Jugo de Chinola

My first day of fully conscious work is complete. The day started off great. The hot water worked. And the Dominican frosted flakes were delicious. The mango was way overripe, but it was still delicious if not a bit mushy. Also, Dominican coffee is so good. And way cheaper than American coffee, so double-plus-good. It's very strong, but you just drink little cups of it. Andrew and I have this awesome little coffee maker that makes two perfect little cups of coffee. It's way different than anything we have in the states, but I can't describe it in words. I might have to just get a picture of it up.

The best part of work today was the culture presentations. Half of the staff here is Latino, and half is American. So the Americans gave a presentation about American culture, and they gave a presentation about Dominican/Haitian/Cuban culture. Amy and I showed off some swing dancing, and they showed off their merengue. I also found out today that the music class I'll be teaching is brand new, so I basically have to design it. I think I'll put together some ideas and pitch it to Jennie (the big cheese) at the end of the week.

I'm in love with Dominican food. For lunch we had rice, beans, and pork. Rice and beans are soooooooo gooooooood. Luckily, they are staples of the Dominican diet, and will be served almost every day. The other amazing thing in the DR is chinola, or passion fruit. We tried to buy some at the store the other day, and we didn't think it looked quite right, but the sign at the supermarket said "chinola" so we bought two and took them home. Amy cut one open tonight and it was not a chinola. We didn't know what it was, but not a chinola. We went back to the store tonight to pick up some more things we need, and found the real chinolas. Under the sign, not above it. Whatever. I also found passion fruit juice concentrate. I'm drinking some right now, and it is heavenly. Juice, mind you, not just concentrate.