host family puppies playing under my bed!
bowl of fresh picked garden peppers!
chicken feet cooking!
Friday, November 27, 2009
fresh oranges from the backyard. they are sweet even though they are green!
pigeon peas that we have shucked. pretty!
health friends!
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health group during swearing in!
This weekend was a flurry of activity! Friday night started off the weekend, as the nearby town of Amacy Picao commenced their 9 day patronales. This is the town’s personal “carnival” in which there are events and dancing every night. Many of us young Guayabans went and danced, danced, danced. Lots of fun. Home at 2am, only to awake at 6am Saturday to go into the city. I specifically needed to buy a new phone, since my main cell phone somehow broke (and doesn’t get reception anyway).However, when I went to the cell phone store and asked how cheap the least expensive phone was, they told me $40US dollars. Heck no!
One thing I always struggle with is transportation into the city every Saturday. We take a local truck (and all pile in the back with bags of cement and chickens) but its always very vague as to when it will pick us up in the morning and when it will leave the city in the afternoon. Sometimes it leaves at 7:30 in the morning, sometimes at 8:15. However, you never know, so you need to be standing at the stop (which is a 20 minute walk to get to) early, just in case. Then, when you finally get to the city and ask the driver, “what time are we leaving” he responds… “hmm..10:30? 11?”. Well the truth is, he doesn’t really leave until 12. But you can never be quite sure, and you certainly don’t want to be left behind (because if you aren’t there when he leaves, you will be left). So, sometimes I waste an hour in the city just waiting for a bus… that leaves at no specific time..from no specific spot in the city (you kinda just wait on the street looking for the truck). Whatever, hopefully I will learn over time.
As we are riding back from the city Saturday afternoon, we stop at a nearby town on the way and pick up 20 Guayabo family members from Santiago (including 7 host family members)! Who knew they were coming (7 extra people to my house)? Not I. Turns out, its voting weekend for the local legislature and everyone returns home to vote. The town of Guayabo was flooded with 20 and 30somethings who had left Guayabo for the city. Everyone was happy.
Then, later Saturday afternoon I was invited by my evangelical priest/project partner to a service at “the castle” at 3:30. I thought this sounded cool, and unknowningly agreed to a service that lasted until 10:30 pm in a town 40 minutes away. There was no castle. The town was actually named castle. This was very unfortunate, as I missed the big Saturday night dance that EVERYONE went to, including all the out-of-towners. The service consisted of a lot of ranting and people fainting with the spirit of Jesus. A bit disheartening, but there will be other dances.
I awoke Sunday morning with a sudden urge to bake. I rustled up some supplies at the colmado in the town over, and decided upon a pumpkin squash-carrot-green leaf bread. Basically flour, sugar, butter and veggies. It also turns out that my host mother has a functioning oven (very rare here). I doubled the recipe and made a big pan. It came out DELICIOUS and was very successful. I then lunched at a neighbor’s house and ended up buying the used phone of my 17-year old friend, Aneudi (crazy names here) for $20. So, moral of the story is that I have a new phone, and a new number. I also have in my possession 4 cell phones (1 Peace Corps phone with no reception, 1 American cell phone, 1 broken cell phone, 1 new/used cell phone).
New number (that has reception in my town!):
809-852-8813
One thing I always struggle with is transportation into the city every Saturday. We take a local truck (and all pile in the back with bags of cement and chickens) but its always very vague as to when it will pick us up in the morning and when it will leave the city in the afternoon. Sometimes it leaves at 7:30 in the morning, sometimes at 8:15. However, you never know, so you need to be standing at the stop (which is a 20 minute walk to get to) early, just in case. Then, when you finally get to the city and ask the driver, “what time are we leaving” he responds… “hmm..10:30? 11?”. Well the truth is, he doesn’t really leave until 12. But you can never be quite sure, and you certainly don’t want to be left behind (because if you aren’t there when he leaves, you will be left). So, sometimes I waste an hour in the city just waiting for a bus… that leaves at no specific time..from no specific spot in the city (you kinda just wait on the street looking for the truck). Whatever, hopefully I will learn over time.
As we are riding back from the city Saturday afternoon, we stop at a nearby town on the way and pick up 20 Guayabo family members from Santiago (including 7 host family members)! Who knew they were coming (7 extra people to my house)? Not I. Turns out, its voting weekend for the local legislature and everyone returns home to vote. The town of Guayabo was flooded with 20 and 30somethings who had left Guayabo for the city. Everyone was happy.
Then, later Saturday afternoon I was invited by my evangelical priest/project partner to a service at “the castle” at 3:30. I thought this sounded cool, and unknowningly agreed to a service that lasted until 10:30 pm in a town 40 minutes away. There was no castle. The town was actually named castle. This was very unfortunate, as I missed the big Saturday night dance that EVERYONE went to, including all the out-of-towners. The service consisted of a lot of ranting and people fainting with the spirit of Jesus. A bit disheartening, but there will be other dances.
I awoke Sunday morning with a sudden urge to bake. I rustled up some supplies at the colmado in the town over, and decided upon a pumpkin squash-carrot-green leaf bread. Basically flour, sugar, butter and veggies. It also turns out that my host mother has a functioning oven (very rare here). I doubled the recipe and made a big pan. It came out DELICIOUS and was very successful. I then lunched at a neighbor’s house and ended up buying the used phone of my 17-year old friend, Aneudi (crazy names here) for $20. So, moral of the story is that I have a new phone, and a new number. I also have in my possession 4 cell phones (1 Peace Corps phone with no reception, 1 American cell phone, 1 broken cell phone, 1 new/used cell phone).
New number (that has reception in my town!):
809-852-8813
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Christmas has arrived here in El Guayabo! Since Thanksgiving is obviously not celebrated here, there is no black Friday to hold the community back from hanging up the wreaths and Christmas lights! As of last week, many neighbors have put out little artificial trees in their homes, wreaths on the door, and one woman even has a talking “Santi Clos” (Santa Claus).We are constructing a small Christmas tree to put in front of the community center (I was going to joke about putting up a menorah for equal representation, but I don’t think my Dominican family would have understood American town-politics).
The one piece of advice we have received from about every current Peace Corps volunteer is to not spend the first Christmas at your site; it’s too depressing. Instead, they recommend going on vacation with other volunteers to celebrate. However, I have only heard amazing things about Christmas and “la noche Buena” (Christmas eve) when all the celebrations occur (dancing until the wee hours). Instead of presents being put in stockings and under the tree, they appear at the foot of the bed! My community is happy that I am staying —we will see how it goes!
In other news, this week also started my English classes! My first class was on Tuesday, and I had 44 students show up at the nearby school for class. This exceeded my cap of 30 students, but I’ve decided not to cap the class—if people want to learn (and aren’t unruly) who I am to turn them away? We learned the alphabet (I sang in front of the class), numbers 1-20 and the calendar in two hours. Thursday I had another 40 students!
One thing that I find very cool about being in a community for 2 years is watching people change. Many of the village kids are in high school, and many will graduate in the next year-2 years. It will be interesting to see where they go, what they do, who they will marry. I feel like a parent (and future empty-nester), but I’ll be staying in the community as many of them leave the community. It’s a weird feeling.
Also, the more time I spend at the local school, the more I realize how much I like teaching youth. I see my El Guayabo youth attend school for 3.5 hours a day and see so much potential that is not being taken advantage of, simply because of the poor Dominican educational system. I asked one of my favorite youth what he wants to do in a year when he graduates. He says he might move to the capital and work at a colmado. I want to shake him and tell him how necessary college is, but if college is expensive and he’s not motivated, nothing will change his mind. It’s a bit disheartening, because he’s very intelligent. Higher-education is not an expectation, as it is for many in the U.S. I realize how lucky I am to have been educated in Wellesley and at Vanderbilt. Looking into the future, I could see myself as a teacher post-Peace Corps, or getting my PH.D and becoming a professor.
Other Updates:
• It’s guandule (pigeon pea) season here! I spend at least an hour a day shucking peas, which end up on my plate every lunch. It’s therapeutic and they are delicious!
• Today I asked one of the community grandmothers (who was born, raised and had 5 children in El Guayabo) how the town has changed in the last 20 years. It appears that basically, all the young people have left and escaped to cities where they are more opportunities (young people don’t want to be poor and farm yucca). There used to be many young families with children, but now just old people and older youth are left. In 40 years will Guayabo be a ghost town?
The one piece of advice we have received from about every current Peace Corps volunteer is to not spend the first Christmas at your site; it’s too depressing. Instead, they recommend going on vacation with other volunteers to celebrate. However, I have only heard amazing things about Christmas and “la noche Buena” (Christmas eve) when all the celebrations occur (dancing until the wee hours). Instead of presents being put in stockings and under the tree, they appear at the foot of the bed! My community is happy that I am staying —we will see how it goes!
In other news, this week also started my English classes! My first class was on Tuesday, and I had 44 students show up at the nearby school for class. This exceeded my cap of 30 students, but I’ve decided not to cap the class—if people want to learn (and aren’t unruly) who I am to turn them away? We learned the alphabet (I sang in front of the class), numbers 1-20 and the calendar in two hours. Thursday I had another 40 students!
One thing that I find very cool about being in a community for 2 years is watching people change. Many of the village kids are in high school, and many will graduate in the next year-2 years. It will be interesting to see where they go, what they do, who they will marry. I feel like a parent (and future empty-nester), but I’ll be staying in the community as many of them leave the community. It’s a weird feeling.
Also, the more time I spend at the local school, the more I realize how much I like teaching youth. I see my El Guayabo youth attend school for 3.5 hours a day and see so much potential that is not being taken advantage of, simply because of the poor Dominican educational system. I asked one of my favorite youth what he wants to do in a year when he graduates. He says he might move to the capital and work at a colmado. I want to shake him and tell him how necessary college is, but if college is expensive and he’s not motivated, nothing will change his mind. It’s a bit disheartening, because he’s very intelligent. Higher-education is not an expectation, as it is for many in the U.S. I realize how lucky I am to have been educated in Wellesley and at Vanderbilt. Looking into the future, I could see myself as a teacher post-Peace Corps, or getting my PH.D and becoming a professor.
Other Updates:
• It’s guandule (pigeon pea) season here! I spend at least an hour a day shucking peas, which end up on my plate every lunch. It’s therapeutic and they are delicious!
• Today I asked one of the community grandmothers (who was born, raised and had 5 children in El Guayabo) how the town has changed in the last 20 years. It appears that basically, all the young people have left and escaped to cities where they are more opportunities (young people don’t want to be poor and farm yucca). There used to be many young families with children, but now just old people and older youth are left. In 40 years will Guayabo be a ghost town?
Today I officially started my community diagnostic! This consists of surveying 100 homes in my 4 communities and basically collecting health stats, which I report to Peace Corps. We are beginning in the farthest town of La Jagua, which only has a grand total of 16 houses (how it can be considered its own “town” I don’t know). The most interesting thing about this town is that the people in this small community have a sing-songy accent not present in neighboring communities. I have no clue how they came to sound the way they do.
This neighboring community is about an hour and 15 minutes walking; luckily we caught the school truck at 7:15 am and got a free ride halfway there. The worst part about the journey is a 20+ minute hill (that we climb back up in the sun at noon). My project partner wanted to get 8 interviews done in a morning, so we would only have to spend 2 days in the community. I had to tell him that this was IMPOSSIBLE knowing how isolated the houses are and how long my survey is (about 100 questions). We accomplished 6 today by noon, which we did moving fast. This was good.
I was gifted: coffee, soda, ripe avocados, fruit and eggs by my many interviewees. Everyone here is so generous!
Other Updates:
• It has monsooned here for the past 3 nights, which is great for the garden. However, all the “roads” (unpaved paths) have been washed out by the rivers making transportation especially tricky. All the paths have been reconfigured with tree limbs, sand and rocks. Motorcycles (really the only form of transportation) can barely ascend the mountain. The school truck had to take an alternate route to reach school. Now I know why the community wants a paved road.
• The other day I was offered ground pig’s foot at a neighbor’s house for dinner. I tried it, thinking that maybe it was seasoned well. It tasted like cold pig skin and smelled like pig. I think it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted.
• I think I’ve mentioned this already, but I find this so interesting: family members in the DR all look completely different. You would never know they were related. There is such a broad range of African heritage, Indian heritage and Spanish heritage that each person has a very distinct set of features (and you never know what a newborn baby will look like!). For instance, my neighbors have two daughters: one would be considered African-American in the U.S. with dark skin, broader facial features and thick, wiry black hair. Her sister, in the U.S., would be classified as Latina owing to her very light skin, straight black hair and fine facial features. My other neighbors have 4 children: 2 very tan, black haired boys, and two very light skinned, brown haired girls. Incredible!
This neighboring community is about an hour and 15 minutes walking; luckily we caught the school truck at 7:15 am and got a free ride halfway there. The worst part about the journey is a 20+ minute hill (that we climb back up in the sun at noon). My project partner wanted to get 8 interviews done in a morning, so we would only have to spend 2 days in the community. I had to tell him that this was IMPOSSIBLE knowing how isolated the houses are and how long my survey is (about 100 questions). We accomplished 6 today by noon, which we did moving fast. This was good.
I was gifted: coffee, soda, ripe avocados, fruit and eggs by my many interviewees. Everyone here is so generous!
Other Updates:
• It has monsooned here for the past 3 nights, which is great for the garden. However, all the “roads” (unpaved paths) have been washed out by the rivers making transportation especially tricky. All the paths have been reconfigured with tree limbs, sand and rocks. Motorcycles (really the only form of transportation) can barely ascend the mountain. The school truck had to take an alternate route to reach school. Now I know why the community wants a paved road.
• The other day I was offered ground pig’s foot at a neighbor’s house for dinner. I tried it, thinking that maybe it was seasoned well. It tasted like cold pig skin and smelled like pig. I think it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted.
• I think I’ve mentioned this already, but I find this so interesting: family members in the DR all look completely different. You would never know they were related. There is such a broad range of African heritage, Indian heritage and Spanish heritage that each person has a very distinct set of features (and you never know what a newborn baby will look like!). For instance, my neighbors have two daughters: one would be considered African-American in the U.S. with dark skin, broader facial features and thick, wiry black hair. Her sister, in the U.S., would be classified as Latina owing to her very light skin, straight black hair and fine facial features. My other neighbors have 4 children: 2 very tan, black haired boys, and two very light skinned, brown haired girls. Incredible!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Yesterday was my English class informational meeting. My 23 year old Dominican friend, Rafalito, and I had advertised my English class to the primary and high schools and the community. I expected about 40 kids to show up. Unexpectedly, 70 students showed up! The ages ranged from 9 years old to 40! The class size is so big that I will be teaching two sections of English each week, in 2 different locations (people walked over 30 minutes to come to the meeting yesterday!). It’s all very exciting. Luckily, my friend Rafalito is currently studying youth social work/education in the university, so he will be helping me teach (and he knows all the kids so it makes things easier!). During the informational meeting we taught the students to say “Hello my name is ______”, the word “soda” and “take it easy”.
I also sat in on an English class at the high school yesterday. I will probably be in the classroom about 2x/week helping teach as well.
I also sat in on an English class at the high school yesterday. I will probably be in the classroom about 2x/week helping teach as well.
Last night was hands-down one of the memorable nights here in the Dominican Republic. It was a Saturday night and there was a “dance” in the nearby town of Palmarejo. It was a political fundraiser for a local candidate, so the cover charge for men was about $4.50 US, while women were free. Although I had heard quite a bit about this “dance” from the young people in my community I had no clue what to expect. Dances here in the DR can range from club-like atmospheres to hanging out at a local colmado. However, all the mothers of the town kept asking me if I liked to dance (of course I responded, yes!) so I suspected there would actually be dancing at this dance.
Well, Saturday afternoon rolls around and all my young female friends (ages 14-19) start getting dolled up. To get in the spirit of things, I had my nails done by the girls (pink with white fireworks) and they helped me choose what to wear – jeans and red heels. At 8pm, my host father motorcycled me to the dance (definite highschool flashbacks). The venue was very much what I would expect a hoe-down in the Midwest to appear like: a large, open dance floor, a live band, and tons of tables/chairs surrounding the dance floor. Slowly but surely people arrived at the dance: some by motorcycle, some by SUV ($$), some by truck-bed (everyone in my town). By 9:30 the place was packed; I would estimate about 150 -200 people to be at the dance. There was “bottle service” which consisted of waiter-like men going from table to table and bringing beer and handles of rum (aged rum, extra aged rum, white rum, classic rum) and corresponding mixers. Was I surprised when my host father (who is the local minister) ordered extra aged rum for the table!
By 10pm the meringue band came on and everyone started dancing. This is what I love about the Dominican Republic: everyone (old, young, men, women) dances. No one stays seated. I was sitting at a table with 15 young people in my community and it was basically a round-robin of dance partners. It was a great way to meet all the young people in my community! Lots of rum was consumed. I barely sat the whole night (everyone wanted to see how the American dances, haha). I learned that meringue is so fun and easy—wearing heels really works the calves. At 2:30am the band wound down (although people still wanted to dance!) and we piled into the back of a truck. The ride back was incredible—a 20 minute ride bouncing on the unpaved path, a sky full of stars, a cool breeze and lots of happy teenagers. After another 10 minute walk up my hill and to bed by 3am!
The next day all the mothers of the town kept commenting.. “Leigh, I heard you like to dance!”. At least they heard positive things. I’ve been told December is the month of dances, so stay tuned.
Other Updates:
• After finding my zip-loc bagged granola infested with ants on 3 separate occasions, I decided it was time to use Tupperware and put the granola in the fridge. We will see if the ants can penetrate that!
• I’ve noticed that El Guayabo has a very strong female community. I think this is due to the more formal gender relationships found here. Women stay around women, men around men. Thus, I’ve found that all the females are very close and comfortable with one another; old and young. It’s a very warm and caring environment. Many days I can be found drinking coffee and gossiping with the women.
• Today I asked two old women if they were sisters; turns out they were mother and daughter. Oops. Hope that wasn’t offensive.
• One difficulty I have found here is my desire to please everyone. Inevitably, community members will give me an idea (that I would like to reject) but instead I just give a noncommittal answer. Examples:
o People who live in the heart of the community: “when three months is up, make sure you move down into a house in our part of the community. You don’t want to be alone up there!” (Have you seen where my house is located? It’s gorgeous!)
Me: “Yeah, we will see, there are a few options”
o My favorite grandma: “when you fall in love here, make sure it’s with a boy from our community. I want a boy from our community going back to the states with you!” (No, I do not plan on falling in love, and no, I am not bringing anyone back with me).
Me: “Haha, sure! Maybe!”
Well, Saturday afternoon rolls around and all my young female friends (ages 14-19) start getting dolled up. To get in the spirit of things, I had my nails done by the girls (pink with white fireworks) and they helped me choose what to wear – jeans and red heels. At 8pm, my host father motorcycled me to the dance (definite highschool flashbacks). The venue was very much what I would expect a hoe-down in the Midwest to appear like: a large, open dance floor, a live band, and tons of tables/chairs surrounding the dance floor. Slowly but surely people arrived at the dance: some by motorcycle, some by SUV ($$), some by truck-bed (everyone in my town). By 9:30 the place was packed; I would estimate about 150 -200 people to be at the dance. There was “bottle service” which consisted of waiter-like men going from table to table and bringing beer and handles of rum (aged rum, extra aged rum, white rum, classic rum) and corresponding mixers. Was I surprised when my host father (who is the local minister) ordered extra aged rum for the table!
By 10pm the meringue band came on and everyone started dancing. This is what I love about the Dominican Republic: everyone (old, young, men, women) dances. No one stays seated. I was sitting at a table with 15 young people in my community and it was basically a round-robin of dance partners. It was a great way to meet all the young people in my community! Lots of rum was consumed. I barely sat the whole night (everyone wanted to see how the American dances, haha). I learned that meringue is so fun and easy—wearing heels really works the calves. At 2:30am the band wound down (although people still wanted to dance!) and we piled into the back of a truck. The ride back was incredible—a 20 minute ride bouncing on the unpaved path, a sky full of stars, a cool breeze and lots of happy teenagers. After another 10 minute walk up my hill and to bed by 3am!
The next day all the mothers of the town kept commenting.. “Leigh, I heard you like to dance!”. At least they heard positive things. I’ve been told December is the month of dances, so stay tuned.
Other Updates:
• After finding my zip-loc bagged granola infested with ants on 3 separate occasions, I decided it was time to use Tupperware and put the granola in the fridge. We will see if the ants can penetrate that!
• I’ve noticed that El Guayabo has a very strong female community. I think this is due to the more formal gender relationships found here. Women stay around women, men around men. Thus, I’ve found that all the females are very close and comfortable with one another; old and young. It’s a very warm and caring environment. Many days I can be found drinking coffee and gossiping with the women.
• Today I asked two old women if they were sisters; turns out they were mother and daughter. Oops. Hope that wasn’t offensive.
• One difficulty I have found here is my desire to please everyone. Inevitably, community members will give me an idea (that I would like to reject) but instead I just give a noncommittal answer. Examples:
o People who live in the heart of the community: “when three months is up, make sure you move down into a house in our part of the community. You don’t want to be alone up there!” (Have you seen where my house is located? It’s gorgeous!)
Me: “Yeah, we will see, there are a few options”
o My favorite grandma: “when you fall in love here, make sure it’s with a boy from our community. I want a boy from our community going back to the states with you!” (No, I do not plan on falling in love, and no, I am not bringing anyone back with me).
Me: “Haha, sure! Maybe!”
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Everyday here is like a pub crawl—with coffee instead of alcohol.
Daily, I walk to some sort of community meeting in a town anywhere from 30 mins-1.5 hours hike up a hill. However, we always leave an hour earlier than we need to because we stop at each house along the way to chat. Inevitably, at every house I am offered coffee, fresh juice, or some food. So, by the time I arrive at the meeting I could have already had 4 cups of coffee from different houses (because you don’t refuse free coffee). I woke up at 6am today for a 9am meeting that didn’t start until 10am. It’s nice to meet so many people but is definitely a tiring experience. One thing is for sure: I will never go hungry or be thirsty.
Today my morning consisted of visiting my 3rd community that I had yet to see; La Jagua. La Jagua is far away, to put it lightly, probably an hour and 20 minute hike up and down hills. Luckily, we caught a free ride on a truck half the way so only had to walk for 40 minutes. I attended a community meeting arranged for me to meet the town leaders. I also had the privilege of meeting a local contact of a NGO called Naturaleza, which is actually a German organization working on reforestation and organic farming in my region. I explained to the town what I will be doing for the next few years, and it seems that our community work will focus around organic farming (in conjunction with Naturaleza)! Pretty exciting! Unfortunately, the village told me they also need a water system and asked me if I could help getting funding/build it. It breaks my heart to have to say “no”, but water projects are immensely complicated and expensive... I am merely a health volunteer, not an engineer! The importance of my hygiene classes seemingly pale in comparison to the need of water in the area…oh well.
My three communities have each taken shape in their needs. It appears that El Guayabo, my home base, will do very well with my youth sex ed class, women’s reproductive health class and economic development. My work in La Jagua will consist of organic family farms, nutrition classes and latrine building. Los Ramones will probably benefit from a healthy homes class and possible animal projects. It will definitely be a busy two years.
Daily, I walk to some sort of community meeting in a town anywhere from 30 mins-1.5 hours hike up a hill. However, we always leave an hour earlier than we need to because we stop at each house along the way to chat. Inevitably, at every house I am offered coffee, fresh juice, or some food. So, by the time I arrive at the meeting I could have already had 4 cups of coffee from different houses (because you don’t refuse free coffee). I woke up at 6am today for a 9am meeting that didn’t start until 10am. It’s nice to meet so many people but is definitely a tiring experience. One thing is for sure: I will never go hungry or be thirsty.
Today my morning consisted of visiting my 3rd community that I had yet to see; La Jagua. La Jagua is far away, to put it lightly, probably an hour and 20 minute hike up and down hills. Luckily, we caught a free ride on a truck half the way so only had to walk for 40 minutes. I attended a community meeting arranged for me to meet the town leaders. I also had the privilege of meeting a local contact of a NGO called Naturaleza, which is actually a German organization working on reforestation and organic farming in my region. I explained to the town what I will be doing for the next few years, and it seems that our community work will focus around organic farming (in conjunction with Naturaleza)! Pretty exciting! Unfortunately, the village told me they also need a water system and asked me if I could help getting funding/build it. It breaks my heart to have to say “no”, but water projects are immensely complicated and expensive... I am merely a health volunteer, not an engineer! The importance of my hygiene classes seemingly pale in comparison to the need of water in the area…oh well.
My three communities have each taken shape in their needs. It appears that El Guayabo, my home base, will do very well with my youth sex ed class, women’s reproductive health class and economic development. My work in La Jagua will consist of organic family farms, nutrition classes and latrine building. Los Ramones will probably benefit from a healthy homes class and possible animal projects. It will definitely be a busy two years.
Recently I have realized how “un-island-like” the Dominican Republic is. Until I arrived, I fostered an image of the DR having a very Jamaican “island culture”, with bright patterned clothing, lots of seafood, spicy sauces and everything beach-related. However, in reality, I would never know I was on a Caribbean Island if I hadn’t flown here. I eat canned sardines, wear knock-off American brand clothing and eat NOTHING spicy (Dominicans hate spicy food—good thing I brought my Blind Betty’s hot sauce). Large cities here such as Santo Domingo and Santiago appear like Latin New York barrios. I have been somewhat disappointed by the lack of large open-air markets and reggae tunes... the DR seems much more Central American than Caribbean. Overall, it’s interesting to see how culture predominates over location.
In other news, today has been very productive! I ventured into town this morning to speak with the doctor at the rural clinic about my plans for the next few months. He is very open to collaboration and even wants to use my community diagnostic to help with the clinic’s records! He is very proactive. It also turns out there are 10 health promoters in the area. I need to find out more about these promoters so I can utilize them myself!
I also visited the school to talk about teaching English and possible resources that the school can provide. After 2 hours of talking to students and teachers, it’s been determined that I will be teaching English 2x a week for the next 10 weeks on my own. I will also be helping 2 mornings a week in the school’s classrooms teaching English. Whew—I have my work cut out for me, especially because I don’t know how to teach English.
Other Updates:
• Today I discovered the wonder that is Microsoft Outlook (minus the email function). I love the calendar and tasks functions (and am about 10 years behind everyone else in terms of using this program)!!
• Today in the village I met a Dominican woman who has lived on Long Island for the past 35 years and had returned to visit family. She was decked out in a pink jumpsuit and was wearing Dolce and Gabbana knockoff accessories. We spoke English (and her English has a Long Island accent..) and she complained about missing McDonalds coffee. She also asked me if I could get her mother in the village a “diabetes machine”. I told her no I couldn’t, and she replied “don’t worry, I can get one for free from my primary care provider in the states. I’m coming back down to visit next month anyway”. This made me laugh.
• My first “food purchase” for myself at home in Guayabo consisted of: imported Raspberry Preserves, Quaker Granola and a ½ gallon of strawberry yogurt. It cost $16 US dollars. Very pricey, but totally worth it!
• Interestingly, I have seen no alcohol at any community events, birthday parties or dinners in my community. I don’t know if that is because my community is religious or alcohol is expensive.
In other news, today has been very productive! I ventured into town this morning to speak with the doctor at the rural clinic about my plans for the next few months. He is very open to collaboration and even wants to use my community diagnostic to help with the clinic’s records! He is very proactive. It also turns out there are 10 health promoters in the area. I need to find out more about these promoters so I can utilize them myself!
I also visited the school to talk about teaching English and possible resources that the school can provide. After 2 hours of talking to students and teachers, it’s been determined that I will be teaching English 2x a week for the next 10 weeks on my own. I will also be helping 2 mornings a week in the school’s classrooms teaching English. Whew—I have my work cut out for me, especially because I don’t know how to teach English.
Other Updates:
• Today I discovered the wonder that is Microsoft Outlook (minus the email function). I love the calendar and tasks functions (and am about 10 years behind everyone else in terms of using this program)!!
• Today in the village I met a Dominican woman who has lived on Long Island for the past 35 years and had returned to visit family. She was decked out in a pink jumpsuit and was wearing Dolce and Gabbana knockoff accessories. We spoke English (and her English has a Long Island accent..) and she complained about missing McDonalds coffee. She also asked me if I could get her mother in the village a “diabetes machine”. I told her no I couldn’t, and she replied “don’t worry, I can get one for free from my primary care provider in the states. I’m coming back down to visit next month anyway”. This made me laugh.
• My first “food purchase” for myself at home in Guayabo consisted of: imported Raspberry Preserves, Quaker Granola and a ½ gallon of strawberry yogurt. It cost $16 US dollars. Very pricey, but totally worth it!
• Interestingly, I have seen no alcohol at any community events, birthday parties or dinners in my community. I don’t know if that is because my community is religious or alcohol is expensive.
One Big Mac, two busses, 8 phone calls, 400 pesos and one motorcycle ride up the mountain at sunset later and I’m back in the countryside! It is nice to be settled; all my worldly possessions are finally in one location and I am no longer living out of a suitcase (nor do I need to schlep stuff around on public transportation). However you quickly realize how much stuff you collect over a period of 2 months in a new country… my small room barely fits all my suitcases, clothes, manuals and cooking supplies!
As always, El Guayabo is cool and calm. This next week is basically a freebie week, in which I adjust to my final community and start planning for the next 3 months (and wait for my Health director to come to my site and confirm everything’s okay). Then, I will start my community diagnostic which is primarily composed of 100 home visits and lots of meetings with community groups to see what the health needs of the community are (although most of the people I have talked to have hinted they need help with economic development…not health. So, I may also be doubling as a community economic development volunteer).
Unfortunately, I have found out that while my new Tricom (Sprint) phone receives signal in my yard, it somehow cannot send nor receive any “data”… which makes it worthless. The only place I have found service yet is in a nearby community an hour hike away. A bit inconvenient. So, I’m going to see how cheap an Orange plan is this weekend in Santiago Rodriguez. Depending, I may switch to yet a third phone service... I will keep you all updated!
My most marked activity yet has been the daily 5pm Catholic prayer sessions I have been attending (host parents are very catholic). I sit through the informal neighborhood get-togethers mainly composed of older women, in which we sing a few songs, say 50 Hail Mary’s on rosaries and recall the mysteries of the virgin. It’s actually pretty interesting, as I know nothing about Catholicism or the cult of the Virgin. It’s basically a time of group meditation, which I personally find to be pretty relaxing. And, it’s a good way to gain trust with the women (and get out of the house).
Other Updates:
• I officially have a Dominican bank account! I am actually in charge of my own spending (the $350/month I make to cover food/housing/living expenses)!
• My sleeping bag is now a permanent fixture on my bed! The cold at night is magnificent!
• I have developed allergies to one of the many plants here. Boo.
• I rode my first burro. It was slow and smelly. While it is good at carrying goods to market, it will not be carrying me again.
As always, El Guayabo is cool and calm. This next week is basically a freebie week, in which I adjust to my final community and start planning for the next 3 months (and wait for my Health director to come to my site and confirm everything’s okay). Then, I will start my community diagnostic which is primarily composed of 100 home visits and lots of meetings with community groups to see what the health needs of the community are (although most of the people I have talked to have hinted they need help with economic development…not health. So, I may also be doubling as a community economic development volunteer).
Unfortunately, I have found out that while my new Tricom (Sprint) phone receives signal in my yard, it somehow cannot send nor receive any “data”… which makes it worthless. The only place I have found service yet is in a nearby community an hour hike away. A bit inconvenient. So, I’m going to see how cheap an Orange plan is this weekend in Santiago Rodriguez. Depending, I may switch to yet a third phone service... I will keep you all updated!
My most marked activity yet has been the daily 5pm Catholic prayer sessions I have been attending (host parents are very catholic). I sit through the informal neighborhood get-togethers mainly composed of older women, in which we sing a few songs, say 50 Hail Mary’s on rosaries and recall the mysteries of the virgin. It’s actually pretty interesting, as I know nothing about Catholicism or the cult of the Virgin. It’s basically a time of group meditation, which I personally find to be pretty relaxing. And, it’s a good way to gain trust with the women (and get out of the house).
Other Updates:
• I officially have a Dominican bank account! I am actually in charge of my own spending (the $350/month I make to cover food/housing/living expenses)!
• My sleeping bag is now a permanent fixture on my bed! The cold at night is magnificent!
• I have developed allergies to one of the many plants here. Boo.
• I rode my first burro. It was slow and smelly. While it is good at carrying goods to market, it will not be carrying me again.
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