So, I never seem to have a nice, normal, uneventful flying experience and going to the Dominican was no exception. To begin with, my name was spelled wrong on the ticket they bought me, so I was a little bit worried about that, but I called Northwest several times and was told it would be fine. So, we get to the airport, and Mom comes in with me just in case there are any problems.... Well.... The flight I was supposed to be on to JFK in New York was canceled because of bad weather. So, they told us that they re-booked my ticket on a flight going out Sunday night (the original flight was for Saturday). This was a problem because I was flying a different airline from New York to Santiago. So, the lady trying to explain this can't really speak English and keeps saying she can't help us, so she directs us to "purchasing" where we find this lady who seems really crabby. But, Mom starts joking around with her and she re-books me on a flight into LaGuardia instead of JFK that was supposed to get in with five hours to spare between flights... That is until that flight got delayed two hours... Well, anyways, the ticket lady I believe thought I was about 15 and Mom told her I was leaving for a year, so she gave her a "Mom Pass", so she could come through security with me and sit until the flight left. So, we got some lunch and then visited until the flight left. During this time, we realized that she had booked me in first class! So, that was pretty sweet :) We got food and drinks and everything, so that was pretty snazzy too! Well, I had very little time between flights by the time I finally get in, but I make it on a shuttle, get to JFK, get checked in right before they closed the check in, got through security, and got to the gate just as the plane was starting to board. So, pretty crazy! And then I go sit down and someone starts calling my name... So, I look around, and one of the guys that is teaching at my school was sitting across the aisle from me, so that was pretty neat. So, we got into Santiago at like 2 in the morning, did all the immigration/ customs stuff, and got picked up by Jennie and Raul who are the directors of our school.
So, today was my first "real" day in the DR. I got up and got to see our apartment which is soooo big! It is way, way nicer than I was expecting. I'll put up pictures soon. There are three bedrooms and six of us that are living here. So, I have five roommates who all seem super cool. I'm pretty pumped for the year! We went exploring today. We walked a really, really long time to get to the monument, hung out there for a while, tried to find the grocery store and got helped by a creepy man, and finally came back to our apartment and relaxed a little. Keith came over about 4:30 and we headed out for 5:30 church at the WELS mission in Santiago. The service was all in Spanish, but I understood it all! So, that was pretty cool. I also got to use my Spanish tons today when we were slightly lost trying to find the monument and then our way back to our apartment. So, all in all, it was a busy first day!
I'll put up pictures soon, and please send me e-mails letting me know what you are all up to! I miss everyone lots!
PS: If you want to come visit a warm, beautiful Caribbean country sometime when it is nasty and cold at home.......
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