FIRST DOCTOR APPOINTMENT IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
So anyways, recently, well since February, I've developed nighttime allergies here. They are the weirdest thing, right around nighttime, basically as soon as the sun goes down, BAM! I start coughing and sneezing and sniffling. Then in the morning, I'm fine again. At first, I thought it was just seasonal allergies, but since there is only one season here, they never went away and just got worse and worse. So, I decided to FINALLY go to the doctor. This by the way is/was the very first time ever going to a doctor here in the Dominican Republic. I got a name from my health insurance rep and scheduled an appointment for 10:30, this is important later.
Anyways, the day that I'm supposed to go to the appointment shows up. I get a substitute for my 11:30 class, just in case my appointment ran long and went to the doctor. It takes a while to find the office, but I finally do and get there at 10:20. and the receptionist takes my seguro (health insurance), personal information and tells me to sit down. Over the next half hour, more and more people show up, but still the doctor hasn't appeared. Come to find out, she is NOT EVEN THERE! An hour passes, still waiting. Finally at 11:45, the doctor waits through the door, just arriving for the day. At this time, I've already told the school that it doesn't look like I'll make any of my classes that afternoon. She takes an older man first who is in a wheel chair. He comes back out approx. 5 minutes later.
She calls me in her office around 12:00. I sit down in this little chair in front of her desk. I tell her I have allergies and want to figure out what I am allergic to and possibly any medications. She then takes me back to her "clinic. She does about a 1 minute examination, listens to my pulse, blood pressure and breathing, doesn't even take my temperature and returns to her desk with me and starts typing while I'm sitting in front of her. About 3 minutes after I'm there she has handed me a prescription for multiple medicines and a long lists of tests I should take though she lets me know that they probably aren't necessary. Needless to say, I was underwhelmed by my experience and even ended up calling my dad who is a chemist to make sure the medicine she recommended was okay to take. It was a very different experience from the states. Surprisingly, the medicine she recommended did the trick and I haven't had allergies since, so maybe she deserves the benefit of the doubt, though now that my medicine has run out, I hope I don't need to schedule another appointment to get a refill on my prescription.
FIRST SALSA CLASS
This Wednesday, I went to my very first Salsa dance class here. Now, if you know me, you know that I am a terrible dancer. In my college jazz class I was the example student...the example of how not to do the moves. So, I was a little nervous about the class, but my roommates talked me into it, because you've got to try new things, so I went. It wasn't all bad, though the instructor did work with me one-on-one after he noticed my two left flippers. A couple days later, we did up practicing our dance moves and my poor dance partner actually had to say "left, right" to me so apparently I think I hit a new low. Oh well, every once in a while we've got to do something that we aren't good at. I did find a partner who was equally as bad, so I didn't feel as bad partnering as him. He moved my arm like trying to land a plane and I couldn't move my feet so together we were quite something to watch. If you didn't know, the Dominican Republic is a country full of AMAZING dancers so finding a Dominican who can't dance is finding a needle in a haystack ;)
First Time in La Romana
So, I visited the city of La Romana for the first time. It wasn't my favorite city, as it felt more "sketch" than most Dominican cities with its lack of Americans, street lights and stop signs, but we met a lot of amazing people there who went the extra mile to make sure we were taken care of. Also, I tasted my very first dolmades which is basically stuffed grape leaves. It is a traditional middle eastern dish and since I love grapes, I figured what could go wrong. I actually highly recommend them as they were quite delicious. So a win for La Romana. I also discovered a Plaza Kara Marie. I'm clearly just touching my name, not covering an i, no matter what people say. ;) 
This Thanksgiving so this week, my roommates and I are going to the last place on my bucket list, BAHIA DE LAS AGUILAS! I'm finally going to make it to the "most beautiful beach in the country." I'm super excited about this upcoming adventure. We originally thought about renting a car and glamping on the beach, but discovered that the beach is super remote and the roads are close to impassible as no public transportation is allowed. We decided it was best not to risk it . We don't want to add any unnecessary, unplanned firsts to our list... so we opted instead to take a bus to the nearest station and then joined a tour that will be boating to this island. We are playing it safe, you're welcome mom. Look forward to a future post about this exciting first.
