There ARE other Americans in Santo Domingo!!

Although we have been living, working, studying and eating in Santo Domingo over the past six months, we have yet to actually meet another American. Isn't that crazy? We live two blocks from the most well-known national monument in the country, which has thousands of American tourists a year, but I have never actually interacted with another person from the US during our time here.

Yes, my boss's family is from the Chicagoland area and I have a friend, Nancy, who lives in the mountains of Constanza... but I have been living, working, studying and eating beside people from the DR and other countries since we've been here. Our downstairs neighbor is from France. Our head soccer coach is from Venezuela. The other students at my Spanish Institute have been from Japan and Russia. My small group leader is from Columbia... and all of the rest are Dominicans.

I believe the lack of interaction with Americans has actually been excellent for me. It has forced me to really embrace the Dominican culture and Spanish language out of necessity, and through this, I have finally come to a very cool place. Had I been with English-speakers the entire time, I believe my experience so far would have been very different and I, most definitely, would not have the Dominican relationships that I have today. It's been hard (and still is!), but now I can say it has been good as well.

That said, last week, I met my first Americans.
They were from Colorado.

While engaged in a Spanish conversation with my professor, I heard a very loud laugh from the next aula (classroom) over... really loud... and then some loud words in English followed. "I have a bad case of the giggles!" she said.

I knew immediately it was another American.

Come to find out, Angie, who was a child therapist in the Denver, is now working for her church in the rural area of La Victoria. She came to the DR with her husband and children and another family from their church. Having just moved here three weeks ago, they are planning to be here for a 10 month serving adventure working on a water treatment project in an area that does not have access to clean drinking water. She was so kind, and invited me to a Bible Study where there are supposedly over 20 Christian English-speaking women who meet every other week!

I'm planning to go tomorrow. I have a feeling it might be an out-of-body experience for me, only because I will be speaking English with a bunch of other women who live in the Santo Domingo area who I've never seen or heard about in my life. I thought they existed and were out there, and now I'll finally find out....

More to come...