update

more pictures uploaded to flickr
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I´ve been here for about a month and I already feel like a local again. I can ride public cars, go grocery shopping and travel to other cities by without assistence. Even though I am from here, I left Santiago when I was 11 almost 17 years ago, so I´ve had to pretty much relearn everything. I am really glad I decided to go on this trip. I feel relaxed, rested and energized, but not quite ready to return to my normal life...he he ... but it´s ok, I still have about another month before I that happens.

I should be tired and not relaxed since I´ve hardly been home lately. Between volunteering on weekday mornings and traveling on afternoons and weekends, I have time only to sleep and watch the occasional local news and law and order.

I recently visited my dad´s hometown of Restauracion (his very own Tangamandapio). I´ve also been to the beach and a bunch of cities around the northern region of the island including Puerto Plata, Santiago Rodriguez, Mao, San Francisco de Macoris, Santo Domingo, dajabon, Monte Cristi, Loma de Cabrera and a few campos here and there. I also went to the border with Haiti while I was in Dajabon, it was both interesting and depressing. Unfortunately I havent been able to upload all the pictures I have taken because the internet service is a little choppy.

I also went to "Camp David" a restaurant and hotel complex located just outside Santiago and over 6,500 feet above sea level. The view is amazing from there and the food was delicious. The restaurant also holds a collection of Trujillo memorabilia and some of his cars.

I am planning the tour near the south coast for the next couple of weeks.... pictures will come soon after.

mdl

Mcgyver

I met a graphic designer named McGyver (pronounced Mah-ghee-ver). He´s pretty crafty in photoshop, I watched him design a logo in less than an hour. He also likes to paint and watch indian movies in his spare time. I took this picture in his backyard, but he wouldn´t let me photograph him. He´s related to duke in some way so I´m not gonna say anything negative about him...he he

Day nine

I spent much of today at my surrogate family’s house. They are as hospitable as it gets. Since I got here Yolanda has not let a day go by without feeding us in some form. It’s impossible to say no to her, so yesterday I devised a plan and escaped before lunch. Duke and I went to the shopping district to pick up some essentials from ¨El Encanto¨, the local department store. I have to say shopping is my least favorite part of this trip. For starters, I have to pay with local money that feels like playing monopoly, I also have to do all the conversions to dollars in my head to make sure I’m not overpaying for stuff, lastly I have to choose between speaking to Duke in English and have everyone stare at us or speak Spanish and have everyone stare at me anyway because our Spanish doesn’t sound local enough.

Anyway, it rained non-stop today and we had to camp out in the apartment. Luckily we had snacks and stuff to drink. The water here is really bad so my crystal light is useless until I buy water.

The school still hasn’t called me back about the job. It’s very likely that I won’t start until next week. With the general strike and riots on Monday, I’d rather lay low anyway. It was a little scary because a couple of people were killed, although not much happened in my neighborhood.

To answer the question posted by ¨anonymous¨ on my last post:

I do miss New York, this is an adventure for me… and like every other adventure, it must be temporary for it to keep its enjoyable qualities. I am not sick of being here yet, but should that happen, I have a couple of contingency plans lined up.

some new flickr uploads....more to come soon

www.flickr.com/photos/nycmiri

lost my phone

****UPDATE****************************************
I found my phone...well, my brother-in-law did. I left it on a bench in the park and it was still there about six hours later. This is almost impossible, but then again, it´s one of those things that only happen to me :-)
*****************************************************

This must be some kind of new record. I have been here for less than 72 hours and managed to lose my cellphone. If you received a text message from me, please discard that number until further notice. The worst part is that I can´t even report it lost until my brother-in-law gets back from work.

once again incomunicada

mdl

Day 2

Today I finally found out the grade level I will be teaching. I start this Friday teaching 3rd graders reading and writing skills.

I also went to mass for the ¨nueve dias¨ (nine days of mourning) of my mom´s cousin. Going to church is always interesting to me, but going to the church I went to as a kid was a little strange. Everything looks exactly the same way it did 16 years ago when I left. Even the sermon seemed familiar.

I also visited the house in which I grew up, it seemed so small and narrow. In fact the whole neighborhood seems small. The poverty is also palpable here. The wooden houses seem to be falling apart and some of the streets are not even paved. Despite all this, people seem happy.

The internet cafe is in the lower level of my building, which is great!! It is also dirt cheap... It costs about 60 cents to go online for an hour. It´s high speed and the computers are all equiped with webcams and headsets. But internet and food are about the only things that are cheap here. Gas prices don´t even come close to U.S. prices. One gallon of regular costs about 150 pesos at the gas station around the corner from me. A the current exchange rate, that is about 5 U.S. dollars. I´m kinda glad I don´t drive when i see that :-).

Duke is so happy to have freedom and lots of kids to play with. He´s still having trouble with his Spanish, but he´s trying; otherwise he can´t ommunicate with the other kids.

The heat was not as horrible today.... or maybe I´m just getting used to it. I also saw stars tonight, I´m such a New Yorker...I know.

Well, that´s all for now..... flickr uploads soon to come.

MDL

day one....

• arrived in the airport at noon
• brother-in-law drove me home
• apartment is smaller than I expected, but large enough to crash in
• visited tons of people...only really remember a handful
• went to see the school where I would be working
• took a nice afternoon nap
• went to visit grandpa...dog annoying but cute
• went to the internet cafe to get in touch with the rest of the world
• now there´s not much to do here but to go to bed
• currently working on a daily schedule

.......

Hoy me marcho. Voy a de vuelta a mi tierra del olvido, porque me rehúso a pasar otro verano en estado vegetativo, viendo la tele y subiendo de peso. Pero me voy desconcertada, confundida…. Repasando todas las cosas que pude haber hecho. Repasando todos los momentos, palabras, gestos, acciones o lo que deje de hacer. Mi instinto, como siempre, me dice a gritos que lo mas seguro es que fue mi culpa. Que tuvo que ser algo que yo hice o deje de hacer. Pero, por primera vez en mi vida le tengo que llevar la contraria a mi instinto, porque la mitad de los hechos no están disponibles. Y no importa que imparcial mi instinto sea, es difícil juzgar con solo la mitad de la evidencia. No me arrepiento de nada, y al diablo con las cosas que pude haber hecho o dejar de hacer. Por mas que estudio las 133 posibles razones del cambio que mi instinto me redacta, no encuentro una que tenga sentido o remedio. Lo único que siento es que a todo esto, aun no se donde estoy o estuve parada. Pero que no panda el cúnico, como diría el Chapulín, ya tendré muchas noches calladas, aburridas y estrelladas para pensar y repasar…. y analizar.

Espero que las próximas siete semanas me sirvan de descanso. Pero mas que eso, espero usar este tiempo fuera de mi propia vida para hacer una revisión introspectiva y ver las cosas como lo que son. Necesito reenfocar mis logros y mis metas, también recalibrar mis sueños e ideales. Temo que si no hago esto pronto voy a terminar como muchas personas a mi alrededor, que viven amargadas y hartas de su propia vida. En realidad no hay nada de malo con vida en este momento. Este viaje no es mas que una medida preventiva. No me importa que esto suene cursi, porque al fin y al cabo muy pocas personas entenderán lo digo. No solo por la barrera del idioma sino por el contenido de lo que escribo.

Bueno, en esa nota me despido por ahora. La próxima vez que escriba será desde mi isla.

MDL