Día 9

Every day I kind of just run through my day, but I feel like I haven't gotten to tell you about life here en la Dominicana. So, today's post is going to be all about what it's like over here. It's different.

I honestly don't even know where to begin. Coming here, I had every intention of going home being fluent in español...well that's particularly difficult when the people that live here freely admit that they themselves don't speak Spanish - they all just say that they speak Dominican. Not only do they speak extremely fast, but they also drop syllables and mash a bunch of words together and it comes out like one big sound that you can't understand. My first day here, one of the moms was talking about us going to visit a place in the mountains called Jarabacoa (which we are going to this weekend), and she was talking so fast that I swore she was asking us if we had ever had Barbacoa - you know, the meat they sell at Chipotle. Good thing I didn't open my mouth and start talking about meat. If you ask them to repeat something or slow down, they assume you don't speak Spanish/Dominican and just laugh and start talking about you in 'Dominican'. I would have to say that's my biggest hardship. And it's not an easy one to just look past. Besides that, there are the small things - no air conditioning, only cold showers (every single day), crazy drivers, never being on time, the humidity, etc.

Other than that, life is really good over here. People over here really take pride in the way they dress and look. All of the locals are always wearing beautiful colors, their make up done nicely, hair curled, etc. It almost makes me jealous! The first time we went to the Blue Mall, our host mom asked us if we wanted to change or freshen up before we went out. Well, we were just wearing shorts and a relatively casual shirt, and we just told her that no, we didn't need to. She kept insisting and we just kind of brushed it off. Big mistake. We walk in to this mall and everyone just keeps staring - they're all dressed up in heels and super nice clothes and we just look like the "stupid Americans'. Bad first impression to say the least. Since then, we always take the time to put on some nice pants and at least a little bit of make up.

Don't get me wrong, even though people take care of themselves, it doesn't mean that this is a 'nice city'. The place looks broken and a bit run down. The infrastructure is terrible - potholes in the roads, really no stop signs or stop lights, old buildings, etc. I haven't taken many pictures of the city itself, but I'll try to take and post some so you can get a feel for where I'm living. The country is said to have other beautiful areas - beaches, mountains, rain forest - but Santo Domingo doesn't exactly make the list for Top 10 Places to Visit in the Dominican.

Life itself is quite relaxing, and everyone is very friendly. The people that do speak English are always willing to help you out, and even those that don't speak English are generally willing to try and help you. It's kind of weird though, I think my English is getting worse as my Spanish gets better. In my head, I'm always translating so many things back and forth that when I speak Spanish, random English words will get thrown in there - which always leads to me getting funny looks from the locals. Then, when I speak English, I either throw Spanish words in, or I speak as if I'm literally translating the Spanish. Por ejemplo, in Spanish, they don't use apostrophe's to denote a possession. Ex: Olga's house in English would translate to La Casa de Olga in Spanish. Well, instead of me saying to my friends, "Oh, I'm going to Olga's house," I'll end up saying "I'm going to the house of Olga." And even more weird than that, none of my friends seem to notice because they're doing it too. I think it's going to be hard coming back to the US and speaking English all the time! I have also noticed that when I do speak Spanish, I'm starting to drop syllables and am beginning to adapt to the Dominican style of speech. (You have no idea how many times in this post alone I've had to go back and insert letters because my spelling is just awful - but only because the words in my head are all wrong.)

This truly is one of the best experiences I've ever had...no joke. I am really starting to love this country and the people and the culture, and although I'll be ready to see my family and friends, I know that I won't be ready to leave this place. I'm not only learning to appreciate all of my blessings at home so much more, but I'm also noticing how much the little things in life really do matter. The way the people talk to each other here just makes you feel so welcome. At the end of a sentence, they'll throw in "mi amor" and it really does give you such a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I'm really having trouble putting all of this into words, so I hope this post makes at least a little bit of sense to you guys. Basically, I'm loving it here and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Hasta luego mis amores!