El Primer Día en Santiago

           So the good news is that I made it here alive and in one piece. The bad news is our orientation happened to be at 8AM, so I between getting to know my host family/ roommates, I didn’t get too much sleep. I flew in to Santiago yesterday from Miami. There was surprisingly no traffic on the way down from Melbourne, so I was at the airport super early. But, it was all good, because it gave me the chance to meet some of the other students, and talk to everyone before we got to the DR. I am so excited to spend 6 more weeks with this group! Everyone is super friendly, and we’ve already had so much in the short amount of time that we’ve been down here.

            Our flight was quick, but it was really cool flying over the city of Miami. I thought we’d be over water the whole time, but we actually flew over quite a few islands. We landed safely and everyone got their luggage and went through customs, but it didn’t really feel like a foreign country until we walked outside. For anyone that’s flown from a place like Texas or Illinois where it is dry to Florida, you know what I’m talking about. It’s this wall of humid, tropical-smelling air. It was just like that when we landed in the DR, but times 10.

            We met the coordinators from ISA (that’s the program that is the bridge between UF and PUCMM, the university here) and got on this small bus that dropped us all off at our respective host families. I was one of the last ones to be dropped off, so it was really neat getting to see all of the host families waiting at the door for their students. My roommate Catherine and I finally got to the apartment we are staying at. We climbed up the stairs to see our house mom Maria waiting for us at the door. She welcomed us in, introduced us to her husband Ramon, and then showed us the entire house. The phrase “Su casa es mi casa” is an understatement for how welcoming she has been. She told us how it must be strange living in a different country with a different culture and language, and on top of that we don’t have our own houses. She wanted us to feel like this was our home, so that we only had to focus on the culture and the language. On top of that, this apartment is SO nice. It is decorated down to he very last detail, and everything is just so beautiful. There is also this gorgeous balcony with a mountain view that they use all of the time.  There’s no air conditioning, but the windows are always open, and there are fans, so it isn’t too bad.

            Last night we also got meet Natania, who is a student from USF who studied abroad in the DR last year, and she loved it so much she came back for more. She’s stayed with this family before, so she knows them super well. She said that we really lucked out with this family, because they just absolutely love having international students, and that they will treat us as if we are part of the family. We all sat down and ate the dinner that Maria made for us. There was rice, a pasta salad, a potato salad, chicken wings, potatoes, and tons of other dishes. Everything was SO delicious, but very different from anything that I’ve had in the US. There is no way I can describe it that would do it justice.

            After dinner we talked to Natania and she gave us all sorts of hints, and helped us figure things out. I am so glad that we have her with us, because I probably would have felt so lost without her! Catherine and I unpacked our stuff and went to bed around 1 or so. I woke up a couple times last night, just because there are all sorts of sounds that I’m not used to. Like a cat meowing like it just got stepped on howling outside my window, and all of the different birds chirping.

            When I got up at 7 this morning, there were actual ROOSTERS crowing. I found it kind of hilarious. Maria made us toast with strawberry jam and coffee for breakfast, and then Ramon took us over to the ISA office. We sat through around 2 VERY long hours of orientation stuff (which was helpful and all, but I don’t have that kind of attention span even when it’s in English). Then, some volunteers PUCMM came in. We got paired up with two UF students per PUCMM student, and they took us out on a tour of the city.

            I have absolutely no idea where they took us. For those of you who know me, I generally have a very good sense of direction. But here, the streets are all over the place, so I had absolutely no idea where Yasmin, our PUCMM student, was talking us. To get from the ISA office to the city center, we took something called a concho. Conchos are kind of like a cross between a taxi and a bus. It’s a car with a decal on it, but you pay a flat rate of 20 DOP per person (around $0.50), and they follow a set route, and then you tell them where to stop. The conchos were quite the experience, because you don’t sit one person to a seat. You squeeze 2 people into the passenger seat, and then 4 in the back. There is a very good chance you will be crammed up against a total stranger. And that is normal here. All of the drivers on the streets, take the driving laws as suggestions. People swerve in and out of traffic, squeeze their way in between lanes, pull out in front of you, and we’ve even seen people drive down the opposite lane if it were more convenient. Pedestrians jay walk like crazy, and cross right in front of cars. It’s insane. I am SOO glad I don’t have to drive at all while I’m here.
           After the tour, we exchanged a little it of money (I got $20 worth, which is 830 DOP),  toured the Cultural Museam, and then climbed to the viewing deck of the city’s main landmark, El Monumento a los Heroes de la Resauracion. Maria is cooking dinner for us now, and a group of us are planning on hanging out later tonight. (I’ll try posting some pictures, but I couldn’t really get any of the city center, because any expensive looking thing like an iPhone or camera draws unwanted attention.) Bye for now! :)