Becky, The volunteer I visited and I.I´m in San Francisco de Macoris with another IT volunteer right now. She´s been in country for a year now and is doing very well. She lives in a country town outside of Macoris. Here, they call the country side ¨the campo¨. Her town is in the Cibao region which is known for its rich soil and abundance of food production. Every day I´ve enjoyed fresh picked fruit and vegetables. The old guy to the left, Ney, insisted that I come into his yard to take a look at all the fruit and cacao. We ate zapote, cacao seeds, nisparo, tamarindos, y bolas. They were all really delicious and exotic. In this picture, Ney is showing me how he harvests the cacao fruit. These sheds slide back and forth in order to cover the cacao when it rain and to leave them out in the sun to dry when its not raining. He insisted that I put two dried cacao seeds in my mouth, then he dumped a tablespoon of suger in my mouth and told me to chew chew chew. It was really funny and tasted a lot like chocolate.
There are also alot of chickens and dogs running around. Almost all the families have some sort of animal running free on their land. Becky, the volunteer, lives next to two old Donas who have organic gardens, fruit trees, roosters that crow at all times of the day and night, dogs, and mucho mas. I´m enjoying all the natural beauty of the Cibao. This region reminds me of tropical costa rica. Its definately nice to get out of the city for awhile.
Also, I´m getting a chance to see what life it like for an IT volunteer. She has a center at the highschool which is open to the public during morning hours. She teachers basic computer classes to teachers and the community, has a computer club of talented high school students, and teaches English to the community and the local priest. She is loved and welcomed by all of her community and teachers. It was great to see a successful service in process. I´m looking forward to doing the same types of things in my community.
