SxSW

• Today I am sick, with what I think is a cold, resfriado in spanish (although Doña Iris calls it la gripe, pronounced 'greepay', which I think is the flu but also seems to be a general term for being sick here). It's not too bad, though, thank goodness. My friend Jenna just got over a sinus infection and had to get antibiotics injected into her behind for some reason-- yikes.

• On friday CIEE took us on a visit to the Haitian border. We had to leave at 5:25 am. The bus ride took approximately five hours, during which we were blasted by air conditioning (it has two settings: on and off) which I feel is partially responsibly for my sickness. At the border we went to one of five main border marketplaces, Elias Piña, where we purchased such traditional artisan goods as jelly shoes, used american clothing and pirated dvds (mine is the Notorious B.I.G. movie). It was crazy and enormous and full of chickens and I felt really invasive taking pictures but I did anyway, as you can see.


• Some (ten) of us didn't feel like letting a free trip across the country go to waste, so while everyone else guagua-ed it back to Santo Domingo, we took a bus to Barahona, a seaside town in the southwest. It's really lovely and I'd recommend it to anybody who finds themself in this country. The whole south coast is refreshingly un-resort-ified. Loopy from lack of sleep we managed to find a good hotel for less than $6 per person (although the rat we spotted run across one room might partially explain the low rates). Friday night we spiked our smoothies with a little Haitian rum and made a fire on the deserted beach, where we threw sticks and paper into the flames and danced around to Aly's pathetically quiet ipod speaker and generally put on a gringo show the Dominicans should be sorry to have missed. It was one of the best times I've had here so far.



• Saturday we visited the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, where we were greeted by a sign reading "Welcome to San Rafael. Don't lose control." There's something about the color of the water meeting the sky meeting the rocky green mountainside that's like magic. The only drawbacks were the lack of fresh fruit juice for sale and the fact that the atlantic waves and riptide were not joking around. I tried once to play in the water and ended up scrambling back to shore with rocks in my ears and my bathing suit halfway off. It was cute.



• Other than this weekend, here are some things I've been doing:
  

1. Seen (for free) the National Theater perform Fiddler on the Roof in Spanish (even the songs!)
   
2. Come to the realization that at least two of my five teachers are not actually teaching anything, but rather occasionally giving us the names of books, texts and vague assignments and presentations to take up the time allotted for class.
3. Kept struggling with my work at Hogar Escuela Doña Chucha. The third graders are unspeakably adorable, the fifth graders are doing their best to give me hell (except the rare few who are timid and quiet, and Jessica, who keeps asking me to take her home for lunch), and I still wish I could actually do something to fix every problem in their lives, but I can't.
4. Done yoga almost every day.
   
   


5. Seen two versions of Carnaval-- La Vega and Santo Domingo. La Vega is the most famous and everyone talks about it. Don't go. It's nothing but a glorified capitalism/alcohol/noise fest devoid of soul, and to top it off, they beat you up (and if you're me/a white american, call you names and laugh as you run away crying). Santo Domingo's was a really fun parade of floats and costumes from all over the country, and while it was clearly a production of a government who exerts effort very selectively and ignores many serious problems, it was still cool to watch.



6. Took a spontaneous trip to Baní, a town west of the capital, where we rode motorcycle taxis through the landscape of dry fields, cactus and RIDICULOUS, gaudy mansions.
7. Eaten a LOT of coconut popsicles.
8. Continued to enjoy my favorite Brazilian telenovela with Doña Iris, Lazos de Familia (family ties). She's always telling me what's going to happen, but I don't even care. It's so good, when I go out at night part of me is secretly wishing I was staying home to watch it. (But of COURSE I'm not about to spend my Study Abroad Experience in front of the TV... although it does improve my spanish comprehension!) Plus they play bomb Brazilian music... with the occasional Shania Twain tune thrown in.
9. Played a fair amount of dominoes.

I'm excited for my Dad and Lizzie and John visit me, and for a potential weekend trip to Río San Juan on the north coast, and for my first taste of a Dominican karaoke bar, and for the travels Caitlin and I are planning for Semana Santa (spring break), and a potential trip to Haiti before I fly home in May, and other unexpected things. I love and miss you, my dear Americans. I hope you're doing well too.