Welcome to the Dominican Republic

Its my first night in the Dominican Republic.  I hadn't even left Miami airport and the check in man spoke to me entirely in Spanish after I gave him my destination with the slightest of accents.  I dropped my bag off, headed to the terminal and met up with the other guy from Pittsburgh who is working at the camp as well.  After a flight that was delayed by missing seat cushions and the (later found out to be typical) slow, helter-skelter fashion with which Dominican flights are boarded, we took off only slightly late.  The flight to Santiago was pretty smooth.  We landed, collected our bags at the single bag pickup carousel, and passed through customs.  Cory's aunt, a Christian missionary who has spent more than two decades working in the Dominican picked us up and drove us a short distance to her apartment for the night where we found pizza (delivered by Pizza Hut!) and cookies.  We're not expected in San Francisco de Macoris until Wednesday, so we'll spend tonight and tomorrow night here.  Tomorrow we are going to check out Santiago de los Caballeros, the second largest city in the country and where I'm currently located.  We are going to change some money, buy some food, and have my first Dominican meal (rice, sweet peas, and chicken I'm told).  After that we'll come back to the apartment and make our way Wednesday morning to San Francisco to find out more about what will be my home for the next month.  It was night time and the drive was short.  The weather is in the mid 70's, but still quite warm and humid from the rain.  The drizzle prevented the sights sounds and smells from being absorbed, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to be hit with the intoxicating wave of newness that accompanies the first steps and experiences in a truly foreign country.  For now, I go to sleep with the jubilant sound of loud laughter and patois coming from the Haitian neighbors next door.  Tomorrow I'll be up with the rooster that lives down the way, ready to spend an hour or so trying to put in my new contacts so that I can better see the city that will be giving me my first impression of this island country.  Until then, buenos noches.