Spanish plateau

I leave the DR in un mes, exactly. one month. And while my Spanish has definitely benefited from me being here, I don’t feel as if it has been improving as much as it could be. I’ve been perfecting the stuff that I already knew- mostly working to speak with less breaks or UHHHHHs, and also trying to get a really good hold on the godforsaken subjunctive. However, my vocabulary has barely grown at all. Most of this is due to the fact that I speak a lot of English. Why? Well, despite being surrounded by Spanish-speakers all the time, and living with Spanish-speakers… I also spend a lot of my time with gringos.


First Google image for 'Spanish lanuage' + first Google image for 'Plateau' = Spanish plateau

It’s just so easy though, to speak English. There’s always an excuse- you need to say something fast, you need to say something quietly, you’re stressed, you don’t know the exact word in Spanish so you just go around it, you’re talking about people around you and you don’t want them to understand (usually this is only true when there are people hardcore creeping on us) or you’re just lazy and don’t feel like it. I’ve been totally guilty of all of these.

Sin embargo, I need to stop making excuses and start actually speaking Spanish. I’m not going to have these opportunities in the States. Yeah, I have a few Spanish-speaking friends and I know that my school has a pretty active Spanish Club… but there’s really, really no comparison to actually being in the country.

One of the guys in my group made a promise to his Spanish advisor two weeks ago that he was going to stop speaking English. Since then, he’s been speaking about 98% Spanish. Props to him, really… but isn’t this what we were supposed to have been doing all along? We all started off being all YES SPANISH but that has obviously faltered in these past few months. I was talking about this with my friend Erin the other day, and we decided that we were both going to do the same. So I have been.

Okay, okay… I have been trying. Por lo menos. IT’S SOMETHING.

My friend who hasn’t been speaking English, he told me that he feels has if he’s improved so much in these past weeks, and that he really does notice a difference. If he notices such a difference after two weeks, what can I do with a month? Granted, I should’ve been doing this all along… but whatever. I still have a month.

Anyway. When I was in nyc last month I bought a book called Dirty Spanish. It’s not “dirty” Spanish as in inappropriate Spanish (well… not entirely), but instead slang, regional words, and words in pop culture. I went through and made a list of words that I thought would come in handy, showed the list to a Dominican… and she proceeded to cross out about half of them. No se dice aquí. They don’t say those things here.

That’s the thing about Spanish. There are so many native-Spanish speaking countries. And some of them are pretty freaking big. Chile is like a million miles long. And both Mexico and Argentina are pretty fat. So in addition to country-specific words, you’ve got region/city-specific words… even the DR- which is pretty pequeñito, in comparison to many other Spanish-speaking countries- has words that are used in Santiago and not in the capital, and vise versa.

Anyway, here’s a list of some new words/expressions that my new book has taught me that are actually used here:

Estar en la luna- To not be paying attention, to be a space cadet

Todo el asunto está seriamente jodido- This whole situation is seriously screwed up.

¡Tranquilizate!- Calm down! (lit. “Tranquilize yourself”)

Un tipo cualquiera- Some random dude

Cursi- Tacky

Lio- Chaos

¡Lárgate!- Get out of here!

Preñada- Preggers/preggo

Valer la pena- To be worth it

FYI. Okay, back to Spanish now… I should write a blog totally en español just to throw you all off...

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Eat, Pray, Love / Comer, Rezar, Amar

I know that everyone and their cousin has probably read, seen, or at least heard of the book/movie Eat, Pray, Love. The first time I heard of this book, my mom was reading it a few years ago for her book club. I thought the cover was interesting-looking, but I never actually picked it up.

However, after the hearing that a movie version was to come out (and also after hearing so many people sing the book’s praises), I decided to read it. Except for I didn’t actually read it. I listened to it on audio book. Which, in some people’s minds, constitutes as cheating… but whatever.

I downloaded it from iTunes one morning before one of my drives to Pittsburgh this summer. I listened to it on-and-off on the ride down and also on the ride back. I continued to listen to it sporadically throughout the entire summer… while I was at the lake house… when I was in Québec… on the way to the DR… while I’ve been here in the DR… and I just finished it yesterday when I was on a group excursion to Samaná.

Call me lame, but I feel such a connection to this book. For two reasons. First of all, she’s going through such a journey leaving everything that she knew in NYC to spend a year 1000s of miles away from anything/anyone that she knows. For those of you who don’t know, she’s spent 4 months in Italy (eat), 4 in India at an ashram (pray), and 4 in Bali, where she was planning on studying under a medicine man, but ended up falling in love (…love).

My plan? 4 months in the Dominican Republic (burn? sweat? get stared at for being white? …any other suggestions?), 4 months in France (who knows. “eat” would probably work for this), then 4 months of summer either at home or in Pittsburgh. Probably in Pittsburgh. Okay maybe the last 4 don’t really count… but whatever. Even though it’s for completely different reasons, and unintentionally, I’m still splitting my year up into thirds just as she did.

Secondly, as I listened to her journey, I was starting to go through my own. Even just on that first drive to Pittsburgh… when I saw the movie version, and she was in Italy, all I could think of was my drive down to Pittsburgh.
As the movie continued on, I could pretty much remember where I was when she was watching the Italian soccer game, arriving in India, going to the Guru Gita, meeting Ketut or nearly getting run over by Felipe… granted, the movie isn’t exactly like the book, but it’s close enough. I’ve still managed to link my journey (and the few months before) to hers.

I think everyone should read this book… while it’s not flawless, it’s still pretty freaking good. I’ve talked to many other people who’ve read it- mostly people my own age, but also some older, and this book just seems to resonate with everyone. Everyone can benefit from taking time off and learning about yourself. You don’t need to travel to another country/countries to do it (although that’s what I’m doing). When you’re way, way, way out of your comfort zone you learn things about yourself that you wouldn’t have otherwise learned if you’d only spent time behind a school desk or in a cubicle or wherever else the day-to-day life holds you captive.

/End sentimental BS


French cover (random)

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Mi cuarto

I've done a bit to personalize/decorate my room since I got here- and I've realized that I haven't posted any photos of my room on here, only on fb... so here's my room...


My bed, windows, beach photo that was there when I arrived here, class/volunteering schedule, gym classes schedule...


Messy desk, but cleaner than usual. Dictionary, notebook, Nalgene bottle... I've tried like 5 times to put my map of Pittsburgh up there, but thanks to wind/my fan, it never lasts for more than a day...


Messier drawer/stand thing, a glowstick, winter snowflakes, trees, Taylor Swift "Got Milk?" ad (thanks Eilish!), map of Santiago, list of cupcakes sold at Crumbs, article about Krispy Kreme coming to the DR, a care package, a pen and ink drawing of the Cathedral of Learning, a TV, books...

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Las Aguilas!

Baseball is to the Dominican Republic as soccer (fútbol) is to the rest of Latin America. It's huge here- there's a national league that many people follow, but it also seems as if everyone here has a favorite American team as well.

This is what wiki has to say about it:
"The Dominican Winter Baseball League (Spanish: Liga de Beisbol Profesional de la Republica Dominicana) is a winter baseball league consisting of six baseball teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the top domestic baseball league in that country. The league's players include many from Major League Baseball, and its champion plays each year in the Caribbean Series.
Each team plays a sixty-game schedule that begins the end of October and runs to the end of December. The top four teams engage in an 18 game round-robin play-off the first three weeks of January; the top two teams in those standings then play a best-of-nine series for the national title. The league's champion advances to the Caribbean Series to play against the champions of Mexico, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico."

Wednesday night, 5 of my friends from my Cultura y Sociedad class and I went to an Aguilas game here in Santiago. The Águilas Cibaeñas (Eagles of the Cibao) are Santiago's baseball team... and apparently are pretty terrible. While they did win Wednesday night, it's apparently pretty out of the ordinary. I asked my host brother if they were worse than Los Piratos (the Pirates... like I said, people here are very knowledgable about baseball in the states) and he laughed and said that No, they're not that bad...


The outfield

Main differences between Dominican baseball games and American ones?

Ticket prices- Between 50-700 pesos ($1.34-$18.82). We bought ours for 200 ($5.38) from a guy outside. We gave him about 100, walked though the gate and got them scanned to see if they worked, then left again and paid him the rest of the money.

"Security"- There were about 5 or 6 girls in each section of the stadium wearing verrrrry short shorts and crop tops who would act as "security" and also check tickets. They also would dance every five minutes, in a way that I never would imagine a security guard dancing in the states.

Actual security- Is it normal to get scolded for putting your feet up on the seats while at a stadium in the states? I've never been yelled at for it. Also, normal security guards don't usually creep as much as these were.

The attention- Guys coming up to our row with video cameras and just filming us watching the game for extended periods of time. They didn't work for the stadium, nor for a newspaper (as they said). They were just, you know, filming.

Food prices- Here, everything was soooo cheap. An empanada usually costs 35-40 pesos on the street, and here it cost... 40 pesos. A soda usually costs 30 pesos... here it cost 30 pesos. Pizza? 50 pesos a slice. Water? Also cheap. I was expecting the worst, after having gone to Heinz Field and PNC Stadium and the Dome... but nope. I was pleasantly surprised.

The type of food they were selling- Apples. Oranges. Hunks of cheese. No, not mozzarella sticks. Not fried cheese. Just... cheese.

There were also a surprising number of Americans on the team. Our favorite was a guy named Daniel Murphy. Can't get more gringo than that...

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Cultura, sociedad, Oreo pie, and Ke$ha

The first day of my Culture & Society class (which is half Americans, half Dominicans), my professor told us that we were all going to have a party sometime during the semester. At first I just thought he meant that one day, we'd bring in candy and soda into class, because that's usually what a class party is in the states. If there's a professor present.

However, as the term went on, he kept bringing up this party, and we figured out that this was going to be more than a little shindig on campus with Kola Real and some [terrible] Dominican chocolate. A girl in our class offered up her house, and a few weeks ago we all spent an entire class period deciding what to bring. Most of the Dominicans were going to bring traditional Dominican food, and us Americans planned on opening up the culinary pallets of the Dominicans to wonders such as S'mores, double chocolate cookies, and cupcakes.

This was also unlike a normal class party because we had two people sign up to bring rum and beer. Profe warned us though, that none of us were going to emborracharnos. Claro.

With my lack of oven (so sad) I decided to go with a no-bake triple layer Oreo pie. Finding the ingredients and actually making this pie is another saga for another time, but here's the recipe. I unfortunately did not get a photo of mine.

The party was last night, and it was a lot of fun! Us Americans arrived in three groups... and all of us were there before even the first Dominican arrived. Not surprising. We were outside, for the most part, which is also very unlike any party thrown in the states in late October (I have heard, however, that at least Pittsburgh has been getting some nice warm weather lately? way to go guys. Enjoy it while you can).

We had three rounds of food- appetizers, the main course, and dessert! I don't remember exactly what all of the Dominican dishes were called... okay I don't remember any... but they were good! There was like a corn ball soup and some beans (of course) and chicken and fried stuff. Profe made... something that involved frying corn tortillas and then putting ground beef on them. They weren't tacos though, because the tortillas hardened and weren't shell-like.


David, Profe, and tortillas


Main course.

There was also music and dancing inside the house. I, and most of the Americans, shied away from dancing to the Latin music... however, the second Ke$ha came on, all of us were on the makeshift dance floor. Corny moment: all of us Americans come from completely different parts of the country, and none of us really knew each other before this trip. Some of us didn't even know each other before this party, because we come from different study abroad groups (ISA, CIEE, CIC). Howeverrr... it's hard not to bond with someone when you and everyone around you is screaming "NOW THE PARTY DON'T START TILL I WALK IN." Don't deny it. Even some Dominicans got in on the Ke$ha action.

It was a great time, and I was really glad to spend some more time with the Dominicans in my class. Now today... in about 30 minutes, actually, ISA is throwing us a Halloween party. Still not sure what my costume is going to be...

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Love/hate you, France

A few people have asked if I accomplished anything re my maldita French visa while I was in nyc. Answer: no.

I did, however, receive my "official" acceptance into CIEE's Rennes program a few days ago, by email. And now... empieza el infierno.

Okay I don't really even wanna get into it that much, because I know that even writing about it is going to make me frustrated.

Here is an image of the nice flowchart that CIEE sent to me about the multiple steps of this visa process.

They also said that this whole process takes 8-10 weeks, so we need to start asap! Okay, well... the program starts in 12 weeks. And I can't even officially start yet, because I need to wait on some official letters from France to be FedEx'd to my house. THEN I need to do CampusFrance (which I looked at over the summer, and is confusing as all hell, in both languages) THEN I need to wait some more THEN I need to fill out some forms THEN I need to fill out some more forms THEN, after getting back into the states on Dec. 15th, I'll cancel my second flight (from JFK -> home) and instead just stay in nyc (with my sister, fyi Coll, didn't know if Mom told you) so that on Dec. 17th I can go to my visa appointment and everything MIGHT work out. However, with just one sheet filled out incorrectly or if I'm missing just one form, I won't be able to get another appointment and I won't be going to France.


The elusive Schengen Visa

However, si Dios quiere and everything goes fine, all I've gotta do is wait anxiously anxiously anxiously over the holidays until I receive my visa in the mail. I won't be buying my plane tickets until the visa comes, so I'll probably be buying them at the last minute. So I may not know until a week before my program starts if I'm going to France, or if I'm going to Pittsburgh. Two completely different outcomes. Then, of course, if something goes wrong and I do end up in Pittsburgh, I won't have anywhere to live. AWESOME.

I am signing up for classes though, por si acaso.

/END ANGRY BLOG. So much for "not getting into it."

PS- It's not that I'm hating on CIEE, I understand that they're probably doing all that they can, as fast as they can. I blame France. Love/hate you.

PPS- I love everyone who has helped me/is helping me/will be helping me with this process. BESITOS.

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La Gran Manzana

I’m currently 36702 feet in the air, somewhere east of Florida and north of Cuba. I’m pretty sure that my right shoulder is getting sunburned, sitting next to a window for 3 ½ hours, and I’m even more sure that I’m the only white person on the flight. Again.

The person on the loudspeaker (or whatever it’s called) has had to remind everyone on board at least three times that they cannot ask for more drinks or snacks until they’ve gone through the whole cabin and everyone has gotten some first. Is this an airplane, or elementary school? Kidding. I can’t blame them though. The mini chocolate chip cookies are good.

ANYWAY, clearly, I’m writing neither from campus nor from the Shell station (excuse the awkward formal language there), because I am quite sure that neither of those places could be found 36702 feet above sea level.

I went to La Grand Manzana this weekend. I’m not sure if they actually call it that- I’ll have to check and get back to you- but anyway, it means “The Big Apple”. It was Parent’s Weekend at my sister’s school, so my parents decided to drive down and see her for the weekend. Then they decided to fly me up for the weekend. And claro, I wasn’t about to say no to a weekend of seeing my family, food that I didn’t need to pay for, free texting, water pressure, witnessing fall, and good ol’ Americana.

Side note: I’m listening to the 90’s station on Jet Blue’s XM radio station, and Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody” just came on. Blast from the past much?

Anyway, I left the DR and got on a flight to JFK Thursday afternoon. I got in at around 5ish, did the whole customs thing (I really enjoyed the video of traditional American scenes- a guy sitting on his truck on a farm, the Vegas Strip, fall colors, Times Square, happy children, etc etc etc while I was waiting in line to go through customs. We ♥ America, so should you! Oh, wait, it’s practically impossible to get a visa? Hmm…), and hopped on the air train to someplace. Then I took the longestttttt subway ride to Penn Station.

I came out of the subway terminal and the first thing I saw was the Empire State Building. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I really do not identify myself as a tourist in the traditional sense when I’m talking about New York City. While I’ve never lived there, I’ve been there at least 15 times and usually don’t do the stop-in-the-middle-of-the-sidewalk-and-take-photos thing. However, this time was different. I propped my suitcase up on a street corner, sat on it, and took multiple photos of the Empire State Building. Which I’ve already been up in twice… so it really wasn’t that necessary… but it just felt important to me, at the time.

I met up with my sister and headed back to her dorm. We got dinner at her dining hall (I love going to dining halls at other schools- no matter how crappy the food actually is, everything seems wonderful in comparison to the dining hall at my school. Which, in reality I guess… isn’t that bad) and headed out to explore the city.

One of my goals for this weekend was to eat as many baked goods as humanly (and physically) possible. This started on the subway, when my sister gave me a cupcake from Crumbs that she’d bought earlier that day. This continued when we went into a mini market or grocery store or whatEVER and bought a slice of candy bar cake. Yeah, candy bar cake. This cake was not only covered with candy bars on top, but also had candy bars baked into it. Mmmm…

We then headed downtown and explored a bit around NYU. We got lost a bit, but eventually found some really good falafel. You can find anything in that city.

The next day we met up with my parents and did some Parent’s Weekend stuff. We then did a lot of shopping and baked-goods eating. Another cupcake from Crumbs. It was a Blackbottom Cheesecake Cupcake. "Brownie cake with cheesecake baked in topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting covered with brownie chunks and vanilla cream cheese drizzle." We also went to Lincoln Center, which I’d never been to before. The fountain was awesome, and reminded me of the water shows at Kahunaville back in the day. Expect about a hundred times better.

Saturday we hit up Walmart, and I bought multiple jumbo bags of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Like, 5 of them. They’re not exactly impossible to find in the Dominican Republic, just pretty difficult and pricey. A few of my friends in the DR asked me to bring some back, plus I brought some back for a Halloween party that ISA is having on Friday. I also need a costume… I’ll figure that out later.

We got lunch at a restaurant called Community with my sister’s roommate and her family, and then just kind of explored for the rest of the day. We walked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge (I’m normally not so cliché touristy, I swear) and got dinner at this place called 7A in the East Village.

This morning we dropped my sister back off at her university and my parents drove me to JFK. I miss cars. Okay, I mean, they do have cars in the Dominican Republic, claro, but I miss cars that have A) Working seatbelts, B) Working speedometers C) Are driven by people who drive better than I do (something that’s very easy to find in the States, but seemingly difficult in the DR). Okay, maybe when I say “I miss cars” I mean “I miss going places in cars that aren’t conchos.”

So yeah! That was my quick-soak-in-as-much-Americana-as-possible trip. It wasn’t absolutely necessary for my sanity, but it was nice. I’ll probably post this blog in a few days, because I can’t get wifi from the plane, claro….

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