4-12-10 8:30pm

We finally got to see the infamous Playa Esmerelda. A virgin beach with shallow waters, warm sand and gorgeous views. All 22 of us volunteers piled up into a guar guar and our trainers truck and headed out for a day in the sun. My doña packed me a lunch and I was off for some well needed vacation time.

The beach was gorgeous like I have already mentioned and I was so happy to finally be in a body of water. I was finally in my element. I am very glad I finally got a chance to see the touristy side of the DR and see the beautiful side of this island. I feel like I have seen all the stuff behind the scenes and I really needed some time to see that the DR has its beautiful moments as well. Needless to say all of us volunteers got burnt to a crisp. My back is so red and fried, when I scrunch my shoulders I hear it crinkling. But it was definitely well worth it for the trip. I needed a mini-vacation and actually wouldn't mind going back next weekend.

The DR life is starting to get a little heavy. I am really starting to feel homesick not so much for the people (although I do miss everyone at home!) I miss my life in general: like my room, my privacy, my car, singing as loud as I want and most of all the food. I miss making bean and cheese burritos, I miss eating cereal with good milk and I miss my moms rice and my dad's tacos. I am salivating as I write this. I miss Francis's baking like her strawberry cupcakes and Silvia's ceviche and that delicious green salsa! I miss Elaine's shrimp enchiladas, her scrumptious salads and caprese (don't know how to spell that)! I miss Miyagi's, Olive Garden and Jamba Juice. I miss TGIF nights with purple draaaank, limoncello lemonade and beer pong bud light. Haha. I don't feel the need to come home but I want to bring everyone here with me. I want to show everyone everything I have learned and am experiencing because I think that it is amazing and want to share this with my closest friends and family. The DR isn't bad, it has a lot of funny moments but there is just sometimes when you feel like you have been polite for too long and you just don't want to have boiled and fried plantains for dinner anymore. I know things will be a lot better when I finally live on my own and can cook my own food cause if you happen to read this blog post, I'm bitching about the food. Haha. Hey, I'm a chubby mexican girl, what else would I complain about? Haha. 

Next thing to look forward to shall be kicking butt in my Internet class Tuesday (which I will be graded on) and continuing on with my cool group of youth who are making logos for the local factories. Initially I thought I would not be teaching or using any of my graphic design skills and here I am in the Dominican Republic talking to youth about the essentials of a logo. I feel like I am comfortable teaching others and I even was told today that I am good at it but I think I got a lot of practice from YAP. YAP definitely prepared me to create order out of stuff that is very out of order. YAP seemed to always be chaotic and as much as I used to hate that part, it definitely prepared me for these situations. 

I am trying to be more like George McGinnis in my class too. I need to find a way to sky dive my way into the school then sit back in my chair and eat my lunch while I talk about life lessons in graphic design. Haha. I miss that guy. As soon as we get some legit pics of the logos being developed I'll be sure to post them. I am kind of excited about it. I think the kids more want to learn how to use Photoshop but I really want to see good design!