talk about a ride: what the start of 27 months sounds like at 7 a.m.

Note: Due to the anticipated lack of access to internet throughout the duration of my experience, I will often be writing pieces in advance to post at a later date. For this reason, please regard the date within the body of the text as that in which my thoughts were collected, as opposed to the date that they went live on the web.

Thank you for your understanding and enjoy the ride with me!

Cheers,

Alanna

---

THE FIRST ENTRY:
Introductions and justifications for the journey ahead.

August 19, 2008
7:39 A.M. E.S.T.
American Airlines Flight 1909 – Somewhere between Boston, MA and Miami, FL

It took 8 months, countless goodbyes, and several overstuffed bags to get to this point, but the moment I have been anticipating has finally arrived: me voy a la República Dominicana.

Ok, so perhaps that statement isn’t entirely true. I suppose “the moment” actually happened when we touched off the runway of Logan Airport roughly an hour ago. I should also clarify that I don’t actually arrive in the Dominican Republic until the afternoon of the 21^st. Details, details. What is important is the greater picture, which I will briefly clarify in this introductory post.

For those of you who happened to stumble upon this page and do not actually know me, I am a recent college graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service who has made the decision to join the Peace Corps. My academic focus on international development and Latin America, combined with professional and volunteer experience ranging from research on microinsurance and promotion of sustainable tourism practices to directing a small business and tutoring Spanish-speaking immigrants, sends me to the island of Hispaniola to work in economic and business development.

On paper, I suppose I sound qualified – but somehow life always ends up more complex than the clear-cut format of a well-organized resumé.

Nonetheless, the acknowledgment that the course of the next 2+ years cannot be fit neatly into a Wanted Ad column (or a concise post on Craig’s List) does not frighten me at this point. In fact – no offense to any former supervisors who read this – the thought of a first job out of college that breaks the 9-5 mold both excites and inspires me. As a travel nut, a bit of a workaholic, and a big-time extrovert, I am chomping at the bit to get out into “the field” and really live and breathe development work and intercultural exchange.

This is the part where you roll your eyes at the irony of the situation. Here I am talking about non-conformity, and I have completely backed myself into the “I-am-young-and-way-too-idealistic” corner that stereotypes PCVs. J

I know that I have a lot to learn and a lot to come to terms with, but I say BRING IT ON. The unknown might be a large part of the appeal, but I hope to illustrate in the next few posts that it is not as if I am jumping into this completely blindly. I am a person with premeditated goals, familiarity with Dominican culture and life abroad, and an understanding of my personal strengths and weaknesses. To be continued in subsequent entries; speaking of weaknesses, my Achilles heel is that I write like I talk – too much.

If, at the very least, two years teaches me to be less verbose (in English AND in Spanish), I’ll have made one step in the right direction. Paso a paso.

De aqui, vamos.

­­­