Off to Muerto Plata

After a few fun days of being TOTALLY american in the capital (staying in a hotel...you have no idea how amazing a hot, non-bucket shower was for us..even the BOYS raved about it, Hard Rock Cafe, and yes, even McDonalds), we all had to sadly depart to our sites...ALONE!! I boarded Caribe Tours and headed to Puerto Plata which, in reality, is a really beautiful site because I am about 10 minutes from the ocean and, though I haven't been just yet, I hear that Playa Dorada, among others, are some really amazing beaches. I lovingly call it Muerto Plata, however, because I live in an extremely densly populated barrio and I would pretty much call it FULL of tigueres.
The house where I am staying now is, as they say, on the "patio"of the school...which is essentially its frontyard. Each of the 1,200 students conveniently knows exactly where I live and where I am at all times. I hope to have some pictures of my site soon, but I am experiencing serious technical difficulties at the moment. stay tuned for pics..i hope!

Bon Voyage

For our last get together with our families in Sabana de la Mar, we all met at our trainer's house for a typical dominican meal of rice, chicken, fish, salad, and tons of it. My super awesome family, however, had a "surprise"that NONE of us suspected. All of a sudden, a giant car pulled up with speakers the size of small refridgerators and started blasting merengue music. My host sister and a bunch of her friends came in, and started doing a typical merengue dance from Sabana de la Mar. After about 3 or 4 amazing dances, a crazy local band of guys came out and started singing and dancing. For the finale, my host sister and her uncle danced a really awesome salsa, and then the music continued playing so that we American dorks could dance to crappy early 90s music and love it. For only being there for five weeks, we had QUITE the going away party.
To top it off, Bam Bam somehow was able to convince the discoteca owner to cancel his usual Friday events (strippers) so that we could have a nice, healthy dance night instead. We volunteers, our profes, Bam Bam, Franklin, Sosa, and the rest of their crew were pretty much the only people in the whole discoteca, but it made for a really fun time. We all danced the WHOLE night and didn't have to be harassed by a bunch of chester molesters! I already miss sabana...and especially its disco! I'm really looking forward to visiting soon.

Where the Wild Things Are

So, we all new that this country was going to be full of nasty, creepy crawlers. It's part of the "growing up" process of the Peace Corps. The creatures that I hate the most, without a doubt, are the gigantic, hairy black spiders that put to shame ANY spider I have seen in the Northamerican Midwest. I believe that upon my return, I will embrace my little Chicago arachnid friends, thanking them for being smaller than a fist. Here, however, I still cower at the SIGHT of the black monsters and have lost many nights of sleep because the evil varmin seem to find their way into MY room everytime. Of course the other notable creature is the cockroach. Despite the fact that this insect has its own theme song, it is a repulsive creature. They ONLY come out at night and generally scurry whenever the lights come on as if they know that they are gross and should be killed. The worst encounter for me was definitely when I was sleeping in Sabana de la Mar, supposedly tucked safely in my mosquito net...when I woke up in the middle of the night to feel a freaking cockroack CRAWLING on me...IN my mosquitero. I have never felt as secure since!! I keep trying to think of that stupid movie Joe's Apartment where all of the cockroaches are cute and dance..but its not helping. Sadly, when I compare them to the spiders, I embrace them with open arms. I have yet to see a "cienpies"which are, reportedly, really huge centipedes that feed on human hair. My first encounter with one of them may be the day that I buy a ticket out of here...but vamos a ver.
Oddly enough, the only thing that dominicans totally hate are "macos"which is their common word for a frog or toad. I, of course, totally love them which makes for a really sweet time. I literally had my dona in sabana screeming and running away because I caught a huge toad while playing with my host brother. They think that they are the most hideous creatures ever...I think I should get one as a pet. And for the record, day one that I move into my house I am buying a cat and she is going to eat ALL of my spiders and cockroaches. gracias a dios for los gatos.

La Cicaria, Robin Hood, and |Mami No Te Vayas

As part of our festive last week in Sabana, Franklin and Bam Bam promised us a "safari"to the campo...and there was even mention of caballos. Though Robin had no intentions of riding a horse, Kelsi and I were super excited. In any case, Bam Bam, Franklin, Robin "Hood," Mami No Te Vayas (Kelsi) and I (la cicaria..which supposedly means someone who is up for anythign..but im not entirely sure. i just like it because its a nickname other than rubia), all flew to the campo in the back of the pickup truck. We got to see Franklin's family's campo..which was HUGE! They had cacao..which you can suck on and its like a candy, or you can dry it out to make chocolate. They also had four little lagoons, tons of fruit trees (lemon, mango, tamarind, guayaba, and a bunch of other things that i have never heard of) and a really awesome river...that they were "bathing" in...which pretty much just means rolling around on their stomachs. At one point, Bam Bam picked up a vine that he apparently intended to use as a LASSO to catch a random horse that was eating alongside the road but, unfortunately, the horse was sick. Later, however, we saw some guys on horses passing through the campo and they graciously came down so that we idiot gringas could prance around on their horses for a few minutes...which we did. And it was wonderful. I am definitely going to miss our safaris!

Psycho Beaches

As part of our last week in Sabana de la Mar, our super sweet trainer planned a trip to Playa Costa Esmeralda, in Miches. She called it "Psycho Beaches" which happens to be the exact same way that she pronounces our nickname "Psycho Bitches." The beach was so super awesome. There was pretty much nobody there, so we had the entire beach to ourselves. Bam Bam came, bringing rum and brindis of course. Franklin apparently was not allowed to come because, although he is 26 years old, his mother prohibited his attendance. Though we were later told that he was "sick." The beach was awesome..the sand was white, the water was like bath water temperature, and the water was so clear that it was like a freaking swimming pool. We had a picnic and played chicken wars in the water. I have pictures but am still having terrible luck finding a computer that works. Hopefully, they will be coming soon.