Reflections of the Dominican

Hello out there in blog land.
So I am back from the Dominican Republic with some sort of weird rash or excema or psoriasis or something on my face that mysteriously appeared and a bunch of great "pictures of the day".

Here's a recap of the goings on during the week:

MONDAY: Fly out at midnight on a red-eye to New York's JFK International Airport. The 5 hour flight wasn't too eventful as I recall, but the sunrise was beautiful (what I could see sitting in an aisle seat, stealing glances through partially opened window screens). I tried to sleep on the plane, but I forgot to bring one of those pillows you wear around your neck, so that didn't work out to well. Unfortunately, Delta's seats do not have built in head reads like British Airways did. Also, being on the aisle I kept getting bumped all night by the flight attendants and passengers walking up and down the aisle.
Anyway, I arrived in New York around 8 am, found my gate (which thankfully was in the same terminal since I was flying Delta all the way) and the nearest Starbucks! Crazy that they have Starbucks in NY! I guess I just didn't think about that. I figured they would have their own brand of coffee shop. I think I also saw a Seattle's Best as I was walking thoiugh the terminal. In fact, I recall thinking I was still in the Northwest for a minute (foggy brain syndrome). =0)
I decided to stay close to my gate and enjoy my hot chocolate and muffin because I also forgot to bring my watch with me, so I figured sticking close to the departure point was a good plan. Also, in case they decided to change the gate again, I would be at the source of the information. Apparently that happens a lot at JFK. When I left Seattle the plane was assigned to one gate and when I got to NY it was assigned to a different one. Some of the Dominicans waiting for the plane apparently did not check the reader board when they arrived so they went to the gate listed on their ticket (which does say that the gate is subject to change), only to find out it was not the right gate. TIP TO TRAVELER'S: no matter what your ticket says--always check the board. ;0)
Okay, so anyway, I met a nice man named Leo from the Dominican. He was actually talking with the lady across from me at first (who was waiting for a different flight) and I got drawn into the conversation. He told me there is a place on the island that actually gets cold! It started with a C, but at this moment that particular file is not found in my memory banks. He came to New York to study to become a music teacher. I asked him why he chose to come to America for that? His response was that there are more opportunities here for him than in the DR. He also said he is willing to go anywhere in the world to get a job doing what he loves. WOW!!! That's adventurous. I don't know that I would be willing to go anywhere to find a job. Maybe to do a job and then come home, but to stay for a long time...i don't know.
So I think we were at the gate for about an hour, and during that time I kept looking for the "purple shirt people" to show up. (That would be my fellow JamesFund travelers. We are all sent the same colored shirt to wear on the first day of travel so that we will recognize each other, since we have not met before usually.) After about a half an hour and no sign of them I figured out I was traveling alone this time. Interesting. I have never traveled alone before.
We hit a few potholes during the flight down to Santo Domingo, and they actually served breakfast about midway through the 4 hour flight. I was surprised, since we only got a snack on the longer flight in the U.S.

Well, it looks like I will have to continue the story later. My laptop battery is about to quit on me.
Pictures to follow soon.
=0)