My campo

I feel like the luckiest of all volunteers right now. So far, my site seems to be a perfect match. The last five days have been some of the best so far in the DR. My project partners, Ruth and Mariana are both young (23 & 25), well educated, super sweet, motivated, and love to play games. Right now, the AVE isn´t offering classes due to past technical problems, so we will be doing another Lanzamiento (opening) in a month or two. I want to make sure that we have most of the kinks worked out before we open for business. To begin, classes will be offered to students and teachers. There isn´t much of an interest from the teachers, so we are going to try and focus most of our attention on getting students up to par. I think we´ll be starting with the very basics like how to use the mouse and basic hardware knowledge. We´ll see.
From what I sensed, I´ll be spending much of my extra time working with youth. There is so much potential in the kids there, they just need a little organization and direction.
One of my first projects is going to be a week long day camp for the kids. I´m hoping to include computer classes, art, dancing, theatre, games, sports, and whatever else the kids are interested in. I´m feeling super motivated right now. Just getting out of the capital lifts my spirits greatly. I´m looking forward to finally getting a start on my projects.
My family is ideal as well. I´m living with Ruth, one of my project partners, and her grandmother, Victoriana. Ruth is the perfect connection to have in a town like Las Uvas. She knows the Buena gente, is involved in many activities, and is adored by much of the community. I couldn´t have asked for a better situation. I have electricity, a shower (well a stream of water that comes from a spout), a toilet that flushes, and a fan in my room. I´m living like a princess in Dominican standards. My Doña has a chicken coop/tienda in her back yard where she raises, butchers, and sells chicken. At every hour of the day there are people coming with pesos and leaving with a bag of freshly chopped chicken. I watched a chicken die the other night for the first time. They tied a string around the neck and watched it as it was strangled to death. Quite disturbing. It´s hard to really enjoy eating chicken when you just saw it wandering around the backyard 30 minutes earlier. Here, Death is in your face everyday. We live, we love, and then we get eaten.

La Despedida in El Seibo

Laura, our IT trainer, Niece of

Patricia Vetter of Corpus Cristi

Church in Bismarck.

Small world.

The Doñas

Elsa, Jon´s Doña

Sabina, Lori´s Doña

Maria, My Doña

Betsy, Alissa, John, and I at the

Despidida our last night in El Seibo.

Daniel, my spanish teacher and Alexis an IT volunteer

Por Fin!

Ask me again! Where are you going to live in the Peace Corps?
Well, For the 1st time I have an answer for you.
A tiny little campo pueblo smack dab in the middle of the country, se llama Las Uvas. It lies in a lush region of the Cibao, right north of La Vega. Right around the same area I did my volunteer visit. I absolutely loved it there. Hills, mountains, waterfalls, agriculture, pigs, sunny days, cool nights and not in a direct hurricane path. What more could you ask for? Nada. I´m looking forward to all the fruit and vegetables that will be available at every corner and on most trees.
From what I´ve read, Las Uvas is very small, only 3,000 people, but has a few larger towns within 20 minutes away. Sound like just what I wanted. I´ll be working in an AVE at an small Elementary School. The AVEs are trailors that work as computer labs. There are 10 computers, air conditioning, and Internet. Sweet. Many of the Labs around the country don´t have internet, so I feel pretty fortunate. I´ll be working with 2 other women in the Lab who I guess already have a pretty good base in Iformatica. So, in addition, they placed me in this site to help out with pedagogy in the regular classroom. Art projects here we come!
A large focus in almost all PC project is creating a youth group and doing various teambuilding, confidence building, and community based activities.
I´m leaving tomorrow for my site with my projects partners, the 2 ladies with whom I´ll be working. This will be a previsit, a chance to check things out, check cell phone coverage, absorb some of the community and then on Sunday we´ll come back to discuss our first impressions.
Tomorrow morning we do a little cultural training with our project partners, then create an action plan for this week. After lunch I´ll head out to Las Uvas for 5 days. Volunteers explain this day to be one of the most awkward of the entire 2 years. We meet our partners, with whom we´ll be working with for 2 years, whether we like it or not, then try to make small talk with limited language skills. HHHHmmm. Sounds Painful. Supposedly upon entering the town, we´re treated like somewhat of a celebrity. A new face and an American. Everyone wants to meet us and talk to us. Many volunteers are paraded around town and asked to give speech after speech to various classrooms and community groups. Ay Dios Mio. We are all quite nervous. Some volunteers are greeted by a huge fiesta of like 500 or more people. Talk about needing to make a good first impression.
So I´ll get back to Santo Domingo on Sunday and then just 2 more days of training. We swear in as Volunteers next Wednesday, all 32 of us. We´re supposed to be at our sites by next weekend. Then for 3 months we are expected to remain in our site and get to know our pueblo, it´s strengths and weaknessess, the community, the people, the culture, the youth, and create a community diagnostic from all the gathered info. These first 3 months are known to be hard and awkward. For this I would appreciate as many packages, letters, and emails as possible. To be honest I´m feeling a little package lonely. I have yet to recieve a special treat. I feel kinda like the scrawny kid who gets picked last to play dodgeball.
I could use a really good tweezers. Dark Chocolate. Wash cloths. Orbit, bubble gum flavor. Smiley faces. Drawings. Something North Dakota for my Family. CDs. DVDs. Spanish childrens books. Crayons. colored pencils. Fun games. Teaching tools. Anything that you think would make me smile. Packages are a great morale booster!
My address is posted on the top of the page. Thanks.
I´ll write more once I know more. Wish me luck. Think of me tomorrow and just how awkward you know I´m feeling, then laugh as I will when the day is finally done.

Semana Santa

Fotos - Alissa and I at the rio.
-My Doña and I riding in the back of the truck with 18 other people.
- Me, riding horse at Cesar´s ranch
- Davy, a neighbor, with our little cousin. It´s very normal for boys to run around naked.
- My Doña and a cousin preparing the chicken for lunch.

In most Spanish countries, Semana Santa is a week filled with church going, religious processions, and giving thanks to our Lord Jesus. In La Dominicana it is celebrated with beach going, river bathing, nap taking, abichuelas con dulce making, and giving thanks to the one colmado that will sell alcohol. Well, at least from my perspective. The kids get a week off from school and many workers have vacation time for at least half the week, as did we.

All my hermanos came home this weekend from Santo Domingo, so it was kind of like a little family reunion. Lots to do and also people coming and going. Tons of Card playing. I have gotten a few other volunteers to fall in love with pinochle and have tried to teach many Dominicans. Pinochle is quite challenging to explain in a second language.

Thursday, our group was dropped off at the same quiet river we had stumb.led across last week. Pebbled beach, little rapids and mucho sol. It was gorgeous. The owner, Cesar, lets a

bout anybody who stops by his ranch bathe in the river below. He’s an old man with one eye, big 80’s sun glasses, who spends much of his time tending to his horses and chatting with whoever passes by. I think he took a special liking towards us for his former wife was once a PCV in la Dominicana. As we were waiting for our guagua back to El Seibo, he entertained us with telling stories about his life, singing songs from the time of Trujillo (the dictator from ’31 – ’60) and letting us ride hishorses. Very Sweet Man.

Friday we made Abichuelas con Dulce. This is a traditional food/drink that all Dominicans make every Semana Santa. It a cooked mix of sugar, cinnamon, raisins, sweet potatoes, blended abichuelas (beans), milk, and little cookies to top it off. Delicious.

Saturday, Jon, Alissa, and I headed out to the campo to hang out by the river once again. We all our family, cousins, and neighbors into the back of a pick up truck. How many do you think we fit in the back of the truck???????? 20, yes 20. In addition, a cooler, a dominoes table, 2 mattresses, and food for all. True PC moment. After a 30 minute drive we reached Elsa’s (John’s Dona) Campo. Many people have a campo here. Basically it is just an acre or two of land where they grow coconut, fruits and vegetables.

We ate and drank fresh coconut, sucked cacao seeds, and ate tamarines. Lunch was quite the cultural experience. Chicken, rice, and platanos all prepared from scratch at the rio. All the food was washed in and cooked with the river water. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d still be alive today to speak about it. But we survived and it happened to one of the tastier meals we’ve had. Must have been that ¨rio¨ flavoring!

Only three days left of CBT training, then we are back in Santo Domingo for a few weeks. Next Monday we´ll find out our permanent sites.

Adios El Seibo. Nos Vemos.

Mas Fotos

Dos chicas with big cocos. A local cut open these cocos and we drank the water inside and ate the slimy flesh.

A local group of kids.
Its rare to see Guitars here. They must be rich.

The local method of advertising. There is Radio, but most prefer to blast their adds from speakers on top of a truck, this way everyone has to hear it. Semi-annoying.

social norms

Last night, we all had an interview with one of the local radio DJs. He asked us about the Peace Corps, our views of the culture, and what we missed from home. It was sooooo nerve racking. I haven´t been that scared of speaking in a long time. First we had to figure out what exactly he was asking us, and then try to spit out a bit of Spanish that made some sense. I botched one question. I thought that asked what was strange in this country `Que es extraño`, when they were actually asking what I missed about my home ¨Que te exrañas¨. See how I was easily confused! Ay Dios Mio. Anyways I talked about how strange the public transportation system is here, all the guaguas and motoconchos, and how I had my own car in the states. So it came out as I missed my car and didn´t like to walk. Typical American! It was fun and something new though. The picture attached is of Chris, Janet and Cristian, the DJ. (Cristian is also my newest dancing buddy.)

A little about the social life here in El Seibo and the DR in general. Coming from a free life style in the states, some of the cultural norms between men and women here have been very challenging to accept. The machismo here is quite fuerte and this creates some unwritten rules women need to follow to keep themselves out of trouble.
If a woman wants to go out with her girlfriends, it is recommended that a man always accompanies them. If there isn´t a man around, other men will generally view these ladies as a free for all and it will be hard to keep the guys away.
It´s also not wise to accept any drinks from strangers. The 1st drink means they can sit with you, the 2nd means they can dance “pegado” stuck together, and the 3rd means your going home with the guy.
If you go out with guys to a bar, that basically means you´re only dancing with those guys all night long. If by chance another muchacho approaches the table to ask one of the ladies to dance, out of respect, he must first ask one of the guys at the table if he could have that dance with whichever girl. Then, if the guy at the table thinks it okay, he will ask the girl if she would like to dance with this muchacho.
It is not ok for a girl to ask a guy to dance, this of coarse would mean that you want something more than just a dance. Yes, this is frustrating for me. If we have only a few guys in my group, I end up spending much of my night dancing and wiggling in my chair.
On this same note, a lady cannot invite a man into her house if she is alone, even if it is for only 10 minutes, without rumors flying around the entire town that they are doing the hanky panky. Even worse, the man might expect this from the simple invite into the house.
So, us ladies just have to play it safe and smart siempre.