Major Life Changes

To summarize:

We finished training in El Seibo and left last Friday for Santo Domingo.  I received the warm welcome I was pretty much expecting from host family #1 (ie. hugs, kisses, exclamations of joy) and had a great weekend, reuniting with friends from other sectors who have been in different training sites for the last month. 

On Monday I spent más o menos the entire day sitting on my couch in Santo Domingo with a revolving group of peace corps friends, basically just happy to be reunited and in each other’s presence.  Full house, between them and the family. “What is this, the Brady Bunch?” Someone asked about my four hermanitos hanging out on the porch, watching us and blabbering in imitation of our excited English.  Yes, and that is why I love them.

Downside of my return:  I had almost forgotten the really truly amazingly deafening heartpumping bodyquaking bedshaking power of the colmado across the street.   As if that weren’t enough, my host brother finally fixed the speakers that he’s been working on since I met him.  Don’t get me wrong, I am very impressed by his ability to fix speakers, it’s a wonderful skill, but these particular speakers are meant for those cars that drive around with their trunks open, blasting music that makes you wince and curl into a quivering ball until the bass stops shaking your body and you can think again.   He doesn’t have a car… just the speakers.  This is not abnormal.  He and his friends like to set them up in their little hangout area directly under my window.   Kewl.  It’s a lot cooler when they are also selling empanadas and give me free samples, but apparently in my absence their little business fue robado and now there is a group of girls selling empanadas across the street, using what I am pretty sure is the same stand my brother had.  Quien sabe.  Where’s the tiguere now?  Letting a bunch of girls steal your empanada stand…

Other downside:  Being hot and sweaty in Santo Domingo is a whole other breed of hot and sweaty than in other places.   Combine an actual temperature increase with dirt, car exhaust and just generally feeling like a disgusting slob.  Unpleasant.

Luckily I will not have to deal with constant noise, sleep deprivation and grime-covered skin in my site!  I am now in a beautiful, tranquilo pueblo surrounded by mountains.  When we had our interviews about site placement, I do remember saying something along the lines of, “As long as it’s green and people like to dance I think I’ll be happy.”  “So…somewhere in the Dominican Republic then?”  They responded.   Clever. 

But here I am, in Tábara Arriba, with a new mommy (Victoria), papa (haven’t figured out his name yet), two sisters (Caroline, 16, and Sami, 19) and a three-year-old neice (Ellen, Sami’s daughter).  And lots of other new friends and family.  I’m hoping that within a week or two most of the town will know my name and I’ll stop hearing rubia/Americana.   This wasn’t an achievable dream in the city, but maybe it will be here, though the town is still a pretty good size.  People haven’t really been able to agree on a population – somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000.  So that’s helpful.  But I really do think there is some kind of divine symmetry to the placement process, and I like my pueblito more and more. 

Everyone is extremely nice and welcoming, it’s really safe, and there are lots of potential project partners to work with.   Most importantly, my family is great.   They call me their daughter/sister, we joke about how we look alike (minus skin color… and probably several other features).   People keep asking about the Americana and Victoria says, “She’s my American daughter, the half sister of Sami and Caroline… you didn’t know about that American novio I had?”  The amazing thing is that some of these people, who have known the family their entire lives, actually stop and think about this, looking me over and considering the possibilities.   Like…“Ok, it could be possible that all this time Victoria had an illegitimate daughter in the United States that we never knew about.”  In a place where everyone knows everyone’s business.   Normal.   Welcome to the Dominican Republic.

Tomorrow I go back to Santo Domingo for a final week in the city.  We have some important business to take care of… including a graduation ceremony and “Peace Corps Prom.”  Yes, really.  In reality, this is just a big party to celebrate the volunteers who are ending their service, and to welcome the new volunteers.  (Limos and prom dresses will not be provided.)

And as of next weekend, I will be permanently moved to my site, and ready to start figuring out what the heck I’m going to do for the next two years.   Wish me luck!