California Here We... Are

Hey All,

As most of you probably already know I moved out to California in July. I looked for jobs for a few weeks, and had to go for a quick trip back to the D.R. to get my stuff, and now I am working at a middle school here in Calabasas, and as a tutor. I am starting to get ready for the school year; setting up my classroom and get my lessons in order. JP and I are living with his former roommates Becky and Mike, which is awesome. I was really lucky to get this job at the school, and I am really excited to start teaching again. The school seems great, and I am going to have a bunch of cool technology for my class. Anyway, I just wanted to update you all. I will start posting again regularly soon.

Miss you all!

My Two Birthdays

Hey all,

So I got home on Tuesday night, and every minute since then has been running around and having an inordinate amount of fun. On Wednesday I woke up early to hang out with my mom before she went to work, then hung out with my sister before she went to pole vault camp. When she left it was still only 7:30 or 8, and while I am a very annoying older sister, I figured that this was still too early to wake up my brother. So I toodled around the house for awhile and drank copious amounts of coffee, and then finally I took a shower, woke my brother up and told him I would be back in an hour and that we were going to Ann Arbor, and went out to the car with the wrong keys. I came back into the house 3 more times and came back out with the wrong keys, and all the while my neighbors across the street were sitting on their porch watching this happen. Having all Toyotas can be a little confusing. 


Anyway, I woke my brother up for the second time, got him to tell me where the keys were,  and went to the bank. I decided that my brother and cousin probably weren't interested in getting up, so I went to Ann Arbor for awhile by myself, and came home. All of this was accomplished by about 11:15, so I came home. My mom came back at around 12:00, and was very confused by the productivity of my day so far. She and I went back into Ann Arbor for awhile, and then back to the bank so that I could open a new savings account, and Monica arrived in Chelsea. We went out to dinner with my mom, dad, brother, cousin, and sister at Las Fuentes. Delicious. Monica, Lucy, Natalie and I then proceeded to the Brown Jug in Ann Arbor (3 times in one day) and had a few drinks. 

Yesterday Monica and I woke up, had breakfast, and went shopping in Ann Arbor. I bought a ridiculous amount of stuff for ridiculously little, which was amazing. We came back to Chelsea, ran with my mom, and then went out to the Chelsea bars with Lucy, BETSY (This one from Africa), Natalie, and Jordan Silverman. So much fun. It has been SO good to see everyone, I can hardly stand it. All I wish is that we had about 6 weeks to talk to each other instead of 6 hours. I missed everyone and it was amazing to have them all here for my birthday. Best birthday present ever.

God Bless America (ATL I'm the Mayor)

Say what you will about the United States, ladies and gentleman, but one thing about which there can be no debate is we really have a lot of cool stuff to buy. In the Santo Domingo airport I had a choice between bag after bag of mixed nuts for $5 (when the price is in dollars you know you’re in trouble) or a really bad sandwich for $7. I chose the sandwich. Big mistake. Conversely, in the Atlanta airport there is every kind of food a person could want (sadly I did not get the terminal with Qdoba, but I know it’s here somewhere, calling me). There is a Ben & Jerry’s here. A BEN & JERRY’S! It took every bit of willpower I possess to keep walking past those $7 ice cream sundaes. I had already shoved a week’s worth of Chinese food down my gullet and I felt like the ice cream would be overkill. I think I might be growing up. I doubt it though.  There is also a nearly full sized book store in this terminal. I resisted that one too because if I buy a book I’ll never finish Huckleberry Finn. Speaking of which, has anyone read these Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books? Are they worth all the hype? How about that Edgar Sawtelle book? As sad as the rest in the Oprah Book Club? Fill me in, I’m out of the loop. One more thing, in the bathroom there was not only toilet paper (that you can flush by the way), and not only did the toilets flush on their own, and not only did the sinks turn on by themselves, but the soap dispensers are automatic too! What a country! (They are also filled with soap by the way, an added novelty.) Fellow Americans, we’ve got it good here.

Last Night in Santo Domingo

Hey all,

So tonight is officially my last night in Santo Domingo of the 2009-2010 school year. It really has gone by fast. School has been wrapping up for a couple of weeks now, and I just finished my final checklist (and most importantly got my final pay check), so I am ready for summer! I fly home tomorrow, and while I am really excited to come home I am also really going to miss my friends here. We went out to dinner together tonight to say goodbye (although like true travelers no one actually said those words) to this restaurant called El Agave on Lope de Vega. Delicious Mexican food. They have mole enchiladas that are amazing. Anyway (does anyone other than me notice how much I talk about food?), throughout dinner all I could think about was when I would see everyone again. Hopefully at the very least we can videochat. Especially the Hadleys' (I hope you are reading this) so that I can see Baby Hadley when he is born. It has been a really eventful and great year, and I feel really lucky that I have had this experience. I have met some really great people and had some good adventures, and better still, I have a whole second year to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who made this year amazing. Sorry for the clip show, but here are some highlights:

- First day in the old apartment feeling like I was living in a palace
-Las Terrenas the first weekend
- Going to the cave bar with Doug and Stacy before we really knew them
-Moving to our apartment in Zona Colonial
-Sosua
- Constanza with Doug and Stacy for Doug and JP's birthdays
- Meeting Elizabeth and Rebecca and immediately ruining their iron (sorry guys)
- Thanksgiving at the Hadleys'
- Baseball game
- Trip out west with Hadleys' (and subsequently finding out Sarah was/is pregnant)
- JP's race in the city that he WON and Carnival in La Vega on the same day (deciding to stay another year based on that day basically)
- Portuguese classes and going to the Saturday night movies
-Goodbye weekend in Boca Chica for JP
- Nearly living at Doug and Stacy's (with a guest appearance at the Hadleys') for awhile after JP left
-Puerto Plata with everyone
- Ms. De la Cruz's bachelorette party/wedding
- Moving in with Brigitte

These are only a handful of the things I want to remember from this year. I will miss you all very much next year, and I really hope we keep in touch. Thanks for an amazing year!

Sarah's Baby Shower

Last night after the wedding Stacy stayed over. In the morning we ate breakfast, did a little decorating, and then she went home to get the cake and get ready for Sarah's baby shower at 3. I ran to the store to get water, prepped the food, and then she came back and finished decorating while I finished the cooking and got ready for people to arrive. She did an amazing job on the decorations (see facebook). Brigitte, Sarah and Becky got here around 3, and Rebecca shortly after. We had guacamole, sushi, and cake, which was an amazing combination for taste and indigestion. We played a couple of games, one where you say whether it means you are having a boy or a girl for old wives tales, and another where you had to name the nursery rhyme. Sarah won the latter which I thought was a good sign. Also, we decorated onesies for the baby, which can also be seen on facebook. It was a really good shower, and I think everyone had a good time. I was just really happy to have everyone over and to do something for Sarah.

In other news, I am coming home in less than one month! I will see all of you so soon!

Ms. De la Cruz's Wedding

Well, Ms. Bazzi now. Stacy and I went as dates, can you say that? The wedding was gorgeous, Ms. De la Cruz looked beautiful, and everything was totally over the top. A bunch of my students were at the ceremony to see her dress, and they were so cute (and much better behaved than in class I might add). The wedding was a full mass (which I took to mean that I didn't have to go tomorrow morning), and then Stacy and I came back to my apartment to drop some things off and pick up my camera. We got to the reception, went through the receiving line, and then sat down with some teachers from school. I saw Alex (who I lived with at the beginning of the year) and her boyfriend Poli, which was nice, and we ate a bunch of delicious food. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little while that was awkward, but after a couple of cocktails everyone was on the dance floor. Stacy and I sat out a few more songs than we would have liked because they were merengue (a.k.a. couples only dancing), but after awhile they brought out some marti gras-esque party favors and played some drumline music and we went out and danced around. We had some champagne and wine and chocolate-fountain-dipped-fruit and mini-muffins. The party favors were these really beautiful silver ring boxes. The problem was that there was only one for every two people. Stacy and I had each secured one anyway when someone took Stacy's. She scoured the room for a spare and eventually one of the other couples left and she commandeered theirs before their seats had cooled. On the way out we also stole some flowers. Actually a lot of flowers. Sorry Ms. De la Cruz/Bazzi/Lourdes. The other kids were doing it! Good time. I also died laughing several times at Stacy blowing into her marti gras noise maker. I have a video of it. It sounds strikingly similar to a duck caller that you use for hunting except for she was wearing a marti gras mask, which hunters do not usually do.

Lifestyles Tropical Beach Resort

This weekend we went to a resort called Lifestyles, which sounds like it is some super weird alternative resort, but actually it was a pretty typical one from what I have seen here. There was a little more MTV Spring Break type music and volleyball at the pool, and there was a three-way kiss spotted, but from where we sat it otherwise seemed like a pretty relaxed resort. Because we booked through this travel agency called Cheap Caribbean we got to use the VIP beach, where they brought food and drinks out to you on giant beds on the beach, which was pretty amazing. They also served lobster one night at the buffet which was out of the ordinary. The first night there Rebecca, Doug, Stacy and I were determined to stay out late enough to go to the electronic dance party, which we did, but when we got there it turned out to be a standard club, except the people were much drunker than normal on the free drinks, and there were dancers on little stages wearing outfits that left little to the imagination (i.e. rhinestone thongs). When I relay these scenes they seem much more shocking than they actually were, and I think this may be because I am now seeing this through my Aunt Kris' eyes (thanks for reading Aunt Kris, sorry about the horrifying images). The next day we ate and lounged around on the beach, and went to bed early. In the morning Stacy and I played tennis for roughly 4 minutes, at which time a little boy who was working at the tennis courts said "Finished." to Stacy. It took us a few seconds to figure out what he was saying, and then figure out what he meant, but what he meant was "Get off the court, there are people with reservations." We did as we were told. I went to the pool for awhile and then ate a last minute ice cream, and then we headed back to the city with Sean and Sarah, who graciously let us hitchhike back with them in their rental car.

This week has been pretty busy, the kids have exams so we have been getting ready for that and tutoring has been busy too for the same reasons. I have been going to the gym, which I am going to continue. This Saturday is Ms. De la Cruz's wedding, and this Sunday we are throwing Sarah a baby shower, so things should stay busy. I miss you guys and can't wait to see you all this summer!