my address and more

This morning I’m headed over to a friend’s house just a barrio away; we’re going to the beach (Boca Chica) with her host family, and the SPF 30 is going to be plastered on this winter white skin! I haven’t been able to take many pictures, because there’s a fairly high crime rate where we’re living and I’m afraid to have my camera stolen -- especially at places like beaches and in the city when we have to ride on super crowded guaguas and public cars. The rule here for public cars (different than taxis) is that the passenger limit (and norm) is 4 passengers in the back and two in the front passenger seat of these old beaters, which makes for some interesting rides with strangers so close together. This weekend is a three day weekend because of Independence Day on Monday (celebrated with Carnaval in some parts), and we’re going to be going to the beach today, to the campo tomorrow, and who knows what else we’ll be doing. Hopefully going to the grocery store soon, because I haven’t had fruit at home for a while! Before I forget, my new address is the following for the next 10 or 11 weeks: Rebecca Anderson Cuerpo de Paz PO Box 1412 Santo Domingo Dominican Republic This week we went to the city center to practice our transportation knowledge again, and it is a beautiful city. We toured the Peace Corps office, as well as the hospital where we have to go if we get really sick while we’re in the country. We got to see the main street in the old section of downtown, and the oldest cathedral in the “New World.” We talked to one guy who had just climbed Pico Duarte, and it definitely sounds fantastic; it takes two or three days to do it, amazingly enough. We also learned how to dance the bachata and merengue this week in class, with a couple of my neighbors coming in to be extra male bodies helping us learn. Immediately following that lesson, we learned to play dominos, which many old men play in front of the colmados (like little general stores) here all day long. I got to put my dancing skills into practice last night when my host family went to their daughter’s house (a block away) for some drinks with their other daughter and friends visiting from grad school, and it turned into dancing at the end. It’s only been a little more than one full week in this country, but I feel like I’ve been here a long time. I still feel like I’m studying abroad! I am excited about Tuesday, though, when in our technical training we get to learn how to take apart, clean, and put back together computers manually so that when the dust and sand and rats get into the computers, we know how to fix it!