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!