On something I'll never forget

I’m sitting in my Close of Service (COS) conference that marks the 6-week countdown to the end of our service. These past two days have been a wild ride of emotions - sitting in a nice, air-conditioned and hot-water-providing hotel with everyone (well the 28 that remain) all together again for the first time in two years. In memory of our 2^nd anniversary (tomorrow), we will provide you with a beautiful compilation of thoughts we all wrote down as part of an opening exercise for the conference. See if you can guess which responses are mine?

I’d like my community to remember me for:

Trying to stay positive

Brindaring baked goods

Compartiring well

Hugs and smiles

Standing up for myself and always dressing up

My banana bread and refusal to take crap from tigueres

For always being available to help others

Having manners and being okay with myself

My hugs and Zumba moves

Reading with kids, working hard and sharing

Buying garlic

My tenacity

My patience

Being a crazy dancer

Being a great cake baker and smiling

Insisting that children are people too

The ability to be sarcastic in Spanish

Smiles and providing a safe space

My persistence and vegetarianism

Keeping it real!

My biggest accomplishment:

Adding cement floors to houses and the community centers

Becoming a part of my community

Building relationships

Seeing my project partner lose weight and finally have control over her diabetes

Building a basketball court

The friends I’ve made

Being my own rock and learning Spanish

Becoming an adopted member of a Dominican family

Going from being scared of kids to “adopting” one and deciding I might want one someday

Helping girls NOT get pregnant

When I starting learning from my community, too

Deciding to extend, becoming an important person to influence youth

Being myself in my community (and getting’ work done!)

Leaving my groups behind as an NGO

Not leaving early

Making it to COS conference and working to bring a solar-powered library to the community

Making real friendships in my community

Living by myself and creating a life full of great, loving friendships

Finding a Dominican best friend J

Biggest challenge I overcame:

My site

To be okay taking risks and living 100% out of my comfort zone

Persevering even after lack of community motivation

 Coming out as gay in my community

Managing expectations and trusting I’m doing it right

Allowing my community to get to see me and not the double life I thought I had to have

Pico Duarte

Site change

Being myself in my community

Being insecure on what I could accomplish compared to others

Opening myself up to develop true relationships and friendships

Taking a posture of understanding Dominican culture

Learning to be okay with constant judgment, criticism and unsolicited advice

Lack of confidence in the beginning, worrying about possible judgment

Something I’ve learned:

Assertiveness and how to forgive

Tigeruaje

To be more resourceful

How materials are of little valuable compared to people

How to let go of the things I can’t control and how little I have control of

How to work with others effectively, even if the project doesn’t work out

How to trust in the goodness and kindness of human beings

Investing in the people who actually want to work with me

Opening myself up to others

Not accepting less than I deserve; help is given to those who ask

M’ ka pale kreyol

What I need and want out of life and the people around me

Letting go of the things I can’t control

Persistence, resilience and flexibility

Failure and tenacity

How to just be...

Something I’d like to forget:

Child abuse, verbal and physical treatment of animals

Feeling helpless and claustrophobic

Enduring endless sexual harassment

People that are just plain malcriado

The court building process

Being made to feel inferior for being a woman

Kids abusing my dogs

My experience at Clínica Abreau

The tigueres I made mistakes with...

Blaming it on “them”

The road to my site

Constantly feeling that I wasn’t good enough or doing enough

Racism towards Haitians

Always feeling different

Feeling unsatisfied with work even though I’m doing my best

Death of my dog, insecurities and my next door neighbor

The anger and frustration I feel thinking about my Dominican “counterpart”

Domestic violence/child abuse/dead dogs

Saying goodbye to my community

Something I will never forget:

Pico Duarte

Hammock time with the kids

All of you

How to say “YES!”

Helping plan my Dominican best friend’s wedding

You guys

Laughing at myself

One Year Celebration in Bahía de las Aguilas

The beauty of this country, the people, my horse and the love of my life

All the struggles that strengthened me

Every beautiful, romanticized moment

Going from surviving to living to loving

To my fellow members of 517-13-02, I love you guys. You’ve made me laugh, cry and helped me survive. We’re an impressive crew – go forth and set the world on fire!