One-week-iversary

One week ago, we arrived in Santiago, and since then things have been going well. I'm getting used to the idea that there are things that I like but also things I still need to adjust to.  I have been staying relatively busy, but also taking some time to take siestas and walk around our balcony in search of wireless signals.
My birthday was on Sunday, and that was a nice, but rather long day.  I have a lot of trouble sleeping in here so I got up early and tried to go on a run with another girl from my program, but we were unsuccessful because the university was closed and we couldn't get to the track.  We took a walk together though and later in the afternoon I hung out with Danica, my neighbor from the program. I really enjoyed reading all the messages sent from friends at home, it was certainly a highlight of my day.  Later in the evening, we went out for birthday dinner at Domino's Pizza and my little sisters played on the outdoor play-gym thing. At night, I went out for a low key evening with some of my friends from the program who brought me a cake with candles.  I had missed chocolate so much! Basically it was a good day, but generally an awkward time to have a birthday, so I'm a little relieved to not have to think about it anymore.
My little sisters started school yesterday, and I, in turn, have registered for my classes.  I am a little unsure right now about my schedule, particularly in terms of credit transferring, but I am sure it will all work out.  Right now I am signed up for Hispanic literature, Gender and Society in the Caribbean, Community Medicine, Introduction to Healthcare, and Independent Study and a guitar class.  All the classes, excepting guitar, are designed for non-native Spanish speakers so I hope I will not be too far out of my league. I'm looking forward to having a more stable routine, although I am sure the first few weeks of classes will be hectic while everyone tries to sort out their schedules.
Other than that, we've been doing little culture activities which have included a dance class, a visit to a jazz club, and a trip to a cultural center.
Things at the house have been pretty stable, except for the indoor plumbing which has been sketch the past few days. I have taken a few bucket showers and been using hand sanitizer without reservations.  I am still figuring out family dynamics here and my role in them.  I say this because every day I come home and have comida (more or less at lunch time, but with dinner food), which Pedro and I normally eat together, sometimes with the girls, but always in relative silence.  I want to respect his space, because as a doctor I am sure he needs a break in the day to recharge and listening to a foreigner struggle with basic communication doesn’t really fit that bill-- but it’s a little weird. My family is very nice though, and have been great about giving  me vegetarian food and letting me have a flexible schedule.
Tomorrow is an early morning though, and I got up early today to give running another try (slightly more success although between the traffic and sidewalk quality it's not much of a stress reliever) so I'm going to go to bed!
I haven't been taking many pictures, but I'll work on getting some more up.

Santiago-->Jarabacoa

 Julissa and me

Today was a very good day. For one, Julissa told me she loves me. It’s so soon…but when you love someone, why wait?
 We also went to Jarabacoa, a part of the country known for its rivers and waterfalls, it’s in the mountains that surround Santiago.  The bus ride there, we had to sit next to an estudiante de apoyo who explained a list of classic Dominican phrases to us.  I was with Joseph from Haiti, helped explain the Dominican accent (which involves cutting off a lot of words off and not pronouncing the letter s, so the phrase “vamos para ese sitio” is said “Vamo pa ese sitio) as well as some key phrases.
Our first stop was a coffee factory where we took a tour.  I legit didn’t understand most of it, although I eventually learned the word for coffee bean and coffee grounds.  Next, we went to a waterfall and at first, the water was so freakin’ cold, but once I got used to it, it was really refreshing.  I swam under a waterfall  and climbed on some super slippery rocks, all without incident.  Joseph however, very nearly drowned.  He didn’t know how to swim, but made it out to the waterfall with help but on the way back there were 4 people out there helping and it was not a pretty situation.  He played it cool on the ride home though.
Our last stop was La Confluencia, and as the name would indicate, it was the confluence of 2 rivers, one of which may or may not be the biggest in the DR, depending on the accuracy of my listening comprehension.  We weren’t there very long but I didn’t have a fabulous impression of it.  On the way home, Lilly, the program director, bought me pink roses for my birthday and everyone sang for me, which was nice.
When I got back from Jarabacao, I visited the family of my padre, Pedro .  I was really not feeling another trip,  but I thought of all the times people advised me to say yes to everything,  and I ended up going. Dontcha know, I had a great time.  His mother’s house is beautiful and she has this two story garden-patio full of orchids, a grape vineyard, a cherry tree, an orange tree, bananas, and doves.  10 points for the upper-middle class! I also got to pet an albino rabbit. His mother and brother also host foreign exchange students, so I got to meet both of them which was fun. 
On the way home we stopped at The Monumento which is in the center of the city.  It was originally constructed of Trujillo, by Trujillo, and for Trujillo but since then it’s been restored and apparently reclaimed and is this park where a bunch of people were hanging out. There was a great sunset, and it’s built on a hill so it offered a great view of the city.
Word of the Day:
Picado= bite,  like of the mosquitoes that are causing the dengue fever epidemic here.  Pedro is a doctor and part of his job is to go around and educate people in high risk areas of the city about how to prevent mosquito breeding, etc.

Puerto Plata --> Santiago

Oh man, it is nearly impossible to believe that three nights ago I was living the life Columbus, OH style. So much has changed that I feel like there must be something more substantial than a few hours separating me from the rest of my summer. Things are going well though, and I am already with my family in Santiago. We spent the first night at a resort in Puerto Plata, which is on the North-western coast of the country. The flights were fine, although I was a little shocked because after all the stressing I did over getting a visa, I was the only one on my program with one and everyone else just paid $10 and flew on by. There was a consolatory free rum stand right after that though, which helped.

The resort we stayed at was very nice, and I got my own room, which also gave me a little space but made it a little harder to meet people. There are a lot of people from Wisconsin on this trip, which is funny. I got to go swimming in the ocean and it was so clear and warm. There was also a mountain very close with clouds obscuring the top. It was so relaxing and a nice break from the chillier, weed filled lakes of MN. We also did some orientation activities, but information is given in huge chunks and it's a little overwhelming. I’m definitely going to struggle more on the Spanish front than I anticipated. I think I’m either rustier than I thought or just never knew as much as I thought. The prospect of being in a normal university class and expected to do readings and write papers is really scary.

This fear was not abated by a show we went to put on by the resort. Before the real show began emcee did a little shtick where he pulled some “gringos” from the audience onstage and made us repeat after him. I made it through a few sentences, but then he pulled out some tongue twisters and I was done for. Much to the audience’s delight, he decided to give me a handful of other chances to redeem myself, but, to put it delicately, I was unsuccessful. D’oh!

But I met my family yesterday and they seem very nice. I am at their apartment now and things are going smoothly, although I'm still trying to figure out their schedule and my schedule. My mother is a lawyer part-time and my dad is a dermatologist, but he's doing a lot of epidemiology work with the Dengue Fever outbreak in Santiago now. He invited me out in the field to educate people about how to avoid Dengue on Saturday, but I can't go, which is a bummer. They have 2 young daughters, ages 6 and 7 named Julissa and Perla. They are very cute and get along well, but I think I’ve already been through a few of the “stages of cultural shock” with them. They showed me some toys, we worked on a puzzle, and I had a meal at their “restaurant” but then I went to unpack and they joined me. This mainly involved them rooting through my suitcases, asking what everything was (trying to explain an eyelash curler was a doozy), throwing my Frisbee across the room, and finally zipping each other up in my suitcase and pulling it around. They are also not too keen on knocking and today i walked into my room and after a few minutes Julissa popped out of my cupboard. Holla!

This is turning into a monster, and I'm not sure if it is going to save based on the sketchiness of the internet, so I'mma call it a day here. We have also had very busy days and by the time it gets dark I'm wiped out. Try to understand and be understood is quite the challenge!

Guys, it's really not that far.