Codetel Blues

Long time no talk. I blame it on this country. We have been in our apartment for over a month, had Internet installed soon after, but don’t be fooled, we don’t actually have a connection. Just an ugly modem and telephone sitting in our living room that daily reminds us that Codetel (the beloved Internet company) is sucking us dry financially and not providing any sort of service at the same time. Loveliness.

On a lighter note, I will catch you up! Time is literally flying by here. Halloween has passed, Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and Christmas is already all over this country. Dominicans love them some Christmas décor – starting in October. I was still recovering from last Christmas when I walked into the grocery store here and Christmas trees and garland had thrown up everywhere. Feliz Navidad!

Speaking of holidays, we did indeed celebrate Halloween here – a weekend early. We had a medical team in town for doctors’ visits for the students and their families over the real Halloween, so our team threw down a Murder Mystery Dinner the weekend before. It was hilarious. The theme was 80’s island, so obviously I was in heaven. Anne, Robin, Holly and I visited what is a REAL clothing store here to find our costumes. Our finds should give you a glimpse of Dominican attire.

The premise of the game – everyone is e-mailed a character and information about the storyline through the murder mystery dinner website. For example, Charlie was Jamie Buffett (our specific game was Margaritaville - clever). Notice his costume was manmade – clearly, he kept it for less than 12 hours. So, you enter into the game knowing little and you are handed cue cards and scripts to lead you in what to talk about with whom to hopefully discover who the murderer is. The whole night was right up my alley, and I secretly loved how everyone was forced to stay in character. Made for many a laughs. Which are good for my weary Codetel soul.