our water system (PVC tubes) trailing through the jungle. river crabs!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Who knew Valentines Day was so important? Well, to begin, Valentines Day in the Dominican Republic is called “the day of love and friendship”. Is it called that in the US? I don’t think so. At least in our community, Valentines Day emphasizes neighborly love and friendship.
Everyone in the community greeted each other with well-wishes, happiness and compliments throughout the day. Everyone wore red. You would have thought it was Christmas/the new year or something. While no couples went on dates or had special dinners (1. because there is no place to go, 2. we are poor, 3. I just don’t think it’s a tradition here), we also had a large celebration in the community center (like, as large as the Christmas celebration) that consisted of a secret-santa type gift giving, jokes, reflections on love, and opportunities for husbands/wives/friends to profess their love for one another. A lot of the bible was tied in with the reflections on love. We finished off the celebration with empanadas and soda. Overall a great celebration.
However, I did not find this emphasis on love to be out of place in the Dominican culture. The more time I have spent here, the more I’ve realized that my community (if not Dominican culture in general) is obsessed with love. People LOVE weddings and boyfriends/girlfriends and they use the word “enamorarse” (to fall in love/to be in love) daily in contexts that Americans would not. It is not unusual for young Dominicans to get married within a few months of dating. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been told at least 20 times that I should be married/will be getting married soon. So, I probably should have guessed that the Valentines Day celebration would be big.
Other Updates:
• Turns out, the rat poison worked! I came home one day to a bunch of dead flies around my bed. I confused, since I hadn’t sprayed any RAID. My host mother, being very intelligent, pulled my bed away from the wall, and there, decomposing under my bed was a huge 8” rat. The flies had eaten the poisoned rat and died. Weirdly enough, the rat didn’t smell (thank god). My boyfriend buried the rat and we mopped thoroughly. Alls well that ends well (except for the nightmares the following night about rats in my bed).
Everyone in the community greeted each other with well-wishes, happiness and compliments throughout the day. Everyone wore red. You would have thought it was Christmas/the new year or something. While no couples went on dates or had special dinners (1. because there is no place to go, 2. we are poor, 3. I just don’t think it’s a tradition here), we also had a large celebration in the community center (like, as large as the Christmas celebration) that consisted of a secret-santa type gift giving, jokes, reflections on love, and opportunities for husbands/wives/friends to profess their love for one another. A lot of the bible was tied in with the reflections on love. We finished off the celebration with empanadas and soda. Overall a great celebration.
However, I did not find this emphasis on love to be out of place in the Dominican culture. The more time I have spent here, the more I’ve realized that my community (if not Dominican culture in general) is obsessed with love. People LOVE weddings and boyfriends/girlfriends and they use the word “enamorarse” (to fall in love/to be in love) daily in contexts that Americans would not. It is not unusual for young Dominicans to get married within a few months of dating. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been told at least 20 times that I should be married/will be getting married soon. So, I probably should have guessed that the Valentines Day celebration would be big.
Other Updates:
• Turns out, the rat poison worked! I came home one day to a bunch of dead flies around my bed. I confused, since I hadn’t sprayed any RAID. My host mother, being very intelligent, pulled my bed away from the wall, and there, decomposing under my bed was a huge 8” rat. The flies had eaten the poisoned rat and died. Weirdly enough, the rat didn’t smell (thank god). My boyfriend buried the rat and we mopped thoroughly. Alls well that ends well (except for the nightmares the following night about rats in my bed).
So, what have I been up to these last two weeks? Lots.
This past week was my 3-month Peace Corps Conference that consisted of 3 days of workshops with the 16 water + health volunteers and our project partners. We created visions, wrote plans for the next two years, learned about grant writing and watched movies, made smores and played capture the flag. This all took place in beautiful Jarabacoa, a city in the northwest mountains (also a big tourist city, known for its white-water rafting and proximity to Pico Duarte—the highest mountain in the Caribbean). Very outdoorsy. Obviously, it was fantastic to see all the volunteers in one location—we openly discussed successes and problems in our respective communities. It was also highly refreshing to speak in English and chill out a bit…
My individual presentation with my project partner at the conference went very well. The more and more I heard from water volunteers about their aqueduct projects, the more and more I realized that one of my main projects in El Guayabo will be completely re-doing the aqueduct. Luckily, the water volunteers have volunteered to come to my visit to help design the new water system (I think the current system can be more efficient). Don’t worry, I will be soliciting money from you all soon!
Today I presented my conference presentation to the community. The main purpose was to inform the community about my actual “job” here, and to let them know about the classes and various projects I will be accomplishing in the next 2 years. I think they really appreciated the presentation and many of the community members stood up to thank me for my presence in the community. It was very humbling.
Are you curious about my future plans here? Well, here is what my presentation ultimately concluded:
CLASSES (each 12 weeks)
1. Nutrition class
2. Women’s reproductive health class
3. Youth group/class about healthy decision making/sex ed
From these classes I will be picking the “star students” to become health promoters in each of these areas. I also have 4 communities to have these classes in.. which makes things more difficult in terms of timing/logistics/trying to include everyone.
SECONDARY PROJECTS (each requiring raising money)
1. Healthy stoves
2. Installing water filters
3. Redoing the aqueduct
4. Building home gardens
Also, all communities want these projects, which is impossible. Stay tuned.
Also, this upcoming week is full of activities! I will have informational meetings about 2 nutrition classes I am starting and a sex-ed class for youth. As well, there is a regional governmental health promoter training and 2 english classes! Top that with two women’s meetings! Tomorrow is Valentines Day, and the adults in the community are having a gift exchange. It should be fun—who doesn’t like to receive gifts?
In Other News:
• The tomatoes in the garden are in bloom! Time to brainstorm all the different ways I can use tomatoes in the next week before they go bad (already made a great tomato sauce).
• My puppy, Florencia, has opened her eyes! And, she is beginning to waddle (and is very fat).
• A large rat has entered my little shack. We will see if it is any match for rat venom.
This past week was my 3-month Peace Corps Conference that consisted of 3 days of workshops with the 16 water + health volunteers and our project partners. We created visions, wrote plans for the next two years, learned about grant writing and watched movies, made smores and played capture the flag. This all took place in beautiful Jarabacoa, a city in the northwest mountains (also a big tourist city, known for its white-water rafting and proximity to Pico Duarte—the highest mountain in the Caribbean). Very outdoorsy. Obviously, it was fantastic to see all the volunteers in one location—we openly discussed successes and problems in our respective communities. It was also highly refreshing to speak in English and chill out a bit…
My individual presentation with my project partner at the conference went very well. The more and more I heard from water volunteers about their aqueduct projects, the more and more I realized that one of my main projects in El Guayabo will be completely re-doing the aqueduct. Luckily, the water volunteers have volunteered to come to my visit to help design the new water system (I think the current system can be more efficient). Don’t worry, I will be soliciting money from you all soon!
Today I presented my conference presentation to the community. The main purpose was to inform the community about my actual “job” here, and to let them know about the classes and various projects I will be accomplishing in the next 2 years. I think they really appreciated the presentation and many of the community members stood up to thank me for my presence in the community. It was very humbling.
Are you curious about my future plans here? Well, here is what my presentation ultimately concluded:
CLASSES (each 12 weeks)
1. Nutrition class
2. Women’s reproductive health class
3. Youth group/class about healthy decision making/sex ed
From these classes I will be picking the “star students” to become health promoters in each of these areas. I also have 4 communities to have these classes in.. which makes things more difficult in terms of timing/logistics/trying to include everyone.
SECONDARY PROJECTS (each requiring raising money)
1. Healthy stoves
2. Installing water filters
3. Redoing the aqueduct
4. Building home gardens
Also, all communities want these projects, which is impossible. Stay tuned.
Also, this upcoming week is full of activities! I will have informational meetings about 2 nutrition classes I am starting and a sex-ed class for youth. As well, there is a regional governmental health promoter training and 2 english classes! Top that with two women’s meetings! Tomorrow is Valentines Day, and the adults in the community are having a gift exchange. It should be fun—who doesn’t like to receive gifts?
In Other News:
• The tomatoes in the garden are in bloom! Time to brainstorm all the different ways I can use tomatoes in the next week before they go bad (already made a great tomato sauce).
• My puppy, Florencia, has opened her eyes! And, she is beginning to waddle (and is very fat).
• A large rat has entered my little shack. We will see if it is any match for rat venom.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Well, yesterday marked the first day of the rest of my time here as a proud home-owner (or, rather, renter). I decided yesterday that I would start moving “suitcase by suitcase”, believing that within a few days I would be fully occupying the casita. However, things moved more quickly than anticipated and within 3 hours, with the help of a few young people, I was fully moved in! I realized at this point how little I actually had to fill a space of my own.
People, generous as always, facilitated the easy move. Rafalito built some extra shelves, hammered in a few nails to hang things, and cut down a branch to install as an extension rod with which to hang my clothes. Daisy donated a clothes hamper. Araselis gave me some shoeboxes to store things in. Jani helped me fashioned a bedside table out of an empty box.
After 3 different host families and 6 months of living with other people (and thus being constantly concerned about behavior/inconveniencing others), I FINALLY HAVE MY OWN SPACE! It feels wonderful. My little casita constantly has a beautiful cross-breeze and lots of light. When I woke up to go to the bathroom last night I didn’t have to worry about waking anyone! And, I could sleep as late as I wanted to without being disturbed! The only thing lacking is the garden at the new home. Not so bountiful. I think I will pay my old host-family a bit of money a week to steal some of their vegetables—small in the scheme of things.
Within a day I have also realized the necessity of having my own stove. The new house I am living at doesn’t consistently have gas for their stove (they use an open-fire outside to cook with instead). I originally thought I would hold off with buying a stove until the new house was built, but I don’t think I can last that long! I will start looking into pricing within the next week.
In other news, Florencia is getting fatter and bigger! She is lucky to be the only puppy; she gets all the milk!
I also tried to make banana cookies today. However, as has happened with the past 2 batches, the cookies have come out soupy and flat. What is going on?! However, yesterday I made the best chicken lettuce wraps! I made a simple sauce out of soy sauce, peanut butter, sugar and vinegar and stirfried cabbage, carrots, chicken and peanuts. Wrap it all up in some fresh lettuce. Delish.
Well, I’m currently in town buying a few more items for the casita and preparing for #8 english class. Wish me luck!
People, generous as always, facilitated the easy move. Rafalito built some extra shelves, hammered in a few nails to hang things, and cut down a branch to install as an extension rod with which to hang my clothes. Daisy donated a clothes hamper. Araselis gave me some shoeboxes to store things in. Jani helped me fashioned a bedside table out of an empty box.
After 3 different host families and 6 months of living with other people (and thus being constantly concerned about behavior/inconveniencing others), I FINALLY HAVE MY OWN SPACE! It feels wonderful. My little casita constantly has a beautiful cross-breeze and lots of light. When I woke up to go to the bathroom last night I didn’t have to worry about waking anyone! And, I could sleep as late as I wanted to without being disturbed! The only thing lacking is the garden at the new home. Not so bountiful. I think I will pay my old host-family a bit of money a week to steal some of their vegetables—small in the scheme of things.
Within a day I have also realized the necessity of having my own stove. The new house I am living at doesn’t consistently have gas for their stove (they use an open-fire outside to cook with instead). I originally thought I would hold off with buying a stove until the new house was built, but I don’t think I can last that long! I will start looking into pricing within the next week.
In other news, Florencia is getting fatter and bigger! She is lucky to be the only puppy; she gets all the milk!
I also tried to make banana cookies today. However, as has happened with the past 2 batches, the cookies have come out soupy and flat. What is going on?! However, yesterday I made the best chicken lettuce wraps! I made a simple sauce out of soy sauce, peanut butter, sugar and vinegar and stirfried cabbage, carrots, chicken and peanuts. Wrap it all up in some fresh lettuce. Delish.
Well, I’m currently in town buying a few more items for the casita and preparing for #8 english class. Wish me luck!
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