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.