AMURICA!

May 14, 2013. Phew! Today was crazy but fun. We headed to the PC Office early in the morning, which was an hour drive (and shouldn't have been) of Andy and I singing songs from a US radio station dramatically to each other on the bus :).  We arrived and in shifts we got another tour (I understood it all this time!!), went to the bank and received our debit cards (with money!!), learned about the computers available to us there, and got our key for our mailbox.  I got mail from my family from the beginning of May which was much faster this time! It had my new debit card from home (bam!), letters from my mom and dad, and dinosaur pictures from Jake (which are totally going to be hung in my room!). I was almost in tears at that point and then there were melted Resee's that I devoured in minutes. THEN I got a big bag of children's books and puzzles in Spanish from the volunteer that I went to visit in the mountain since she's heading out. That's when the tears came. But super happy and overwhelmingly loved ones :). There's also a really cool room at the office that has an entire wall of books; you can leave some and take some. I got a book in English and one in Spanish (which I've been wanting). There's also a system to leave things for other volunteers for extended periods and there are boxes of free stuff where people can put clothes they don't want anymore. Apparently it's hit or miss but hey! A hit would be worth going through a few misses since it's free! I'm so cheap :). 

After that we had pizza which was finally a decent pizza; I guess the third time's a charm! A big guy from the US Embassy came and spoke to us about safety and dangers here in the DR. Apparently it's not at a crazy level but it's on the rise with the rise in drug trafficking. He was super blunt, dry, but strangely funny so it wasn't so bad. I'm just gonna suck at the whole, "Don't resist" when getting mugged or something... He said that here he has never had someone with an injury who just gave up their things when asked and didn't resist. Damn. :P

Once that was over, we were free! A group of us took the Metro (brand-new, gorgeous Metro!) to the mall (big and super fancy!). I got jeans!! Finally! And sandals that don't fit but were cheap since I'm afraid mine are gonna die pretty soon (already). Lol buuuut... I already spent some of my money from the PC. Too much for comfort right now but I'm sure I'll be okay lol. Just wasn't sure at that point if I could safely use my card from home without them freaking out that money was being spent in the DR. It's all good though. 

I also talked to Amber and she said she is going to give me her hand-me-down Fly Box from the cell company, Orange. This will plug into my wall and send out a Wifi signal! This box has been passed down three times now and I'll just have to take over the payments and not have to worry about filling out all the paperwork for a new one. It'll be $1,300 (pesos) a month which sounds like a whole lot to me right now (but if I'm doing it right, it's only like $35 (dollars) a month which makes it sound like nothing). But they said if I budget, it's doable. Plus they were able to stream movies, watch YouTube, and Skype with family back home easy with it, so it's worth it. And I'll be real, that will mean the world to me if I can talk to my family and friends in the states. I'll skip breakfast if I have to, damnit. The only downside is that I won't have it until the beginning of June. But we planned a day in the capital already for me pick it up and spend time with Amber and her man before they head out of the country and leave me (ugh, bittersweet). 

We ended the day we called, "AMURICA," (singing songs in English, debit cards, notes from home, Resee's, pizza and Coke, the Metro, mall, jeans, promise of wifi) with a McFlurry with M&Ms and caramel and headed out. The guagua we took was so packed we had to stand the whole way and my leg fell asleep in between people along with my arms that were trying to hold the flat ceiling for support haha. I came home to fried cheese and potatoes and chinola juice.  I showered and stayed in my room again, almost with no guilt this time. But I'm sleepy from the craziness and reminders of home. Entonces, with a smile and excitement for tomorrow, buenas noches.