We had our second public transportation training session today during which we spent the whole day getting to the city center, visiting the PC office, the clinic, the colonial zone, and getting back home. This experience pretty much reaffirmed my previous statement of never wanting to leave my barrio because transportation here sucks. I wish I could convey how awful it actually is. You could probably kick through the floorboards of the buses if you tried, and it’s a miracle they don’t collapse with all the people they cram into them. The doors don’t close either, so you got people hanging out the side as they drive along, sometimes coming within millimeters of another vehicle. The public cars can be just as crammed – with three people in the front and four in the back, sometimes more.
The Peace Corps office is really nice, though. It’s a colonial style house in the ritzy part of town that used to be where the big shots of the dictatorship lived. Now, it’s still where big shots live, but they drive Audi’s and H3s instead of armored cars. We met with all the staff there, including the doctors. Apparently, the PC health care in the DR was voted the best throughout all their country stations and everybody says that we’ll never have better health care in our lives. Just with the little exposure I’ve had, I can already attest to this. And it extends beyond the health care. I could definitely get used to saying “I need this” and being given it – no charge, no hassle, and really fast. Thanks tax payers. I’ll pay it forward, I promise.
The colonial zone was alright. We’ll be given a more extensive tour of it on Sunday, but today we simply learned how to get around and saw Christopher Columbus’s house. We didn’t see his monument, but when we do, I’ll have to try really hard not to pee or vomit on it as an expression of adoration. My favorite part of the entire experience was… get this… FROZEN YOGURT! Yes. Santo Domingo has a frozen yogurt shop. It’s much like what Mom was talking about, actually, a machine that blends in the frozen fruit with the frozen yogurt. So – yeah – basically – I’m saved.
We nearly fell asleep on the bus home due to the heat and fatigue, but we made it. I promptly took a nap and then a bucket shower which was relatively free of mosquitoes. I did my homework and am now currently installing Windows XP in Spanish on my computer! Pretty sweet. The ITC trainer had copies for those who wanted them yesterday at the meeting along with Office in Spanish, too. So I figured I’d get a head start in my own training, since the hardest part for me will be acclimatizing myself to the environment using Spanish vocabulary.
Okay, well I realize I’ve been writing novels a day, so I’ll taper off – I promise. How wants to read all this anyway? Lol. It’s all good. I’m actually really happy here, more so than I anticipated, which is great. Hasta mañana!
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