So I know its been awhile since I posted anything with any real substance. Its been a whirlwind 2 months and I finally have a minute to think through all of my thoughts. Its also hard to try to express all of my thoughts on here so that will probably be my excuse for a short blog.
This training experience really stretched me in a lot of ways and I found myself pulling from a lot of past experiences and lessons for strength to endure some of the challenging parts of this experience, and appreciate and acknowledge my growth in some of the beautiful moments.
The toughest part of training for me were the first 3 weeks because I didn't live that close to other volunteers so sometimes I felt like I was missing out on bonding opportunities. Major thanks to my core and TDP for challenging me to be more open and embrace meeting new people. I found myself walking to other people's porches to share life and just talk. If you know me, you know that I was always on the go in the states doing a million things so it was great to slow down and just enjoy others people's company.
I am a long way from where I need to be with my Spanish but I worked really hard during community based training and I raised my Spanish proficiency by 4 levels. I am motivated and determined to continue studying in my site and my community has really embraced teaching me. Although I wish I had more Spanish, sometimes I'm excited that this can be more of a teaching exchange where I have to learn from them in order to share anything that I know. I hope it gives the members of my community a sense of pride because I have way more to learn from them than I could ever possibly give or share.
I've worked so hard to become a volunteer and now that I know where I will spend the next 2 years of my life, it is slightly overwhelming. I am thankful that Peace Corps gives us the first 3 months to truly understand the climate of our community and come up with a plan to implement throughout the rest of out first year. I am looking forward to drinking a lot of coffee (its a long story about how I became addicted) on my neighbors porches and learning more about how to support the youth in my community in changing their lives and their community for the better.
A little more about my community, it is a very small barrio on the outskirts of a large city. It is extremely poor so it is pretty rural and everyone in my community is extremely nice and welcoming. It doesn't have the city hustle and bustle feel, it is more slow placed which is what I wanted. The kids in my community really want to work with me and learn English so I am excited to see how this goes. y host family is amazing and extremely extended. My host mom and dad have 8 kids and I live with the youngest 2 and one of their grandchildren. but I have another sister and tons of cousins, uncles, and aunts that all live within the same barrio so I have a lot of names to remember and a lot of relationships to form. Since I am an extreme needs volunteer I am partnered with an organization that is a Dominican NGO and one of the best at what they do. They built a center in my community and my task is to bring youth to the community center and lead groups such as Escojo mi Vida (self-esteem/AIDS awareness), Deportes para la Vida (kinesthetic learning about AIDS), youth groups, and whatever else I my community wants based on my 3 month community diagnostic. I think that what my community wants matches the skills that I have so I'm excited to see where the next 2 years takes us.
Also side note to friends, please keep emailing, writing letters, responding to my twitter/facebook/blog posts, calling, and offering to send me things. All of these things show that you are thinking of me and that you care which has meant a lot and will mean even more in the ensuing months. Training was very structured and I was around a lot of Americans. Now I will be in my community on my own, speaking Spanish 24/7 and the first 3 months is supposed to be one of the loneliest/hardest times for Peace Corps Volunteers so please don't forget me for the next 3 months especially. Lots of love and thanks in advance!!
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