So, I am new at this whole blog idea. I´m also working on this on a computer with all the webpages in spanish so I hope I figure out what is going on! I will post pictures when I actually take a few around the city and at CSA (Community Service Alliance). I´m trying not to be a tourist yet until I figure out what is going on...besides...I stand out enough here.
My first day was pretty easy except for the fact that I was so tired from getting up so early and flying. The airport in Santo Domingo has been remodeled and looks insanely nice compared to the way it looked last year. There are tons of quotes with gorgeous pictures of the DR all down the halls and I almost didn´t even recognize the airport that I sat in for 2 hours last year waiting on our transportation.
Tony, one of CSA´s drivers came to pick me up at the airport and took me to my host family´s house. It was an extremely quiet ride because well...there´s that whole language barrier thing. Also, as I have now found out, his spanish is all slang so it makes more sense why I just sat there and stared at him in the car that day when he would talk.
Once I got inside my host family´s house, I realized that this was not going to be a Kenya experience...haha. There would be no mudhut, no 2 in thick dirt streets to trudge through to get work, and no lake water for drinking. My house here is actually pretty dang nice. We have a tv, dvd player, vcr, gamecube, and a computer. The only thing we don´t have I think is internet...which is probably good. My room is in the back of the house and is pretty tiny but it suits me well. I have a desk, a bedside table, and a bed...and my own bathroom and shower. The shower is insanely cold and I have to psych myself out every morning just to jump in it long enough to wet myself down, soap up, and rinse off. It´s quite a wakeup call in the morning considering my whole body is shaking after the experience. I have my own fan to keep off mosquitoes but I do honestly believe that I am living with Kamakazi mosquitoes that surpass all airspeeds just to feast on my face. It does not matter if that fan is aimed directly at my face or if it is at the highest speed possible...I will wake up with a swollen cheek or eye due to flesh feeding at night. I guess I taste good.
My first day of classes I learned public transportation...well...tried. I have the barriers of language, being a small town girl (not from a city), being in a new country completely, and being completely out of element going against me in my plight for learning the stupid buses and cars. I honestly think it would have been smart to try this with me a teeny bit later in my travels than on my second day...anyway.
So, let´s talk about public transportation in the city of Santo Domingo. To get from my house to CSA, I have to take either 2 cars or 1 bus and 2 cars. By car, it should take 15 minutes to get to CSA but since I have to stand out at the road and try to find a car or wait on the bus, it takes a lot longer. Being a gringa too, I have to fight harder for cars because Dominicans will push you out of the way to get into the car before you. It costs me about $2 every day to get to and from work so it gets expensive quickly if I have to do this every day for 3 months.
My first two weeks are intensive spanish only so that I can go work at the volunteer places and have functional spanish as well as work with a medical team soon. I never am completely sure what I am doing or when I am doing it because sometimes things change and plans have to be rearranged.
It´s frustrating not knowing a language and being a perfectionist, I want to know it all now! I want a Matrix program that can just be downloaded into me and ´pow!´I know spanish!!! (probably cheaper way to go as well!)
I will continue with updates I promise even though I am behind on this already! Blogs are new ideas for me!
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