August can be pretty brutal here in the DR. The heat is relentless. The sweat is endless. Energy and ambition are hard to come by. No es facil.
This past week marked my 1-year anniversary since arriving in the DR. It is impossible to believe that an entire year has passed. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday we arrived, other days it feels like years. A new group of trainees has arrived in country and we are slowly becoming the wily veterans on the island. Just a year ago, I was stumbling off a plane, wide-eyed and melting in the Caribbean heat. I’m still melting, but most everything else about life here has become much more simplified.
While I should feel like a veteran and be moving into a new stage of my service, lots of changes are happening in my volunteer life at the moment. After months of stagnation and agonizing debate over what is best for both myself and my service, it has been decided that a site change is in my best interest. I will be leaving my current urban site for a much different, much smaller site. The process leading up to this decision has easily been the most difficult aspect of my service to this point.
I will be moving in the weeks to come and in many ways will be starting my service anew. It is an exciting transition and I know it will be best for me moving forward. I’ll be sure to document the move, introduce my new site, explain what a ‘batey’ is and all that fun stuff over the course of the next month.
