we´ve been andaring all over the place

I´ve had more Internet access since coming to visit our volunteer (Helen) than I have the whole time I´ve been at Entrena. Plus, I haven´t had any digestive issues since moving away from my dona´s cooking. A girl could get spoiled!

Our visit has been really great on a lot of levels. It´s been really cool and reassuring to see Helen give classes, and even to help lead a game with one class. After 2 weeks of training, it´s wonderful to have a more concrete idea of what my own service will be like--though of course, every site is different, with its own challenges and perks. We´ve also been hanging out with Sarah, the other volunteer in town. She´s a more recent volunteer who just moved out from her last host family, and we got to observe one of her English classes.

It´s been a lot of fun talking to Helen and Sarah. Arianna and I are both already starting to pick up PCDR Spanglish, and it´s nice to have people who understand when you say things like ¨We were andaring,¨ (walking) rather than struggling to communicate with our host families. (I mean, my Spanish is definitely improving, but it´s still hard.)

Ariannna and I have also both been enjoying the slight change in diet here. We´ve eaten tons of fruit (you can buy unbelievably delicious fresh fruit here for very cheap, and yet Dominicans hardly ever eat it. And they will frequently insist on boiling their bananas.) Plus, peanut butter! And grilled cheese sandwiches WITH TOMATOES! (Like I said--spoiled.)

I´m still nervous about getting my placement site and integrating with my community, but I feel more confident and excited about it. Plus, Helen told us that most IT volunteers get sites with pretty frequent running water! I´m also looking forward to starting our community-based training (CBT) next week and getting some more hands-on training.

Oh, and another cool thing Helen has shown us has been all her back issues of the Gringo Grita, the PCDR publication. It´s written and edited by current volunteers, and it´s really funny and inspirational. Reading the highs (and oft-hilarious lows)) of other volunteers was awesome. Hopefully soon I will have my own stories in the vein of ¨So then I grabbed my machete and matared that tarantula!¨

Tomorrow we´re going on a trip to Nagua beach with some high school students, then returning to the capital for one more week of classes at Entrena. I will continue to buscar a way to upload some photos. It might be easier at our CBT site, I´m not sure.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I have running water and Internet, so I definitely am.