Day 1

I am super tired, but I should get this day down on paper anyway! Today felt like a dream, probably because I was so exhausted having just come back from a Christian retreat and not getting too much sleep in general. The plane ride was a lot of fun - the majority of the people flying were Dominican, and they had a ball up in the air. When we landed, they all erupted in a fit of laughter and cheering... it was pretty joyful. In my daze, I left my yoga mat on the plane, but I used the loss as a way to practice the virtue of detachment which I think will be useful while i try to navigate my way through this foreign place. This country is so beautiful! Everything is so colorful and I noticed while glancing out the plane window that the land was not divided up into neat, geometric rectangles like in America. The majority of the natural life is a deep, fabulous shade of green and there are trees and plants like I've never seen before. It all seems so healthy and alive despite the poverty around Santiago.

After the airport, we had a welcome dinner with our host families. My host mother is Caridad and she met me with her daughter Camila who is 6 years old and she sassiest little Dominican you ever want to meet. I love her! She showed me her ballet skills and I taught her how to stretch and made her try on one of my colorful skirts from back home. They don't speak a word of english though, so we didn't speak much at the dinner. It is extremely daunting being in a country where I don't know the language! But I find that I am not scared, like I thought I would be. I guess the residual effects of Antiochian Village have not worn off and I seem to be in a peaceful, grateful frame of mind rather than an uneasy one. Lets see how long I can make that last - hopefully forever!

At the lunch, I had yellow rice, amazing chicken, potatoes, Dominican bread, and a really awesome mix of plantane, banana, and cranberry. That was my fave! They also had sodas (sprite, coke, and orange soda) on the table and I had some orange soda (gasp!) They were playing American pop songs from the likes of Britney Spears and whatnot in the background, except they were all remixed in a spanishy mariache like style.

Then we dropped Camila off at a birthday party and drove home. They university is about 2 minutes away...pretty awesome. And my host family is apparently very rich. They have 2 workers, one who lives with them (he is a mute) and the other who comes in to do housework (he is literally crazy and frightens me a bit). There are also 3 maids who I have yet to meet. There are 2 sons... both my age and really cool, Camila who is 6, and a mother and father. There are always people here - this is the go-to house for social gatherings and Boliver (one of the brothers) told me that there is never a lonely moment here. They have a hot tub, a big screen TV, and all of the walls are open to the outside - so you are literally always outside here - how cool! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!

One of Boliver's friends came over and we drank beers, watched old school  MTV movies with spanish subtitles and a spanish reggaeton band, and I watched them smoke. Because we couldn't communicate verbally we typed to each other through google babel, this sweet site that translated for us. I learned a lot about him and the culture that way and I guess I am going dancing and maybe to the beach tommorow!

So far so good. My initial impression of Dominican's is that they are an extremely social, active, family-oriented bunch who value relationships and cook good food! I like that I am going into this experience with no expectations, as usual.

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.