This morning I’m heading back to the capital. I’m up early and wanted to recap on the last few days and then upload this later back in Santo Domingo. CBT has gone by so quickly and it doesn’t seem that its been 5 weeks already. Within the next two weeks, we’ll be back at Entrena for the weekend, find out our placements, go on a visit to our new sites, return and then swear in officially as Peace Corps Volunteers. Everyone is anxious to find out the placements - we’ve all been waiting for this news since day one, and now training is about to come to a close.
During this final week in El Seibo, my dona and I went to a Miss El Seibo pageant, which from my impression of the turnout, is a huge deal here. There was a representative from each of the different barrios - about 10-12 contestants in all. The pageant was for the upcoming Fiestas Patronales. Many cities in the DR have a celebration day, and El Seibo’s celebration is right after we leave town. The pageant started at 8pm, which on DR time means it actually started moving by 10pm. In between the modeling portions, a dance group performed to various Lady Gaga remixes (Bad Romance, yeah!), and a singer performed. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the pageant, and I wish we could stay for all of the Fiestas Patronales, but no such luck.
At the pageant with Corix
Also, on Wednesday this week we had our Youth Groups Presentation. It was a really fun event at the Ayuntamiento (city hall), and a lot of community members showed up. The kids all went onstage to present their projects: a newspaper with articles and images featuring El Seibo’s noteworthy places, a logo design for the Mabi and Dulceria factories, and our group’s documentary presentation on the factories. It was a good close to CBT and a nice way to say goodbye to the community. I enjoyed my time in El Seibo so much and have great memories from here of getting to know the group, and figuring out this new Dominican life of mine.
With some of the Documentary Youth
Over the last month or so I’ve gotten really comfortable in this small town, which now brings me to what I’ll miss about El Seibo: my dona Corix, hermanito Breilin, my cute pink house, the friendly community, the little kids yelling my name in the barrio to say 'hola' each day, the (free!) rogue wi-fi connections, my Spanish class, dancing at Discoteca Wow, being around friends all the time, running in the campo, the mountain scenery, D’Jose Ramon’s jugo, all the baton trucas (tricks) the kids request to learn, 24-hour electricity, the ability to be outside after dark (not so in Pantoja), the nice colmado guy I buy chocolate from that asks about Boston, the few (but appreciated) buildings with A/C, the baseball field/play, the dozens of lizards scattering around on the walls of my room at night, our documentary youth group, and walking 2-3 hours everyday with my neighbors all over this place (we covered nearly every inch of town, mas or menos!). :-)
Great pics Emma. There seems to be a lot of festivals in the DR with numerous celebrations! The dominicans enjoy life and appreciate it...need some of that attitude back here! Hope you are pleased with your placement...anxiously awaiting to here more...luv Papa xoxo
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