Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well it´s hard for me to imagine that it is almost Thanksgiving back in the states. I feel like I should be having a half week at school this week then driving to Toledo for a fun filled day of eating and relaxing with the Ferner clan. Oh no! I just remembered Tina´s way to sweat, sweat potato cassrole. I was fine before this thought but now I am going to be thinking about that cassrole all week as I eat my yuca and platanos. Ahh, what a different life I had back in the states. But we will be having our own American style Thanksgiving here with all the other volunteers and PC staff. I´m really looking forward to it! There will be a 5k run, soccer and basketball tourney, and talent show all of which I plan on participating in.

Thanksgiving will be on thursday if I remember correctly and on Wednesday I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! I´m pretty pumped about this as I will finally get going with my work here. Training has been great and I´ve learned a whole lot about development, culture, and my job but it´s not what I came here to do. Sunday will be my first day at work and in my community and I can´t wait to begin.

Maybe I should describe a little more what my visit to Pedro Sanchez was like. Well, the first night there I was welcomed with a huge surpise party. There were probably over 200 people packed into this little community center awaiting my arrival and ready to celebrate. The excitment I felt and the welcome I got was overwhelming. I remember thiking that these people either have no idea that I am a regular kid who just graduated college or they truely don´t care who I am. They were clapping and chanting my name as I came in and I remember standing in front of them feeling both extremely humbled and like a dirty politician, all at once. I was shaking hands and kissing babies and the whole sha-bang. They even had a live band that played some traditional dominican folk music and I was requested to dance a little jig in front of the whole crowd. I sat up front feeling out of place with the important people in the community like the mayor, police cheif, and director of the local school as people were standing up and welcoming me individually. It was like no other experience I have had before. I felt important and intimidated sitting in front of my new neighbors. It´s great that they are so excited and motivated but I also don´t know what they expect from me.

Anyway, the next four days were filled with meeting so many people it made me dizzy. I was meeting Ana, her mom and dad, her tia, her 1st and 2nd cousins, the abuela, and then more cousins and nephews. If I ever want to sort things out in my head I am deffiently going to have to put a few community family tress on my bedroom wall and fill them in as I meet a new relative. Also, if you ever want to feel like a celebrity just join the Peace Corps! That is really how I felt most of the visit. I would walk down the street and people whould call me by name and invite me in to talk. It´s really incredible. One night I played chess with a neighbor across the street and I next day I´m at the basketball court and someone, who I have never met, comes up and says "I heard you lost to so and so in chess last night." I already know that whatever this gringo does will be quickly spread through all of Pedro Sanchez in a matter of minutes. And I can foresee this being a possible frustration down the road, but we will deal with that when it comes. As for now I have to get to work on some names...

Ohh, another thing I remembered that was really great about my visit. My host family has an outhouse and a shower stall next to it behind the house. I know thats not so great. But what is cool is that instead of going to the shower stall and showering in the pitch black at night I just take the hose and shower behind the house under the light of the stars and moon. What a great place to shower huh? I can´t wait to bath under the meteor showers. Oh, and the stars here really twinkle! I remember a little twinkle in the states but here the stars out twinkle anything I have seen in the states.

Alright well Happy Thanksgiving. Paz y Amor
Mateo