What's going on with me.

The church in front of my house and two of the billions of street dogs here. 

We had a game day in Spanish class on Friday.  There was Phase 10, Scrabble (in Spanish), and Charades.  One host mom made a traditional Dominican dessert, it was milky corn soup, not my fave.  Most of their desserts are made with staple foods like potatoes, beans, and rice.

Speaking of odd desserts, on Saturday my host mom insisted I learn how to make Habichuelas Dulces, which consist of pureed red beans with sugar, Carnation milk (an ingredient found in almost everything), and cinnamon; you can eat them hot or cold.  I had them hot and it wasn't too bad, tasted like sweet bean puree.  During Semana Santa/Easter time they make a huge pot and share them with family and friends.  I am going to try and make some sort of treat for Easter.

Saturday night we all got together to watch the movie Volunteer, an 80s movie with Tom Hanks, he becomes a PCV in Thailand to escape money troubles.  It was funny to see them interpret a PCV.  Dora and I made a papaya shake and someone brought popcorn, it was pretty great.

While navigating a new culture you get very tired.  You are analyzing every situation, translating conversations, making sure you are polite and say the right things.  It gets tiring and some nights I am physically and mentally exhausted.  At the same time I love the challenge and at times think of it as a game.

One weird situation happened with my host brother on Sunday.  He said he bought me a pair of jeans at the market, they were my size, which he could only know if he looked at my clothes.  I wasn't sure how receive a gift, especially from a male.  I awkwardly thanked him and rushed out of the house.  I often find him staring at me and our trainer said I needed to be direct with him, so today I proudly/awkwardly asked him what he wanted, he said I'm looking at you, I said yes I know, do you have a question, he said no and walked away.  I felt mean, but it's uncomfortable.   

It is Samana Santa this week in the DR.  School is out and and many families visit relatives or take a trip to the beach or the river.  I am trying to convince my family to take a trip to the beach, but they really aren't going for it...gas is expensive.  We have Friday off and then the following Friday we move back to Santo Domingo to complete training!