Some basics

I am sitting in my room sweating and it is 9:30 at night. At this point in the day it is much cooler outside than in. The fan and my music tuck me into bed every night. Well by into bed I mean on to it. The only reason to use even the sheet is if you are worried about mosquitoes, who have found fresh blood in my legs. Oh the joys of living in a tropical climate.

So some basics. I’m living with a host family. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. I have a host mom, dad and three siblings, Angelo, Antony and Angelica. My mom works in the home and is taking some classes. My dad works a ways from Santiago and so is sometimes gone for days at a time. I’m not exactly clear on what he does. I know that it has to do with education; I think he is on some board of education, overseeing stuff. Almost everything is a guess these days. I can understand the basic ideas in a conversation but I often miss the details. Angelo plays baseball in the U.S. When his minor league finished he came back here. Antony goes to school with me at PUCMM studying engineering. They are both my age. Angelica is 14 and goes to the high school on the same campus as the university. Living with another family has been a little strange. I defiantly feel like a guest and I don’t really like that. I’m not use to people fondling over me, but it is getting better with time. I don’t do my own laundry, or ever cook, or clean, weird for me. As I get use to them they get use to me. I do what I can, but there is defiantly already a routine. This is defiantly a family who doesn’t live without, although might be considered part of the Dominican Republics small middle class. I have learned almost more about wealth as I have about poverty. Turns out the school I go to is considered pretty snobby by the rest of the city. Lots of rich kids who still live at home. Sometimes it feels like an extension of high school in a way.

I really like the city and the people. It is defiantly really different but at the same time a lot the same. Riding in conchos, (basically a public car that they fit as many people in as possible and costs about 33 cents to go as far as you want), the lack of traffic laws are defiantly new experiences but over all big city life seems to be about the same. The people are so very nice and willing to help with information or anything. They might tell you the wrong directions but they are more than willing to help you. I’m not quite sure yet if that is mostly because of my skin color, even so it seems to be a Dominican characteristic. As nice as the people are friends are a little harder to make. We always seem to find people to talk to but it mostly depends on who is willing to struggle through the Spanish a little.

I have had the chance to go up into the mountains and also to the beach. Both were just as perfect as you can imagine. It is hard to blend in and take in the sights though. I guess being 6’1 I never really ‘blend in,’ but I am also so clearly ‘americana’ here. The people will never let you forget it. The best Dominican experiences I’ve had have been with my family. We go over to relatives houses for various occasions. I also got to go out to the county to visit the grandma of my family. I think that is as close to living the life as I am going to get.

I defiantly have a lot to think about and ponder as I am adjusting to the culture here and some of the opinions and stereotypes of North Americans. Thought I would start with a rough list of facts about life, as it might be hard to recreate past observations.