It's been a week

      Today marked an entire week that I have now been in the Dominican Republic. A week ago, who would have thought that things would look as good as they are looking now. I have had the most amazing day with the new student Fiona. We have already made several plans to travel around the country. She vacations here one or twice every year so she is very familiar with the area. She has many connections in Punta Cana and that is going to be a fabulous thing. She is actually applying for a job at a resort in Punta Cana where several of her friends are currently working. This is the same place she stays every year. Her "soon to be boss" has said that when she wants to take trips there for the interview, we can either stay at the resort for free, or with a huge discount. Things are really looking up. I am super excited that she wants to travel just as much as I do because this will make every weekend VERY interesting. Tonight we may go exploring for something fun to do.

        After school today, we went and bought Fiona a cellphone and then decided to go get pedicures. While we waited for the pedicure we each had a beer. The beer here is called El Presidente and it is very delicious and inexpensive! You will also not believe it. Our pedicure today cost us 6 dollars each. And tomorrow we are thinking about getting acrylic nails put on which are only 5 dollars. Life is really great down here. I sure do appreciate the exchange rate. 1 hour massages are just as cheap. You can get a full day of pampering for under 20 dollars! Imagine that! After we got our pedicures we decided to walk down towards what we consider "our beach". It is not much, but you can still see ocean. Fiona was a little dissapointed because she, as well as me when I first arrived, thought we were able to swim in Santo Domingo. I guess this calls for a weekend trip to Juan Dolio or Boca Chica. We shall find some way to get to one this weekend! As for now, I must eat dinner and finish my homework. I plain to meet up with Fiona after. I cant wait until she meets Nikki (who gets back from Haiti tonight). I cannot wait to hear about her trip! Also, Fiona speaks fluent French since she is grom Quebec, Canada. Nikki will love this because she too, is fluent in French. I hope to learn some of this beautiful language. Still miss home more than ever, but I am really starting to adapt to life here. I will stay in touch.

Yours truly,
Elle