Life is good

Wow, I have been a little disconnected. I know, I know, a little is an understatement. When I last updated I was getting ready to trave back home to Orlando and that I did. The semester ended very well for me and I enjoyed every minute of my time back home. I was in Orlando from December 12th through January 6th. I spent most of my time just relaxing. I had tons of bonding time with my sister which was great and had many Christmas dinners with friends. Also, on January 2nd my sister and I celebrated birthday number 23! Speaking of my sister, I found out that soon I would take on a new role...Uncle! That right there was my Christmas and birthday gift. My sister is now about 4 months pregnant and I couldn't be more excited. When it came time to return to the island it was bitter sweet. But in all reality I was ready. I feel like my life is here and without a doubt it is good to be back. This semester is more then halfway done(Again sorry for keeping you all in the dark)and it has been a complete 180 in comparison with last semester. The day I arrived back, January 6th, I moved out! That was something that I needed to have done sooner. I now live with a classmate and life is great again. I live maybe 5 blocks away from school and am close to everything! Another plus is that I shipped my car from the states! What a difference this has made but don't think this was an easy task. I can honestly say that the process to release my car from the port was the most frustrating event that I have had to go through. So frustrating that if I had to do it again, I would stay with out a car. On the school front, the semester has been so so. I have been feeling very very lazy since classes stated up again so I have just been getting by. Facebook has been taking a toll on my performance! This is something that has to change because it only gets more and more challenging. And now we are somewhat up to date! I will do my best to keep this blog a little more active.

I was lost but now I'm found!

I know I have been MIA for, well, a long time but I promise to get back to blogging! Lots of stuff have happened since the last update so its time to get back to it! At the moment I'm in the library being productive so my update will be sometime this week, I promise!

Thanksgiving... I think?

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Unfortunately, I am spending my first Thanksgiving away from my friends and family. Here in the Dominican Republic, it certainly does not feel like a holiday as Thanksgiving is not a recognized holiday here. So, classes and life on the island went on as usual. This experience has reminded me how truly blessed I am. I'm thankful for my parents and all they have done to get me here. I'm thankful for amazing friends that have had my back through good and bad. Most importantly, I am thankful to the man above who has allowed for all that good and bad to happen. I have been doing a lot of complaining lately but today I am just going to say thanks. I'm getting together with classmates for a nice dinner later tonight so we will have an improve Thanksgiving dinner. Well on the school front, I had an exam yesterday and it went well. It had a few surprises but nonetheless I survived. Have I mentioned that I'm going home on December 12? Well just in case I'M GOING HOME!!!

Let the countdown begin

In all reality this semester has really flown by. But I am so ready for my break. This semester has been very difficult for me. I don't feel like I have been fully acclimated to living in the Dominican Republic yet. This country is very uncomfortable to live in. It is extremely hot, traffic is a nightmare, the electricity goes out on a daily basis for hours and the list goes on. Aside from the horror of living in the country I have had several personal issues as well. For one, I broke my foot half way through the semester and the Dominican Republic is not very accommodating to handicapped individuals. Secondly, my living situation is not the most ideal. I live with 3 roommates who are great individuals but it has been difficult to live with them to say the least. I realize that this post has been full of complaints and I apologize but this is my outlet. On a positive note, my plane ticket has been purchased and come December 12Th I'll be out of here! I am going to take advantage of my month in the states to drink as much Starbucks as possible and to sort out some thoughts. I would really like to move into a new place come next semester so lets see what I manage to come up with. It is comforting to know that a lot of my classmates have been feeling the same way and this winter break is a well deserved one for all of us. 19 more days to go! PS: Does anyone read this?

Lost But Not Found

Well friends, today I learned a valuable lesson about living in an unfamiliar country. Never let your guard down completely. What do I mean with this? Always be aware of your surroundings and your belongings. I've heard lots of stories since I've been in the Dominican Republic about people being robbed but I never thought anything of it. Today I was with one of my roommates making a purchase at a store. I placed the cell phone on the counter momentarily while we made for the purchase. And that's all it took for the cell phone to disappear. What bothered me was that the cell phone was not mine. I had asked my roommate moments earlier to borrow his phone. Now, I feel obligated to replace the phone because I feel horrible about it. Fortunately, this was a mild incident. Two of my roommates, who are Dominican citizens, have been robbed at gun point. One of them was getting out of a public transport when she was asked to handover the contents of her wallet. My second roommate was walking home from class when a man on a motorcycle robbed him of his phone at gunpoint. My experience up to this point have been good and for the most part I feel safe. However, it is always important to be cautious.

On vacation

It feels likes it's been a while since I've blogged. We had a three day weekend from school this past week. I decided to go with my my roommates to the town they are from, Puerto Plata. Puerto Plata is awesome. It is nice getting away from the hassles of living in a busy and over populated city. I live in the capital of the Dominican Republic, which is Santo Domingo. I have never seen anything like this city. For instance, drivers here turn 3 lane roads into 5 lanes. The traffic here is horrendous. So, everything here is pretty fast paced. Besides being on vacation, I decided to sleep in today. Yesterday we celebrated a classmates birthday. Once again I had a great time with my classmates but I believe that I'm getting to old to party during the week. But that's that. I have tons of laundry to get done and I need to do some serious studying! I wonder if anyone has stumbled on my blog?

What a bummer

I'm feeling really bummed out right now. I've been having some drama go on in my personal life and it has got me a little down. I am really glad that I decided to blog because besides this being a journal its an outlet. I know that eventually this drama that I have been caught into will subside but it is very disappointing. It hurts to have to defend myself to people who should know me. At the end of the day I refuse to allow anyone bring me down. God please strengthen me and help me become a better person. I don't know if anyone reads this stuff but thanks anyway!