The Arrival

I'm pretty sure that I was supposed to be Latina :)

I have only been here for 2 days or so, but I'm LOVING it!!! Yes, Dominicans speak VERY fast and slur their words together, but I've been asked multiple times if I'm from Spain. Most people seems shocked that I'm from the states. It does give me a great opportunity to talk about the Church and my experiences as a missionary :)

It is a blast talking with different people and practicing my Spanish. Just today, we made a couple of friends!!! Carlos wanted to get his hair cut at a barber shop that he had seen near our apartment, so after we went to the grocery store, we stopped in at the shop. I had a BLAST chatting with Juan Miguel (Carlos's barber)! I noticed that he had a little Christmas tree sitting on his station, and thinking that it was kinda random, I told him that I liked it. He smiled and said that he'll give it to me when we leave as a momento of the Dominican Republic and his shop. What a nice guy! Very few people are willing to just give their things away, let alone to a complete stranger! Everyone here is so friendly! He went on to say that we should come back and hang out with him in his shop, just sit and talk, or go and get something to eat. He also showed us pictures of his brand new baby boy and of some of the hair designs he's done. It was cool to make a friend! He even said that he'd find out where the church building is and that he'd be willing to go with us sometime :)

When we got back to the apartment, I made us a delicious smoothie with the fresh bananas and mangoes that we'd bought from a vendor selling all sorts of fruits from the bed of a small pick up truck. They were very yummy and made a tasty smoothie!

At 4:30 or so, we were picked up and drove about 45 minutes to the Dreams Resort in La Romana. While the guys set up their equipment and did their sound check, I enjoyed watching a dance act as their practiced.  I tried to eavesdrop in on their conversations (only for the purpose of practicing my Spanish!!!), but they were talking SO SO SO fast that I had to give up :) By the end of the night, the guys were getting dance advice from one of the hotel workers nicknamed "Chocolate". As credibility, he showed us his Michael Jackson school of dance ID card. He was a good dancer, but it was hilarious to watch him trying to teach the guys dance moves--in Spanish! Keep in mind that the guys don't really speak Spanish, which just added to the humor of the moment. Everyone at that resort was so friendly! Especially everyone involved with the entertainment! I took advantage of that kindness and got a lot of my Spanish vocab questions answered, like how to say "speaker" and "mic stand."