27 Charcos

Hey everyone! I know I haven’t written in a couple of days, but that just means I have TONS to tell you now! But first of all, I wanted to say how surprised at how many people have been reading my blog so far, considering that I only really wrote it for my family and some close friends! I’ve actually gotten over 200 page views so far, and I even have people reading in from the DR, Russia, Germany, Spain, and Ukraine! So I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for letting me share my travels with you! Anyways…

            Wednesday was a pretty laid back day for me. I got to sleep in for the first time since I’ve gotten here, which was beautiful. We had class as usual in the afternoon. I don’t know about the rest of my classmates, but to me, the class can be mentally draining sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having so much fun in that class, and I’m learning a lot, but since I’m not fluent in Spanish, it can be exhausting trying to listen and speak Spanish for two hours straight. I think this is especially true for class because we’ve been focusing a lot on the grammar of the language, and that has always been one of my least favorite things to learn in school, even when it was in English. It just never came easily to me. So on Wednesday when we spent 2 hours doing grammar exercises, I walked out of class feeling like a zombie.

            But it all worked out because Wednesday night ended up being really fun. Wednesday night here is ladies night, so going out is really cheap. A group of about 8 of us went to two different clubs and even took a taxi to get there, and each of us only spent around 50 pesos (which is slightly more than a dollar). We got there around 10:30, which is a pretty normal time for US clubs, but here we were very early. It was funny though, because there was another group of Americans there too, and they stood out quite a bit. Our program has been trying to teach us blend in as much as possible, instead of reinforcing the American stereotype. After seeing that group, I can see why it’s so important. They were the epitome of the American stereotype. The way the girls dressed stuck out from the rest of the people there. While girls in the DR dress conservatively during the day, at night they wear short shorts, skirts, and dresses (basically the same way that we do in the US). The Americans we saw were wearing maxi dresses, jewelry that looked expensive, and their hair up in messy looking buns and headbands, which are all things that scream American here. They were also talking VERY loudly in English, which is kind of disrespectful here (it shows that you aren’t even going to attempt to learn their language or culture while you’re here.) The club didn’t start getting full until around 12:30 or so. It was definitely a strange experience for me, because guys here are definitely more forward than guys in the US. For example, I was sitting at a table talking to a few of my friends from our group, and some guy came up to me and said, “You’re pretty, can I have your number?” I told him no, obviously, since I didn’t know him at all.

            Thursday was pretty easy going too. I slept in again, and then went to class. I went to the gym afterwards, and it felt so great to stretch and workout again. The only thing is that here, it’s more acceptable for you to stare at people than the US, so I found it a little uncomfortable to have guys staring me down while I worked out. But it was a very nice gym, and even had a small dance room that was open, so I got the chance to work on my technique a little. That night, some of us went to the gas station down the street to hang out (Yes, hanging out in the gas stations is a thing here). The gas stations look about the same as those in the states, but they also have a bunch of tables and chairs. You’ll see people there go and buy a drink or two, and then drink it there at the tables. I think part of this is because people here rarely take things to go. They always take the time to sit down and eat their food (weird concept, right?)

            On Friday, Jane and I headed back to the clinics. Apparently, it was OB/GYN day. I’m going to skip all of the graphic details so I don’t scare you all away, but let’s just say we got to watch the doctor examine the patients. Honestly, I didn’t mind it too much, because I found it to be very informative. I learned a lot, and I’ve been able to understand a little more medical Spanish than I did last time. I learned that here, the common name for diabetes is “azucar”, which means “Sugar”. Mind blown. Jane and I got to practice taking blood pressure on each other, but they’re blood pressure cuff and stethoscope aren’t the best, and the clinics are always very noisy, so it was nearly impossible to pick out the heartbeats the way needed to. I’m amazed that they are able to take patient’s blood pressures at all when their equipment seems to be falling apart.

            Yesterday we had our first excursion, to a beautiful park called 27 Charcos (27 Waterfalls). It was absolutely beautiful, but I wasn’t able to take pictures, because we weren’t allowed to bring anything at all with us. With the help of some tour guides, we took a 45-minute hike up the side of a mountain. It was beautiful and green, and kind of nice to be out in nature without any electronics at all (I’ve been using my cell phone less and less anyways). But it was a very hard hike, and by the end I was absolutely exhausted. It was very hot outside, and since we couldn’t bring anything with us, we didn’t have any drinking water. When we finally got to the top, we got to swim in a small little stream. The water was crystal clear, cold, and uncontaminated. After jumping in, the tour guides started heading us towards the waterfalls. They were all absolutely GORGEOUS. We got from one little pool of water to the next by either sliding down some natural water slides, or jumping off of the ledges into the water. There was one waterfall where we jumped from a ledge that was about 23 feet above the water down into a really deep pool. The tour guides were absolutely hilarious. They’d help us climb all over the rocks, and helped us slide down and jump off of the waterfalls. When we got to the 23-foot waterfall, one of the tour guides climbed up even higher on the ledge, climbed up a tree, made monkey noised, and then jumped from the tree down to the water. At the end, there was a natural lazy river, like those in the water parks, and a large pool where it let out. It was such an adventure going down the charcos, but it was also relaxing because you could let your life jacket keep you afloat so that you could focus on taking in all of the nature instead of worrying about swimming after such an intense hike.

            After a nice long power nap, my roommates went back to the same club we went to for ladies night, except this time we brought along the three guys from our group, their house brother, and one of our other friend’s house brothers. I danced the merengue and bachata with all of the guys in our group, and we also all hung out and talked. Later in the night, we were all starving, so we headed out to get empanadas from a food cart the locals trusted. It was right next to the monument, which all lit up and glowing in the night.

            Once we got up this morning, we went with our family, their sister and niece, and our upstairs neighbors to the pool at the country club. We laid out in the sun, swam around, an even saw a 2 year old dance like it was her job. A couple of guys started talking to Nathania, and when she introduced me to them, she mentioned that I was American, and that I was studying in the DR to learn some Spanish. I guess they thought that meant that I didn’t know any at all, because then they tried to talk in loud, over-enunciated Spanish to me, and then tell me the translation in English immediately afterwards. They would also talk amongst themselves in Spanish about me, assuming I didn’t understand any of it. It was pretty funny to me, because I was able to catch the majority of what they were saying. My Spanish is bad, but it’s not THAT bad. Once I get past the accents and how it’s hard to hear in general because the country as a whole is loud, I’m able to understand quite a bit. But overall, the day at the pool was fun and relaxing, and I didn’t get sunburned, so that’s always good.

            Anyways, I’ll try to write again soon! Bye for now!

(PS, I’d love to hear back from you guys too! Feel free to comment or message me if there’s anything you’d like to know about my experiences here in the DR so far!)