About a week has passed since I last posted a blog, and everything seems to be going relatively well. With Semana Santa, school is closed and youth seem to be distracted by the relaxing week ahead, but I still had a great turnout in my Escojo Mi Vida group. I only had about six of the twenty-two participants from last week come to this week’s group, a number to be expected during the holiday. But, strangely enough, I had about 9 new members come today as well! That puts my number at 32 for potential Escojo members in El Mani -- way too high for just one group. I’ll have to wait and see how many members consistently come to the group, but I might have to form two groups from the 32 youth who have showed interest. Very exciting!
I just got back to Bani yesterday after spending a few days at my boyfriend’s site in Los Rios, near Lago Enriquillo. He just moved into his own house so I helped him clean, purchase, and organize everything that will fit into his new home. Eric’s site is very different than mine; it’s isolated, a small town, close to the Haitian border, etc… but most of all, his new house provides the quintessential Dominican experience. The house is a traditional wooden structure, painted bright blue and pink with a nice latrine. But the interesting part of the house can be found in the back yard. Eric’s patio opens up to about four other backyards. This semi-communal land has become an intersection for hungry streetdogs, practicing grounds for cockfights, playspace for mostly naked children (I even saw two kids with bloated parasite-stomaches, very sad), and general viewing area for gossip. The sharing that goes on in these five backyards that touch, the sharing between animals, conversation, observation and food, is what makes Eric’s house the most Dominican living experience you could ask for. And for this reason, I loved visiting. Bella loved the visit as well because she got to chase chicks and hens, play with other dogs, and run after birds. She got a true feel for life in the country and she loved it.
Now I am back to “city” life, which still isn’t that urban but feels a world away from Los Rios. It should be a low key week with just a little work to do each day. I hope everyone back in the States is enjoying the Spring! The weather never really changes here but it is becoming steadily warmer...
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Highs and Lows of PC
The past week has certainly been full of highs and lows (though I would like to think the highs outweigh the lows). I’ll start with the lows so that my entry can end on a positive note!
I have recently uncovered the ugly side of Peace Corps service when ego and politics get in the way. I am surprised by how helping others can actually become a selfish endeavor, and that ego can interfere with one’s desire to wholeheartedly serve others. Unfortunately, I have found that in the case of one of the local community leaders who was assigned to help me in my work. It feels as though she has become so focused on accomplishments, on really big feats, that she has lost sight of the beauty in human-to-human connection that lies at the heart of service work and the key to changing lives. She has decided that my projects are weak and not effective and yet her critique of youth development work has only made me more confident that it is, indeed, the one-on-one connections that make a difference. It has been a frustrating and sometimes painful experience to listen to this said person’s perspective, but as my boss said, I am here to work with kids, not to appease her.
Despite the minor setback last week, this week has begun on a high note! I began my own Escojo Mi Vida group last week and only three people showed up… but last night, for our second reunion, we had 22 participants! What a dramatic change from just one week ago, and it was inspiring to see so many youth show up. Not only did so many youth from El Mani arrive for the meeting, but I had an additional 6 youth from the already existing Escojo group come to support my efforts. It felt great to have such support and enthusiasm from these youth who have already graduated from the Escojo program.
Another fun update is that my mentoring group has begun a geography unit. The girls do not know a single thing about geography… it seems as though they have never even learned how to read a map! Most girls in my group do not know the difference between a city and a country, and some do not know that we live on an island! Thus, there is a LOT that we can achieve in this unit.
The last two weeks I have been fortunate enough to hang out on the beach, and I have discovered that Bella, my puppy, likes to swim! Last weekend we went to my local beach and I left her on the sand as I went into the water. Soon after, as I entered the water, I heard a splashing behind me -- and it was Bella swimming after me! Just a few days ago I went to visit a couple of other youth volunteers, one of which lives on the water, and Bella got to swim again. This second beach adventure took place in a town called Najayo, which is where Trujillo lived. You can actually see his old house on the cliffs!
One last update on Bella, her mange is almost gone! The poor dog had a skin parasite and it was eating away her hair, making her face look bald, but she is looking better and better. Hopefully she will be 100% mange free in a couple weeks! By the way, contrary to popular belief, mange very rarely spreads to humans. Phew!
Next week is Semana Santa, or the week before Easter. There is no school and most families take off for the beach or local rivers to spend time together. There is always a reason to celebrate in this country! For me, it’s just another new Dominican experience to look forward to.
I have recently uncovered the ugly side of Peace Corps service when ego and politics get in the way. I am surprised by how helping others can actually become a selfish endeavor, and that ego can interfere with one’s desire to wholeheartedly serve others. Unfortunately, I have found that in the case of one of the local community leaders who was assigned to help me in my work. It feels as though she has become so focused on accomplishments, on really big feats, that she has lost sight of the beauty in human-to-human connection that lies at the heart of service work and the key to changing lives. She has decided that my projects are weak and not effective and yet her critique of youth development work has only made me more confident that it is, indeed, the one-on-one connections that make a difference. It has been a frustrating and sometimes painful experience to listen to this said person’s perspective, but as my boss said, I am here to work with kids, not to appease her.
Despite the minor setback last week, this week has begun on a high note! I began my own Escojo Mi Vida group last week and only three people showed up… but last night, for our second reunion, we had 22 participants! What a dramatic change from just one week ago, and it was inspiring to see so many youth show up. Not only did so many youth from El Mani arrive for the meeting, but I had an additional 6 youth from the already existing Escojo group come to support my efforts. It felt great to have such support and enthusiasm from these youth who have already graduated from the Escojo program.
Another fun update is that my mentoring group has begun a geography unit. The girls do not know a single thing about geography… it seems as though they have never even learned how to read a map! Most girls in my group do not know the difference between a city and a country, and some do not know that we live on an island! Thus, there is a LOT that we can achieve in this unit.
The last two weeks I have been fortunate enough to hang out on the beach, and I have discovered that Bella, my puppy, likes to swim! Last weekend we went to my local beach and I left her on the sand as I went into the water. Soon after, as I entered the water, I heard a splashing behind me -- and it was Bella swimming after me! Just a few days ago I went to visit a couple of other youth volunteers, one of which lives on the water, and Bella got to swim again. This second beach adventure took place in a town called Najayo, which is where Trujillo lived. You can actually see his old house on the cliffs!
One last update on Bella, her mange is almost gone! The poor dog had a skin parasite and it was eating away her hair, making her face look bald, but she is looking better and better. Hopefully she will be 100% mange free in a couple weeks! By the way, contrary to popular belief, mange very rarely spreads to humans. Phew!
Next week is Semana Santa, or the week before Easter. There is no school and most families take off for the beach or local rivers to spend time together. There is always a reason to celebrate in this country! For me, it’s just another new Dominican experience to look forward to.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Adaption
Life in the Dominican Republic continues. While some ideas have manifested differently than expected, I kind of like how things are turning out.
For example, my exclusive mentoring group has turned into an open club for girls to come hang out and get some exercise. I desperately wanted this group to involve pairs of one big and one little “sister,” where the main purpose was to increase educational stimulation through tutoring sessions. Yet Dominicans do not tend to operate well with structure, and they also are not exclusive. I originally made 10 invitations for my group, and now we have about twenty girls who attend the group on any given day. We start the session with something relating to school, such as games with math flashcards or story creation, and then we end with some artistic activity or just plain running around playing tag. While the group feels a little disorderly to me, the girls seem to love it. Like I already mentioned, the girls came up with the group name, Las Super Mujeres de Ensenanza. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if it would hold any significance to the group after the name was established, but yesterday I was proven wrong.
I am promoting the Escojo Mi Vida group that I plan to begin in about two weeks, and yesterday I went house to house in El Mani to inform the community of this group. One of the homes I visited happened to belong to a girl from my girls group and I was thrilled to see a familiar face! I told the young girl’s grandmother that I already worked with her granddaughter, and the girl said, proudly, yes, in the Super Mujeres de Ensenanza group! The pride she held in explaining that she was, indeed, a member of this group made me feel like the girls group is already accomplishing its goal - however different it may be compared to my initial expectations. I’m not sure how this group will turn out in the end, but I think I like the direction in which it’s headed.
By the way, during our walk through El Mani, we were stopped by a parade of people and a line of SUVs. The presidential hopeful for the upcoming election was campaigning in El Mani, of all places! I got to meet the potential future president of the DR. I have always gotten an irrational satisfaction out of meeting celebrities, so I was quite excited by this surprise in the day.
Apart from my girls group and Escojo, I am in the process of deciding what other projects to do in the next few months. I have two prominent ideas that I am playing with. I just finished reading Jeffrey Canada’s book Whatever It Takes, a book about Canada’s commitment to ending poverty in Harlem. One of Canada’s main goals in his program, The Harlem Children’s Zone, is to educate parents about how to raise their kids to help their intellectual development and increase familial support. He explains that many low-income parents are not taught to read to their children or talk to them like equals, but that these tools can dramatically improve their child’s intellectual capacity. Thus, one idea I have is to form a group for pregnant teenagers in the neighborhood. Of course, I would have to study a ton before teaching this class, but it’s something I am considering. Another idea of mine is to start a composting project in the community. I love the idea, and at the very least will introduce composting to a few homes in the neighborhood (such as to my host family and my own).
Everything is connected, even though it doesn’t always feel like it. Even though I am working in a large barrio surrounded by other large barrios, I am starting to see this interconnectedness already. I will likely have at least three youth from my girls group join my Escojo Mi Vida group as well. Many of my girls live in El Mani, where I will have my Escojo group. It looks like some youth who will join Escojo have parents who attend the Junta de Vecino meetings in El Mani. It’s incredibly satisfying to find such connections, and I take it as a sign that I am slowly but surely figuring out this community - how it works and the people who live here.
And just as my work here is beginning to take off, so is mango season! This morning I ate my very first mango from my mango tree. Even though most of the mangos are still green, a few are turning pinkish, and this morning I discovered that one mango had fallen from the tree. I cut it open to find the deepest orange inside. Just another sign that the seasons are changing and life is in constant transition.
For example, my exclusive mentoring group has turned into an open club for girls to come hang out and get some exercise. I desperately wanted this group to involve pairs of one big and one little “sister,” where the main purpose was to increase educational stimulation through tutoring sessions. Yet Dominicans do not tend to operate well with structure, and they also are not exclusive. I originally made 10 invitations for my group, and now we have about twenty girls who attend the group on any given day. We start the session with something relating to school, such as games with math flashcards or story creation, and then we end with some artistic activity or just plain running around playing tag. While the group feels a little disorderly to me, the girls seem to love it. Like I already mentioned, the girls came up with the group name, Las Super Mujeres de Ensenanza. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if it would hold any significance to the group after the name was established, but yesterday I was proven wrong.
I am promoting the Escojo Mi Vida group that I plan to begin in about two weeks, and yesterday I went house to house in El Mani to inform the community of this group. One of the homes I visited happened to belong to a girl from my girls group and I was thrilled to see a familiar face! I told the young girl’s grandmother that I already worked with her granddaughter, and the girl said, proudly, yes, in the Super Mujeres de Ensenanza group! The pride she held in explaining that she was, indeed, a member of this group made me feel like the girls group is already accomplishing its goal - however different it may be compared to my initial expectations. I’m not sure how this group will turn out in the end, but I think I like the direction in which it’s headed.
By the way, during our walk through El Mani, we were stopped by a parade of people and a line of SUVs. The presidential hopeful for the upcoming election was campaigning in El Mani, of all places! I got to meet the potential future president of the DR. I have always gotten an irrational satisfaction out of meeting celebrities, so I was quite excited by this surprise in the day.
Apart from my girls group and Escojo, I am in the process of deciding what other projects to do in the next few months. I have two prominent ideas that I am playing with. I just finished reading Jeffrey Canada’s book Whatever It Takes, a book about Canada’s commitment to ending poverty in Harlem. One of Canada’s main goals in his program, The Harlem Children’s Zone, is to educate parents about how to raise their kids to help their intellectual development and increase familial support. He explains that many low-income parents are not taught to read to their children or talk to them like equals, but that these tools can dramatically improve their child’s intellectual capacity. Thus, one idea I have is to form a group for pregnant teenagers in the neighborhood. Of course, I would have to study a ton before teaching this class, but it’s something I am considering. Another idea of mine is to start a composting project in the community. I love the idea, and at the very least will introduce composting to a few homes in the neighborhood (such as to my host family and my own).
Everything is connected, even though it doesn’t always feel like it. Even though I am working in a large barrio surrounded by other large barrios, I am starting to see this interconnectedness already. I will likely have at least three youth from my girls group join my Escojo Mi Vida group as well. Many of my girls live in El Mani, where I will have my Escojo group. It looks like some youth who will join Escojo have parents who attend the Junta de Vecino meetings in El Mani. It’s incredibly satisfying to find such connections, and I take it as a sign that I am slowly but surely figuring out this community - how it works and the people who live here.
And just as my work here is beginning to take off, so is mango season! This morning I ate my very first mango from my mango tree. Even though most of the mangos are still green, a few are turning pinkish, and this morning I discovered that one mango had fallen from the tree. I cut it open to find the deepest orange inside. Just another sign that the seasons are changing and life is in constant transition.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Visits and a dog
My dad just left Santo Domingo and it was certainly great to introduce him to my new home. We spent about 4 days in Bani and I showed him all around my neighborhood and the pueblo; he also got to meet tons of people in my community. After our tour of Bani we spent a couple nights of luxury on the beach and in the capital. It was great to end the vacation with some swimming and cable tv. My dad’s visit was wonderful and I loved showing him around. Like Lauren and Abby’s visit, acting as a tour guide in the DR made me realize how happy I am to be living here and how lucky I really am. I have certainly learned a lot about myself and Dominican culture in the last seven months.
It’s been about a month since I began my first project and it seems to be going well. As I said before, I decided to focus my efforts on a mentoring group at the local school in my barrio. It certainly took a while to get everything set in motion. The most unexpected obstacles arose, such as school cancellations, Valentine’s Day celebrations, and an Independence Day march around the block -- but since I last wrote I have had 3 group sessions, so overall I have been relatively successful! When I began recruiting for my group I felt like I was begging girls to come to my information sessions. I swear, I spent about two weeks talking about this service group as if it were cool and exclusive, like only a select girls could join (I guess that’s all true to some extent), but all this talk must have worked, because I had nearly 20 girls in attendance last week! We had a full session of creating the group rules, deciding on the group name ( Super Mujeres de Enseñanzas), playing a dinamica, and doing some art. If you are wondering what a dinamica is, it’s basically an ice-breaker activity. I remember hating those back in the States, but here the Dominicans eat those activities up. They just love them! The other day we played a game called Peso Caliente, where two groups compete against each other by forming two lines and each person drops a peso in her shirt until it falls to the ground. Once it hits the ground the next person must do the same until everyone in the group has dropped a peso down their clothes. It sounds weird but Peso Caliente is always a huge hit in this country.
In addition to my mentoring group I am also starting to lay the framework for my Escojo group. I am currently coordinating a sports day for youth, basically for anyone interested in Escojo to hang out and ask questions before we begin the group. A few days after the sports day I will start my Escojo group, so that should fall in the end of the month. I am definitely excited to start up another project in addition to the mentoring group.
Lately Peace Corps hasn’t felt like such a lonely experience after all. There are probably several reasons for this sentiment (for example, I spent a fabulous week with Abby and Lauren and my Dad just left), but tonight my companionship is coming from my new dog-child, Bella. I received my 2-month-yr-old Chihuahua a couple weeks ago and she has instantly become my baby. She arrived in my arms full of ticks, some balding spots on her face and a bloated belly; but after just one week she already looked much, much better. Maybe I am biased but I think she is absolutely adorable. It has certainly been worth the potty training and extra cleaning to open my home to Bella. Having a Chihuahua has certainly amplified my status in the community as well. Neighbors and strangers alike often point at me as I walk with Bella. Thanks to my new puppy I am one step closer to full Dominican acculturation.
It’s been about a month since I began my first project and it seems to be going well. As I said before, I decided to focus my efforts on a mentoring group at the local school in my barrio. It certainly took a while to get everything set in motion. The most unexpected obstacles arose, such as school cancellations, Valentine’s Day celebrations, and an Independence Day march around the block -- but since I last wrote I have had 3 group sessions, so overall I have been relatively successful! When I began recruiting for my group I felt like I was begging girls to come to my information sessions. I swear, I spent about two weeks talking about this service group as if it were cool and exclusive, like only a select girls could join (I guess that’s all true to some extent), but all this talk must have worked, because I had nearly 20 girls in attendance last week! We had a full session of creating the group rules, deciding on the group name ( Super Mujeres de Enseñanzas), playing a dinamica, and doing some art. If you are wondering what a dinamica is, it’s basically an ice-breaker activity. I remember hating those back in the States, but here the Dominicans eat those activities up. They just love them! The other day we played a game called Peso Caliente, where two groups compete against each other by forming two lines and each person drops a peso in her shirt until it falls to the ground. Once it hits the ground the next person must do the same until everyone in the group has dropped a peso down their clothes. It sounds weird but Peso Caliente is always a huge hit in this country.
In addition to my mentoring group I am also starting to lay the framework for my Escojo group. I am currently coordinating a sports day for youth, basically for anyone interested in Escojo to hang out and ask questions before we begin the group. A few days after the sports day I will start my Escojo group, so that should fall in the end of the month. I am definitely excited to start up another project in addition to the mentoring group.
Lately Peace Corps hasn’t felt like such a lonely experience after all. There are probably several reasons for this sentiment (for example, I spent a fabulous week with Abby and Lauren and my Dad just left), but tonight my companionship is coming from my new dog-child, Bella. I received my 2-month-yr-old Chihuahua a couple weeks ago and she has instantly become my baby. She arrived in my arms full of ticks, some balding spots on her face and a bloated belly; but after just one week she already looked much, much better. Maybe I am biased but I think she is absolutely adorable. It has certainly been worth the potty training and extra cleaning to open my home to Bella. Having a Chihuahua has certainly amplified my status in the community as well. Neighbors and strangers alike often point at me as I walk with Bella. Thanks to my new puppy I am one step closer to full Dominican acculturation.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Settling In
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!
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!
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
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