This morning we had a city tour (that we thought was a bus tour, more like a small van.. felt like literally fifteen people in a minivan who don’t know each other very well.. pretty hilarious with the driving down here, pero esta bien). We didn’t really get a tour of the city, but we went to the the Concurso de Arte Eduardo Leon Jimenes, a really nice museum of Santiago and Dominican History along with a modern art exhibit that was craazy weird but really cool. A lot of the topics were really intense, like little girls who think they should be women (it was photographs of naked girls with like yarn and material pieces of fabric that looked like women’s bodies, way weird and disturbing but gets the point across) or like a huge circular plate on the floor that was like ten feet wide with different small plates, cups, bowls, jars, etc filled with different kinds and colors of hair, some was dreadlocks or braids or in knots or in perfect circles.. it was really creepy to look at and I think it represented all the different types of people in the Dominican but wasn’t really sure. Also one exhibit was long ropes hanging from a high ceiling with cloth around them then about hip height there were all of these different colors of hands (looked like real hands, weren’t) just hanging there to represent diversity as well.. super extreme but really cool to see the different themes.
Then we got to go to the monument (the one I can see from my roof) and go up inside it. There is green grass and trees and statues all around the base of the monument and when you go inside, each floor you go up tells a different part of Santiago’s history. The top has such an incredible view, you can see the entire city with the mountains in the background.. absolutely phenomenal. The colors of all the buildings are so vibrant and even though the city is packed really tight there are still trees and other patches of green all around. When we were leaving, a Dominican girl took a picture of me and a few other girls in our group on her cell phone (kudos Krista, way to be suuper pale and American. Oh well. Later in the day a guy driving past us yelled that he loved us soo I guess we’ll just have to get used to it).
We came back home for lunch and had white rice with white beans (the beans are in a sauce that’s super good, with chunks of some kind of a gourd similar to a pumpkin), batatas (we’re still confused about what’s made from platanos and what time of ripeness they have.. so confusing but I’m sure I’ll figs it out soon.. anyways, they tasted like potatoes that are a little bit sweeter, it was good whatever it was ha), salad, avocados, and chicken in some kind of sauce that was really good too. Oh and I forgot to say (dad, this is for you) that when they make rice, the rice that gets stuck to the bottom of the pan and gets more crispy is called con con and after they put the real rice in a bowl they scrape the con con out and put it in a separate bowl because it’s the best part.
After lunch we went back to the university to choose our classes. Semi-mess, I had to pick quite a few new classes and my schedule is pretty random. Mondays I have class from 10-12, 4-6, and 7-8. Tuesdays I have history from 8-9 and dance from 2-3 and I’m done. Wednesdays, I literally only have class from 7-9 and that’s it. Tursdays I have 8-11, 2-3, and 5-6. Suuper random but I can stay at school and do my homework/read/a lot of people walk on campus so maybe do that a little, lose weight mom-style. And vomitar, two classes at 8 (I tried never to do that again but nothing else worked in my schedule) but I can always siesta later in the day. They aren’t offering the teaching English as a second language, which is really disappointing, but I’m taking two culture classes, a history class, a literature class, and Caribbean dance which should be ballin even though I’m so white. And no classes on Fridays wooo! If I didn’t have to think really really hard every time someone was talking to me, it would be just like a literal vacation but don’t worry, I’m learning way more than I ever have in any Spanish class sooo yes.
Ha so last night Rosie and I found out about the toilet system here.. Her toilet would not flush (la problema no fue que ella hizo caca.. we looked up a lot of bathroom words last night too to try to fix the problem) because no one told us until that day that you can’t flush the toilet paper. We had to look up the words for plunger and hole bunch of other ones, and mama laughed at us a little but now we know before we flood our bathrooms with caca. It’s all a learning experience.
Tonight we’re going out for the first tiiime hooray! We’re meeting everyone from our group and going to a bar that isn’t too far from our house. It’s our first time walking anywhere other than in the backyard so hopefully we can make it without getting lost. I’m excited to try el Presidente, it’s a beer that is really popular here (and has 6.5% alcohol.. can’t hurt can it?). But I’m really excited to be in a real setting rather than just orientation or a minivan looking at the city. I’m going to do a little yoga and read now until dinner, or maybe watch a little Zoey 101 with mis hermanas because they really like that show. They had to go back to school today for the first time after their break and were not excited about it, but they go from 8 am to 1 pm and then they’re done. We got to see Stephanie (they actually call her estephanie which Rosie and I really like) in her school uniform, so cute. Last night I gave my padres our Christmas card of Paige and I in the pumpkin patch.. they thought we were twins.
Tomorrow we have another tour of the city and then a free afternoon so that should be fun. Also, today one of our ISA guys told us that he volunteers in a center with kids that have cancer and said that we could go with him any time we want, so I’m for sure going to try to do that a lot, especially on my free days. Escribire mas manana! Les extrano a todas.