Very First Thoughts from Miami

Written on 7.2.09

Hey everyone,


I am still doing great! Loving my life without air conditioning…not! We left for the Miami airport this morning at 7 AM for an 11 AM flight. The Peace Corps assumes four hours ahead of the flight is enough time to get everyone organized. We flew from Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From San Juan, we hopped onto a “Cody, Wyoming” style, propeller plane. I would rather swim between the two islands—it cannot be that far! However, the flight was not as bad as I expected.

We arrived in the DR at around 5 PM. The country directors for the DR were waiting for us as well as a current PCV. They escorted us through customs, visas, etc. before leaving the airport. At this point in the day, I am ready to take a nap. But, we board this bus with a Caribbean bus driver who proceeds to blast amazing Caribbean music over the speakers. I felt like I died and went to Caribbean heaven.

By the way, if you are not already jealous, we will learn to dance typical Dominican dances during our training. This is due to cultural immersion and is NECESSARY! I have no dancing ability, but learning to dance some sexy Latin dances sounds like fun!

The Staging staff (Miami PC staff) informed us that we would be moving in with host families upon arrival in the city. Due to the four different arrival times, we did not move in with host families. I am currently staying at a Christian Retreat house. It has dorm-style rooms with private showers and a fan. Now, it is not only hot but it is humid. Without air conditioning, I have been sweating constantly all evening. I would not care much, but meeting a group of 50 people while sweating like a pig is not very appealing.

We had a small training session after we arrived. They gave us some great basic survival strategies for the first few days. I was told about the typical “welcoming” acts that host families enjoy giving new volunteers. Manicures seem harmless—NOT! If the tools are dirty, you have the potential of contracting HIV/AIDS. Needless to say, I will not be bonding with my family over manicures. The training director also warned us about drinking the water and eating street food. We will receive a detailed safety session on Saturday. The Peace Corps also decided to fly the Honduran trainers into the DR in order to keep our training consistent with Honduras. While learning about Dominican culture, we will be learning how to live in Honduras.

For those of you who are still worried, I want to let you know that the Peace Corps is being very caring and generous to us. As a PCT (PC trainee), we do not worry about any of the logistics of the trip. Usually the logistics are already planned but due to the current events in Honduras, they changed our entire program. The PC has been working around the clock to find us host families, flights from Miami to DR, transportation from the airport, volunteers to meet us at the airport, cooks to feed us our meals, immediate lodging for the first night, etc. You can imagine how hard this would be since the staff only consists of 4 full-time employees and 5 seasonal workers.