And the next stage begins...

So much has happened in these past 2 weeks, so here is the latest Peace Corps news.

All of the youth volunteers left Constanza on Saturday, October 18. We had all really bonded with that community so it was a very sad day. While in Constanza, I met my best friend in the country thus far: a 10 year old boy named Cley. Cley was my dominoes partner everyday for 2 weeks. He made me a beaded bracelet, accompanied me to church, carried anything even slightly heavy for me, and gave me a picture of his graduation from 3rd grade. It was so adorable. And so it was especially hard to leave him. On Saturday, he just sat with me and cried for an hour while our luggage was being loaded into the bus. Even his mom kept joking with me that I would need a larger suitcase to bring Cley and dominoes back with me to Santo Domingo.

And now I'm back in Santo Domingo for our swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. Apparently this is a huge deal with both US and Dominican Republic government officials, all of our host families, and the other volunteers that are currently serving in the country. Out of our group of 50, we have unfortunately had 6 people leave: 1 for medical reasons, and 5 chose to leave. Three of those were youth volunteers, so it's been a tough three months. But hopefully the rest of us are here for the full two years. On Thursday, all of us new volunteers are headed to a pool party at the US ambassador's private home! Not too many people can say they swam at both the embassy and the ambassador's house.

And then on Saturday I am headed to Baoba for good. I went and visited my site for 5 days and I am so extremely excited to begin. Baoba is gorgeous. It's a very rural, campo with just 4 dirt roads in the entire town. It's surrounded by green valleys and cow farms, and it's just so weird to see palm trees in the middle of these pastures. There's both a high school and an elementary school in the town, which is rare, and a great resource so the children in the town don't have to travel far to go to school. And there are two basketball courts, two baseball fields, and multiple Catholic churches. Also it is just a twenty minute walk from the beach! And actually it's not just the ocean- there is a river that runs into the ocean, which is so gorgeous.

The people in Baoba seem so friendly and ready to take me on as one of their own. I've made speeches in all of the classrooms and in three church services telling them who I am and what I'm going to do, and everyone tells me that they are going to take good care of me. There are also a lot of strong women in my site, which makes me so proud. These girls (ages 17-25) aren't married and don't have kids and they keep telling me that they're going to wait until after they study and start their careers before they start their families. Also the people in Baoba want so much from me, I'm definitely going to be busy. I'm supposed to teach English (since Baoba is a beach town, close to resorts, it would be beneficial for their tourism jobs if they knew English), start a sala de tarea (an after-school homework/tutoring program), create neighborhood watch groups, a club for women, and start basketball, baseball, and volleyball teams for both boys and girls.

Also, just so you guys know there is no internet in Baoba. Hopefully I'll be able to travel to the closest large city once a week to use it, but I'm not sure. But please continue sending me mail, emails and comments on my blog! It can get lonely here, and I imagine it will only get worse once I leave all of these Americans. I really do appreciate all of the encouragement and loving words, even if I can't find the time to reply back immediately.