Hello world! Sorry it's been so long since I've written, the internet here is sketchy at best. The past few days have been such a rollercoaster! I moved in with my new family last Saturday. My mom, Denise, insists that I call her Mami at all times, and nothing else. She makes me feel like I belong in her home and like she wants me to be there. I have two brothers and one sister, but the oldest brother, Aneudys doesn't live with us. It is actually his 22nd birthday today and he told me that he is going to hit two home runs for his birthday at his baseball game tonight. My other brother, Chanel, is 20 and he loves to run and play jokes on my roommate Kara and I. My younger sister, Katherine is 18 and she is currently in English school so she always asks Kara and I about english in the best accent.
Our house is in a community called Piedra Blanca, which is about a ten minute drive from downtown Jarabacoa. We live up in the mountains where there is always a breeze, the view from our window is incredible, and there are significantly less bugs than lower down on the mountain. So much has happened in the last few days that I don't even know what to write about. It has been a fairly easy transition into living with a new family. Our house only has water every other day, so I have only taken cold bucket showers so far. We have to flush the toilet with a bucket of water. Our mom did our laundry yesterday, and it smells so good because it was hung out to dry in the fresh mountain air.
I'd like to think that my spanish is improving. Sometime I really botch my words, but there are times that I put together these really awesome sentences and I think that I must be improving. Spanish classes started on Monday, and they are pretty difficult. But we are cramming a semester's worth of work into five weeks, so I expect nothing less. I have been having some trouble eating, I haven't really had an appetite since before I got here, but I'm praying for a change in that area of my life. For the first time ever, I have to give a stool sample today.. so sick. But I guess it will be better to have it taken care of now before it gets worse or I have to life with being sick longer.
I tried to upload some pictures but with so many people trying to use the internet at the base, I think it would take a few hours.. sorry! I don't know what else to write, so ask me some questions if you have them and I'll make sure that I respond to them next time I write. I love and miss you all!
great hearing almost all is well. Sounds like an absolutely perfect family to all learn together. Your language skills I'm sure are getting better even faster than you realize,what go pro in one week? We enjoy your writings each time and look forward to many more!! Love you, DnR
ReplyDeleteI love the post. It's like I'm right there with you. Tell your host family I said hi and to take good care of you. Maybe they'll visit us one day :)Stay strong kiddo! Love you and miss you!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo funny, I just started some laundry for you this morning...but it won't smell as nice as I used a modern convenience. I keep checking for you on Skype, I will catch you one of these days I'm sure. Do you call your dad Papi? What are you eating for meals? Do you all help prepare and clean up? What is a noticable gender specific job, or role? How often do you go to church, and is it Catholic?
ReplyDeleteps. you said ask questions.
Love you! Pops & Mamita
I have a hard enough time peeing in a cup for the doctor, so ummm good luck with the stool sample, dude.
ReplyDeleteLola says "I love you, Margie!"
Madeline says "I love you so much all the way up to the moon and then to the other moon"
Bring back some wild animals for Bella and Maxito.
Love ya.
Dude i like love reading your bogs, i can just hear you saying it. Tell your host family i said hi. I miss you lots.
ReplyDeletethanks to everyone for the encouraging words! it's so good to be able to hear from everyone.. it's been a kind of rough adjustment.
ReplyDeleteto answer some questions.. there is not a dad in my family. my new mom's husband died a few years ago, and though culturally it would be okay for her to remarry, she just hasn't felt like she's wanted to. For meals, we eat a lot of rice with other things on top of it.. like soup (sopa), or meat and vegetables (carne y vegetales), or beans (habichuelas). it's different, but it's also pretty good. our mom hasn't asked us to help her clean up very much.. i keep asking her if she needs help but she tells me that she likes doing it and she'll ask for help when she needs it. our house is really small so there really isn't that much to keep up with. we go to church where my friends amy and rachel live. it's a pentacostal church, so it's pretty emotionally charged. we went last sunday night and becuase it's all in spanish, there is no way that i could even discern what they were saying, or if what they were saying is truthful.
thanks to madeline and lola for their words of encouragement! i miss all of my little blondies.. but i got some pictures of them today in an email so that helps :)
i'll try to post again in the next couple of days.