Back in the City

So i just got back from spending a few days at a resort in Semana. I managed to contract some disease there also, so now im back in the sick house. The resort was amazing though. I got to sleep in a king size bed with sheets! Air conditioning! a bathroom with a door on it! Hot water showers, bathtub! It was all surreal. I ate incredible food that was not even remotely Dominican!I think i enjoyed the regular food a little too much which is why im sick again. Anyways, the trip to semana took a good 1000 pesos, 10 hours, 2 buses, 1 taxi, and boat. It was well worth it though. We stuffed ourselves at the Buffet that night to try and bury the road weariness. IT rained most of the time but it didnt ruin the trip.
But now im back in the real world. Slowly adjusting back to absoultely terrible dominican food and a sheet acting as a bathroom door, haha, but its all good. There is not much going on here. Just playing dominoes, reading, the usual. Trying to nurse myself back to health again. Seems to be a full time job here.
Ive also decided to move out on my own by the end of july. ITs tough trying to tiptoe around my host families feelings. They are nice people but they just dont understand how someone cannot eat 18 pounds of platano in one sitting. IF i dont finish everything on my plate they are personally offended but then i end up spending the night curled around the toilet. I think it will be just easier for eveyone if i get my own place, COOK for MYSELF. Plus ill be paying half the money i am right now to live on my own. For those of you who know me know i like my own space, lol.
Anyways, thats about it in my exciting life.

Birthday

So its been a while since ive gotten to use the internets. Even though the school i teach at has 40 computers and A/C the Interet is gone. No one seems to know why either. This country is soooo weird. I was like what happened to the wireless routers and they just shrugged their shoulders and said someone probably took them.....????? What does that mean. So anyways i do not have nearly enough access to free internet as i did during the school year, so these blogs will get far and fewer between. I am sitting in the lobby of a hotel right now trying to steal some web-time.
Anyways this past week was my birthday, and i had a blast celebrating it in the DR. Hung out Wednsday for a little bit, saw some sites, ate at Pizza Hut (Yes!) and then on Saturday about 15 volunteers from my group came into Santiago and stayed the night. We just chilled out all day watching some Worldcup Action and enjoying some ice cold cervezas. Then we went out dancing that night, which was a lot more fun than it sounds, haha. All in all it was a very memorable night, haha.
As for as work goes, i have not been doing too much. Im just starting to create English and Computer class curriculums. I will be starting the English classes the start of August, im pretty excited to get that going. Everyone takes the month of July off here entirely. Teachers, students, so its difficult to get any real wok done. Im just going to have to hang out for a month before i can start anything serious.....bummer, lol.
On a cultural note, My host-sister is getting married on July 24 and she asked me to go. So now i can share my feeling about marriage in a different language. I plan on giving a toast that begins with Por Favor, No! Just kidding, haha, kinda....
I was also accepted to go on a medical mission. Its 1 week long in Yacita. I will stay with a group for the university of southern MAine and translate between doctors and patients. Should be interesting, woo hoo.
Well anyways, thats about all i got going on. Tomorrow im off to a resort on an island off the coast of the DR. ITs about time for a vacation, haha.
Love and miss you guys lots

Theories

So there is a new theory as to how life began on earth, thankyou Yahoo homepage. No one is ever going to know for sure, i dont know why people waste their time. Neither Evolution NOR Creation are proven fact. Lets put some of those scientists to a more fruitful endeavor, like creating a new genre of Chia pets, lol. There is something we can hold onto with both hands.
Anyways, just thought i would share that with you guys. It made me laugh when i saw it this morning. ç
So, its a hot summer in the DR. I get tired stepping outside. Its quite miserable. The good news is, my birthday is in 2 days! I will be 23! Im an old man here. If i was Dominican i would be married with children by now, scary to think about. A bunch of volunteers are coming to Santiago on Saturday to celebrate. It also happens to be another volunteers birthday this week too, so its a joint fiesta. Should be a good time.
Well, im in good health for now, gracias a dios. Cross your fingers. My bowel movements are regular. I have been playing dominoes a lot, and am finally starting to win against true Dominicans, its quite a rush. My host mom made me Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for dinner last night, and it was amazing. I miss american food so much. I have gotten sick from Dominican food so often that it has just lost any appeal, not that it had much to begin with. But this puts me in a quandry. I enjoy chicken and rice, but thats about it. The diet here consists of Platano, Yuka, Name, Tayota, Papa, Patata, rice, beans, solomi, chicken, egg. All those names you dont recognize are bland starch foods. I hate them, lol. Some volunteers like them, but they are not for me. I miss Marinated steak on the grill with twice baked potatoes and fresh green beans, crescent rolls. I miss 4-cheese penne pasta with sliced up chicken breast, ceaser salads. I miss sub sandwiches! Just gimme a dagum turkey and cheese and ill be fine, but it jsut doesnt exist to them! I went and bought my own peanut butter and had my host sister make banana and PB sandwich with Lays potato chips and a coke for lunch the other day, it...........was.............heaven. I cant wait until i live on my own so i can make anything i want, anytime i want, always. I Miss cereal too, but the milk here is....odd....its sold in a box...warm, and it has a idfferent taste to it, i dunno. I just dont think i will ever crave Dominican food.
Anyways, there is my rant for the day. DR food sucks, when you guys come to visit stick with the resort food, lol. Unless you want to loose 10 pounds fast, then i can take you to a nice place in my neighborhood, haha.
Adios muchachos

Hurricane Season!

EMERGENCY COORDINATOR/EMAIL MESSAGE:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calls for an active to extremely active Atlantic season with a 70 percent chance of having 14 to 23 named storms, eight to 14 of which could become hurricanes. Anaverage season has 11 named storms, of which six become hurricanes with two becoming major hurricanes.

We all just received this email. Hahaha, its gonna be a fun couple months

Photos

So i figured its about time i uploaded some photos. These are from various places here in the DR. Trying to lighten the morbid mood of my blogs, lol. Cheers.

Ya

So, i was able to eat my first normal meal today and feel good afterwards. Victory. Im really tired all the time, and i lost a little more weight, but i think im going to be able to start regaining strength and weight. Im gonna try and hit the "Rocky Gym" located in my community for 25 pesos a day, trying to get my swol on. The thought of platano still makes me gag though. Ugh, Dominican food is straight up nasty for the most part.
So i signed up to do a med mission here. While we are here, we have the opportunity to assist medical organizations when they come here. Mainly , we assist in translating for the doctors and patients. Nevertheless, its supposed to be an extremely rewarding experience. The one i signed up for is july 18-26, all expenses included. Usually, the volunteers with the most seniority get first pick, so i doubt i will even get to go, but i put my name in the hat, and its exciting to think about.
I also went to a dominican surprise birthday party last night. It was very interesting. Very classy. I ended up being the DJ for the night. Weird story, so they were having problems with the cd player so they were like, oh Jose is a computer genius, he can fix anything. So, as i approached the entertainment center amongst a sea of reverantly bowed heads i pushed the power button on and , voila, hay luz. This unnofficially made me the DJ for the night, so i would hesitantly pick songs to play then slowly turn my head to gauge peoples reactions. Id like to think i did a good job. But, anyways, met a lot of cool people that way. So, it was fun.
Well thats about all i got for now. World Cup starts in 6 days so im pretty pumped about that.
Adios muchachos!

here we go again

sooooooooo......i feel like its been a while since i last reported a major illness. Right now im battling with Ameobic Dysentary. Basically, both ends, all the time, cant even keep water down. I had to come to the capital yesterday to receive treatment and im doing a lot better, gracias a dios. I just ate my first meal this morning since 8pm tuesday night. A bland turkey sandwich and some yogurt well see how that sits, i was able to keep down 50oz of rehydration solution last night, which is a good sign. For the most part i think the worst is over, but i have to stay here an extra night and get my poo examined to make sure its not something more serious. Its not all bad. I get put up in a private room at a nearby pension(aka, the crappiest room at a motel 6)with ac, cable tv, and a private bathroom! So im living it up for a few days. Funny thing about this situation was, we had not had running water in Santiago for like 2 weeks because the town water pump was destroyed, but the night i threw up my toenails we had running water. Just a little sign from God saying: Im teaching you a lesson about eating rise and spaghetti at a scetchty buffet, but i will let you flush the toilet today. The Lords ceasless mercy, lol. Just a little silver lining. Things could be a lot worse, so im thankful for that. i still have most of my major motor skills.
But anyways, on tuesday before this all happened i was in Puerto Plata jumping off waterfalls. Yea, Awesome, I know. So its a place called Las Charcas, and their are 27 waterfalls, you start with number 27 and jump down each one until you get to number 1. Some of them are as high as 30 meters, others are like 5. It was a blast! You have to wear a helmet and a lifejacket though, because some of the waterfalls dive into narrow crevices, kinda like a canyon, and their have been a few "incidents", in the past. Its was sooo much fun though, and really cheap. So if any of you guys ever come down, we gotta check that out.
Well im here in the capital for another night, watching sportcenter in Spanish and chilling at the peace corp office waiting for my next ameobic attack, wish me luck.
Love and miss you guys a lot, vaya con dios