El Seibo

Well, im here in el seibo and wow, it is so much better than santo domingo. quiter, cleaner, more interesting. My host family is 10 times better, my host mom here cooks like a pro. for lunch the other day i had spaghettti, chicken, rice, platanos, and beans. it was sooo goood. she makes me oatmeal for breakfast every morning. My room is a lot bigger and i have a fan that works. the water runs here, so i was able to take a shower, fantastic.
Anyways, topic of the day, women. It is incredible the level of degredation here. Women are mere objects for the pleasure of men. Its the closest thing to an unofficial sex trade i have ever seen. Men are taught from a very young age that no means maybe, but women are taught that no means no, so its a very difficult situation here. Women are not respected unless they are super old. Men hiss and say incredibly sexual and degrading things to them as they walk by. It is the way men prove their masculinity. Its is embarresing for all the girls in our group. It would be 10 times more difficult to be a woman here than a man. You know sometimes in the states guys will be a girl a drink. Normally its non chalent and he wonbt force you into bed, But here, if you send a drink to a girl in a bar, and she accepts it, it is culturally understood that you will be having sex with them. We had a 4 hour long meeting about this this morning. Basically men have all the power.
whew, we just completed our basic training woo hoo. I got a 99 on my spanish competency test, which cant be right because i still dont have a clue half the time. Now we move on to core basic training, which has to do with settinbg up computer labs and what not. I actually have to give a presentation about hardware....what? haha, no clue.
Also, this week is semana santa, which is a relgious celebration here that lasts from yesterday till next sunday. People have the whole week off, and they usually go on vacation to the river or beach. By vacation i mean they spend they day there then come back. but we have to work all week, bummer, but we get friday, saturday and sunday off next week, so pumped about that.
alright, i gotta go, love and miss you guys tons!