Struggles and Successes of Peace Corps Training

This past week my to-be swear in group has lost three people. Before starting my Peace Corps service I did not even know really what early termination (ET) was and I had definitely never and still do not imagine this for myself, but definitely understand and support those who feel like ETing is what is appropriate for them. As time goes on with training and as trainees learn more about what their service will look like and experience more of Dominican culture, some trainees choose to terminate their service and return home. This may be because they do not feel like the service is what they invisioned, they may find that at this time in their lives they are not ready to dedicate two years to service, or there may be a great variety of personal reasons. Whatever the reason, nearly 35% of Peace Corps volunteers or trainees ET before the completion of their service around the world. Sadly, we have now lost four trainees and I am going to miss them dearly. Yet overall, I am so proud of these wonderful women who had the strength to go back to the U.S. because they knew that was the right thing for them at this time in their lives.

Even though there are certain aspects of my experience in the DR that bother me at times, I can never see myself ETing and am very excited about starting my service after training! One example of an annoyance in the DR are the tigueres for example. A tigueres, as my lovely friend Olive puts it, is a "gangsta type of man". These are often the guys that will be hanging around the street corners in packs eyeing down girls/women and drinking a beer, often yelling cat-calls after the passing ladies. Guys yelling after me things like "Hey mami, I love you. You sexy" is not exactly what I want to hear while I'm running late, sweating like crazy, speed walking to my training at 7:30 in the morning. Another problem some times is the lack of vegetables in my diet. The Dominican diet is full of grease and salt -to the EXTREME. I am excited during my service to hopefully have a garden and be able to supplement my diet with vegetables that I have grown myself. Lastly, another small annoyance is the extreme heat all of the time with never air conditioning. I am definitely missing the cool falls back in the states (I even heard there were flurries already this year in Minnesota which makes me miss skiing and the magical winters.). Despite my the fact that I am not acustomed to this heat, it is absolutely unbelievable beautiful here! The palm trees, the amazing plethora of plants and flowers, the beautiful scenery, the sensation of a super refreshing cooling bucket bath in the morning, and the beautiful sun giving me all the vitamin D I need for months definitly is making up for my missing the magical winters and falls back home.

Despite the problems that I try to find the positives in during my days in the DR, I have found so many successess. For example, since I have been in my campo I have been teaching English classes to the neighbor girls. These young girls are so incredible it is giving me chills thinking about it. Unlike the vast majority of children in the US these kids really want to learn. These girls actually seeked me out when I first arrived in this campo and since then our class has grown to about 8 students. The girls constantly ask me when we can have English class and are so flexible. If I have to change the time, they run around and warn the whole class for me, they bring their own pencils, and bring their own paper. We probably have class only twice or three times a week and most of the time the class is in the dark because the power goes out a lot, it gets dark by 7, and I have my Spanish and technical classes until 5 nearly every day. To conteract this problem usually I put my head lamp in my empty nalgene bottle and tie the nalgene to a fence, its acts as a lantern and actaully works pretty well to light the class enough so that the kids can see what they are writing and I'm writing. So far I have tried to teach them numbers, colors, animals, and basic phrases. One difficulty with teaching English is that many of the words do not sound at all how they are spelled and I have not yet figured out how to facility them saying the words with the correct pronunciation especially when some sounds in English and never heard in Spanish. Overall the students are super sweet, excited to learn, and so smart. If I'm ever having a down day the class definitely lifts my spirits!

Another great positive was my new title as the "tiguere wisperer". This past week I had another session of Hogares Saludables and of Escojo Mi Vida health initiatives. During my Hogares Saludables we talked about mental health some and I was assigned the dynamicas as well as discussing and leading a meditation session. Though I wish I practiced meditation more I do try and love my experience with meditation and so this topic really interested me. There is never alone time in this country. People are constantly coming in and out of houses whether invited or not invited and houses are usually extremely open in general. For example, before I arrived the door to the bedroom that I am staying in now in my families house did not have a door and the bathroom did not have a door. Often many children sleep in the same bed and even if you do have your own room many houses do not have walls that go up to the roof or do not have a ceiling so you can hear every single creak or ruffle in the house (with the exception of when it rains musically on the tin roof). Also there are contantly noises (either animals screaming, children crying, motos racing by, or music blasting from colmodos or houses). I felt like some of these women might benefit from meditation, which can not only improve your mental health, but also your physical health such as high blood pressure. As I was leading this meditation session, motos were going by and donkeys were screaming from up the hill, but the women were very receptive, all closed their eyes and appeared to be practicing appropriate breathing while meditating. I was very excited about the activity, but then was shot over the moon when I realized a handful of tigueres who had snuck into the back of the talk to loiter and listen had also closed their eyes and were attempting to meditate- one of the proudest of myself I had been since I got here.

Tomorow I am staring a new week. Tomorrow I have my second interview with my bosses and I will find out the potential site they are thinking about placing me for the next two years. I am extremely excited to find out, but also extremely nervous. I am trying not to have any expectations, but it is hard not to have any expections about something you have been contemplating and waiting for for 26 months, since I applied to the Peace Corps.

I'll try to update next weekend as well, which will be the last week in my CBT site. Until then.