One Year In!

Yes, it´s official.  I have been in country for a full year.  The Dominican Republic will now be the place where I´ve spent the most amount of time other than the US, and the way things are going, it looks like that´s not going to change!  I´ve accomplished a lot in a year, but I feel like there is SO much left to do.  I´m smack dab in the middle of what I hope will be the most meaningful project/resource I leave with Caminante, the study we are currently doing on Commercial Sexual Exploitation.  I´ve visited a lot of places in this country, but still have a lot more to go!  I´ve given guest charlas at a number of teacher conferences and volunteer trainings, and hope to expand my work in this area in the year to come in my own community.  And finally, as many of you already know, I got engaged!  The last, and most recent, is perhaps the most unexpected but by far the most life changing.  When we learned the hefty statistics of people that find their life partners in the Peace Corps (especially in PC Dominican Republic, which has the 2nd highest marriage rate of volunteers in all programs in the world, apparently) I remember thinking, that WON'T be me.  Just goes to show how little you really know about what life has in store for you.  I can be a control freak and plan my entire academic and professional career....but love just doesn't work that way!  For those of you that know me well, you'll be happy to hear that I am a much more relaxed and happier version of my self since meeting my life partner and integrating into this country in general.  Almost half way through my service, I cannot be happier with where I am and more excited about what the next year brings.  I will, of course, try and continue to share my experiences in brief and relatively frequent glimpses via this blog.  Thanks to everyone who's been following!