All The Right Moves

Tomorrow is Project Partner Day. Meaning, I will be meeting my mentors (community members/leaders) who will be with me in my project site in Las Galeras. After a day filled of group strengthening activities and ice breakers (joy), they will be taking me to Las Galeras. It's a big day. I will finally get to see where I will be spending my next two years. I am really anxious/excited/nervous, but most of all ready. Training is coming to an end and although I feel a little overwhelmed to leave everybody and be on my own, I am also ready to get this all started. Catch is, I only get to stay until Sunday. I can't leave training without graduating of course. That big day is next Wednesday-Swearing In. We actually take the same oath the president of the United States takes (fun fact).

In other news, I celebrated my 23rd birthday (one of three birthdays I will celebrate in the DR) last Thursday. Thanks to my wonderful friends, I had an incredible candlelight dinner. No, we don't eat by candlelight to be romantic, se fue la luz (the lights went out). Like always. Although I couldn't be with my family and friends, it was so nice to be around people that I have become so close to and come to love like my family.


(Just so you can get the candlelight feel)

Hands on Learning

Written: October 7

Today I spent my technical training climbing and jumping off 27 waterfalls. No big deal. What a great way to learn about eco-tourism.

Drum Roll Please

Written October 7

Yes, I have the answer we have all been waiting for-where I will be living for the next two years of my life. I know the suspense is killing you. But, before I let you in on this essential piece of information, I am going to tell you about the Peace Corps Business Plan Competition I partook in this past weekend. (Please don’t read ahead to just find out my site). I traveled to the capital with the other trainees to see the annual business plan competition that is put on by other Peace Corps business volunteers and a micro finance NGO. As business volunteers, we have the opportunity to teach a course on basic business skills and how to write a business plan to the youth in the community where we serve. Youth create an extensive business plan on a micro business that they would like to start in their community. These plans are submitted and the best plans are presented at this national conference each year. This year, there were three winners-the groups actually get the money to start their business and even those who don’t win the money are so passionate that many find ways to fund raise to start their business. Businesses varied from starting an internet café, to a hot dog stand to a repair shop, etc. It was such a rewarding experience sharing the weekend with such motivated youth. I didn’t realize how much of an impact this experience has on so many of their lives. There were teenagers there that had never left their little campo before and now they had the chance to start their very own business! It was the first time I really got to see Peace Corps Volunteers in action. The whole weekend got me so excited to get started. I will definitely be helping out next year to plan the event.

All the business trainees were super anxious this weekend-the other volunteers in different sectors had found out about their sites and then current volunteers were telling us that they found out their placement at the end of the business plan competition when they were trainees. But we had two weeks left to go in training, so we weren’t expecting to hear anything. The director had made it plenty clear to me that she still wasn’t sure where she wanted to place me. I mean, it is very difficult to place us. In our sector, there is such a diverse amount of work that you can do, they really try to match your skills and your preferences. Sunday rolls around, we are reflecting as a group on our weekend and the Director walks in. Everyone stops talking and just looks over, because I think we secretly knew why she had walked into the room. She explains to us that we are going to have a class on geography. Geography? Really, almost two months in and we are going to go over geography again? But, the twist was that we were going to have a geography class to show us where our placements are on a map. Everyone went crazy. We were screaming, some people started to cry. I mean, this is a huge deal. We have been basically walking blind, left our home for two years not even knowing where we will be living, putting our future in their hands- yea, it’s a big deal. Since the computer wasn’t working (go figure), we pulled out a huge map. We sat together, holding hands, anxious to hear everybody’s placement. For each person, a sticker was placed on the map showing the location, a one to two sentence description of the site project was given, a drum roll and then the person who’s site it would be was announced. The placements were given, starting in the south. I was one of the last placements to be announced. A sticker was placed literally at the end of the road on the peninsula of the D.R., the providence of Samana, on the water. Everyone gasped because it is 1. Almost unheard of to get a placement on the beach 2. Where exactly the sticker was placed in Samana is one of the most, if not the most beautiful beach in the whole country. It was announced that the person who would serve there was going work with an organization to aid in business development, help with some fisherman project, but also do community development work. The community needed someone innovative and creative. Super broad I know. My name was called and I freaked out. Everybody, I will be spending the next two years of my life in Las Galeras. Look it up on the map, research it, get excited! Luckily, one of the current volunteers that was at the business competition is my neighbor (about an hour away and from San Diego, go figure) and she was working on preparing the site for me. She didn’t have too much information for me, but she had a picture of my site on her phone. Uhm, let’s just say that if you plan on visiting me, be prepared for paradise.

I don’t know too much about my project just yet. I have to wait until the 18th of October to receive more information, but such a weight is lifted off my shoulders. Not only am I relieved that I know where the heck I will be living, but I feel like karma is coming back to me and it tastes SO sweet! The director did such a good job at placing everybody. It seems like everybody’s preferences were taken into consideration. What a great way to end the weekend. I feel like I have something more concrete to look forward to now. Knowing my site has made this experience seem so much more real already. Las Galeras-can’t wait!

Keeping two feet on the ground

Written: October 1

Today my sister and the neighborhood children came running to me to ask a question. They wanted to know if you could open windows on an airplane. One of them shouted before I could answer “of course not because that would make the airplane fall to the ground.” I tried to explain that there was no way to open a window but not because the plane would necessarily fall, but because the oxygen isn’t breathable when you are up that high. They looked at me a little puzzled, still trying to understand how there could be windows that you couldn’t open. Just puts things into perspective. Everything has been so fast paced and because I am still surrounded by my colleagues, sometimes I forget that I am the alien, the one that has lived a life so different from theirs.

Life in the Campo

Written: September 27, 2010

Where has September gone? Training has flown by and I feel like I have been here in the campo for a long time now. I haven’t written much of anything a) no internet b) I just haven’t felt very motivated to write lately. I have just been taking in all the experiences.

My experience of campo life in a nutshell: Saturday, I was walking back home after visiting a neighbor and my mom shouted to me to hurry up and run over to hop in the back of her cousin’s truck. My motto is “go wherever I am invited” so I didn’t hesitate at all and jumped into the bed of the truck. My cousin told me that we were going up to the neighboring village to go kill la culebra, the snake, that had already killed a puppy, four chickens and a duck on their grandma’s property. So here I am thinking sure, why not, the snake could hurt someone so it is important to fix the problem. So we drove up the dirt road with four people in the bed of the truck. As we passed neighboring homes my cousin announced to everyone that we had come in search of the snake. Next thing I know, the truck is piling up with people to come help us find the snake. Even a man with his machete trekked behind us on his horse. We arrived at the house and were told the snake was hiding in the latrine. Minutes later, the latrine was in pieces and men were hammering away at the cement foundation to get underneath to find the snake. All I kept thinking was, how the heck do they really know that this is where the snake is. Well, apparently they knew because an eight food red snake appeared. Within seconds, its head was chopped off with a stick and a dull shovel (a little confused because the man with the machete was right there) and la culebra was being carried into the road. People gathered around and messed around with the snake for about an hour. It was quite a sight to see-the whole body was still squirming around without a head. Then, beer was poured on it and set on fire. Cooked snake is not the most pleasant smell. Now, trash is a big problem in the DR. Most places don’t have a place to put their trash, so I wondered what they were going to do with this huge snake lying in the middle of the road. Obviously, make a leash for it out of rubber wire and carry it through town. From there, I don’t know what happened to the poor snake, but it was quite a spectacle.

Do I kill snakes everyday, no. But, I have become part of this community. Everyone knows who I am and I am always stopping in the streets and at people’s homes to say hello, play dominoes, eat, drink some fresh juice or have a little coffee (yes, I am drinking just a litttttle bit, it’s a must if I want to pass time with my neighbors). My domino skills are getting better and I am starting to understand campo Spanish a lot more.

On training days, Monday through Friday, I have somewhat of a ‘schedule’- at least set times where I have Spanish and Technical Training. I start my days at 6 am. I go for a beautiful run through on a road through the lush hillsides. Although the hills are a killer, getting to the top is breathtaking. The landscape never ceases to amaze me. I come back home to shower, if there is water, and get ready for class. We have classes all day long every day basically. Sometimes we have community interactive projects that take up part of the day, but most days are long. Between the humidity and long hours in class, taking a nap is never difficult.

Despite the fact that it is almost October, it is still extremely hot here. It really messes with your mind- I feel like its still summer and with training it almost feels like I am at summer camp. I am definitely ready to gain some freedom, training can be very restrictive. I have no control over a lot of things in my life right now-my schedule, what and when I eat, where I spend a lot of my time, etc. It is hard when you come from being so independent. After six months of living with other people, freedom is going to be very sweet. Until then, I am trying to appreciate the cultural differences, lack of privacy, and the mountains of platanos (I don’t think I will ever appreciate these).