a special visit

Anhela's hermana y papa ah que! Hey I tried! :-) by Teresa Olin

Yes the country was gorgeous and yes it was wonderful seeing the country side and the towns, villages and all the crazy activity but the real stories are in the adventures that weren't planned. As you can see from the pictures above....We had some great times! The gas in our car was natural gas....oh my what a stench..Angela and I had to ride with our heads out the window so we wouldn't be gassed to death! haha. The car broke down about 14 miles from home! Woo Hoo! I was having a blast. I mean what more could you ask for then the car breaking down in the middle of no where with no one around or help for miles! OK my dad didn't think it was so fun...he was worried the gringos were going to steal his daughters and ravish them in the bushes! haha. What a hoot! Enmanuel blew chunks on the boat ride and all we did was laugh at him...not nice I know but what a perfect thing to happen! Someone had to barf on the boat! haha. Driving in the back of a run down pickup with an old man carrying a very large KNIFE...eating a cacoa ......riding on the boat to the caves....getting sick....ugh....(it was worth it!)....eating oranges the dominican way.....chasing chickens.....and last but not least....all the LOVE!!!

The ocean tides in Las Terenas. We stayed in El Toriedo in a combania. What a great day! Enmanuel was learning an American water game...CHICKEN!

In the early morning hours of March 12th it was time to say good bye to our sweet dear Anhela. To tell you the truth I would have put up with the explosive diarrhea and the cold showers a little longer for more time and hugs from all the wonderful, special individuals we left behind. They will forever be a part of me and I will forever be grateful for this amazing experience and the chance to let so many beautiful people enter my life. What an adventure!

For about 2 months now, I’ve been working with my new Escojo group (AIDS education/prevention, communication, values, self-esteem, condoms, healthy choices, ect.) and last night we had an emotional break-through, you know the kind that leaves one glowing with love and tears in their eyes. Our theme last night was self-esteem so I wanted to start out with a good old self-esteem booster. Spin the bottle and wherever it lands the spinner has give a compliment about the other. Well it turned out to be something like ¨yeah, she’s a cool chick, she has a lot of friends and treats others well¨. Some were a little more sincere than others, but all the kids felt very uncomfortable giving and both receiving a compliment.

So I asked them, “Why was that so hard for us to hear or tell something nice and heartfelt? Is it really that hard to see the good in someone?”

We are so used to pointing out character flaws that sometimes we forget to tell someone what we really like about them. Que malo.

“Let’s try the activity again, but this time you can pick who’d you like to compliment. Remember that you have to talk directly to that person, not about the person, look them in the eyes, and say something sincere. We will all have an opportunity to share our thoughts. We will sit and wait until each of you feels you’re ready to talk.”

And so I started, “Juana, I admire the fact that you have participated in all the activities the community and I have put on. It truly shows your dedication to your own education and that you are choosing your own path. That quality is so important in a person and it will take you a long way.” She smiled, looked down, and said Thank you in English. Then we waited. Looked around and waited some more. Finally one would start, then another, then another. A few minutes would pass, looking around, and then another would go. Fifteen minutes later we all finished. Amazing amounts of love was shared, leaving us with swollen blushing hearts. It was the first time that I had received true, heart felt affirmations from my youth about my work. I know now just how important my presence and activities are for the youth in my community. I loved it, I loooved it. Best meeting I’ve had all year.

“So this week let’s share the love and give compliments to 3 other important people in our lives”

The kids’ faces filled with looks of fear and doubt. “But whenever I try to say something nice to my parents or my friends they just think I’m acting weird or making fun of them.”
“Or what if I try to say something and they just tell me to shut-up and get out of their view of the telenovela on TV?”

“Ok, lets take a minute and ask for strength in this assignment as well as give strength to our family and friends so they are ready to listen and accept what we have to say.”

So we prayed and hugged and kissed.

Amen.

Carnaval

Orange. A cell phone company with their super cave.

I lasted about 5 seconds.

Examples of the many elaborate costumes and masks.

Black object in the middle is a hitting butt tool. Sand, rocks, and if your lucky filled with just air.

Carnaval. Carnaval. Carnaval.

What an INSANE fiesta! Streets are packed, butts are wacked, and you will be a sweating like no other.

Enmanuel, myself and the family headed out to La Vega for the last sunday parade in February. Around 1pm the streets were nearly empty allowing us to visit the ¨caves¨ put up by local company. The caves provided the richies with VIP shady chairs and cold beverages. Us campo folks wandered the streets trying to avoided getting wacked in the butt with an air (or sometimes rock filled) beating bags. Those participating in the parade were dressed with elaborate beautifully ugly devilish costumes parading through and dancing like wild jungle beasts.

Fusimania Med Mission

So, At the beginning of January, I went for a trek with my good buddy Jon up to the Mountains north of Santiago. Our night were spent in this retreat center and our days spent traveling out to the surrounding villages to visit the patients and translate for the Med people.

Our Maine Crew. Docs, Pediatricians, Sports Med, Gynocologists, Nurses, students, and translators all coming together to help out in the DR.

We were set up in churches, schools, and houses, any building that were availabe in their communities. The clinics were set up with 4-6 stations, all with a translator, a student, and a nurse or doctor.We saw everything from Diabetes, to open sores, to fungi, to parasites. The patients got a full analysis and were sent on their way with any medications that needed filling.

Rain or Shine we were ready to roll.

When the patients were too sick or old to come in to the clinic, we brought the clinic to them.

But not without stopping for a quick game of baseball with the local muchachos. An old plastic juice bottle for a ball and a stick for the bat. Med mission vs. Campo muchachos. Despite the lack of my eye-ball skills, I got a few good hits.

And now after such a successful mission, Jon and I have decided to take over Med Mission Chairs and run the whole show. Well, peace corps side of the whole show. Wish us luck.

a DR christmas

Santa Georgina with gifts for the kids over her shoulder.

A small part of the Reinoso Duran Family. Gathering to bless the abundance of food.

And then you just dig in!

Enmanuel, Sylvana, Francis, and I

Evony, Lily and I on Christmas Eve

Christmas here isn’t quite like back home. 70 degree weather instead of -20, platanos instead of scalloped potatoes, Christmas merengue instead of jingle bells, raisins, apples and grapes instead endless Christmas cookies, and of course my Dominican family instead of my ND family. I was a trooper, but I can`t say I wasn`t home sick.

Traditions are quite different as well. Christmas Eve is celebrated with enough food to fill a large family of elephants. We had roasted pork, roasted chicken, platanos maduro, boiled green bananas, spaghetti, bread, chicken pastries, beef in a leaf, some eggplant dish, and much more. Sophy mixed up an Alexander cocktail and Georgina pretended to be Santa. Even I got a few gifts, isn´t that special. Normally gifts aren’t given on Christmas but instead el dia de Reyes (Kings day, Jan. 6), but relatives were here from the capital so we had to aprovechar.

Christmas day is spent drinking, chatting and dancing, nothing too out of the ordinary. I was a little under the weather with a mucusy cough so I didn´t partake in the drunken dancing so much. I’ve been served various concoctions of natural foods with a guarantee it will clear up my gripe. Right now, I’m drinking a mixture of honey and aloe plant filling. Tastey.

Thanks giving PCDR style

Enjoying some intermural sports. How sweet.

Charishing some special time together. Good old pals.

Our peace corps doctor´s parrot. Speaks spanish but not today.

Bachata and Merengue dance contest. We got 2nd place in Merengue.

Rebecca y Yo catching some rays

When it rains it pours

When it rains it pours, when it pours it floods, and when it floods, watch out, this little island is in big trouble. It started as any Sunday afternoon shower. Nobody suspected a thing. Then, that shower turned into sheets of rain that continued through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and finally drizzled off Thursday. Half way through this intense tropical storm, every exit from our campo was flooded. Bridges were taken out or had 5 feet of rain over them making it impossible to get to the next campo. Our little campo survived like a champ, but again we are settled on top a hill, allowing all of the rain to flow down into the river below us. For us, it was 4 days of playing cards, reading books, and watching the news. Here in my campo, we bounced back to life as we have always known it, just our relatives and friends in the south were not as fortunate.
Most Dominicans have never received any type of swimming lessons. When we go to the river, they are sure to stay in the shallow part, the water rising no higher than their waste. Now image being in bed and waking up because there is water filling up your bedroom and every hour it keeps getting deeper and deeper. Instant panic would set in for your children, your family, and your home. You can´t swim, so where do you go? UP! Roof tops, tree tops, second floors of homes (a rarity to find). You wait and wait and hope for a rescue boat to pass or a helicopter to lift you up to safety. But what if those roof tops and tree tops aren´t high enough?

This has happened twice in the last month. It’s just unbelievable how much damage rain can cause. Muck muck and more muck. These people here are survivors. They pick up various part s of their house that has been spread about in each direction and start building again. They mourn their loved ones that were taken by the floods and keep pushing onward. Increíble!