For Jacobs birthday I tried to be a good sister and send a little card. It didn't go threw so well because he didn't receive the letter until a month after his birthday. My favorite part was when he told me he loved the envelop the card was in so much he hung it up on his wall. Don’t worry Jacob I’ll bring you home a little bit better of a gift than that. I have missed the birthdays of every member in my family but will try and make it up when I come home. I’ve started collecting little gifts for everyone so it can be a christmas/something from far away present.
I am a bit convinced my Spanish hasn't gotten as good as it should have by now. I think I need to put in more work on my skills but the one positive is my host dad did tell me I was speaking more fluently. My spanish may not be coming along as well as I hoped but my knowledge of this country is coming along great. I learn a great deal from our director Lynn during our culture class along with day to day activities. From Lynn I have taken in a lot about the the history between the Haitians and Spaniards and all the conflicts that went on between all of the different groups. From my day to day activities I take in my surroundings and discover all the little differences between the environment here and in the United States. An easy thing to pick up on here is that every street you walk down you wont be surprised to see so many strays wandering around. I hate it so much, it makes me sad and want to take them all home with me. Another little difference is that the gas stations here are actually only gas, they don't have a little market full of foods, drinks, and other items. Colmados are used for that here, they are commonly scattered throughout each area filled with snacks, drinks and other little commodities. Then there is one last thing I can think of right now and it is a bit dangerous. Only the person driving the car is required to wear a seatbelt. I can’t remember one time I wore a seatbelt here. Most of the time people are squeezing as many people as they can into the car without the worry of getting pulled over or having to use seat belts. It sounds bad enough but with the type of driving around here its even worse. I don’t think I would ever be able to or even want to drive around here. So much honking and close calls of collisions and it’s not nearly like driving any where in the States. The worst personal difference here is that I’m not able to wear perfume because ill get even more bug bites than I do now, I have to drench myself in wonderful smelling bug spray every day and the heat makes me drip in sweat. I’ve always had a fear of smelling bad and usually drench myself in perfume not bug spray so that part is not my favorite and is a bit f a struggle.
The weekend before this one for our culture class we took a weekend long trip to Santo Domingo. The son of the driver that takes us around was in a sever motorcycle accident, but Rafael, our driver still ventured to Santo Domingo with us so that he could have the money that he needed. One time during our trip I was telling him how sorry I was and how I had gone through a car accident as well. He went on to say how it was so hard for him in his heart and I responded with saying how much harder my accident was for my mom than me. When we entered Santo Domingo we stayed in a very clean, nice Hostel. Our first lunch there was at this very nice restaurant, where you sat outside over looking the ocean. The owner was a man that had started it all with a little cart on the side of the road. I hear he made the best sandwiches and always had many people coming to grab a bite of his masterpieces. A rich man once stopped by for a sandwich and raved about how he should open a restaurant. The man made it clear he didn’t have money for that and was rewarded with financial help from the man that suggested it. I had a great burger and an amazing glass of the juice of a bunch of different fruits mixed together. The trip went on and we visited a chocolate factory with delectable treats, a market where we could bargain for what we wanted to take home with us and an old sugar cane factory. We had little bits of history thrown in every where we went during that weekend. The sugar can factories were very historical and interesting. I would never have wanted to slave over that process like the slaves of that time were forced to. We also visited a place called tres ojos, which was a collapsed cave. There were three little lake areas inside, one was blue another was green and the last one was teal. The last day on the way home we visited this very important church of the virgin in white. It was a place up a mountain and there is a certain day where catholics will ask for something they need. In return for what they ask for they they climb up the mountain, on their knees and reach the top dripping in blood. We also got to take strolls around along the water and we could see the trash strewn throughout the water and along the beach. Lynn told us how the west side was good for going for a swim and the east side was where you would want to stay away from.
This past weekend there was a trip to a destination named Los Charcos de Los Indinos. This place takes a little hiking to get to and is commonly unknown to the people of the Dominican Republic. When we got there we had a lunch of the food we carried in with us. I chowed down on some backed chicken and fried plantains. We then went for a little dip in the cold water, that looked very dirty. I plunged in because Lynn said it only looked dirty because of the rain we've had lately but it usually was crystal clear. By the water when you looked up you would see a huge face in a towering rock. It was the face of the god that the Haitians believed helped them when they took a hallucinogenic at certain time throughout their life. It was a great history story and a refreshing plunge into chilly water.
Yesterday was Halloween, which is not celebrated here so I just sat in the living room watching baseball with my dad and sister. Tonight me and the other Gap year kids were invited to our teachers halloween party. Nikki and I will be going to that. I never thought that I would be venturing to my teachers house for a party, but hey she’s only 21 and like a friend.
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