A Week into my Adventure!!...27 Months to Go

This will be a short post because I am tired  but it is my first post since I touched down in the Dominican Republic a week ago!! I am really excited to be here. Im also typing from a Spanish keyboard so no judgments please. The training team is pretty awesome, my host family is extremely understanding (of my lack of Spanish skills), and there are a lot of amazing people (that Ive already started to connect with) in my training group... there are 32 of us total.

well since its day 7 here goes the top 7 things I{ve learned so far in my 7 days here

7.) I will probably eat rice chicken (or some unknown meat) and beans (although I need to get used to the beans part) everyday while Im here...and if you know me you know that sounds great to me (Soy Nigeriana)
6.) 6 passengers in a 1992 corolla is the norm...and Im not even ready to discuss the guaguas
5.) when there is a death....the community really comes together to support...(Yes Ive already had to witness this unfortunately) but I appreciate the community bond in the barrios
4.) I have to ride a motoconho...think motorcycle...other wise PC volunteers could not get to 60% of the sites....wow!!
3.) Dominicans come in all shades and sizes. Here I am frequently mistaken for a Dominican woman and called morena linda until I open my mouth and say no entiendo (aye caramba!!)
2.) bucket showers!! I may be a pro already!!
1.) Youth everywhere inspire me and the D.R. is no exeption. Truly humbled to get to meet and live among some amazing youth down here. I cannot wait to become a volunteer!!

ps if you want to send me a letter...and you should I need words of encouragement...updates on your life...and gatorade packets (orange, fruit punch, or lemon lime) childrens books (in english and spanish) and an icebreaker book and some chewy bars cookies and creme. Send anything in a padded envelope...no boxes I cannot afford to pay to pick it up. I hear that if  you write Vaya Con Dios on it, it may not get tampered wth...Ill let you know when I get my uirst package if thats true.




send to Peace Corps
My name, PCT
Av Bolivar 451, Gazcue
Apartado 1412
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Okay I promise a more indepth...thoughtful post sometime soon. good night loves

16 days left...

Well I am busy wrapping up life in the U.S. I've switched my blog over from applicants to D.R., I'm almost done purchasing items for my trip, and my going away party is on Saturday. I didn't get to see a lot of my favorite people, but I'm excited for who I've seen, will see, as well as those who will visit me in the D.R. (smile). Plus you can always send me a handwritten letter, I'll def appreciate those! 

2011 has been a whirlwind journey so far of outstanding accomplishments, bittersweet disappointments, and a beautiful ongoing struggle to discover my truths. In an effort to not become overly emotional about all that I'll leave behind and the adventure that awaits me in the Dominican Republic... I have a bunch of quotes below that frame my thinking and will keep me grounded as I transition. Enjoy. PS I'll post the list of things I'm taking to the D.R. soon

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle, face it, ’tis God’s gift. -M. Babcock

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. -Henry David Thoreau

You must not lost faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. -Gandhi

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work. -Mother Teresa

If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. -Aboriginal activists

  

I may never be cool enough to remember but I still hope the heart inside me touches people and reminds them of Christ.-my sister Connie

I don't pretend to know anything... But I know I love seeing people become their best selves. -Me

"When my world shakes, heaven still stands"-from my AP Ashley

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. -Martin Luther King Jr.

  

If you want to feel proud of yourself, then do good. Take action that will make you proud. Black or white, don't make excuses, don't blame anyone, and if you really want to feel proud, then do something to help someone else. -Oseola McCarty

We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do.
Samuel Smiles 

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. -Nelson Mandela

 

A Virtuous Woman uses her time wisely. She does not spend time dwelling on those things that do not please the Lord. -taken from Angel B.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent. -MLK Jr. 

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible. -Mother Teresa

I dreamt that I could paint you with words, but there were no colors bright enough, black or white enough…they didn’t mean enough — Mos Def

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. -Mother Teresa

All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.
T.E. Lawrence

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.-Nelson Mandela

 
Give yourself fully to the adventure of today. Walk boldly along the path of Life, relying on your ever present Companion. You have every reason to be confident because My Presence accompanies you all the days of your life - and …onward into eternity. Do not give into your fear or worry, those robbers of abundant living. Trust Me enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to anticipate them. Fix your eyes on Me, the Author and Perfecter of your faith, and many difficulties in the road ahead will vanish before you reach them. Whenever you start to feel afraid remember that I am holding your right hand. Nothing can separate you from My Presence.

 
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.-MLK Jr. 

Never underestimate the inspirational power of your own journey. When people see you changing your life, they may be moved to follow your lead.