SHIT!! There's a HUGE spirder on the wall!!

SHIT!!! There’s a huge spider on the wall!

On the way from airport to airport, I attempted to write in my journal, but I could only come to one conclusion: I really didn’t know what to think, feel or expect. I was a blank slate. That changed at about 9:45 DR time…

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane in Santiago, DR was the heat. My senses were on overload as I took in the scent of the warm air, the instant stick of the humidity on my skin and the heat that radiated from my heart as it started to race with excitement. In an instant, I was in love; waiting in the ILAC* van in the parking lot of the airport, as Elfie was pumping some Reggaeton, my head was spinning.

* ILAC = Institute for Latin-American Concern. The ILAC mission, founded by Creighton, exists in a place called CESI = centro para la educación de salud integral = center for integral health education. As they put it; Creighton has a home because ILAC exists.

I am quickly noticing that there are a few things that are different here in the DR…
1) We sleep under colorful mosquito-nets (very Survivor-esque)
2) We sleep under colorful mosquito-nets to keep out the mosquitos, giant spiders*, etc.
3) People drive like crazy here. Seriously. I’ll never get behind the wheel.
4) The Spanish is very quick and words are cut-short a lot, making it harder to understand but more fulfilling and exciting when we do catch on.
5) We spend every day and nearly every moment with the teachers, the “RA”, the cooks, the drivers, the priest, and your peers. They are family.
6) Everyone can hear everything because there is no meeting place between the walls and the ceiling. We are basically under a giant tin roof with lattice on top of our walls. Think of it like an attic with holes in the floor…lots of holes.
7) The wireless is very spotty… working for 5 min at a time, if that, in some places.
8) There are daily power-outages and the power shuts off around 11PM in the entire city. ILAC is on a back-up generator, so we can get power if we need it.

* Monday 7:20 AM.
My roommates and I were milling about the room as we prepared for the day. We could faintly hear the other rooms getting ready, but nothing distinct until; “HOLY SHIT!! There’s a huge spider on the wall!!” We rushed into the room next door to find Beth in a towel outside of the shower, gaping at a giant spider on the shelf with the rest of her roommates. When I say giant spider, I don’t mean a big daddy long legs. I mean a small tarantula looking beast. To scale the monster to a common item, I would say the body alone was about the size of the top of a Nalgene bottle. Luckily Marianne saved the day by smooshing the killer with a flip-flop.

So as far as my initial feelings of…nothing, let’s just say those have completely shattered. I have never felt more certain of anything in my life. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be, no questions. I am so at peace.

That’s all I have for now, it’s time for a little Español and bed.
Thank you for being there.
I leave you with our new motto down here in the DR:
it is what it is.

Love love love,
Amor amor amor,
(Amanda)


ps- M&D: skpye sun at 6pm your time?