I've missed you too

So I haven’t been completely honest with you. There are some things I’ve left out for fear of the community finding this blog. But what the hell. Today I’m going to dare to live on the edge. Not that I’m really writing anything risky but just incase…

I went to the capital the other weekend to hang out with some other PCVs and take care of some office stuff. I had only planned on staying one night and then one night in Santiago with another friend. However, I was talked into staying until after Sunday night. Getting to the capital is rather easy from Santiago. I just take a Caribe Tour bus and bam! I get to the stop in Santo Domingo and the walk to the Peace Corps office is only a few blocks down in the Gazcue district, past the American Embassy and the corner colmado that PCVs use daily. I had the pleasure of feeling like I was an independent adult once again as I walked out of the bus station. This was the first time I had been out of my site for more than a month and I felt giddy in this new sense of self. My Spanish had improved a little bit and I knew where I was going, I kind of felt like a tour guide to my friend who I had met in Santiago. We get to the office and I find two packages from Kyle! It only took me two months to get them but they were there and the Reese’s peanut butter cups were divine. After dropping our stuff in the PCV lounge/ book exchange room we headed to the Embassy to eat some lunch. The café there has a Dominican plate of the day and “American” food. We both had a cheeseburger and French fries. It was delicious and a much need dose of red meat. I’m not usually a fan of eating lots of read meat but heck; I need something beside chicken just this one time.
Walking into the Embassy we joke that even the air is different in this slice of America, were most people speak English and the military guards are American. To get into the pool we have to ask the guard at the front of the building for the key. Stacey and Katie went up to him and of course asked in Spanish or Spanglish if you will, and he replied, “I speak English.” We laughed because, well of course he does, but we are still living in the DR so we were going to speak Spanish. (The guards are very handsome and a treat to flirt with when ever we do go to the Embassy.) The pool was wonderful and the showers have hot water and you have to flush the toilet paper! The water system in this country usually doesn’t support toilet paper going down the pipes, but again, in this slice of American we can do what you guys don’t even think twice about. Us gals had a good time hanging out in the water and beating the Capital heat. It was super hot – it seems like the temperature rises 10 degrees or so after steeping off the bus. After a rinse in the hot shower we head to the hotel we’ve made reservations at. We don’t really know where its at so I’m on the phone with Lindsey who stayed there earlier that week and we finally get there. The room has A/C and hot water and two beds. What else could you ask for? So we chill out and prepare for a nice dinner at the rumored Italian restaurant. I’ll admit that we did pick the hotel furthest away from the office and restaurant, but whatever we are still learning!
Cappuccinos, is the little Italian place that has 70pesos glass of red wine. A deal that is priceless because the house wine is way better than most other house wine picks. I was impressed with the service and food. However, something I’ve learned here is that restaurant’s don’t make additions or substitutions to dishes. I ordered the pesto pasta and wanted to have them throw some artichokes in the mix but the waiter wasn’t having any of it. So I got them on the side and added them in myself. At the Chinese place a few days later they didn’t have tofu so I asked about them to just add eggplant to the veggies. Again, no go. Its like they don’t understand the concept of just adding in another ingredient. It wasn’t like it was super busy or hard but to no avail I could not get what I wanted. Anyway, this lovely group of sexy girls was having fun and it was such a good time. We walked back to the hotel and went straight to sleep. Poor Stacie was going back to her site at 6AM to make it back for a fundraiser at her CTC. Katie and I woke up that morning and went searching for the French bakery for breakfast. The DR doesn’t put much emphasis on breakfast. It was hard to find anything open aside from empanada stands. So after taking lots of wrong turns in Gazcue, we finally see another volunteer walking around and ask her. She points us in the right direction and we spot it just around the corner. I had a savory croissant as well as a chocolate one that put a big smile on my face. It was a cute small place that was cool and peaceful. Katie and I were very happy to sit and relax. We took a different street back to the hotel just to get a different perspective. It was a hot walk but after getting out stuff together, back we head to the PC office. Katie heads back to her site and I go to the office and contemplate my next move. I pick the brains of other volunteers about where to go and what areas of town are good to eat or shop. The office is buzzing with volunteers and apparently Sunday night was the night to stay because there was a free Cuban salsa band at very cool spot in the Colonial zone. My new friends Charlie and David convinced me to stay. So I called Jean and by luck her phone broke and wanted to come into the Capital to get it fixed on Monday!!! So she was heading to meet me in Santo Domingo and I would have a gal pal until Monday! I hung out with the guys and we walked around the colonial zone and played games with the tourists. Jean met up with us and we hung out in the parks and found a gelato place and then sat at the ruins of the oldest church in the southern hemisphere. This would be the same place the band would be on Sunday.
After going to National (the awesome grocery store) in the morning and buying our breakfast Jean and I went to the office and then to the pool. It was a lazy day. We had stayed at the Pensión for cheap but we were going to stay with a friend of Jean’s that night. Jean’s friends live not too far from the Embassy, they are graduate students who are doing internships here for the summer in the field of public health. They were cool girls who were happy to go out with us and other Americans. There were lots of us who showed up and it was a blast. I didn’t spend too much time on the dance floor because I was being a social butterfly. The ambiance was fantastic, with the historic colonial buildings down the hill and this ruin of a church on top of the hill and the salsa band’s lights with a crowd of Dominicans and tourists, it was a like a free concert on hot summer night in Austin, Texas. I felt at home. The thought that crossed my mind was to have all visitors come by Santo Domingo one Sunday night during their stay just to see this mass of people having a good time the Dominican way. Needless to say it was well worth the stay. Us gals head back to the apartment and crash. It was the hottest night sleep I’ve had since being in country. I sleep with out a fan usually, but my site is in the hills and so much more cool. So here I was sleeping on a couch, without at fan in the capital! It was a night of tossing and turning and trying to sleep. I was happy to wake up early and take a shower! Jean and I headed out got fruit plates and off to the office. We both got our business taken care of early in the morning, which was sort of abnormal for PC. As we are walking to the Embassy to eat lunch I remember that my friend Cameron would be coming back from the states with a harddrive for me! So I play around with the idea of staying, yes one more night just so I don’t have to leave again to get this harddrive. I talk myself into staying and thinking it would be the best thing logistically.
Another day at the PC office watching TV and downloading yoga podcasts. It felt kind of like a waste but what the hell, eh? Another fellow PCV, Cliff had come in so we went to eat Chinese and then back to El Conde (the main strip at the Colonial Zone). I call and call Cameron from the time she was supposed to land but it keeps going straight to voicemail. I settle on the fact that her flight must have been cancelled. I feel a little guilty about staying and not accomplishing my mission, but that was something beyond my control. I leave early on Tuesday so I can be back at my sight in time for Altagracias lunch. There is such a thing as “Campo Guilt” here in the DR or all of Peace Corps for that matter. This is when people in your site try to guilt you because you are leaving site. Fortunately my campo doesn’t really do that but I myself felt guilt. However, days after I got back to my site, people would say “wow, how long has it been since I’ve seen you.” or “Where have you been?” Nothing too bad but I could tell people were starting to question if I was working or not.
It was a much-needed trip out of my site and I had a good time, but getting back into the swing of things here has been hard. Being around all my friends might have started a small case of homesickness, but in just two weeks I’d be back into the group at our 4th of July weekend celebration in Las Galeras on the Samana Peninsula. (Which is this weekend!)

Lately I’ve been in a funk. It must be one of those down moments on the rollercoaster ride I’m on. I have been feeling homesick and just down on myself for not getting Spanish down as quickly as I had hoped. Silly things that I will work through but until then I’m keeping my head high and trying to smile. Mrs. Carter says it happens and that at around this time 4-5 months of living in a new place we hit a plateau where the new wears off. There is nothing wrong with my community or site, they are all really encouraging and helpful but sometimes I realize I’m just going to be down. But this weekend will be good to play and joke with other PCVs about our experience thus far. I am sure most of us have all felt the same way at one time or another.

So Wednesday when I got back I didn’t even have a regular day because it was the annual day for horseback ridding and drinking. This marked the annual caballo (horse) ride. Mostly men and a few women mount horses and prepare to ride on them through the next town and then past the presa (dam) making a vuelta (lap/tour) back to my town. The whole ride took about 4 hours. But before the caballeros could start trotting along the Ayuntamiento (municipal government) guagua had to be ahead of the crowd followed by another truck with a system in the back blaring Tejano music so that the riders would have something to move to. I don’t think the horses cared to much for the deafening music. Also following along were people on motorcycles (motos), and kids on mules. The whole precession looked like a circus gone mad. I was invited into the Sindico’s (mayor) guagua, since it was obvious that this gringa wasn’t going to be ridding any horse! So I squeezed into the back of the trucks cab with three other women. It was a very tight and I was the one getting all the sun. It was then that I couldn’t remember if I had put on my deodorant or not. I spent too much time anticipating the moment when we would cross the river and come to the open road, hoping that the breeze would dry my armpits and carry whatever body odor out the window. Apparently I did remember to put it on because I didn’t smell too bad after awhile. Now I could really enjoy the ride. However, being in the back of the guagua wasn’t as cool as I thought it would be because all the action was all behind me. So after two stops I got out and hopped in the back with the young kids and held on for dear life. As I was getting into the back I heard a rip. Yup, my jeans ripped in the crotch! However, no one else noticed and it wasn’t too big. I had acquired a digital camera from my friend and took this opportunity to take pictures to document the ride. We would stop so that the two men who organized the ride could offer raffles, for what I don’t know. I also noticed that many of the men were drinking whiskey and beer. Even the younger kids, about 12 and up, were turning up the bottle. Oh well, it is summer right?
By the time we got to the next town over, a good number of our cities finest were borracho (drunk) and I thought they did a great job representing the town! What a sight, seeing men hit, kick and whip their horse or their neighbors. FYI to all those who do not like animal cruelty, animals are not treated with care or ease here in the DR. I saw so much hitting and beating of these horses and mules. I would chalk it up to the booze but even the little kids took too much fun to hitting their mules with their sticks. That was the not so cool part.
The ride went through the next town and while we were coming up to the presa the sun was starting to go down over the lake the dam makes. It was a beautiful picture that I’ll try to post. The kids in the back of the truck were so helpful in making sure I got good pictures of this presa. They seemed so proud of their landscape that I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the sight of rolling green hills meeting the fresh water lake. By the time we got back to town it was dark and I was off to my house. It was a rather long night and I was happy to be in my bed.
The rest of the week was regular. I weighed myself when I got to the capital and noticed I’ve gained 10 pounds since being in country. That doesn’t help my mood, but I did start hitting the gym harder. On Saturday I went to the club de madres (mother’s club) sewing class and then the weekend I hung out at my place watching movies my new friend Charlie put on my thumb drives. Not much going on in the way of my diagnostic, I’ve basically decided all diagnostic work will continue when I get back from the 4th of July weekend.
Yesterday I was all set to go to sewing class and master sewing in a circle but a friend of the family came to take Sidenia and I to Santiago to swim and enjoy some time out of Baitoa. I met lots of people who live in the states. Some are on the board of a Non-Profit that help out people in Baitoa. So I pitched my idea for creating a scholarship for people who wouldn’t be able to afford classes at the CTC. I’ve thought of fundraisers already. I realized that this time during our diagnostic isn’t only to go around and interview people and kids, but to make connections. It wouldn’t have looked like I was working while chatting around a pool, but I was actually networking and making plans to do more in the future. It was a much needed pick me up. Tomorrow I’m meeting my friend Arya and we will start our journey to Samana.
Happy 4th of July to ya folks.

per your request.. a little more

Sitting in the gallery of my second floor apartment surrounded by the cock-a-doodle-doos of the chickens and the roar or the motorcycles going up and down the side road I find a pleasant satisfaction in the dark green color of my yerba mate (tea). This small action gives me such a warm feeling. Having brought a French press and the Yerba Mate was a good call. I didn’t want to use it during training because I knew when I was more settled this little bit of “my life back in the states” would help me find my routine here. And it has! It is that little bit of home life that lets me feel at peace here within this new space.

Depending on the day I do yoga, go to the gym or just wake up and start my day. Either way, I am cooking breakfast and making my tea. I bring it all up stairs and enjoy the lush green trees as I sip tea and read my book for the week. This week it’s The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It is very good, he seems like the kind of professor I could have used. I have not seen his last lecture, which you can see on YouTube. I hope to get it next time I am at the Peace Corps office (because of the high speed internet)!

Yesterday I had a very successful planning meeting with my board of directors (consejo). We broke down the town into the various barrios and started a schedule of who can go with me to which areas to start carrying out the diagnostic question. Although I had plans to meet up with my project partner at 9AM, he called to push it back to 9:30AM… so is the life. Also if it rains here, any plans are postponed. Those are the types of things that will slow my process down, but for now I feel on schedule.

It´s like this..

I am nestled on the second floor of the third house within the property my host family owns. There is a house for the grandmother, another for the daughter and family (husband, two girls, one boy), and the “garage” with a room and bathroom upstairs. That’s where I live! I couldn’t have asked for a better family and place to live. I have my own galleria area that is covered with trees, perfect for a yoga practice. So with my own key to the various fences and doors I have the freedom to come and go as I please. The grandmother and mom just left for New York for a few weeks. So I’ve organized to have my lunch with my friend Altagracia and I’ll be taking care of my breakfast, while the young gals here at the house cook dinner. My family has lived in New York for a few years so they and their kids speak English! It doesn’t help my Spanish but it makes communicating easier. It seems most of my town has some English background, which makes Spanglish the communication device of choice for me. However, Altagracia is going to be giving me Spanish lessons a few hours weekly until I get my articles down. I still fumble on the feminine/masculine parts of Spanish.

The campo that I get to live in for two years is squished within a shallow valley of rolling hills. There is a river that runs on one side of the town toward the damns that have been built here, of which there are three in the area. The views from the hills are amazing! On the hills there are crops of yucca, tobacco, corn, and bean. There might be more but I forget. I broke my camera during my site visit and have not yet tracked down my new camera from my PC friend who grabbed it for me while visiting Texas a few weeks ago. When I get my camera, I’ll be sure to put up some pictures. I tried running here the first week, but found out that all the hills here make it hard. Plus I’m not used to the altitude (I guess) so I’ll be joining the local gym. They don’t have a treadmill but they do have stationary bikes and two “elliptical trainers” that should help me get used to doing cardio at this altitude. I got one of my friends (who is here after 35 years of living in NY) to talk to the owner and get me a deal on the cost! I feel like this town and I will get along just fine!

The question of the week has been “What are you going to do here?” My canned answer is that I’m working with the CTC (Community Telecommunication Center) that was built by the office of the First Lady. My program is information technology, so I’ll be teaching computer classes, probably an English class too. However, for the next two months I’ll be walking around this community doing interviews to see what other kinds of things are needed. The past two weeks I’ve been getting to know people in the community, trying to build relationships. Since most people here have heard about me by now, because I was on the local radio and television stations this past weekend, I have gathered a buzz that should help me get through the 80 - 100 interviews with families in the area. I have ambitions to interview the younger people separate, as well as the teachers and community leaders. It seems like a lot of people and it is. But I think I’m getting a crew to help me tackle each group so it should come together, God willing.

I’ll start the interview process next week! Altagracia thinks we should get a big team together and go out and conquer the town in one day. However, I would like to go to various areas that I haven been to yet so that people can meet me. They might be more willing to answer questions from this cute American girl instead of someone they see all the time.

The campo that I live in is very quite. There is one club and a few pool halls that are sketchy so I won’t be going there to have fun. If I want a good time I’ll have to get to Santiago somehow. The gals who work at the CTC and I have been trying to get to Santiago to see a movie but so far we haven’t found a ride that works with out schedule. Being a “Mujer Seria” or “serious woman” I won’t be going out or drinking here at my site. I’ll have to save my wild times for when I get together with my PCV friends. I don’t need to be making friends with the wrong people because if one thing is true, reputations are where it’s at as far as respect goes.

I have been well accepted here and feel very much part of the community already! Showing up to a funeral and then going to the hour prayer sessions throughout the week and then cleaning the chicken carcasses for the fiesta on the 9th day will do lot for a reputation. Last week while in this family’s home I noticed how well the women here age. It could be that most die their hair black (or other color) which makes them look so many years younger but they are also strong and work hard to make sure all those around them are taken care of. These women here are very extraordinary. I feel like so much of the DR culture is to make sure guests feel like family. You would never walk into a Dominican home and not be offered a seat, coffee, soft drink, or food. That said, if you are every hungry or thirst just find your way into a house around 12 and you’ll get served lunch, regardless if you’ve never met the family. The other day I was walking down the street on my way to lunch, when I passed a woman who was washing yucca at her out side sink. As I walked by I said my usual “Hola, buenas días”, she waved me down and said I haven’t met you but I saw you on TV. I then introduced myself and she pointed out her sons and friends who were sitting in the patio. I haven’t quite figured out how to continue the small talk in Spanish, but I didn’t need to. She asked where I was eating and where I lived. She then took my shoulders holding me at arms length and smiled so big! I was then pulled in for a huge hug and at that moment was part of her family. She invited me back for coffee anytime and that was it. So when at times when I start to miss my mom I only have to walk around the street to find a mother figure willing to give me a little love. These are the women who will make my two years fly by.