Stepping Out of the Boat

It has been really hard these past few days - school has been stressful, and we're sad because it's Christmas time and we're not home with the ones we love. I (Claire) was having a particularly rough day, working in the spare bedroom after school, when John said he was going to the store for some potatoes. We can't buy potatoes on a regular grocery day because we can only buy them in five-pound bags, and we can't carry potatoes as well as all the other food we need for the week.

In fact, this past week, we had a not-so-pleasant experience on the way home from the store. It's amazing this hasn't happened more often. As we walked out of the store, it started to sprinkle, and in a matter of minutes, there was a complete downpour. John wasn't happy at all... I was just laughing because it just figures that would happen. By the time we got home, our groceries were soaked, and we were beyond soaked. I took a picture of myself because John was too frustrated with the situation by the time we got home to take a picture of me. At least our bread didn't get too wet.


So, today, John said he was going to the store to get potatoes... When he came back, he said he needed to go help our friend Sonya with her computer, so I started cooking dinner (fish, broccoli, and bread). When he came back, he had a package for me - a wrapped Christmas present!

Low and behold, he bought me a toaster. I was so happy, I yelled and jumped up and down. I love toast, but I never realized how much until I didn't have a toaster. John got me a toaster!!! Now we can have toast!!!! HOOORRAAHHHH!!!! It's such a great toaster!
As usual, he was able to pull me out of my dreary mood. Tomorrow, we're having toast for breakfast! Toast with cinnamon and sugar!!









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This past weekend, we went to the Colonial Zone and the market. I got this necklace there. It's made of larimar, a semi-precious stone that is only found on the island of Hispanola, where the Dominican Republic is located. We decided that this necklace is going to be a family heirloom. We'll pass it on to our children, grandchildren, and so on... from the year we lived in the Dominican Republic. If you can't tell from the picture, it's a light blue color.

The Party Bus
Sometimes, we're blown away by the things here that are culturally acceptable here... like the way all men here stare hungrily at women on the street and make disrespectful coments and sounds.
Well, we found another thing: the party bus. Here, birthdays are a big deal, and the students at our school have huge, expensive birthday parties. We found out recently that the high school students often have birthday parties on party buses. Basically, they rent a huge bus that is stocked full of alcohol, plays obnoxiously loud music, and has room to dance, and they invite all their classmates to ride around the city stopping at bars and restaraunts until they are completely plastered. Tenth graders do this with their parents' knowledge. No one here seems to see any problem with it because the students themselves aren't driving themselves around. It's perfectly fine for teenagers to get incredibly drunk and stay out all night - as long as they aren't driving, they most certainly can't do anything they might regret, right?