui todo me va muy bien aunque me cansan mucho . . . Sorry, anyways, sometimes it is easier for me to write in Spanish because that language is first in my mind right now. I was thinking about what language I speak more right now, and it is definitely English, since I speak it with Ann, who lives with me, and at school, but I do speak a lot of Spanuish as well, obviously. And it thrills me every time I easily understand what people say to me, when before I would have felt lost and done just a lot of smiling and nodding.

So yes, as I said in Spanish, things are going really well here, although I had been very tired last week from working so much. This last week I had been working all morning (8:30-12:30) in the day care and then all afternoon in class, and class at night also on Tues and Thurs. Luckily on tues and thurs I had exams to give, but I have just been SO tired lately. Thursday especially, I could feel it from the moment I woke up, so I took the night off, and didn’t anything except drink a LARGE cup of hot hot tea and watch the game between the Rays and Red Sox. Although the Rays lost in the last two innings, I was PSYCHED that Tampa won the ALCS!!! wahoo!! And the World Series begins tomorrow . . . the baseball never ends!!!

Last week and during the weekend it was a bit rainy, I thought we were catching some of Hurricane Omar, although people don’t get all flipped out about the weather here like they do in the states. Or maybe it’s because a real storm hasn’t passed over us since I’ve been here (which I am the first one to take credit for!) but I only know about hurricanes when I am watching CNN, not the Dominican stations. Anyways, it wasn’t the typical tropical downpour but just bits of rain all day, making everything muddy and SUPER slippery because for some reason, all the concrete here has zero traction and many parts of the sidewalk downtown are made of tile . . . real safe. And I’m trying not to wipe out like I did a few weeks ago at the gas station across from my house--I was walking back from getting ice cream with a friend and this concrete becomes a veritable ice rink when there is the slightest bit of condensation from the amount of oil that is on it. So I am usually extra careful to not step on the wet parts, but who knows what happened, next thing I know I’m lurching forward and feel straight over . . . in front of the line of taxi drivers. graceful. I still have the bruise to prove it, although it wasn’t photo-worthy, or you know I would be showing you all!

So working at the daycare has definitely been too much for me, I just feel tired all the time, and I don’t have time to do anything else really. I felt like I had been going non-stop since last Monday morning at 8:30 from day care to classes to planning for classes to going to the gym to trying to find time to talk to Fausto along with his crazy schedule, and still trying to see friends. There hadn’t been more than 15 minutes all week when I wasn’t doing something.

Two weekends ago was really fantastic, I wish they could all be like that. On Saturday both my classes had exams so I didn’t have to plan a lesson, just give oral exams, which was monotonous but brainless, which was good because I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. Saturday is my night to get dressed up and go out because Sunday I have nothing to do, the only day of the week that I can say that. So we went out to the local bar with a bunch of friends and had a few drinks and danced till close (which I did barefoot after a few songs because my shoes were not cooperating), and then went back to their house and hung out till 3:30am! For those of you who spend any time with me going out on the weekends, you know I like to be in bed by midnight usually! Must be the air here. Anyways, Sunday was BEACH DAY!!! I got up at 7:30, but hey, you can sleep on the bus and on the beach. First, I would like to give a perfect example of why planning anything with Dominicans is maddening--we agreed that my friends would come by my house at 8am and we would go to the bus station. Now I knew they wouldn’t be ready at 8, but just in case, I always, in my super-efficient American mind, want to be ready. Well nothing at 8, nor 8:15, so at 8:20 I call Richard and he says “oh yeah, are you ready yet?” I’m thinking OF COURSE I’m ready, I was ready 20 minutes ago. So I go down to their house and they are just waking up and showering. Regardless we go to the beach with plenty of time, and was SO hot, and the sun was SO strong that the water was fairly warm, which was nice. We swam, slept, and ate delicious fruit (mandarin oranges and pineapple) and sweets (of coconut and peanuts) and empanadas made from yuca, not bread, It was generally a perfect day, although in the afternoon the sun began to get too hot to not be in the shade. And yes, I did get crispy even with my spf 45, but it already is a tan, not a burn. We had a bit of an adventure catching a bus home which involved walking to a different station about 15 minutes down the highway . . . and it was raining. But we got home fine and then Ann and I made pizza for all of them and we had 4 delicious pizzas for dinner, one of mozz and basil, one veggie, and two pepperonis, deeeeeeeeeeeeeelish! These boys really like to cook, which is rare, and very nice, and so we have started cooking with them a lot. On Tuesday night we made pasta with them, a white sauce with veggies and chicken, and I made garlic bread with oregano. We are planning on making sushi soon too. AND we are going to have a Halloween party at their house, so if you have any costume suggestions that aren’t too involved (they don’t have costume stores here), please let me know!

Speaking of holiday stores, I feel like I should wish everyone a Merry Christmas because all the stores already have decorations. I’m sure it’s the same in the States, but at least in the US There is a buffer zone of Halloween and Thanksgiving . . . here it is a straight shot to la Navidad, which apparently they start celebrating as soon as December hits. I’m sure in December I’ll be writing a lot about that. Everyone says I really shouldn’t miss Christmas here, but I explain to them that missing Chincoteague is just plain not an option.

This weekend was a much calmer, Friday I was in bed by 11:30 because it was the end of that insane week of daycare and classes. Saturday classes were fun, I absolutely LOVE my students. Saturday night we went to this tiny little carnival thingy next to the monument. Think of a dinky local carnival, but third world style . . oh yes, that good. So me and Ann went on the “Giant Roller Coaster,” which was about as big as a large truck and as tall. However, we had the best time going round and round in circles on the “roller coaster” amd it was well worth the $2. Sunday I slept in till 11am, which was beyond divine! I spent some time on the roof tanning and reading and in the afternoon I met up with a friend from work and we got ice cream and hung out at his house for a while. It was SUCH a relaxing day and so far this week I have felt SOOOO much more rested. I have time in the morning to go to the gym and read and plan classes and generally relax. Today I had lunch with Fausto’s mom and best friend, which is always nice, and she is a wonderful cook.

Well, that is all for now, I’ll upload some photos ASAP for you to enjoy! Miss you all!

Oct. 9

2008-10-10T17:04:00.001-07:00

Hello! I have some free time right now (Thursday morning) which is nice, I feel like I’ve been running around non-stop for the last two weeks. I didn’t expect to be working so much, but since I was subbing at the daycare AND teaching classes AND handing out grades, as well as having to plan my classes that I had, I was so busy! And I was not happy about it! Not that I was unhappy, but I’m not here to be working constantly. Actually this morning I got a call from New York Center asking if I could sub again at the daycare, I think just for this day, not a period of time, but I said no because I was going to be doing some work with Leo in EMPRENDE. We were going to go to the store of one of the people in the neighborhood, but Leo called me and said he couldn’t go. I could have gone by myself, but I have two classes this afternoon and I hadn’t planned either of them, so to be honest I was relieved to have time to plan them. One of them is the “How to Survive” class, which I have been teaching for a few weeks now. The students are very motivated, but on Tuesday I got SO frustrated with them because they just weren’t understanding what I was trying to teach and I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t let them see how frustrated I was, but I was going crazy. It wasn’t their fault, obviously, nor mine, it was just one of those things that happens sometimes. Anyways, hopefully today will go more smoothly. The other class I have today is a class of ten year olds who don’t speak a lick of English, so I am a little anxious about that. My anxiety is augmented by the fact that I don’t yet have the CD that accompanies the books activities nor the posters that go along with it. And since none of the kids every have the book the first day, that really limits what I can do in class. Did I mention that the class is 2 hours and 45 minutes? Oy vey! I think I planned enough though, to keep the class going regardless of the lack of any supplies.

Also, as many of you know, today is Yom Kippur. Although I won’t be able to go to synagogue (I don’t think there is an actualy synagogue in Sosua, just a Jewish population and museum, etc, no official synagogue anymore) I am fasting, and I’m trying not to drink, although in this heat, that is difficult. So far I have been good, just sitting on my bed under my fan makes it more bearable. But after 6 hours of class, I might be feeling differently.

I’m glad that this Saturday both my classes have exams, even though I know my students aren’t excited. But that means that I don’t have to teach or plan a class, just give the exams. And then on Sunday Ann and I are going to the beach. FINALLY!!!! And that evening we are planning on making sushi at a friend’s house. Sometime in the next few weeks, I plan on going to Santo Domingo to visit my friend Marla, and I should call Jenny’s family too and try to see them for dinner or something.

The community service hasn’t been as active as I wanted, but that is partly because I have been so busy, and because I don’t really have a specific goal in working with them, I just want to be there to help, so I might try to talk to Leo and see if there is a project or something I can work on, rather than being in limbo.

Oh! I bought my tickets to come home in December, I’ll arrive on Dec. 21 at night and leave Dec. 30 in the morning. I hope to be able to see all of you. I’m thinking about spending the first few days in Baltimore and the last part in Chincoteague. But don’t worry, I’ll make time to see everyone!

last set

2008-10-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

My host sister, Lenissa, and Ann, the American student living with us.

Kittens!!! Their eyes weren't even open yet! They belong to a friend.

We went swimming in the river on Sunday. It was cleaner than it looks :)

More river.

2008-10-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

Typical Dominican sidewalk. Sometimes it's there, sometimes not. This is along my walk to work.

Baby coconuts!!!!

Drying clothing on the roof of a house.

Yes, this is the view from my dining room. Look at those avocados!!! And to the left of it is a guava tree!

photos part dos

2008-10-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ah, El Monumento. Ain't she a beaut?!

I liked that the lan.guage institute had a typo

In a photo exhibit about a resistance movement against the dictator Trujillo, one of the signs is painted on wood.

photos!

2008-10-08T17:18:00.000-07:00

Sculptures outside of the Monument

A "cañero" cutting sugar cane

Baseball. It's gotta be. These are all made from metal and are huge!

Oct. 8

2008-10-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!! Sorry I haven't osted in such a long time, I have been extremely busy at New York Center, as you will soon read. Also, I've been having problems with the internet, so that makes things more difficult too. However, the good news is that I am going to upload some pictures that I have taken. Nothing too exciting, but enjoy anyways :)

(As you will see, I wrote this blog two days ago and am just posting it now)

On Monday morning I got back from the gym and saw that I had 6 missed calls, all from New York Center. I called them back and they desperately needed a substitute for the daycare they have there in the morning. I said that I could help because working in a daycare was something that I ACTUALLY had experience in! Well, let me just say that this daycare is nothing like Twice as Nice, where I worked before. One big difference is that in Maryland, there has to be no more than 2-4 kids per adult, depending on the childrens’ age. In this daycare there are 3 teachers and 30 students!!! All between 2 and 5 years old, which developmentally is a huge difference. To be honest, though, the teachers do an excellent job working with the students, and sometimes it devolves into chaos, but a controlled chaos. This week we were learning about Hawaii, so we made leis and grass skirts with the kids and did the hula, which was cute. Also, after the morning snack, each teacher has an hour with a smaller group of kids to do a lesson. I didn’t know this when I agreed to help, I thought I was just babysitting, basically. Well luckily I have the oldest kids, so the easiest to work with for me, and this week we learned the letter D. Next week is the letter E. I don’t know how much they learned with me, but we had fun. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is my last day before the normal teacher comes back, and I’m looking forward to having my mornings back, but the kids are cute. But let me just say, learning their names is not easy, especially when they have the most random selection of names: Lyhan (pronounced “lion”), Ciel Cheri, Endrick, Ashmely, Asheiley, (and would you believe that the last two are sisters!) Kendy, etc. The names here seem to be getting stranger and stranger: Jamilka, Leynis, Anias, Analky, and it goes on.

The New York Center is in between semesters right now, so I spent every afternoon there giving out grades to the students. It is a pretty inefficient way to get grades, but since they don’t do it online (they don’t even have a webpage) it seems the best option. I had a nice time chatting with the other teachers and got paid to basically sit around and do nothing, but I was at New York Center all day every day last week, so I’m looking forward to a little time off. And when I mean little, I mean just the mornings. They gave me my schedule, and it was going to be 3 MORE 3 hour classes on top of the 3 I already have, and I would have been working till 9pm each night! I talked to the director and told her I felt overwhelmed before the semester even started. We decided I would drop one of the classes and so now my schedule will be as such: Mon-Fri 3-5:45, as well as Tues and Thurs 6-8:45 and Sat still 8:30 to 11:30 and 2:30 to 5:30. The new classes I have is a beginning English class with 10 year olds, and then another conversation class with teenagers. So I guess I am looking forward to them, I just don’t like the 3 hour format.

Annnnnnnyways, enough about work! Let’s talk about some fun!! Well one thing that was not fun was the 24 stomach virus I had last Thursday. I have no idea where it came from, but I was totally useless. But once it passed, I felt great, so that was that. The night before I went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth with my friends, in 3D!!! Here the movies cost about $1.80 on Mon though Weds. The other days they are almost $3!!! So pricey! On Saturday we went down to the local bar where they had an open bar special and had a few of our new favorite drink: Rum and passion fruit juice. Oh my god it is delicious!! After that we went dancing and had a generally fantastic, albeit sweaty, time. But the best part of my weekend was on Sunday. I had wanted to go to “the river,” or a place that you can swim in the river that flows through Santiago. In most places it is incredibly dirty, but apparently here you could swim. My friends and I decided to meet at 11pm, so Ann and I made pancakes and eggs beforehand. It was raining, but we went to meet our friends anyways. Well, of course they weren’t there. They were sleeping. I saw the little brother of one, and he took us to his house to wake him up, and at about 12:30 we finally got on out way. It was really easy to get there, just hop a concho for about ten minutes, walk down this little neighborhood and walk under the bridge. It looked really dirty because the rain had washed a lot of dirt into the water, but when you held it in your hand, it was clear. So I thought, well at least I can’t see any of the chemicals. There wasn’t really a beach, but there was, of course, a bar and billiards room, and people had set up little make shift ovens by the river and were cooking and drinking. I don’t know why, but no one here swims in swimsuits. Men swim in their underwear and women swim in tank tops and shorts, even jeans sometimes. Anyways, we were there for a few hours, I got a little crispy from the sun, but we had a good time. That afternoon I took a nice long nap!

And that brings me to now, I am about to head out to the Monday Night Jazz shows at the theater. Tomorrow is my last day subbing in the daycare, which I am kind of sad about, but I’ll be glad to have my mornings back and that means I can begin working with the community program again too.

Oh!!! I bought my tickets back home for Christmas!!! I fly in and out of BWI, which is GREAT and I arrive Dec. 21 and leave Dec. 30. I have a layover in San Juan, PR both times, and a friend of mine here who is Puerto Rican said he will come get lunch with me at the airport both times since he will be there then. If there is time, we might even go around San Juan a bit!! Pretty awesome!!

Hope everyone is well!!! And happy birthday, Sam!!!

Also, ps. Happy one month anniversary to me being here!!! That flew by so fast!!!

Sept. 28

2008-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Happy almost Rosh Hashanah!!! On Tuesday, I am thinking about going to Sosua, a beach town on the North coast, that has a very small Jewish population. There is a Jewish museum there and I think there is a synagogue, so I might go look for that to see if I can go to services. Why, Julia, you might be asking, is there a Jewish community in the DR? Funny story! Well, not funny, but a story. During the Holocaust, Rafael Trujillo, a terrible dictator in the DR, wanted to repair his humanitarian image with the world after having massacred tens of thousands of Haitians in the few years before that ( we are talking 40,000 or more). So he decided to let in some Jewish families and allow them to settle in this town, which was not anything like the tourist destination it is now. Anyways, they worked with a group in New York City to facilitate the visas and transportation, etc. About 200 Jews ended up coming and most moved to the US once the war was over, but a few stayed and some married Dominicans. Trujillo also tried to repair his image by letting a small group of Japanese move to the mountains of the DR, thinking they would know how to farm in the colder climate, which they did. Needless to say, it didn’t do much to repair his ruthless image, but it was a life-saving action for the Jewish families, regardless of intentions.

Soooooo, what have I been doing the last week? Well I have been a lot busier that I thought I would be, since I only teach 12 hours a week, but I’ve managed to keep myself fairly occupied. Ann’s birthday was really fun, we had cupcakes at lunch with the family and that evening we had cake at a friends house and went out for a bit afterwards, she had a really good time. On Wednesday we were going to go to the beach, but we woke up kind of late and it was supposed to be really rainy at the beach because Tropical Depression Kyle was passing over. At least I think it was that. CNN Español had a map of the Caribbean and there was a huge storm over the DR and I thought, “hm, that looks interesting, I’m sure I’ll find out first hand what that is!” Anyways, it was rainy all day Wednesday and Thursday, but other than that, Santiago didn’t get too much rain. Instead I did absolutely nothing all day and it was wonderful! In the afternoon I went with Ann and her boyfriend to a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that she had been wanting to try. The food wasn’t great and the menu was pretty small, but the tea was DELICIOUS. I had green tea with jasmine leaves and Ann’s had rose petals! We also got steamed veggies with “carne de soya” as they call soy . . . but it was terrible. As her boyfriend said, it tastes like rubber. And let me tell you, he is right. I understand why there aren’t vegetarians here, the soy is awful! I haven’t seen any tofu here and this place apparently had veggie burgers, but I was a little afraid to try it. But the carne de soya looks and tastes like rubber.

On Tuesday and Thursday I had my “How to Survive in the US” class and I think it is going well. It’s hard to teach grammar when I know HOW it works but I don’t know WHY. My class spends a lot of time asking me why Enlgish is so crazy. But my students are very good and dedicated and we have a good time. On Friday I ended up going to New York Center again to help give oral exams all day. It was interesting to see how other students spoke, especially since they were at the same level as one of my classes, but it was tiring. I was there for three hours in the morning and then from 3-9 that night! But the director, and my boss, said she was really glad I could help and that I was really intelligent because I wrote good comments on the students’ performances.

Oh! On Monday night we went to the Gran Teatro de Cibao for their weekly “Lunes de Jazz.” It doesn’t take place in the main hall but the side bar, like a little jazz club. One of the american students in Ann’s program plays drums with them sometimes, so we went last week and had a really great time! There were a bunch of Dominicans there, but a lot of white people, which is pretty rare in Santiago, I think it must be written about in some tourism guide or they could be students from some other exchange program. Anyways, the jazz was great and they did a lot of improv and we had a lovely time!

Yesterday evening, a really good friend that I had here, another american student, Marla, came to visit. She si teaching third grade in Santo Domingo right now, so we decided we would try to see each other every month, switching off her coming to Santiago and me going to Santo Domingo. We went around and saw my friends, who she hadn’t seen since studying abroad, and then today she saw some of her other friends. It was so nice to see her and I can’t wait to go to Santo Domingo to visit her! Beofre she left we went to get ice cream at Helado Bon, which I hold as being the best ice cream on earth, but I hadn’t had a cone yet since I had been here! Crisis averted. Now, we just need to get me to a beach and I will be all good!

So this week looks like more of the same--classes and planning for classes and hanging out with friends. Next Sunday I’m hoping to go the river near here where people go swimming, we shall see. Also I should find out my schedule for the new semester of daily classes that are starting October 6th. Anyways, that is life for now, routine but great :)

sept. 21

2008-09-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Well first things first, I am feeling MUUUUUCHO better than I was the last time I wrote here. The next day after I last wrote, that Thursday, I unfortunately had to get up early (and karaoke went late the night before at the bar down the street), but it was for a good reason--I was going to observe a class that was teaching basic English, so I could learn how to teach one myself. The teacher was really good and lively and I learned a lot and stole lots of his ideas, and they worked really well in my class that evening! That afternoon I ran some errands, and that evening I had my class. I started from the very beginning, with numbers, vowels, and classroom objects. I had about 5 students, which was fine, it gives each student a lot more time to talk and practice, and they don’t feel as shy about asking me to repeat things or explain things. Actually, I really like that many of them aren’t shy at all about words or asking for me to repeat. And its funny the things that take them longer to understand. For example, they can memorize vocabulary easily, but it took longer to explain that you see through a window, and not at or in. And I try my best not to say the word in Spanish. It also took a little while to explain how we write addresses in the States. Anyways, I really like all of my students and they work really hard, so I try to make class as useful as possible.

Friday I was going to go to Expo Cibao in the morning to help out, but I woke up completely hoarse. I didn’t feel as feverish or sick as I had the nights before, but I thought it better to stay home and not talk. In the afternoon it was a little bit better, so I went to Expo Cibao and stayed for a few hours. There weren’t too many people, but it was a weekday so that was expected. The booth looked really nice, but it felt like a sauna in there. I have yet to understand how Dominican women don’t sweat, they look hot, but they don’t sweat. Meanwhile I am dripping. Anyways, right before I was going to leave, we had a downpour that was so hard, you couldn’t hear anything inside the pavillon for the tin roof, and water mist was wafting inside from the wind.

On Friday night, the brother of Ann, the student who lives here, arrived and we went out and had a great time, except that the music was really loud so I was yelling and knew I would regret it in the morning, especially since I had two classes to teach the next day. Not only would I not have a voice, but I would be really tired since I am can’t sleep till the bars close (2am) on the weekends, and I get up at 7:45 for class. But both of my classes went REALLY well, much less nervous than the first time, much better prepared, and much more confident. I even planned too much and ran out of time! I had to speak loudly because the noise from the fans and the noise from the street, and every time I would try to say something at a higher pitch, I would just squeak, and my students would laugh. But I am happy to say that I am enjoying classes MUCH more than I thought I would. Not that I expected to dislike it, but I really do enjoy it. The students are fun and work hard and are well behaved and it’s fun to see them working and learning.

So Saturday night, I was totally hoarse, but I think I am probably one of the worst people to be hoarse because I just talk anyways, but I had a fun-filled evening and didn’t get to sleep till 2:30! A good night. The next morning, Gloria, my host mom, left for Yonkers, to work there for 2-3 months. It’s much quieter now with her not here, and poor Lenissa is worried that no one will look after her, since her father is about as caring as a rock and about as considerate to his daughter as he would be to said rock. Anyways, she is dealing with it, but I can tell she is really sad.

On Sunday me and a few other american friends went to Expo Cibao to walk around a bit more, and it was BEYOND crowded. Not only was it a Sunday afternoon, when no one has to work, but also the last day. It was so hot and the pavillons were so humid, but it was fun, although we didn’t stay too long. We went by EMPRENDE’s stand and it was packed with people, which made me happy. I went back this morning to help pack everything up and take it down, and Leo said they did really well selling things and made lots of good contacts. So this morning, yes, lugging heavy displays and all sorts of stuff makes one very sweaty very fast. And then when one rides in the back of a pickup truck while it is raining . . . Well let’s just say that I was sweaty, then wet, then muddy, then crusty. It was fun though, not too comfortable in the back of the truck, but fun!

Tonight I think I’m going to the theater here because every Monday is Jazz Night and somehow one of the Americans students got connected with them and now plays with them. And then tomorrow is Ann’s birthday and Wednesday is a holiday, so we are going to the beach. And I cannot tell you how thrilled this pale girl is!! I’ve been here two weeks and no beach yet!!! It’s blasphemy!! So it’s shaping up to be a good week.

Hope all is well with all of you!!! Let me know how you’re doing!

LA GRIPE!!!!!

2008-09-18T12:33:00.001-07:00

I love that word! (pronounced gree-pay) Here you don’t say I have “a cold,“ you say I have “the cold,” which to me is much more ominous. It sounds like some kind of horrible monster that attacks you! It actually just means a cold, and it is what I think I am getting right now L But I’ll get to that later.

So where did I last stop? Oh, Sunday morning, when poor Lenissa was beyond exhausted. The night before Gloria, my host mom, had left for the capital because she had to drive to Punta Cana the next day (Sunday) to pick up Tia . . . Well her aunt technically, but we just call her Tia. She was here when I was studying abroad and checks out at about 4’5” . . . as Lenissa said, everything about Tia is super chiquito, she is just so tiny, but cooks AMAZING food. Anyways, since Gloria is leaving this Saturday for Yonkers for three months, Tia came back to take care of the household. Anyways, they didn’t get back till late Sunday night, and Ann was on an excursion all weekend, it was up to Lenissa and I to forge for ourselves. Well, we didn’t do too bad considering, I made mashed potatoes, a veggie stirfry thing, and we had bought some chicken and made a salad too. Seeing as how it was only the second time I cooked here ever, and it was twice in one day, I’d say we ate pretty well.

But on to more interesting stuff than gastronomy J Monday I really had literally nothing to do, so in the morning I went to Canaé to use their internet and ending up running into a bunch of friends who were coming back from the gym. Apparently there is a guava tree right next to the bar, so they were on the roof throwing them down. Daniel handed me one, and I didn’t even know what it was, none the less how to eat it. I don’t know how many of you have seen a guava before, but it has similar texture of skin as to that of an orange, and I had no idea what was inside. I asked them how to eat it, and they said “However you want!” . . . great help. So I bit into it and it was SO bitter, I thought, oh silly gringa, you can’t eat the outside. But inside the skin is a very thin pink layer of fruit and then another ball that is surrounded by seeds similar in texture but smaller than pomegranate seeds. Inside of that is lots more of the pink fruit, but the one I had was really bitter, so they brought me a riper one and it was DELICIOUS! Albeit a bit of a strange experience eating the skin and the seeds, but it tasted really good, and was fresh off the tree! That afternoon I went back to Canaé because they guys had this Dominican movie called “Ladrones del domicilio,” or House/Home/Address thieves, which is actually still out in the theaters, this was just a bootleg copy. Anyways, knowing Dominicans, meeting at 3 didn’t mean three, so I left my house around three and got there around 3:10. There were a bunch of ym friends there, but not Daniel, who I was waiting to watch the movie with. Well Daniel, who was supposed to meet me there, comes wandering up at 4pm. I was giving him a hard time for being late he said, “I’m not late, we said around 3, 3:30, so I’m not late.” Gotta love ‘em! So as we are about to watch the movie and the skies just OPEN up. It was raining so hard that we couldn’t even here to movie. For some reason there were English subtitles, I don’t know why, so I could half-understand what was going on, and Daniel was just staring off into space. The copy we had had definitely been filmed in a movie theater, so the sound is all weird, as are the colors, as are the people coughing next to the camera man. So after about 10 minutes, we just stopped it.

Now let me just reiterate what I mean by the skies opening up, because it is quite an experience. What’s been happening all week is that it is BEYOND hot in the morning and afternoon, I mean you can feel the sun heating your skin, it is really uncomfortable. (What is nice about being in a valley is that there is very little humidity, so standing in the shade is much cooler, which is why you notice everyone walking one side of the street!) So anyways, around early afternoon, the humidity starts to steadily climb, and these GIGANTIC thunder clouds come rolling in over the mountains. One side is always VERY dark, and you can here the thunder claps for sometime two hours before it rains. And then a little cloud might pass, sprinkling a bit of water, and then BAM! Tropical downpour. They last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, the longer they last, the more overwhelmed the sewers get and the more the streets flood. An umbrella helps in this situation, but only goes so far. If you can, you roll your pants up to mid-calf or higher, and expect to get your shoes soaked, as well as your legs soaked from raindrops bouncing off the ground. Although they are really difficult of you are not under cover, or if you are poor and live near the river which always floods, if you are sitting inside, or on a balcony, there is nothing I love more than listening to the downpours, or aguaceros, as they call them here. Anyways, they usually leave as quickly as they came, no lingering showers, and the whole climate is changed--the air is cooler, the humidity is gone, and the evening is really pleasant.

Anyways, Monday night I ended up at Canaé again, big surprise. Oh! One important thing, right before dinner I got a call from Rafelina, the director of New York Center, called and asked if I could come by at 8:30 the next morning, there was a class she wanted me to teach. Now luckily the class wasn’t until 6pm, but she wanted to give me the books so I could plan. The class is called “How to survive in the United States,” and it is mainly for students who are going to the US for an exchange program. So I arrive at 6pm to the classroom, and the book, although it had all these basic numbers and letters excerises, actually started with basic conversations, so I thought they would be fairly advanced in their grammar and vocab and such. So there are five students, and as I start to speak, I quickly realize that their English is not very good. I’m trying to get them to do basic conversation exercises, and it was like pulling teeth. Not thaGrt the students were bad, but that they just didn’t seem to understand me, so my lesson plan was out the window by that point. So we make it through the first half of the class (a three hour class) and I sent them on their break and went to Rafelina’s office and told her how they didn’t understand me at all. She said “Of course not!!! You have to start at the VERY beginning!” Well I have NO experience teaching in a language that my students don’t understand, so I just decided I would start with the numbers, letters, vowels, etc. Well Luckily Raphy asked me to substitute another class that was beginning then, and I happily accepted! First I went back and told the students in Spanish, “I am SO sorry! I had no idea the level of English in this class, and now on, we will start at the beginning.” They looked relieved J

Substituting was fine, the students ranged from high school students to adults, and they were very talkative and well behaved. We did a few activities and talked about sports, so that was pretty easy for me! I came home after that and went down to the bar right across the street from me and played Dominos till closing time. They were trying to teach me strategy and scoring, but that is much more complicated that the basic rules of the game. I think one of my favorite things about playing that that after the first few rounds of just placing the dominos on the table, they feel the need to slam them down. I mean really slam them, to the point that it will mess up the board . . . And they all do it, it is a funny sight to see . . . Machismo wherever you look!

So that takes us today, in which I didn’t do much. I had to run some errands downtown and then I went to visit Fausto’s mom, he had sent me a package there. After lunch I went over to the University to use my computer and Leo, who now runs EMPRENDE, called me to ask if I could go to his office, grab some papers for him, and bring them over to the Expo Cibao. Now what is Expo Cibao, you might ask? Well it is the yearly convention for the entire region. This year it took place at this HUGE space in a neighborhood called La Barranquita (I love saying that!) with an amphitheater and four different pavillions (pabellones). Anyways, every type of business and service you can think of offered in the region is there with a stand, and it lasts from today (wed) to Sunday. It is a huge event for EMPRENDE because they can not only sell some of the art that some of the EMPRENDE members make, but they can also advertise EMPRENDE (although the focus is selling stuff). So anyways, I had to take a concho in a direction that, in all my time here, I had never been through. I was surprised how quickly the neighborhoods because poorer and dirtier and more crowded. When I finally arrived at the Barranquita, they were blasting music so loud that I could barely hear Leo to find out where their stand was. Anyways, I was only going to drop off the papers, but I ended up spending the whole afternoon there helping them set up. It was fun and it ended up looking really nice by the time I left. I’ll probably go back there a few more times to help man the booth.

So back to the gripe! Look out! Anyways I woke up this morning with a sore throat and throughout the morning I started to feel more congested and achey. By lunch time I didn’t have any appetite, and after working with EMPRENDE all afternoon, I felt a bit feverish. Luckily Tia used to be a nurse, so she said that it was a fever, just a cold virus that is going around right now, which is true, I know a few people that have had it. It doesn’t seem to last very long, which is good, so I just need to drink lots of liquids, and I bought some pills at the pharmacy, no Tylenol here, so here’s hoping it works!

I’m not going out tonight because I just feel too icky and I have to observe a three hour class tomorrow morning and teach one in the afternoon. And, if I feel good enough, I was going to go back to Expo Cibao. So we shall see, think healthy thoughts for me! It’s strange to have a cold and fever chills when it is in the 90s!

Sept. 15 . . . but written yesterday . . .

2008-09-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!!

First I wanted to thank everyone who sent me birthday wishes! It meant a lot to me!! I was really excited to see them. I especially want to thank Jaime who used her students to draw in gigantic letters “Feliz Cumpleaños Julia”! And then she sent me pictures of them! Tax dollars hard at work ;)

Anyways, before I get to talking about my birthday, I want to tell about my first day teaching! Well before the first day teaching, I got to observe a class, thank goodness. So Friday night I went down to the Institute and observed a FANTASTIC teacher teaching the same level of class I was going to be teaching. He was extremely dynamic and really good with the students, and then he was like “Ok Julia, your turn to teach,” and I was like, uh that’s not such a good idea. And at first it was totally terrible, not terrible, but the students looked at me like I was from Mars. He then gave them a little assignment, pulled me aside, and explained to me that I need to talk REALLY slowly. I know my family, especially my uncle Jerome, will appreciate that comment. He also gave me some really good suggestions for getting students comfortable with talking, because the whole class is based on conversation. There isn’t any grammar to learn and the only vocabulary learned is in regards to whatever topic we are discussing.
Anyways, he gave me some great ideas, and watching him really helped me feel a little more secure about the next day, when I had two classes to teach, each three hours long! This was Friday evening and my first class was at 8:30 am on Saturday, so I went home and did my best at making a lesson plan without really knowing what a lesson plan was or how to make it. I had the book the students would be using, but most of them weren’t going to have the book the first day of class, so I had to make a lesson plan that wouldn’t involve them needing the book and that would take up to three hours. Anyways, I wrote out about two pages of things to talk about with them. After that I went down to Canaé to hang out for a bit, and I learned how to play dominos, which, besides baseball, is the Dominican national passtime. I don’t quite understand the scoring, but playing is easy enough, except that a 10 year old kept beating me. Anyways, I went home fairly early because I was going to have to wake up at 7:30 to get to class on time. However, apparently even Friday night Fogon, the bar down the street, has a concert, and they don’t close until 2 am. And my room faces the bar. So I tried to sleep with my ear plugs in, I even tried to sleep in a different room, but alack and alas, I didn’t fall asleep until 2am. Let me tell you, five hours of sleep and a boat load of nerves does not make for a fun birthday morning! In fact I was way to preoccupied with class to really even feel like it was my birthday, it was just too much going on. But sure enough, in the concho ride over to class, Fausto called and wished me a happy birthday, which made me really happy.

So on to the good stuff! My classes! My first class was a basic conversation class of young adults, some college students some older. There were supposed to be 10 people in the class but only 4 came, which I was actually fine with because it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as it would have been to have a large class. I followed my lesson plan for the most part, and I tried to talk as slowly as I could, and they were very good about asking me to repeat things if they didn’t understand. We spent most of the time talking about the difference between an interview and a conversation, but I think I overwhelmed them with work because they told me as much at the end of class. I just need to find a way to go even slower over the information.

In the afternoon I had a class that was two levels higher than the first class, and they were all teenagers, around 15 or 16 years old. There were more of them, about 14, and they were really fun. They were extremely well behaved for a hot Saturday afternoon, and they were really fun. I learned a lot just from my first class and I went eeeeeevvveeennn sllllooooowwweeerr with them over the information--we spent most of the time talking about “successful” and “unsuccessful” conversations, whatever that means. In the end I had them write and act out an example of each and they seemed to have fun with that. So overall I would say both classes went pretty well considering and I think the hardest part is over.

On Tuesday I have an official orientation with the program director in which she is going to give me a lot of advice and strategies for teaching a class, so I am looking forward to that. And then I will start observing classes during the week to learn about them, especially ones that are more basic, that teach mostly grammar. All the classes are taught in English only, and they strictly enforce that, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. And October 6th is when weekly classes start. I will be glad once they start because I will have more to do! I mean as much as I love sitting around, it gets lonely.
So, onto my birthday celebrations! After the second class, I came home and talked to my mom and grandparents on Skype,which was really fun except for the static, but otherwise very well. A friend of mine liked hearing me speak English and sat next to me the whole time even though he didn’t understand a word! I was supposed to get dinner with my host sister after that, but she had some huge fight with her boyfriend and then left around 7:30 for I didn’t know where. So I hung around the house waiting for her to come home, and at 9:30 I was about to leave to go down to Canaé when she called and said she was coming home and weanted to know I still wanted to do something because she did. She apologized and said that she was still planning on doing something with me, she just had to deal with this first. Anyways, it was too late for dinner by the time she got home, around 11, so her friend Juan-Luis came by and picked us up and we went to McDonalds to grab a snack, and then to a liquor store and had some drinks and then to a dance club where we stayed till 3 am. The whole evening was not at all what I expected, but I had a great time with them and it ended up being a fantastic birthday! So even though I was awake for about 20 or 21 hours straight, I had a GREAT time!

And poor Lenissa, my sister, had to work this morning at 7:30 am, and had mentioned the night before she wanted panckaes and eggs for beakfast, I had told her I would make them for her. Well needless to say, I have never cooked a single thing here in my life and it was an interesting experience because their kitchen is not what I would call organized. However, I did end up being successful and she was really happy this morning when I walked down to Fogon, where she works, with a plate of pancakes and eggs. In fact, I am about to go back down there to hang out with her a bit more.

Hope everyone is well!!! Miss you all!!!

sept 11

2008-09-12T09:32:00.001-07:00

So I wanted to update, although this won’t be posted till tomorrow (sept 12), but I did learn a bit more about what I would be doing at New York Center. So yesterday afternoon I went over there to take the teacher’s grammar exam, and out of 100 questions, I got 99 right, although the one I got wrong actually had an incorrect answer, but regardless, they were extremely impressed so that made me happy. After that I talked with one of the program directors for a while, and she explained what I would be doing in a lot more detail. Basically I will be teaching English on Saturdays to a pretty high level of students, probably adults and older teenagers, and the class would be more conversational than anything. She said classes are to be taught in 100% English, and they get upset if they see Spanish on the boards or if they hear Spanish in the classrooms, I was like fine with me! I can speak English pretty well. She also said that although weekday classes don’t start until October 6, I will be spending a lot of time observing classes, which I was happy about. Tomorrow I am to swing by there to get the books that I am going to be teaching as well as get a few more details and then on Tuesday she is holding a two hour orientation which will have a lot of more information, such as pay and I think I get health insurance. I do know that the pay is about 90 to 100 pesos per hour ($3) and I will hopefully be working 15 hours a week, which would be 1,500 pesos weekly, or $180 per month! I’m in the money! But that should be enough to cover my expenses, and that is all I really wanted. Other than that, they really have all the resources I will need: books, posters, flashcards, cds, movies, etc. the classroom situation seems pretty laidback and they said the students are pretty well behaved, at least for the adults. They want me to learn how to teach a whole range of classes so that I can help to substitute, so we shall see how well that goes . . .

Most of the teachers right now are dominican, and there are a few americans, and the director said more would be coming soon, in the winter. I asked why winter time, it seemed a strange time for teachers to come, and she said that most of them were witnesses like her, and I was about to say “witnesses to what?” and then I realized she meant Jehovah’s witnesses. I thought it kind of a random match of JW’s and New York Center, but who knows. Anyways, I think most of the English teachers there right now are JW’s too. Apparently they have a Hall here in Santiago. Now I understand why lots of Dominicans thought I was a missionary when I was studying abroad here.

So I am looking forward to start doing that, but I am also really nervous, but I think observing classes will help. Yesterday after the grammar cexam and talking to the director, there was a teacher’s meeting which I went to in order to meet everyone. It was supposed to start at 6:15 and I think we got started at 6:30, which would have been fine if the meeting lasted an hour, but the meeting lasted about an hour and a half and then after that we had to play a 45 minute game in identifying correct ways to speak English because some of the Dominican teachers make mistakes. They were getting REALLY into it and me and a few other americans were like, please lord let us go home! I hadn’t eaten dinner yet and it was already really dark outside and I was still downtown. Now, unlike American cities, downtown Santiago becomes a ghost town at night, and it is anot a good idea for people to be down there, especially white women by themselves, so I was not to happy about having to stay. Anyways, finally the meeting is over and I book it out of there, pepper mace in hand, and I luckily got a concho immediately, but not without trepidation. So I don’t plan on that happening again, I already told them I don’t want to teach the evening classes because they don’t end until close to 9pm. They said they understood, for safety reasons, so I’ll be teaching a combo of 8:30 to 11:15 and 3 to 5:45 classes. Each time block containing two classes.

As for occupying the rest of my time, today I had lunch with Fausto’s best friend, Leo, who now runs EMPRENDE since Fausto isn’t here and they work in the same office. He seems beyond stressed with it, but that is in part because next week is the Expo Cibao, which is a state-wide expo in which lots of people come to sell itmes and promote businesses, etc, and EMPRENDE always goes to sell crafts as well as promote not EMPRENDE itself, but the businesses that are part of EMPRENDE. Leo is still looking for patrons to support their stall as well as a plasma tv to rent to project things or something like that. A bit was lost in translation. Anyways apparently all the plasma Tvs in Santiago are rented right now, so they might have to see if there are some available in the capital. Aside from that, Leo and I talked about how I could help with EMPRENDE and it looks like there are a few local fairs coming up as well as a series of workshops that he wants help with, so I’m looking forward to getting into that.

Tonight I’m having dinner with Leo again, at his house, which will be fun because I’ve never met his son, Fausto’s godson, who is two years old and from pictures very cute.

Sept 10

2008-09-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Dia dos!!! It’s funny how when you travel, one’s sense of time is thrown off, or maybe one is just more aware of each moment that passes. Regardless, I already feel like I have been here forever, but that always happens when I come back to a place--I feel like I never left. Though a lot of things have changed around here, mainly more development, higher prices, more people. I went downtown today for this first time this trip, always an adventure. Well not so much being downtown, but getting there . . . Getting anywhere in the conchos is always an adventure. For those of you who don’t know, a concho is a brilliant, albeit perilous, form of public transportation. They are normal cars, sedans, that are driven around the city on specific routes, each one circular, that intersect all over the city and run all times of the day. However each driver can drive whenever they want, so conchos can be hard to come by early in the morning, late at night, and, most importantly, at lunch time! They cost 15 pesos, about 44 cents, per ride (up 5 pesos from when I studied abroad here) and they let you off anywhere on the route, you just say “Before/After the intersection” or “whenever you can stop” and they swerve to the side of the road as fast as possible. Always good to keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle, which is not always easy considering the seating arrangements are up tp 4 in the back sit and 2 in the front passenger seat. The windows are always open, sometimes you can literally see the road beneath you, and often have to open the door from the outside hande because the inside handle doesn’t work, or the inside panel is totally missing and you can just see the shell of the car body. Another fun fact about conchos is that they don’t run on gasoline. This isn’t due to recent soaring gas prices here, this is how it has been for a while. Instead they use a bottled gas, whose name right now escapes me, but there are huge tanks of it in the trunk of each concho, strapped in sometimes with elastic bike cords people use to keep things in a basket. So suffice to say that a car accident could be pretty spectacular in terms of explosive power. Fun! But don’t worry, I have never heard of a concho exploding due to an accident, truth is for all that the people here drive like maniacs, there are very few accidents. Actually yesterday for the first time I saw a burnt shell of a concho. It looked totally crispy and there were a few people standing next to it, picking through burned items, particularly a very melted laptop. However no one looked harmed so I couldn’t really figure out what happened.

Anyways, on to safer and more pleasant topics . . .

I went to the New York Center today, where I will be teaching English. It was a fairly large place and I think now it seems to have been pretty useless of me to bring nice-ish, business casual clothing to wear for teaching because the dress code seemed to be a New York Center polo shirt and jeans. Luckily jeans a plenty I have here! So I waited for a bit to see the director, Rafelina, or Rafi, who seems very nice and was super welcoming. I was talking with her and another program director, he is in charge of training new teachers. I still have to return today at 4pm (although this will probably be posted on Sept 11, I am writing it on Sept 10) to take a grammar exam and then a meeting at 6pm of the other program directors, so that I can get to meet everyone and learn more about the school. So far it looks like I will be training for a few weeks and then daily classes begin October 6th. However starting this Saturday I will be teaching a class, but it is more like a conversation session, so I won’t be teaching as much as helping someone practice. They said I would be paid to be trained, but I don’t know how much, though better than what I am making now.

Alongside of New York Center, I will be working with EMPRENDE, the same program that I worked with when studying abroad, helping small business owners organize and grow, etc. Fausto used to run it, but now, since in grad school in El Salvador, his best friend, who one could call Fausto Dos because they have extremely similar personalities and mannerisms, Leo, runs the program and is more than happy to let me help. I am going to have lunch with him at Fausto’s house tomorrow. He also is a baseball fan, so I’ll have a buddy to go to games with! I wonder if he too like WWE . . . ?

One last thing, as I write this, the woman, well more of a girl, that cleans our house is mopping my room. It is the weirdest thing and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. My first indication is to say don’t worry about mopping now, but she is supposed to, and I feel like I should offer to help, but that would be totally useless. It’s just a really strange feeling having someone working in your house all day while you go about your own business.

Sept. 9

2008-09-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

BIENVENIDA!!!!!

I am BEYOND excited!!! Well, as you can guess, I made it to Santiago safely and even EARLY!! That is something pretty rare with air travel today. Also, Hurricane Ike took note and stayed far away from where I was. Miami was pretty cloudy and dreary looking, but if that is as bad as it got, I was content. While I was in Miami, Ike was bashing Cuba with 50 ft waves and was supposed to hit Havana sometime tonight, it was moving pretty slowly. However, 900,000 Cubans had already been evacuated, and once Ike left the eastern side of the island and moved west, the evacuees would switch to the eastern part. It’s kind of like a strange line dance. Anyways, I’m sure you are all fascinated in my meterological commentary, but suffice to say that there were few clouds over Santiago, no rain, but some of the coolest clouds I had ever seen while flying around the outskirts of Ike.

So, onto to Santiago!! I love flying in on a clear day or evening because we come in over the north coast, which I know very well from the ground because that is where all the beach towns are, and I love playing the game of trying to identify as many towns and roads, etc as I can. The country was looking very well!

And the BEST BEST BEST part was that my luggage arrived too!!! Ok, maybe not the best, but besides Ike, my luggage was my highest point of anxiety. What I was not expecting was that my host family would not be at the airport. Oops! No, it was fine, my phone worked so I called the house and my host sister was on her way to get me, she got there about 15 minutes later.

So then I was back in La Lotería, my barrio sweet barrio. The family situation changed a bit: my host mom, who used to work at an insurance company, quit her job recently over disagreements with her boss, so at the end of September she will be going to Yonkers, or “Jyonkers” as they say, to work at the friends restaurant. But who will be taking care of us and making sure we don’t get too rowdy over here? Well that little bundle of energy my Tia Cristina! She is my host mom’s aunt and she was here while I was studying abroad. She is the one who claims she cooks healthily because she doesn’t fry food, she just cooks it in oil. Anyways, although I am sad that Gloria (my host mom) won’t be here, I am more than thrilled to have Tia here. Gloria should only be gone for three months, but who ever knows . . .

Also we have an American student here! Her name is Ann and she attends Davidson in Raleigh, NC. She so far seems really nicr, Lenissa (my host sister) said she was a bit quiet, but she seems fine to me. She has been here since June 1 and did a summer semester with ISA (the same program I was on) and now she switche dprograms to CIEE to stay another semester. So now I’ll have someone to go to the beach with! She is staying in my old room and I am in Gloria’s room and for now Gloria and Lenissa are sharing a room. I actually like this room, it is abit bigger and it has a dresser, which the old one didn’t, and more windows and a nicer TV.

As for my neighborhood, it is the happening spot! The bar down the street was renovated and now it has lights in the sidewalks and white cushion benches and all sorts of fancy stuff. AND the smaller bar next to it is now a liquor store, but with a huge sitting area outside with music. So basically it is a bar, but instead of ordering a drink, you buy a bottle and they give you cups. It’s called Caña Liquorstore. One word. In English. I know.

But of course, as some of you know, my favorite bar, Canaé, is a few blocks farther into the neighborhood, and of course I had to pass by there last night. A bunch of my friends were there and were thrilled to see me, almost as happy as I was to see them. As they walked me home they wanted to know what time I would be there tonight. I told them after dinner and Joel (pronounced Joe-elle, a very latino name) said that he makes great food (he is the cook there) and that I should come for dinner instead. And when he says great food he means hamburgers, fries, and cheese steaks. I promised him I would eat there soon. They also were excited that I was back in the same house because when I studied abroad here, they used to through little pebbles at the window when they passed by. So when rocks start coming through the windows, I’ll know how it is.

So now I am totally unpacked. Lenissa helped me last night while updating me on her problems with her boyfriend, always good to have a sister again! Especially her. When she was leaving she said, “I’m so happy you’re here. I forgot how much I missed just talking to you.” She also approved of the shoes I bought J

So today I am going to wander around town, getting a few things and visiting a few people, and just generally enjoy myself! I’ll head over to the New York Center tomorrow, where I will be teaching English soon. As for the phone situation, right now my American phone works, but all calls cost me $1.99 a minute, and that is American dollars, not pesos! Ay dios mio! J The bar down the street does have wi-fi so I should be able to Skype pretty easily, except in the evening because one of the lovely things about living next to two bars is the music . . . the competing music . . . that lasts until midnight. You know, I must say I am glad that bars now have to close at a certain time or else I woud never sleep. (if you plan on visiting me, bring ear plugs, they are the best item I brought!) And depending on which way the wind is blowing, the music interchanges. Gotta love this place, no?

One last thing, well two, that I am excited about, a fruit stand opened across the street from me. Well not so much a fruit stand as a table with a bunch of delicious fruit on it. Second is the avocado tree behind my house is in beautiful bloom. I will be eating avocados from here until the trees stops bearing them. THEY’RE ALL MINE!!!!!

Ok, one last thing, I promise. Just to show why I love this city and this neighborhood so much, and why I feel like such a part of it. I ran down to the store next to the bar last night to get a phone card to let my parents know that I was alive, I was walking past the bar and ran into a really good friend of mine who I hadn’t seen since I left study abroad three years ago. I was SO happy to see him. I love this place!

PS. In case of emergency, you can call my cell phone and I’ll put up my DR cell number once I get it. And if it’s really important, my house number here is (809) 971-5857.

Hasta luego!

Are we there yet?!

2008-08-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Family and Friends!!!

I wanted to write a little something whilst I am still in the US so you can all practice checking this with regularity :)

To be honest, since I really have no idea what my schedule will be or my ease with using the internet, I have no idea how often I will be able to update this. However it could be fairly often because I can write them on my laptop and then upload them to the web whenever I am able to use it.

Wow, this blog is already off to an interesting start! Don't worry, I promise it will be more interesting once I am actually in paradise!

Fun fact: Santiago is also know by Dominicans as the Ciudad Corazon, which means "city at the heart" more or less, referring both the to fact that is lies in the middle of the Cibao Valley and somewhat in the center of the country, and also referring to their passion for all things of the heart, love, and romance.

Anyways, enjoy for now and next week in Santiago!