Working day

Recently, my most active blog reader asked me the question: "So what exactly is your project?"

Which I took to mean this: "So why did you leave me here in America? It looks like you went almost two thousand miles away to set up a crappy little house filled with old two liter bottles and sit in that crappy house sweating and reading all day. Besides, by the looks of it you don't even know how to say hello in Spanish, because you don't have any friends."

Well, I'm here to set the record straight.

It is 0848 here in the D.R. which means it's 0648 at home. What are you doing?

I am currently sitting in my house. (I decided not to tell you I was naked. I wouldn't want to give away just how much time Peace Corps Volunteers spend sitting in their houses naked, typically sweating with a book in their hands.)

I am siting in my house in the only chair I have because I just took a shower. I just took a shower because I finished exercising only moments before. I exercised this morning after I had a meeting with the director of the school. I had a meeting with the director because I am setting up an event with the school for 50 kids that includes a trip for 10 kids to Puerto Plata. The meeting included me explaining that I had worked out transporte with a different guy in town. The meeting was a success because only moments before I was walking to the school in the street on the phone with a guy in Puerto Plata that works at Banco Ademi. I was telling the guy at Banco Ademi, over the phone in Spanish (while walking) that I had set up the event with the school and I had the dates and transporte set. This was all in my best business casual (read: khaki pants from my internship in Germany, belt from my job at Cracker Barrel, purple sweater from GoodWill, socks stolen from my mom and shoes from the Peace Corps Dominican Republic office free box.)

This day was sustained by the strawberry and added plain instant oatmeal and red berry hot tea mix I prepared this morning before dressing myself.

All after waking up at 0600 (for no reason, and with no alarm, but people always brag when they wake up at 0600 as if it took everything in them so I decided to join in the fun, even if it's not exactly an accurate account of my feelings.)

Recap:
1. Woke up at 0600
2. Prepared a balanced meal
3. Took a walk (5 min to school)
4. Had a successful phone conversation in Spanish
5. Had a meeting with a school director
6. Set details for a 60 person event
7. Took another walk (5 minutes home)
8. Exercised (60 squats, 32 crunches, jumping jacks, 3 sets of 35 second planks, and other stuff)
9. Showered
10. Blogged and ate hard boiled eggs.

That was 10 things before 9 a.m.


So, my dear, put 'er there. I have successfully worked in the Dominican Republic. (Even if this is the first and only day ever that I work, I can claim it for the rest of my life. I workED in the D.R.)