SO. Where to start. Staging was all day yesterday in DC where I met the 32 other volunteers that I will be training and serving with here in the DR. I know everyone assumes that PC volunteers are are super weird and crunchy, and some definitely are, but the group is really solid. There's a weird sense of security being with complete strangers from 20 different states across the US that have chosen to drop everything they're doing to serve.
Staging came and went (but not before spending the $120 they gave us for less than one day) and we were off. About 12 hours later we arrived in Santo Domingo We were greeted by our country director and several volunteers who are currently serving. Said volunteers held welcome signs that said "DON'T LOOK SO SCARED", "I NEED SOME NEW CLOTHES..." and "ARE YOU READY TO POOP IN A HOLE?" I have suddenly been sent back to my days as a new member in a sorority.
Upon arrival to our retreat site i was vaccinated for rabies, administered malaria meds, fitted for a motorcycle helmet (peace corps DR is the only site where volunteers are allowed to ride motorcycles, more on that to come), filled out A LOT of paperwork, banished my personal passport (I now have a PC 'port), credit cards, birth certificate and drivers license to a safety deposit box somewhere in the capitol don't freak out mom I'm getting PC identification), put up my mosquito net for the first time (Sam and I have decided its like the princess beds we never had) annnnnd took my first cold shower.
One thing I can say is that this country is beautiful and there's just no getting around it.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to begin official training at our for real training site AND meet our host families for the duration of the training period.
These posts are probably not ever going to be posted in real time, just FYI. They'll go up as soon as I have wifi.
Peace love and spitting three times after brushing my teeth,
Kaley
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