Adios Santo Domingo

This past weekend I finally got out of the capital and spent my weekend in another volunteer’s site to see how a real PCV lives. Let me start off by saying, this country is so beautiful and diverse. I traveled two hours north of the capital to an artisan town. It was such a relief to finally see a volunteer in action. I received so much reassurance that this job was meant for me. My volunteer is in the last stretch of her service and has accomplished amazing things. She has built a library, organized an artisan group who sells the most authentic, symbolic and popular ceramic dolls in the country, she has taught English, business and sex education classes, organized regional conferences and camps, the list goes on. It was very inspirational. I also got the ins and outs of PCV life (something our trainers don’t really know). The volunteers in the DR have one of the most active PC support systems in the world. Volunteers organize tons of events, we celebrate holidays together, put together conferences, travel, have numerous traditions, take part in marathons, etc. Now I understand how much of a family we truly are. I have so much to look forward to in the next two years.

I am finding it difficult to express everything in my blog. I have so much to say because everything is all new to me. I could go on forever just about this week alone. Tomorrow I am leaving for more technical training to the north part of the country with other volunteers that will focus on Economic Development like myself. We will be there for 5 weeks. Once I return, I will finally get my site assignment for the next two years, the moment we have all been waiting for.

Yesterday I was asked in my placement interview, out of 1 to 10, how committed do I feel to Peace Corps. After finally seeing real PCV life, I feel highly committed. I feel very motivated. I am eager to find out where I will be serving.

I think after this post, I am going to concentrate on specific events that happen and things that strike me instead of just regurgitating everything I do. There are many topics I want to talk about so you can get a better understanding of how I have been acclimating not only to a new culture, but as a PCV.

My “firsts” this past week:

-Rode on a motoconcho
-Beach trip to Sasoa in the north (Did I mention I live in paradise)
-Travelled into the mountains (very rural, could only get there using a motoconcho)
-saw a tarantula
-Danced meringue and bachata
-Gave my first charla (presentation) to a group of local Dominican artisans on conflict resolution
-ate street food, a bola of yucca (ball of yucca), really good
-Baked my first pumpkin pie from scratch for my host family
- ate Dominican sushi (they put a spin on it with platanos, really good)
-Shoved 11 people into a 5 seater car (funny thing was, it was the volunteers who suggested we take one car. Dominicans are rubbing off on us)

What I am looking forward to within the Peace Corps Family:

-Bola (Hitchhiking) Race- just imagine Amazing Race, PC style, yes I am serious
-Thanksgiving with my fellow volunteers
-Writing for the Peace Corps newsletter
-Helping plan a regional conference
-Running my first half marathon
-(Possibly) getting SCUBA certified
-Learning to play the guitar (they are pretty cheap here)
- Having all my friends and family come visit
-Volunteer Potlucks

Don’t Worry Mom, I didn’t buy a motoconcho

(sorry it's blurry, the only one I have thus far)

Yesterday we received our awesome motorcycle helmets and learned how to ride on the back of a motoconcho. Although training lasted about 2 minutes, it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. My training days this week have been very long, full of lots of information, more vaccinations, but a little draining. I am learning more about Dominican culture, geography, history and more medical “know how” as I like to call it(I am a professional re-hydration maker now). Current volunteers have come to visit to explain to us what they have been doing, how they are living, etc. It is interesting to hear all their different stories. This week volunteers visited that all lived in different possible living situations- la ciudad (the city), el pueblo (the villages closer to the outskirts of cities, el cambo (more rural and smaller villages) and bateys (Haitian-Dominican communities that grew out of temporary housing situations from the sugar cane factories). This was supposed to give us a better idea of where we would like to serve for our two years. Although some of you might be thinking that the city has the most amenities and is the best, you are wrong. They all have their pros and cons but I found it very interesting how twisted some of the living conditions are. If I didn’t mention this already, electricity and water here is on and off all the time. The most common frase is “se fue la luz,” the lights are out. And let me tell you, they are out more often than not in most places. Even though one volunteer lived in the second capital in the country, he had no running water and only a few hours of electricity depending on the day. Yet, the volunteer who lived in a rural campo had electricity 24/7. A close by river uses a hydro electricity system that brings his area electricity. Electricity and water. Two basic amenities, some might even call these essentials. Why is there no better system to maintain both? Not a lot of people know. There aren’t enough plants to supply the electricity, people using a lot of what there is only very little of, and there is not a set system of people paying for these amenities.

Back to the site locations. All the volunteers had a unique experience depending on where they were located. I like the idea of being in a small enough place that people know who I am, but not too small to where I feel isolated from the rest of the PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). Speaking of acronyms, Peace Corps has an acronym for just about everything. I am a PCT who will be going to CBT at the end of next week for CED training where I will meet with my APCD about our work. In English please…. I am a Peace Corps Trainee who will go to Community Based Training at the end of next week for Community Economic Development training where I will meet with my Associate Peace Corps Director about our work. That’s just a handful of them. And then the nurse comes and talks to us about STIs, HIV, MMR and I am lost.

Good news, I am leaving this Thursday for my weekend volunteer visit to a place called Higuerito in Moca (about 2 ½ hours north of Santo Domingo). I am traveling alone for the first time so fingers crossed that I won’t get lost. I am ready to get out of the city for a little bit-I think the fumes are starting to rattle my brain. It feels like I have been here in the DR for a while now although it has only been 2 weeks or so. The mosquitoes are biting me less, so I am probably starting to smell like a Dominican ( I am eating a lot of platanos). Learning more about how Dominicans live is also making me feel more integrated into their culture. Since I am in advanced Spanish class, we spend a lot of time talking about just typical Dominican life. I have learned some very interesting things about Dominicans this way.

Did you know:

-25% of the Dominican population is undernourished, 42% live below the poverty line-this has increased from 25% just since 2000.
- There are many interesting Dominican superstitions. Just to name a few: A woman should never put her purse on the floor or else she will lose money. If a pregnant woman rolls over her husband in bed, her husband will feel the pains of pregnancy.
-Many people use animal nicknames to describe personality traits. For example, if you are a player, you are a ‘tigre’. If you are an ugly woman you are called a ‘grillo’ (fire fly). ‘Jamona’ is a woman who is old and not married. ‘Caballo’ (horse) is someone who has great physical ability.

Just some things about the DR that have struck me in one way or another. If I don’t get lost in the country this weekend, I will update you when I return.

Bienvenidos a la Republica Dominicana

Hello from Santo Domingo. Well everyone, I am here. Training has begun and everything finally seems very real. As our Country Director told us, “we are not in Kansas anymore.” Since I left the states, things have been pretty crazy and fast paced. Staging in the states was short with a lot of information. My PC training group is wonderful. There are 59 of us and we have quite the group profile. There are many remarkable people here who are a lot like myself. At Staging it was great being surrounded by people who really understood how I felt. We were all nervous, excited, anxious-the whole 9 yards. We all survived the grueling application process and wanted to just jump in head first. On Thursday we all headed from D.C. to Santo Domingo together at 2 am. As if trying to adapt to a new country is hard enough, we came with no sleep. I arrived here in the DR in the afternoon where we were taken to a like 12 hour retreat. The staff began telling us about training, rules and regulation, safety, etc. etc. Needless to say, it was so overwhelming that by the time the evening was over I was pondering whether or not I made the right decision coming here. However, Friday after some good sleep we left for the training center and again we discussed logistics all afternoon. I felt much better after everything was slowed down and we had more in depth meetings. Did I mention the training center is in paradise? The property has gorgeous tropical gardens and our little classrooms are little open air spaces with tin roofs. (Picture to come soon.)

Since I have arrived everything has been logistics. There are so many rules, I forget it is a federal agency so they do have to cover their butts. The training is very intense and we really learn how to be Dominicans. People pay the big bucks to get the training that we will receive. Not only do we learn the language, but we learn about the culture (dance, cook, transportation, dominos, etc.), medical know how (how to clean lettuce with non-purified water, how to rehydrate yourself, how to ride as a passenger of a motorcycle, etc.), technical training (I am a CED -community economic development- Advisor, so we have classes in microfinance, accounting, ecotourism, etc.), fieldtrips… The list goes on. Our training usually goes from 8 am to 5 pm with a lunch break, so there is a lot that we will be learning.

Just a little information about my schedule for the next ten weeks. I will be here in Santo Domingo for three weeks, then I will be traveling to the North end of the island for our technical training as a Community Economic Development Advisor for five weeks. I will return to Santo Domingo for a few days where I will learn about my assignment. I will be given a Project Partner from that community and will go visit the community for five days where I will be doing my next two years of service. I will return to Santo Domingo, if all goes well, swear in as a volunteer and leave the capital to my place of service.

So how do I feel? A little nervous, excited and happy. The people here are amazing. My host family treats me like I am part of the family. I am living with my mom or “dona” her two daughters, granddaughter, nephew, two chihuahuas and three parakeets. Neighbors and extended family are always going in and out of the house. It is a great little barrio with windy roads that look like they go on for days. Our street is very crowded. The Country Director told us that the DR is the loudest country in the world and I believe it. The music doesn’t ever stop! We live in front of a few convenient stores, a salon and a men’s gym. The PC is definitely easing us into everything very slowly-I have toilets, showers, electricity (even though the lights and water go out frequently) and the family even has a computer with internet. I have been walking around to get to know the barrio. The only thing is during the day it is VERY humid. Yes, I am sweating buckets. Dominicans shower like four times a day and hygiene and proper dress is very important to them. I am very thankful that I can wear skirts-great airflow!

Our first week of real training began today. Figuring out public transportation is one of the goals for this week. I am very excited to learn all about the country and the people. I know this post is a little disorganized, there is just so much that has happened in the last few days.

What I have found interesting thus far:

-How open the PC staff is (we talk about everything-literally)

-Dominicans are very particular about dressing professional and looking “put together”

- In the past five years, 59 PC volunteers have gotten married to other Dominicans. (Not for me)

-You will be sent home to the States if you don’t wear your motorcycle helmet

-Meeting people for coffee in their homes-networking- is considered working once you are in your community site for service

-Our Group Profile is very interesting amongst the 59 of us we have: travelled to over 60 countries, speak 14 languages, have worked for over 176 organizations and come from more than 25 or so U.S. states. Truly amazing.

-If you are in a room with another person and the door is closed, you are having sex (this is what Dominicans think at least)

- 7 people can fit in a small taxi and 7 people can also apparently fit on a motorcycle (have yet to see this)

-The DR is the only country in the PC where you can ride on the back of a motorcycle

-My volunteer neighbor has a bisabuelita (great grandmother) who is 105 years old and looks great

-We can buy a horse. Some parts of the country it is your only means of transportation

What I need to get used to:

-sweating buckets

-my legs burning from 25% deet bug spray day in and day out

-cold showers. I think I have figured this one out. I am going to do a morning run before my shower so that the cold won’t bother me. Even with this humidity I am still a baby and don’t like to bathe in cold water

-hissing in the streets

- Carrying a heavier object or water bottle when I run to avoid an attacking stray dog (“just in case” said my friends host dad)

-cleaning my undergarments when I bathe

- the Dominican dialect. Como tu ta? That means, como estas. They chop a lot of their words.

-fresh fruit juice everyday. Hard life, I know.