Terrible Bolas for the Happy American

09 de enero 2014. Bueno. So Friday morning I arose to coffee and tea made for me. Two full mugs worth. Normally, that would have been so phenomenal! This time, however, I was about to embark on my first journey to the city of Santiago on a bus with no bathroom and that only stops to pick up and drop off people. And it would take roughly 5 hours. And if y'all reading this know me at all, or my bladder rather, you know it SUCKS. haha. So! I made it to the Cruce (with Pipe's help, of course), got on the bus and not even an hour later, had to go. Bad. Luckily one stop did have a bathroom (if you could call it that...) so I went. After that? No such luck. Four hours of iPod music to try and distract myself from my screaming bladder and one taxi ride later, we made it to the hotel we were meeting at and away I went to my room for the bathroom. Sweet sweet relief. ;)

A bunch of us volunteers headed out to explore a little and find lunch. We settled on Pico Pollo which if I haven't ever explained, is basically Dominican fast food. And delicious!

After we ate, we had our official "Mini VAC" meeting and parted ways. I met a bunch of new volunteers as well as old ones. We bought some chocolate milk and just relaxed in the hotel for a bit. Then we decided to go get pizza from a place owned by a guy who lived in NY for 20 years. And knows how to make pizza. I was skeptical because thus far, the pizza in this country hasn't been so awesome. Especially when there is corn on it... Haha But! To my delight, it was incredibly delicious! And I was a happy American.

We then ventured out with our chocolate milk to a monument that sits high on a hill in the city. And although it was nighttime, the view was incredible. We just chatted and drank and eventually headed back to the hotel.

I finally couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and left to shower and go to bed. Having running water may or may not be even more of a thing now since we never (just about never) have it in my site so yes, the tears flowed with it's wonderfulness. And the hot water did last for about two minutes. And I wasn't scrunched in a shallow bucket that I don't fit in trying to pour water over myself without spilling too much outside of it... So again, happy American. And as I settled in with the TV on (another luxury!), the movie "Anacondas" came on and I was both horrified and amazed that I actually loved that movie when I was little. How it didn't give me nightmares, I'll never know. But it was awesome :D

In the morning, we met in the lobby and headed out in a few busses to a place called the "27 Charcos."  It. Was. Awesome. Sadly I couldn't take pictures because we were in water almost the entire time. But I should explain what it is and you should look it up and see pictures online cuz it's beautiful. Charcos refer to pools of water that are really deep. So we hiked for about an hour first and then followed a stream through 27 Charcos with waterfalls, nature-made slides, and cliffs that we could jump off of into the water. So flippin cool! Afterwards we had lunch there and I ended up having to leave alone. No one from my neck of the woods was heading back that day and everyone else lived close enough where they could leave later haha. I could have stayed but I really didn't want to pay for another hotel night (although missing out on more running water and TV...? Yea...) and I actually did want to get back to site. I made it to Caribe Tours in Santiago, met a man going to Loma de Cabrera also and we spent the entire next 3 1/2 hours talking about everything under the sun. It was wonderful. 

Pipe met me in Loma de Cabrera and it was already dark. That winding, hilly road at night is a whole new ball game. And I loved it. We stopped at his uncle's house where there was a huge party going on. That guy I met before who said he's super famous and has a ton of fans (not sure if I mentioned him before or not)? He was singing and playing the guitar and his band was awesome. We only stayed briefly for exhaustion was settling in hard and heavy. I really wish I could dance like the Dominicans and get rid of this vergüenza. I'm pretty sure it's the only thing I still have vergüenza with. Damn.

Home, tea, coffee, bath, bed. Perfect.

I arose today and never wanted to get out of bed... But tea, coffee and another bath were waiting for me at 10am courtesy of Pipe. We hung out, I met people that live a few towns over (and will be going to visit them for sure to see if there's anything I can do in the school-they are so fun), and at 2pm, was off to the baseball game in Restauración! Getting a ride there was difficult and then was followed by the worst bola I've ever had or ever imagined having. I have no idea how we fit that many people on the back of the pick-up truck. I was sitting on the edge, an older man stood on the back bumper and held onto my opposite shoulder, I held on below on my right and onto a kid on my left and had someone on my lap. My entire body shook as I lowered myself from the bed when we finally arrived. But! The games were awesome cuz we won both! Woo Mariano! The celebration was insane-Dominican women get crazy, I'm tellin ya. Sadly, another painful bola was our ride back. I'm almost would have rather walked if I can be honest. But they were screaming and chanting the whole way home with the wins and that made it all worth it :)

Dinner, hanging out, and facetiming with the fam closed out the night and with continued exhaustion, off to bed I go.

Buenas noches.