Friday November 19, 2010
Day 77
This week flew by. I can not even believe it is already Friday. I think the weeks go by much quicker here than they do at home. Today was just an average day at the office. I helped Teresa a little bit more with her presentation for the conference and I think I just have a few more things to add. One of the things I did was research a program called “Ask Me 3” or in Spanish “Preguntame 3” which is a health literacy campaign that encourages patients to ask the doctor three important questions. They have the posters in the clinic but I wanted to find more information about it (in English since most of the participants will be from the US) to use in the presentation. I also worked on my own power point presentation. My presentation is somewhat of a final report of what I have been doing here for the last three months.
After work we went to the kid’s school and watched the championship game of a high school basketball tournament. It was really exciting and the crowd was really into it. When ever there was a time out, a few of the older kids went in to the middle of the court and played these two traditional Dominican instruments and another kid danced. The kid dancing was hilarious and definitely made the crowd go crazy. The team won and all of the students (even the little kids who were watching) ran out on to the court to congratulate them. Fun stuff!
At night we went to church because Cynthia is participating in a contest tomorrow at the church and Teresa thought it would be a good idea to go tonight. It was a special mass for people with disabilities and at the end of the mass a mother of a woman with a disability (the result of an accident later in life) gave a wonderful speech. After the mother’s speech the woman said a little something as well and there were tears and a huge applause. Unbeknownst to us, there was a little concert after the mass. It was Christian music and the people in the group were extremely energetic. The concert was a mix of Christian music, Barney, Bar Mitzvah dancing (the dancers who lead the people in dance steps), all with a Dominican flare. It was actually pretty cool and everyone was really into it, especially the kids and old ladies.
Saturday November 20, 2010
Day 78
Today was a fun day for Cynthia. She participated in a contest at the church that was a combination of a talent show and a pageant. She practiced her part in the morning and right before the contest she went to get her hair done. Some girls sang, danced and others participated in an art contest. Cynthia was one of the older girls there (and obviously one of the tallest) but there were some very cute little girls participating as well. Cynthia sang and played the guitar and then finished up her act with just a singing performance. She looked great on stage and I think she did a really nice job.
Sunday November 21, 2010
Day 79
I woke up later than usual today and it was just lovely. Normally I like waking up early but I figured I didn’t need to rush to wake up when I didn’t have any particular plans for the day. Well sure enough, after I was just hanging out in my room after breakfast, Teresa knocked on my door and told me they were going to church because Cynthia had to go since she participated in the contest the day before. I didn’t feel badly about not going because I went on Friday night so I stayed home. I was able to do all of my laundry while they were gone. As soon as I hung up my last thing to dry, it started pouring outside. My luck, right? It stopped after a few minutes so hopefully my clothes don’t smell like mildew tomorrow.
The family was gone for a long time because they ended up doing errands after church, but fortunately for me, they brought home lunch. I spent most of my day reading and doing laundry and then once the football games started, I followed all of the scores on my computer. Sundays are a lot more fun at home in the US with the games on TV and friends or family watching them together at home or at Scotty’s (Bex!). At least when I get home I will have a couple weeks left of NFL season.
Fun Facts:
1. When the family was gone on Sunday afternoon, I collected all of the garbage and was just opening the door to bring it out to the dumpster when I heard a loud bang. I shut the door and ran to a different window and ducked. As I was moving around I heard more loud bangs. I soon realized it was fireworks (nothing pretty, just loud) across the street. Later in the night, I heard it again but this time it was the actual show. They were professional fireworks and were actually really pretty. I wonder what the occasion was.
2. The church had a carnival and the rides looked like they were about to fall apart. I took a few pictures to use as evidence if anything bad happened to anyone on the rides.
3. Unlike in English, the word for skin on fruit (cรกscara) is different from the skin on a human (piel). Teresa thought it was funny that I didn’t know this. It is wise to be cautious with these two words so people don’t think you are a cannibal for eating skin.
4. Mosquitoes only bite foreigners.
5. Cynthia and Teresa like to surprise me and bring me food when I am in my room on my computer. 75% of the time I am not hungry but I can never refuse because it is usually something tasty and it is so nice of them! My mom NEVER brings me food in my room. =]
6. One of the girls in the contest sang a song from the Broadway show, In the Heights and since it was in English Teresa asked me if I knew the song. At first I had no idea what song she was singing (without background music) but then I recognized a name from the show and realized what she was singing. In the Heights is about the Dominican and Puerto Rican community in Washington Heights so it was a cute idea that this girl was singing that song. She did a good job, but I was paying attention to the tune and not to the words and that is why I didn’t recognize it at first.
Mosquito Bite Count (from the weekend): 4
Peace,
Jaclyn
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