¿Estás Perdido?

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world." - Freya Stark

It is a strangely pleasant sensation to wake up here every morning. Now knowing exactly what the day has in store for me. Not yet having a daily agenda to follow. Not knowing if I'll meet dozens of community members of simply read a book from cover to cover. A far cry from the regimented life we lived for 10 weeks of training, where scarcely an hour passed without a training session, charla, language class or scheduled mealtime.

It is a bit unpleasant that everyone thinks I’m lost. Almost daily I’m asked ¿Estas Perdido? They all want to give me directions to the bus station where I can make my way to the nearest beach like all the other gringos. It’s kind of awkward. In fact, most everything about these initial weeks is kind of awkward. Introducing yourself to countless people and misunderstanding countless hours of Spanish conversation. Most everyone not understanding who you are or why you’re here. When I’m not a lost tourist I’m a missionary. Awkward.

All is good though, even while the awkward turtle insists on continuously showing its ugly head. After all, Americans are beginning to thrive on awkward. It’s kind of our thing at the moment. Why else would The Office be so popular? I look humorously upon it. The bright side, right? The Dominicans on the other hand don’t seem to even realize that awkwardness exists in my daily interactions. They don’t even have a proper translation for the word. I’m just the new guy and ya. Nada más. Todo bien.

I’m starting to look down the barrel at post-Thanksgiving to get some projects started. English classes are what the community most wants. So while I don’t want to be the local English teacher for the next 2 years, it’s a good starter project to do for a couple months. I’m also hoping to start a book club and a girl’s volleyball team. All in time.

For the time being until those projects take shape and come into fruition, I foresee more awkward, some quality time with the host fam and more books. Lots of books. Perhaps too many books. My host mom suggests I may get brain cancer from reading too much. Her suggestion to remedy the eyes she thinks I’m damaging and the tumor growing in my noggin? Watch TV. Seriously. Her next suggestion is undoubtedly to talk on a cell phone more often. I do heed her television advice from time to time in that I am fortunate enough to be a PCV with ESPN, meaning I still get a weekly dose of college football (sorry Hawk fans) and my fair share of English language movies. Not the typical Peace Corps experience. But I’m not a complainer.