Monday, August 31, 2009

Washing Cars

Things are speeding up a bit. Many hours of Spanish class each day, not including the time spent speaking with host families, bus drivers and people in the street. My brain is working in bilingual overdrive. It's great.

We spent some time this week learning about and getting practice on the public transportation "system" here in Santo Domingo. Public transportation here is nothing more than organized chaos. It is organized, more or less, for those who are familiar with it. And it is chaotic. The buses are jam-packed with people and taxis somehow accommodate seven in decades-old cars. Not unlike clowns in some ways. Although, I think a car full of clowns would get less stares than a car full of gringos. There is a lot of sweaty, uncomfortable lap sitting and some hanging on for dear life near wide open bus doors but it is cheap and surprisingly efficient. Just another daily experience in the DR.

We also had a chance this past week to see the Peace Corps DR office and the clinic in which we will stay if/when we break a leg, come down with Dengue fever or need to have some tests done to discover what type of worms are living in our stomach. Along with that, we had a couple opportunities to check out the Zona Colonial, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and learn a bit about Columbus, the discovery of the Americas and some DR History 101.

There's also been some time for fun in between our busy days of training. As my host family is easily among the coolest here, my front porch has become a hangout for the other gringos in the neighborhood. A place to chill, chat, play dominoes and listen to some non-Latin American music. We've had a chance to check out some local haunts, including the neighborhood car wash. A car wash is just that by day, a car wash. But by night it is where the locals go to dance and let loose. I don't know the origins as to why Dominicans spend their weekends hanging out at a car wash, but it is a pretty fun time.

This coming week we have our first big dose of independence. We will all be spending four days with a current volunteer in our job sector. We'll get a chance to see what volunteers do in the field and see what life will be like once we swear-in come October. I'll be traveling north to the city of Moca. I'm a little nervous about getting there solo on public transportations but excited for what is to come once I arrive. 

Monday, August 24, 2009

La Republica Dominicana

"The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it." - Rudyard Kipling

It smells really great here.

After one quick day in DC and a flight through Miami, I have arrived in the Dominican. All of us Peace Corps Trainees, of which there are many (and more than a few Iowans), arrived in country on Thursday and everything has gone really fast since then. The first day and night were spent in Santo Domingo in what was referred to as a "retreat." Basically just an orientation to get to know Peace Corps DR Staff, continue to get to know each other and get the first of many, many vaccinations. From there it as on to the outskirts of the city where our daily training will take place and where we will call home for much of the next 10 weeks.

The Training Center is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The trees, flowers, plant life, outdoor classrooms and everything about the place are perfect. Extremely conducive to learning. It is here we are getting our Spanish language training, cultural sensitivity training and much of our introductory Peace Corps training as well.

On Friday we met our host families, whose homes will be our homes for much of the next 10 weeks. Meeting my host family was certainly the most nerve-racking experience thus far. It's impossible not to speculate how they might be, where they might live, how they might react to you, etc. But, of course, there was nothing to worry about. Along with my Dona (host mother), I have 1 host brother, 2 host sisters and one impossibly cute but extremely rambunctious 5-year old grandson. I live in a barrio not far from the training center alongside a number of other trainees.

My Spanish needs a lot of work. It's been almost three years since I studied in Spain and used the language with any frequency. I've obviously forgotten a lot in those three years and need to pick it back up quickly. I have decided that my brain shuts down slowly throughout the course of the day and by dinnertime I understand little and speak less. Fortunately, my host family has accommodated other Peace Corps volunteers in the past and knows how to deal with linguistically challenged gringos.

The first weekend has just finished up. I spent about 8 hours of my Sunday partaking in the Dominican pastime that is Dominoes. My family passes much of its day on the front porch, especially when the electricity is out, and today the porch was used for endless games of dominoes. Multiple aunts, neighbors and fellow PC trainees dropped by and joined in. The front door of the Dominican house may as well be a revolving door because people are constantly dropping in throughout the day to chat, chismear (gossip), simply sit around or meet the new gringo on the street.

Everything has been great so far. The food, the people, the weather, the staff working with us, the hurricane that went the other way. After just a few days I almost don't mind being perpetually sweaty and the cold-water bucket baths the sweat leads to. In a couple weeks it will be second nature. Hot showers, flushing toilets and life sans mosquito net will be a distant memory.

There is most definitely no internet access at my casa and finding time to use the wireless before, during and/or after our busy training schedule isn't easy, but I'll try to update as much as possible in the days to come before heading out to the Campo for some hands-on training in a few short weeks.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Moving Out

Bags are packed. Only thing left to do is get on the plane. Still a couple days until my actual arrival in the Dominican but the trip starts, with a few stops, today.

I head to DC from DM first thing Wednesday morning. I'll spend a day back in the nation's capital going through the Peace Corps "Staging" process. Don't know exactly what staging entails, but I'm sure there is a lot of paperwork involved. It is my understanding that staging is more or less an orientation that gives us an opportunity to meet the other volunteers heading to the DR, but the Peace Corps hasn't been big thus far in providing details, so I could be completely wrong. I anticipate some awkward introduction exercises and at least a few agonizing team building activities. And paperwork.

After a day in DC it's off to the Dominican where we start things off with a "retreat." Again, don't really know what this means because, again, they're not big on details. And then host families are met and the 10-week Pre-Service Training begins. More on all of this as things happen. Not until the Pre-Service Training is completed will I become an official Peace Corps Volunteer and begin my 24 months of service.

Packing was not as outrageously difficult as I anticipated it might be. The thought of packing for the next 2 years of my life with an 80lb limit seemed to be a tall task, but I finished up with about 15lbs to spare. Don't know whether to pat myself on the back or cram 10 more pounds of shit into my bags. 

The act of packing made me feel very fortunate to be serving in a tropical climate. Not just because of the sun and surf, but also because packing for 1 season made things much easier. I cannot imagine having to pack 80lbs of things if cold weather clothing was needed. Although a change in season might be helpful in avoiding the perpetual sunburn that I expect to have over the course of the next two years.

Not really feeling any serious excitement or nerves yet. I think jumping out of a plane last Saturday provided enough of each to last me a while. Not until I meet my host family and start having to use Spanish will the nerves really set in.

For now it's off to DM, then to DC and on to the DR to start life in the Caribbean.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

La Semana que Viene

1 Week. 7 Days. 168 Hours. 10,080 Minutes. 604,800...604,799...604,798 Seconds.

It's about that time and the reality is slowly starting to set in. Throughout the now seven month odyssey that has been joining the Peace Corps, I have been able to wait patiently with each passing stage in the process. Only now with seven days to go is my patience being put to the test. Only now does this experience feel truly imminent.

While those 600,000+ seconds tick away, there is much to pack and many good-byes to be said. I also have an almost uncontrollable urge to do something borderline irresponsible. Jump from a plane perhaps? Something low on sense and high on adrenaline. One last experience at home before 2 years worth of experiences abroad. I think I must.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Bokononism

Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are 'It might have been.'  - Vonnegut

There are few things worse than "It might have been" moments. Those moments of coulda, shoulda, woulda. Moments of regret. It is my goal to have as few of those moments in the next 27 months as is humanly possible. In fact, it is my goal to have zero it-might-have-been moments, but that's simply unrealistic. I stumbled upon this quote, was reminded of Cat's Cradle and have now adopted these as words to live by (or to avoid?) in my forthcoming service.

I've spent the past few weeks doing my research about the Dominican and, naturally in doing so, have begun to develop expectations of and aspirations for the place I will soon call home. It is only natural and almost wholly inevitable to create these expectations but I have found in past experiences abroad that such expectations can be perilous.

Over time I have become a big believer in simply letting things happen rather than planning, expecting and itinerarizing (not a word). This has happened quite naturally as I have shifted from a shameless tourist to an aspirant traveler. I stated in my Aspiration Statement to the staff at the Dominican Republic Peace Corps office my goal of keeping all expectations and preconceived notions to a minimum. So while I won't stop soaking up some Dominican Culture 101 and will surely continue to cycle through Blogs from PCDR volunteers past, present and soon-to-be, I am going to stop trying to expect what is to come and simply wait for the next two weeks to pass and experience what is to be for myself.