It has been a while since I last blogged, so here is another post. I spent the weekend with the other interns at a beach on the souther coast in a town called Juan Dolio. It was good to see everyone after our first few days living on our own. I found out that I am basically living in a Hilton compared to everyone else, and I am grateful for what I have now even more. At the same time, I can't say I have lived with the poor, but, I am happy for my pseudo warm showers each morning. I got a ride down to Juan Dolio from my boss, it took us four hours to get there. We stayed at a hotel called the Fior di Loto. It was like a mashup between Indian and Italian culture. The lady that runs the place is Italian but loves india and so everything was decked out Indian style. Keep in mind this place is in the DR... It was an awesome hotel, she was like a mom to all of us and it was only a five minute walk to the public beach. The beach itself was nice, fairly clean and it wasn't crowded. But the sun was hot and I got really really burned. The water is a clear light blue and warm enough that you can just walk right in. It is very calm, and makes me realize just how big the waves are in North Carolina. So we just spent Saturday and Sunday resting and catching up. I am honest when I say it couldn't be a better group of people to be experiencing the DR with. I really enjoyed my time and it was good to get to the beach. I came back Sunday evening and got some rest.

Today I have worked on my schedule for the week. It is going to be a busy week, with interviews tomorrow and Wednesday and writing up stories in the evening. It is only a three day week as Thursday and Friday are national holidays and I am heading home for my brothers graduation. It will be good to go home. I have to admit I did start to freak out this morning a little, the Spanish and crazy accent was getting to me. But a quick call to one of the interns reminded me that everything will be good.

Speaking of the accent, we met up with three girls from San Diego that are Mexican. What Spanish we learn in the US is Mexican Spanish. So it is already easier to understand. But beyond that, Mexican Spanish is much cleaner, they pronounce everything, and even though they talk faster, because they don't cut words short it is so much easier to understand. Seriously, when they spoke to me, it was like English. Just a side note.

So a busy, but short week is ahead. And then when I return to the DR Sunday the long stretch of work begins.