- so the school accepts students from all over the campo, or countryside. My town is in the Monte Plata province, which is located in the middle of the country and is hot and humid year-round. It still gets up into the 90's in December! Many of the people in my town work at the centro de acopio de leche, a milk distribution center, delivering huge canisters of fresh cow milk on horseback.
I learned about the Peace Corps at a career fair in middle school. The RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) talked to us about traveling the world, learning new languages and meeting people from different cultures. It sounded like the greatest adventure ever. When I was a senior in college, I decided that it was time to turn my dream into reality. I knew that I wanted to volunteer before applying for a full-time job and starting my career. I also wanted to continue practicing my Spanish, which I’d studied for a year in Sevilla, Spain. Although I was originally accepted as a volunteer in Paraguay, my medical clearance was delayed and I was offered a position in the DR instead. I arrived in the country at the beginning of March 2023. I can hardly believe that I’ve already been here for eight months! I’ve lived with two host families, joined a volleyball team, learned how to dance bachata and merengue and ridden in more guaguas than I can count. (Guaguas are public buses that connect all the cities and pueblos (small towns) in the DR.) One time I took four different guaguas to get to my friend’s town so we could walk three miles to go swimming in a waterfall.
A month ago, I moved into my own house in town.
