Training: Week One

The barrio (neighborhood) where I reside, about half an hour from Santo Domingo's city center is a short walk from the Autopista Duarte, a busy thoroughfare with between three and five lanes in each direction, depending on the time of day and whether or not you're waiting at an intersection. For 20 Pesos (less than a dollar) you can take a carro publico to the guarded entryway of our training center, a mere five or ten minutes away.

Training sesh. Sabine approves!

Our days in training begin at 7:00 and end around 5:00. Typically, a day is divided between three or four sessions. Examples of training sessions have included ways of identifying safe public transit and information concerning how to stay healthy and address health situations that may arise.

Training Manager Jennifer McGowan droppin science

Although it is difficult to gauge after only two days, it appears to me that the staff has found a good balance between holding our hands and a giving us freedom. For example, I had help getting to my host home from the training center yesterday and returning in the morning. Then, today I had a member of the language faculty (a native Dominican named Tonya) walk me through the process of taking a carro publico home with the four other volunteers who live near me. From this point forward it will be up to us how we get to and from training.