~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.