la gripe

in 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...

still here

it'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.

love,
lily

las 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.

what a weekend...

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.

Tropical fruits I have eaten.

-carambola (starfruit)

-chinola (passionfruit)

-guayaba (i think guava)

-limoncillo (not sure if theres an english word)

-guineo (banana)

-piña (pineapple)

-lechoso (papaya)

-zapote (dont know if it even exists outside this country)

Creepy things i have seen.

-giant furry brown tarantula

-2 incredibly large centipedes

-tons of roaches

-mosquitoes that carry dengue

-mosquitoes that carry malaria

-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

Things that happened in the past week or so.

-i´ve eaten about 7.4 pounds of plantains... boiled, fried, mashed, you get the picture

-i got a letter from aubrey, so the mail system does work, just not in any predictable way

-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

-i went to the jardin botanico, a really beautiful green space in the city. but...
- 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.
- i taught my 13year old host brother how to play Uno and now he loves it
- i lost miserably at scrabble... some of the other volunteers are serious scrabble fiends.

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

se FUE la luz

hola a todos

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!

lily mendelson, pct
cuerpo de paz
avenida bolivar 451, gazcue
apartado 1412
santo domingo, dominican republic

beginning

so, 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!

packing...

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)

• 11 shirts
• 2 button-down shirts
• 8 pants/capris
• 2 pairs mesh shorts
• 4 skirts
• 3 dresses
• 2-week supply of socks
• 2-week supply of underwear/bras
• 3 bathing suits
• raincoat
• 2 sweatshirts
• light jacket
• 2 belts
• 1 baseball hat (old school orioles, yet to be purchased)
• 1 wide brim hat
• 1 pair of sneakers
• 1 pair of nice sandals
• 1 or 2 pairs of flats
• 1 pair of chacos
• 1 pair of "light hikers" as my dad says
• 2 pairs of flip flops
• shampoo, conditioner, lotion, deodorant, tampons, sunblock, toothpaste etc
• 1 bath towel, 1 beach towel, 1 washcloth and 1 quick dry towel
• 2 sets of full size cotton sheets
• coolmax sleeping bag liner
• ziploc bags
• can opener
• spices
• peeler
• apron
• measuring cups
• watch
• alarm clock
• 2 pairs of sunglasses
• umbrella
• my little leatherman
• 2 nalgenes
• headlamp and mini maglite (and extra lightbulbs and batteries)
• sewing kit including good scissors
• 2 notebooks
• envelopes
• pens, pencils, crayons
• small picture album
• some jewelry
• cards, uno cards, travel scrabble, book of NYT crosswords
• mini spanish-english dictionary (thanks lisa!)
• emergen-c packets
• powerbars/clif bars
• ipod (thanks dad!)
• shortwave radio
• laptop
• flash drive
• surge protector
• tons of batteries
• digital camera
• presents for host families and kids (stickers, coloring books, etc)
• possibly a crazy creek if theres room
• as many books as i can fit

suggestions/observations are welcome!

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.