No possible way to describe how this country makes me feel. Thankful and calm, excited and ecstatic, downtrodden and exhausted all at the same time. That's a story much too vast and detailed for blogging. Just ask me when I get home for a better account.

This is my main thought for the day: We have the gift of love, why on earth don’t we take advantage of it? Why aren't we making the most of every opportunity to care about other people as much as we do ourselves? Just some food for thought. So simple, yet so overlooked.


Definitely definitely had a blast with Michael last week; I'm so fortunate he got to come! I gave up speaking English during the week (with people here) and not gonna lie, it's a little tiring and definitely challenging but well worth it because that's kind of why I came here. So really it only makes sense.

baseball game! (10-year-old players)

Michael and I did lots of Santiago things like: chill at the ISA office, dominoes and beer at the colmado, taught Lina and Victor Jose how to play skipbo, ate lots of bolas de yuca, made friends with random people, explored downtown.. watched a pirated $50 peso (less than $2) DVD (The Social Network), played soccer, class, etc.
We had so much fun and like I said, I'm so blessed to have him as a friend and that he got to visit! 5 months is a super long time to not see someone you really care about, which I'm sure most of you already realize.
We also stayed at a resort for a night in Sosua and spent lots of time on the beach. 

dominoes and cerveza at the colmado

at the beach

27 charco

The latest ISA excursion was to 27 Charcos- 27 waterfalls that we climbed, hiked around, and jumped off last Friday. That was gorrggeeeoouss; we had a great time. 

Well it's easy to forget about homework when I often feel like I'm on vacation, but considering it's already 3:30pm, I think maybe I'll get to that now :) Thanks for reading, take care!

PS I've decided to volunteer in an orphanage in either Monte Cristi or Jaibon during my last week here- can't wait!