First Impressions... Gut Reactions.

Hola!

                Greetings from the Dominican Republic! Sorry this wasn’t updated on my first official day, but we were having some trouble with the internet. Luckily, the family I am staying with has a son that is extremely good with computers and came to the rescue today to fix it.

                For those of you who aren’t aware of the travel day I endured to get here, let me break it down for you. Friday night I departed Boise at 7:45pm. I arrived in Salt Lake City around 8:45 and chilled, drank some Starbucks, caught up on Facebook and Pinterest until my flight boarded at 11:20pm. I then flew to New York for a 7AM departure to the Dominican Republic. I arrived in Santiago around 11:30AM, got my tourist visa, went through customs, grabbed my luggage, went through more customs, and then proceeded to step into the hot, sticky air of Santiago, Dominican Republic. I looked for a “familiar” face (one that looked at me like they knew me) for a few minutes before someone recognized me: the mother of the family I am staying with. She grabbed her car, we loaded my bags into it, and drove down the crowded, chaotic streets to my new home for the next 7 weeks.

                Upon our arrival home, I noticed two things. First, the front door is more like a gate than a door. Second, there’s a pug! It was love at first sight. Not only do they have a pug, but they also have a great Dane. A little contradictory, but so classic.

                My host mom then showed me to my quarters: a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment connected to the rest of the house. I ate lunch with my  host mom and then ran off to unpack and take a quick shower and nap before doing anything else too productive. Then she showed me around town a bit as we got some groceries. Later that evening, we returned to the airport to pick up the teacher from SCS (Santiago Christian Schools) who also lives with them.  When we arrived, the area where travelers arrive was extremely empty and so was the parking lot—which is weird. We walked up to check the monitor and it said “Delayed” (except in Spanish). I was able to access internet on my phone for a few minutes there as well, and Audrey had messaged me saying that her flight wasn’t arriving until 9:30 pm. Since it was only 8pm, we decided to return home and eat some supper. At 9:30, we went back to the airport, only to find out the airplane was delayed again—this time only by 35 minutes. After picking up Audrey, we returned home, talked for a bit, and then I headed to bed.

                This morning I woke up at 9:45am—a solid 10 hour slumber. I showered, realized I still didn’t have internet, had a cup of coffee, and caught up with Audrey on things about the school, life in the Dominican, and got to know each other a bit better. Later this afternoon, the rest of my host family arrived and my brother fixed the internet dilemma! I spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know them a bit— seems like a legit family. J

                Here’s a few of my first impressions about the Dominican Republic. The drivers are crazy. The people dress like they’re always going to meet their soul mate anywhere they go. They have a store like CostCo called PriceSmart—complete with hot dogs and pizza. The water is not safe to drink—good to know. The weather is legit. Everyone apparently thinks New York is another word for the United States. 

For now, that's all I have. Tomorrow I'll start my student teaching session, and I couldn't be more excited...or nervous. Here's to 3 1/2 yrs of education and praying for the best!