I’ve neglected the blog lately, but now I’m back!
A lot has happened in the past two months – Thanksgiving, friends came to visit, I wrapped up my first English class, went home to America for almost three weeks, and came back to the DR. I’m going to break this down over the next few days so stay tuned.
Let’s start by going all the way back to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in Peace Corps DR is probably the one event a year where almost all the Volunteers get together at the same time. The day starts with a Turkey Trot at 7am, there are games all morning, swimming, the big Thanksgiving dinner, a talent show, and a party later in the night.
This year I was chosen as the head of a baking committee and got to stay at our Country Director and his wife’s beautiful apartment that has amazing views of the ocean and the capital, Santo Domingo. We stayed there for three days before Thanksgiving charged with making 20 apple pies and enough stuffing to feed a small (peaceful) army of PCVs.
They were extremely gracious hosts and getting to escape for a few days to hot water, wireless internet, and Mary Fran’s delicious cooking made it well worth all the chopping, peeling, and toasting loaves and loaves of bread for stuffing. Getting to talk to them and hear their stories of living and working abroad for the majority of their lives was really interesting.
Each year, Volunteers are required to fill out a survey on their experiences with Peace Corps. Suffice it to say, getting everyone to fill out the survey is a huge chore that no one really likes doing. To entice Volunteers, the first sector to get 100% completion would get a pizza party the night before Thanksgiving on the roof of the CD’s apartment. Obviously Education, my sector, won and the party was a really fun time.
Before Thanksgiving dinner, we had drink specials and time to relax at the rooftop pool of the hotel where the festivities were held. It was fun to hangout with PCVs you don’t normally get a chance to see and everyone seemed to have a really good time.
The talent show was one of the highlights of the entire day and the Volunteers that hosted it did a really good job. I didn’t participate this year, but have some ideas for next year. One of the sectors choreographed and put together an entire Bollywood dance routine.
After taking the afternoon to relax, the Volunteers went to a bar they rented out and continued enjoying the party all night. Suffice it to say, stories from the party aren’t going to make it to the blog. But when Volunteers living around the country get to come together and relax with other Americans it’s really fun.
This year, by some stroke of luck, the Chairs of the event got to stay, and even eat dinner, with the Ambassador and his family in the US Embassy. One even got to stay in the same bedroom Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slept in when she visited recently. Next year I’ll be one of the Chairs of the Committee and I’m excited to see what Thanksgiving has in store.
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