Monday, Feb. 15

First day of school! I had flashbacks of kindergarten. The nerves from last night came back in a vicious new form. My host dad, Chava (nickname for Salvador), attempted to show me how I would walk home. It was very difficult to understand because the way he drove was not the way I would walk. So, this led to getting HORRIBLY lost with PJ and Libby on our 'adventure' home. We walked around for about 30min longer than necessary. Thankfully, PJ's host mom's sister found us poor lost children and drove us to where we belonged. Once we finally figured our the proper way to walk to and from school, we realized that our disaster was a result of one fatal wrong turn. We SURELY will not be making that mistake again... After comida* Ron took us to the zocalo and market. At the entrance of the main strip is the gorgeous Santo Domingo cathedral. Around it are many vendors, stores and little restaurants and bars. It is SO lively here! The zocalo is a shaded central park (minus the grass) with restaurants and another cathedral surrounding it. There are so many people who come just to hang out there! We don't really have something like this in the U.S. We then visited the market that had Everything! Fruit, vegetables, purses, toys and clothes are all I wish to list right now. They have an aisle that I will forever avoid now that I know where it is: the meat isle. Oh my word... Good thing Ron was leading us through this, because I held my breath and looked at my feet once I had seen too much. The meat hung poles and hooks. Everything was raw and bloody. There were whole naked chickens that had a yellow tint to their skin. Their beaks hung open and various slices on their bodies did the same. These revealed guts I never wanted to know was in a chicken. I am pretty sure I also saw severed cow legs, because I saw hooves that were definitely still attached to something... If the sight of the carnage wasn't enough to get you, the smell surely would have... So, to, sum this up I am NEVER returning to this section of the market! Thankfully, Ron then took us to a chocolate factory. This immediately made me forget the sight I had just seen. I sampled the most delicious chocolate milk with ice chips in it. They also showed us how they made their chocolate with cinnamon, nuts and other spices. The market overall was so colorful and lively. There were so many people!

*Spanish word for "food" but also is the name for lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here. Everyone gets a break from work or school to return home for comida.

*Spanish term for central city square. where all the action is.