creepy crawlies

so, 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.

-lily

a few pictures

my first english class graduated!
this is "my" beach, about 20 minutes from my house.
me and the mom

I 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!

NEW CAMERA!!

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.
this is me, obviously. the picture was taken in cabrera, the closest city to me. it´s nice.
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.
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.
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.

ok i have to run but now you can see parts of my life here! look forward to more!

semana 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!!

'lily

more pictures!

more pictures of fibi! she is getting to be really playful...

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!

big news

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 !