In Case You Forgot, I´m On A Carribbean Island
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2008
1
6
29
Trip End
Oct 29, 2010
Juan Lopez,
Dominican Republic
Saturday, October 11, 2008
ATMOSPHERE: There are many beauties of this country: The fireflies that buzz around my mosquitero inside my room at night. The smell of livestock in the morning. The countless numbers of gallos crowing in the morning. The lush green vegetation and the rich, dark suelo. At night, you can see every star in the sky and it is more incredible than anything I have ever seen. The spectrum of colors in every sunset and the clearest blue skies with clouds of silver lining. The rains that come every day to wash away the dirt filled streets. I´m on a carribbean island!
27 CHARCOS: We had volunteer visits, which means that as trainees we went to go stay with a current volunteer. Myself and a fellow trainee named Jesse went to the best site possible, a tourist site called 27 Charcos. This is where they have 27 waterfalls that you are able to climb, jump, and swim in. We visited a volunteer named Todd and the experience was wonderful, except for the public transportation part. We ended up getting on the wrong bus because there are is a town and an entrance to a town that have the same name. The town was in the middle of NOWHERE and when we asked the community members if they new of the site, they said no. A 2 hour trip ended up taking 5 hours, but with my spanish improving, it helped a lot and we made it safely. Ademas, we were able to finally go to the beach!! My first time since I´ve been here! It was absolutely gorgeous and the water was transparent and warm. I´m on a carribbean island!
CBT CONT.: We have been visiting other local volunteers as a group during CBT. One volunteer lives in the mountains with views like nothing I have ever seen before. There was another waterfall near the volunteer´s site and we were able to swim around and in it. Also, we visited volunteers in the rural part of the country working artesans, some working with eco-tourism, and others working with agriculture. We (CED) is the last group to find out our site placements and we´re waiting in anticipation to find out where we will be spending the next 2 years of our lives.
INSIDE SCOOP: It is so helpful that we are able to talk to other, experienced volunteers because they give us such could insight as to what to expect. So many of them want to extend their service and I´m beginning to see why (Don´t worry, Mom, I haven´t made that decision ...yet). We really get the freedom to work on projects that we are passionate about and that benefit the communities where we work and live. The volunteers tell us the good, the challenging, and the crazy stories that they have encountered over the years. Everyone seems to have a different perspective, but all of them are relevant and applicable.
BOLAS: The people in this country are so kind. Just now, we were going to the Internet Center and were going to have to walk a long ways but instead, we caught a bola, free ride, to the Internet Center. This happens pretty often. You can yell at a passing car, ¨DAME UNA BOLA, POR FAVOR!¨and they will stop to give you a ride!
The fellow trainees here have been so great and I love that I´m making lasting relationships. We only have one more week in CBT and then we are going to regresar to Santo Domingo for a week and find out our sites!
