celebrate.



if you've read this blog for any length of time, you've probably caught glimpses of my ups and downs in the making of friends. i'm not a terribly social person, but i'm not really a loner, either. most of our friends (as a family) are dominicans - we do, afterall, live and work in the community with dominican people.





when i first moved here, i was isolated from other foreigners - i worked a lot and lived in a not-foreign-friendly area. had it not been for that experience, i'm sure i would still be stumbling along in spanish and culturally offending more often than i do now.


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Deborah, Stephanie and Ada y Ilvania



then i got married and moved to an apartment complex full of americans. but not the kind anyone wants to be friends with - old men looking for love from 20 something women, paying their pension checks to support three kids who aren't theirs and the sex that comes with it.



i made friends with the people around me and for the most part have been content with that.




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dirty martini - that was more like toilet water... complete
with a chunk of ice to keep it cold. nasty.



but in the past year, some of us middle-of-the-line ex-pats have become friends - our kids play together, we hang out and get along really well. i finally feel happy to have met some people i feel okay letting my kids play with, who speak english and are down for anything.



 friday we started my birthday celebration. it was fun. there aren't many pictures. the restaurant service was horrible. the food was good. and we laughed and laughed.

a bunch of us girls are missing. (martine scooted out of every picture!) but don't worry, i've got a whole month left of birthday to celebrate!