New Donas and new lugares

I guess in theory it has been awhile…at least for me it feels that way as time feels warped here. First things first, about two weeks ago my host family was changed. I think that the abuelos were sick and things weren’t really working out, so I got moved, ironically to a barrio called Los Angeles. There I moved in with a single Dona, who reminds me of my Grammy. Her house is pretty sweet I must say and her cooking is awesome! While she is all about natural foods and healthy eating (gracias a dios) she still tries to get to me to eat meat. Here was one encounter: Spaghetti on the table, I’m starting to eat and notice pieces of meat…
Me "Que es eso?"
Dona "Carne de cerdo (pig)"
Me "Oh, lo siento, pero no como carne…" (O, I’m sorry, but I don’t eat meat"
Dona " Aye, solamente por sabor, es bueno. Prueba lo" (It’s only for flavor, its good, Try it.)
Me " Um, gracias, pero carne me hace enferma. (thanks, but it makes me sick"
Dona "Aye no, por sabor y el carne yo compro es muy bueno" (Its for flavor and the kind I buy is good"
Me "Yo se, pero no gracias"
Dona "Okay"
We then had a laugh that she would eat the rest manana and I ate the rice and beans, because of course that is the appropriate side dish with pasta…haha.
Also, I have my OWN bathroom and a clean room which is so golden, plus a few of my good friends here live in this barrio and we have dubbed ourselves (cleverly) LA Barrio aka LAB. Also, LA is huge, with many tiendas, colmados and one particular bilar (billard hall) that we like to frequent J ALSO, muy interesante, I encountered two Mormon missionary girls in my barrio. Apparently, part of entering the church (I think) in a more mature manner is that one must go on mission for two years and there is a mission here as well. Very nice girls, but also awkward when again, had to explain that I’m all good and won’t be attending church. But, they had actually heard for Jews before and were very nice…moving on. So last week was Semana Santa aka Holy Week which culminates in Easter. Basically, from Thursday to Sunday people are technically off work and school, but that feeling lasts much longer than those few days. Also, that Thursday and Friday are celebrated with lots of alcohol until midnight and all shuts down til Sunday, mas o menos. Well, LAB, of course, celebrated Semana Santa with lots of cuba libres con Brugal (the local rum) and dancing! But, one of the best parts of my weekend was Sunday morning when I helped cook Easter lunch with my Dona. Woke up late and by late I mean 10am, ate a lil and then the cooking commenced. We made some rice con Puerco (green onions), a taboule like dish, a teriyaki style sauce that was then cooked with meat, and my favorite was the eggplant lasagna she made for me! Aye dios mio…muy rica! It was sooo yummy and so easy to make too. We joked that when I move to the campo I’m gonna call her when I make it for the first time! Also, a Dominican tradition for Semana Santo is to cook Habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans), literally a sweet soup like dish made with beans, potatoes and then a few small sugar cookies. It sounds weird, but its good, clearly VERY sweet. Ok, so Monday I bid Sora adios and headed for El Seibo for technical training por un mes! I also had to bid adieu to the half of the group that are working in the environment sector - sad. So here’s another funny story…me and two other PCTs traveled together and the guagua to El Seibo from Santo Domingo takes about two hours. Well about 1 hour in I had to pee like the Diablo! I know, I know, you’re all shocked. Anyway, I finally got up the balls to ask the cobrador if he would stop & wait while I went to pee. I thought we understood each other…me and the other girl get off where he showed us a bathroom, only to watch the guagua and our bags with the other lone PCT drive away! Well, we get out of the GROSS bathroom and find Ben on the corner with ALL the bags! Quite a site, but all was bueno because we were close to our new casas. My new casa is really nice as is the family. The head of the household is from Puerto Rico and grew up in the States and speaks perfect English, therefore ironically he speaks to me in Ingles. But, I continue to respond in Espanol, which is also funny and we talked about only speaking in Spanish because that’s the only way I will learn mas. Its also helpful because one of the Spanish teachers lives in the same house while we are here. On that note, I feel WAY better about my Spanish. By no means is it good, but I can communicate and understand for the most part all of what is said to me. Yet, invariably, the minute I feel ok about that, we start the tech training in Spanish and computer lingo in English is a whole other language, therefore it feels like yet another language! Beyond that El Seibo in itself, is a great little town. It has lomas (hills) and a large river running through it. The people are very nice and its just a nice change from the madness that is the Capital. Well, I believe that pretty much catches us up…a few personal shout outs:

P.S. I just finished reading "Still Life with Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins! I HIGHLY recommend it! Very funny, smart, ironic, relevant and of course, I am partial because it is, in my opinion, a love letter to redheads! The Red Beards will return one day…

Hasta Luego
A