10/10/10

Friday October 8, 2010

Day 34

Today was a typical day at the office.  I continued with my research projects and that is always exciting. No really, it is. I actually enjoy researching things.  I think it is the idea of collecting things actually. I started with rocks as a little kid and moved on to sugar packets in my teen years (still collecting!) and now I am collecting information.  I like gathering information and putting it into something useful.  I am working on the “something useful” part as we speak.  Nothing too exciting happened today, other than the water shortage at the office.  Our emergency water containers are bio hazard containers (one is the size of a medium sized garbage can and the other is the size of a small garbage can) so when I walked into the bathroom and saw the two red bio hazard receptacles I was a bit confused at first.  No worries, nothing hazardous, just a water shortage.

Saturday October 9, 2010

Day 35

Today was a typical weekend day here in Casa de Teresa.  We had a relaxing morning and I think I watched a little too much Boy Meets World on the computer. (Mom, this is legal. I am not a pirate.) Since I had the three necessities for laundry (power, water, sunlight) I decided it would be a good time to get that done.  Laundry by hand is quite the workout so luckily I only have to do half of my laundry like that.  They have a washing machine but it is extremely rough and I was warned not to but anything fragile (i.e. the shirts I wear to work) in it.

In the evening we went to the mall.  What does a mall in Santo Domingo look like? As a matter of fact, it looks very similar to the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus or any other multi-level mall.  The place was huge and had a wide variety of stores.  Cynthia needed shoes and she had quite a few stores to choose from.  After the shoe adventure I finally bought a cell phone. Yes, I am connected again.  I bought a really cheap phone and I will use phone cards so I don’t have to pay for a plan with a one year contract.  I usually use Skype for long phone calls but this phone will be for quick calls during the day, mostly to people in Santo Domingo.  So far I only have one contact in my phone book, Teresa.

Sunday October 10, 2010

Day 36

First of all today is 10/10/10 and that is just nifty.  Even cooler than that, today is Teresa’s birthday!  Well Teresa’s birthday started out very early today at the ungodly hour of 6:15am (for a Sunday of course) because we had to get ready for Cynthia’s rally in the Colonial Zone.  The entire 7^th grade is required to participate in a competition that is part historical facts and part physical competition.  The students walk/run around the area and answer questions about different historic buildings and people.  Luckily Cynthia had studied a lot so she was a great asset to her team.  After they finished their questions they participated in some physical challenges and that was fun to watch.  Teresa and one of the other mom’s from Cynthia’s group were the best motivators/coaches.  They followed the group and not only were they great cheerleaders but they also supplied the necessary water when anyone got thirsty.  Did I mention it was very hot out there? I was so surprised that it was so hot so early in the morning. (8:00am-10:00am). 

After the rally, the kids went with their dad to buy Teresa a birthday present and I kept Teresa company at the hair salon.  The salon was an upscale place and it was very chic and well, salon-like!  The hair salon was so busy and all I could think of was how much money they were making there.  They open very early in the morning and stay open until 10:00pm every day of the week. While I waited for Teresa I think there must have been at least 40 people there.  After the salon adventure we went out to lunch Teresa and I met up with the kids and their dad and we went out for lunch for Teresa’s birthday.  I was so hungry so I really enjoyed what I had.  I had grilled chicken and tostones (fried plantains that are served instead of French fries) and that hit the spot.   The menu was really long so it took me forever to figure out what I wanted.  At night we went to church and everyone sang happy birthday to Teresa.  What a nice way to end a birthday!

Fun Facts:

1.       The people selling ice cream in the colonial zone probably made thousands of dollars today.  I didn’t have any because I have this rule about only having ice cream at night.  I rarely break it and I only do it for special ice cream.

2.       At the salon I noticed that most of the clients bring tote bags filled with high-end hair products.  They have hair products at the salon to use and some to buy but Teresa told me people just like to bring their own. 

3.       The mall security guards carry a baton and two guns.  I am not sure how I feel about that yet. 

4.       There are so many random chickens around the city.

5.        Jam and Ham and soup and soap are commonly mixed up words that I always try not to laugh at when I hear them.  Soap with jam in it? Yuck.   Note: ham=jamón and it is pronounced “ha-mone” and soup=sopa and it is pronounced “so-pa”.

6.       Healthy Travels has been live all weekend at 10:00pm in Bethany Beach, Delaware.  I have been skyping with my parents and their friends, Dr. Mary & Paul, because they are all in Delaware for a weekend of tennis and birthday celebrations.  I almost feel like I am there with them.

Peace,

Jaclyn



Everyone ready for the rally