In some ways, it already feels like months have passed since we all arrived in Miami together and started our Peace Corps adventure. We have already become close as a group and formed deep friendships. Spending up to 17 hours a day together for two weeks allows for deep conversations. Our lack of amenities also forces us to bond and talk about things that usually aren’t very interesting or appropriate. In other ways, my time here feels like one big blur. Constantly being challenged in every day affairs that are mindless in the states gives no room for the mind to wander. Having to compartir* with my host family allows little, if any time for self reflection or down time. In reality, it’s only been fifteen days since I officially became a Peace Corps Trainee, and I don’t know whether or not it feels like more or less time than that.

Before I comment on how things are going, I think it is important that I lay out what exactly I am doing with my days, where I am living, and where I think we are going. After arriving in the DR, all 51 of us moved into different neighborhoods in Pantoja, a municipality on the northern edge of Santo Domingo. Most of us live within walking distance to the training center, and we all live with host families. Some of us live with other trainees in the same house, some live in the same buildings but not the same house, usually with members of their extended host families. Most of the trainees live alone, but in the same neighborhood as many others. We are training at a beautifully maintained center called Entrena, where the grass is vibrantly green and extremely short, tropical fruit trees abound, and the majority of our days are passed. A typical training day consists of four hours of Spanish class in the morning, an hour lunch break, and then Peace Corps related sessions in the afternoon. These sessions touch on topics such as health, development philosophy, Honduran history, Honduran culture, safety and security, as well as cross cultural issues. A lot of coffee is consumed at Entrena, usually from the hours of one to three.

A common saying here in Santo Domingo is that there are only two seasons: verano y infierno (summer and hell). As you might have guessed, right now we are in hell, and you don’t have to be here for long to realize that. In reality, the temperature is not much higher than that of the south right now. The average high is around 96, and the humidity usually hovers around 80%-90%. There is the occasional rain shower that usually does a nice job of cooling things down, but most of the time it does more harm than good as the city turns into one big steam room after a nice soaking. Back in the states, even though it’s hot, we don’t feel it as much since we live in nice air conditioned houses, drive in our air conditioned cars to nice air conditioned offices or stores, and sleep under blankets at night in our cool rooms. Here, the only air conditioning that I have felt was in the museum at the botanical garden. Some of us talked about setting up camp there to escape the heat. I have gotten accustomed to sweating all day, drinking more water than I can possibly fit in my stomach, scrambling for the seats in front of the fans at Entrena, trying to stay completely still whenever sitting/laying down, taking three bucket baths a day, and sleeping without a blanket and with the fan as close to my mosquito net as possible so I don’t drench my pillow in sweat every night. But don’t let what might sound like complaining fool you. I love the heat, and actually I am going to do all that I can to be in a hot climate in Honduras.

For the most part, I am really enjoying my unexpected stay here in the DR. Unlike my stay in Mexico, I was lucky with my host family placement. I’m living with an older Dominican couple and their 25 year old daughter. Our downstairs is where my host mom’s other daughter lives, along with her husband and two sons, ages 3 and 2, and another trainee. The rest of the extended family lives on the block and is extremely friendly. We usually pass every night sitting in our narrow street, talking and watching people go by. The whole family is extremely sweet and everyone has a good heart. I’ve been fed a healthy diet of mangú*, plátanos fritos, spaghetti with cheeze-wiz sauce, salami, eggs, chicken, tostones, and potatoes. The other trainee and I usually make a big deal out of a dinner with vegetables, in the hopes that we will see more of them. Our efforts have been fruitless (or vegetableless) as of yet, and I doubt this will change before we leave on the 22nd.

As I said before, a large portion of our days are spent at Entrena. Spanish class has been decent so far, but because I placed into the advanced group we have had very little instruction and have only been conversing in class. The people in my group are what make the class worth it, and our language class has become close during our time here.

Apart from my language group, I feel that I have already made friendships that are going to last for a while. It has been pretty difficult to get to know everyone, and over the past couple of days I have made a conscious effort to talk to people that I haven’t gotten to know that well. We have definitely formed smaller groups within the larger one, which is to be expected with this many people. Usually these groups are made up of people living in the same barrios. Most of the people in H15* are extremely amicable, easygoing, intelligent, exciting and interesting people. There are very few that I feel like I can’t start up a good conversation with without much trouble.

As of early this week, we are finally certain about our future in Honduras. The plans that were set for our departure on the 22nd have held up, and that looks to be the date in which we will finally enter Honduras, si dios quiere*. After our entry, we will start field based training on the 26th and finally become officially volunteers on September 26th. The state department has signed off on this so we are ready to go, rain or shine.

Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently over the next couple of weeks. I don’t know what FBT living conditions will be like, but it seems that we will have some sort of internet access. I have yet to find a computer at an internet café around here that will run Skype. Hopefully I will be able to figure out something soon. Todo está bien por aquí en la República Dominica, así que no se preocupen por mi. Hasta la próxima.

P.S. - I can’t believe I wrote this whole post and forgot to mention dominoes. Everyone here plays dominoes at all hours, and a good portion of every night is spent playing. On the way home from Entrena, a 15 minute walk, you can count more than 20 games of dominoes being played.

*In Spanish, compartir literally means to share. Its usage here in the DR is much more important than sharing something with someone. It is more about sharing yourself than your possessions. Spending time with others without any particular purpose and playing dominoes is a good way to compartir. .
*Mangú is a typical Dominican dish that is made up of boiled-mashed plátanos. .
*H15 is Honduras 15, the name of our training group.
*Si dios quiere, if God wants, is a common saying here when commenting on events that will happen in the future.