A Surreal, Dream-Like Day

May 7, 2013. ¡Sobreviví! What a day. I walked the busy street to the training center with two rollie suitcases; one with my medical kit and helmet tied to the handles and one with my mosquitera, and my book bag stuffed full of books. I only left behind a few articles of clothing in the capital :). At the center, there was breakfast and coffee, and already some project partners waiting. Unbeknownst to me, mine were there. After a little, I met them and we went to sit and chat. One is the director of the school on the side of the thruway that I am living and she is 34 years old with 3 children. Ella se llama Nati. She is only temporarily the director, however, and I may already be sad about that... The other is the president of the parent organization, she is 26 years old with 3 children too. Ella se llama Juana Iris o Paola. Jennifer said that volunteers have told her this was the most uncomfortable day in their entire experience in PC. I'm going to disagree. Yes, there were silences, and maybe it was just me, but I never felt super awkward. We talked about Villa Altagracia, the weather there, the people, the schools, their families, my family, fruit, etc. I cannot tell you how relieved I was after talking for a bit. I apologized for my Spanish and they payed no mind and said, "It'll come."
Classes - effective communication, expectations of each other, a volunteer's calendar for the next 2 years, etc.
Lunch
Un carro público y una guagua y ya! Facíl. Solamente una hora maxima de la capital. On the bus I asked questions about things I already knew but just to talk more and interact more. Haha I saw tons of orange fields, Juana Iris wants to take me to get my nails done and teach me how to dance Bachata, Merengue, Salsa, y Regue (sp?)!!! When we arrived, a moto took both my suitcases to my house, crazy! And I was home. The town literally is next to the thruway but when you look to one side, mountains. And turn around the other side? More mountains. I don't care that I'm not by a beach or on top of a mountain, I think it's beautiful here. The clouds rolled in a bit and came so low I wanted to reach out and touch them. And apparently there are lots of rios around the area! As we walked through the neighborhood, I met people and they walked with us. Soon there was a pretty decent sized group. They all welcomed me into the "family" :D. Nati briefly showed me the school and introduced me to the teachers. It's super small but they are so kind and from the little I saw, it's well kept. Juana Iris showed me her house where she lives with 8 other people. Her part of the house where she lives with her 3 children is tan pequeño. You can barely move around the furniture, it's incredible.
My house. My Doña- not sure yet. Very scattered. Little and quick. But kind!
My room- had Mayelin (9 year old girl) help me organize my room. And later with her brother, they made drawings for me to hang on my wall! But it's cement walls and the tape is struggling to stick.
We played cards (tres y dos!!) and then at 4, I met up with Juana Iris and we went to The Play to watch the women (older and adolescent) play baseball! Such a neat thing. I hope I can play sometime too... But what a whirlwind of meeting people, trying to follow the conversation, and getting harassed by too many guys and it being funny to everyone (but luckily I didn't understand it all). One woman I met seems amazingly crazy and fun and I cannot wait to better my Spanish and get close to her. Juana Iris' baby is 3 months old and adorable. They passed her around like a bowl full of pasta at Gram's house; stealing kisses and smiles like crazy. One girl spoke a little English and after asking how old I was and if I had kids (at least 8X today), she said I need Jesus in my life. I told her I am Catholic and she was content lol. Grandma Irene? I'm going to church on Thursday. Though I'm not sure for which religion yet.
Just hearing over and over "Ella va a vivir aquí por dos años" (she will be living here for two years) was so strange... As I lay here and type this, I feel as if I'm in shock. I knew that, of course, I signed up for it, but it's real now. And I've finally seen my home, after just finding out where it was yesterday, and many people that I will learn to know and love. And yet, as much as I don't want to admit it, I feel nothing; not happy but definitely not sad or scared. Just... I'm here. This is it. Holy shit lol. I wish I could explain it better because it's not bad but I feel like I'm making it sound bad... Haha
Moving on! We left eventually, I met more people, and went home. Mayelin climbed a tree and got me tons of cherries. They were delicious! She then wanted to show me her house and oh my god, it was amazing. Okay, the house itself? No... But they have a huge yard, lined with trees of all kinds, a little creek, paths lined with stones, and a view of a farm with cows and mountains in the background. Incredible. I talked with her mom a bit and told her how pretty I thought it was. She said whenever I want, I could go there to rest, get away, sleep if I wanted, or whatever. I'm so going to take advantage of that. It's like a mini paradise.
We returned to my house, made our drawings by headlamp on my bed (since la luz went out around 2pm when I arrived), and had pasta, tostones, and a new bíbere (sp?) for dinner. I showered (there's running water!), hung the mosquitera that my Doña already had for me, talked to Jen briefly (I think she ran out of minutes?), and now after this surreal, dream-like day, I'm off to sleep. The clock in the other room is ticking loudly and is taking me back to Grandma Judy's house. I love it. Buenas noches.