I can't believe I've been here for a month already! Less than 4 months to go. The program ends on May 1st, but I'm staying until the 21st to do some exploring with my parents when they come visit. We just had our one month check-in retreat on Friday and we all went to this place in the mountains called Jarabacoa. It was beautiful, green, lush, lots of flowers, and the sounds of birds rather than the city sounds of cars, car alarms, roosters, and dogs. It was a really relaxing environment and we did some group activities and reflections on what we have experienced so far. It was a nice little check-in. Time is going to go by so fast here. The weekdays fly by because we are so busy and it will only get busier as we become more involved with our organizations and start our research. I'll be home before I know it.
I love it here and I sometimes don't like it, but overall I have no regrets and my goal is to stay happy and positive here even when things get tough. There are a lot of challenges I have to face here but it's all a great experience and I just need to take a step back and not take anything too seriously.
Let's see, what have I done since I last posted? Well, we had a four day weekend last weekend and my friends and I went to the beach in Las Terranas, Samaná to relax. We sneaked 6 of us in a room meant for 3 people and stayed there for three nights, chilling on the beach, drinking piña coladas, sun bathing, swimming in the warm beautiful water, and eating good food at the nearby restaurants. I promise I'll do a food post soon! So that was a nice relaxing weekend, very much needed.
Other than that our weekly routine has started. We have classes in the mornings and then go home for lunch if we have time and then leave for our organizations at 1:30pm and stay there until about 6pm. Then we go home, eat dinner, do homework, and go to bed. I've been having trouble staying awake past 8:30pm here, that's how exhausting everything is. There is no time to do anything during the week, not even go to the bank. I went 4 days without any money because I literally had no time to walk to the bank and change money. The only time I have is when it's dark and it's not smart to go change money on the streets by yourself when it's dark. I actually went to the bank when it was dark though because I knew I wouldn't have any other time until the weekend, but the bank was closed by then anyway. I ended up asking my director to trade me dollars for pesos so I didn't have to keep borrowing from other people. That's just an example, but we literally have zero minutes of free time during the week. It kinda sucks. And Sunday everything is closed, literally. So Saturday is the only day to do everything. But I'm learning how to plan my schedule and what I need to do, it's just stressful during the week sometimes, especially with homework. I don't always have internet, so sometimes homework is hard to plan. But it's alright, I'm getting used to it, and it makes time go by fast when we're so busy.
Someone (I'm 98% sure it was my maid) stole $400 from my room, so that has been a not so fun ordeal lately. I told my host mom and she was really good about the whole situation and when she asked the maid about it, she ended up getting really offended and decided to leave, so now we're looking for a new maid. I feel really bad about the whole situation, but I know I had to do something about it. This had never happened to my host mom in the 20 years that she's had exchange students stay with her so she was really shocked and said she will pay me back incrementally. I feel bad though because it's not her fault, but I do need the money back. Anyway, now I have my suitcase locked and I lock the door to my room whenever I leave.
So that's what I've been up to lately, I think I'll try to post more throughout the week about specific topics: host family, food, academics, community organizations, conchos, noises, piropos, water, etc. Lots of topics deserve their own little post. I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you guys! Now I'm gonna take a nap....
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