I'm off!

Two days after I began the search for a community map of Los Naranjo, I’ve finally figured it out; no such map exists. Within a few hours of turning in my painstakingly edited letter to CELIR, I was sent an email from the director recommending that I take my request to the Sub-secretary of Lands. To make a long story short, I went to a new building, started on the 8^th floor, got sent to the 5^th then the 11^th, then back to the 5^th. The phrase, “I was just there, they told me to come here,” became far too familiar. I returned one last time to the 11^th floor this morning, only to be informed that the government has never mapped Los Naranjo.

Tomorrow I'll bus the four hours to Santo Domingo, then another hour with Guadalupe to the village. She'll introduce me to the community and I'll get my host family. Then I can start!