This morning after I woke up J.P. and I went grocery shopping at this store called La Cadena. We saw a dead dog lying on the sidewalk on the way, which was pretty crazy and shocking to see. Japer, always the gentleman, pointed it out for my viewing pleasure. At the grocery store we came to the unhappy realization that this is not as cheap as we were hoping. The exchange rate is 1 dollar to about 35 Dominican pesos, and a box of corn flakes was about 250 Dominican desos. That is some ugly math. We realized that we are probably going to leave this place very skinny and very good at dividing things by 35. We are living in a very nice neighborhood with lots of malls and nice restaurants though, so I think that is a big part of the problem. Dead dogs aside it is a pretty place to live, and my apartment has really beautiful views.
I met one of my roommates, Bridget, today. She is from Quebec and seems really nice. She has lived for the last 3 years in Cairo, Egypt, and in Bolivia before that. I think we are going to get along just fine. The other roommate is Spanish, and I have not met her yet, but I found out that she has been here for a year already, which will be nice because she will know a lot about the area. J.P. and I basically just spent the day poking around and figuring things out. We found out that our stove doesn't work yet, that we have a balcony, and that strange things like hangers are exorbitantly expensive. Japer has been so good about speaking Spanish. He has been doing most of the talking. Dominican Spanish is tough too and he has been doing great. Much to my dismay, I think he will be better than I am by the time we leave.
I start school tomorrow. The kids don't come until August 26th, but we start our orientation in the morning and then I guess we will be there until they come. Well, they are going to let us out at night. I am looking forward to meeting everyone but am a little nervous too. Also, we don't have an alarm clock in the apartment so hopefully we'll make it there on time.
Love you guys! Send me emails!
Have I told you lately that I think you are very funny? If you could tone it down on the punch lines that would be great, I am trying to read this at work instead of actually doing work, and you making me laugh out loud in my cube is giving it all away!
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