I am in the process of looking for a house but have yet to find one. There are a lot of houses in my community that are empty but they are either not for rent or I can’t afford them on my Peace Corps budget. I am also finding it difficult because my women have really taken to heart that I am their volunteer. They feel responsible for me and have turned down a lot of houses. The main reason they reject the house is they don’t think they are safe enough for a women living alone. I love that that they are so concerned about my safety but I am getting very frustrated when I find a place I think is perfect and then I’m told it is too far away from my host family or my women.

I thought we found a house yesterday and I was so excited! There were some drawbacks - it was not completely finished but the landlord said with the first 3 months rent she would finish it. It was only missing a kitchen, doors, a new coat of paint, and a bathroom on the plus side it was next to a river, it was further back in my community and more campo then I any where I have lived in my Peace Corps experience thus far. I was really excited about it. Then I went home and told my Dominican family about it. My Dona said that there are robbers in the area and pigs around there and the pigs smell. I tried to tell her that the pigs are not a big deal and that my project partner and her husband said it was safe but couldn’t get a word in. Dona would still not approve the house - so my house dreams were crushed once again!!

But hey I’m keeping an open mind and at least I know my women are trying to find me a place - c’est la vie. I have adopted a puppy too but she can’t live with me until I get a house. She is currently living with another volunteer, so for the next month my goal is to get a house and get my women started on some projects! Hey I finally got them actively looking for a house for me which is an activity with no real benefit to them. I figure getting them to make some dulce (candy) to sell and make some money will be a piece of cake! Wish me Luck!!!

Bola race

So here in the DR it is very common to hitch hike - we call it getting a bola. Three years ago Peace Corps Volunteers came up with a race that became an annual event. This year we bolaed from Santiago to Las Terrenes about 6 hours by normal transport. The bola race rules are simple. The teams have to be made up of a boy and a girl, so naturally Kevin was my partner; next each team is given a bottle of nasty nasty alcohol which must be drunk before the end of the race; each team has to come up with a cover story and can't say we are volunteers - so Kevin and I told everyone we were going to a wedding! We shared our bottle with everyone we bolaed with. It was so much fun, we got some great bolas and even got a bola from a semi truck. Thank God - we could not have finished the bottle without their help. We bolaed with two other teams and were the 3rd team in! We are going for first next year!

So as everyone knows St. Patrick's day is one of my favorite holidays. Lucky for me there is an Irish bar in Cabarete called Jose O´Sheas. Two other volunteers and I went to drink good beer and hang out. I didn't know that Jose O´Sheas put on a huge party for St Paddy's day with real Irish dancers, traditional music and lots and lots of Guiness! It was so much fun and by the end of the night they had just dance music playing and we danced and hung out with all the crazy tourists! It was a great day and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Ok so this weekend we all got back together in La Vega for our 3 month In Service Training (IST). Yes that's right folks, I have been a volunteer for 3 months now - WOO HOO. For the first three days of the IST each volunteer and people from their village met to make a one year plan. In theory this sounded awesome, to have someone from the village who could tell me what the community did and did not want should have been great, but as I've learned, nothing in Peace Corps is that easy and this definitely was not. It was like pulling teeth with my women to get any information from them. I would ask, "What kind of things do you want to do?" Their replies were, "Oh you know projects and stuff, what do you want to do?" It went on like that for half the day. Needless to say this circular conversation seemed to go on forever and was very frustrating. Thankfully, I was not the only volunteer having problems, by the end of the three days we were all ready to pull our hair out! Then the the community representatives left and it was just the 17 volunteers. That was great! We got to talk to each other about what was working and what wasn't, we learned how to teach English and set up co-ops.

Finally as a team buliding excercise we went to Carnaval!!! It was so much fun but my butt still hurts. Carnaval in the DR is interesting because the guys dressed up in costumes hit you in the butt with these things filled with sand or in the campo areas pig bladders with water inside. Needless to say it hurts bad! But it was a great time and the costumes were beautiful!!!

So my mom told me that people are curious about what I’m eating down here. My diet has been different with all three of my host families.

My first host family lived in a large city. There I got crackers, cheese and juice for breakfast. Lunch was eaten at the Peace Corps training center and it was usually rice, beans and chicken. Dinner was boiled plantain and fried cheese, sometimes I got rice instead of the boiled plantain. YAYAYA !!

At my second host family the food was much better. I got eggs, bread and bananas in the morning. For lunch I got rice, beans, some kind of meat and pasta. Dinner was similar to lunch or sometimes I got eggs too!

At my last host family's I get bread and hot chocolate for breakfast and dinner. Lunch is the big meal of the day and lunch I get rice, beans, and meat. As you can see with all 3 families rice and beans are the main food with plenty of carbs, carbs, carbs! Who doesn’t love a meal with three different types of carbohydrates? My family takes their responsibility for caring for me seriously; consequently I get fed more than anyone in the family. If I can’t finish what they have given me or if I serve myself a smaller portion all hell breaks loose. I get told “You don’t eat enough, you need to eat more, Ay Erica you eat so little!” This happens every meal! Also my host mom in my village, Morena, has gone on a diet. Apparently the amount of food I eat is so little it put shame on her and now she must lose weight, tell me that doesn’t make ya feel good! (I thought my mom had cornered the market on guilt - boy was I wrong.) But in true Dominican fashion I am told almost everyday how fat I am. It’s a compliment to the village because they are taking such good care of me but hearing, “Oh tu estas gorda,” at least once a day is a little hard to get used to!

My diet changed dramatically when I entered the country and as a result I, along with many of the other volunteers, have put on weight yayay! Since arriving in country I have gained 20 pounds. The weight gain can also probably be attributed to the fact that I have become obsessed with nerds, ice cream and any kind of chocolate I can get my hands on. Hey there is nothing wrong with finding some comfort in food damn it! Also as much as I love my Dominican family and the food, after 6 months eating the same thing every day gets BORING. I tried to buy different things to eat for breakfast and dinner but Dona didn’t seem to like the idea of her not cooking for me so that plan went out the window. When I have tried cooking meals for myself and sharing with my family it turns into my own little cooking show. It’s fun but with 7 or 8 people stuffed into a kitchen the size of a hallway it’s a challenge. Not to mention that it gets hotter than hell in the kitchen so I sweat my ass off the entire time. I adore my host family and I love living here but I think it time for me to move out and live in my own place which will be a completely new and fun challenge! Hell just finding a house that my host family approves of is turning out to be more of a challenge than I expected.

So I have finished my diagnostic evaluation of my community and am in the process of writing a report so that I will be able to present my findings at a Peace Corps meeting. In preparation for this, I am meeting this Friday with the two women who will be traveling with me to our 3 month in service training (IST). They are supposed to help me present the information, I hope it goes well! From the Diagnostic I have found that, above anything else my community wants jobs. So I’m hoping to be able to work with some of the groups and help start some simple income generation projects. I also hope to start a library project soon and will have more information soon. If you would like to contribute please gather books in Spanish - anything from children’s books to romance novels. It would really be wonderful and make a lasting contribution to my community’s future. As soon as I know where these books can be sent I will put it up on my blog. I am also looking into a couple of other projects but I will know more about those after IST.

For New Year’s Eve the volunteers decided to go to a little beach town called Cabarete. It is a great beach/resort area which is located a small distance from me on the north side of the island and it is known for kite and wind surfing. We spent News Year’s Eve on the beach drinking and dancing in the sand. Fireworks were set off and it was amazing. I got my New Year’s kiss from none other than a fabulously yummy Dominican bartender! It was nice to be around other volunteers and just sort of let loose.

I made it through my first Christmas away from home and surprisingly enough it wasn’t half bad. Down here Christmas Eve is the big night - everyone gets together, makes huge dinners, gets drunk and goes dancing! My Christmas Eve started off great I went to visit a friend in my village. She and I hung out and drank wine then we went to another friend’s house. There I had an impromptu salsa lesson, which is by far my favorite dance down here. Then I went back to my host family’s house and got ready to eat chicken, rice, beans, salad, and sliced bread! I’ll admit that once I got back to the house I started to cry a little. Thankfully my host dad Rodi saw my eyes welling up, ran, got me some wine and told everyone I was not to be left alone. To finish off the evening, some people came by the house to take me out drinking and dancing! It was very different from any Christmas Eve I have celebrated before.

Christmas Day started off like no other Christmas day I have ever had in my life – to begin with I woke up with a wicked hangover which is not at all typical for me on Christmas Day (I know hard to believe). Usually at my house my mom bakes homemade cinnamon rolls instead I got my usual bread and hot chocolate for breakfast. There were no presents to open or the smell of turkey cooking or watching movies, which in my family is a typical Christmas day. But since it was 70 degrees down here it didn’t really feel like Christmas so it didn’t bother me all. Until I talked with my family, but even that conversation didn’t hit me until later that night. Once again, in true Dominican fashion, we went out drinking and dancing, making this my 5th night out dancing. All my feelings came to head, I had to go home, I had a serious meltdown, cried and went to bed! All and all it was a very different Christmas celebration than what I am used to.

As many of you weather watchers know, the DR was hit by Tropical Storm Noel recently. Noel devasted much of the countryside and now sub-tropical storm Olga is heading our way. I have been in the capital for the past 4 days for an artisan fair and the Peace Corps is consolidating many volunteers to a hotel called Barcelo Lina. I know I should be worried but the Barcelo Lina is a 5 star hotel with hot water, yummy food, and wi-fi. I really can't complain! I will keep everyone updated! To check the storms progress check out http://www.weather.com/.

This weekend I met two other volunteers Kate and Lily in Nagua, which is a town about an hour west of me. We had lunch, got some ice cream, laid on the beach and spoke English! It was great and we have decided that we are going to try and get together for a day about every two weeks. For the first three months we want to meet at different beaches and run a beach diagnostic so we know where all the best beaches in our area are located. This is obviously very important (particularly for my visitors) and I think it will definitely help me get to “know” the DR. I have started my community map. I was surprised to learn my community is quite a big larger than I had thought. I found out today that there is a drug rehab center, five barrios (neighborhoods), one large colmado which is like a mini-mart, a clinic, more beaches (always a good find), and four tourist sites that were supposed to be hotels. Only one hotel is finished and old retired Italians live there now so I’m not sure if tourists stay there or not. I want to find out more about the tourists projects, which could end up being a good secondary project for me, but who knows? I am learning how to cook, clean, and do my laundry the Dominican way. Let me tell you it is kickin my butt! At my past two host families they did my laundry for me. But with my current family that isn't going to happen. I did my laundry for the first time in this country and I got my butt handed to me. My Dona and Morena could not stop laughing at me! I looked ridiculous, I was all dressed up to go to Samana that night because it was Patornales. I originally thought I would be able to put my dirty clothes in the machine and walk away. That was not the case. After the clothes were washed in the machine, I had to wring them out by hand and then put them in the dryer (which is like the dryer at the gym that you put your wet bathing suit in). But wait I'm not done yet. After they dryed for a time I took them back out and put them in another bucket of water to get more soap off. Then I had to wring them out again, then put them back into the dryer thing, then I had to hang them. This was the most labor intensive load of wash I have ever had to do and I am now trying my hardest to keep my clothes as clean as possible! Much to my surprise, (althought probably not my parents) I am also horrible at cleaning, shocker right? I was trying to mop this weekend. The mop is an "old school" mop that you have to wring out yourself. I am just not very good at that, so this process took me about 30 more minutes than it took Morena. I have come to the sad conclusion that I would suck as a housewife and especially as a Dominican housewife. So no worries - mom and dad - no Dominican will want me because I can’t clean or do laundry. I did find out that I’m a pretty damn good cook and I love cooking Dominican food!!! So I hope everyone will be able to make a trip down here and try some of my amazing food!

Ok so week one at my permanent site was not bad, not bad at all! I finally connected with my project partner, Bella, sat with her and set some goals to help me integrate into the community. Bella agreed that she would make a list for me of all the groups and the people I needed to talk with and when the meetings were. This is a great start, because even if it does not happen - at least she knows I want these things. In order to get used to being here, as weird as this may sound, I have started setting weekly or daily goals with another volunteer and my mom. The goals are easy to attain but this is helping me a lot by making me get out of my house to do things. For example, today I totally didn’t want to go to Bella’s house again to look for her but that was my one goal for the day. So I said what the hell and sure enough she was there - score one for me! I am meeting more people in the community slowly but surely, hey it’s a start, right? A few days ago I played dom (domino) with some older men in my community and I saw them again today. I was pleasantly surprised they remembered me. They asked where I was going and invited me to come back and play some dom! Surprise, surprise, I totally won twice - what, what! Dad you better be practicing because I don’t want you to be my front and make us lose. I can’t have that kind of shame in my community, old man! Anyway I was able to go see Las Terrenas yesterday. The area is awesome because it is so beautiful and the beaches are amazing. Even better, there is kite surfing, Dad get ready! I also tried to go to Samana on my own but it seems my host family is not ready for me to be traveling alone. My host dad, Rodi, took me which was nice but damn I’m gonna need to figure this out one day! Oh, one last thing, does anyone remember the commercials with the square fish and how not natural that was? Well guess what I the other day?? That's right, a square fish and holy cow it was the best fish I have had in country. I can't wait to get more and don't worry I got the pics to prove it! I know what anyone who visits me will be eating.

So I am now an official peace corps volunteer. I was sworn in on November 21, 2007! The ceremony was great. The US General Consul was there to administer the oath, we did it in both Spanish and English. To celebrate after the ceremony, we all went out to the carwash!!! It was amazing. I can't believe I have officially started my service!

OK - I´m not gonna lie it was a little bit of a rough week. This was the first time I have been without any other volunteers and I had to rely on my Spanish 24-7. The good news is my cell works at my site so I can get phone calls. Just do it!!

I went to my site Tuesday with my project partner. Her name is Bella and she is the president of the women´s group I'll be working with. It was nice traveling with her because I brought the majority of my stuff with me. Somehow she convinced the driver to let me on with everything. I arrived at my last host family's house and found they had decorated my room with ballons. They were so excited to see me and they kept telling me that they had won, like I was a prize or something!!! The next day I went to a meeting with the presidents from 3 other womens groups who were very excited to meet me. We all had to go around and introduce ourselves and I had to speak Spanish in a huge group on the spot. It went pretty well. All the ladies spoke again and told me a little about their groups. They surprised me by asking for my opinions - I about peed my pants! I think at first they thought I was a health volunteer. So I kept having to tell them that my focus is business but I would try to help them get a health volunteer here to do charlas. I explained that I was here to help them make a little more money. I think I might have to go door to door and let people know who I am and why I'm here. I just don't think a lot of people know. I can't wait to start my community diagnostic to see what the community needs and where my business skill will come into play! I have so many ideas and I just want these first 3 months to fly by so I can make my one year plan and start working on projects!

I had an oh my god I'm a peace corps volunteer moment when Bella saw that I was getting eaten alive by bugs. She went and got this spray which I thought was Off so I let her hose me down. Of course my skin started burning and I read the can. Yeah she sprayed Raid all over me. I had to rush home and shower! The next day Bella and I were supposed to meet more people, but Bella went back to the capital to go shopping and forgot to tell me. I have a feeling that this is the first of many situtations like this. I am going to have to find a way to communicate better. I was pretty upset till one of the donas came by and told me she was taking me to the beach with her. We walked and talked and she showed me where I can pick natural grapes - which they make wine with and taste amazing. She also showed me how to break open almonds with rocks on the beach. On the way home we got chased by a cow (who knew cows chased people).

My new host family is by far my favorite! They are amazing. My dona is kinda blind but she is so nice. Her daughter and husband live behind us and come over everyday to make sure I am ok and hang out with me. The husband takes me to play dominoes and watch baseball with all the other guys. He also gave me my first taste of Dominican moonshine - let me tell you if I had hair on my chest it would be gone!! That stuff could take paint off the walls! One night I sat out front with the daughter, her nickname is Morena, and we talked for hours. It was so nice and she understood my shaky Spanish! Her husband also said he would take me fishing with nets and stuff one day. I'm so excited, I have never done anything like that before!

My site is beautiful and with a beach about 30 minutes away from me. The beach is supposed to be one of the top 10 in the world - so start planning your trips now. I have also started looking for houses for when I move out on my own in 3 months. I hope to find a good one, I saw one that over looks the beach and I hope it will still be available. There is a small but beautiful beach by me and the water is so warm. I can't wait to go swimming or rent a boat and paddle out to this wonderful little island.

I swear in as an offical volunteer tomorrow. On Thursday we have Thanksgiving dinner, put on by volunteers, with the works - everything from stuffing to pies. I can't wait! On Saturday its back to my site!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

OK, so we got our actual assignments today for the next 2 years and it’s official...I’m on the beach in the bay of Samana outside the city of Samana!!! So, I know everyone is really excited to come and see me now sincewhale watching season is from January to March. I will be working with a women’s group helping them sell jewelry they have made out of fish scales and any other things we can come up with to sell to tourists. I will be teaching them business skills and helping them with quality control, marketing, and pricing just to name a few. I’m very excited and I can't wait!!!

Yes, yes...I'm in the Peace Corps and was issued a cell phone - who knew! OK, so since I know everyone is missing me like whoa - here are some helpful tips for calling. You need a calling card or an international calling plan - otherwise you will spend an arm and a leg calling. If you choose to call me without having either, my dad will say “I told you so.” You can find cheap calling cards at callingcards.com and I will always have my phone on and with me so call anytime (I'm on Eastern time zone). OK my DR number is...just kidding I’m not crazy enough to put it up! I’ll be sending out e-mails so if you don’t get one and you want my number let me know!

- Menthol salve (think Vicks Vapo Rub) cures everything from pimples to mosquito bites to headaches (just rub it on your head)

- Hall’s are not for colds and sore throats but are candies--who knew?

- Limes and sun do not mix! It will burn your skin and leave your hands looking nasty for a month or two like this wonderful picture of my hands. And since I have sensitive skin it’s even more painful and nastier yayayaya! Don’t worry mom, they look much better now!

- You get “gripe” (Dominican for "nasty cold - flu") from being wet, running and then taking a cold shower, having wet hair and going near the fridge...important to know

- Picking your nose in public is totally cool and you should probably start doing it.

- Drinking hot liquids when it’s hot out is okay, but not when its cold out (so when I get soup for lunch and its like 90 degrees in the shade when I go outside I sweat like Fat Bastard!)

- Dona (my Dominican mom) won't let me drink hot things then cold things right after each other, I have to wait at least 30 minutes because otherwise I will get sick.

- At 23 I should be married with 3 kids and it’s crazy that I’m not, so I’m officially an old maid.

- And last but not least during my last Spanish presentation (which I gave to a room packed full of Dominicans) I learned that “Si vale la pene” (is it worth the penis) is not the same thing as “Si vale la pena” (is it worth the pain) and I managed to say "Si vale la pene" three different times during my presentation so let’s hope next time I give this charla I can manage to not ask if it’s worth the penis--see dad my Spanish is getting MUCH better!

My technical training was up in the north near a town called Moca. It was absolutely beautiful in the region and it was nice and cool! Some nights I even had to wear a sweater and I finally needed more than just a sheet to sleep under. I learned a ton during technical training and our trainer Tim was amazing, I also gave a charla (presentation) about focus groups and we had current PCVs give a lot of charlas too. We went to an eco-tourism site that was a ruta del café and we got to hike through the mountains and learn about coffee and producer groups. I was able to start running again which was great because I’m a walking carb. I run with two other girls in my barrio (neighborhood), Pam and Cheryl. We are doing long runs on the weekend with other barrios. There's a discoteca in the community and it had a foam party one weekend which was crazy. Try dancing meringue in foam! Two people had birthdays and we went out as a whole group which is always fun.

There are 17 of us in business and I think we have one of the craziest groups on the island. We work hard and play hard. On Cheryl’s b’day Pam and I took her to get some chocolate cake and ice cream at this amazing little pizzeria. I also experienced my first Dominican baseball game. It’s a little different than the games in the states. They have cheerleaders and the mascot dressed up in different outfits, which was a little weird. My host family was nice but I definitely experienced what I think will probably be happening for the next two years. I got grilled about how to get a visa back to the States. My host dad said it was his life goal to go to the US. It was a little awkward and I’ve decided I need to start coming up with a better answer than “I don’t know” (which is true, but I don’t think he believed me). I’m happy to be back in the capitol with Kevin and the rest of my barrio, I missed them for sure! My Spanish is getting better and my English worse, so that’s always fun.

Life down here is amazing! I’m getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, its hotter than hell, and I have eaten more platonoes than I can even count, but I love it! This past weekend we went to a carwash in our barrio which is a carwash by day and a club at night. We danced meringue, bechata, and we threw in some sweet American moves when they put reggaeton on! The next day we went to another barrio and played baseball with some of the neighborhood kids. We had a day off on Monday and went down to the zona colonial and had a walking tour with an American historian, which was cool to learn some history about the country and the city. We are almost done with our training here in the city and we’ll be leaving for community based training this week for 5 weeks. I love and miss everyone very much!

I love my barrio in the city! My dona Wendy said we could have people over last night and since the public transportation was on strike and we didn’t have any training. So, our barrio got together and had a fiesta! Then in the morning we went to the grocery store and actually made a very American breakfast complete with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage!

So, this last weekend we got to visit a “real” volunteer for 4 days and stay with them at their site. My volunteer was stationed in the south on the beach! So for the first time since I have been in country I got to go to the beach!!! It was absolutely beautiful and I have never seen water so blue. There was also a river that ran down into the ocean and apparently Dominicans won’t go to a beach if there isn’t a river running down into it--I’m still trying to work that one out. Her project was a coffee co-op and I was able to go to a meeting with her, they had a buyer come in and negotiate a price and they actually settled on something! A village down the way from hers was having a festival at night for their patron saint and this was just one big excuse to have a street party and get drunk! They had all sorts of music playing and there was going to be a band but it started raining and Dominicans hate the rain and everyone ran for shelter. I got to take a bola ride too which is hitchhiking and apparently everyone in the country does it and it’s just a normal way of life in the smaller towns. Then on the gu-gua back to the capitol someone was carrying a rooster, who naturally escaped his bag and got very loud. When we got back to the city 3 of us decided that it was time to check out the embassy and use the huge pool! The nicest part we only had to show our Peace Corps badges and they just let us in. It was nice to finally see how a real Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) lives and works. I can’t wait to swear in and start my service!

We recently learned how to use the public transportation here in the DR. I took my first gu-gua ride and my first carro publico! Gu-gua’s are old run down vans and buses with a man who hangs out the door yelling out where the last stop for that bus will be. To get to training in the morning we stand on the side of a busy highway and yell at the gu-gua’s driving by and then they usually cut across traffic lanes and stop on the side of the road to pick us up. They stuff as many people into these things as possible, one morning some were so full that 3 people were even hanging out the door! Then there are carro publicos, which are old beat up Toyotas that fit 4 in the back and three in the front on each others’ laps and the other day we actually got 5 in the back! The public transportion here is like nothing I have ever experienced before and I love it!!!

OK, so here is a quick how to on how to send me stuff! Use padded envelopes, not boxes, because the envelopes are less likely to be searched and “confiscated.” You can send things using regular mail and the address is on the side of my blog page, I also have a wish list up but you don’t have to send me things just from that!! I miss everyone very much and I can’t wait to get some mail yayayaya!!

Well hello everyone!! I have arrived in the DR after much packing and unpacking, weighing my stuff and still finding out at the airport I was overweight (yeah that’s right dad I had to take some stuff out of my bag, what a surprise huh). The past couple of days have been crazy!! When we got into the country we had to get our rabies shots and take anti-malaria pills which apparently can give you crazy dreams and since I’m the lucky dog I got some!!! I have started to sleep under a mosquito net for the first time and the vote is still out about how I feel about it!! It is fun to put up though because there aren’t always places to hang it so sometimes you have to get creative! Using my amazing MacGyver skills I was able to hang mine from a dresser, a window, a bag, and the wall! I have moved in with my host family in Santo Domingo and will be here for the next 3 weeks for some basic training (language, culture, and medical stuff). During some of the training they said we could get a horse or a donkey so guess what people? I might actually get a donkey!!!! I’m sooo excited and I can't wait! I will probably also be getting a dog, they said once we get to our sites that a lot of volunteers get dogs and that will be right around Christmas time. So, I know what I want, mom!!! Anyway, after all the training here I will move to a smaller campo in the north of the country to work on my technical training. Essentially that means I’m gonna learn how to do my job. Technical training will take about 5 weeks then I'll be back for 2 more weeks in Santo Domingo. When that time is up, I finally get my site and my project and get sworn in as a real volunteer. I can’t wait! I think it will be the highlight of my year!!! This experience has been amazing so far and I can’t imagine anything else I would rather be doing for the next two years!!!

Ok on to some good stuff!!! My host family, I LOVE THEM!!!! I live with Wendy and her son Oscar!!! I am very lucky to live with another volunteer, Kevin. This is nice because we help each other with Spanish and share our experiences!! Wendy's mom lives below us with her grandmother who is 100 years old and still looks great!!! There are all sorts of children running around and I’m actually ok with this...the kids are great. They are patient and help me with my Spanish. One of the little girls is learning English and it’s fun to go back and forth!

I took my first cold bucket bath, which was an experience, but I’m not gonna lie I liked it! Even though I’m in the city there are chickens running around the streets. I get woken up daily by a rooster, if he doesn’t stop I will probably eat him!! The barrio is nice but very run down and there is trash everywhere which breaks my heart. Wendy's house is amazing, when the power goes out we aren't affected because she has a generator. Amazingly, I have a TV and cable in my room crazy huh? Wendy is very nice but thinks I’m too skinny or "flaca" in Spanish and always wants me to eat "mas, mas, mas". She always asks if I’m hungry and if I want anything else or more! I can’t wait till my Spanish is better and I get to start a project!

I miss everyone very much and love all of you!!! Start saving your money to come and visit! I will write again soon Bye from the DR.

P.S. my barrio is called Los Angeles!!!

So It's about 20 days until I leave for my staging event, which lucky for me is located in Georgetown so I don't have to travel far. Then on Sept. 13 its off to the DR for 3 months of training, after that I will hopefully be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and start my 2 years of service! I'm starting to get nervous and I'm realizing that I still have a lot of stuff to get done before I leave. I haven't even begun to see if everything will fit in my two bags! Yeah that's right, 2 bags people! That's all I get and I cant go over 75 pounds either. Everyone who has traveled with me knows this is going to be difficult, since most of the time (even if I'm just going home for 3 days) I tend to have to pull things out of my bags at the ticket counter. I'm sure with Wayno's help though I'll be able to make it happen!

So once I'm finally down there I will be a community economic adviser, which according to the Peace Corps means:

“The overarching purpose of your work will be to strengthen the capacity of community-serving organizations, small business entrepreneurs, and communities in a manner than promotes locally driven projects and community wealth. Volunteers will work primarily in rural areas. They will engage in numerous activities that range from business education to strategic planning to technical assistance. Volunteers may work with farmers groups, agrarian cooperatives as well as with micro-entrepreneurs receiving loans from micro-credit organizations. PCVs also promote the improvement of business and leadership skills with Dominican youth through capacity building workshops. All volunteer activities are carried out in a manner that taps all ‘stakeholders’ of the community: staff of community organizations, entrepreneurs and community leaders, among others.”

I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing but I can't wait to get down there and find out!

I have already met some of the volunteers leaving in Sept. too, through wonderful little things like facebook and myspace. I can't wait to meet the whole group!

I know its a little early to be writing since I can still just pick up the phone but as most of you know I'm not the best with technology so I figured I should start this while I'm still in the states! Adios