Almost a year!!!

April:

My boss came to visit my site in mid April. She said everything is going great, and she was happy with my projects. 

The Shakira concert was a disappointment.  We were too far away in the stands. As you all know, the real reason to go to a Shakira concert is to see her dance! There were some technical difficulties as well.  Pitbull opened for her but she didn’t come on until 11pm. It was still fun to get together with everyone in the capital. 

April 1-3 I got SCUBA certified! It was incredible.  I went to 60 ft and saw beautiful reefs and a wreck.  I can’t wait to dive again. 

This weekend is Bola Race.  A bola is a free ride… We will meet in Santiago on Friday and then Saturday morning we find out the final destination. We have to get to there without paying and we can’t say we are Peace Corps Volunteers, since this is not an official PC event. 

The new volunteers are swearing in next month so we will no longer be the new group.  I am really excited to meet the Environment volunteer who is going to be living 10 minutes from me.  My community is eager as well since they are very interested in starting some stove projects here.

May

Bola was really fun! We had to go from Santiago to Samana.  Doug and I decided we were scientists who sailed from Boston to study the Lion Fish that resides in the reefs here.  Our boat got blown off course and we ended up in Santo Domingo instead of Samana.  We had no money and no way of contacting our fellow scientists so we needed to get to Samana quickly and for free.  In total we got 11 rides.  Everyone was so nice and willing to help us. Some guy even paid for a bus trip… we of course felt bad about taking his money and karma struck because as we were getting out of his car my finger got slammed in the car door and broke.  I didn’t get an x-ray until three days later. My first ever broken bone!!!   But eventually we made it and had a great time at a beautiful beach. 

August 15, 2011

Almost at the year mark and I have been terrible at keeping up with my Blog! This summer has been hot! The first half started out slowly.  When school ended some of my groups fell apart and I wasn’t doing a whole lot.  In July things picked up.  Right now I have an English class on Tuesday’s and Fridays, Chica’s Brillantes (Girls group) Monday’s and Thursday’s, and on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s I teach a sex-ed/HIV/pregnancy prevention course.   Quality of life went up as soon as the wet season hit and I had access to water every day instead of every three days.  However with the rain also came the mosquitos. I’ve looked as though I have chicken pox for the last few months. Quality of life also went up when Mom and Dad sent me some “remesas” (remittances) so I could buy a refrigerator.  It is so nice to have a glass of cold water and cook my own food. This past Saturday Doug had a dinner party at his house and invited everyone who lives around us- including myself, Andy, Robin and Stephanie, a French girl who is living in Los Cacaos working on her thesis on agriculture.   We made a salad, and used the Chicken Tikka Masala spices that grandma Judy sent (THANKS!!!)  it was AMAZING!  La Sirena (the grocery store in San Cristobal) had Basmati rice so we got to have our first taste in almost a year of Indian food.  We had also made a flan for desert.  It’s nice to be able to get together and have a nice dinner and listen to friends play their guitars.  A little reminder of home.  What else…  I got a cat!!!  He is all black and I named him Theo.  He found a girlfriend who now also lives in my house and eats all his food. Once she started sleeping here every night I decided I had the right to claim her and so I named her Alice. 

To back up a little and catch everyone up from the last few months I want to say that I had an amazing time in June when Amanda, Ashley, Elana, Kristin and Lori came down to visit for 5 days.  We stayed in a villa in Bavaro near Punta Cana.  The weather looked a little if-y due to a hurricane warning that was issued that same week but as it turned out excluding the first day, the weather for the trip was great.  We went twice to the Barcelo resort which had pools and all you can drink/eat. It was so nice to see them. I’ve gone scuba diving a few times since my last update. I was took a scientific diving course where we learned to use cameras underwater and how to evaluate the conditions of coral reefs and monitor diseases and any destruction caused by pollution or boats or other divers. We also took a rescue diver course and I can administer O^2 in an emergency situation.  In order to get my official Scientific Diver certification I need at least 25 dives and up-to-date CPR. 

For the fourth of July I went to Bayahibe with some other youth volunteers.  It was nice to be in a smaller group but it was cloudy so we didn’t get to take advantage of the beach. The night of the fourth the nearby resort set off fireworks.  The last week of July was Camp GLOW.  I took two girls from my Chica’s group to a five day girl’s camp in Yaguate, San Cristobal at the Rancho Ecologico El Campeche.  It is a beautiful camp with cabins and a pool.   The girls had a great time and participated in workshops, art activities and sports games all while getting the chance to leave the campo which they otherwise rarely get to do. Over twenty volunteers participated and brought their own girls.  I gave a workshop on self-esteem and taught the girls how to make friendship bracelets. Each girl was given a sheet with twenty characteristics on it and they had to circle the four that best pertained to them.  Each characteristic had a corresponding color; the girls made the bracelets with the colors that corresponding trait.

Upcoming events- I was made VAC (Volunteer Action committee) co-coordinator for Region 6, and have two meetings this week on the 16^th and 17^th with the other regional coordinators and the Country Director.  We have a post-GLOW meeting on the 17^th to discuss what went well and what didn’t go so well this year at camp to plan for next year.  The 18^th I am going to get my residency/ green card. As far as projects go, I hope to graduate my Escojo Mi Vida (sex-ed) group in three weeks.  After graduation I want at least two or three of the really motivated kids to help me start a second Escojo group. I still have a while to go before graduating my English class but this new group is a lot better than my first class.  Part of that is because I make it more interesting and I hold class twice a week.  Chica’s just started up again and we are going to graduate at the end of September if all goes according to plan (which it never does). I am trying to work with Andy, the new Environment volunteer who lives near me, on a stove project in the coming months. The tubes finally got here and my community is starting the aqueduct. Doug and I are trying to build a library in the government building in Los Cacaos but only 4 people showed up to our informative meeting last week.  As we have all learned, you shouldn’t start a project if you don’t have a lot of community support. The community needs to feel, and be, invested or the project will fall when the volunteer leaves.  Thanks for the packages as always.  Keep the trail mix, granola bars, oatmeal and Thai food coming, and don’t hesitate to send good books or magazines.  Love and miss you!

Same blog... new name

Yes I changed the name of my blog. Not once have I heard a Dominican use the word "vivencia",  and none of the streets where I live have names.  And I love U2.
Updates coming soon!

Sept 22: Ok did it again. Also love the Counting Crows.

Life updates since January.

January was somewhat uneventful except for a weekend in the capital when I went with some friends to see Harry Potter.  February 1-5 was our three month In-Service-Training.   We had to bring someone from our community to give a presentation to our supervisors. I brought Iris, an 18 year old who is my “project partner.” However she no longer lives here in El Guineo because she is attending University and now lives in San Cristobal.  Our presentation went well and it was fun to spend time with the Youth crew since we hadn’t been together like that since CBT which ended in October.   After IST I went to San Rafael, a beach town in the south near the city of Barahona. The beach was beautiful but the water was really rough and the beach was made of stones and not sand making swimming very uncomfortable.  I had to use my life guarding skills with my friend KT when we were having trouble getting out of the ocean, luckily another volunteer who is an experienced surfer was there to help her get out safely. 

February 18-20 I took two girls from my community to a girl’s camp in Campeche.  There they attended different charlas (talks) and were able to make masks for Carnaval and one night we even made smores.  I think they had a good time.

On the 25^th Eileen Ward came to visit me for a few days.  I was so excited to have my first visitor (especially one I hadn’t seen in two years!) Eileen was one of my roommates senior year at Miami who now lives in Chicago.  The first day she got we went out and had hamburgers then went to a hookah bar in the capital and stayed at a hostel.  The next day she went to the Embassy and hung out at the pool while I attended some meetings at the Peace Corps office. Then we went to Supermercado Nacional.  For me it was as if I had been transported back to a Whole Foods in the states. I hadn’t seen such gloriousness in so long.  Eileen bought sandwich fixings which I couldn’t dream of being able to afford and I mooched off her delicious turkey and cheese!  The purpose of our visit to Supermercado Nacional was to buy Shakira tickets!  Yes… I am going to see The She Wolf herself March 30^th!  That night we went home early from being out with friends because we were tired from the night before.

On Sunday Eileen and I went with Libby, Phoebe, Dan and Sarita to Juan Dolio (a nice beach east of Santo Domingo).  The beach was pretty crowded because it was Carnaval and independence day.  That night we went to an Italian restaurant and watched a movie. The next day we spent on the beach.  It was much less crowded and the water was amazing. That night Eileen treated me to a romantic dinner on the beach and we watched another movie.  The next morning we went back to the beach for a few hours before she had to get to the airport.  It was so nice to see her I only wish she could have stayed longer to come see my site. 

Now I am going to talk a little about what it is I am working on here in the campo.  First up is my new house!  I have spent the last month paining (thanks Dad for teaching me the correct way to paint because no one here knows how and they all think I’m some sort of master painter).  My house is half cement block and half wood with a tin roof.  I bought a bed, a dresser, a stove, a plastic table and four plastic chairs and a gas tank.  Then I also had to buy dishes, pots, pans, gas, silverware, towels, cups, etc.  Still missing a mini fridge which is 8,000 pesos so if anyone wants to be Dominican and send remittances that would be great.  (“Tens and twenties… all I want is what I have coming to me… all I want is my fair share”)

My doña came over for the first time yesterday and helped” me organize.  She made me promise that I wouldn’t leave the house at night to go to the latrine (about 15 yards away) and she took one of my empty paint cans and used a knife to scrape out the old paint and told me I had to pee in the bucket at night (which I did last night…twice!)  It was pretty weird to carry a bucket of urine to the latrine in the morning.  The dueño of my house still needs to fix the light fixtures and install a light switch. Right now I have to unscrew the lights to turn them off at night. 

On Tuesday I had my first Club Tecnológico meeting with 12 boys.  They came to my house and we built newspaper towers.  They had to compete to see who could build the strongest highest tower with just newspaper and masking tape.  They learned that a triangle is the strongest shape.  Next week we are going to build bridges out of Popsicle sticks.  Thursday I had my first Chicas Brillantes meeting with 13 girls. We made friendship bracelets to represent the group.  I made a list of characteristics and each girl had to chose the four that they felt best represented them.  Then I told them that each characteristic had a corresponding color and they were to make the bracelets out of those colors.  Some of them did a great job and others couldn’t get the hang of the stitch.  I will be repeating this activity with 60 girls at the Chicas summer camp in June so it was good to have a practice round.  

I have given up on baseball since the only place to play is in the street which is not only dangerous because all the motos and trucks speed by, but also the ball frequently gets hit over the cliff.  I have switched to soccer which has been awesome.  I try to do a little bit of drills before we scrimmage but the kids get restless.  (The Dominican Republic might be the only country in Latin America that plays baseball instead of soccer so I have been really interesting to watch the kids learn to play.)  I use old field hockey drills since I can’t remember my middle school MSI days very well.  We play every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2-4pm.  Monday- Thursday from 6-7:30 five of my neighbors (boys 7-12) come over to draw me pictures. 

Anyway hope you feel updated.  Thanks to Eileen for coming to visit!  And for everyone who has sent packages! (It’s like Christmas once a month!!)

Love to all!

Christmas- New Year’s Eve- Present

Christmas Eve was very eventful.  I played some baseball and hit some “ron rons”.  Then Martha called me in to help with dinner preparations. This meant making a delicious seasoning to put on the chicken.  I mashed some garlic with lots of other campo spices and had to put this all over three freshly killed chickens (not something you’d find a Giant nicely cleaned and in plastic wrap).  Martha wanted to bake the chickens and as it turned out had never prepared chicken this way before.  So I turned on the oven… and a mouse crawled out.  Martha proceeded to grab it and kill it then grab my arm.  I was more horrified at the fact she had raw chicken hands.  The chickens took forever to cook but the dinner was delicious.  I baked some chocolate chip cookies.  Later that night I went to the gift exchange where I got a purple shirt with rhinestones that is way too tight (super Dominican).  The next day (Christmas Day) was just an ordinary day here in the campo. In the morning I Skyped with my family while they were opening presents and having breakfast.  I felt more as though I were watching a movie than missing out.   For New Year’s Eve I went with some friends to Cabarete in the north of the country.  I spent NYE day sailing a catamaran and drinking Cuba libres on the beach.  That night there were tons of tents set up on the beach playing music and at midnight there were fireworks. 

I got back to my site on the 2^nd and on the 4^th my host dad was rushed to the hospital with high blood pressure and might have had a minor heart attack.  He and my host mom are still there and gracias a dios he is doing much better.  I went to visit him yesterday.  The hospital was a total disaster.  There had just been a car accident and there were people in the waiting area bleeding and there were blood stains on gurneys and every time one rolled down the hall everyone would rush to the window to see if the person was dead.  Every five minutes a new evangelical person would come into the room and try to save our souls.  I was ready to leave after thirty minutes but we stayed for over five hours.  My host parents expect to be back tomorrow.  I have had the house to myself for the last week.  The first few days I was taking care of my host brothers but they went to stay with their mother.  The neighbors bring me food and are super concerned that I am sleeping alone and keep trying to send some neighborhood kid to come stay with me.  Dominicans do not sleep alone.  Not just in the house or even in the room.  They sleep 2-3-4-5 to a bed because they don’t like to be alone.  I on the other hand HATE sleeping in the same room as people (loathe hostels).  I have to keep reminding everyone that I lived on my own before I got here and I will live alone in two or three weeks.  Speaking of!  My house is coming along very nicely.  As soon as my host family situation is back to normal I am going to go buy everything I need. 

I am headed to the capital on Friday to see Harry Potter finally.  The first week of February is my three-month in service training where I will be giving a presentation of the community diagnostic I have been conducting the last three months and when we learn about all the grants available to volunteers.  English class has been going well. Everyone can introduce themselves in English which is a good place to start.  Other than English all day Sunday I play baseball all the time and have actually convinced the boys to let the girls play too (since I refuse to play if they aren’t included.. and well I’m pretty much an All Star). I’m getting over my third round of gripe and am making good use of the Smart Wool socks Nana and Poppy sent!   Hope all is well and everyone had a nice holiday and Happy New Year!  As always, keep sending updates. I love getting mail electronic and snail even if it takes weeks to arrive.  

PS: Host family just arrived home.  There are a million people in the house but glad he is ok!