This week our first shipping container for export will go out to Japan! After a lot of issues in preparation and logistics we are finally there. Of course, after this one goes out we get to go through it all over again for the second container, but at least with a better understanding of the process. I am in the capital now so I will hopefully be able to check up on how everything goes in the final stages. Yesterday I had a sector meeting with all of the other CED (Community Economic Development) volunteers and our director about improving the project plan for future trainees. I'm not sure it was very productive, especially since we did the same activity at our 1 year training event, but it was nice to see everyone at least.

In May CODOCAFE put on the second annual DR Quality Coffee Competition. Again the Association and Juncalito area cleaned up in prizes. The Association won 4th, one of our associates (also VP of the association) won two first prizes and two other farmers from the area won prizes, 2nd and 5th respectively. Out of 11 prizes awarded, 5 were out of the Juncalito region.

I am working with the Technology Center on various projects. At the center, I will be leading a youth group based on health issues including, HIV/AIDS, sex ed, self esteem and others and also starting an income generation women's group which will include giving talks on savings and money management as well as creating and marketing a small product (such as floor cleaner or bleach). In addition to these projects with the center, we are working on a grant request for creating scholarships for basic computer classes for children as well as educative weekend camps covering a variety of topics. The grant gets sent through Peace Corps and funded by donors in the states, including friends and family of the volunteer, so you may be receiving letters from me regarding this. For less then $20 a child can take a basic computer course. We are working out the details of the project to decide how many scholarships we are going to include based on the needs of the smaller communities surrounding Juncalito as well as Juncalito itself. I'm excited about this project because a lot of kids really want to learn but come from very poor families and can't afford the classes. They also know that it's incredibly important for them to learn about technology for their futures.

Last weekend one of my best friends in my site got married. It was a nice, small wedding and I had a great time although I will miss her in Juncalito because she moved to Santiago with her husband, who lives there. I will post pictures soon.

In May Susan and Brandon came down to Punta Cana and I met up with them at the resort for a few days. It was beautiful, relaxing and went by way too fast. It was a lot of fun despite the long trip to get there. I left my site at 7 am and didn't get there until around 9. I spent about 2 hours of that in Santo Domingo waiting for a bus but the rest was all travel time although it was more than worth the trip and I hope they come back again. Hint hint!

Posted by katie at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Within the past month I’ve been to Santo Domingo more times than I care to say. I’ve made a personal record of going three times within one week. There is only one thing that could possibly cause me to venture into the heat, humidity and unpleasant bustle of the capital so many times in such a short period of time- that’s right, a medical problem. The first trip was actually for the previously mentioned Coffee Committee meeting, which went well. We have 2 new members from the Agroforestry group, established key areas for the committee and held elections. I’m the new president, although it’s really just a title. A few short days after I headed back to m site, my ear became blocked up and started to hurt, which caused me to ask people more times than normal to repeat themselves. A quick call to the medical office resulted in the decision to go back on Monday. By Thursday there had been no improvement so I called again and went back in on Friday (visit number 3), this time to see a specialist. Here’s where the fun starts. You can’t make an appointment with the PC recommended EENT but have to go to the office in the open time window. The doctor was supposed to arrive at 5:30, which turned out to be closer to 7. I was the second to last person to be attended to, despite having arrived before many other patients. No problem. I just wanted to hear out of my ear. Finally, I went in. After looking at the ear, the doctor retrieved a spray bottle and squirted liquid at my ear. When I asked him what he was doing (it must have just slipped his mind to inform me), he replied that it was anesthesia. Anesthesia?! For what, I’d like to know. Before I had time to inquire, the doc came back and started shoving something, painfully, in my ear. Explanation? No. I responded with some ‘Ows’ and ‘That hurts;’ all I got was ‘Calm down.’ But really, how calm was I supposed to be with someone forcefully shoving an unidentified something into an already painful ear? Once Dr. Pain was satisfied with his work, he told me that it (whatever it is) was supposed to open my ear and that it should come out on its own by Monday, but if it doesn’t, I can just get someone from my campo to take it out with tweezers. (Uh…excuse me?) By the time I left it was dark and almost 9pm. I tried calling several taxi companies but no answer. Erica and a friend walked to come get me. I called a PC doctor the next morning because I was uncomfortable having something shoved down my ear without a satisfactory explanation. She took it out and it had actually helped a lot, however, I certainly hope to never have to go to a DR doctor again. My fourth capital visit within the month was to get the ear checked one last tie last eek. All better, but I just got an email to schedule my dentist appointment in November- something to look forward to.

Despite that unforgettable experience, it has been a good month. A former volunteer left me a camping oven- a collapsible square oven that I can use on top of my stove. I’ve already made good use of it, including several birthday cakes, one of which a group of us took to a friends’ house at night when she was asleep to serenade her (don’t worry, it was with a CD; I didn’t sing).

I wanted to do something fun with my English class so I assigned them skits with different topics to do in English. They went all out and used costumes and props. One groups’ skit was in a doctor’s office with a crazy patient. They didn’t quite, as I’d hoped, looked up medical vocabulary, however, they worked very hard perfecting the crazy lady and learned important phrases such as ‘Shut up!’ and ‘Go to hell!’ She also tried to light a cigarette during the skit but the fan was on strong and 4 matches blew out before she was able to do so. I haven’t laughed so hard since I’ve been here as I did during that class.

With the Association we are getting ready for the annual assembly with all of our associates before the new harvest begins. I want to start working on a grant to get more infrastructure for the association but that will have to be after the assembly.

Maura, Matt, Andy and Justin are coming to visit for a week. They will get here this weekend. I can’t wait! I have now been in country for over a year. The time is flying.

Posted by katie at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last week the East Lake Community Church HS youth group was in the DR for a missions trip in Jarabacoa and a campo outside Jarabacoa called Boma. Getting to spend the whole week with them was so refreshing, not only because I got to speak English and be with awesome people, but also because I have not been communicating with God lately and being around youth enthusiastic about serving the Lord was truly a breath of fresh air for me and my faith.

I had a hard time getting in touch with them to meet up due to some cell phone problems but I thought I would do the Peace Corps thing and wing it by jumping on a moto and hoping to find them. How many groups of Americans can possibly be in a small campo at one time? Fortunately it worked out fine and I ran into them on Monday while they were bringing in supplies for the week to the campo. During the week the group worked on various projects including digging a latrine, clearing away and digging out the foundation of a house, clearing rocks from a pathway to make it passable when it rains, hauling sand from the river to mix cement, putting on tin roofs and conducting 2 childrens' services. The kids worked really hard and did an awesome job. Some of them were the youth I was with when I worked with the junior high group and they have grown in every possible way- physically, emotionally and spiritually- and it was so amazing to see them getting their hands dirty and also forming relationships cross-culturally when they don't speak the language. There were also several youth that I didn't know or not very well before and I really enjoyed getting to know them and see how God is working in their lives. Lexi brought me some goodies from Cory (thanks!) and the new Harry Potter book (gracias a Ashley and Bill), which I have already finished. So nice of them, and Lexi for bringing it all! The youth also gave me a bunch of their snacks that they didn't eat on the trip so, all in all, I left with considerably more than what I came with. I was definitely tired when I got home because we all got up at 4 am for them to get to the airport with enough time on Saturday but it was a great trip and I hope they come back while I am here for another trip.

Saturday and Sunday after they left I wound down a bit and prepared my talk to the Agroforestry and Environmental volunteers on Monday, which went ok but they were mostly tired from having a good time the night before. I did get to see a pine tree nursery run by Plan Sierra and a beautiful botanical garden in Janico, as well as hang out with one of my favorite Spanish teachers from training. This week has just been busy catching up at the office and doing a lot of work- yesterday we had a visit from CODOCAFE and the French Development Agency, which funds part of PROCA'2, the loan side of CODOCAFE. I talked with the 2 guys from the Development Agency and it was interesting to hear about some of the other countries they have worked in, including Morocco, Chad, Lebanon and others.

Right now I am in the technology center while my adult English class takes their exam. Several of the class members did not show up so I will have to decide what to do about that. I'm not overly suprised, although somewhat disappointed.

Next in the office is to really get into Cafelio and get the loans all computerized. I know I have talked about that for a while but one computer isn't a lot, especially when there is always something going on that needs to be done. Little by little we are moving forward and I am pleased with how far we have come even though there is always more to do. I am fortunate in that I have people that want to learn and work because just that can be a challenge here sometimes.

Posted by katie at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those of you who have commented on my lack of posting during February, no, I have not fallen off the face of the planet; I have just been working a lot and slow on posting. Right now at work we have to do a report for the organization that works with coffee growers' association and gives loans...it is essentially an audit from 2004 until now, so, we have been keeping quite busy in the office. I can't say I enjoy working on it, but it is helpful and necessary for the organization so it is a good step for us, especially since we won't get our next loan until the report is done.

We (the Association) had visitors from Mitsubishi in Japan come who are interested in buying coffee. I wasn't aware that Mitsubishi did more than cars, but they are apparently in a lot of different industries, including the importation of gourmet coffee. We took them to a coffee farm and to our beneficiado, where we process the coffee. We haven't heard anything yet because they had to go discuss plans with the home office, but hopefully something will come out of it! If nothing else, it's good exposure for our region. In April there is the first national competition of quality coffee in the DR; CODOCAFE (an organization that helps coffee growers in the DR) organized it and is bringing in professional coffee tasters from various parts of the world and the winners of the competition will get special prices at which to sell their coffee to prearranged buyers, not to mention great publicity. Each region can enter 5 individual growers and 1 group mix, but they have to have a certain production capacity to enter so that they can sell enough if they win. It's an excellent opportunity so I hope our region does well.

February 8-10 there was a series of events for the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps in the DR. There were various presentations on what's going on in the DR now, PC projects, etc. and they invite former PCVs to come. There was also another, smaller artesan fair and one day all the current volunteers went to the National Palace to meet the vice president and have a toast- very political but at least we got to go there. It was a lot of fun (and a bit of work too) but one of the best parts was that I got to stay at Embassy housing. When there are big PC events, PC asks if any of the embassy employees if they will house volunteers because the cheap places where we normally stay in the capital fill up and we don't have the money to rent normal hotel rooms. The woman that housed Jessica, Morgen and I, Sarah, is very nice and the apartment is amazing. I had my first hot shower in this country and that alone made my trip to the capital 150% better than the last one. I'm in the capital now as well, trying to get some work done on my diagnostic and running various errands, so Christina and I are staying with her again. Ahh.

I'm trying to find a house to move into in Juncalito, which is proving problematic. The first problem is that there haven't been any available houses, and then when one becomes available either a) it gets snatched up really quickly or b) I don't know who I have to talk to about it and I go on a wild goose chase to find the right person. So, right now it 'appears' I have 3 options- 2 houses which aren't completed yet (one is being remodeled, and the other is a basement apartment of a brand new house- that's the one I really want but the people in charge live in NY so I'm waiting to hear from someone who is supposed to talk to them...read: not holding my breath) and one that I just found out about on Wed. which will be available in a few weeks, but I haven't seen it yet. I like the family that I am with, but I'm definitely ready to be on my own, cook for myself, and come home whenever I want without having to call if it will be late.

I've started to go on walks through the mountains and it is very calming and beautiful (not to mention good exercise). I'll start bringing my camera soon so I can take some pictures of Juncalito and post them so you can see where I live. Unfortunately there hasn't been as much dancing there as in Jarabacoa, but there was a party on Valentine's Day and I'm meeting a friend in Santiago to go dancing tomorrow before heading back up to Juncalito on Sunday. I visited my host family from Santo Domingo for lunch yesterday and then last night Christina, my host sisters' friends and I went to a karaoke place. Christina and I sang "I Will Survive," and, I know this is shocking- they didn't ask for an encore.

My parents are coming to visit in April so I'm excited for that- to see them and also to get to travel around a bit since I haven't been able to do that very much.

Cultural note of the day:
Dominicans. Love. Ballads. It's great going to karaoke and having these big men get up and sing a romantic ballad with a deep, serious, emotional voice- something very few American men would do. They get so into it- it's great. There's also no embarrassment about dancing. In the States, fewer people dance and most people stand around awkwardly, trying to look cool; here, everyone dances. I love it.

Posted by katie at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Merry Christmas a little late! Christmas was ok here, relatively uneventful. Christmas Eve (here called La Noche Buena) they have a big dinner, which wasnt that much different than normal but it was good. Then we went to Mass at 11pm. On Christmas Day, people pretty much just visit with family and friends and eat leftovers from the night before. They didnt exchange gifts, I think partially because people dont have much money and buying different foods for Christmas is extra cost enough. I got my family small gifts, played some dominoes and hung out. That was pretty much my Christmas. I want to go home next year. It was really strange not being with my family. I dont care about presents, but I definitely missed the food.

Since I ended up staying in Santo Domingo for so long, I went to the Shakira concert the Tuesday night before I left with some friends that were already going because Joy had extra tickets. No folks, her hips dont lie. It was a very entertaining and fun concert and I had a great time after that crazy week.

Im going to Jarabacoa for New Years on Friday until the 2nd. Im definitely looking forward to it as an actual break and several other friends are going to come also. Today I had a meeting with Francis about what Im going to be working on while Im here such as looking for more outlets to sell the coffee and possible exporting. Thats what they want, and Ill work on that, but I also made it a point to explain that the Association needs to work on a lot of general office practices as well. One of the nice things about my job is that I get to do what I want, on my own schedule. Its also one of the difficult things. Im going to start setting deadlines and creating more goals (Ive done some, but not a lot) and I need to get cracking on my community diagnostic after New Years. I cant say Im looking forward to doing 100 awkward interviews but Im sure the information will be helpful.

Posted by katie at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I got back to Santo Domingo yesterday and it's HOT. It's not as hot as when we left, but after living in the mountains for 5 weeks where it actually gets cool enough to put a sweatshirt on at night, it's hot. Now my fear is getting sent to one of the hottest campos in the South for my site. I'll find out Monday. All the other groups besides mine already know where they are going but we have the great pleasure of being the last to find out. Lucky us. Soon enough though. The crazy part is that we find out Monday and then leave on Tuesday to go on a site visit until the following Sunday. Not much time in between for mental preparation.

I already miss Jarabacoa. I really enjoyed my time there and even though it was short, I felt like a part of the community. I would definitely prefer to live in the mountains and visit the beach...crazy coming from someone living in the Caribbean now I suppose. I'm going to try and put pictures up soon, but it's difficult because they take a long time to load, I have a lot, and the computers are slow, but I'm trying.

We're having a party tonight at my house with anyone that can come so I'm looking forward to reuniting with some of the people in the other groups and hearing how their training was.

The wedding wasn't all that different from a U.S. wedding- it was hot and I got burned a little bit and the preacher talked a lot and added on to some of the vows, but otherwise it was similar. It was nice to have gotten the opportunity to go. We had 3 nights in a row of going away parties from Tuesday through Thursday. Wed. night they killed a rabbit for us...it was actually really good. Thursday night they had a Perico Ripiao party- Perico Ripiao means typical merengue with a drum, accordian and guido (metal instrument). It was really fun.

Posted by katie at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wow, there's so much happening that I don't know where to begin. I'll start with some sad news- a friend of mine decided to leave the country. I'm bummed about it because I was just getting to know him and I think he would have been a great volunteer, but I know he'll do great things wherever he is.

I went on a site visit this past weekend to see another volunteer, Erica in Samana. It was great to have the opportunity to sit down and talk to her, ask her all the millions of questions that I had, and really see how a volunteer lives. We had fun too- we met up with some other volunteers and trainees and went to the beach on Saturday and it was beautiful. I, in my usual fashion, got quite sunburnt despite my liberal application of SPF 30. I soaked up the beach opportunity, because I probably won't have one for quite some time. We went out dancing on Saturday night so I got in some merengue finally, and bachata.

Some notes on public transportation...it's a mess. The bus system is terrible and crowded, but cheap. The other popular form of transportation is public cars, which really means shoving 7 people into a car. I'm not talking an SUV or a roomy sedan either, a little compact car with 4 people in back and 3 in front. Not comfortable in the least. Also, motoconchos (motorcycle taxis) are everywhere and necessary to use in many areas outside major cities. Don't worry...I have my PC issued helmet. You can actually get administratively separated for not wearing it.

So, the DR is considered one of the best countries to be a volunteer in but has the highest harassment rate. However, it's striking to realize that so many people here don't have access to water in their homes. There is one group of volunteers that goes to sites and builds aqueducts. Even the houses that have water don't have it all the time because the public services are messed up here. Lights are usually out for several hours each day. Many people don't pay for electricity, driving up the cost for those that do. So yes, I often don't have water or lights. How does one shower, you may ask, if there is no water? Let me tell you about the "bucket bath." (Isn't the Peace Corps glamorous?) It's self-explanatory, but there is a bucket sitting by the shower and if there's no water, that's how you bathe. Happens frequently and for many people, they have to always do that.

Today in training we had a self defense class and a dealing with harassment/machismo class (in addition to Spanish, of course). A guy from the World Bank came and talked to us Monday. Next week we start our CBT (community based training).

I went to a church service a few weeks ago and didn't have time to post on it. It was 3 hours long- singing, dancing and lots of noise. It was beautiful and a fascinating cultural observation, but I won't be going back. It was a bit much for me and I'm not exactly the 'go crazy dancing while in church' type, which led a man to take the microphone and tell me to not be afraid of the Holy Spirit. Yeah.

Posted by katie at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

OK, I will get to the public transportation part but I have to cover something else first. I moved families yesterday. It was not a great situation at my other one- highlights being that I was locked out of the house 3 times and never offered a key despite not so subtle hinting, the parents were never at the house so I spent most of the time with my 14 year old sister who is not disciplined and made comments about me in Spanish to her friends while I was there because she thought I didn't understand, and because the brother and his girlfriend were making out and my friend came over and wasn't sure it was my house but they completely ignored her and me and continued on. So I talked with the family coordinator- I was going to just stay and deal with it because, in reality, I'm only here for 2 more weeks now, and then 2 more weeks after my CBT (Community Based Training) but they really wanted me to move so I did. I went out w/my new sister and her friends last night and it was really fun- we went to a karaoke place that also played some merengue. Yes, I sand and yes, it was fun and embarrassing. It was neat b/c they have random instruments scattered around the room and people will just pick them up and play them with the beat- drums, cow bells and this Dominican instrument that I can't remember the name of. It's like a cheese grater sort of and they rub something against it to make music. I'll meet the mom shortly- she was out of town for a funeral yesterday and didn't get home until today.

Tomorrow (really, really early) I go to Samana to visit the another volunteer until Sunday. I'm really excited to hear about what she's doing, get a break from regular training and see another part of the country. What's going on with you guys? Send me some emails!

Posted by katie at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I had a request to address some topics. If anyone else has similar requests, ask and I'll post about it. I'll answer the questions and share some more about what's up. Here are the questions: I'm interested in what you like most about the country, people, etc. What you like least. What's surprised you the most. What do you miss the most (and family and friends isn't a choice... I'm talking about creature comfort besides air conditioning) those sort of things.

What I like most: everyone is really nice here- they are extremely welcoming and willing to share whatever they have, even if they have very little. Yesterday, no one was at my house when I got home and I don't have a key, but my neighbors, who I hadn't met yet, invited me to come over and have some coffee with them. It's a woman and her mother (who has to be at least 90) and their house is owned by one of the woman's sons I believe. The majority of the income generated in the DR is from tourism and remittances (money that people send from other countries back to their families here). It's 2-3 billion/year for remittances I think, but I'm not quite sure. If you are from the US, everyone thinks you're from New York (sounds like Nueba Yol) and everyone either has family or knows someone from the DR in New York- there is a highly concentrated population of Dominicans there. I met a woman who's coworker is related to A Rod (too bad it's not Papi or Manny...why AROD????).

What I like least...probably that I never feel totally clean except when I'm in the shower. It's not as though it's just me and I'm dirty (I'm sure there will be some comments about that one...haha) but still, showering twice a day at least and still not feeling clean takes some adjusting. Also, there is trash everywhere. People keep their houses really clean but will throw their trash all over the street. Most don't know that it can have a bad effect on the environment (not including that it looks bad!).

I don't really know what surprised me the most. I haven't had any big surprises because I lived in Latin America before and at least had a decent idea of what to expect. The DR isn't at Costa Rica's level, but I wasn't expecting that either. I think the biggest adjustment I'm making is realizing what I'm actually doing here. That I'm going to pretty much be going around my community, when I finish training, and it's up to me to initiate everything unless I end up working on a project already established. I guess another interesting note in the 'surprise' area is that they eat most parts of the animal here so as not to waste any. Someone said they had fried cow intestines from a street vendor with their family the other day. Mmmmm. (No, I haven't had any and I'm planning on staying away from that one.)

Fine, family and friends would be what I miss most, but I'm going to have to say air conditioning. Consider the humidity in South Carolina when you walk outside and feel sticky...only all the time, without the releif of walking into an air conditioned building. I know later I'll be missing the electricity. Electricity goes out all the time in the DR, sometimes for more than 6 hours a day (at different times). My family here has a backup generator, but all houses don't. Also, some houses don't always have running water. They keep a bucket by the shower in case it isn't working and have to use that water. It's an odd observation that so many people have cell phones and get really mad when they don't work yet the electricity always goes out and they don't always have running water. The electricity is a really big deal here, especially because it costs a whole lot of money and the payment system isn't right. Some people just don't pay, and the goverment doesn't do anything about it and then other people have to pay excessive amounts. Others rig it somehow so their meters don't read right and they don't have to pay. I don't know about that part in detail, but it's a frequent topic of conversation.

Today we had a cultural class in training- we learned merengue, bachata (another type of music and dance) and how to play dominoes, the dominican way. These are all very popular things here. It was a lot of fun- I really enjoyed the dances but they're pretty simple. I'd done merengue a little bit before- it is the official dance of the DR. Training is divided into several different sections- the first four weeks are CORE training- focused on Spanish, some on development/cross-cultural communication, things about the DR, health and a little in our technical areas. The next 5 weeks are technical training. We still have Spanish classes, but we have more specific sessions on our technical area, mine being Community Economic Development, and we go to another town to focus on our technical area where we can do some practice community diagnostics and other things we'll have to do when we go to our community. My group goes to Jarabacoa- in the mountainous area.

Next week everyone goes to a different volunteer that's already doing their project from Thursday to Sunday to see what they're doing and learn more about their area. I'm going to Samana- it's a peninsula in the North and there are some good beaches up there so I may get to go but it's not a vacation so we'll see. Getting there will be interesting if nothing else. I'll have to post on public transportation later. This is already pretty long.

Posted by katie at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, as you can probably tell from the title of this post, I have already forgotten what air conditioning is...it seems a distant memory of the past. I don't think any of us have stopped sweating since we've been here. It's hot, and humid and we sleep under a mosquito net so that doesn't help when it's hot at night and you're trying to sleep and there's this big net over you. I got sunburnt for the first time today and didn't even feel it because it's just been hot the whole time.

OK well I met my mom the other day. She's really nice but she works in her uncle's restaurant Monday through Saturday until 11 at night so I don't see her a lot- just at breakfast and then Sat/Sunday. My family is nice but it seems that they aren't usually all here at the same time. There are a few other volunteers that live really close to me so we walked around the neighborhood some on Saturday and Sunday. The families don't do a whole lot around here because it's really hot and because it costs money to go everywhere and there was a big economic crisis in 2002/2003 and they have recovered some but not totally, things are a lot more expensive than they were and salaries haven't increased any. It went from 1 dollar to about 16 pesos to 1 dollar to 50 to 55 pesos. Now it's 1 dollar to 33 pesos, more or less. My family speaks only spanish, except for my brother (who lives with the grandma), who speaks a little English. The other volunteers and I are trying to speak in Spanish but we don't all the time. It's hard especially when we are all together because it's a break to speak English, but we definitely can use the practice in Spanish. Our group has people who are beginners and a few who are fluent...and everything in between. I'm in between, but there are 3 levels of Spanish classes (and 3 sublevels with the first 3, if that makes sense)- they are basic, intermediate and advanced and I'm in one of the advanced but not the most advanced. I had my first class in that level today and it went well, there are 4 in each class. We discussed our families and took a test to see our grammar level in writing. Today is one of the girls' birthdays and some of us went out for a little while so that was fun. It's really strange when so many of us go somewhere at once because we really stick out. We aren't in the city, so I haven't seen any other gringos besides us yet.

OK about sending me stuff (because you will, right? :) )- they don't recommend getting big packages- nothing really bigger than a padded envelope, because the taxes through customs can be high. I can receive them, but it's better to only do so if it's something I really need, so it would be better just to send cards/padded envelopes. Great, can't wait to get some next week! Just kidding. I'll write more about training later when we get into it more and I know how it's going to be more than I do now because we just started.

I'm caught somewhere strange in the way I feel right now- I still feel really new here but at the same time, it feels like forever ago that I was even in Miami for staging.

Posted by katie at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My address in the DR is:

Katie Devine, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 1412
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

I may have a different address after training, but I'll always be able to get mail there, so send me lots of letters and money! OK, maybe not money, but definitely the letters. And books too. Thanks in advance. I'll miss you!

Posted by katie at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A few excerpts from the PC website:

"The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. From that inspiration grew an agency of the federal government devoted to world peace and friendship.

Since that time, more than 182,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have been invited by host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation."

For more specific information, check out the PC website under my links. Put simply, the idea is to go developing countries and help out at a grassroots level, aiding the citizens but also empowering them to make positive changes within their countries. Another main goal is to forge relationships between citizens of the U.S. and other countries.

A lot of people have asked me why I chose to join the Peace Corps. The primary reason for my service is that this is what God has called me to do. My life serves no other purpose than to do His will- if you don't know what that means or aren't sure what it means for your life, then ask. I would love nothing more than to share Christ with you.

While that may be the number one reason for going, I won't deny it's something I'm personally excited about. For a long time I've held a passion for travel and learning about other parts of the world. Few things are more fascinating to me than learning about cultural differences and how each country has its own unique place in the world. The Peace Corps, however, is not a free vacation or independent cultural study.

I won't be making more than what I need to live, won't have a car, won't be able to save money and will be living in a developing country in the same conditions as its citizens, who have a much lower living standard than we do in the U.S. Love the rosy picture? That is the less glorified part of the experience- the true beauty is that I am blessed with the opportunity to help other people and hopefully make an impact. I can't wait to see what happens. Please pray for me.

Fast facts:
Where? Dominican Republic
What? Community Economic Advisor
When? Miami: September 5-6, then to the DR
How long? 27 months (2 years of service + 3 months pre-service training)

Posted by katie at 03:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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