From trainee to volunteer...

I´ll begin with the mandatory apology for slacking off on my weekly blog.  I feel like I´ve been around the world and back in two weeks, without really having traveled very far.  I returned from Constanza to Santo Domingo for a fun packed weekend during which I cooked out on the corner with my host family (pig´s head and boiled bananas!  Sounds crazy I know, but one of my favorite meals here so far), had my hair done Dominican style by my host mom and sister, and danced bachata and merengue until all hours of the morning.  I finally got a cell phone (for any of you New Yorkers you can call me for REALLY cheap if you find the right card at a bodega).  My number is 809·723·7806.  Then I left for a 5 day visit to my site, Boca Chica. 

To say the least, I am a very lucky young lady.  I have a wonderful host family that I will be living with in Andres de Boca Chica (about a 7 minute ride on the guagua).  My host brother, Donchi, 23, and host sister ChiChi, 25, both work at my assigned organization, Caminante, with me.  I must take a moment to explain that these names are, in reality, apodos or nicknames.  It is extremely common for people in the DR to have an apodo, and they are so frequently used that someone may have known someone his whole life and not even know his real name (this is especially common in the campo).  Donchi´s real name is Luis Antonio and ChiChi´s is Cruz Maria, but I´ve only ever seen their ¨real¨ names in writing. 

Anyway, I spent most of my site visit running around with a group of American visitors, pastors and their wives from Oklahoma whose church supports my organization.  It was exhausting because I did a lot of translating but also a positive experience because I got to see so many of the initiatives that my organization works on.  We visited a Batey  where many of the kids that work on the street in Boca Chica live, a homework space that supplements the very short school day here (this topic will get an entire blog posting at some point), a pizzeria that was started by a former limpiabotas who Caminante worked with for many years, the vocational school that Caminante runs in conjunction with an initiative of the First Lady, and met with a group of young women who have formed a microfinance organization under the guidance of Caminante.  These individual activities do not nearly sum up to the total of the experience that I had last week visiting my site.  I am so excited for the work ahead, to continue compartiring with my new family and friends there, to work with the young and passionate people at Caminante, and to get to know the young men and women for whom the organization was founded-children and adolescents whom despite their most difficult situations have learned to sobrevivir, selling avocados, limes, or a shoeshine--traveling to work, going to school, and often taking care of family members.  I know that these children will envoke in me more emotions and thoughts  than I can explain in words.  I just hope that I, who know nothing of the types of hardship they face, have something they find worthwhile to offer in return. 

In closing, I am now officially a Peace Corps volunteer.  On Wednesday I took the same oath as the President himself, swearing to defend the Constitution at all costs during my service.   It was a moment that I will not forget.  While I´ve never considered myself a particularly patriotic person, at that moment I felt a certain duty to my country that once can only describe as such.  Tomorrow I will travel to my site and begin my official two years of Peace Corps service.  Oh the possibilities....

P.S.  For those of you who might have been wondering after hearing the news, we are still safe from cholera here, but its only a matter of time before it arrives across the boarder.  Today every PC volunteer in the country came in for a special training on cholera, so we are on top of the situation!  I will keep you updated on any developments in that area. 

Translations-
apodos- nicknames
Batey- A Haitian community, traditionally formed around sugarcane production
guagua-Dominican term for a bus
limpiabotas- shoe shiners
sobrevivir- survive