Saturday, march 21

Elizabeth and Javier have a little shop in Santo Domingo where they sell pet food, and many other staples, like rice and corn, also convenience items like soda and water. They got up early to open the shop, and we spent the morning in their apartment, resting up from the adventures of the night before.

I had a major insight into how I function when I'm overwhelmed--I feel helpless and can't make decisions, or decide impulsively and regret it later. It is a learned response from too high expectations
of a child! I had no idea what was wrong with me, but I gained a tremendous amount from this insight. I devoted a little time to talking with my frightened inner child--"we CAN learn how to do this. We'll do it together, you're not alone." I feel 20 years younger.

In the afternoon, Elizabeth returned to make lunch for us. After lunch, she taught us how to catch the bus and we visited a real mall with a movie theater and everything. They wouldn't let Vincent into the supermarket with his backpack on, though, and there was no locker big enough for him to park it, so he waited outside while Elizabeth and I bought a few things.

We walked from there to her shop, chatted with Javier for a little while and then we caught the bus back to their apartment. When we arrived, Elizabeth realized that the keys were locked inside the apartment. She called Javier, who had not brought any keys with him to work, then her sister, who said that the family (her parents live in the apartment downstairs) was with her. Since it was a hot day, Elizabeth took us to the corner ice cream store and bought us all ice cream. Then she walked to her sister's house to get the key.

Elizabeth is a wonderful cook. Her idea of portions, however, is if it won't satisfy a lumberjack, it's not enough food. We're going to have to work on explaining that to her. So far, I have found her Spanish to be the most rapid-fire of all. And here in Santo Domingo (and I am told on the coast, too),
they don't have any s's on the end of words. That makes it very difficult for me to tease apart one word from the next, since there is no indication that the first word is at an end before the second word climbs on board.

I spent the afternoon working on the Ecuador blog. We really like Elizabeth and Javier--they are very warm and friendly, and very anxious that we should have a good time. We only have a couple of days here before we travel to the coast. Afterwards we will return to Santo Domingo and spend more time with them. I'm looking forward to it.