-I went spearfishing. Well, I didn’t do the spearing just the snorkeling but I watched the spearfishing taking place. I also saw a shark and almost had a heart attack. It may have been a baby shark but I thought it was large and scary looking and my frightened mind is absolutely willing to exaggerate. We only speared four fish, and by “we” I mean the person I was fishing with. The snorkeling was awesome though, all that stuff you see in Finding Nemo, yeah, it’s real.

-I was proposed marriage four times in one day. This may seem funny, but it’s really pretty disgusting the way these men go about it, and one of them was offered as a business proposition—with benefits. This same day I was asked by a Dutch tourist if I was here because I was married to a Dominican. Apparently I exude matrimony.

-I’m getting REALLY good at dominoes, at least by American standards (it’s like the national sport here, I regularly get beat by a nine year old). I’ve played every day since I’ve been here and I’m finally starting to win some, and not even out of pity.

-I went to the equivalent of a PTA meeting the other day that I was entirely unprepared for (jeans and a wifebeater unprepared) and lasted three hours. THREE HOURS. The regular school day is four hours and the meeting was three hours. Interestingly the subject was interfamily violence, and then about a half hour later I heard someone hitting their kid. Hmm.

-I need to practice my bachata, it seems as though I have no rhythm.

-I eat halls cough drops like candy. I actually don’t mean that figuratively like “I’ve had a cold so I eat halls like candy.” We literally eat them as though they were candy.

-There’s this telenovela on Telemundo called Niños Ricos Pobres Padres that’s about a group of prep school students who have love affairs with one another and what not. The catch? Pretty much all of the actors are at least in their late twenties, early thirties, and it’s obvious. And they’re playing high school students. Good news Zac Efron (and better news for you Rachel) you can play a high school senior for at least 10 or 15 more years.

-I live about a mile from a mangrove forest. These mangroves kick the ass of Florida’s mangroves and here’s why: There are no alligators, crocodiles, or snakes; contrary to logic they’re really clean; the water is crystal clear and absolutely swimmable. Take that, everglades.

-For those of you who don’t know, I grew up playing softball. Just because I grew up this way by no means signifies that I was any good. I also haven’t played more than a handful of times in probably ten or so years. But, by virtue of knowing how to play, I’m considered amazing at softball here. The DR is going to be really good for my self esteem I think.

-I’m getting used to and/or starting to enjoy: sugar with a side of coffee, riding on the back of a motorcycle (with one other person, when it’s more it’s still incomodo), everything about plaintains (it took me a solid minute to think of the English word), conducting my daily life in Spanish (though I’m still what some might call really rusty), ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.