Bienvenidos a la República Dominicana

Hola desde la República Dominicana!

I don't think I knew what I was in for.

The last few days have been absolutely overwhelming.

I arrived last Saturday about 3. I have to be honest, I stepped off the plane (and wiped the sweat off of my face and felt my pores clog with all the gunk and humidity, but I digress) and had a mini-panic attack.

Two other students and I were picked up from the airport by Marcos Polo (Yes, you can laugh) and I was taken to my host family. It took me awhile to figure out the family dynamics here because they are so different from the states. I live in an apartment with my madre, her 20 year old daughter Fanya, and a student who is here from NYU for two weeks, Victoria. We also have a doña, which is kind of like a maid; her name is Virginia. Here's where things get complicated. My madre's late husband died recently, so this is a new apartment for her. Her sister-in-law lives in the apartment under us. On the next street over is my madre's mother, my abuela. My abuela is also hosting a student from my program, Chris. My madre's brother, my tio, lives with my abuela. My tio's son, Valentin, also lives there. Got that? Basically, Chris is my uncle, and I'm his niece and that's kind of weird.

Anyway. The two other students who got here on Saturday (Ashley and Dan) and I went to Marcos' house Saturday night. He is our program director, and he's married to our resident director, Elaine. They have the cutest kids in the world! We hung out there for a little while and Rachel, another girl from my program came over. Rachel did the liberal arts program in Santiago last semester, so she's been here for five months already.

One of the questions I have been asked the most is “What are you going to do there?” It's hard for me to put into words, but I'll take a stab at it. I'm in the Dominican Republic through the study abroad program CIEE. My program is focused on Service Learning. In the mornings I'm taking classes at PUCCM University and in the afternoons, I have a service site that I will go to and become familiar with the community. Towards the end of the semester, I have a Capstone project that will unite what I've learned in the classroom with what I've done at my service site. Part of my service site is inventing a “project” that will cater to the needs of the community and the organization I work with.

For orientation on Sunday, we went to a place in the mountains near Puerto Plata called Tubagua. Tubagua was very Swiss Family Robinsonesque. We slept in a tree-house like cabana with a thatched roof. The view was absolutely AMAZING.

We met Martha before we left. Martha came to Santiago last spring in the Liberal Arts program and has been to the Dominican Republic seven times before. Needless to say, she knows what she's doing. On our way to Tubagua, we picked up Oliviaaat the airport. Sunday night we spent a lot of time getting to know each other and playing games that introduced ourselves. Stephanie was the last one to arrive Sunday night.

On Monday morning, we went through some of the basic information we need to know and some of the cultural stuff. Monday afternoon we left for the waterfalls. It was about an hour hike through the hills and then a ten minute walk up a river. Once we got to the waterfalls, though, it was totally worth it. We passed a little community on the way where men were scaling coconut trees and other men were cutting the peel off in the field.

And crossing the river:

I unfortunately don't have any pictures of the waterfalls. But, we jumped in them from above and swam in the water and it was absolutely phenomenal. Monday night we came back to our host families and I pretty much walked in the door and went straight to bed.

Tuesday morning we went to PUCCM to take our spanish placement test. It was pretty miserable. It was also my first glimpse of the 3rd world-ness of this country. It's shocking at first. We walk to school on a random footpath through a very poor community. I feel extremely safe and the people are very friendly and say "hola" as we pass. However, it's a community where the river is completely destroyed by pollution and trash. Later Tuesday afternoon we had a "treasure hunt" through the city in order to get to know the city better. In all honesty, I just felt lost. I know I won't get the city down until I actually walk through it (and get lost) a couple of times. Tuesday night we had "speed dating" with the Estudiantes de Apoyo from the university. The Estudiantes de Apoyo are students that want to help us integrate into the PUCCM community. It's a really cool concept and it helps us speak spanish better because we can practice with them. It's a great support system and they are always really enthusiastic. (Note: it wasn't really speed dating). Tuesday night I also crashed because I was so tired.

Part of the orientation process for service learning is visiting each site so we can get a feel for what each organization does and the general atmosphere of the place. We went to the hospital Juan XXIII and although I was interested in it, I didn't get the right vibe from the organization. It was too disorganized and not really what I was looking for. Wednesday afternoon we visited Cuidado Infantil, which I was also interested in. Cuidado Infantil is an HIV/AIDS organization that works in La Zona Sur, a marginalized area outside of Santiago. They promote health in general and go door to door to help with weighing babies, checking on children, etc. I got really attached to a child from the beginning and it's an organization that I'm definitely interested in.

Wednesday night my host sister, Fanya, took me and Victoria to a discoteca. We went with some of the other people in my program and from NYU. It was an absolute blast.

It's really hard for me to catch up on everything from the beginning to now, so I'll save the rest of this past week for another time. But I'll leave you with a few last things that I've learned:

1. Toilet paper CANNOT go in the toilet. It goes in the trash can. It's the weirdest thing ever.

2. Conchos are the major form of public transportation. They are cars that run on a set route and they are highly scary. (Don't freak out, Mom); In the front seat are 2 people, and in the back, four. And these are cars that are meant to have 1 person in the front seat and 3 in the back. It's a tight squeeze.

3. The roads have no lines. None.

4. Seatbelts don't exist in some cars. That's okay though because you're squeezed in so tightly that you can't possibly go anywhere.

5. Lunch is the biggest meal. EVERYONE takes a nap right after lunch. (In fact, the school has a siesta break).

Until next time, have fun in the snow/cold that seems to have taken over half the country. Nos vemos!