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.
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