A trip around town

Since I don't have tons of time to use the internet very often I am going to share little tid  bits about experiences that I have had. I will try to include illustrations.



Ok. A couple of weeks ago our health training group got to go into the capitol to go to the Peace Corps office and look into some of the NGO's in the city. This was an exciting day for us because we had been in a very small campo (village) of 30 houses or so for a few weeks. The office has internet and there are several stores around the office. It is always good to communicate with people back home (hint hint) and  stock up on chocolate and peanut butter. We were in the city for about 8 hours or so. We hired a guagua (transport van) to drive us from our campo into the city and then home again. We were heading home during rush hour. Which by the way is not bad compared to a lot of places I have lived but here its is filled with a lot more pollution and stops.

After the first break down we all thought that we were going to be stuck for awhile but the driver got out and did something underneath the guagua.  

While we were waiting we were solicited by a couple of men selling plantains. Although we all wanted more plantains (sarcasm) we passed on the offer. 

The second stop was near a park. It was a nice view while the driver once again fixed whatever was wrong, or just jimmy rigged it. After we were on our way with no more stops. Yay!

Holy Shnikies!!!

So, I don't have the internet very often as you all have probably noticed. So, I will share a few short things with you. Life here in the DR is fun and crazy and hard. I was living in the capitol for a few weeks and now I am out in the Campo for 5 weeks. Whaen I was in the capitol I lived with am awesome family. With me there were 8 of us in the house. We had a scragly little chiwawa that was the ugiest thing I have ever seen. He is cute though. It is funny how things grow on you. The grandma that lived there and ran the house is supper cute too. I never understand a word she says but she has the best smile. She has 2 brown snaggle teeth on the top and a few on the bottom. She makes me smile everytime I see her. She is a very hard working and kind 75 year old.
Here in El Careto, outside of the capitol, I have had some interesting experiences. The first nine days we were her was patronales. It is the celebration of the Saint Mercedes. Basically everyone in the town and sorounding areas party and drink every night until 3am and then get up and do it again the next day. It was fun and exhausting. Also, on the 3 or 4th day I was here I had some crazy stuff go down in my insides. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was going to throw up when in fact I stood up ans almost crapped my pants. I struggled to get around the motorcycle in the kitchen and open the back door. I ran across the muddy back yard to the latrine. I made it thank goodness because that was one big wave. After the visit to the latrine I chilled outside for a while because I still felt like I was going to puke. The dogs the desided that I was no longer welcome there and started closing in and barking. Luckly I was able to get back inside because the dogs have bitten people in the community before. The next day I was still feeling sick and chillin outside with some of the other volunteers when I was not feeling so well. I went into a friends house and puked and the proceeded to sit on her floor for the next 3 hours while my stomach and all of my insides spasmed out. I feel like I know a little bit about how much it might hurt to be in labor. Crazy!! I then had a fever later that night of 101.1. By the next morning I was feeling better. I have no idea what it was but it is gone now:) I will post pics later.

Pre Peace Corps Trip

I spent some time in Southern Virginia, northern Virginia and Philadelphia. It was a whirlwind of a trip but was wonderful. It was just the right amount of time to get my head in the right place to come to the DR. This journey is going to be hard at first. I am nervous about learning Spanish but I am excited too.

I got to ride on a train, see the beauties of southern Virginia, have some adventures to Middle Earth to pick berries, see the oldest street in Philadelphia, do the Jersey shore and most importantly be with people I love. Friends and family make the world wonderful!

Stop one

I have been in Seattle for just under a week. It has been fun but it feels like I am in a holding pattern waiting for the real adventure to start.

The drive was a long 15 hours but I made it without incident.  There was defiantly lots of singing at the top of my lungs on that one.

The highlight of my time here was the Dirty Dash. My sister came up with our costumes. It was a blast, filled with running swimming in muck and climbing slippery walls.

Dominican Republic

I have finally received a placement from the Peacecorps. I will be serving 27 months in the Dominican Republic. I was a little shock and kind of disappointed at first when I read where I was going. They have previously assigned me to Sub-Saharan Africa. So, this was a big unexpected change. I have since realized that I am glad that I get to go there. It is a beautiful tropical island with a wonderful culture and language. I am excited that I finally get to learn Spanish. The black men won't be so hard on the eyes either.

I received my placement about a month ago. Since then I have been working to secure some rugby refereeing opportunities there. I have since been told by people at the IRB (International Rugby Board) that I will be a welcomed addition and that they would love to fly me to other counties in the Caribbean to ref. I am so happy that I will have the opportunity to advance my reffing career. Refereeing at the next level is hard to get into at times. This will be the perfect opportunity. I just have to work hard and make sure I am up to the task.