Entrenamiento: Phase 1

Hola a todos!!! It's been a while since we arrived Sept. 7th (my apologies for not writing sooner) and they've kept us pretty busy, but now I have a moment to write and let you know how the weeks in Santo Domingo have been. First of all, it's HOT in this country. And you know how redheads fare when exposed to direct sunlight all day and intense heat all day AND night. I think I might actually be adjusting to the climate though, albeit slowly. For the first week I had a terrible time staying awake all day because of the heat, and found myself struggling to not fall asleep after all meals, breakfast included. However, this past week I only took about 4 naps, so I consider that an improvement.
The fact that the people here are so welcoming and friendly makes the adjustment easier, and of course the country is absolutely gorgeous. We haven't gotten out of the capital much yet, but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of the green mountains towering in the distance or the aquamarine sea, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be here.
The poverty here in the capital is very apparent, but at the same time, my accomodations with my host family are much nicer than I had expected. We have running water most of the time, and they have a generator so when there are blackouts (which occur about 3 times per day) the lights still work. Conveniently, I live right around the corner from the Peace Corps training center on the outskirts of the city, and the other 2 volunteers that live accross the street from me are great. My family here consists of a couple, their 4-year-old daughter, and the grandmother. It's actually really nice to have a little kid in the house; I've found that playing with and talking to kids can be the best way to learn a new language or--in my case--improve my Spanish and work on my accent. Plus there's a colmado (small store, like a bodega) across the street, and the neighbors sit outside, day and night, talking and talking and talking. And playing dominos. Our neighbor, "El Flaco" (which literally means 'The Skinny') taught the Americanos in the barrio how to play last week, and now we sit out there and play with him every couple of days. Along with baseball and Merengue, Dominos is one of their national pastimes--so, for the sake of 'cultural immersion,' it's extremely important that I learn to play and practice a lot. And it would be great to beat Flaco at his own game!
Training has been going well so far, but I'm anxious to get out to where I'll be living and get to work. This weekend we're all going out to visit volunteers scattered across the country, which should be really interesting. The girl I'm visiting is working with a coffee org. and a womens group in the border town of Pedernales, and has liked working in this country so much for the past two years that she'll be staying an extra year. She should be a great resource, and even though we can't cross over into Haiti, it should be really interesting to see what life on the "frontera" is like. More to come!
Love,
Melissa