I just got back from my first morning volunteering at Caminito de Jesus, which is a little private school nestled in the upstairs of a church here. I absolutely LOVED it. But first the part I disliked.

Trying to get there, I decided to use a concho, which is a midsized car into which 6 passengers are very uncomfortably squeezed. So I figured out which one I thought I needed, and went ahead and took it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one I needed, and 20 minutes of circling the city later, I realized this. It didn't go far enough down the road I needed to go further down. SO. I was double charged by the driver, for no other reason than there were several guys in the backseat that said "you should double charge her," thinking I didn't understand. Reluctantly, I paid to avoid a brawl. So I ended up paying 30 pesos to end up where I started. Believe it or not, I was less than thrilled. (Don't worry too much; 30 pesos is still [barely] less than a dollar... Exchange rate is about 34:1). So then, when dropped off roughly where I'd started, I decided to take a taxi, as I no longer had time to kill. Taxis cost more than the sardine-cars, which of course makes sense. They cost RD$100, which is about US$3. [Note: It's good that they're fixed rate most of the time because it's not uncommon for a traffic light to last 90 seconds or more.] Anyway, it's also a good idea to agree on an amount before taking off, even though they know that it's RD$100--it's just a case of whether they think you know or not. I forgot to clear this, as I was still reeling from being double charged by the concho. So when I got there, I handed him my RD$100 bill and was told that the charge was $150. Even less-than-less-than thrilled this time. It was further away, though, and it did cost him some gas to get me there. And gas here is equivalent to US$6/gallon. So I'm only a little angry about today's escapades. =)

BUT then I got to Caminito de Jesus. I absolutely love it. Like, LOVE it. =D The people are so nice, and the kids are sooo adorable. Today they had me work with a little first grader from the United States who just moved here and is having a hard time in school, but his mom doesn't have enough money to put him in a bilingual school. So I tested him by having him tell me letters, shapes, colors, and other things in Spanish, and I kept track of how much he knew, and then I also found out how much more he knew in English. If he knows the English concepts, he'd be better off becuase he could just learn the Spanish words for what he already knows. But the question is if he is on grade level in English, because if he isn't he has a long way to go. I had such a good time doing this; it's just what I want to do when I grow up. =) And thank goodness for my Special Ed assessment class, becuase I felt like a pro in there, being all professional and everything, haha. So the plan with my little friend is for the school to talk to his mom and for them to decide if he should stay there, and if he does, I'll be working with him on Thursdays when I go to help out. I hope he's there next week! =D

I have class yet today; my dance class is at 2 and my film class that I just picked up is at 5. I decided to take a Latin American Film class rather than Teaching ESL, because I just don't think that that class would have helped me. Plus, it was taught in English.

The plan for the weekend is to head to Santo Domingo tomorrow or Saturday for a night. I'm very excited. It's time to get out of Santiago for a day or two. There's so much to see in Santo Domingo, too. Plus, then I'll finally have some of my own pictures to post [sorry emily!] =)