Birthdays and Basketball

Greetings!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes, messages, calls and packages! 23 started off great. Actually it started off with waking up at 6, Dona made me avena (oatmeal) y café and I packed a little for the weekend while waiting for a friend to arrive. Then I walked to the training site and got 2 vaccinations and while doing so someone said Happy Birthday and that started a chain reaction and even the little nurse, Borianna, she gave me a besito (little kiss) on my forehead! She’s my favorite doctor. Then Juana, my twinkly eyed 35 year old Spanish teacher who tends to dance with every step, grabbed both my hands and told me how wonderful it was that it was my birthday and how excited I must be for life (I think…Spanish is definitely still being learned). She is wonderful though and luckily she is coming with us for our community based training. Then I went upstairs to find Jean and she handed me a humongous card that she drew and had everyone sign. I am really going to miss Jean. I think Mark is right – we do share a few key brain waves and therefore I think she should switch to the environment group and we’d both be better off. She is in the Information Communications Technology group and that group (15 of the trainees) left for their community based training today which is in a different city than the medioambiente kids. It was sad saying goodbye – there are some really great people in that group, but I look forward to their stories and seeing them again during week nine and then afterwards. I also told Jean that we are going to visit Mica and have a Patty Griffin weekend some point during the next two years. That’d be stellar.
Then we met with our tech trainer Tim to plan for this weekend and the Brigada Verde Youth Conference in San Cristobal. I am going to be introducing our group in Spanish and then we are all helping out in a youth obstacle course (giving instructions in Spanish and engaging the kids). The conference is for older teens to help teach them how to run environmentally themed summer camps. It should be fun. Afterwards we leave for Community Based training which is like technical skill training working with all sorts of different stuff (how to build efficient cook stoves, gardening techniques, composting, plant and animal ID, and teaching how to teach along with Spanish classes from what I’ve read so far). It is in the North in La Cumbre and it is campo setting meaning that we will be living with much more modest families….ie probably won’t have electricity/internet like I had at the training station. My apologies for the delay in my responses! My address is still the same (actually it will be for the next two years unless I update it more specifically). Some volunteers have had trouble with FedEx and boxes so again the best bet for me to receive something would be to put it in a padded envelope and ship it to:
Sarah Termondt, PCT
Cuerpo de Paz
Avenida Bolivar 451, Gazcue
Apartado 1412
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
(Sorry I know I’ve given that enough times but just in case)

We did have some bad news the other day – one of the trainees decided that the Peace Corps wasn’t right for him and decided to end his service. All of us were really surprised and confused – we still don’t really know why he left and had no indication he was thinking about it. I just hope he’s doing ok and that nothing happened specifically to bring him home.
I played basketball with the guys today. Well actually Yenny and I played two Dominicans while our gringos (Jared nicknamed Bigfoot and Mark nicknamed the Easterbunny by Dominicans) had a full on game on the other side of the court which we didn’t want to interrupt. It was great though and besides a bashed up fingernail I laid down the verguenza on the guy that was trying to cover me. I don’t think any of the Dominicans had seen a woman score before because they really freaked out. They were really good though – they beat us but we put up a good fight. Until next time.

I came back home and told Dona Roma I was going to shower and then walked into my room to find a little package with a red bow on it and Dona was peering thru the curtain to see if I’d found it. It was really cute. She gave me a big necklace with shells and beads. She’s a keeper – I for sure got the best Dona.

Ok I should run. Check out my photos – they are actually updated now, Picassa or my blog was acting funny before. ALSO Send me any new music that you’d think I’d like to my email address – I’m running low. Take care.

Sooner,
Sarah

P.S. Mom tried to put Chester on the phone tonight and then told me tonight that Henry is now singing the words to Maddie’s song (my baby cousins – but if you don’t know this then you basically don’t know me). You could pinpoint the exact second that my heart melted when I heard that. Jenna - I’m working on one for Henry. I miss you guys!