Wireless! & some pics.

The first governor of the island.
A museam that was too expensive to go into...I'm poor.
Another old building.
This is the ceiling inside the building of important General tombs.

The Catholic Cathdral had a bunch of side praying areas.
A guard and the eternal flame at a tomb building for famous generals
The main Alter
The eternal flame and the guard, much like Arlington, but inside.
A famous sundial.

Another side alter.
Another
Another
Another
The main Alter at the Cathedral

Hello everyone, I have wireless at the training center! So, during the week, I can get on most mornings (probably 2 or 3). So, Monday, I will put up the pictures from the weekend. We plan on sticking around the central part of the capital for a while, so hopefully I can get some good pictures. For now, here are some pictures of the Catholic Cathedral and the Colonial Park area. Some of them are kind of dark.

Transporte Publico

Well, we had our first public transportation experience yesterday. It is CHAOS down here and really scary. The system makes sense, but it´s very confusing if you don´t know what´s going on. There are no route numbers or stops or anything like that, you just have to know what you can take to get where. There are ¨guaguas¨, which are little busses that fit about 50 people and go about the entire city. Then, there are carro publicos, which are regular small sedans that fit SIX passengers and one driver...very croweded, and they go less distance. Either way, I think I can navigate to the city and to the other barrios around here. Thank god I don´t have to do that every day. Saturday we are going into the city (by ourselves) to go on a tour with a famous Dominican historical author. It should be really interesting and I should get some pictures. I will hopefully be able to post them on Sunday (If there is electricity, it´s been going out a lot lately).

Also, I´m debating the pros and cons of bucket baths (splashing yourself with water from a bucket when the running water quits.) Bucket baths don´t seem to get you as clean because there is lack of water pressure and you aren´t suppose to use more than 1.5 gallons, but the water is room temperature. The running water is cold, so that stinks, but the pressure is more so you get cleaner. Either way, I both aren´t as great as warm showers in the US, appreciate it!

Mi Familia

My family down here is pretty cool (besides that they don´t talk to me!) My Doña is a great cook and always feeds me and my host sister (who is about 30 or so) is a teacher of 1st grade, so she helps me a little. Her two kids are 5 and 8. The 5 year old girl is named BRITTANY! That makes for a very confusing time for me! The 8 year old, Robero, doesn´t talk to me much. Yesterday we went to see my doña´s father, who is very sick and 98. He is literally wasting away and it was very sad to see. We are experiencing Tropical Storm Gustav right now, that will probably turn into a hurrican soon. It´s pretty sweet. The streets are flooded. I am in the lowest Spanish class (level 2 on an competency scale) and have to get to a 5 by week 10...hopefully I do. I will be a 10 by the time I´m done, which is fluent. Yay! Wish me luck

Vivo en Santo Domingo, Pantoja

Well, I am living with a family in Pantoja, a suburb of Santo Domingo. Training is hard when it comes to the Spanish part, but the rest is fairly easy. Total immersion into the language may be the "best" way to learn, but it is very frustrating when you can´t even talk to the people living with you. I am by far the worst at Spanish, everyone else had to pass a language test before coming, but since they switched my program so late I did not...I probably would not have passed. I feel like I miss a lot of information because I cannot understand the language. The country is beautiful and the streets are dirty. My family is nice, the Doña, Ramona, runs a little store out of the house. Her daughter and her two grand children live there as well. Her daughter is a teacher and speaks a little English, she is very helpful. The man upstairs speaks pretty good English and says he gets an English newspaper!! Hopefully on Monday I can know a little more about the world. Anyway, off to try and navigate a very loud, confusing city, speaking a language I barely grasp (I am not alone, other volunteers that speak Spanish are with me, thank god.)

And we're off...

We leave for the DR tomorrow! We have to get up super early to do so and be at the airport and ungodly amount of time before our plane leaves, but we're going! We get in the DR about 2:30pm or so and then we are met by our country director to head to a little retreat for the rest of the day and to spend the night. Then the next day we do some more administrative type stuff and meet our host families that night so we can start living with them. I'm most nervous about that part, not because I think I won't like them, but because they are the people that I will have to speak only Spanish to first. That's my first real language challenge, they speak only Spanish, I speak enough to get myself into trouble. We also start our vaccines, and while I thought I was ahead on them, I realize that I'm really not. I will get a bunch of vaccines that we don't really get in the US because they aren't as relevant, and the Peace Corps gives them to be cautious, such as menengitis and influenza. We also get rabies, typhoid, Hep A&B, MMR, Polio, TD, and a bunch of others. My arm will be sore. Hopefully I will get some good pictures soon, but it doesn't sound like I will have access to internet for a while to post them. Wish me luck!

Leaving Home

I officially leave home tomorrow morning. First, I go to Miami for three days. I will meet up with the other Dominican Republic trainees there (I guess around 30 of them) and we will do orientation and get all our vaccinations in order, administrative stuff. Then we leave to the Santo Domingo, DR on the 21st. I will be there for 10 weeks, living with host families (I believe two, one for the first 5 weeks and one for the second). I will be doing language, culture, and job training there. Then I get assigned to a field site and head there for the next two years. Hopefully I'll be able to get on here and post of pictures and videos, so check back in a few days and see what I've been able to put up. As always, you can comment or send me e-mail at borg.brittany@gmail.com

My address for the first 10 weeks is:
Brittany Borg, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
Av Bolivar 451, Gazcue
Apartado Postal 1412
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

It takes mail 3-4 weeks to get to me and don't mail anything that can't fit into a bubble mailer envelope.

Keep me in your thoughts as I travel to Miami tomorrow, they couldn't find a good flight, so I will be travelling for about 14 hours before I get there, if there are no delays!