Muchos Visitantes!

Wow. A lot has happened since I last wrote. My dad and Lisa came for 5 days. It was so great to have them here. We basically spent the whole time fixing up my house. My dad built shelves for my books, my kitchen, and my bathroom and a table for my stove. He also bought me a plastic table (for eating… finally, I don’t have to eat on my floor!) and a set of drawers, so I don’t have to dig through my suitcase anymore. It made such a difference for my little house! It was so nice to have them here and to show them what my life is like here. I made them guacamole and grilled cheese and they took me out to nice dinners. We went to Isla Saona – the island just south of us – with Sirilo and spent the day at the beach. We had delicious breakfasts at their hotel, I got to take hot showers and sleep in a big comfy bed. It was just a nice break from my real life. Needless to say, I was sad to see them go. But…

Only a couple of weeks later, Dave came for his Spring Break, which was so much fun. We met up with his cousin, aunt and uncle at Casa de Campo for lunch (they came in on a cruise the same day he got here). We went for runs, went snorkeling, watched a lot of Scrubs, cooked yummy meals, etc. I feel so lucky that he’s in my life and miss him a lot.

And as if I’m not already the luckiest Peace Corps Volunteer to have already had all these visitors, my mom is coming in just a week! I cannot wait!

Anyway, so apart from visitors, which have kept me pretty busy, things with my project have really been picking up. My project partner, The Association of Hotels for La Romana and Bayahibe, just had a management switch. Now the executive director of the association is an American – an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer! She’s back and forth right now between Texas and the DR, so things have been a bit hectic, but having her around makes such a big difference. We have so many plans for Bayahibe; I’m positive that when I leave here in two years it’s going to be a completely different place.

I’ve started giving English classes on Saturdays and Sundays to a group of adults – 5 women and 2 men. Sometimes we have a couple of kids join us too. Most of them already speak some English, but very basic things, and with thick accents. It’s fun to teach English, and they’re so eager to learn. This week I had them watch an episode of Sex and the City for listening practice, which was a fun activity for all of us, as most of you know that I live for that show.

I hope everyone had a good Easter. I went to church with my host dad. It was a pretty interesting experience – very different from what I’m used to on Easter Sunday. Since my host dad is very involved in the church, he had to go early, so I came after him and I was a little bit late to service. I got there and found him in the pew that was 3 rows from the front, so I marched up the asile and sat down next to him, happy to have a friend to sit with. About mid-way through the service, I realized that we were in an Evangelical church and that means the women wear skirts and no jewelry. Well, I had on jeans and lots of jewelry – that’s how I attended church in Moca (during training), so I figured I could dress the same. Well, as if that wasn’t bad enough…. A little bit later, I was noticing that there were a lot of single men, which I thought was interesting because from my experience here, women are more likely to go to church than men. Then I realized that they weren’t single men, that they’re wives and families were on the other side of the church. I had sat down on the men’s side!!! So here I was, the only woman on the right side of the church in my jeans and jewelry. I felt like such a fool. But then again, I am a “gringa,” and as such, I can get away with a lot of things that Dominicans can’t. I’m sure they understood.

Abbie is doing well. She’s growing so much. Last week we went to visit Rachel, who lives near this amazing place called Rancho Campeche – a kind of ecological resort in the woods, where they hold the annual Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our Word). Rachel has a puppy too – Abbie’s sister, Whiley – so we were anxious to get them together. When we got there, Whiley was so excited to see Abbie, but Abbie, being the little baby that she is, was not so happy. Since she was taken from her mom, she hasn’t been around other dogs much, and all of a sudden she was around this hyper little puppy and these big dogs that live at Rancho Campeche. She keep running and hiding from them and crying when they tried to play. It was such a funny sight. By the end of our two days there, she was a little bit more like a dog, but she’s still timid around others of her kind. I think taking her away from her mom at such a young age has given her a bit of an identity crisis – sometimes she acts more human than dog.

Anyway, that’s what’s been going on in my life lately. I will try to write more often to keep you all updated.

Hope all is well back home. Give the states a kiss for me!