Hello! It’s crazy to believe that I left the US less than 1 week ago! It seems like forever. I am learning so much and everyday is a new adventure. This past week has been full of paperwork and initial orientations, but we are starting to settle down. I feel very comfortable in my host family house and I know my neighborhood well (Los Angeles)! I also finally know everyone’s names and general background (all 50 volunteers). Many of the current PC trainees are in/just graduated from grad school with their MPHs. I’ve been asking about programs and getting great information that will hopefully aid in my own grad school process.

In training this week we have been learning about navigating the public transportation systems and the main routes we need to know in Santo Domingo (Peace Corps Office, US Embassy, Hospital Abreau). I will be going to downtown Santo Domingo for the first time tomorrow. We will be seeing the major sites, including the first catholic church in the New World (gotta love Columbus) and the supposed burial place of Columbus.

Peace Corps has been vaccinating us like crazy! We must get MMR, Meningitis, Hep A&B, Typhoid, the 3 shots of Rabies, Diphtheria, Tetanus along with the weekly Malaria pills in the PC clinic here. All in about 3 weeks. That’s about a shot every 2-3days. Whoppee! Luckily, the nurse gives out lollipops with the shots. I recommend grape.

Besides for health matters, we learn about Dominican cultural expectations/general development daily. This includes everything from non-verbal communications (they have about 20 gestures that all mean distinct things) to machismo to concepts of development. In our morning development session we specifically covered international development players, measurements of development and the UN Millennium Goals. A quote from the UNDP defining development that particularly touched me:
“People are the real wealth of nations”.
Much of the time, developed nations pour financial resources into developing countries with little knowledge about how it is spent or how individual communities are affected. It feels good to know that I will (si Dios quiere) be empowering community leaders to promote sustainable change from within the country to become more self-sufficient! I also learned in this session the true poverty that I will be facing: 42% of the Dominican Republic lives below the poverty level. The number one source of income for the country is remittances, of which they receive 2.7 billion dollars a year, mainly from Dominican families in the US (new york & boston represent) and Spain.

Today was also my first day with the Healthy Communities group! All 10 of us met with our technical trainer who will be teaching us all we need to know in the next 8 weeks. Our technical trainer is great—enthusiastic, knowledgeable and was a PC volunteer in the DR! We then each met with her individually to go over our “skills” and I confessed how excited I was for the organic farming and malnutrition aspect of our training!
As it turns out, maternal health is actually the most pressing topic we will be covering. In public hospitals, hundreds of women wait in waiting rooms and typically get 30 mins in the OR to have their baby, and then they must go home—no hospital stays for the mother or child. Sometimes, if supplies like thread run out (to stitch up the mom), a husband will be sent to the local store to get necessary supplies.

On another note, today I found out about my volunteer project visit! I will be visiting/staying with a current Healthy Communities PC volunteer next weekend for 3 days. I will be going to the town of Cotui in the north. I will be riding a bus, and then on a motorcycle to my site (!!!). This is basically a preview to what I will be doing on my own in a few weeks. Very exciting.

Other Interesting Notes:
-Dominican coffee is WONDERFUL. Not only is it incredibly tasty black, but is the strongest coffee I have ever encountered. I drink un cafecito at morning and then purchase a 16 cent cup during the day at the training center. 16 cents!!
- I am known fondly as “Liz”. It seems that Dominicans cannot easily pronounce Leigh, so to my host mother and my neighbors I am “Leeeez!”
-I somehow underpacked coming to the Peace Corps. Everyone else overpacked. However, the fact that I am constantly sweating means I am using my 6 shirts quite a lot. Unfortunately, laundry is only done once a week, so I can typically be found once a day in the bathroom washing clothing by hand. It’s not easy, let me tell you. I am going to attempt to buy some clothes in downtown Santo Domingo this weekend.
-I have been befriended by my 35 year-old next-door neighbor, “Johnny”. This is good, because I can’t go out at night alone (young, white female), and thus he comes over to the porch and chats. Occasionally we look at the commotion on the street at night from our hill. We occasionally practice his English. Of course, even his comings-over are supervised by my host mother. He cannot come over when I am alone.
-I’ve begun learning the public transportation system, which, like all Latin American countries, is “organized chaos”. Basically, there are two types of transportation: Guaguas (buses) and carros publicos (taxi-like cars). Guaguas hold around 16-25 people (think: a bit bigger than 9 person passenger vans) and carros publicos hold 7 people (although it’s the size of a compact car. 3 sit in front, 4 squish in back). Suffice it to say, these are dirty and sweaty vehicles.
- I have been placed into my spanish class, and I am with 2 other males and our teacher. It is so fun! We chat and learn street slang. I spend much of the day with them in a tiny 3-sided open-air classroom on the beautiful training grounds.
- While employed by Peace Corps, I will be unable to travel to Haiti (due to huge security/safety issues) and Cuba. This is truly unfortunate.
-The amount of food I receive from my Dona is improving. She made me a veggie scramble & some toasted bread for breakfast yesterday. Perfect.
-I bought my first calling card. I only get about 7 minutes for 1$. Rip off. Sorry family and friends, but I won’t be calling you, especially because I will soon be living off $1.30 a day. L