Navidad and Gripe

I’ve been sick the last few weeks with gripe--a cough and most recently an ear infeccion, but have managed to continue working throughout for the most part. I seem to have the same susceptibility to upper-respiratory issues here, but am thankful for the absence of digestive-related problems thus far. 

The holidays are in full swing here in Boca Chica. Work has consisted primarily in attending and putting on holiday events.  In the office we’ve decorated a tree with the typical lights and balls and the not so typical limpiabotas painted yellow by the muchachos in honor of the sweeping campaign for raising educational spending (see photo below).  We’ve already done 5+ events for families and youth that my organization works with.  These generally consist of demasiado gente, loosely controlled chaos, a drum circle with Dominican Christmas carols, a few words of Christmas thanks and reflection and serving food assembly line style to all of the invitees (and then some).  In Dominican culture, “crashing parties” as we would call it in the US is a frequent occurrence so by not implementing a strict guest list there will always be extra people that show up.  I also had the opportunity to accompany 25 boys who are either living or working on the street to the National Palace for a Christmas dinner put on by the First Lady.  It was an exhausting afternoon/evening, busing them to the capital and then keeping track of them among the other 500 boys and girls as they got popcorn, treats, and dinner, but overall a great experience.

This month I’ve had the pleasure of attending some events put on by international organizations here in the DR.   One of these was Plan International’s Christmas party, which was much like an office Christmas event in the states…..eggnog, hors d'oeuvres and sweets, and soft music playing in the background of polite chitter chatter.  Last week, I represented my organization at a conference on smuggling and trafficking put on by the International Office of Migration.  The head of the mission in the DR described the current time as a “golden age” of responding to child trafficking issues in the DR, since post-earthquake in Haiti it has become impossible for the Dominican government to ignore the growing problem. Finally, last weekend I celebrated Christmas wtih the Peace Corps.  The Peace Corps director had an annual holiday party complete with Chinese food, rum punch and 25 different pies and cakes at his ritzy apartment building near the Embassy.  What a blast!

The usual buzz of the holidays has been joined by the energy behind the grassroots campaign to raise educational spending.  Everywhere you go, people are wearing yellow shirts with “4%” written across the front.  The last 3 Mondays in a row there have been hundreds of people camped out in front of the national congress (including most of the people from my organization) protesting.  Dominican law states that 4% of the budget is designated for educational spending but in reality this number has never surpassed 2%, making the Dominican Republic the country with the lowest investment in education in Latin America.  The movement has really taken hold in the pueblo and leads one to hope that the legislation may actually pass in Congress to raise the budget.  My hope is that with the increased spending the Ministry of Education will invest the money wisely in school infrastructure so that each school can meet the demand the number of children attending and doesn’t have to have 3 different school days of 3 hours each.

While I have enjoyed observing cultural elements of Christmas in this country I, of course, have been feeling pangs of longing for home….cold weather, hot chocolate, Christmas carols and time spent with family and friends.  Know that this holiday season, though I’m far away, I’ll be thinking about all of you! 

Merry Christmas!  

Translations:

Navidad- Christmas!

Gripe—the term most close to “cold” in the US, used to refer to any kind of sickenss that involves the upper-respiratory tract including cold, cough, sinus, etc.

Limpiabotas--  in this case refers to the boxes that the boys who clean shoes carry around, but the term also refers to the boys themselves.
muchachos-- boys
demasiado gente- too many people

One month in...

I’ve been in my site for about a month now.  There have been ups and downs, but overall I’m looking forward to my two years of service here.  Working with boys living on the street is not easy.  When they’ve reached that point, there becomes very little that you can do for them.  I accompanied a colleague one day to the capital to take a street boy, age 10, to his family in the capital.  He slept the whole way because he had not slept the night before. We arrived at his grandmother’s house 2 hours later after 4 different public transportation transfers, we found a family full of excuses—everyone trying to lay the blame on someone else for why this child was living on the street in another city, even on the child himself!  I doubt he lasted more than 3 days with them…it was clear he was unwanted there, and when living with his father, he was abused.  The whole situation was discouraging and made me understand why Caminante has decided to focus so heavily on prevention and scale down on interventions.  In public health, prevention is a mantra, so we definitely speak the same language. 

There have also been many bright spots over the last month:

1)   Working with the limpiabotas.  These boys have resilient spirits and a desire to learn despite their education system that has failed them and their economic situations that have forced them to work in the street at a young age.

 

2)   Focus groups with youth—It is amazing how poignant young people can be when you give them the forum to express themselves.  In this country, unfortunately, those opportunities are few and far between.  In school, the teacher is the law, there is only one correct answer, and the right for children to have an opinion and be heard (an actual part of law 136-03, which protects children) is largely ignored. 

3)   Thanksgiving with Peace Corps friends—While nothing can replace spending Thanksgiving among family, this day came a close second.  In a large club in Santo Domingo all 200 of us shared a traditional family-style Thanksgiving lunch accompanied by sports, swimming, a talent show and general merriment. 

4)   Weekend with host family in the capital—My original host family that I lived with during training continues to be one of my favorite parts of my life here.  After Thanskgiving Day, I went and stayed the weekend with them.  They made all the traditional dishes that are cooked in celebration here—asopao (my favorite) and sancocho.  I helped my host sister shop for items for her new cafeteria she is opening on the corner, next door to my other host sister’s colmado and my host mom’s knick knack store (they are a very entrepreneurial family).  To top off the weekend, I went to a baseball game and a 35^th wedding anniversary in the family where they roasted an entire pig on a spit! 

5)   Trip to the National Palace for the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women—Because my organization manages a project funded by the First Lady’s initiative, we were invited to her commemorational event.  All dressed up, we sat in a ballroom and listened to speeches and testimonials from professors, priests and other distinguished guests from the DR, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, and the US.  The whole event had a very religious undertone, complete with a guest performance by a famous evangelical singer.   None of my colleagues understood my eyebrow raising of course, because here it is completely normal to hear religious discourse in a state building—there is absolutely no separation of church and state. 

This month will be full of celebrations.  Caminante plans a holiday event with every community and population that they work with.  While in my mind that is a lot of money put towards feel-good events, they justify the cost based on the fact that many people that we work with cannot afford their own Christmas celebrations.

Translations

limpiabotas- boys that clean your shoes on the street

asopao- traditional Domincan soup with rice and meat

sancocho- traditional Dominican stew with plantains, yuca, boiled bananas, and a variety of meats (among other things)

colmado- corner store/grocery

Dominican term of the week-- "Ya tu sabes"  This phrase literally translates into "You already know", but a better translation for our usage of it would be, "oooh you know how it is".  This phrased is used very frequently, and often in situations where someone is referring to a pattern of behavior (often one they aren't privy to).  But its usage is can be even more generalized.  It is a way of expressing, thats just the way it is!

First week on the job

After a week's delay in the capital, during which I was holed up in a hotel waiting out Hurricane Tomas (I'm not complaining....cable television, 3 buffet meals a day and hot showers were quite a treat) I've finally settled in at my job in Boca Chica.  I'm working with Caminante, an NGO that works to protect the rights of children and adolescents focusing specifially on child labor and commercial sexual exploitation, as I explained in an earlier post.  My first three months will be spent putting together an organizational diagnostic as well as community diagnostics of the areas in which Caminante works in order to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of my organization and to determine exactly what role I will be undertaking here.  

What exactly does a diagnostic entail?  A not exhaustive list includes- shadowing my colleagues, formal interviews with staff, informal conversations with staff and community members, and focus groups with youth and families served by Caminante.  While this doesn't sound like much work for three months I'm already scrambling and hoping to get everything done.  Firstly, because I've been told that its difficult to do much of anything during the month of December (think Christmas extended); secondly, because Caminante is involved with so many projects in so many communities; and finally, because at the end of this month the national census will be taking place and ALL of my colleagues will be working on it, ie indisposed!

Apart from the diagnostic, I've also started to work alongside two of the young educators (one of whom is my host brother) with a group of trabajadores  (boys that shine shoes or sell food on the street).  We are in the process of administering a literacy diagnostic to determine reading levels so that we can separate the boys into smaller groups.  My first small mini-project while I'm completing my diagnostic will be to "alphabetize" (some reverse translation--literacy in Spanish is alfabetazacion) those boys that are still pre-literate.  (Shout out to my Harbor Heights clan...I know you appreciate the lingo;) )  

In terms of my home life with my host family, I'm learning lots of new things and discovering new things about myself.  I'm learning how to cook, how to break down my "American" concept of personal space and alone time, and how to eat rice twice a day!  I've discovered that I like cats more than I thought (we have a kitten...Chumi, and I plan on getting one when I get my own place) because they serve a purpose here--to keep the rats away!  I'll be living with my host family until the end of January, at which point I have to find my own place.  I'm a little nervous to live on my own for the first time, especially in a neighborhood that is considered "caliente", but I know that it will be a chance for personal growth.  

Dominican phrase(s) of the week:  "A buen tiempo"  and "buen provecho"

These two interchangeable phrases stumped me in my first weeks in country.  They are used in conjunction as formalities and courtesies during mealtime.  An example:  Someone walks into a room where people are eating, and the people eating will almost always say "a buen tiempo" which means they are offering food to the person (this is a very sharing culture and everything that one has one shares).  The courteous reply by this person is "buen provecho" which literally means "enjoy your food" but also signifies that they person is negating the offer and doesn't want any food.  Sometimes these phrases are interchanged and I honestly still don't understand all of the subtleties, but these phrases are a great example of the formal aspect of Dominican culture.   

Translations

trabajadores- workers

alfabetizacion- literacy

caliente- literally this translates into "hot", but in this case it is used to refer to a lot of movement and an element of danger

From trainee to volunteer...

I´ll begin with the mandatory apology for slacking off on my weekly blog.  I feel like I´ve been around the world and back in two weeks, without really having traveled very far.  I returned from Constanza to Santo Domingo for a fun packed weekend during which I cooked out on the corner with my host family (pig´s head and boiled bananas!  Sounds crazy I know, but one of my favorite meals here so far), had my hair done Dominican style by my host mom and sister, and danced bachata and merengue until all hours of the morning.  I finally got a cell phone (for any of you New Yorkers you can call me for REALLY cheap if you find the right card at a bodega).  My number is 809·723·7806.  Then I left for a 5 day visit to my site, Boca Chica. 

To say the least, I am a very lucky young lady.  I have a wonderful host family that I will be living with in Andres de Boca Chica (about a 7 minute ride on the guagua).  My host brother, Donchi, 23, and host sister ChiChi, 25, both work at my assigned organization, Caminante, with me.  I must take a moment to explain that these names are, in reality, apodos or nicknames.  It is extremely common for people in the DR to have an apodo, and they are so frequently used that someone may have known someone his whole life and not even know his real name (this is especially common in the campo).  Donchi´s real name is Luis Antonio and ChiChi´s is Cruz Maria, but I´ve only ever seen their ¨real¨ names in writing. 

Anyway, I spent most of my site visit running around with a group of American visitors, pastors and their wives from Oklahoma whose church supports my organization.  It was exhausting because I did a lot of translating but also a positive experience because I got to see so many of the initiatives that my organization works on.  We visited a Batey  where many of the kids that work on the street in Boca Chica live, a homework space that supplements the very short school day here (this topic will get an entire blog posting at some point), a pizzeria that was started by a former limpiabotas who Caminante worked with for many years, the vocational school that Caminante runs in conjunction with an initiative of the First Lady, and met with a group of young women who have formed a microfinance organization under the guidance of Caminante.  These individual activities do not nearly sum up to the total of the experience that I had last week visiting my site.  I am so excited for the work ahead, to continue compartiring with my new family and friends there, to work with the young and passionate people at Caminante, and to get to know the young men and women for whom the organization was founded-children and adolescents whom despite their most difficult situations have learned to sobrevivir, selling avocados, limes, or a shoeshine--traveling to work, going to school, and often taking care of family members.  I know that these children will envoke in me more emotions and thoughts  than I can explain in words.  I just hope that I, who know nothing of the types of hardship they face, have something they find worthwhile to offer in return. 

In closing, I am now officially a Peace Corps volunteer.  On Wednesday I took the same oath as the President himself, swearing to defend the Constitution at all costs during my service.   It was a moment that I will not forget.  While I´ve never considered myself a particularly patriotic person, at that moment I felt a certain duty to my country that once can only describe as such.  Tomorrow I will travel to my site and begin my official two years of Peace Corps service.  Oh the possibilities....

P.S.  For those of you who might have been wondering after hearing the news, we are still safe from cholera here, but its only a matter of time before it arrives across the boarder.  Today every PC volunteer in the country came in for a special training on cholera, so we are on top of the situation!  I will keep you updated on any developments in that area. 

Translations-
apodos- nicknames
Batey- A Haitian community, traditionally formed around sugarcane production
guagua-Dominican term for a bus
limpiabotas- shoe shiners
sobrevivir- survive

Last weekend in Constanza--Celebrando la Juventud

This weekend was full of learning experiences.  Saturday our youth group completed their activity for “Celebrando la Juventud” week.  We had been planning for weeks a neighborhood cleanup followed by the painting and installation of three trashcans around the barrio.  Here in Constanza (and in the DR in general from what I've seen) there are few to no public trashcans depending on where you are, so when people are not in their houses they typically just throw trash in the street.  The youth group we’ve been working with, an "Ecoclub" determined that having public trashcans in the neighborhood would be a  good first step in the right direction of changing people's behavior with regards to trash.

Leading up to the day of the activity we had visited the local hardware store multiple times to price all the materials (including the metal barrels themselves that would be used for trashcans).  They assured us that the barrels would be ready for us when we came to pick them up Friday evening.  Much to our dismay, after getting a factura of all of our materials Friday afternoon, we were informed that there were no barrels and that we would have to wait until Monday!  At this point, I nearly lost my cool, reminding them how they had promised us that the barrels would be there and that the mayors office would be in attendance along with the press (a sliiight stretch of the truth).  They started to call around town and eventually came up with one, which they wanted to deliver to us in the morning, but which I insisted that we take with us at that moment, and promised two more for the next morning.

The activity went over beautifully once we finally had all of the materials.  We began the morning with a limpieza of the neighborhood followed by a wonderful snack of tostadas and juice provided by the mayor’s office (a result of our youth group soliciting their support).  After our experience at the hardware store, we were pleasantly surprised that the snacks came through.

The second portion of our activity was the most rewarding—preparing the barrels to become utilitarian works of art.  If I overestimated the reliability of Dominicans, I much underestimated their resourcefulness.  The barrels, traditionally used to hold gasoline, were closed on both sides.  By my estimation, we would have needed a dinosaur sized can-opener to transform a barrel into something resembling a trashcan.  To my surprise, I watched a few young men with nothing but a beat-up machete and a hammer complete the job of detapping the barrel in a matter of minutes.  Then, together with all of the kiddos, we spray painted the barrels with a white base and the “Ecoclubes” logo along with the neighborhood name.  Finally, we proceeded to have the kids dip their hands in paint to put their handprints on the barrels--some as tree branches, others as butterflies, and others as just freestyle hand prints.  Something we did NOT take into account was that, by requesting durable paint to withstand the sun and rain, we were given oil-based paint that does NOT come off of your hands with water! This was discovered after some 25 odd people were already covered in colors!  After a few more trips to the hardware store to buy paint thinner and rags, we finally succeeded in getting everyone cleaned off and were able to install the newly designed trashcans in designated spots in the neighborhood with chains and locks (to prevent them from being stolen to store water…a common occurrence here that explains the lack of trashcans to begin with).  Overall, it was an exhausting day, but a very rewarding experience. (I've attached a few pictures at the bottom.)

As you may have noticed, I’ve made a decision to write my blog with a bit of Spanglish.  The reason for this is not because I am incapable of translating (though it is becoming difficult at times to come up with English vocabulary!) but rather because 1) some translations do not do justice to a concept and are better left in their original form and 2) the story-telling of my experiences feels more authentic this way.  Any of you reading this that are bilingual will surely understand this sentiment.  I will try and keep these terms to a minimum so as not to make the reading experience too jarring.  Any words that are in italics in my entry will be in a list at the end explaining their meaning in English

Dominican term of the week: “bola” 

While this word most directly refers to a ball (of any kind), its utility for me in this country thus far has been far from its traditional usage.  Here in the DR, a “bola” refers to a free ride, or hitchhiking, as we refer to it in the States.  “Bolas” are extremely common here for going just about anywhere, and anyone with a delivery truck or otherwise is willing to cart you in the back for a ride.  Being “gringos” in a town not used to seeing many North Americans, we’ve even achieved bolas from cars going in the opposite direction!!

Translations--

Barrio- Neighborhood

Factura- Invoice/Bill

Limpieza- Clean-up

Tostada- A toasted sandwich of any kind (much like a melt in the States); could simply refer to toasted bread with butter, or to a more traditional melt with ham and cheese inside.

  

My PC Site- Boca Chica!

Yesterday was officially the longest day in training I've had--a full 12 hours of excitement.  It began with a visit to the Ministerio de la Mujer (the government department dedicated to expanding women's rights) and ended with a birthday party for one of the volunteers, where I had an allergic reaction to something I ate and broke out in hives all over my body!  My heart goes out to everyone with a food allergy--not fun.

In the late morning, we had a very suspenseful two hour session where our boss, Adele, who came in from the capital, announced our provisional site placements.  She had us pick names out of a hat and sit in a chair in the middle of the group while she gave us a two minute summary of each of our site placements.  We have all been waiting for this day since training began and I was all nerves.  Along the way our technical trainer and current volunteers have been reassuring us that Adele works very hard to match sites with volunteers backgrounds and after hearing about my site, I truly believe this.

I will be spending my two years in Boca Chica, an overcrowded touristy beach town of about 100,000 just east of the capital, Santo Domingo.  Boca Chica was the site of the country's first resort back in the 1960s and an area where rich Dominicans from the capital built luxurious vacation homes.  Over the last few decades, Boca Chica has experienced the deterioration that often accompanies rapid tourist development.  Many current travel guides describe it as "slightly seedy" and a recent article goes as far as to say "Boca Chica is a has-been of a resort town along the crystal blue Caribbean. It is a place of worn-out luxury, where prostitutes ply their trade openly and children of poverty, often undocumented Haitians, are easy targets for drug runners and sex traffickers".


Now that it is clear why a youth Peace Corps volunteer would be needed in a beach resort town, I will describe the NGO I will be working with for the next two years.  Caminante, meaning "One Who Walks the Path", is a grassroots organization that provides a safe space where hundreds of at risk youth receive counseling, health information, legal assistance and educational and vocational programming.  The purpose of Caminante is to serve children who are at risk of being drawn into prostitution (primarily street children, many of whom are Haitian) as a result of the tourist economy in Boca Chica.  Additionally they provide services to those who have already been victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.  I still have not been given the details of what my role within Caminante will be, but I am extremely excited to be working with them and hope that my background in education and public health will be a valuable resource for them.  As a side note, Boca Chica is only about a 10 minute drive from the Santo Domingo International Airport, so, easy access for all of you who are thinking about visiting!  


Things are winding down here in Constanza.  We have a little less than two weeks left here.  Tonight I'll be attending a party my youth group is throwing as a fundraiser for our project for the final week of "Celebrando la Juventud" (Celebrating Youth).  It has rained for 10 days straight here!  Not fun when you have to be out and about, but wonderful when you are lying in bed with the background of rythmic pings coming off the tin roof.  


Dominican word of the week: “vaina” 

Literally, vaina means “thing” but it is used just about every other sentence in colloquial Dominican Spanish when someone is searching for a word and can’t think of the name of something. Example:  My host brother hands me yet another fruit that I have never seen before (but which I will surely eat) and I respond “Que es esta vaina??”

~Patronales~

Today marks the completion of our second week in Constanza—only three more to go!  I have thoroughly enjoyed training here since we are getting into the specifics all of the youth initiatives we may be working on during our service.  We find out our placements in exactly a week!!!! This has been the constant topic of conversation lately considering that everyone is extremely anxious to know where they will be spending the next two years of their lives.  Luckily this weekend there will be plenty to distract us from the seeming eternity of a week of waiting—Patronales!  “Patronales” refers to the celebrations around a pueblo’s patron saint.  I still remember the jubilant fiestas I attended in my little village in Oaxaca (can it be?) TEN years ago when I was volunteering with Amigos de las Americas.  Here in Constanza there is a week-long church celebration with nightly masses followed by a secular town celebration that lasts through the weekend.  There will be a horse parade, live music, dancing and general merriment in the town's central plaza.

 

To assure that I don’t paint the Peace Corps as a simple walk in the park (I tend to focus on the positives), I’ll share a few challenges I’ve experienced thus far.  Though I consider myself very fortunate in terms of cuisine by comparison to many PC countries, relinquishing complete control of your diet after having prepared your own food for so long definitely gets frustrating.  My body has not responded kindly to the vast amounts of white bread and starches I’ve been feeding it instead of my usual grains and veggies. My biggest challenge though, for those of you who know my coffee habits, has been the abrupt drop-off of daily caffeine intake.  I didn’t really internalize that a grande Starbucks (or CCs or PJs) is equivalent to 4-5 cups coffee until I started being served an actual metric cup of coffee in the mornings which, to put it mildly, has left me wanting more.  While coffee is quite commonplace, people usually only drink it in their homes.  The coffee shop phenomenon is non-existent as is coffee in any mobile form.  I’m also adjusting to life without hot showers and flushing toilets and with constant critters and roosters outside my window that, contrary to popular belief, do NOT only crow at sunrise.  All in all, small sacrifices for what I’m sure I will regard as one of the formative experiences of my life. 

Dominican phrase of the week “Si Dios quiere”  Literally translated to “If God wants”, this phrase is the habitual response to any reference to the future, most especially to transfer responsibility for some action from oneself to God.  Example:  I ask Dona Maria—will she be able to come to our charla (chat—typically of an educational nature) tomorrow afternoon?  Dona Maria responds “Si Dios quiere” which translates to—anyone’s guess!  I am no surer of whether the Dona will make it to our meeting then I was before I asked.  

Some photos!

So unfortunately my camera disappeared in route to the DR and the backup I have isn't working, which means all of my pictures for a few months are going to be from other people.  I thought I would attach a few from my first week in Constanza.

Yesterday we did a neighborhood cleanup with a youth group (hence the gloves in the photo) and then went out dancing.  I'm becoming a pro at bachata, the prefered Dominican dance style.  Bachata originated in the DR but now is danced around Latin America.  It used to be considered a dance only for "campesinos" or poor people from  rural areas but now it's popular everywhere, especially with the dawn of the most popular "bachateros"--the one and only-- Aventura.  I listened to them a lot in New York but in the DR I've experienced a new level of devotion.  I hear Aventura blaring from the streets pretty much all day every day.  Dominicans never get tired of their music, and so far neither have I!  I will try and upload more pictures soon (ie encourage my friends to take more!).  Hope everyone is well at home.  Send me emails, news, updates etc!

Una barriga llena (A full stomach)

We’ve been in Constanza now for almost a week.  It’s absolutely beautiful here and the climate is wonderful.  I’ve been getting a lot of exercise climbing the mountain behind our house and going to the baseball field to run around with the kids.  My host family here is lovely.  There are two boys, 13 and 9 and one girl who is 11.  My host dad drives a public motoconcho (motorcyle) for a living and my host mom is a cooking guru! 

I haven’t written much about the food here, so I’ll take this opportunity to elaborate a bit.  Dominican cuisine is full of “viveres” which directly translates to “that which sustains” but what we would generally consider as starches.  Yuca, plantains, potatoes and a number of others that don’t exist in the states are consumed daily.  Eggs and salami are also very popular.  The centerpiece of the Dominican diet, however, is definitely rice, and boy do they do it well here!  Any Dominican will tell you that if they haven’t eaten rice at a meal, they feel that they haven’t really eaten at all.  Rice is present at every big midday meal, typically accompanied by either beans, lentils, plantains, chicken or pork.    Another plentiful part of the Dominican diet is fruit!  There are many wonderful tropical fruits here that I had never tried before like guyaba, guanabana y carambola (starfruit).  Dominicans love making “batidas” or fruit shakes.  As you can tell, I am far from suffering with this cuisine!

Dominican word of the week: “barriga”

The technical word in Spanish for stomach is "estomago" but here in the DR, they would have no idea what you were talking about if you were to use that term.  Your stomach in the DR is referred to as your "barriga".  For example, when my host family feeds me twice the amount of food I can consume in one meal, I grab my stomach and say "mi barriga esta lleeeena" (my stomach is so full!)

 

To the mountains we go!

This last week has been a total whirlwind as we've been wrapping up basic training in the capital.  Last Thursday, I traveled to the other side of the island to visit a volunteer currently serving in Samana--a peninsula off the East side of the island full of beaches, mountains and European tourists.  That experience was my first glimpse into the life of a PC volunteer.  Stephanie, an IT/education volunteer about a year into her service, was a great host.  She introduced me to all of her project partners, took me to the beach and an amazing waterfall in El Limon, cooked me eggplant parmesean and other delicious meals (a welcome change from 24/7 Dominican cuisine) and answered my many questions.  Then, over the weekend, I traveled back to the capital to make it home for my Dona's birthday, which was an event to behold!  We danced all night to a live merengue band and I met about 30 members of their gigantic family.  Living with my host family has definitely been the highlight of my experience so far.  My Dona has two daughters and a son who are 26, 28 and 32 and all live on our street or in our house.  Each of them has their own kids who are between the ages of 2 and 10 and they are always playing out on the corner next to the "colmado" (small food store) that my host sister runs.  Many of my best hours in these last weeks have been spent under the giant tree that covers the street corner in shade.

Today was my last day of core training in the capital.  For the next five weeks, I will be living in Constanza, a pueblo high up in the mountains of the interior of the country.  The entry for Constanza in my Lonely Planet guide reads "God is everywhere in the DR, but he lives in Constanza".  Needless to say, it's supposed to be a beautiful place.  I'm looking forward to the fresh mountain air, the flowers, the less structured schedule, and the chance to get my hands dirty working with the youth in the community. I'll try and keep a weekly blog entry to let ya'll know what I'm up to at CBT (Community Based Training). 

Dominican word of the week: "jevi"
If you thought "jevi" remotely resembled the English word "heavy", you were right!  This English word turned dominican expression does not refer to mass however, but is used to describe anything "cool".  Example:  Natalie receives a package from the States (in a padded envelope to ensure delivery, of course) and exclaims "Que jevi!!"

Lo que es "compartir"...

I’ve been here fore two weeks now, and already I’m starting to slack on the blogging!  I’ve gotten so comfortable here it feels more like I’ve been here for two months than two weeks.  In summary--training days are long but useful, vaccines frequent but necessary, and the people are diverse and yet share countless interests` and values.  As someone who is used to very little down time, I’m adjusting rather easily to the endless hours spent “compartiendo”. 

Dominican word of the day: “compartir”. This literally means “to share”, but here the significance is so much greater.  Sharing is everything and great deal of importance is placed on the act of spending time with people.  The activity itself is not important—you might be sitting on the corner for hours and only talking intermittently—but this is to “compartir”. The significance is not just sharing things or time, but rather sharing your life.  This deeply engrained value in Dominican culture has already taught me a lot.

I've arrived!!! (+ mailing address)

I'm sitting at the training center in Santo Domingo looking out at the mango trees and tropical flowers.  This is a beautiful place.  We just finished our second day of Peace Corps training, during which I digested more information than I have in a LONG time.  I met my host family yesterday and will be living with them for the next 3 weeks here in the outskirts of Santo Domingo.  Running water comes sometimes, and electricity is intermittent, although my family uses a "car battery" (as they explained it) to light the house when the neighborhood loses electricity.  So, in that sense, I am very lucky.  I took my first bucket bath this morning.  It was really refreshing and saves a LOT of water!  Pouring a bucket of cold water over your head when you've been sweating in the 90 degree humidity is wonderful.

After the three weeks, I will be traveling to the interior of the country to a town called Constanza for our rural community based training, which lasts 5 weeks.  It's supposed to be beautiful, so I'm looking forward to that!

In case anyone wants to send me mail, I'm going to write my address below.  Snailmail letters and/or photos will be SO appreciated!  They discourage receiving big packages, because they usually get caught up in Dominican Post Office and you have to pay a bunch of fees.  However, large-ish padded envelopes shouldn't have a problem getting through.  Thanks!!

Address:

Natalie Ferrell, PCT (Peace Corps Trainee, starting in November this will be PCV-Peace Corps Vol)
Cuerpo de Paz
Avendia Bolivar 451, Gazcue
Apartado 1412
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic

The adventure begins...

As I write this first post, I'm sitting at a Starbucks in D.C. awaiting the commencement of pre-departure orientation, known, in Peace Corps lingo, as "Staging".  In a few hours I will meet the fellow volunteers with whom I'll be spending the next 10 weeks in PST (Pre-Service Training...the first of dozens of acronyms that dominate Peace Corps speak).  I'm aiming to embark on this journey with very few expectations, and yet...I know I have many.  How many times have I envisioned myself in the Peace Corps over the last 10 years?  I guess the time has arrived!  How surreal.   
                                                                                                                                    I feel obliged to forewarn those who will be following this blog--this is my first attempt at online memory keeping.  It still feels rather new and foreign.  I pledge to keep my stories short and sweet, and hopefully, on occasion, they will provide you some insight or entertainment.  Mostly, I wanted a hassle free way to keep everyone in the loop over the next few years--so that you all can join me on this journey, and provide some of your own insights and feedback!  Thanks a bundle.  
Here's to some firsts and lasts--first blog post, first day in training, last Starbucks brew (for quite some time), and last day in this country that, despite my occasional complaints and criticisms, I am proud to call my home.