Pleasant Surprises

After about three weeks in my new site my schedule is beginning to form some type of consistency. To my surprise, San Juan provides nearly everything I could ever ask for. It has nice grocery stores, beautiful parks, and many organized programs - including a track team! I have never experienced such a “livable” city since I moved to this foreign country and I must admit that I’m thankful to be here for my last stretch of time. While I felt anxious about time and often left my site in Bani, I find no desire to leave San Juan. I am happy right where I am!



What makes me happy here is precisely what lacked during my time in Bani: a sense of community. In my old site I often felt lonely: I was isolated from other volunteers and it was difficult to find friends beyond the youth in my groups. Now, I am in constant contact with my fellow volunteers, especially Sarah since we are working together. Sarah stays at my apartment, we made dinner together, I help her in her projects - and I somehow feel more motivated to work when she is around. It’s great to feel part of a “team” in my project. Even more shocking is that I have found Dominican friends from my new track team! Monday through Saturday I meet my new running buddies as we often explore small campos outside of the city. The views are amazing, as most of our runs consist of running though rice, bean, corn, or sweet potato fields with mountains in the background.

My current project status is that we have 3 Escojo groups which have been formed during school hours, and 4 pending groups. My main role has been meeting with the school directors, organizing the course agenda with the youth, helping the leaders give their presentations, and providing the materials needed to run smoothly. On Sunday I will spend the day teaching the Escojo leaders about new activities, classroom management, and organizing the schedule so that the course finishes by the end of the school year. It’s amazing all the roles you can perform as a Peace Corps volunteer!

This morning I went to visit a small campo about 30 minutes away from San Juan, where an Escojo group would like to also begin the course in their local school. As I entered the school premises to meet with the director, I was shocked. There was a lot going on - kids running around, teachers talking with each other - but nothing seemed related to learning or the classroom. The Dominican Republic supposedly has the worst education system in Latin America, and I think this is the worst run school I have yet to see. That says a lot.

The presidential elections are coming up, May 20, and nearly everyone is convinced that the candidate they support will win the race and change this country. Unfortunately, both candidates have more or less already been in office in the last decade and it’s difficult to imagine anything changing at all. I think the elections are just another form of gambling - like chicken fighting or the lottery. Then again, maybe it’s like that in the USA too and I’ve just forgotten!

On a more positive cultural note, I got to experience Carnaval last weekend! This special day is meant to celebrate the Dominican Independence Day. The accompanying Carnaval celebration, which consists of lots of drinking and a big parade with wild costumes, takes place in each pueblo around Febuary 27th. Last week marked the big celebration in San Juan, and I was hugely impressed by the costumes! I saw anything from mermaids to men with horse bodies to kids who faked dead.



As I like to say, there are always surprises in this country - especially working as a Peace Corps volunteer. My latest surprise is that I have to choose between two events next Friday. I can either build a school with my mom’s cousin’s organization, Bridges to Community, or I can watch the national track meet where the navy, air force, and military teams all compete against each other. I think I’m going to help build a school, as entertaining as the track meet would be. Not long after the activity with Bridges to Community, I will be traveling up to Puerto Plata to pick up Caitlin from the airport! I can’t wait to hang out with such a great friend, give her a taste of this country, and hear about her upcoming wedding in Winston-Salem!

Peace Corps: Part 3

February was a tumultuous month to say the least. As you already know, I suddenly had to leave Las Tablas in the middle of the month because of a security incident. Just as my projects were gaining momentum I had to let everything go and move to the capital while I searched for a new site.

Luckily, when I told my friend Sarah what had happened, she quickly came up with a solution. She suggested that I move to San Juan de la Maguana to help her with a big project she is about to begin. Sarah has been working with the Escojo Mi Vida program for over a year and is now hoping to integrate the course into the public school curriculum. I have also been working with Escojo projects since I first arrived in Bani and had a similar idea of introducing the curriculum into the Bani schools. Since working in Bani is no longer an option for me, I jumped at Sarah’s suggestion and asked my boss if I could move to San Juan. She eventually agreed and here I am! I've been in my new (and last) site for about one week.

So, now I have two and a half months to introduce Escojo Mi Vida into five schools in the San Juan area. The goal is that eventually the charlas will be incorporated into the school curriculum. This project is risky but I’m excited about the potential it has to reach such a high number of youth.

As my secondary projects I hope to work at Plan International and a health clinic whenever I have the time. Plan is an international NGO that focuses on empowering youth as a means to end poverty. They have a program which is basically identical to Escojo, but they also have other projects that I hope to get involved with. The clinic, called La Clinica Cristiana, offers cheap health care for the poor in San Juan’s surrounding campos. The clinic also organizes medical missions where American doctors spend a week performing free operations. I hope to serve as a translator for these missions since I loved the med mission I did back in November.

Apart from work, I think I will like living in San Juan. It seems like a nice city because of its abundance of parks and, most importantly, it has a track! Even better, there are two Mexican restaurants in the city. I’m not expecting the food to be authentic, but I’m still excited about the possibility of buying non-Dominican cuisine.

My time in the Dominican Republic is going FAST and there is a lot going on between now and October. I’ve got three weddings (Ottie, Molly, and Chelsea), a bachelorette party (Caitlin), two weeks’ visit to the USA (yay!), and a final decision on what happens when I leave this island. I just got my first acceptance letter for graduate school in urban planning (Michigan!!!) which means that the idea of life after Peace Corps has suddenly become a reality. I feel both excited and sad, as the last 1.5 years have been filled with so many happy, sad, and life-changing moments.