And Sometimes a Cellphone is Really a Microphone

March 17, 2013. Today I managed to roll out of my room around 8:30am. A cheese sandwich was waiting for me and I managed to get it down :P. My host mom said I was up early lol but asked me how my party was. After I ate, Paola and I played lots of card games. We then watched Tom & Jerry in Spanish! haha I love spending time with her. Plus she was saying what was going to happen before it happened so it was like I had a Spanish narrator! Good practice, right?! Soon after that, I got ready to head to the colonial zone in the city for a historical tour by a woman named Lynn(e?) Guitar. She's quite a well known person and has lived in the DR now for the last 17 years. She only does tours for PCVs now which was awesome. Apparently I was confused earlier when my host mom asked me about lunch because as I said goodbye she was like wait! Your lunch! I thought I had told her I was going to eat there but apparently I said the opposite lol oops.
We left at noon and took a guagua to the Maximo Gomez. We then took another guagua down to the Avenida Independencia. I was proud of myself because I remembered how to get to the area from last Thursday :P. We walked the rest of the way which ended up being far but it was nice to just walk. Plus I turned on tourist mode (since I brought my camera!!) and took pictures along the way (See below! The trees here are so cool. Grandma Irene? The cemetery pictures are for you, apparently the one is super old but I'm not sure how old. There was a huge Cathedral built in the 1400s. Flowers are always beautiful. Gargoyles are so cool and apparently the name Gargoyle is actually that "o" word that means a sound word? Goodness I can't spell. But anyways, yea. They used to be used as gutters and the sound the water would make as it came out sounded like gargoyle! Beauty can grow out of times of trial and pain - guess which picture. Electricity problems much? And my present from Paola! Will be explained here below. Obviously there's some others not mentioned here but they either don't need a description or I have no idea what it is O:) ). We got to the Conde and split up for lunch. Andrew, Susan, Kate, and I went to KFC. That's right. I'm in the Dominican Republic and I ate fast food. It was perfect! I missed my guilty pleasure already and hey, I probably won't get much of it the next two years so why not, right? :D After we ate, we walked around a bit and looked in the shops. It sucked not feeling like I have any money because I would have loved to have gotten sunglasses or some postcards to send home. Ah well. Tomorrow Susan and I are going to go to the supermarket to change some of our American money into pesos. It'll be nice just to have a cushion in case I feel like I'm gonna die if I don't have a chocolate milk after training one day ;).
The tour was great (despite being long). She was funny and shared some incredible stories. Lord don't I wish I had a better memory so I could share... She has studied the indigenous people of the DR and as far back in history as the 1400s. It was incredible. And I got to take pictures so I can share. I put a few here and then maybe I'll get going on the album on Facebook with the rest (I just don't know how to upload more than one photo to an album on my page from this damn iPad app which is annoying). We finished the tour and headed back no problem. Though I did get change back on the guagua when I had given him the exact amount. Win! Free guagua ride!
When I got home, Paola had a surprise for me. She made me close my eyes and hold out my hands. It was the cutest thing!! I got a little ceramic circle with glitter and "Julie y Paola" written in green on it! I found a nail in my bedroom wall so I hung it up there! She also gave me an envelope that said, "To: Julie Of: Paola With: LOVE" and on the inside it was a beautiful picture of a Disney fairy that she drew and colored with hearts all in the background. Ah! Now I know my Spanish isn't that great but she had me completely speechless! I was so touched and boy did it make me feel good! I gave her a huge hug and thanked her over and over again because that's all I could manage to say :). I want to make her something now but I might have to be creative since I don't really have any supplies... haha. Hm.... After organizing myself, dinner was ready. Paola and I ate together and Mom, you'll be so proud! I ate onions!! And I liked them! Yesss. Paola put the radio on while we ate and got up to dance a bunch of times. She then grabbed the cellphone on the table and USED IT LIKE A MICROPHONE. I couldn't believe my eyes! Mom & Sam? This made me miss those times in the car or the kitchen when we would bust out in song with some random object as our microphone. Ah! It was so great. Have I mentioned how much I love her yet? I pretended to be in the crowd screaming her name, crying at the sight of her, telling her I loved her, tapping my chest and saying with a sigh, "Oh mi corazon!" They got a kick out of that :D Once I was done eating, Paola grabbed my hand and taught me a few dance moves! I was quite clumsy but damn can that chica move! I was so impressed! I think I got a few things down but I definitely still need practice. Even my host mom got up and danced for a bit! It was so relaxing and made me feel so comfortable here. I think they did have another volunteer or someone here because my host mom was saying that another American (and she showed me her old name tag) used to dance out on their patio outside. She was probably awesome and fluent lol! We went outside to cool down and just people watched for a while. A guy probably about my age came over from the colmada across the street and they talked a lot. About me? Possibly, but no clue. They said he could dance too and he would bust a move here and there. He could move his hips better than me lol. Different, but I guess that's the culture! Right around 8pm, my host mom said she was tired and that we all have to be up early so let's go to bed. Some stuff was said about me with that kid but I slowly made my way towards the door and just smiled like a dumb American pretending to know what is being said :) I've become a master at that. haha And now? Waiting for my family to call :) I hope they do! But what a good day. And until tomorrow, Buenas noches.