I cradled the moonlight from my balcony…heavy beats of reggatone peeling out with the passing tigueres in their rides. A candlelit vendedor serving up tostones. Three Doñas cooking up some juicy chisme gossip with knee-high niños nipping at their madre’s nerves…

Yo…just back from a successful venture “out on the town” with my amiga voluntaria, Jennifer. A meet-up with the Peace Corps trainees at the Car Wash (an open-air discoteca, and yes, a functioning car wash)…returned safely to the shelter of the casa and the Doña’s eye. Sweaty and smiling.


So goes una noche en la Dominicana.


You'll have to forgive me for the lapse in communication. With frequent power outages and a busy training schedule…along with hours of nonstop attention from mi hermana menor…it has proven muy difícil to capture a moment to put thoughts to Word (as is the condition of our post-paper existence)…

For the moment, I am living with a wonderful host family in a little barrio in Pantoja, a northwestern section of Santo Domingo. And there is never a dull moment—two volunteers, two Doñas and two hermanas. Muchas Mujeres Madness.

It’s a short walk to La Sirena, the local supermarket. And its about a 10 minute trip on a carro público to the Peace Corps training center where I am getting a full-course meal in Española dominicana, nonverbal Española dominicana, la cultura dominicana…and of course, the challenges and responsibilities I will shoulder as an Americana—an ambassador of the US.


So ¿cómo te fue?, you might ask. How goes you?

Eating a lot of boiled guinneo, yucca, and platano…a lot of fried huevos con cebolla. A lot of cheese-mayo-ketchup paninis. And when I’m lucky, thick hot chocolate laced with canela. Muy rica!

…Watching a lot of very sexy soaps a.k.a. telenovelas.

…Working on my bachata and the merengue.

Trying to piece together Dominicana.

Some of the volunteers in my barrio and I took off for the botanical garden today. Tomorrow the trainees get a professional tour of the Zona Colonial down by Independence Square (Check out some of these pics on panoramia).

This Thursday, I'm off to the campo to visit an Agua volunteer serving in a little pueblo outside Santiago. A sneak preview of the next two years...

Love you all! Be in touch.