En La Republica Dominicana

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  Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Thursday, August 28, 2008

I am in the Dominican Republic.  This is still such a shock, yet even now, almost a normalcy.  It seems like I've been here for ages even though it has only been over a week. 
 
In the words of Will Smith "Bienvenidos a Miami":  We had our two-day staging event in Miami where they oriented all 47 of the new volunteers to the Peace Corps and its intricacies.  Here, we learned about general safety, the mission of the Peace Corps, and each other.  We are a fairly diverse class of volunteers, stemming from 24 different states (only 4 from California), 4 different program sectors (Health, Youth, Economic Development, and Water Sanitation), different ages (many recent college graduates and some in their 40s), races and ethnicities, languages, experiences, and passions.  However, it is nice to know that we all share one common goal: to serve.
 
Entrena:  We train in a town called Pantoja, a barrio in Santo Domingo.  Our training site is beautiful, with palm trees, flowers, gazebos of sorts where we have Spanish class, and the training center, where included is a small library, the comedor (eating room), and offices.  The Peace Corps staff is amazing - so kind, responsive, and knowledgeable.  The Country Director came to talk to us and told us that we are very lucky to be in the Dominican Republic, that it is the best country in the world to serve in, and I definitely believe him.
 
Mi Dona y mi familia:  Over the course of 6 months, we are going to have at least 3 host families.  One during the 3 weeks training in Pantoja, one during the 5 week techinal training with our sectors in the rural areas, and one when we finally get put to our permanent sites.  I ADORE MY HOST FAMILY.  My dona (mom) is an older woman who has been working with the Peace Corps for years.  She is the sweetest woman who constantly offers me coffee and food.  I accept, of course.  She also lives with two of her 10 children.  Two sons in their thirties that are very nice and accepting of me.  One of them offered to bring me to play poker with his friends on Saturday.  I asked if money was involved and he said no, so I said yes.
 
Mosquiteros: I sleep under a huge mosquito net, not unlike a see-through tent that I tuck into my bed and hang up on the walls; it is like I'm camping every night.  Mosquitos are a big problem here, not only because of malaria, but dengue fever.  We take malaria pills (haven't had crazy dreams yet) and constantly reapply mosquito repellent. 
 
My Best Friend: is a 10-year old boy named Gabriel. He also lives at our house and is the grandson of my dona and the son of one of the sons who lives in the house.  He is always around, loves to play with the playing cards I brought (I taught him "Golf," "War," and "Go Fish!"), and loves to listen to my iPod.  There are many kids who live on my street and the other day Gabriel came to get me and brought me to play with them.  Most of them are girls so they love to giggle at my Spanish and run up to me and hug me when I come home from training.  The girls asked me if I wanted to jump rope so I said "por supuesto!" and they loved it!!  Every time I ran in, jumped, and ran out they clapped and yelled "Bien, Jooze-tin!" (which is how everyone pronounces my name here).
 
Las Guaguas: Public transportation here is described as "organized chaos."  It seems much more of the latter.  All of us trainees live in different neighborhoods scattered around Pantoja.  I live in Los Alcarrizos, which is one of the farthest away from the program center.  It only takes about 30 minutes to get there, but we have to take public transportation.  There are "carros publicos" that are dilapidated cars that take you to a certain area of the city.  They have the name of the city it goes to on the top of the car, and it seats 7 (uncomfortably), with 3 in the front including the driver and 4 passengers in the back.  Then there are "guaguas" --  These are the buses that basically have as many people that can possibly fit.  As if it couldn't get any crazier, people drive like there are no lines in the street. Somehow, it works.
 
Fay & Gustov: were the two tropical storms that hit since I've been here.  Better to get them out of the way now, I suppose.  It just rains a lot for small periods at a time, which really is not too much of an inconvenience.  The Peace Corps is REALLY good about getting in contact with us and informing us on every single update of the storms when they hit or are about to hit.
 
No Rubber Duckies and Many Candles:  I have to bucket bath here sometimes because the barrios only get water two days a week.  I have no idea what days we get water.  Bucket baths are not bad - they are fast and it's so hot and humid here anyway that the cold water feels good.  Last night I had to bath by candlelight because the power was out, again.  It goes out more frequently when it rains, but it really makes you realize how dependent we are on power.
 
Acronyms:  PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer), CD (Country Director), and CED (Community Economic Development) are a very small amount of the acronyms used in the Peace Corps.  I still don't know more than three quarters of the acronyms, but when I know them, you all will too.
 
Overall, it has been very enjoyable so far with me still being in the culture shock stage.  We have small Spanish classes, great people in the program, and a lot more information to be absorbed throughout training.  Next week, I am going to visit a current PCV that's in the interior of the country and after week 4, I will be in a different homestay with my technical group for economic development training.  For now, I hope all is well back in the states and make sure to update me when what you have been up to!!  Adios!

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