Hello from Pennsylvania! I am excited to share my experiences in the Dominican Republic with the Peace Corps. I am currently stateside, enjoying time with family and friends, preparing as much as possible for what awaits in the Dominican Republic, and enjoying NEPA pizza (Vince the Pizza Prince, Maroni’s, Alfredo’s, et al.) while I still can.
The last several weeks have been very busy. My final day of employment at Santa Fe College (SF) in Gainesville was Friday, Jan. 20. It was a bittersweet moment as I said goodbye to outstanding colleagues and friends who I have gotten to know very well over the past four years. I grew both personally and professionally during my time at SF and am grateful for the experience. My ISS (International Student Services) co-workers organized a wonderful farewell on my last day on campus. It will be difficult to find better colleagues than the people I worked with daily since 2019 and I will miss them very much!
I also said goodbye to the wonderful college town of Gainesville, where I had called home for the past few years. I will miss the beautiful weather of North Central Florida, visiting Depot Park most weekends, tasty Opus Coffee, and above all, knowing that a Publix was always within a short distance.
My departure date is tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 27, with an early morning flight from Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport, but I will not travel directly to Dominican Republic. Instead, I will first go to Miami. Staging begins at 6:45PM on tomorrow evening, with a full day on Tuesday and then we travel as a group to Santo Domingo on Wednesday morning.