The Dominican Republic

5:30am at DTW 

Well, as of this morning I have been in the DR for one week. It is not as hot as I expected--although it is significantly muggy/humid which means that if I'm outside, I'm nearly constantly sticky. The apartment that I am living in is pretty large--3 bedrooms with a giant picnic table in our kitchen as our kitchen table. Even though my roommate is currently gone, there is no lack of traffic at the house. There are two cats--Sawyer and Finn (Or Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum as I call them). They are adorable, but act just like brothers (they fight).

Last week I managed to get a lot of sight-seeing and activities in. I went into town a couple of times, got set up at the bank, bought a few groceries (coffee being a necessity. Thank goodness I already had a small stock-pile of food that the staff bought before I got there.) I also spontaneously joined on a waterfall adventure with other staff, went to the beach with the boys' house (which was an all-day affair. It was a good 3hr drive to the beach--one way!) I went into Santiago to La Sirena (the closest thing our area has to Wal-Mart) with the girls and enjoyed some frozen yogurt. The girls' house cooked pad Thai for dinner and invited me over so I enjoyed getting to know the girls.

Cabarete beach

Work "officially" started on Monday. I started looking at my schedule, organizing things, shadowed/led a couple of therapy sessions, and tried to figure out what my work day would look like. Working here is very different than back home--for one, I don't have to fight a morning commute (anyone who knows me and my driving knows that's a good thing!!!), and things move a lot slower here (which is nice). Work hours feel more like when I was at camp--when I'm on the main part of campus or with the students I'm 'working' and when I'm at the house I'm not. I walk nearly everywhere--sometimes I'm fortunate and someone will drive by as I'm walking up/down the hill and give me a ride. I'm very thankful for the other staff who have invited me along to go into town to get food, or go grocery shopping. I'm also very thankful for modern technology as it has allowed me to stay in contact with my friends back home and helped give me some semblance of "normal." Speaking of technology--if you want to get a hold of me, you can use FB messenger or WhatsApp. Those tend to work the best. I did just figure out how to set up my phone to make calls or text over WiFi--although I'm not sure how good that will be.

The Chapel on campus

Many of you have asked how I'm adjusting--I don't know that I have a really good response to that, to be honest. This morning it kind of hit me how much I miss the familiar and the known. There is so much that is new and unfamiliar and I'm trying to take it all in and learn it all--language, culture, customs, 'unwritten' rules (for instance, dumping food is called "jumping"), schedule, people. I suppose overall I have done well, but it feels very weird. Thank you for granting me grace as I flood Facebook with pictures. Continue to grant me grace as I continue to adjust.

God's grace be with you, in you, and through all that you do!

Cristin
  ~*~