A bunch has happened since I last wrote in my blog, and I have arrived to the phase that most people would call the “real” Peace Corps. That means after nearly 6 months of living with host families and studying the Dominican Republic, I am finally living alone and can begin my work! This milestone also marks a shift in my overall happiness; I love living alone and taking more control of what I do here.
It’s actually already been a few weeks since I moved out of my host family’s house, and from day one I have loved living alone. My house has instantly become my haven from the outside world: whenever I need a break from speaking Spanish or socializing with complete strangers I can enter my house and it feels like I am in a different world. I have heard from a few older volunteers that my house is the nicest Peace Corps house they have yet to see on this island, which actually makes me feel a little guilty, but since it’s affordable and helps me keep a level head, I am staying put! You might be interested to know that my monthly rent amounts to $108 dollars - dirt cheap by American standards, though volunteers who live in the campo pay as little as $20 dollars each month. So, everything is wonderful on the housing side of things. I have found many ways to occupy my time at night, such as reading, drawing, watching shows on my computer, etc. My only complaint about living alone is that I have to deal with insects and mice on my own. I had a mouse last week, but my neighbors lent me their cat and it seems to have disappeared. Last night I killed two flying insects that looked like they had scorpion pinchers. So you see, I am adjusting and becoming tougher. Plus, pretty soon I may not completely be living alone after all. In just a couple of weeks I will likely be adopting a black baby chiwawa! I hope she is as cute and wonderful as my neice puppy, Pele.
Last week I had my 3 Month In-Service Training, which marked the end to the community diagnostic phase of my work. All 24 of the new youth volunteers got together to present their community diagnostic to the group and plan for their first year of work. After five days of presentations and charlas about possible projects I left the conference with a plan and ready to begin.
My first project that I am in the process of creating is a mentoring program for girls at my school. I am going to select eight eighth graders and eight fourth graders to participate in a girls group; we will meet twice weekly for two hours each. In the first hour the eighth graders will tutor the fourth graders in their homework and remedial math/literacy work, and in the second hour we will do a group activity. The group activity will alternate between something relating to girls’ issues and an activity based on sports, arts, or science. Something I love about the Peace Corps is that you create your own job here. This idea of mine could be a disaster or a complete success, I have no idea, but I have the freedom to try it out and see where it goes. I am really excited to get it rolling and see what happens. This week I will be making the final decision about which girls are in the group, then I will visit their families and we will have our first meeting with 8th graders on Monday!
My mentoring program will take up most of my time for the next couple months, though I expect to begin a health (Escojo mi vida) group in April and a parenting and business class in the summer months. I am very excited about getting this all started!
I’ve got some special visits to also look forward to in the next month. Lauren and Abby (friends from Boston, now first-year teachers in NYC) are coming to visit me in a little less than a week. We are going to visit Samana, where the whales are arriving to give birth! There is a beach on this side of the island that is ranked one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world, so between swimming in the ocean and watching the whales, we should have plenty of excitement ahead of us. Then we will end the trip in Santo Domingo where everyone will be celebrating Carnaval. Carnaval takes place in the last week of February, to celebrate the country’s independence day - February 27th, and I hear that everyone dresses up and celebrates in the streets. I am glad that Lauren and Abby’s trip overlaps with this big Dominican holiday!
Then, two weeks after my friends leave my dad will arrive! Our trip together will mostly be spent in Bani, where I will take him around my site and introduce him to my youth and neighbors. We also might spend a couple of days outside my neighborhood, though I am really excited to show him my community and what it is like where I live.
I also found out that an old friend from college will be volunteering in the DR for the entire summer, and he will be living just 16 kilometers from Bani! Sometimes I can’t believe how small this world is.
After such a long hiatus of writing a blog, I plan on writing much more from this point forward. My apologies for the lack of communication, but I hold high expectations for myself in keeping my loved ones informed of my work in the Peace Corps.
Well, I guess that’s all for today. I hope that everyone is doing well amidst the snowy weather in the States!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Life worth living
Sometimes the very thing we want is the most difficult thing to choose.
For a long time I had a vision. I dreamed of living with an Amish community in the middle of Pennsylvania for an entire year in order to learn about a different culture, and learn a little about myself as well. I thought that removing myself from the world I had considered to be normal would be one of the greatest learning experiences of my personal and professional life - plus, I was fascinated by a community that lived so simply.
I just recently recalled this vision of mine, and realized that I am in fact living the dream I had once planted for myself several years ago. One of the best aspects of Peace Corps is that it fosters personal as well as professional development, in a way that is hard to come by. For example, I have the pleasure of reading books that I had always put off, as I never before had enough time to do something that didn’t take me to the next item on my agenda. But what a pleasure it has been to read a book of my choice for a few hours in one single day. (If you have time, I would highly recommend reading Memoires of a Geisha - my favorite book so far.)
But the sad thing about dreams is that not everyone can achieve them. I mean, everyone can have a dream, but it is much more difficult for some people to achieve them than others. Unfortunately for the community I live in now, many people will not realize their distant dreams because opportunities are hard to come by. Obviously I hope to help in this effort, but realistically I know that I should be grateful for the opportunity to live one of my dreams by immersing myself in a different culture.
One of the United States’ best assets is that because of it’s innumerable resources, [many] citizens can realistically work toward a dream. This opportunity is rare and one would hope that everyone is, as a result, living as they desire. So why is it that so many people seem to be working in jobs that will provide money to achieve their dreams -- which in turn steals their time and shuts down any chance they had for a more meaningful life? There is always tomorrow, always another day to make more money, until you have spent all your time preparing for your dream and never lived as you had imagined.
In the Dominican Republic, life is slower. But at the same time, people work hard just to survive: survival is the priority. Yet somehow life here is still beautifully executed, and small moments mean more, as they rightfully should. The other day I spent the whole morning reading a book. After that, I learned how to cook rice and beans like a Dominican, and then I watched my next door neighbor prepare coffee from raw coffee beans. Last year I would have said that the day was unproductive, but now, I guess I don’t have anything to say. No comment… it was just another day in the DR, and I really enjoyed it.
So what’s in a dream? Not everyone has the opportunity to dream big, and some people spend their whole lives working for a dream that they could have chosen long ago. Who decides how life should be lived? What is the best way to spend your time?
I am proud of my ambition and hard work, but right now I am learning a lot from just sitting still. I am not sure I have done much of anything “productive” since the Christmas season started (it’s a whole month long here). But for now, I am okay with that.
So is life worth living in small moments, or should we each be chasing a dream? And if we are chasing after a dream, when do we let go of all that we have and grab it? I guess that’s up to the individual to decide.
For a long time I had a vision. I dreamed of living with an Amish community in the middle of Pennsylvania for an entire year in order to learn about a different culture, and learn a little about myself as well. I thought that removing myself from the world I had considered to be normal would be one of the greatest learning experiences of my personal and professional life - plus, I was fascinated by a community that lived so simply.
I just recently recalled this vision of mine, and realized that I am in fact living the dream I had once planted for myself several years ago. One of the best aspects of Peace Corps is that it fosters personal as well as professional development, in a way that is hard to come by. For example, I have the pleasure of reading books that I had always put off, as I never before had enough time to do something that didn’t take me to the next item on my agenda. But what a pleasure it has been to read a book of my choice for a few hours in one single day. (If you have time, I would highly recommend reading Memoires of a Geisha - my favorite book so far.)
But the sad thing about dreams is that not everyone can achieve them. I mean, everyone can have a dream, but it is much more difficult for some people to achieve them than others. Unfortunately for the community I live in now, many people will not realize their distant dreams because opportunities are hard to come by. Obviously I hope to help in this effort, but realistically I know that I should be grateful for the opportunity to live one of my dreams by immersing myself in a different culture.
One of the United States’ best assets is that because of it’s innumerable resources, [many] citizens can realistically work toward a dream. This opportunity is rare and one would hope that everyone is, as a result, living as they desire. So why is it that so many people seem to be working in jobs that will provide money to achieve their dreams -- which in turn steals their time and shuts down any chance they had for a more meaningful life? There is always tomorrow, always another day to make more money, until you have spent all your time preparing for your dream and never lived as you had imagined.
In the Dominican Republic, life is slower. But at the same time, people work hard just to survive: survival is the priority. Yet somehow life here is still beautifully executed, and small moments mean more, as they rightfully should. The other day I spent the whole morning reading a book. After that, I learned how to cook rice and beans like a Dominican, and then I watched my next door neighbor prepare coffee from raw coffee beans. Last year I would have said that the day was unproductive, but now, I guess I don’t have anything to say. No comment… it was just another day in the DR, and I really enjoyed it.
So what’s in a dream? Not everyone has the opportunity to dream big, and some people spend their whole lives working for a dream that they could have chosen long ago. Who decides how life should be lived? What is the best way to spend your time?
I am proud of my ambition and hard work, but right now I am learning a lot from just sitting still. I am not sure I have done much of anything “productive” since the Christmas season started (it’s a whole month long here). But for now, I am okay with that.
So is life worth living in small moments, or should we each be chasing a dream? And if we are chasing after a dream, when do we let go of all that we have and grab it? I guess that’s up to the individual to decide.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Changing Views
It’s amazing how one picture can change it’s appearance every time you look at it. You can change the angle at which you are looking at the picture, or you can stay in the same spot for enough time, and sure enough it will begin to look a little different.
When I first arrived to my site in Bani, I saw the best in my site and in the people with whom I would be working. I saw harmony in an impoverished neighborhood, I saw friendships, and I felt at peace. Things have changed since my first glance of Bani. That’s not to say that I am unhappy or that the people are any less wonderful; only that the inevitable has happened. I have moved beyond that first, optimistic glance of a picture and begun to uncover some hidden details.
Poverty is hard to define in words because to speak of it does not adequately accompany the feelings that persist in an impoverished environment. Poverty is much more than the lack of food, water, and education. Poverty lingers everywhere here, because it appeared the same day that this neighborhood was constructed. Poverty begins in the mind and is manifested in every possible way. It is observed in communication, relationships, opportunities, and security.
We, as human beings, always seem to need an answer for everything. Maybe that is why, when we don’t understand someone, it’s easiest to ignore them, make fun of them, or just pretend like they don’t exist. Yet living with people of poverty forces you to confront any discomfort that comes with the issue. The problem with poverty is that it’s easy to observe but impossible to justify or eradicate. A lot of people say that as a Peace Corps volunteer you will be living in poverty for two years: that is not true. We may witness poverty at a personal level, but we will never be living in poverty. Our college education alone has eradicated that possibility, let alone having the privilege of living in a separate country from our own.
As you can tell, I have been thinking about poverty a lot lately. Once my honeymoon period in Bani wore off, I started getting frustrated by the lack of ambition in people, among other things. And then I realized that my frustration comes from discomfort in knowing I will never be faced with the same issues as the members of my community. When I leave in two years my community will stay. They have been born into poverty, and for most of them, that’s where they will stay.
This all may sound depressing, but despite my realization that I am not going to change the live path of everyone in my community, I still believe that a little goes a long way here. There is still a lot that I can offer.
Last weekend I went to a regional Escojo Mi Vida conference in Jarabacoa and was completely inspired by what I saw. I was surrounded by 25 adolescents that were excited by talking about HIV, safe sex, and teen pregnancy. This may sound funny, but after seeing countless girls with pregnant bellies, I felt like I had walked into paradise when every adolescent in the room could tell me why it’s best to wait until you are older to have children. These teenagers were so well-spoken and had such an innocent enthusiasm that I could not help but be inspired by the power of our work as Peace Corps volunteers. Peace Corps hasn’t adopted anything ground breaking; education and a little emotional support just go a really long way.
And so everything continues. I continue to build relationships, marvel at new experiences, and attempt to figure out how these two years should be spent. I will end with a list of unexpected experiences that, for one reason or another, became memorable:
Watched someone shave a goat’s stomach and feed the shavings to her cat
Looked at goat legs that were recently cut off the dead goat
Found a dead spider in my bed, AND it didn’t terrify me
Was offered to keep a neighbor’s child (happened twice, different families)
Put a baby to sleep J
Danced and (separately) sang “Let it be” to a group of people
When I first arrived to my site in Bani, I saw the best in my site and in the people with whom I would be working. I saw harmony in an impoverished neighborhood, I saw friendships, and I felt at peace. Things have changed since my first glance of Bani. That’s not to say that I am unhappy or that the people are any less wonderful; only that the inevitable has happened. I have moved beyond that first, optimistic glance of a picture and begun to uncover some hidden details.
Poverty is hard to define in words because to speak of it does not adequately accompany the feelings that persist in an impoverished environment. Poverty is much more than the lack of food, water, and education. Poverty lingers everywhere here, because it appeared the same day that this neighborhood was constructed. Poverty begins in the mind and is manifested in every possible way. It is observed in communication, relationships, opportunities, and security.
We, as human beings, always seem to need an answer for everything. Maybe that is why, when we don’t understand someone, it’s easiest to ignore them, make fun of them, or just pretend like they don’t exist. Yet living with people of poverty forces you to confront any discomfort that comes with the issue. The problem with poverty is that it’s easy to observe but impossible to justify or eradicate. A lot of people say that as a Peace Corps volunteer you will be living in poverty for two years: that is not true. We may witness poverty at a personal level, but we will never be living in poverty. Our college education alone has eradicated that possibility, let alone having the privilege of living in a separate country from our own.
As you can tell, I have been thinking about poverty a lot lately. Once my honeymoon period in Bani wore off, I started getting frustrated by the lack of ambition in people, among other things. And then I realized that my frustration comes from discomfort in knowing I will never be faced with the same issues as the members of my community. When I leave in two years my community will stay. They have been born into poverty, and for most of them, that’s where they will stay.
This all may sound depressing, but despite my realization that I am not going to change the live path of everyone in my community, I still believe that a little goes a long way here. There is still a lot that I can offer.
Last weekend I went to a regional Escojo Mi Vida conference in Jarabacoa and was completely inspired by what I saw. I was surrounded by 25 adolescents that were excited by talking about HIV, safe sex, and teen pregnancy. This may sound funny, but after seeing countless girls with pregnant bellies, I felt like I had walked into paradise when every adolescent in the room could tell me why it’s best to wait until you are older to have children. These teenagers were so well-spoken and had such an innocent enthusiasm that I could not help but be inspired by the power of our work as Peace Corps volunteers. Peace Corps hasn’t adopted anything ground breaking; education and a little emotional support just go a really long way.
And so everything continues. I continue to build relationships, marvel at new experiences, and attempt to figure out how these two years should be spent. I will end with a list of unexpected experiences that, for one reason or another, became memorable:
Watched someone shave a goat’s stomach and feed the shavings to her cat
Looked at goat legs that were recently cut off the dead goat
Found a dead spider in my bed, AND it didn’t terrify me
Was offered to keep a neighbor’s child (happened twice, different families)
Put a baby to sleep J
Danced and (separately) sang “Let it be” to a group of people
Thursday, November 18, 2010
And my work begins
I am finally an official Peace Corps volunteer and, as of late, have been occupied by neighborhood walks, youth group meetings, and generally observing everything that is going on in my community. Everything is going smoothly, though initially my work was interrupted by two Peace Corps consolidation meetings. The first consolidation was called to inform all volunteers of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, and the second came to house volunteers throughout the duration of Hurrican Tomas. This resulted in nearly a week of relaxing in a 5-star hotel; (literally) all we could do was watch television, hang out in air-conditioned rooms, and eat really good food. I managed to get in some great runs around the city with a newly discovered running buddy as well. Yes, we ran in a hurricane several times. Fortunately, the storm barely hit the capital so we were more than safe.
After spending so much time in luxury and surrounded by Americans, my return to Bani felt more difficult than I had anticipated. It took a few days to readjust before I could begin my work, but now I am back and working hard to learn as much as I can about my neighborhood.
All volunteers spend their first three months of service conducting interviews, among other activities, to learn about their community, and after this time period they present their findings to their Peace Corps sector. Using their data that they have collected, volunteers then decide what their projects will look like for the next year.
Since I am just in my first month of service, much of my work consists of informal observations and random conversations with people in the streets. I actually met someone a couple of days ago who used to live in Boston; we discovered that my apartment was about a mile from his when I lived in Boston! Moments like this make me glad that I am living in a country so connected to the United States. It is always comforting to connect with strangers, even if it comes in obscure ways. Anyway, my work has also extended beyond interviews because there is a pre-existing Escojo group in the neighboring community. Escojo mi vida is a health group model that many PC volunteers use to teach teenagers about safe sex, self esteem and HIV, among other things. There was a volunteer in my area about five years ago who started an Escojo group, and they still meet twice a week. I have decided to support this group, hoping that in the future they will help to support my own Escojo group. This group of youth is simply amazing - completely on top of things - and we have already been able to spend time together outside of the group playing basketball. I am grateful to have this group to help me jump into my work here, and also to have support from such inspiring adolescents.
I have certainly been busy, and at times it feels a bit overwhelming. I have so many ideas about what I could do to help my community, and yet I need to exercise patience and listen to what people really want for me to do. Even though I am living in a barrio called Villa David, my work will also extend to a neighboring barrio called El Mani. My neighborhood is certainly poor, but El Mani is where you will find extreme poverty. I am simultaneously perplexed and inspired by spending time in this part of my community. There is such desperation but a window of potential as well. I am posting a picture of a snapshot of El Mani to show you what it’s like. The neighborhood is filled with tin homes and trash-filled, open spaces. It is a dream of mine to help the community tap into the local underground water so that they can grow gardens in these open spaces.
Something I have learned already is that a simple idea with a lot of enthusiasm and passion goes a long way in the developing world. There are countless projects that could be carried out in my community, and none of them require anything more than a vision and the will to see the end result. I am currently reading Half the Sky (birthday present from Jeff and Guin) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an informative and inspiring read.
I’ve got one week left in my site until I go to Santo Domingo for ESL training and a big Thanksgiving feast with all the volunteers. Wishing everyone a Happy Thansgiving from the Dominican Republic!! Remember to give thanks to the countless blessings we have in the US.
After spending so much time in luxury and surrounded by Americans, my return to Bani felt more difficult than I had anticipated. It took a few days to readjust before I could begin my work, but now I am back and working hard to learn as much as I can about my neighborhood.
All volunteers spend their first three months of service conducting interviews, among other activities, to learn about their community, and after this time period they present their findings to their Peace Corps sector. Using their data that they have collected, volunteers then decide what their projects will look like for the next year.
Since I am just in my first month of service, much of my work consists of informal observations and random conversations with people in the streets. I actually met someone a couple of days ago who used to live in Boston; we discovered that my apartment was about a mile from his when I lived in Boston! Moments like this make me glad that I am living in a country so connected to the United States. It is always comforting to connect with strangers, even if it comes in obscure ways. Anyway, my work has also extended beyond interviews because there is a pre-existing Escojo group in the neighboring community. Escojo mi vida is a health group model that many PC volunteers use to teach teenagers about safe sex, self esteem and HIV, among other things. There was a volunteer in my area about five years ago who started an Escojo group, and they still meet twice a week. I have decided to support this group, hoping that in the future they will help to support my own Escojo group. This group of youth is simply amazing - completely on top of things - and we have already been able to spend time together outside of the group playing basketball. I am grateful to have this group to help me jump into my work here, and also to have support from such inspiring adolescents.
I have certainly been busy, and at times it feels a bit overwhelming. I have so many ideas about what I could do to help my community, and yet I need to exercise patience and listen to what people really want for me to do. Even though I am living in a barrio called Villa David, my work will also extend to a neighboring barrio called El Mani. My neighborhood is certainly poor, but El Mani is where you will find extreme poverty. I am simultaneously perplexed and inspired by spending time in this part of my community. There is such desperation but a window of potential as well. I am posting a picture of a snapshot of El Mani to show you what it’s like. The neighborhood is filled with tin homes and trash-filled, open spaces. It is a dream of mine to help the community tap into the local underground water so that they can grow gardens in these open spaces.
Something I have learned already is that a simple idea with a lot of enthusiasm and passion goes a long way in the developing world. There are countless projects that could be carried out in my community, and none of them require anything more than a vision and the will to see the end result. I am currently reading Half the Sky (birthday present from Jeff and Guin) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an informative and inspiring read.
I’ve got one week left in my site until I go to Santo Domingo for ESL training and a big Thanksgiving feast with all the volunteers. Wishing everyone a Happy Thansgiving from the Dominican Republic!! Remember to give thanks to the countless blessings we have in the US.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
My new home, Bani
There is a lot of mystery that comes with being a Peace Corps volunteer; the country you will serve and the community in which you will live are decided by people other than yourself. After patiently and impatiently enduring the application process, after anticipating my country assignment, and after investigating which community I might be placed in -- I finally know what my two years will look like ! I can honestly say that my site has everything I wanted. There is so much to say about Bani and words cannot adequately describe everything that I learned/observed/experienced last week, but I will do my best to provide a mental picture of my new home!
Bani is located an hour west of Santo Domingo, where the dry terrain begins. It's still located in a green area, but you can tell that the desert is not far. There is a lot of cactus in the surrounding area and the mountains in the distance strongly resemble those in Tucson, Arizona. It's quite beautiful, especially when you include a view of the beach. You can see the ocean in any two-story building in Bani, as it's only about 3 miles from downtown (5-6 miles from me).
I live in a neighborhood, called Villa David, which is located about 2 miles north of downtown Bani. Bani noticeably has a lot of money (some parts resemble a high class American beach community), but Villa David and the surrounding barrios are very poor. I can only recount a few families in the neighborhood who own a car and I have not seen any homes with running water. That said, most roads are paved, and most importantly, everyone has been incredibly welcoming. I'm not sure they fully understand what this gringa is doing in their barrio (my host mom wanted to make a cake for my mom, and I had to explain to her that my mom lives very far from Bani), but I guess right now it doesn't really matter. I have told everyone that I am here to help youth in the community, but that first I need to learn and know its members.
I live with my Dona Migalina and her sister, son, and grandson. The whole family is very nice, and a little quirky too. Dona Migalina sells donated clothes from the states, and she has already given me pants and several shirts as gifts. She is the one in charge of the house, as she always cooks our meals and attends to everyone. Migalina is taking a sewing class at the technical center with her sister, Altagracia, so in their free time you can bet that they are making skirts small enough to fit a doll. Altagracia is a little crazy... she likes to take pictures with sexy poses and walk around in her bra with her pants half zipped. She is also the person I feel closest to in my house; we get along like sisters (though she is nearly 50 years old). The son, Alexander, isn't around too much and when he is, he is in his room watching tv or playing on his phone. His nephew, the grandson of Migalina, is just 10 years old and is really cute. He seems like a bit of a loner but he always plays with the neighborhood kids when they come by.
And oh my goodness, the neighborhood kids. They came to meet me shortly after my arrival in Bani, and since then continued to come by about once every 15 minutes. They love to compartir through reading stories, making snacks, and dancing. So... basically, they have already begun what I hope to continue. They are completely adorable and innocent, except when they dance. They still dance like Dominicans. One night last week they gave me a dance performance and, I swear, I saw 10 year olds humping the ground. I was appauled and in my head I repeated "cultural difference, cultural difference," but somehow it still just seemed wrong. Some things are hard to adjust to.
As poor as my community is, there actually is a lot going for it. A group of nuns is in control of the local elementary school, a home for the elderly, and a technical program to keep high school dropouts off the streets. I have the freedom to choose where I spend my time, and I hope to find a way to string together these three institutions so that they can support each other. That said, I feel very drawn to the technical center. The majority of students in the center are female, and the vast majority of these students already have children. I have been able to spend a decent amount of time with these students and I'm excited about working with them in the future. Vamos a ver!
Saturday, I guess my first small project with the kids began. We made 35 drawings to deliver to the home for the elderly. The next morning, Altagracia and I rounded up the neighborhood kids to deliver the drawings and it was quite a hit! The kids must have brought more energy than that place has seen in a while.
In addition to the community support, I have also found support in another Peace Corps volunteer. I am incredibly lucky to have another American in downtown Bani, and she also just joined PC in May! That means we have nearly two years to hang out and support each other in this crazy journey.
I forgot to mention that it only costs 3 dollars to travel from downtown Santo Domingo to Bani... so please, come visit!
So, there you have it. After buying a headlamp and crank flashlight, and expecting internet access once or twice each month, it looks like I will be living more comfortably than I had anticipated. I'm sure I will still confront my share of difficulties along the way, and even so, my new lifestyle will be challenging. The reality of my new situation hits harder than most of what I had anticipated, as reality always does. Much different to say something than to do it.
Now I am back in Santo Domingo for the week to wrap up training, get a local bank account, and swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer. Yesterday was full of interviews and tests -- our last roadblock before becoming official volunteers. Training has now ended; I swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in an hour and return to my site on Saturday.
This is my last blog as a volunteer-in-training! Two years starts tomorrow.
Bani is located an hour west of Santo Domingo, where the dry terrain begins. It's still located in a green area, but you can tell that the desert is not far. There is a lot of cactus in the surrounding area and the mountains in the distance strongly resemble those in Tucson, Arizona. It's quite beautiful, especially when you include a view of the beach. You can see the ocean in any two-story building in Bani, as it's only about 3 miles from downtown (5-6 miles from me).
I live in a neighborhood, called Villa David, which is located about 2 miles north of downtown Bani. Bani noticeably has a lot of money (some parts resemble a high class American beach community), but Villa David and the surrounding barrios are very poor. I can only recount a few families in the neighborhood who own a car and I have not seen any homes with running water. That said, most roads are paved, and most importantly, everyone has been incredibly welcoming. I'm not sure they fully understand what this gringa is doing in their barrio (my host mom wanted to make a cake for my mom, and I had to explain to her that my mom lives very far from Bani), but I guess right now it doesn't really matter. I have told everyone that I am here to help youth in the community, but that first I need to learn and know its members.
I live with my Dona Migalina and her sister, son, and grandson. The whole family is very nice, and a little quirky too. Dona Migalina sells donated clothes from the states, and she has already given me pants and several shirts as gifts. She is the one in charge of the house, as she always cooks our meals and attends to everyone. Migalina is taking a sewing class at the technical center with her sister, Altagracia, so in their free time you can bet that they are making skirts small enough to fit a doll. Altagracia is a little crazy... she likes to take pictures with sexy poses and walk around in her bra with her pants half zipped. She is also the person I feel closest to in my house; we get along like sisters (though she is nearly 50 years old). The son, Alexander, isn't around too much and when he is, he is in his room watching tv or playing on his phone. His nephew, the grandson of Migalina, is just 10 years old and is really cute. He seems like a bit of a loner but he always plays with the neighborhood kids when they come by.
And oh my goodness, the neighborhood kids. They came to meet me shortly after my arrival in Bani, and since then continued to come by about once every 15 minutes. They love to compartir through reading stories, making snacks, and dancing. So... basically, they have already begun what I hope to continue. They are completely adorable and innocent, except when they dance. They still dance like Dominicans. One night last week they gave me a dance performance and, I swear, I saw 10 year olds humping the ground. I was appauled and in my head I repeated "cultural difference, cultural difference," but somehow it still just seemed wrong. Some things are hard to adjust to.
As poor as my community is, there actually is a lot going for it. A group of nuns is in control of the local elementary school, a home for the elderly, and a technical program to keep high school dropouts off the streets. I have the freedom to choose where I spend my time, and I hope to find a way to string together these three institutions so that they can support each other. That said, I feel very drawn to the technical center. The majority of students in the center are female, and the vast majority of these students already have children. I have been able to spend a decent amount of time with these students and I'm excited about working with them in the future. Vamos a ver!
Saturday, I guess my first small project with the kids began. We made 35 drawings to deliver to the home for the elderly. The next morning, Altagracia and I rounded up the neighborhood kids to deliver the drawings and it was quite a hit! The kids must have brought more energy than that place has seen in a while.
In addition to the community support, I have also found support in another Peace Corps volunteer. I am incredibly lucky to have another American in downtown Bani, and she also just joined PC in May! That means we have nearly two years to hang out and support each other in this crazy journey.
I forgot to mention that it only costs 3 dollars to travel from downtown Santo Domingo to Bani... so please, come visit!
So, there you have it. After buying a headlamp and crank flashlight, and expecting internet access once or twice each month, it looks like I will be living more comfortably than I had anticipated. I'm sure I will still confront my share of difficulties along the way, and even so, my new lifestyle will be challenging. The reality of my new situation hits harder than most of what I had anticipated, as reality always does. Much different to say something than to do it.
Now I am back in Santo Domingo for the week to wrap up training, get a local bank account, and swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer. Yesterday was full of interviews and tests -- our last roadblock before becoming official volunteers. Training has now ended; I swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in an hour and return to my site on Saturday.
This is my last blog as a volunteer-in-training! Two years starts tomorrow.
Monday, October 18, 2010
An end of sorts
After two weeks of hard work and equally hard good-byes, all 59 volunteers are officially back in Santo Domingo! We returned to the capital yesterday, providing one last weekend to hang out with our original host families and re-pack our things before a visit to our permanent sites on Tuesday.
As I said, the last two weeks in Constanza were packed with activities. One of the Dominican sayings we have been taught is that “Si vale la pena aprender, vale la pena celebrar,” or if something is worth learning, it’s also worth celebrating. We certainly followed this Dominican golden rule with friends, family, and training partners our last days in Constanza,
Each youth group that we worked with for the last month organized an activity to “celebrate youth,” and this included everything from mural paintings to talent shows. Two groups were scheduled to have a talent show so the Peace Corps Volunteers decided to prepare a special piece for the audience. We danced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, expecting a big uproar, and instead the audience stared at us with the most stoic expressions I have seen in this country. They had no idea what we were doing. Our dance ended and we had that classic-bad-show-ending in movies where the audience is dead silent and every looks at each other awkwardly. Needless to say we learned a lot about cultural differences that day.
My youth group decided to do a clothing drive, and we donated our clothing to an extremely needy area in the surrounding mountains of Constanza. We were all a little unsure of how the drive would go… another expression that Peace Corps loves goes as follows: “Give one man a fish to feed his family, but teach him how to fish and he will feed his village.” As Peace Corps volunteers we have signed on to help people help themselves, and not to just drop off some material possessions and leave - which is exactly what the clothing drive was all about. However, despite prior concerns, the experience was incredible. Obviously I am in complete support of the Peace Corps mission, but I have also learned about the role that short term volunteers can play in providing material possessions. The community we served was so impoverished that most of the children did not own shoes. Case in point: a young girl from the community came over to me at the end of the drive while the leader of the community led us in the prayer. She held my hand and smiled at me as we were wrapping up the activity, and I decided to ask her what she thought about all of this; she responded by asking me if I had five pesos. Lesson learned, money pays for the necessities in life. Providing communities with material possessions may not help in the long term but people need clothes, food, shelter.
Once the youth group activities had ended, we wrapped everything up with our families; I chose to do this by cooking. Everyone knows I am not the biggest cook, but compared to most Dominicans I am a pastry chef. My friend Kristy and I learned early on that baked goods are not part of the national diet, so we decided to show our family how to cook some of our favorite desserts. In the end we ended up baking a pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookes, brownies, and an apple crisp -- and it was the perfect way to thank our families for everything they had done for us. It was pretty hilarious, the whole experience. Dominican women know how to cook amazingly, but when it came to these treats, the Americans were the experts. They soaked up everything we said to them - any advice we had for how to scoop cookie dough onto the baking pan or prepare a pie crust - and later shared this information with their friends. What a great way to end our time in the mountains!
Last but not least, our very last day was celebrated with a despedida, or good-bye party. The volunteers presented small presents to their families and teachers to thank them for everything they have done for us. It was touching and painful to see how attached this community had become to our presence, especially knowing that this happens once a year for Constanza. Of course the feelings of attachment were mutual; it was difficult to say good-bye.
It was most difficult to say good bye to Wendy, my host mom, but it’s time to move forward to the next part of this adventure. Now I am back in Santo Domingo, sharing a few other memories with my first Dominican family. Yesterday, after church, I was even given an amazing surprise: I got to see the ocean for the first time since arriving on the island! As usual, my family started to mysteriously drive somewhere after their church service, and instead of asking where we were going I thought I would enjoy the unknown. I sat in the back seat, having absolutely no idea what was happening, and all of a sudden I saw a blue horizon. We spent a couple of hours at the Malecon, an outdoor market right along the water, about 5 miles outside of downtown Santo Domingo. It certainly made me excited to live so close to the Caribbean blue for my next two years.
In training we learned that culture shock often translates in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Up to this point, that claim seems to be pretty true. For a few days last week I was really missing the States. All I wanted was to see the Fall leaves, go for a run along the Charles River, and spend time with family and friends. Then at some point I stepped out of my nostalgia and realized that human connections, just spending time with people you care about, are the solution to homesickness. I still miss my friends and family back home, but I am constantly blessed by the comfort and support of my Dominican counterparts. Tomorrow I will be introduced to an entire new set of people - the ones I will be spending the next two years with… I look forward to the ups and downs to come!
As I said, the last two weeks in Constanza were packed with activities. One of the Dominican sayings we have been taught is that “Si vale la pena aprender, vale la pena celebrar,” or if something is worth learning, it’s also worth celebrating. We certainly followed this Dominican golden rule with friends, family, and training partners our last days in Constanza,
Each youth group that we worked with for the last month organized an activity to “celebrate youth,” and this included everything from mural paintings to talent shows. Two groups were scheduled to have a talent show so the Peace Corps Volunteers decided to prepare a special piece for the audience. We danced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, expecting a big uproar, and instead the audience stared at us with the most stoic expressions I have seen in this country. They had no idea what we were doing. Our dance ended and we had that classic-bad-show-ending in movies where the audience is dead silent and every looks at each other awkwardly. Needless to say we learned a lot about cultural differences that day.
My youth group decided to do a clothing drive, and we donated our clothing to an extremely needy area in the surrounding mountains of Constanza. We were all a little unsure of how the drive would go… another expression that Peace Corps loves goes as follows: “Give one man a fish to feed his family, but teach him how to fish and he will feed his village.” As Peace Corps volunteers we have signed on to help people help themselves, and not to just drop off some material possessions and leave - which is exactly what the clothing drive was all about. However, despite prior concerns, the experience was incredible. Obviously I am in complete support of the Peace Corps mission, but I have also learned about the role that short term volunteers can play in providing material possessions. The community we served was so impoverished that most of the children did not own shoes. Case in point: a young girl from the community came over to me at the end of the drive while the leader of the community led us in the prayer. She held my hand and smiled at me as we were wrapping up the activity, and I decided to ask her what she thought about all of this; she responded by asking me if I had five pesos. Lesson learned, money pays for the necessities in life. Providing communities with material possessions may not help in the long term but people need clothes, food, shelter.
Once the youth group activities had ended, we wrapped everything up with our families; I chose to do this by cooking. Everyone knows I am not the biggest cook, but compared to most Dominicans I am a pastry chef. My friend Kristy and I learned early on that baked goods are not part of the national diet, so we decided to show our family how to cook some of our favorite desserts. In the end we ended up baking a pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookes, brownies, and an apple crisp -- and it was the perfect way to thank our families for everything they had done for us. It was pretty hilarious, the whole experience. Dominican women know how to cook amazingly, but when it came to these treats, the Americans were the experts. They soaked up everything we said to them - any advice we had for how to scoop cookie dough onto the baking pan or prepare a pie crust - and later shared this information with their friends. What a great way to end our time in the mountains!
Last but not least, our very last day was celebrated with a despedida, or good-bye party. The volunteers presented small presents to their families and teachers to thank them for everything they have done for us. It was touching and painful to see how attached this community had become to our presence, especially knowing that this happens once a year for Constanza. Of course the feelings of attachment were mutual; it was difficult to say good-bye.
It was most difficult to say good bye to Wendy, my host mom, but it’s time to move forward to the next part of this adventure. Now I am back in Santo Domingo, sharing a few other memories with my first Dominican family. Yesterday, after church, I was even given an amazing surprise: I got to see the ocean for the first time since arriving on the island! As usual, my family started to mysteriously drive somewhere after their church service, and instead of asking where we were going I thought I would enjoy the unknown. I sat in the back seat, having absolutely no idea what was happening, and all of a sudden I saw a blue horizon. We spent a couple of hours at the Malecon, an outdoor market right along the water, about 5 miles outside of downtown Santo Domingo. It certainly made me excited to live so close to the Caribbean blue for my next two years.
In training we learned that culture shock often translates in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Up to this point, that claim seems to be pretty true. For a few days last week I was really missing the States. All I wanted was to see the Fall leaves, go for a run along the Charles River, and spend time with family and friends. Then at some point I stepped out of my nostalgia and realized that human connections, just spending time with people you care about, are the solution to homesickness. I still miss my friends and family back home, but I am constantly blessed by the comfort and support of my Dominican counterparts. Tomorrow I will be introduced to an entire new set of people - the ones I will be spending the next two years with… I look forward to the ups and downs to come!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
In less than one month...
I'll be moving to the beach!
Yesterday was the big day when all youth volunteers found out the location of where they will be working and living for the next two years. There had been a lot of build up leading up to this day, and since coming to Constanza I felt pretty confident that I wanted to be placed in the mountains. Well in the last few days I started to have a change of heart and felt like it might be nice to live closer to water.
Yesterday morning we set up 25 chairs in a big circle, plus one in the middle. This chair was the hot seat -- we took turns, one by one, sitting in that seat and finding out our site placement. The first girl who went was assigned to a small campo right on the beach, working with MLB. Her site location seemed really cool and I immediately thought about how happy I would be to have her assignment. About ten people later it was my turn to sit in the hot seat... And, to my surprise, I was placed no more than 30 minutes away from her, also on the beach! She is by far the closest volunteer to my site and I am thrilled to have her as my neighbor!
So here is my assignment:
I will be living in a suburb of about 10,000 people called Villa David, which is located on the outskirts of Bani. Bani is the regional capital of Peravia, a province known for its diverse geography of dry forests and extreme humidity, abundance of mangos, and beautiful beaches. Specifically, Bani is a city of about 100,000 people, just 3 miles from Caribbean beaches, and an hour from Santo Domingo.
I only got a brief description of my job assignment but it sounds like I will be working at an elementary school and a technical high school teaching classes, organizing groups, and forming sports teams. Apparently my project partner is a runner, too... I'm so excited!
I get to visit Bani for the first time in a little over two weeks. We've got exactly two weeks left in Constanza, then we spend 3 days in Santo Domingo before a week long trip to our site placements. I am including pictures that I found on the internet... hopefully it actually looks like this!
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