first week here

hola todos! i'm surviving here...barely. two words: culture shock. i have had a hard time adjusting esp to the language but everyday i've been improving. today i finally met my first dominican GIRL. her name is perla. she's one of the many students that we have on campus who help us and support international students. Yisette and i have been going out the last 2 nights. one night to a billiards place and then a dance where i learned the dance "la bachata". then, last night we went to a restaurant/kareokee place named "el fogon". it was alot of fun. a group of us gringas sang summer nights by grease. i was surprised that they had english songs for kareokee.

we spent the last 2 days going around the city. we spent time at some museums. tomorrow, we have an excursion to la Romana. it has BEAUTIFUL beaches there. guess where i'm going to spend most of my time...? in the water. i'll have to buy a towel because i forgot to bring one from home.

it's been so nice reading your guys' replies and facebook messages/emails. it's been so difficult because i have to speak spanish 24/7. i really want to call to the US but i'm working out some technical difficulties with that.

Thanks for the prayers with my family. it's getting easier and easier to understand and connect with my host family here. but i literally have to tell myself EVERYDAY that i need to take one day at a time. the other morning i was really homesick for my family and friends and my own culture. but the directors here really support us and they want an update in one week. i'm also surprised how much i miss american music and english. i didn't realize what a comfort thing it was for me.

it's really fun talking to some of the dominican guys here because quite a few of them are fluent in english. but ALL of them have learned it by studying in NY in the states so they all sound like lil gangstas. lol. it's funny to listen to them because you'd swear they're from the states.

well, we start classes next mon. good news, i didn't quite pass the written part of the test, but i did pass my oral. and we're all able to take classes. i have a comm service class with orphan kids 4 hours per week. i also have a grammer class and some culture classes. even BETTER news,...i never have classes on fri!! yay! and i only have classes that start at 8am on mon and tues. the other days start at 10am or 11am but i do have some night classes. luckily, yisette has a similar schedule and she and i can walk home at night after our class together.
ciao! -nat

Prayer Requests:
1. that i step out of my comfort zone by meeting dominicans and talking to venders
2. i have a huge fear of talking or answering the phone here because i'm afraid i couldn't understand the person on the other line.
3. security: we have a lot of armed security on campus because a girl--esp an american girl (gringa) is NOT recommended to walk on the street at night alone. i have to take a taxi any time i want to go to a restaurant or dancing.
4. self-control because every person in my program drinks and i don't. not all of them get drunkbut they drink and it's around me all the time. plus self-control with dominican guys because if you give them the time of day, they'll be all over you. this request i'm being very vulnerable with because i have a hard time not flirting sometimes because it's fun and easy to. so, i'd appreciate prayer when interacting with dom guys.

praises:
1. i passed my test (more or less)
2. i'm getting better with my spanish little by little
3. i'm making more connections and getting used to the dom lifestyle/culture.