So Far So Good

We’ve had a good couple of days in the DR so far. When we landed on Monday we knew there was going to be a national strike that would likely hinder transportation. Got to stay in Santiago with the secondary principal and her husband, which was really nice. She is going to be great to work with. Tuesday we spent most of our time running around Santiago, getting cell phones, looking home furnishings, and mad-dashing to the airport (including our first trip to a fast food joint in oh-I-don’t-know-how-long). When we finally got to La Vega we got to sit and talk with Chelo until it started raining buckets. That pretty much washed out any chance of walking over to the barrio, so we settled down for an electricity-free evening and some good sleep. The electric came back on around 9, so we had a fan going when we went to sleep, but “se fue la luz” happened again in the middle of the night, and I woke up in a fantastically stuffy room. Love the Caribbean! The mosquitos ate Kisha alive :0)

We are quite fortunate. There are stores and places here that are exactly the same as the US… I don’t think we’ll have a hard time finding stuff that will remind us of home. It’ll cost, though. So far I’m thinking we had the right idea about bringing our kitchen knives, some of the exotic spices we get from Uwajamaya, and lotsa good shoes. Other than that there’s plenty of good stuff here on the island, though I’ve not been everywhere. The school has hooked us up with a sofa, some furniture, and some dishes as well. Our place is really nice looking, and has plenty of space for the two of us.

Today we got to hang out in the barrio and say hello to almost everyone. It was really nice to be greeted by smiling faces, hugs, and cups of coffee. Rod let me borrow the "Jeep" to get the paint and cleaning supplies we need for our new place. As some of you might have suspected, my driving skills almost blended in :0)

Tomorrow we get to say hello to the few people we missed tonight. Oh yeah, and paint our new apartment :0)