Stepping Out of the Boat

WOW! It has been a long day. Last night, we were sick with weariness when we went to bed. A few teachers from St. Michael's took us out to dinner, which was really cool. We went to a traditional Dominican food restaurant where we tasted smashed yuca with garlic. We both felt too sick with stress and fatigue to eat much, but we tried to be polite. We were also pretty anxious about going to the school in the morning. We don't have hot water, but really, that's okay. It feels pretty good to take a cold shower with the humidity like it is. In fact, I'm damp with sweat right now, and I'm just sitting here.

Okay - here is a rundown of what happened to us today:

8:00 am - Woke up, took a cold shower, and ate a bowl of Zucaritas (direct translation: Little Sugars - more correct translation:Frosted Flakes) that tasted a little strange. The milk, by the way, is in a box shaped like a pasta box.

9:00 - the meeting at school began, We were early, which we learned is unusual, and then we sat there for a very long time while extremely large amounts of information in Spanish and English were thrown at us. We learned that every morning starts with a school prayer - cool.

1:00 - Our Dominican helper, Soraida, took us to a food court for lunch where John and I successfully ordered ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Then we went to a supermarket where we bought some food and basic cleaning supplies. We spent 2,634 pesos. (That's around $75). We are going to look for a more reasonable place to shop.

3:00 - We came back to the apartment and moved furniture, organized our clothing, and got settled. Then, I cooked dinner - spaghtti.

We locked ourselves out of our spare room by accident because when the door opens all the way and hits the wall, it locks itself. John stuck the end of a cork screw in the nob to unlock it.

Also, when I'm cooking, I have to close the window because the breeze blows out the flame, which wouldn't be that big of a deal normally, but when you turn on the burner, you have to light it with a match - not cool! Carole would die! I'll put some pictures on in another post.