Out of sorts

So I was supposed to be better about blogging, especially when I became "connected" again, but honestly, I've been out of sorts lately. You know, moving again. It all started when I found out that my plan to take three suitcases was foiled by the "embargo" on American Airlines. Ok, ok, so I'll zip my life up into two 50 pound bags. Thankfully the AA guy was nice enough to let me go just a tad bit over on each bag and now my life is condensed to 105 pounds. Well, that was until my AA flight was canceled because of weather in Miami (funny that everyone else from the school got to Miami just fine), and I was shuffled over to JetBlue. You've heard good things about them? It's probably true, except for the fact that the guy at the counter was not about to slip my 5 extra pounds into my checked bag and I was forced to drag around my belongings while I was rerouted to NYC. Just a few hours in the opposite direction, hey, at least I was on my way to my destination!

The human resources person had set up a nice welcoming in the VIP lounge at the Santo Domingo airport, but of course my delay put me in after the lounge closed, so I'll have to catch up with VIP at a later date in my life.

I've been in Santo Domingo for one week. Five days of teacher workshops and meetings, afternoons spent looking for sheets, towels, food, evenings trying to stay cool. 

There are a bunch of new people, like 16, and for some reason my roommate and I are the only ones to have been assigned roommates. We have a three bedroom, 2 1/2 bath apt, with a decent kitchen, big living room and porch on the 3rd floor of a building on a busy corner about 3 blocks from school. The location is great in reference to the school, but caddy corner from my bedroom is a corner store (colmado) that is ridiculously loud and obnoxious. The bedroom situation got sticky right away because there is a master bedroom with a bathroom inside the room and then two other smaller rooms with a bathroom in between. Well, my roommate informs me that her boyfriend wants to come visit so it makes sense for her to get the master and I thought, ok, but I want both small rooms so that I can have a small office space to work. Well, this was before I knew that ONLY the two bedrooms have a/c. Seriously. THIS was something that I had not anticipated and although I am used to never knowing what is going on, I didn't see this coming at all! No other space in my apt is climate controlled, none. Right now Santo Domingo is super hot and sticky. We've had torrential downpours and blazing sun all in one day. I am told that by November the humidity will subside and I'll be find without a/c. Let's hope so. Actually I've already gotten a bit used to it. I still hold my breath when I come home, just waiting for that blast of cold air that never comes. We are told that the electricity is super expensive here so we'll be glad we don't have central a/c. Sure.

Not too much to say about school right now. I still have one more week of meetings before kids come, so I don't really know what to expect. The returning teachers start Monday, so I haven't even met anyone in the science department yet. I'm not super impressed with the classrooms, but it's hard to tell at the moment. My room is a dump, but maybe I feel so out of place since it's not mine yet.

I have my very first smart phone and I LOVE it. I ended up with a Blackberry because that is what everyone has here and it was more reasonably priced and they actually had them in stock. I've been a bbm'ing fool, talking to my Bolivia kids. It's hard not being there right now. I just keep thinking how much easier my life would be if I had just stayed. I know, I know.