It took a week to recover, and now i'm ready to explain!

As of now, I have currently been home for about a week. And I am still exhausted. I seem to be on eastern time still and it is really starting to bother me. I would love to sleep past 8:30 at some point again in my life. It is hard for me to even stay up past 10:00. It took me about a week to have the motivation to update my final entry of my blog in the Dominican Republic. I have been extremely busy and tired this week trying to get caught up with old friends, unpack and unwind, and working out at the vineyard. I am so blessed to be home, but a part of the DR will always be in my heart. I cherish the friends and family I met there. I cannot wait to go back, but this time just to visit. And probably in Punta Cana since it is so beautiful there, Fiona will be there, and I can flush my own toilet paper and eat all the buffets that I want.

So for my last weekend in the DR. It was very eventful. I took my final test on Thursday and passed level four. I was so proud of myself. That meant that I got to go out and celebrate my final day at the school. That weekend there were also a lot of birthdays going on, so I knew that a ton of people would be out. It was Hennesey and Angel's birthday. So, thursday night, we decided to go out with my family. And of course, Fiona joined us since she is my family. I am not exactly sure where we went, but all I know is that ladies drank for free the whole night. The cosmos were not that strong, but Fiona and I had at least 5 or 6 before we decided to leave and go to SHOTS and meet up with some other friends. It was one of my last nights in town, of course I wanted to go to Shots. Thats where I started, and that is where I wanted to end up. Jean Michael and Emile were at Shots, so Victor dropped us off. Right away, since everyone knew it was my last weekend, a tremendous amount of shots were being bought for Fiona and I. As far as I can remember we had 4 or 5 double shots. We danced all night, and I almost threw up on the dance floor when a surprise red shot was bought for me and I took it not knowing it was half gin and half tabasco. Worst thing I had ever tasted in my life. This also was the end of me. After a night of great friends and crazy dancing, I was ready to head home. We stopped at a food stand for Nachos, and that was it. I don't remember anything else.

Fiona and I planned to lay by the pool the entire next day, but lets just say my last Friday in the DR was spent in my bedroom in bed. I slept until about 5 pm that day. I could not get out of bed. And of course, I  needed to prepare myself for my final night. I knew it was going to be crazy, we were going out with Stefano and his friends. And we were starting at Shots, and ending at Goal. Two of my favorite places. So of course, I finally make it out of bed to eat some dinner. My final meal at my house, and I had mac and cheese and plantains. It was fabulous. Fiona and I got ready together, had some singing and dance parties, and headed to the party. I knew it was going to be a good night. My sisters and all there friends were there. I could not have asked for a better crowd that night. I got to see everyone that I loved and say goodbye to them for a final time. It was bittersweet. I had a ton to drink, got in 2 fights, with a guy and a girl, and can only remember half the night. I would consider it a success. I would go into more detail, but a lot of it is a big blur. But I remember it being successful.

The next morning, after 3 hours of sleep since I got home at 5AM, I got picked up by Victor and taken to the airport. Saying goodbye to my family was so hard. I did not want to leave them. But I will visit, and I know it is only see you later. I got to the airport almost 3 hours early, and thank goodness for that because I ran into several problems. They couldn't figure out my ticket and I sat at check-in for almost 2 hours. I did not get to eat food and made it to my gate right as final boarding was being called. I was hung over and starving and had to get on a plane for over 4 hours to New York. I even ended up sitting next to a man with Turrets. It was the worst flight of my life. I was living off of peanuts and pretzels. When I arrived in NY, I was so excited to call from my iPhone and speak English to people around me! My layover was 3 hours long, then I hopped on another plane for almost 7 more hours. When I finally got into my parents arms in Portland, I couldn't even cry I was so exhausted. We got Taco Bell on the way home, and by that point, I was satisfied. I took a nice hot 20 minute shower and got into bed that night with a smile on my face. I think I woke up with that same smile. Right away, life fell back into the same pattern as I left. I am so happy to be home.

All in all, I think that this was one of the best experiences that I have had in life. I am so proud of myself for making the decision to go out and live in another country on my own for a couple months. It made me appreciate so many things in my life I never thought about before. I never appreciated flushing toilet paper, drinking tap water, or hopping in my car and just driving somewhere. I never even appreciated having my car until now. This trip has made me grow in so many ways, and I cannot wait to travel somewhere else again. As soon as I can get enough money. Now I just need a job so my parents don't have to support me anymore. Thank you everyone for your support this trip. I really enjoyed it, and also enjoyed keeping you all updated on my adventures. But really, it is great to be home! 

 So happy to be home!

This could be my last post in the city..

Well I just finished school today. I passed level 4 which is simply amazing. I feel pretty confident with my Spanish, but we will have to wait and see when I return home. Right now I am about to head with Fiona to eat at our favorite Italian restaurant for the final time ever. So very exciting. I have been anticipating these lsat few days for a really long time. We were planning on taking a trip to Saona Island tomorrow, but the weather here has been too mysterious lately. We were afraid we would get rained on, so we will see how tomorrow goes, and if it is nice, spend my final day at the pool. Fiona is down to do whatever I want, so it is very nice of her to go with the flow. For the rest of the night, we are celebrating Angel and Hennesey's birthday which should be a blast. I am not sure where we are going, but we always have a good time no matter what. My final night we will be attending shots, and I will be sure to update pictures and blog in the Santo Domingo airport on Saturday morning. And who knows, after that, I may be home the next time you all hear from me! I cannot believe that the last two months has gone by this fast. It is simply crazy and I am so proud of myself for sticking with it. Thank you to all my friends and family who supported me through this when times were extremely rough. I really needed the advice that you all provided me. Special thanks to Jamie Roupp and Alex Wright. You girls helped me out a lot with stories and advice from your own personal experiences abroad! As for now, I can hear pasta screaming my name!!! Talk to you all soon!

Mi ultimo fin de semana en La Republica Dominicana!

This weekend was a great last weekend, and one to remember. We started off with a bang. Right after school on Saturday, our Italian student Alessio invited our class to his house to try his homemade Italian pastas. Let me tell you, this was the best pasta I have EVER had. Everything was homemade, all the way down to the noodles. We had three courses. The first was a typical linguine with fresh tomato sauce and tomatoes, the second was eggplant lasagna and the third was broccoli sauce with penne pasta. We also had wine, homemade bread and finished it off with some coffee with a hint of Orange. It was fabulous. After that, I headed home for some much needed rest. I was then immediately greeted by my host sister telling me that I needed to get up because we were going to TGI Fridays for happy hour. This was pretty fun. We met up with some friends and had a couple long island ice teas and bloody marys. I was feeling pretty good. After this, we went to Chef Pepper for some dinner where I had a marvelous Philly cheesesteak. My night ended well when I fell asleep a little tipsy and full to the television show Ghost Whisperer.

Saturday morning we were supposed to go to a BBQ, but our friend Teilor had a sick mother who did not want anyone at the house. Instead, we all did our own things. I decided to go to a beautiful hotel pool that was close to my house and nap in the sun for a couple hours. The weather was great and I made a couple friends from New York while I was there. It was a great time, and I only got a little red. I seem to use sun tan lotion every time, and yet I still continue to get sun burned. Then for the evening on Saturday I went to bed at 8:30. Probably not the most exciting way to spend my evening, but I was exhausted. The sun wore me out. I ended up waking up yesterday morning to my sister knocking on my door around 8 asking if I wanted to go to Higuey for the day. Well of course I did!

I grabbed my swimsuit, brushed my teeth and met our friends downstairs. We were going to a church in Higuey where our friend Edwin needed to make a promise to the Virgin of Thanks there. This is a tradition that many Dominicans have here. I did not understand what was going on, but I went with so I could support my friend. It was a two hour drive, but we had fun. I spent the majority of my time listening to the three boys argue about politics and how much it costs to live in the United States. It was actually pretty comical. For the entire 2 hour drive there, we only spent 10 minutes in the church which was really interesting for me, but hey, I couldn't complain, it was tradition. After this, we decided to go to the beach, only for the weather to make drastic shift. All of a sudden we were in the middle of a tropical storm and the rain was coming down so hard. I hate driving here in general because everyone is so dangerous and it is very unsafe, but add a little rain and I am petrified! We decided to go to the JUMBO store instead and get lunch. We ordered the largest pizza ever and ate every last bit followed by some coca-cola and chocolate. After this, we went to get our black label rum and headed back into the city to the Zona Colonial so I could learn some history about Christopher Columbus and Santo Domingo.

The weather cleared up a bit and I had the opportunity to walk around the Zona with a whiskey and sprite in my hand seeing the first part of the island that Columbus discovered. I even saw the house that his son lived it. Halfway through my experience, my camera died and it started to rain, so we were interrupted early. After this, we went on a sweet rampage and searched the entire city for a place to buy cake or desert. We finally ended up at BON, my favorite ice cream shop. This was then followed by the movie Salt. I loved it, and I can't wait for the sequel. I ended up coming home and skyping with my parents and then went to bed. I only have 5 days left in this country and every day I get more excited. I cannot wait to get home!!!

Elle

Sorry again folks!

Hello friends. Once again I have abandoned you for the weekend. Who would have known I had NO free time on my last weekend here on the island. I am about to head to school, but I wanted to let you all know that I will be making a detailed post when I return. Fiona never made it back from Cabarete on time, so of course I get to start off my final week with walking to school along... Horray. I will chat with you all in a couple hours!

CIAO!