A copy of my journal: Day 1

Well, I am really here. I am finished with a lot of the logistics and I am spending my first weekend with my Dominican family. I live on an off-ramp on the only major highway in the DR, the Autopista Duarte, frontage road, mile 15.5. If you are in the area, you should stop by. It is a nice place to visit if you are in the market for spare sheet metal, radiator repair, or even a little cockfighting. Dona Isabel is an excellent mother here, and apart from a few minor issues, we should get along just fine. Just to get them out of the way, I will list the less than desirable attributes of my new home:1. Cock fighting on the roof at 6:00 AM (just not very helpful with the jet lag)2. The Dominican idea of a bathroom door is a clear shower curtain. Not as helpful as you might think in certain situations.3. Used syringes sticking out of stuffed animals in the bathroom. I don't know if she is just doing that to freak me out, but it is working.4. The homeless woman that lives under the tree in what could graciously be called the "side yard" is always trying to sit on my lap on the porch. I wouldn't mind, but she really smells terrible.Luckily there are a number of benefits that have the opportunity to balance out some of these minor issues: 1. Freezing cold bucket baths (If I thought that I was going to have a problem feeling awake in the morning, I shouldn't have worried).2. The Red Cross Ambulance and storage trailer is just across the alley from my house. I have never seen it move however, and I think that they use it to store slop for the pigs that live in the dump right next to it.3. Beans and rice. If you ever worried about running low on energy from lack of carbohydrates, you should relocate to the Dominican Republic. Twice a day, every day, always coupled with potatoes, plantains, yucca, or something fried. I think that she would feed it to me for breakfast if I let her.In short, I have absorbed and gotten used to a lot in the last two weeks. The fact that the power only works from 7 PM to 7AM doesn't even bother me anymore. I mean, you don't really need power during the day anyway, right? And running water is way over rated. I will only be here for two weeks more though, and then it is off to the mountains for this Dominicana. And from what I have gathered, as far as amenities go, this is as good as it gets Dominican-style. But the weather is supposed to be really nice there and I have heard it is beautiful, so I think that I will give it the old college try. After all, if you are going to be dirt poor, you might as well do it on the top of a mountain in the Caribbean right? Not too shabby, in my opinion, so don't go feeling sorry for me. I'll be just fine. When I got to Miami, I was worried that everyone would think that I am a stuck-up bitch for bringing so much stuff. I admit it- I brought too much. When I saw three girls walking towards my shuttle at the airport with their one backpack and a guitar case, I knew that I was in trouble. However, I paid my penance in overweight charges at the airport ($200 in total, thanks Mom), so I figure that I should make it worth my while. I won't have to do laundry very often at least, and I won't have to buy much for awhile, so I figure it evens out in the end. Just as long as I don't have to take public transportation to get to my site. Because that just straight up isn't going to happen. If my electric toothbrush turns out to be merely decorative, my parents can always take it back at Christmas. Christmas- that is weird to think about. Almost a year away, and so much is going to happen between now and then. After all, my career with the Peace Corps almost ended in the matter of a few hours when we were in Miami.