When I saw the Spanish Literacy Promoter position in the Dominican Republic posted on the Peace Corps website, I could not believe my luck! Of course, I had already thought about being an elementary teacher abroad, but the process seemed somewhat complicated as different countries have different processes for hiring elementary teachers. I imagined it would not be easy to be hired as an American to teach children in Spanish when they already had many native speakers born and raised in the country. I waa so excited when they hired me! I was also really excited to live there because I learned a lot about the country in a class I took in my Master's on Afro-Hispanic identity. I could not wait to experience the culture through its dance, its music, and its interesting, resilient history.
I have already completed a year of service in the Dominican Republic and have learned a lot. On top of the things I expected to learn, I discovered a lot about myself along the way. I went to the Feria del Libro (Book Fair) where I had the chance to see cool ideas on how to promote literacy. One of my favorites was decorating an old refrigerator and turning it into a neighborhood library. Another idea I particularly liked was making a “Carreta de libros” which is like a traveling library. I believe they do something similar to this in Bakersfield called the “Book Mobile.”
My spirituality grew much more than I expected it would before coming here. I sing with the church choir and I am learning to play Spanish songs on the guitar. I have also been on a few medical missions to translate for American doctors and have been learning Haitian Creole to help me with that.
