El agua es una bendición...

In the time since I´ve last cherchar-ed with you, I´ve met a bunch of older volunteers, officially become a Peace Corps volunteer, and crossed the country (lugging EVERYTHING). Now, I am officially am where I will be, si Dios quiere, for the next two years y pico. Whepa!!

1. What was quite possibily the most joyous-weird day ever...

So, after much ado (I will save telling you of the days of training, etc.), we were officially sworn in to the United States Peace Corps. Note: that oath included a promised to "defend the Constitution of the United States" and a "so, help me God." We started the day by receiving warm hugs from everyone. A nice gesture, since it would be the last official training session. (And, of course, I would be the one to show up late.... ). Next, we took a trip to Carrefour. Carrefour? Think Walmart. We get there in a public guagua, squeezed next to a doña who was explaining how she received a wrong bill for thousands of pesos and it was sent to her address; we walk in to a store with every imaginable commericial item available. After two months in the country, let´s just say the experience was a little jarrring. I couldn´t even muster the power to buy anything. I just stood in the middle of an aisle, trying to calculate whether all the shirts were really a good deal in pesos....

Then, came the juramento. With the Consulate on hand, we had an opportunity to celebrate entering into this new stage and thank our Dominican host families as well. As an aguacero, a downpour, opened up arouund us and caused everyone to get a little closer, a couple people gave speeches (a certain someone was honored to be among them....don´t worry, the text is coming...). Then, we went and ate cake. As someone mentioned at the afterparty, finally, after more than a year of applications, training, etc, we are PCVs!!

2. Another town, another family...

Or at least, so it seemed, at first. After the juramento came the conference. For me, it was an amazing opportunity to meet other like-minded persons. Folks in my same area of the country. And, folks doing similar work. Like Charlene, I wanted to say: How cool!! What may be the best may not come through in this format: the drive, determination, openness, and general spirit of everyone. Time spent with them learning and festejando is only a foreshadowing of the future...

Now comes the real deal, in the site, with the family, learning with the youth group. But, como dicen aqui, a continuacion....Stay tuned!