tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58763915837258926202024-03-13T03:09:40.413-04:00lily en la republica dominicanapeace corps!
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september 2007 - november 2009Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-20561127929542550962009-03-10T08:53:00.007-04:002009-03-10T10:28:53.438-04:00cold weather and international women's dayIt's cold here!<br /><br />OK, so not <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span>, but it's much colder than one would expect living in the Caribbean... I sleep zipped into a sleeping bag at night! I don't have a thermometer, but I think it gets down into the 50s sometimes. I know, that's nothing compared to the March snowstorm some of you East-coasters just went through, but it's still cold, especially since my house is definitely not insulated.<br /><br />On Sunday my Escojo group (7 youth who did a course with me on life skills, sex ed, and AIDS prevention) and I hosted a celebration for International Women's Day. We had a march through the community; my kids gave a small talk about three women who were killed by Trujillo, the former dictator, here in the DR; I gave a talk about women around the world; and then we awarded certificates to 10 women for work they have done for the benefit of their communities. My project partner, who is usually a non-entity at any event or project I plan, not only showed up but really helped me out by providing a lot of energy and musical entertainment. I think we had about 100 people show up, including the 20-ish that my closest PC volunteer neighbor Lauren brought over from her site. I think the event went very well-- good attendance, not too boring, and with a positive message. Here are a few pictures:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGxxhrygl83cZ2urmQ1X_GGXOjmL5dpdwH0mbfvkNc_eHE6PKyu66L57N_zOZlPEphwBNjTa09lbMjnKM6rpHxGfSAVta5C0ARExma7Ux1h56VKz02XdcmxJF6-hBn7wSTf4nJO2W1LPO1/s1600-h/IMG_1506.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGxxhrygl83cZ2urmQ1X_GGXOjmL5dpdwH0mbfvkNc_eHE6PKyu66L57N_zOZlPEphwBNjTa09lbMjnKM6rpHxGfSAVta5C0ARExma7Ux1h56VKz02XdcmxJF6-hBn7wSTf4nJO2W1LPO1/s320/IMG_1506.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311564873797736290" border="0" /></a>this is me and my dominican doña, teresa, when she received her award<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikCzFxGgzst8BVh62W7Bx9KYRPu9X5B4ZXv5L3rWow7FVwn8FSYXq0NMNG1R-RqCohCJ81p77lbTux1oiXx_uxVSvLmcF7C9Y-UcD387v_GblARzLCPMyylexKiovEfxpPFddsfLSVjwPr/s1600-h/IMG_1487.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikCzFxGgzst8BVh62W7Bx9KYRPu9X5B4ZXv5L3rWow7FVwn8FSYXq0NMNG1R-RqCohCJ81p77lbTux1oiXx_uxVSvLmcF7C9Y-UcD387v_GblARzLCPMyylexKiovEfxpPFddsfLSVjwPr/s320/IMG_1487.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311564868255577922" border="0" /></a>the musical entertainment: thanks to my project partner, the man with the guitar, and his makeshirt choir.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPpm2JTYXMu-3zYgFTlR0gbcHr9GuwLdm4ufslfGg1FFbJ499o3JZnvJIzd8N2Q4U1KG6XQNmToOBLDvNJzjghZfDHh-yralR8CALr9AiXlwEDYmLwZ17TLBpkU-NSzZHT5VpuUbJ7KjO/s1600-h/IMG_1483.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPpm2JTYXMu-3zYgFTlR0gbcHr9GuwLdm4ufslfGg1FFbJ499o3JZnvJIzd8N2Q4U1KG6XQNmToOBLDvNJzjghZfDHh-yralR8CALr9AiXlwEDYmLwZ17TLBpkU-NSzZHT5VpuUbJ7KjO/s320/IMG_1483.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311564863710417698" border="0" /></a>getting ready for the march<br /><br /></div><br />I have to head into the capital later this week, which is both good and bad... If I decide to shlep all my dirty laundry to the capital, I do get to use an actual washing machine and dryer and save myself at least a day's worth of scrubbing and wringing out and hanging up to dry. I also get to revel in the magic of running water, cell phone signal, and wireless internet, but I always spend wayyy too much money in the capital, and that can be very dangerous for someone whose w-2 from last year reported yearly income as $2700. No, I didn't forget to type a zero.<br /><br />I've been wasting valuable internet time recently looking at job postings on idealist.org, even though I still have 8 more months of service. I guess I just want to get an idea of what kinds of jobs I'd be interested in when that time rolls around, and what kinds of jobs I am even qualified to do. In completely unrelated news, a motorcycle just drove by with a washing machine tied onto the back. Impressive.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-10149521907126564162009-01-19T08:23:00.002-05:002009-01-19T08:44:29.591-05:00a day in the lifeI was writing an email to a friend of mine who wanted to know what is it that I do every day, and I thought it would be kind of interesting to do the same here. Behold, my day yesterday, a fairly typical Sunday:<br /><br /><strong>7am</strong>- it was raining since before the sun came up, so I woke up to the noise of rain on my tin roof and to my dog´s nose nudging me awake through my mosquito net.<br /><strong>8am</strong>- ate some banana bread for breakfast and then took a chilly bucket bath}<br /><strong>9:15am</strong>- headed to the school for a meeting, but after waiting for an hour only 2 of 9 kids showed up because no one does anything here when it rains. so I went home.<br /><strong>10:15am</strong>- did the dishes, finished reading {the great railway bazaar}, walked the dog, worked on a friendship bracelet, and studied for the GREs.<br /><strong>12:30pm</strong>- ate lunch at my neighbors house, which was chicken, rice, beans that I think might be called pigeon peas in english, and some shredded cabbage of doubtful cleanliness, which probably explains the intense stomach pain I´ve been in for the past 18 hours. after lunch, I taught my neighbor, who happens to be one of my favorite people here, how to make a friendship bracelet.<br /><strong>2pm</strong>- went home and took a short nap<br /><strong>3pm</strong>- kids club meeting, so I read a few books to about 15 kids, talked about manatees, taught some english vocabulary related to aquatic animals, and supervised a baseball game.<br /><strong>4:30pm</strong>- walked around and got some information from two of the families that i am trying to help out with their kids´ birth certificates.<br /><strong>5:30pm</strong>- the mother of this little girl that I tutor who lives a few houses away had asked me to trim her daughter's hair, because apparently I have "good hair" so me cutting the daughters hair will somehow pass along the good hair vibe. so I did it.<br /><strong>6:30pm</strong>- went home and drank a can of dr. pepper, the only kind of soda i like besides root beer. put on some music and mopped my house, then shaved my legs over a bucket and filed my nails. dinner was not in the picture due to stomach ailment. studied some more GRE vocab and worked on an article a friend and I are writing for the volunteer magazine<br /><strong>9:15pm</strong>- brushed my teeth, washed my face, and read a little bit in bed. Sleep<br /><br />So that´s a day in the life of Lily, Peace Corps Volunteer in the DR. Enthralling.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-27842890570719866972009-01-14T10:00:00.005-05:002009-01-14T10:23:12.897-05:00quick pics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHhfEHxf7ML3UXFVvndIooKooDkWn6lDfYnHJt8fKkNy-sH7RaX5vCn9TF0NS0BrK0uUlDlODCFwNPYYqP_bRHWn20fA4w1HkmAiHWR_JXEjj8io76WbefORGR2rMbJ06WnIPe2IZ_g-X/s1600-h/IMG_1311.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHhfEHxf7ML3UXFVvndIooKooDkWn6lDfYnHJt8fKkNy-sH7RaX5vCn9TF0NS0BrK0uUlDlODCFwNPYYqP_bRHWn20fA4w1HkmAiHWR_JXEjj8io76WbefORGR2rMbJ06WnIPe2IZ_g-X/s320/IMG_1311.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291165824869014930" border="0" /></a>Since getting back to my site, I've been trying to go for a long walk every day with Fibi. I would like to say that it's part of some big plan or New Years' resolution to make sure I'm active every day and Fibi is too, but really it's just a good way to use up a good hour or two of my days. I've also been studying for the GREs basically every day, and I've read some great books (see the GoodReads link on the left). This Sunday my sex ed youth group hosted a visit from another group and it went really well-- in the morning we did activities like Jeopardy and mini-dramas, and in the afternoon we all headed to the beach.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8YcwFQ3mzpqOj7muy0o9pyi4NcxrUErCbp-p5XEZeQlwZJw_pukGCZbkRgtAOs_lwW3ZSnAPRPpcaxcYG1V62Zg3TDgI4FAHXg10Co7gQvoxHP2-Vw3T-oZkIuNE7AsaiV11qGbzL8n5/s1600-h/IMG_1346.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8YcwFQ3mzpqOj7muy0o9pyi4NcxrUErCbp-p5XEZeQlwZJw_pukGCZbkRgtAOs_lwW3ZSnAPRPpcaxcYG1V62Zg3TDgI4FAHXg10Co7gQvoxHP2-Vw3T-oZkIuNE7AsaiV11qGbzL8n5/s320/IMG_1346.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291169536383127970" border="0" /></a><br />This week I'm starting my second book club and continuing with the literacy tutoring I've been doing since the summer. I'm in town now and just spent 2 hours at the Oficialia, which is where you go to get birth and death certificates... I just had ONE question but nonetheless had to push and shove just to be heard, and even that took what seemed like forever. I'm going to meet with the families of 7 kids who still don't have birth certificates to try and get all the paperwork straightened out so that they can be declared--without them those kids won't be able to go to high school, open a bank account, legally get married, etc. And now I am headed to the supermarket to spend the equivalent of $2.50 (1% of my monthly salary) on one measly little chocolate bar. It's really good chocolate though, and I figure that if I have to splurge on something, it might as well be chocolate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-18312056011886945802009-01-10T13:54:00.002-05:002009-01-10T14:08:00.212-05:00catching upI’ve decided to play catch-up with this blog. The summer went well, although it was a little slow because many Dominicans aren’t motivated to do much during the summer. Or during December and January. Or when it’s raining. Nonetheless, I started tutoring a few kids that were behind in reading, and it’s been quite fulfilling. I’m very proud of one little girl I’ve been working with since June who also happens to be my neighbor; even her teachers are impressed by how much she has improved. I also started a book club with four ‘tweens’ from my campo, and that was great. We read Charlotte’s Web over the course of two months and three of the four girls read the assigned reading every single week without fail. This month we are going to add a few more members to the club and begin reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The sex ed youth group that I’ve been working with since May graduated in September, participated in a national conference and a one-day regional workshop, and in December gave two talks about AIDS to their peers at the local high school.<br /><br />So there was the work catch-up in less than 200 words. Personal life: I went through a really rough patch this past fall. There are plenty of reasons why things weren’t going so great down here, and I won’t get into them now, but suffice to say I was just not feeling it. I didn’t really think I would leave early (ET in Peace Corps lingo) but it was comforting to know that I could always just leave. In early December, all of the youth volunteers who arrived in Sept. ’07 had a 3-day training session, and I left feeling a lot better about my work. It was helpful to get ideas from the other volunteers, and even more helpful was the chance to vent about everything in my site to people who could understand what I was talking about.<br /><br />In mid-December I left for a three-week long trip to the States, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I was starting to feel more positive about things here in the DR, but was also seriously lacking energy for the year ahead. During my trip home, I spent a lot of time with my family, reconnected with old friends and made new ones, and generally reveled in all things American—electricity, hot water, great food, a work ethic, music in English. I feel like I now have a lot more perspective thinking about my life here in the DR...not everything is as important as I maybe thought it was. My time here has flown by, even if it doesn’t always feel that way. The 10 months I have left are a drop in the proverbial bucket of my life, and I need to take advantage of every day for whatever it is… even the days when by 3 o’clock in the afternoon I’m wondering how to keep myself occupied until it’s socially acceptable to go to bed. Maybe a little cliche, but also very true for me right now.<br /><br />I was a little apprehensive about returning to my site because I had had such a great time in the US, but so far it hasn’t been too bad. I would even go so far as to say, it’s been pretty good, but I don’t want to jinx anything as I got back less than a week ago. Things weren’t looking so great when I stepped off of the plane and into the DR; within four minutes the sleazy airport employee taking bags off of the carousel mercilessly hit on me. I thought, “This cannot be a good sign.” But, I kept my chin up through the adjustments to non-potable non-running water and to throwing toilet paper in the trashcan and to fire ants who’ve made a lovely home in my dogs’ food and to huge spiders inside my rubber boots and to five hours of electricity a day. My spirits could not HELP but be uplifted by the warm welcome I received upon returning to my campo--my dog licked my face nonstop, everyone commented that I looked as white as a piece of paper, and I was told to be a little more gordita than when I left, here a serious compliment. In the span of about two hours, I had fifteen visitors to my house and gave out about twenty-five hugs. The hummingbird that frequents the banana trees in my backyard even made an appearance to celebrate my return.<br /><br />Things have calmed down now that it’s been a few days since I got back, and I’ve been working on my annual plan for the year that lies ahead. It’s been great to organize my ideas and think about how to direct my energy and about what I can actually accomplish in the coming months. My goal is to work on the following projects by November ‘09: help construct a basketball court, plan and run a sports camp with other volunteers, teach soccer, host a dance workshop (not taught by me, don’t worry), paint a world map mural in the school, continue working with the kids’ club, expand the sex ed group and have them give more talks, paint an anti-AIDS mural in the town park, organize a parenting class, help some families get their children documented, organize a campaign for International Women’s Day, do school gardens, continue literacy tutoring, start a second book club and continue to work with the first, help write a project plan and grants for a community center/library, and carry out some basic income generation projects. It’s a lot to aim for, and I can almost guarantee that I won’t get it all done, but with the participation of the community (there’s the hard part) I think we can accomplish at least three-quarters of these projects.<br /><br />At this point, this blog post is definitely long enough to make up for at least one or two months of my not writing! I’d like to end with two unrelated thoughts:<br /><br />1) Come visit! Three weeks away helped me to recognize, once again, how lucky I am to live among such beautiful surroundings and people.<br />2) If anyone has any of the newest albums by the following artists and wants to share them with a Peace Corps volunteer who goes by the name of Lily, please let me know and I will be eternally grateful.<br />a. Vampire Weekend<br />b. Andrew Bird<br />c. Blind Pilot<br />d. Mates of State<br />e. MGMT<br />f. Brian Eno & David Byrne<br /><br />peace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-62047390681160092922008-12-28T14:15:00.004-05:002008-12-29T11:42:15.524-05:00oopsSo I just realized that I haven't posted in, say, seven months, and apparently people actually read this. Sorry guys, I had no idea! I apologize profusely and promise to do a much better job. In fact, I have decided that I am going to write a book about my experiences. When I say book, I actually mean keeping track of what is going on in my Peace Corps life by writing it down. Because I seriously cannot believe that I have been in the DR for 15 months already, and I know <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzDycYQ2WIDA8QS5UkG6g5PGj-gdi4qjY_cpIA97q2cn0GNO4bZkSzaeh9Nq_PsEITe2ns-r15HsTRDBntpiqUg19MGRSuV0MNewfv5ATNvzjZ_FPxVcX-jqypFdzAdPtbZapaIwIhJQ_/s1600-h/IMG_1242.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzDycYQ2WIDA8QS5UkG6g5PGj-gdi4qjY_cpIA97q2cn0GNO4bZkSzaeh9Nq_PsEITe2ns-r15HsTRDBntpiqUg19MGRSuV0MNewfv5ATNvzjZ_FPxVcX-jqypFdzAdPtbZapaIwIhJQ_/s200/IMG_1242.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285252451204791618" border="0" /></a>that in a year or two I will be struggling to remember details about my life there that seem so everyday right now. So...keep your eyes peeled for my book. Maybe the NYT or the Post or even Oprah will hear about it and you'll see my mug on the cover of the book review. Maybe.<br /><br />In other news, I'm back in the States for the holidays, and this picture pretty much sums up my favorite activity thus far--sleeping, particularly on other people's couches. It's great. There are no couches in the DR, at least not where I live, so I'm taking full advantage of all the cushy pieces of furniture I can get my hands on while I'm here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-75800267082555676952008-05-26T16:32:00.002-04:002008-05-26T16:38:13.655-04:00creepy crawliesso, things are hectic up here but overall going well. i've had some fellow volunteers come visit, which is always lots of fun and i get to show them all the pretty places near me. it's been really really hot recently, but just yesterday some clouds rolled in and i think it might be raining for a while now. in other news, two days ago i killed a huge tarantula that was in my house. remember those giant fuzzy ones that were behind the glass when you went on a field trip to the zoo or the aquarium? yeah? well here they like to come hang out in your house when it's about to rain (something to do with the humidity or the pressure or something) and it was very unsettling to see one just waiting to pounce on me. ok, apparently they are acutally really shy but they do bite. so then last night i was coming in from the backyard, carrying a bucket of water, when i noticed a big black thing on the outside wall of my house. i looked closer, and it was a SCORPION. or something that looks remarkably similar to a scorpion that has huge pinchy claws in front. i also killed that. hopefully today the streak will not continue because i do not enjoy those interactions. what else.. work is slowing down a little just right now which is great because i have a ton going on. i'm headed home for a week in august too, so that's something to really look forward to! i've got to go buy some dog food and then head back up to my community, but i'll try to post some more pictures soon.<br /><br />-lilyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-35735792018698101142008-04-28T11:19:00.001-04:002008-12-08T22:01:15.460-05:00a few pictures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiObnKolDgHqqvhXQ-FFiwYlomBqbPQLbpdARMFP61ix11Biu4qtiJW3uLXcb1uBJxd6g-zit7Jod1NQViUwkJcTa60FQcGFoxxZiCdWPyDQYx8Q0x9AFdIvFWOHL4Yk5PObOcCRUiDOY/s1600-h/IMG_0076.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiObnKolDgHqqvhXQ-FFiwYlomBqbPQLbpdARMFP61ix11Biu4qtiJW3uLXcb1uBJxd6g-zit7Jod1NQViUwkJcTa60FQcGFoxxZiCdWPyDQYx8Q0x9AFdIvFWOHL4Yk5PObOcCRUiDOY/s320/IMG_0076.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194316824584589698" border="0" /></a>my first english class graduated!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3uPlG21MA5kcVIi_a7l5zAsZIPilHYwsr9cRzqPPe1MVA7fKXwd325esioRAv9JpAsF8YPMdTVbCSXDOZHAW60r0MqX3qdjmgVrhn_Wv948Zl83tVnqMI6PXK252_Mg-0ee1NgfASZ2R/s1600-h/IMG_0079.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3uPlG21MA5kcVIi_a7l5zAsZIPilHYwsr9cRzqPPe1MVA7fKXwd325esioRAv9JpAsF8YPMdTVbCSXDOZHAW60r0MqX3qdjmgVrhn_Wv948Zl83tVnqMI6PXK252_Mg-0ee1NgfASZ2R/s320/IMG_0079.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194316833174524306" border="0" /></a>this is "my" beach, about 20 minutes from my house.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrlr9Aa9NN9heVluJ5bNNxz7UXkfck91TH-PR1Q8KsEM4UrGhPSdvy3yizMLJIgumPBG45xCaWsfj-j66YyDbYGQbhwbgWnQs5PrGSz-fJTRgJUqmeefS6sPRvCH4caH1zd6DQjwcJ6wq/s1600-h/IMG_0132cropp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrlr9Aa9NN9heVluJ5bNNxz7UXkfck91TH-PR1Q8KsEM4UrGhPSdvy3yizMLJIgumPBG45xCaWsfj-j66YyDbYGQbhwbgWnQs5PrGSz-fJTRgJUqmeefS6sPRvCH4caH1zd6DQjwcJ6wq/s320/IMG_0132cropp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194316841764458914" border="0" /></a>me and the momUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-43902840012085354522008-04-21T09:16:00.003-04:002008-04-21T09:34:40.843-04:00I can´t believe......that I´ve been here for over 7 months! Time really flies here. Overall things are going well, I´m about to start a new round of English classes and also start teaching a 10 week course on sexual health for kids from the high school in town. My mom and her husband Patrick came to visit for a week, which was great because I hadn´t seen them in quite some time, plus it´s always fun to show people around my village. We also took a trip to Las Galeras, which is kind of touristy but also drop dead gorgeous. This past weekend I went into the capital and then went to visit a friend who lives nearby, which was a nice relaxing time. My house is getting painted right now, which is great because it looks amazing but also really crappy because I have to clean up after the painters. I´ve been cooking a lot, but this is a country where rice, oil, and msg are staples, so let´s just say I don´t have a lot of dinner guests. I made a frapuccino-like thing with a borrowed blender yesterday and all of my neighbors mocked me, but then I made them try some and everyone was like, ¨Lily this is so good, now you can get married.¨That´s basically the ultimate compliment here in terms of cooking, apparently a woman can´t get married until she knows how to cook well. It´s frustrating for me because the gender roles are so fixed here... but I´ve been feeling even more frustrated with the role the Catholic church plays in the community here. I´m in a bit of a hurry so I can´t go into too much detail, but I will say that if the church leaders put half as much effort into improving the situation of the community as they do into fundraising for the church, people in my village would be a lot better off. Ok, that´s all I´m going to say about that for now, have to go get some flyers printed for my new English class. I hope all is well, maybe next time I will attach some more pictures!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-52339158464147677012008-03-27T15:23:00.003-04:002008-12-29T11:15:19.250-05:00NEW CAMERA!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtbP0HBs6faN8S_AAJeKovvuQTshSOIjHcMshHk-_iCaJHpwUBTNNEmKnYM8TkBdtmT-daS6gowisNjsjOm_6VEBzJXAaYrEs3_z9kWaZSB57ZoPUKKTBWM7fTmYOx4J0qxbjQTCA6r44/s1600-h/IMG_0040.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182508505442948562" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtbP0HBs6faN8S_AAJeKovvuQTshSOIjHcMshHk-_iCaJHpwUBTNNEmKnYM8TkBdtmT-daS6gowisNjsjOm_6VEBzJXAaYrEs3_z9kWaZSB57ZoPUKKTBWM7fTmYOx4J0qxbjQTCA6r44/s200/IMG_0040.JPG" border="0" /></a> this is fibi slash phoebe. she is getting bigger and bigger, the vet thinks she will get to be about 40 pounds which is a good size i think. there was a med mission of american vets near me this week, so i took her to get spayed. it was free, and they also gave her flea medicine and cut her toenails. i helped them translate. it was good.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKjhLSH3lj4bweljIuZlr2nuwZSYqg8DI4j9o1y4p2fVAC8eBSUDqbgLZyWcS_QjE9w0fgPakUdgEO7f9GNe2vy2cZNKRUWXZRJ-tUA1HdBrZQ52UlVI7N1lUn7BINi5Z_02zcvJMxl9T/s1600-h/IMG_0047.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182508518327850466" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKjhLSH3lj4bweljIuZlr2nuwZSYqg8DI4j9o1y4p2fVAC8eBSUDqbgLZyWcS_QjE9w0fgPakUdgEO7f9GNe2vy2cZNKRUWXZRJ-tUA1HdBrZQ52UlVI7N1lUn7BINi5Z_02zcvJMxl9T/s200/IMG_0047.JPG" border="0" /></a> this is me, obviously. the picture was taken in cabrera, the closest city to me. it´s nice.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6M8Dyx4hEx4ShFK7tmxdwi6U_Hct0HafPr85pv7SkPnmefqJFMw23o2nOpx9afxItgyG8sUWo2OI70uJqIqlJxuY5XLlEEN4kFufrY5V9fkA4yHdrZrVwWQG2Fiti8GCpG9eafwaT_et/s1600-h/IMG_0049.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182508522622817778" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6M8Dyx4hEx4ShFK7tmxdwi6U_Hct0HafPr85pv7SkPnmefqJFMw23o2nOpx9afxItgyG8sUWo2OI70uJqIqlJxuY5XLlEEN4kFufrY5V9fkA4yHdrZrVwWQG2Fiti8GCpG9eafwaT_et/s200/IMG_0049.JPG" border="0" height="152" width="201" /></a> this is my living room, as usual filled with children. they really love to play uno and have filled up about 500 coloring books already. sorry the picture is sideways, i am bad at technology.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKWZT1uIjfpgBASGDwbZDV-zqQYHKCin52FcnhJjJZqScfgGWqo8-aJap07IGLLiDaYXi-XT-wdZpxAhMTb17ad2WvD0yctQsdWWohHEfP6DUpZCoJHO2UGfOB9iTP36MgUUifU50m33R/s1600-h/IMG_0050.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182508531212752386" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKWZT1uIjfpgBASGDwbZDV-zqQYHKCin52FcnhJjJZqScfgGWqo8-aJap07IGLLiDaYXi-XT-wdZpxAhMTb17ad2WvD0yctQsdWWohHEfP6DUpZCoJHO2UGfOB9iTP36MgUUifU50m33R/s200/IMG_0050.JPG" border="0" /></a> this is my house! it needs a paint job and eventually ill get around to scrubbing that black stuff off (its caused by the rain dripping down or something) but its great. my landlady has recently opened her heart and for one reason or another has informed me that i no longer need to pay rent. its amazing. i am getting my rocking chairs fixed so i can have nice seats, and i just traded my neighbor for a tv. i know, so not peace corps, but it was a good deal and i gotta keep up with my telenovelas. hey, they wanted me to integrate into the culture.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOMsFG2Cz8-SNInZLtSXRGgvL16O399Tg64S1gLAbLdzEV4VjKJ_o2EWpwmulNvD575XMFFrYSXvK1eMQ1EYL8u3ZOGp3xIqX9c5O6PU_2qqH6ciEJVCy5YJbR-5bMulZYWuAl3jfvsj4/s1600-h/IMG_0051.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182508544097654290" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOMsFG2Cz8-SNInZLtSXRGgvL16O399Tg64S1gLAbLdzEV4VjKJ_o2EWpwmulNvD575XMFFrYSXvK1eMQ1EYL8u3ZOGp3xIqX9c5O6PU_2qqH6ciEJVCy5YJbR-5bMulZYWuAl3jfvsj4/s200/IMG_0051.JPG" border="0" /></a> this is my kitchen counter and stove. note the very not dangerous placement of gas tank about 4 feet from stove. if you can see i also have NATURE VALLEY granola bars which are a blessing from god. just like the red truck that drives through my town selling vegetables, announcing its presence over a bullhorn that says ¨the red truck has arrived, like a blessing from god¨. i bought a carrot and a cucumber and a pineapple from him the other day. you can see them on the table if you look hard.<br /><br />ok i have to run but now you can see parts of my life here! look forward to more!<br /><div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-12976721442596594822008-03-14T10:00:00.003-04:002008-03-14T10:11:08.110-04:00semana santa begins..well, things are going very well down here in the DR. my new house is lovely, albeit minimalist in its furnishings. i´m working on that though. fibi is growing incredibly quickly and is super cute. the sexual health conference was last weekend for my two youth and it went great... i am so proud of my kids. they learned a lot, made new friends, and got to see a whole new part of the country. this week i am headed to a very touristy part of the island to see some family friends who will be here, which i am very excited for. if only i had a camera. my english class is going well, we are having a little graduation on april 5 which they are all extremely excited for. today i woke up at 2 am to go on this pilgrimage walk to a shrine in the rock about 5 miles away from my village, it was painfully early and i am, you could say, running on empty right now but i´m glad i did it. tomorrow my youth group has a talent show at the local bar/dance hall to raise money for the club, and ithink it will be quite a sight,some of the acts are pretty ridiculous. i have to run, but soon i will be able to post PHOTOS with my entries so you can see where i live!!<br /><br />'lilyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-65202256411965290402008-02-08T08:23:00.000-05:002008-12-08T22:01:16.519-05:00more pictures!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxAMFEnI56CQrOqXbUiTXm0Jt3wAYin15hOcMreoTOtUYTHb1nw2PtoybDEMAG8OxoejwND1TuGJyUmEf0c187iBCwQLhiH1boPEBCCGHcmhDWDAu_SfVTeNIl6DUJbP-Vd1O-uflMpk9i/s1600-h/PICT00062.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxAMFEnI56CQrOqXbUiTXm0Jt3wAYin15hOcMreoTOtUYTHb1nw2PtoybDEMAG8OxoejwND1TuGJyUmEf0c187iBCwQLhiH1boPEBCCGHcmhDWDAu_SfVTeNIl6DUJbP-Vd1O-uflMpk9i/s200/PICT00062.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164600238799151570" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgAnwGYh4C4jGmsn-ANkwdNEIerrVXRA3XBQfBS5uzvgy6-UUIUpaPGlko6PJm__QstHk19aYdV-XQ5It4DZYb3w2k1zk2lj5NpNRU2sqqmOj7EufByx4UCMiLYtRrxLM38s6bVysmDga7/s1600-h/PICT0063.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgAnwGYh4C4jGmsn-ANkwdNEIerrVXRA3XBQfBS5uzvgy6-UUIUpaPGlko6PJm__QstHk19aYdV-XQ5It4DZYb3w2k1zk2lj5NpNRU2sqqmOj7EufByx4UCMiLYtRrxLM38s6bVysmDga7/s200/PICT0063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164600247389086178" border="0" /></a><br />more pictures of fibi! she is getting to be really playful...<br /><br />lots of things have been going on here. on monday, i have to travel to the capital to present my community diagnostic, the project i have been working on for the past three months. i will be there for about a week, and upon my return i will move into my neW HOUSE! i can´t overemphasize how excited i am to move... my host mom takes care of me and is a good cook, but she also has a mean streak and i can´t wait to eat some food that isn´t cooked in three cups of oil. english class has been going well, they have their first test tomorrow! i´m also baking them a cake to celebrate. in march, there is a conference in the capital for youth health promoters (a really simplified explanation) and i am going to bring 2 kids from my community with me, so today i have to pick 2 out of the 5 that want to go... oh man! the weather has been pretty nice recently, not too hot. wednesday was ash wednesday so i can now say goodbye to meat on fridays for a while... no, i´m not actually catholic but everyone else is so it´s easier just to go along with it. i think that´s about all for now. i miss you all and hope all is well!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-58376634559817261172008-01-22T14:26:00.000-05:002008-12-08T22:01:17.119-05:00big news<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sGvL6xJcO3nb32opjUk9tVmJZAC1H5le_FOT4IJJUOa90mS2SEOK60q4IgfyRaZLDc_Y-87Zq9Ndm2rDEb91w6zvMqQCG-0jeF1zqX2s3MM0rPKMd2ytXQ2JJ6Ci9WNXx6PiAXf0h3Yj/s1600-h/PICT0055.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sGvL6xJcO3nb32opjUk9tVmJZAC1H5le_FOT4IJJUOa90mS2SEOK60q4IgfyRaZLDc_Y-87Zq9Ndm2rDEb91w6zvMqQCG-0jeF1zqX2s3MM0rPKMd2ytXQ2JJ6Ci9WNXx6PiAXf0h3Yj/s200/PICT0055.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158388137808203218" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbVFmLyxWQ_kkyzcI-RRxOCy7AnJ584k63_o9OtsOGwiM-LRlsjOBnNMuh53EUjNt7yuALrhgcaJz25vH6ClP2Nkin00yt36UGHgXkyzASl2uBjccO9fjKuV2mEi5HPXVgmdPtVM8uAl8/s1600-h/PICT0062.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbVFmLyxWQ_kkyzcI-RRxOCy7AnJ584k63_o9OtsOGwiM-LRlsjOBnNMuh53EUjNt7yuALrhgcaJz25vH6ClP2Nkin00yt36UGHgXkyzASl2uBjccO9fjKuV2mEi5HPXVgmdPtVM8uAl8/s200/PICT0062.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158388142103170530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzghs3O2ogKZyee0k3CQWKbSubVvx_ffsAPkhsWHZviXRSvpOTNb8Zxr1GqOvOqKBqUgEyxHYinkdyeyEXoWAZbnpMKnpico0LFOAM72XF0ul3VHzF0CKgbTkoufFdDCpcUWReYqVGRIxo/s1600-h/PICT0065.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzghs3O2ogKZyee0k3CQWKbSubVvx_ffsAPkhsWHZviXRSvpOTNb8Zxr1GqOvOqKBqUgEyxHYinkdyeyEXoWAZbnpMKnpico0LFOAM72XF0ul3VHzF0CKgbTkoufFdDCpcUWReYqVGRIxo/s200/PICT0065.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158388146398137842" border="0" /></a><br />so the other puppy didnt work out... but this is my new dog!!! sorr if the pictures arent great, i am under some serious time constraints so i will write more soon. her name is phoebe (fibi in spanish, ha) and she is really cute. not sure how old she is as she was rescued from a farm nearby. i hope all is well and i will talk to yousoon !Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-11988794390484244622008-01-16T15:38:00.000-05:002008-12-08T22:01:17.444-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilpbUOlkvtkyUFxd9kUnOlA0v83_DNgDgqBYoC2yRTx2dnpLkgNIlwk8bZV2ALmwclbP3u9Vve1-BhFu6bZKQ0GxdN__bqrupiR1Jk4gTfOtJoIMKB47DYsvNzlTGyx8RMBeBK0HDIEng/s1600-h/PICT0044.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilpbUOlkvtkyUFxd9kUnOlA0v83_DNgDgqBYoC2yRTx2dnpLkgNIlwk8bZV2ALmwclbP3u9Vve1-BhFu6bZKQ0GxdN__bqrupiR1Jk4gTfOtJoIMKB47DYsvNzlTGyx8RMBeBK0HDIEng/s200/PICT0044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5156177500961082802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLykvP8FSGFJ6T5SG0HacQM8CerCyf6GGp01o4amlWBu-c4kKlVTHozUvxYb0pu3hY9SSC4jvgazszW5VSnV77pyGWbqLRC6oULBsEor7Okd2XAYePIKLMeYPa2kG3V9OfHWCbzlYsPTAm/s1600-h/PICT0050.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLykvP8FSGFJ6T5SG0HacQM8CerCyf6GGp01o4amlWBu-c4kKlVTHozUvxYb0pu3hY9SSC4jvgazszW5VSnV77pyGWbqLRC6oULBsEor7Okd2XAYePIKLMeYPa2kG3V9OfHWCbzlYsPTAm/s200/PICT0050.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5156177505256050114" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ok, I can't figure out how to turn these pictures the right way so you all are just going to have to turn your heads sideways. The first picture is basically all of the kids under the age of 12 in my village, waiting to be given their presents for Three Kings Day. It was kind of a madhouse, but really fun. The second picture is a dog and her puppies that live near me... I may be getting one of them for myself but that depends on whether the family lowers the price. Right now they want to charge me 1000 pesos for the puppy, but that's really expensive so I'm not sure if it will work out or not. Things are going well here overall; I am getting lots of interviews done for my community diagnostic and starting to work with the youth group here in town. I'm starting to teach an English class this Saturday, which I am nervous for but I think it will work out. I've been working pretty hard on creating a curriculum, although from what I hear from older volunteers it might not end up being of any use. I'm adjusting pretty well to life in my site, excited for some visitors! I will write more later... I'm in the capital now and another volunteer is going to use my computer for a bit.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-24169541746118791872007-12-20T08:32:00.000-05:002008-12-08T22:01:17.685-05:00two more pictures<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ysxC0cuwTFOphe1dxlb_YeR9cgm4OjEPJ0hk6zoB8SeYnF5vmStsYSfN0SJWa0Coe5XvxoiReH0sNJ3ttoCm7fWwyD-0x4BXELLZCfTI19_P6qFgkDRJTNg3Wa-R395JXQC5EpdlUJAt/s1600-h/PICT0028.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146048280154967442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ysxC0cuwTFOphe1dxlb_YeR9cgm4OjEPJ0hk6zoB8SeYnF5vmStsYSfN0SJWa0Coe5XvxoiReH0sNJ3ttoCm7fWwyD-0x4BXELLZCfTI19_P6qFgkDRJTNg3Wa-R395JXQC5EpdlUJAt/s200/PICT0028.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotxkOqBYxh5yEJDMz1v-hevac6jXu5ypTd5Fu6E9NbhW1h1hhyphenhypheng18uJP5viILvRl3uA0PCoR-Tti1ehSM5c9Hb7zMv313dFYL5f8IV6SB7YZZR9LdRu1-Jdy_OvBkkhXuoX9IRJvlpAFT/s1600-h/PICT0032.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146048288744902050" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotxkOqBYxh5yEJDMz1v-hevac6jXu5ypTd5Fu6E9NbhW1h1hhyphenhypheng18uJP5viILvRl3uA0PCoR-Tti1ehSM5c9Hb7zMv313dFYL5f8IV6SB7YZZR9LdRu1-Jdy_OvBkkhXuoX9IRJvlpAFT/s200/PICT0032.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>happy holidays everyone! all is well here in the dominican republic. i don´t have a lot of time, but i wanted to add these two pictures. the first is the coastline that i pass every time i come down to the main city, and the second is a better picture of the view from up the hill in my village. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-52182910505476452312007-12-12T17:03:00.000-05:002008-12-08T22:01:18.366-05:00pictures!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFI8cQsyPj0-FYTy4gT19d7YBpci8VaxptGQxlBaW4OshLgPr-gex2UzRgnvg4SA3cjm1SOsPAD1VawTixPYjWRhLQpkYBdDQoR7UIgbs78inFGk3XEiwHCGvzMHXGAJZ-E9HE7PuEhmSc/s1600-h/PICT0002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFI8cQsyPj0-FYTy4gT19d7YBpci8VaxptGQxlBaW4OshLgPr-gex2UzRgnvg4SA3cjm1SOsPAD1VawTixPYjWRhLQpkYBdDQoR7UIgbs78inFGk3XEiwHCGvzMHXGAJZ-E9HE7PuEhmSc/s200/PICT0002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143214000106178530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVJ65wR5J6cqTI2KGOQH-eMDEGDtM5khuKFQpiIOCNnhjD4Wgx90UddGR4IhTBhRNCgwABSM_HcF8j462i1j1iL-nnMUrd2J9jkjf23BGjN3ZJXA6MCt_ajbxGEZ__Yg51NQxf1IN4w7S/s1600-h/PICT0014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVJ65wR5J6cqTI2KGOQH-eMDEGDtM5khuKFQpiIOCNnhjD4Wgx90UddGR4IhTBhRNCgwABSM_HcF8j462i1j1iL-nnMUrd2J9jkjf23BGjN3ZJXA6MCt_ajbxGEZ__Yg51NQxf1IN4w7S/s200/PICT0014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143214008696113138" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzBQ6EnG5GdZ9299D01jKdOJLfOTzhCgTv0NeI53yVyO-ucfC_x5sWJcU7mFwMuS2nvEsyn0ieU3I-DNy-qpmEWIJW3OPmjwF9zq3_P2lpPN_zT2Zah0sARCGomepdOnjfHBwuGO0DvY_/s1600-h/PICT0056.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzBQ6EnG5GdZ9299D01jKdOJLfOTzhCgTv0NeI53yVyO-ucfC_x5sWJcU7mFwMuS2nvEsyn0ieU3I-DNy-qpmEWIJW3OPmjwF9zq3_P2lpPN_zT2Zah0sARCGomepdOnjfHBwuGO0DvY_/s200/PICT0056.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143214012991080450" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddvkduuqGL16ovMMF3U2XiuK0PKDmXMNVTBluLTxg3VymgjmWaFhDHuBrgCA-OS4jJaOjWTSbV_gtG3_uaA6om3hyphenhyphengwPNVenWI-J6ACZvkJGEN8fXQYt9CbahQGqa4To2XK_lf52P2NZ7/s1600-h/PICT0059.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddvkduuqGL16ovMMF3U2XiuK0PKDmXMNVTBluLTxg3VymgjmWaFhDHuBrgCA-OS4jJaOjWTSbV_gtG3_uaA6om3hyphenhyphengwPNVenWI-J6ACZvkJGEN8fXQYt9CbahQGqa4To2XK_lf52P2NZ7/s200/PICT0059.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143214021581015058" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="on" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Vínculo" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);">so, tropical storm olga is passing over the island of hispaniola at this very moment and i am at a nice hotel with about 40 other volunteers. PC decided to consolidate us until the storm passes because of threats of flooding and the like. it's nice to be here with electricity, hot water, and internet access, but i was kind of bummed about the timing because i had some important activities planned for this week... i was going to start working on my community diagnostic and talking to some focus groups of students from the local high school. but, such is life and i will be able to pick things up once i get back to my site. i am going to take advantage of the wireless here and try to post some pictures. the first picture is a beach nearby, but since then i have found a prettier, closer beach so i will try to get some more pictures to entice you all to visit me. the second picture is from the road where i live, off in the distance is the coast... it's a beautiful view. the last two pictures are what my village and surrounding areas look like-- lots of green hills and cows. i hope these work...<br /><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-64110620827016367932007-12-01T11:33:00.000-05:002007-12-01T11:35:47.992-05:00life in the campoNow that I’m in the campo (country) and have a few hours to spare, the time is ripe for some juicy details about my life here in the Dominican Republic. For those of you wondering how I’ve managed to write such a lengthy essay if I have to pay an arm and a leg for internet access, thank the wonders of laptop computer technology and thumb drives. Enjoy!<br /><br /><em>Part I- In which I meet my village and embarrass myself immensely.</em><br />November 13, 2007- I spent the first half of the day in a conference center in the capital, meeting my two project partners and navigating the awkward silence that quickly developed after we had discussed their families, their trip to the capital, and the weather. In the early afternoon we began the more-than-four-hour journey to my home for the next two years. The first bus we took traveled from the capital to Nagua, the closest large city to my village. We then caught another bus, and finally took a fifteen-minute ride on motorcycle taxis up to our community. I dropped my luggage off at my house, all the while being told that we were late although no one bothered to tell me what exactly we were late for. As we approached the “club” (an open air pavilion used by the community for meetings), I saw a crowd of about 80 people sitting inside. They all turned their heads to watch my arrival, and then stood up and cheered. I was led to the front of the pavilion and shown my seat, which happened to be facing the entire audience. One of my project partners introduced me to the crowd, and then asked me to say a few words. No pressure or anything. I told everyone my name and how excited I was to begin working with the community. I also explained to them that I would actually only be here for five days, before leaving for the capital for a week. That provoked a few confused stares, so I assured them that I would be back shortly and for good. I opened the floor to questions, which turned out to be a big mistake. The one and only question I received was, “Do you know how to dance bachata?” I answered that I was still learning, and the community would have to teach me more. The man who asked the question took my answer literally, and asked the organizers to put on a song so that he could teach me in front of 80 people. The truth is, I can hold my own dancing bachata, but I was so flustered by the crowd that I tripped on my own feet and stepped on the man’s shoes more than a few times. Apparently I hadn’t embarrassed myself enough by dancing, because after we finished dancing one of my counterparts grabbed the microphone and announced to everyone that I also knew how to SING bachata. I was given the microphone and forced to sing, without music, the chorus of Zacarias Ferreria’s “Es tan dificil.” Sufficiently embarrassed at this point, I was allowed to sit down and everyone was served a snack of bread, cheese, and fruit punch. Thus went my introduction to the community.<br /><br /><em>Part II- In which I move houses after five days.</em><br />During my five-day-long site visit, I was living with one woman in a house built for at least six people, which was great because I had a large room and there was indoor plumbing. The doña, a widow in her mid-sixties, was caring and friendly, but there were definitely some negatives to living there. For starters, she didn’t really talk to me. Also, there were rats living in the rafters of my bedroom, so when I laid in bed every night I could look up and see them scurrying around. Sometimes they even left little presents for me on the floor. The worst part about living there was that the house is about 10 minutes downhill from the rest of the village, leaving me isolated from everyone but my doña. I couldn’t leave the house at night or when it rained, which is almost a daily occurrence here. The ability to deal with constant solitude is not one of my strong points, and I quickly realized that living in that house for three months would be quite detrimental to my mental health, not to mention to the work I’m supposed to be accomplishing here. The site visit lasted five days, and then I returned to the capital for the end of training, Thanksgiving celebrations, and a conference for all of the volunteers in the DR. While I was in the capital, I talked to the director of the youth program about moving houses and she put a plan in motion. Although I didn’t want to hurt the feelings of my original dona, I knew that there had to be a better home for me somewhere in the village. Thankfully, one was found. I am now living in the village with a couple and their two sons, and so far so good. I’m much less isolated here, and there is always something to be done around the house. The couple makes empanadas, bread, and other little snacks to sell, plus they own some pigs and chickens that live behind the house. Nonetheless, I will be pretty excited to move out on my own when the time comes. Because I live in such a rural community, houses up for rent are in short supply so I’m already on the lookout for a future house. So far, there are two possibilities—neither with an indoor bathroom—but I’ll take what I can get.<br /><em><br />Part III- In which I experience the wrath of a crazy Dominican woman.</em><br />I have been pretty lucky here in my village, in that I have been getting to know a fair amount of people and could even say I have a few friends. At this point, my closest friend is a twenty-year-old girl who lives down the street. From the day I arrived, she took it upon herself to show me around the community and even comforted me when I was feeling pretty down about the loneliness/isolation situation. Her family has been very welcoming to me, so when she asked if I wanted to travel with them to another town to celebrate her cousin’s birthday, I accepted. She has two little cousins, seven and four years old, and their father was taking them to eat pizza and ice cream in a nearby tourist town. The five of us (myself, my friend, her two little cousins, and their dad) piled into a pickup truck and headed for town. On the way, we stopped and talked to a woman on a motor scooter. I could sense some tension between the woman and the girls’ father, but wasn’t really sure what was going on. They got into a screaming match and I figured out that the woman was actually the girls’ estranged mother who somehow got it into her head that her husband was cheating on her and living with me. This struck me as laughably ridiculous because I’d only been living here for a cumulative seven days, I’d only met the man that day, and I was only along for the ride because my friend had invited me. The woman proceeded to get into the pickup truck and for the rest of the night made all sorts of snide remarks directed towards me. While her attitude made for an uncomfortable atmosphere, she didn’t really bother me just because the entire situation was so absurd. If anything, I felt bad for the two little girls because their mom was really not putting her best foot forward, or however that saying goes.<br /><br /><em>Part IV- In which I constantly battle boredom but am now trying to embrace it.</em><br />Having grown up in Baltimore, I considered Saint Mary’s County to be “country living.” I couldn’t be more wrong. I now live in a community of about 300 people (I think), where the majority of people are married with children by age twenty and few are employed, at least in the traditional sense of the word. Most people here work with livestock, on small family-owned plots of land, or running tiny businesses such as selling peanut brittle on the side of the one paved road in town. Regardless of age or employment, basically every member of the community has quite a bit of free time on their hands. This includes myself. Peace Corps wants us new volunteers to spend our first three months in site working on a community diagnostic and little else, which is a great idea in theory but in practice requires a lot of patience on the part of the volunteer. Maybe if I were in a city this waiting period could be more easily navigated, but here in the campo, there aren’t as many activities with which one can fill their time. Means of entertainment are a lot simpler here. During my site visit, I spent about ten hours doing peanut-related chores—shelling, toasting, and cleaning the nuts for the aforementioned peanut brittle. Since moving here permanently about a week ago, I’ve spent approximately fifteen hours playing dominoes and more than twenty hours sitting in front of the colmado (corner store) at the only intersection in town. I cannot fully express just how bored I was during my first few days here; sitting in a plastic chair and watching motorcycles and the occasional truck pass by was not quite the stimulation my brain was seeking. However, as I spend more and more time here, I’m adjusting to the slower pace of life. I make lists of everything: ideas for activities in my community, things I need to look up on the internet, and items that would be great to get in a care package…. I even use my free time to make a list of things to do with my free time. I linger in people’s houses, chatting with them with the secret hope that they will give me something tasty to eat. It’s Dominican custom to offer a snack and/or drink to guests, and I have to say I have benefited immensely from the practice. I also find that my standards for entertainment have changed considerably. Today, while sitting in front of the colmado, I thought to myself, “Holy crap, look at how much traffic there is on the road today.” I then had to hold back my laughter, because the traffic I referred to was actually just one truck stopped in the middle of the road and another behind it, waiting for the first truck to move. Later in the day, a chicken escaped from its coop and flew into a tree. The ensuing chase of the errant chicken, which was destined to be lunch the next day, provided me with a solid hour of entertainment. I can only imagine what my entertainment will consist of after two years here.<br /><br /><em>Part V- In which I struggle with big questions. Kind of.</em><br />Things here are good—I’m living with a well-respected and welcoming family, making friends, learning to manage my boredom, and beginning to see how I as a Peace Corps volunteer fit into the life of the community. My loneliness is slowly abating as I become more comfortable with people here, which is not to say that I don’t have times where all I want is to talk to someone who has known me for more than three weeks. But yes, I think I am doing pretty well here. Still, there are some things that I can’t really avoid thinking about, looming in the distance like huge thunderclouds in an otherwise blue sky. I am concerned about my effectiveness as a volunteer—will I be able to actually accomplish all, or for that matter any, of the things my community expects of me? There are so many possible projects here, but where the hell do I start? Since this is supposed to be sustainable development, how do I find a balance between getting things done and being the only one doing them? In addition to my own insecurities, there are grander societal issues at work and I’m not sure yet as to how to handle them. Teen pregnancy is incredibly common in my community, but it seems hypocritical to tell these young people to wait until they’re older and have a steady job to have children, when they most likely won’t ever have a steady job in the way that I mean it. And speaking of jobs, there are none here. Even the brightest high school graduates either start their own families right away or move out of the community, because there are few jobs and rarely any money to go to university, so the only way to earn it is to work somewhere else. Every single family in the community has at least one member working abroad, either in the United States, Spain, or Puerto Rico. Many people here live almost entirely off of remittances, and most dream of one day moving abroad and earning money in “dolares” or euros. American culture has a strong influence here, but there are also unbelievable gaps in development—the night we went out for pizza, my friend’s younger cousins wore cute little pink Timberland boots and Baby Phat t-shirts but didn’t know how to open a door with a doorknob or use a flush toilet. In the traditional sense, the Dominican Republic isn’t a typical Peace Corps country. I don’t live in a hut or have to walk 16 miles to the nearest pay phone. There are plenty of people here with a university education and a steady job and internet service in their house. But there are many more people that don’t have access to those privileges, and it’s almost worse because their situation is waved in front of their faces daily. Through telenovelas, family members living abroad, interaction with tourists, and even through me with two pairs of glasses and a laptop computer, people are constantly reminded of what they could have, but don’t. I’m trying as hard as I can to keep my perspective and remember that I didn’t come here to fix everything, mostly because that just won’t be possible. At the moment, two years seems like an eternity to me but in the life of a community it’s just a drop in the bucket. Hopefully the projects developed during my time here will stimulate more and more positive change for my village. For now, I’m just sitting here in my plastic chair, watching motorcycles go by and wondering how the hell I can get all of these tiny ants to surrender the home they’ve made in my laptop.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-49422575580458937462007-11-11T16:17:00.000-05:002007-11-11T16:30:15.571-05:00back in the capitalwe made it back to the capital for a few more days of training, but the end is in sight. i am pretty psyched to get to my site and start working, although i am also feeling a little overwhelmed by the fact that i will be starting entirely from scratch. at the moment i am feeling a little bummed, i think mostly overwhelmed by the constant moving around and not wanting to be in this huge congested city. my site visit is on tuesday though, so it will be pretty exciting to see where i'll be living for the next 2 years and be out in the campo. in other news, today we went to the US embassy in santo domingo and went swimming in the pool there, which was really refreshing and a nice change of pace. then we ate at a little italian restaurant, which again was a nice change of pace from the rice and beans. tomorrow we are getting our cell phones issued, so i will email my phone number and please call me! i would love to hear from everyone. i will write again after my site visit and let you know how it goes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-84274348907865514342007-11-07T15:34:00.000-05:002007-11-07T16:40:54.147-05:00almost doneso, we have about 3 days left here and then it will be time to head back to the capital. i am pretty ready to ship out; constanza has been great but it's time for a change of scenery. this past weekend a fellow trainee and i painted a community center with our youth group, which was tiring but also really fun. there has been some pretty serious drama going on in their neighborhood involving theft, so i think it was good for them to have something positive to do for their community. monday we gave the group a talk on sexual health, and then today my friend derek and i gave a talk on teenage pregnancy to an 8th grade class in that neighborhood. i think we got the point across and the kids seemed to be interested which is the most important part. we fielded a few awkward questions but overall it was awesome. last night i helped my host sister yajaira put up a christmas tree and the christmas lights in front of our house, since the christmas season here apparently starts in early november... as usual, things with my family are crazy but i am totally used to it so it's fine. oh right, about tropical storm/hurricane noel... things here are fine. it rained for about a week straight and there was damage to certain areas of our city, but all of us are fine and in good health. there are certainly parts of the country that didn't fare so well, though. i don't really have any other news, but i did post some pictures from the DR onto my google account so you can look at them through the link on the right (at least, i think it's on the right). i will talk to everyone soon, and i hope all is well up there!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-75529519091191787882007-10-25T15:19:00.000-04:002007-10-25T15:32:15.969-04:00la gripein the past 36 hours i have come down with a pretty intense attack of the gripe, which is a general term for sickness here in the DR. apparently you can get the gripe by washing your hair at night here, and also by using paper products rather than a handkerchief to blow your nose. interesting. in other news, i am going to the beach! kind of. for security reasons, i can't write the name of the village i will be living in, but it's in the northeast of the country in a province called maria trinidad sanchez. i'll be in a very poor rural village on the side of a mountain, about 30 minutes from the ocean. i don't know a whole lot about the project, but my partner organization is the neighborhood association and part of my project will be to form a youth group in the town and work with the local school. i'm a little nervous because i'm the only new youth volunteer to be in the north of the country, so on the map of all the sites mine looks a little aislado (isolated). but there are two current youth volunteers somewhat nearby, and there will hopefully be some other volunteers from different sectors nearby as well. it's apparently really gorgeous, and there is cell phone service so all in all i am pretty happy with how things have turned out. when we return to the capital in a few weeks, i will receive a big folder with more information about my site and my project, but for now it's a relief just to know where i'm headed. my laptop is running out of batteries, so i have to run, but keep in touch. apparently phone cards to call here are verrry cheap...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-12516737277319966482007-10-23T15:52:00.000-04:002007-10-23T16:21:38.319-04:00still hereit's been a while since i've updated my blog and i've found myself with a bit of free time...so here goes nothing. i'm still up in the mountains and i'm still enjoying it here, although training is becoming slightly monotonous. we spend hours and hours a day in technical meetings, but i don't feel any more prepared for the moment when i'm an official volunteer and am charged with improving the lives of young people in my community. nonetheless, i've been making good friends here, both american and dominican. the youth group i have been working with is really inspiring; despite their less than ideal living conditions they are filled with ideas and dedication for improving their community. they're also incredibly fun to hang out with-- this past saturday, we held a surprise party for another trainee's birthday and a lot of my youth group kids came. we danced merengue and bachata and just hung out together, which was really fun. another positive of this training is that i'm getting some good experience in dominican culture; by this, i mean i am adjusting to a lack of organization and structure in basically anything. (ex: my NGO internship consists of 4 trainees following around one dominican for 4 hours a day. while certainly an interesting experience, it's only nominally an internship.) i've also become accustomed to constant noise in my life, i think due to the fact that i live with probably the 2 worst behaved children in the country. it's actually pretty sad, as their mom has very few parenting skills and at least twice a day i watch her beat her kids with a belt because they don't want to get in the shower or some other absurd reason. i find myself really looking forward to getting to my site and just being a part of a community for the long haul. at the same time, i am pretty anxious about being by myself in my site, since i've been around other americans since we arrived in the DR. i'm sure i will adjust quickly, but it's a daunting idea at the moment. speaking of my site, in just 2 days us youth volunteers will get our site assignments from our APCD (the director of the youth program). i'm definitely looking forward to knowing where i will be living... hopefully it will be a campo (rural) site. ideally i would like to be somewhat near a friend or two, either that or have cell phone service so i can talk to people. i'm going to finish up this entry for now, but i'll write again on thursday when i know where you all can find me for the next two years. please keep emailing and writing letters, and i'll do the same for you. communication is awesome.<br /><br />love,<br />lilyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-58422717805122144992007-10-07T17:17:00.000-04:002007-10-07T17:49:24.039-04:00las montañas!well, we have been here in the DR for almost a month now and so far so good. i´m now in a small town in the mountains, and i absolutely love it. the weather is cooler than in the capital, the people are very friendly, and i am enjoying the time with the other youth volunteers. it´s been really good getting to know everyone, although i do miss some friends who are in other sectors (health, community economic development, water and sanitation). we will be here for 5 weeks doing training specific to the youth sector, which i am really excited for. this week we will be starting two internships, one with a local NGO that does community development and another with a local environmental youth group. i am living with a host family here, and it´s definitely a crazy house. people are always coming in and out and i´m still not entirely sure of who actually lives there. nonetheless, i´m happy to be living there and i´ve been getting along really well with my two host sisters, who are 15 and 26. my friend derek lives 3 houses down, and then two other friends, lupe and molly, live very close by so that´s been fun. i´ve been playing a lot of dominoes here and am starting to get the hang of it! soon i am going to teach my host family how to play uno, which was a big hit with my family in the capital. this town is much more tranquilo (calm, peaceful) than the capital, which i definitely appreciate as we can walk basically everywhere and safety isn´t a huge concern. i have been getting lessons in dominican cooking, so hopefully by the time i have some visitors i can prepare a dominican feast! today we had sancocho for lunch, which is this yummy stew type dish with all sorts of root vegetables plus meat. ours included plantains, potatoes, squash, leeks, yucca, carrots, beef, chicken, and some other vegetables that i don´t know the english words for. i think that´s about all i have to say for now, but i will be sure to update with more news from the mountains sometime soon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-45474389902249670782007-09-24T10:50:00.000-04:002007-09-24T17:49:09.020-04:00what a weekend...<div>here are some more details about my life in the DR, for those of you who are interested. It´s definitely a whole new world.</div><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tropical fruits I have eaten.</span> </div><div>-carambola (starfruit)</div><div>-chinola (passionfruit)</div><div>-guayaba (i think guava)</div><div>-limoncillo (not sure if theres an english word)</div><div>-guineo (banana)</div><div>-piña (pineapple)</div><div>-lechoso (papaya)</div><div>-zapote (dont know if it even exists outside this country)</div><div> </div><br /><div style="font-weight: bold;">Creepy things i have seen.</div><div>-giant furry brown tarantula</div><div>-2 incredibly large centipedes</div><div>-tons of roaches</div><div>-mosquitoes that carry dengue</div><div>-mosquitoes that carry malaria</div><div>-dominican men who find it necessary to talk to every american that walks by. it´s completely harmless, but sometimes i just don´t want to hear "hola americana i love you!" for the 23rd time in one day</div><div> </div><br /><div style="font-weight: bold;">Things that happened in the past week or so.</div><div>-i´ve eaten about 7.4 pounds of plantains... boiled, fried, mashed, you get the picture</div><div>-i got a letter from aubrey, so the mail system does work, just not in any predictable way</div><div>-i went to a dominican synagogue for yom kippur in the presence of probably the entire jewish population of the DR, no more than 120 people</div><div>-i went to the jardin botanico, a really beautiful green space in the city. but...<br />- i got robbed in the jardin botanico. it was really scary, but i am fine. i lost my camera and watch (sucks) and also my hacky sack, water bottle, leatherman, sunglasses, and the only purse i brought with me (sucks more). i´m mourning the loss of those things more for their sentimental value than monetary value, but in the end everyone is safe and healthy so it will all be okay.<br />- i taught my 13year old host brother how to play Uno and now he loves it<br />- i lost miserably at scrabble... some of the other volunteers are serious scrabble fiends.<br /><br />well, i think that´s about it for me. if i havent responded to your emails yet, its only because internet costs $ and i don´t have a ton of disposable income. please email me your addresses and phone numbers though and i will definitely contact you in one way or another! i hope all is well with everyone back in the estados unidos, and i will talk to you soon<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-16495126580173945852007-09-20T17:11:00.000-04:002007-09-20T17:24:39.157-04:00se FUE la luzhola a todos<br /><br />HI EVERYONE! i am here in the hot hot heat of the dominican republic. all is well over here...my host family is awesome, and i have made some good friends in our training class. of course i miss you all, but at the same time i am savoring every moment here. i can´t explain to you just how crazy everything is. the public transportation is hilarious, there are guaguas (buses) and carro publicos (shared taxis). they both are so jam packed with people you would not believe it. the carros publicos fit 4, sometimes 5, people in the backseat plus 2 in the passenger seat plus the driver. people hang out of the side of the guagua, because its the only way they can really get to work or school and the like. there are also motoconchos, which are motorcycle taxis but we arent allowed to ride those in the city as they are pretty dangerous. however, we have a SITE VISIT with an actual volunteer coming up in about a week and when we go for those visits in other parts of the country we are allowed to go on motoconchos. in fact, i will be headed to the puerto plata area (read: beach) and will get to go on one! in other news, i take por lo menos 2 bucket baths per day. we do have a shower in my house but the water never comes out of it so we fill these paint buckets with water and use that to quote unquote shower. the baths are absolutely necessary because it is seeriously hot here. imagine baltimore in august, all the time, without the thunderstorms to ever cool things off. i carry around a bandana to wipe the sweat off my face. gross, but true. one of the funnier things that i have had to get used to is the unpredictability of the electricity. for you non spanish speakers, the title of this entry means the light is gone. this happens at least 2 or 3 times a day, you will just be sitting around and oh, se fue la luz. its not so bad except for when you really want the fan to cool you off as you lie on your bed in the hot hot heat. i can´t think of too much else to tell you about for now. training is going well ,we have spanish classes, core peace corps training, and more technical training as well. in about 1.5 weeks we are going to move our training out of the city and all of us youth volunteers will do 3 weeks of training in the mountains (so excited!!!). i will update this again soon, don´t worry. please feel free to mail me letters to this address. i wouldn´t be mad at all and might even write you back!<br /><br />lily mendelson, pct<br />cuerpo de paz<br />avenida bolivar 451, gazcue<br />apartado 1412<br />santo domingo, dominican republicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-58155767658037089582007-09-13T00:05:00.000-04:002007-09-13T00:11:49.586-04:00beginningso, staging has officially ended. we had a day and a half of fairly comprehensive training, and in 2.5 very short hours we will be checking out of the hotel, driving to the airport, and hopping onto a plane headed to the DR! i'm incredibly excited, and kind of nervous, for this new adventure to start. staging was definitely a positive experience-- the leader was a great guy, the other volunteers have all been awesome, even being in georgetown wasn't so bad. i don't want to make this too long, as i'd like to squeeze in a quick nap before the big day. i don't know when the next time i have internet access will be, but never fear, i will contact you all soon. write me letters! i'll write you back!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5876391583725892620.post-37396022211712498802007-08-30T14:19:00.000-04:002007-08-30T14:56:39.854-04:00packing...so, after much deliberation, i have basically decided on what i'm bringing with me to the dr. i have 12 days left to get everything together and shove it into my big pack, a big rolly suitcase, a daypack, and a tote bag. in case you're interested, here's the list (which could change at any minute)<br /><br />• 11 shirts<br />• 2 button-down shirts<br />• 8 pants/capris<br />• 2 pairs mesh shorts<br />• 4 skirts<br />• 3 dresses<br />• 2-week supply of socks<br />• 2-week supply of underwear/bras<br />• 3 bathing suits<br />• raincoat<br />• 2 sweatshirts<br />• light jacket<br />• 2 belts<br />• 1 baseball hat (old school orioles, yet to be purchased)<br />• 1 wide brim hat <br />• 1 pair of sneakers<br />• 1 pair of nice sandals<br />• 1 or 2 pairs of flats<br />• 1 pair of chacos<br />• 1 pair of "light hikers" as my dad says<br />• 2 pairs of flip flops<br />• shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant, tampons, sunblock, toothpaste etc<br />• 1 bath towel, 1 beach towel, 1 washcloth and 1 quick dry towel<br />• 2 sets of full size cotton sheets<br />• coolmax sleeping bag liner<br />• ziploc bags<br />• can opener<br />• spices<br />• peeler<br />• apron<br />• measuring cups<br />• watch<br />• alarm clock<br />• 2 pairs of sunglasses<br />• umbrella<br />• my little leatherman<br />• 2 nalgenes<br />• headlamp and mini maglite (and extra lightbulbs and batteries)<br />• sewing kit including good scissors<br />• 2 notebooks<br />• envelopes<br />• pens, pencils, crayons<br />• small picture album<br />• some jewelry<br />• cards, uno cards, travel scrabble, book of NYT crosswords<br />• mini spanish-english dictionary (thanks lisa!)<br />• emergen-c packets<br />• powerbars/clif bars<br />• ipod (thanks dad!)<br />• shortwave radio<br />• laptop<br />• flash drive<br />• surge protector<br />• tons of batteries <br />• digital camera<br />• presents for host families and kids (stickers, coloring books, etc)<br />• possibly a crazy creek if theres room<br />• as many books as i can fit<br /><br />suggestions/observations are welcome!<br /><br />the next step is fitting it all into my bags. kacey suggested getting those vacuum seal bags for my clothes, which is a great idea and i think it will help a lot with packing. oh man this is hard.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1