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It’s hard to believe I’ve been living in the D.R. for about 7 months already and have been here in my site for 4 of those months! Even though the pace of life here is much different, time is really flying.
Mom and dad recently came to visit me and we had a great time. I met them at the airport and it was so great to see them after such a long time. They were immediately met by the warm, balmy tropical temperature (which I think I’ve become much more accustomed to). We hopped in a taxi and they experienced their first ride in crazy, Dominican traffic. It was pretty funny to see their reactions to the traffic, the people, the sickly animals and everything here that I hardly notice anymore. They handled everything very well considering this was their first time visiting a developing country. You never really know how different a developing country is until you go and visit one.
We had a nice time staying in the capitol for a couple days. I felt like a “rich” American again (getting to eat out and take hot showers again was really nice!). We visited the colonial zone, the Peace Corps office and the American Embassy. I was able to show them a lot in a little amount of time. We stayed pretty busy and were usually wiped out in the evenings.
We then headed to the south to stay at my site in Los Blancos for the next few days. We rented a car from the capitol and dad did a very good job driving through the city and down to my site. I was impressed! It was nice to ride in an air-conditioned vehicle again. Dad quickly learned how to drive like a Dominican- basically, whichever way you need to take to keep driving down the road is legitimate to take…rules hardly apply. I’m sure mom was cringing in the backseat most of the time J.
It was fun to show mom and dad around Los Blancos and have them meet everyone here who is apart of my life now. I was always busy translating and keeping the lines of communication flowing between English and Spanish and vice-versa. I introduced them to so many people. I’m sure they were a bit overwhelmed like I was my first time here at my site.
They got to see a local woman make “café de pilon” which is hand-roasted and hand-ground coffee. Mom and dad got to take back a bag of 100% organic, homemade coffee made right here in Los Blancos. Very strong and very good!
We also visited Bahia de Los Aguilas which is the most beautiful, pristine beache I have ever seen. It is completely undeveloped and the only way to get to it is by boat or in an off-roading vehicle. We chose to go the off-roading route and it was quite an adventure. Mom, dad and I (along with the rest of a group from Los Blancos) hopped into the back of a truck and headed out to the beach. The “road” was really bad and on one part we basically drove down the side of a cliff. It was pretty amazing (I’m always amazed when the vehicles here somehow successfully manage to get around).
Bahia de Los Aguilles (Bay of the Eagles) is a huge bay with soft, white sand and turquoise, crystal clear blue water. There are no hotels or developments along the beach. You feel like you are the first person who ever swam there. It was incredible! We had a couple snorkeling masks and so were able to explore and see down the 20-foot deep shoreline.
We did a lot in the short amount of time they were here and mom and dad got to experience everything from sipping pina coladas at a nice resort with a beautiful ocean view to sipping hand-made coffee (cooked over an open fire) inside a palm-covered, wooden shack/Dominican home. These are the types of extremities one experiences in a developing country.
This month I am working on developing several different ideas and potential projects. My friend, Mirkaya, plans to attend the university in Barahona and I am working with her on submitting a grant application to help fund her tuition. I will be her sponsor and send in progress reports to the organization donating the money. Also, I am thinking about beginning a month-long, intensive English workshop for the students I have in my adult class who are the most serious and interested. I would offer the class 3 evenings out of the week and at the end of a month they would take a test and receive a certificate showing how many hours they attended and their grade. I just need to figure out what month would be best for that and where to hold the classes.
During my time here I would also like to start a latrine project. I need to take a census to find out how many homes need a latrine. Then, I’d like to organize a group of Americans (maybe even from my hometown) to come down and stay for about a week and work on constructing the latrines. I need to investigate the process more as I don’t know anything about building latrines.
I also need to be available for the work in the cooperative. They need a design/logo for their coffee sacks and I am working on coming up with a few ideas for them. We also have a meeting this Friday to discuss their accounting and how I can help them with that. With about 4-5 months here with the cooperative, I am still piecing things together. It helps a lot that my comprehension of the language improved but I’m still confused at times as to what they are discussing in some of these meetings.
I really hope to accomplish a lot in these next 2 years. Sometimes I feel like it’s not enough time. One thing that I’ve had to get used to and accept is that progress here is just more difficult than it would be in the States. Working with the limited resources I have is a challenge. If only I could drive around and have access to the internet I’m sure I could be more productive. At the same time, part of being productive in this work is establishing myself in my community. I should see that as one success completed so far. I love being here with these people and they have accepted me as one of them calling me a Dominicana all the time and one of theirs. J The relationships I’ve established here are really special and something that I’ll never lose even after my work here is done, however much or successful that turns out to be. To be continued…
P.S. I just recently got a kitten!!! (named her Bella)
Mom and dad recently came to visit me and we had a great time. I met them at the airport and it was so great to see them after such a long time. They were immediately met by the warm, balmy tropical temperature (which I think I’ve become much more accustomed to). We hopped in a taxi and they experienced their first ride in crazy, Dominican traffic. It was pretty funny to see their reactions to the traffic, the people, the sickly animals and everything here that I hardly notice anymore. They handled everything very well considering this was their first time visiting a developing country. You never really know how different a developing country is until you go and visit one.
We had a nice time staying in the capitol for a couple days. I felt like a “rich” American again (getting to eat out and take hot showers again was really nice!). We visited the colonial zone, the Peace Corps office and the American Embassy. I was able to show them a lot in a little amount of time. We stayed pretty busy and were usually wiped out in the evenings.
We then headed to the south to stay at my site in Los Blancos for the next few days. We rented a car from the capitol and dad did a very good job driving through the city and down to my site. I was impressed! It was nice to ride in an air-conditioned vehicle again. Dad quickly learned how to drive like a Dominican- basically, whichever way you need to take to keep driving down the road is legitimate to take…rules hardly apply. I’m sure mom was cringing in the backseat most of the time J.
It was fun to show mom and dad around Los Blancos and have them meet everyone here who is apart of my life now. I was always busy translating and keeping the lines of communication flowing between English and Spanish and vice-versa. I introduced them to so many people. I’m sure they were a bit overwhelmed like I was my first time here at my site.
They got to see a local woman make “café de pilon” which is hand-roasted and hand-ground coffee. Mom and dad got to take back a bag of 100% organic, homemade coffee made right here in Los Blancos. Very strong and very good!
We also visited Bahia de Los Aguilas which is the most beautiful, pristine beache I have ever seen. It is completely undeveloped and the only way to get to it is by boat or in an off-roading vehicle. We chose to go the off-roading route and it was quite an adventure. Mom, dad and I (along with the rest of a group from Los Blancos) hopped into the back of a truck and headed out to the beach. The “road” was really bad and on one part we basically drove down the side of a cliff. It was pretty amazing (I’m always amazed when the vehicles here somehow successfully manage to get around).
Bahia de Los Aguilles (Bay of the Eagles) is a huge bay with soft, white sand and turquoise, crystal clear blue water. There are no hotels or developments along the beach. You feel like you are the first person who ever swam there. It was incredible! We had a couple snorkeling masks and so were able to explore and see down the 20-foot deep shoreline.
We did a lot in the short amount of time they were here and mom and dad got to experience everything from sipping pina coladas at a nice resort with a beautiful ocean view to sipping hand-made coffee (cooked over an open fire) inside a palm-covered, wooden shack/Dominican home. These are the types of extremities one experiences in a developing country.
This month I am working on developing several different ideas and potential projects. My friend, Mirkaya, plans to attend the university in Barahona and I am working with her on submitting a grant application to help fund her tuition. I will be her sponsor and send in progress reports to the organization donating the money. Also, I am thinking about beginning a month-long, intensive English workshop for the students I have in my adult class who are the most serious and interested. I would offer the class 3 evenings out of the week and at the end of a month they would take a test and receive a certificate showing how many hours they attended and their grade. I just need to figure out what month would be best for that and where to hold the classes.
During my time here I would also like to start a latrine project. I need to take a census to find out how many homes need a latrine. Then, I’d like to organize a group of Americans (maybe even from my hometown) to come down and stay for about a week and work on constructing the latrines. I need to investigate the process more as I don’t know anything about building latrines.
I also need to be available for the work in the cooperative. They need a design/logo for their coffee sacks and I am working on coming up with a few ideas for them. We also have a meeting this Friday to discuss their accounting and how I can help them with that. With about 4-5 months here with the cooperative, I am still piecing things together. It helps a lot that my comprehension of the language improved but I’m still confused at times as to what they are discussing in some of these meetings.
I really hope to accomplish a lot in these next 2 years. Sometimes I feel like it’s not enough time. One thing that I’ve had to get used to and accept is that progress here is just more difficult than it would be in the States. Working with the limited resources I have is a challenge. If only I could drive around and have access to the internet I’m sure I could be more productive. At the same time, part of being productive in this work is establishing myself in my community. I should see that as one success completed so far. I love being here with these people and they have accepted me as one of them calling me a Dominicana all the time and one of theirs. J The relationships I’ve established here are really special and something that I’ll never lose even after my work here is done, however much or successful that turns out to be. To be continued…
P.S. I just recently got a kitten!!! (named her Bella)
2 comments:
Hi Laura - You did a great job telling of our visit with you already now 2 weeks ago. Time sure does fly! We had such a good time and above all it was SO great to see you and get to know the people you are living around and serving as a PCV. We are really proud of you. You will make a tremendous impact on their lives in ways you won't even know. Looking forward to talking with you on the phone and seeing you in June! Love, MOM
Hey Laura! I'm about to leave you a message about the project I had mentioned--I now have more details, I'll send an email--but I wanted to catch up on your posts first. Reading about what you're up to makes me miss it so much! I'm sorry I've been out-of-touch this year, but I really do think about you all the time. Looks like you're due for another blog post soon, eh? Please send my love to everyone on Los Blancos and the area. Expect an email soon! Love your friend, Melissa
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