three.

i don't know where to begin so, how about I start with how I got into the house I'm living in now, in the middle of santo domingo's don grigorio district. we left miami at 3 am, and slowly found our way to the dominican republic via puerto rico. we arrived at a nunnery located in the presidential compound, where the dominican president was celebrating his son's graduation. but our true dominican experience did not begin here. although one story is kinda worth telling. so, we were given these malaria pills which are known to give people very lucid nightmares, and apparently they kick in the first night. or maybe it was just a coincedence. but I awoke around three in the morning screaming STOP, after which I demanded that my roommate hand me my knife from the dresser. when he asked me what the fuck I was actually talking about, I realized I had no recolection. regardless, the rest of the night was uneventful, and I awoke bright and early with no memory of the night's occurences. after a solid breakfast, we moved to our training site, run by a private contractor called entrena. here the true dominican culture began coming through. as we rode through town i glimpsed what its like living in the third world. not the dominican republic of punta cana, of white beaches, pot, and parties, but the vida diaria of normal people, trying to make a living, riding motorcycles, crowded cars called gua guas that fit 5 people in the backseat. everything was moving, alive. and the entrena compound is more or less in the middle of it, with craziness all around. there we met our language training staff, wonderful warm people who's only goal is to make us feel at home, comodo. the cook, an amazing woman who's name i can't recall, cooked us a beautiful lunch of chicken, rice and beans, maiz frito (this fried cornbread thing), salad, fresh papaya and pineapple. definitely not a third world meal, but still, authentic nonetheless. we were tested on our language skills, which led me to a discussion of muai thai and global warming. apparently the two topics are closely enough related that they can be disccussed in successive sentences. but the true joy of the day came when I finally met my host family. when we were introduced to our dona, in my case dona isabel, she hugged me and said "Hijo" - son, to which I could only reply MAMA. the whole crowd laughed as we walked towards the gate. we hopped a gua gua, where a large dominican girl starred at me after I said buenos tardes, apparently a come-on in this country, and quickly reached my dona's family "compound", a grouping of houses where resides a whole family. as we walked up, she spoke of her hermana's which live next door, her mama, who's 96, who lives 2 houses down. she took me in, as her own child. it was kind of startling. even though we had been explained the true nature of dominican hospitality, it was hard to accept. no one in the states ever welcomes any stranger like dona isabel did. she proceeded to introduce me to the rest of her extended family as well. all the nieto's, hijas, hermanos. more people than i could ever imagine could be part of one family. i became her seventh child. she cooked for me, a stewed beef dish with fried green plantains and a salad of avocado, tomato, and some tropical veggies i couldnt figure out. it was beautiful. we spent the rest of the evening chatting outside, talking about honduras and michael jackson, while a power outage wiped out all the lights in the barrio. apparently it happens all the time. i finished the night with a bucket shower, an experience all together new to me. but refreshing. it made me reconsider the whole shower concept. it seems that most duche's are done with a cuvetta in south america, so it will take some getting used to. i wish i could write something reflective, something philosophical, but i'm too overwhelmed by the whole experience. plus i'm sweating. at ten pm at night. in fact, its so hot, that even dona isabel complains about the temperature. but it doesnt matter. what matters is that i feel amazing. i'm totally ready for this.