Blogs from Santiago, Dominican Republic, Central America Caribbean
May 3rd 2012
Buenos Tardes, Well, I am back on the road again! Except this time I am responsible for eight 11th graders from The Compass School (the high school I attended.) After a slight travel mishap we arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic last night. At this very moment, I am feeling incredibly refreshed. I just showered and changed my clothes for the first time in 72 hours. For future reference: DON'T FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES. When I say slight travel mishap, I mean there was a mechanical problem on our first flight which made us miss our flight to Santiago. It only took me singing two bars of West Side Story for the students to excitedly realize where we were headed. We decided to be re-routed to San Juan, Puerto Rico rather then spend the night in Miami. So ... read more
All's said and done...
Published: December 14th 2010Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » Santiago
December 14th 2010
I have complained a lot while I've been here in the Dominican. I’ve missed my family and my boyfriend like CRAZY. I’ve missed being able to choose what I want to eat for meals and when I want to eat. I’ve missed food from home-A LOT. But I expected that when it came time to say goodbye I would be a sad because I’ve made some INCREDIBLE friends here and my family has been really, really wonderful. I cried for the first time after saying goodbye to our friend Katy on the 13th. Luckily, then I was with 5 other girls who stopped in the middle of the sidewalk for a group hug. (See what I mean about incredible friends?) I thought maybe that would be it since whenever I have thought about saying goodbye no ... read more
It's been a looong time...
Published: November 16th 2010Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » SantiagoNovember 5th 2010
Sooo…It’s been quiiiite a while since I’ve updated my blog, so, unless you have a pretty good chunk of time, I would not start reading this! That is, of course, assuming that everyone who reads this will be so interested in my life that not reading the whole thing in one sitting is unthinkable. Just to warn you, I am now on to page 6 of a Word document, single spaced, TNR font, and size 12. So, really, only if you have time! Or if you're a fast reader. SO! I will begin with a trip that my program took about…over a month ago! October 1 is when we went to a city called Jarabacoa. We had our “base” at a hotel even though we weren’t staying overnight. First, we went to a coffee factory! It ... read more
Ohhhh, my dinner
Published: January 1st 1970Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » SantiagoSeptember 30th 2010
This will be of interest to you all, I think. Guess what sat out on the counter from about, I'm guessing 1 pm, when lunch was over, til about 7 pm, when I had dinner. If you guessed the ground meat that I ate for dinner, you would be correct. Guess what sits out on the counter at night to thaw. If you guessed ground meat, you would again be correct. My dinner tonight was carrot-rice, which also sat out, (and I didn't eat because I can't eat any more rice, unless it is white rice with lime, then it is ok. But carrot-rice, or corn-rice or "Chinese"-rice or any other kind of rice is no go joe) and I think it was ground beef today, with some kind of seasoning in it, and it ... read more
Pancakes in the DR= always something!
Published: September 27th 2010Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » SantiagoSeptember 26th 2010
So, about a week ago, I was having pancakes for breakfast again. Just sitting at the table eating away when a bird flew into underneath the overhand by the window. No big deal. A little bit later, a moth does the same thing. And it is not just any moth. I had seen the same one sitting out on the wall of the patio for a few nights but it didn't move, so I didn't really have an issue with it. But, the moth is AT LEAST the size of hand, width and length. This is NOT an exaggeration, I promise you. The thing is HUGE. So, I'm eating breakfast and I see it fly under there, right by the window, the open window, and I think to myself, "I sure hope that thing doesn't fly ... read more
Pancakes and hot milk...
Published: September 10th 2010Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » SantiagoSeptember 10th 2010
So for breakfast today, I had a pancake with syrup and my mom put cinnamon on the table for it (not cinnamon sugar so i didn't use it), and she put the cinnamon out in two containers, and then she had also set out a mug of hot milk, so i was just going to avoid the milk, but, i was getting so thirsty, cuz I didn't love the pancake, so I was needing something to wash it down with. So I sipped the hot milk once, and it wasn't that bad, just kinda no taste, really. And then a little later, she came out with sugar and told me, "Here is some sugar for your cocoa." Turns out, the second container of cinnamon, the one in a dish, not in a sprinkling container (like that ... read more
August 26th 2010
Helloooo again, So, three nights ago I was brushing my teeth, mouth washing, just hanging around in the bathroom swishing, looking around, still getting acquainted with my environment, and I look over and THE HUGEST SPIDER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE WAS CRAWLING TOWARDS ME ON THE WALL! I am not exaggerating when I say that thing was the size of a TARANTULA! It wasn't hairy, but my that thing was GIANT. Well, my contacts were still in, I wasn't wearing shoes, and everyone except possibly my host brother but his door was closed and I wasn't about to knock, so I spit that mouthwash out asap and ran OUT of there! I had to run back quick, :( to grab my contact stuff and close the mirror, then RUN to my bed where ... read more
August 23rd 2010
Hello everyone! I am in the Dominican Republic, safe and sound, and very hot! I got here without any trouble! I was nervous because in the ISA pre-departure information it said that you should have a note from the doctor for prescriptions explaining the large amount, which I didn't get...but, it was NOT a problem at all. When we got to the DR, me and the four other girls on my flight, we paid for our tourist cards, then they took it right away and put it into a machine, and then we got our passports stamped, AWESOME, and then we waited for our luggage, and then we waited in a super long line to "go through customs," but to go through customs, we literally just handed them a sheet that we'd filled out on the ... read more
I didn't know sitting could hurt - Santiago
Published: January 29th 2011Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » Santiago
May 3rd 2010
Okay, so we left Playita Bonita on a concho and the man dropped us off at what seemed to be an abandonned gas station and he said all these pick up trucks go to Sanchez and from there you get a bus/gua gua to Santiago. Right. So as we pull into the gas station there's a truck leaving so we jump in the cab with a couple other locals. It was fun to ride in the back with the wind blowing through our hair and it was really nice outside. I wanted to ask the other locals how much they should charge but they didn't seem very friendly so I didn't. When we got to Sanchez I just gave the driver what I thought the price was and he didn't say anything so that was probably ... read more
After my first weekend
Published: August 25th 2009Central America Caribbean » Dominican Republic » Santiago
August 25th 2009
I just experienced my first Dominican weekend these past two days and it sure was an experience! It was great! Friday I went out to a bar with my American friends and then to a discoteca (a dancing club?). It was kind of stressful because we were a very large group and it was hard to handle what everyone wanted to do. It was full of lots of drama and I really didn't enjoy it so much. But dancing was fun! Saturday was the best night of the weekend though! I went out to a bar and a discoteca with the two daughters of my family and a few of their friends. It was so much fun! We danced and had lots of fun talking and meeting new people. Yesterday I registered for classes of which ... read more
