First two weeks!

Hi! Sorry it has taken me two weeks to update but training is very busy and there are limited opportunities to get online. Let me try to start from the beginning. We have core training Monday-Saturday from 8-5 where we learn about the DR and its culture and traditions, have Spanish class, and learn about development and Peace Corps rules and goals. My first host family seemed really great. I lived with a woman who had two daughters, 22 and 9 years old and a husband who was rarely home. The lights went out all the time and there was never running water. This all meant it was hot all the time because my fan wouldn’t work with no ‘luz’ and I had to take freezing bucket showers every morning (which wasn’t so bad because I’m usually always sweating… everyone is). However last weekend I was put in some uncomfortable situations with my host sister and also host dad so they moved me out to another house in a different barrio and I now live with a older woman and her daughter (where there is a shower! and a generator so there is always a fan). She is really nice but she is very protective and I have fewer freedoms than I did at the other house. Anyway that is all resolved and we are only in Santo Domingo a few more days. Also on Saturday the group took a tour of the Colonial Zone with a woman named Lynne Guitar who was a great guide. Today we went to an open air market to haggle prices for fruit then we made an awesome fruit salad and smoothies. My Spanish is an 8 out of 10 which is pretty high. There are some people who don’t speak any Spanish.

Tomorrow I am going on my Volunteer visit to Santiago to meet with Leticia. She will take me around her ‘campo’ and tell me about what she does. Pretty exciting that they are letting us travel out on our own. A little nervous about getting to the bus stop. The public transportation here is craaaazy. ‘Carro publico’ = public taxi that takes 6 passengers (in a car the size of a nova) and then ‘guagua’ which is a public van/bus that fits as many people as it can… sometimes hanging out the door. And of course motoconchos. Good thing I’ve had experience with motorcycles because everyone else is terrified. The DR is the only Peace Corps country that allows its volunteers to ride as passengers on motorcycles because out in the rural villages it is the only form of travel. So we all have PC issued helmets. So awesome! My new phone number is 809-372-1634 I live with Dona Casimira Tejada. So in conclusion, I eat well, I sleep well and I’ve made new friends… first two weeks of school = success.