I know I am in the Peace Corps DR When...

This was written up in our volunteer quarterly magazine and I enjoyed it so I thought I would share. It might be one of those things that you have to be there....but I thought I would give it a try. Of course with some additions I made to personalize it.

1. It rains in my bathroom (well since my letrine isn't actually done yet...I wouldn't know. But I do have two tiny leaks in the tin roof of my house)

2. I spent an hour cleaning ants out of my cereal and then thoroughly enjoyed a bowl. (How about crackers and peanut butter? Who knew that ants could get into a tightly closed peanut butter jar?)

3. Beer isnt considered alcohol-it's more like expensive juice (and you have more of a chance finding cold beer anywhere than you would of finding water. These Dominican's sure know their priorities).

4. The only time all year round I need my jacket is on the super air conditioned bus.

5. People don't know how to draw-not even a stick figure, or a star, or a heart.

6. A mail system is just a convenient system for thiefs to hand select their goods. (There most have been some good stuff in some of those packages, but I wouldnt know since I never got them).

7. Roots are considered "yummy"-and there are lots of types.

8. Elementary school kids go on strike for more desks.

9. The schools are have barbed wire, chain link fences, if you arrive late you have to bribe the gatekeeper to let you in.

10. Traffic laws are more like vague guidelines.

11. Traffic signals are unfortunate in a country with unreliable electricity.

12. Even the poorest of the poor are obsessively hospitable.

13. 7 -year old boys run all my errands for me (and 10 year old girls mop my floors and help me hand wash all my clothes).

14. It only cost 75 bucks to completly rewire my house.

15. I get in trouble when visiting people for not having visited more often.

16. They hang the head of the animal slaughtered at the butcher as a guarentee (hopefully this explains to you all why I don't ever eat meat here-I can't stand to look at the head of the pig that I am going to eat. Or even worse have them ask me which chicken it is that I want to eat for dinner as they run around the yard-yuck).

17. If a kid is only wearing a shirt, beware: they are not potty trained (and if they are visiting your house with parents or siblings make sure that the mop and fabuloso are handy for any accidents).

18. Music can never be too loud.

19. Nobody pays electric bills because they dont recieve good service and they dont recieve good service because nobody pays.

20. Their is nothing wierd about a stranger resting their hand on your knee or shoulder.

21. The United States is referred to as "Nueva Yol" (and in my experience that is only if they have actually put together that New York is part of the US and not its own country).

Update

For all of you that actually check my blog I am terribly sorry that I havn't written sooner. A lot has been going on here, which is why I havn't had a lot of time to use the internet. I came back from my three month training and my host family had finished my house! So the next day I went out and for 500 American dollars I managed to get a bed(not the most comfortable one mind you, but I have convinced myself that a bed is a bed...and maybe they have such thing as foam pads in this country:) a table with chairs, an oven, a fridge and a propane gas tank. I think it was a steal. Although they probably think that I am a sucker. So I moved in, and learned a few lessons about electricity in the process. All my outlets are two prong and the holes are the same size. Well my fridge is a three prong. As I looked on in dread, my host dad tried to convince me that the third prong really isnt necessary and proceeded to cut it off. Amazingly enough he was right and the fridge still works. Who would have thought? Then, some of my chargers have the prongs that are two different sizes. Which obviously dont fit in the holes. After being told several times that I was just not pushing hard enough, and that maybe I just didnt understand how to plug something in, my host dad wised up and bought me an extension cord...with the two different size prongs. Again, my doubt kicked in. But he just filed down the edges of the larger prong and voila-it works! I am not sure how safe my house is electricty wise now, but at least it works.

The other big thing that happened was Hurricane Dean...or I guess I could say not so big thing;) We got called in on Friday and had to be in the capital by 6:00 that night. It was a category 4 by the time it reached here, and it was said that although it was 100 miles south of us, that the arms of the storm were reaching out over 200 miles. Obviously there was a little bit of concern. So they put all the volunteers from this side of the island in the Barcelo hotel in Santo Domingo. Which has a pool, air conditioning, a casino, gym, three meals a day and most importantly hot showers. It was not a hardship. Although Peace Corps kept apologizing that we couldnt leave the hotel and that is was such an inconvience for us. I was just thinking-oh my god, how long do you think I can stay. When they kicked us out yesterday at 3 I was a little devastated (apparently there is such a thing as a dry hurricane and it barely even rained here). I wasnt ready yet to go back to the campo. So I checked myself into a hostal here. I decided that I am easing myslefy back into the campo life since the hostal doesnt have hot water or air conditioning. Hopefully now it wont be such a big shock going back today.

Photos

The pool, and thats the humidity foggy up the photo.
Pool bar during a bout of rainpoor.

The casino at the hotel-a little small. Only had Blackjack, poker, roulette and slots:( But I really shouldn't complain

Hanging out at the Barcelo pool:)
Joe, Stephanie me and Kevin at Pizza Hut

My new house, this is my study.

And my kitchen. Anyone who has a blog have any idea how to turn the photos around? I havnt quite figured that out yet. Sorry

This is the ceramic cook stove that we all built during our three month In- Service -Training. It's supposed to cook cleaner and use less wood. But it also takes about 2 and a half days to build and is a little complicated. I'm thinking I might research the easier to make, and cheaper solar stoves.

More drama occured over this past two weeks...the police came. And I was unlucky enough to be visiting the house they went to. I was visiting this little girl, Dulce, and they came searching for her brother and some of his friends with their big shot guns and pistols. Of course, her mother wasn't there nor was the brother and I was the oldest one. So I just kept telling them "I don't live here and I don't know where he is!" They ended up arresting about 4 people. For robbery, drug dealing and one for murder. Made me feel really safe finding that out. Apparently this guy (not the brother of Dulce) was robbing someone in Villa Mella-nearest big city to me-when something went wrong and someone died. Someone who was related to a police officer. So off he went (the murderer) to the campo-Buenos Aires- to his grandmother's house with the police chasing after him. They got him, which is good for me but bad for him. Cause apparently when the police are pissed here...nobody thinks he will make it a very long time in prison.

What else has happened~I have finally motivated this group of about 5 kids to work for the enviornment. We went collecting trash along the river this past Thursday (and then burned it, but I am thinking one battle at a time:) And of course we had to collect Chinola along the way to make juice, and then it was really hot so we had to jump in. Really I think we all had a great time, and I am hoping they will go with me again this Thursday.

I have also been doing a lot of visiting of the families. Yesterday I visited the Haitian. It was interesting because he will intermix Kreyole and French with his spanish. So basically he talks for awhile and I say si, and then I talk for awhile and then he tells me si. But really I dont think either one of us understands the other. I cant even get the hang of his name, but hey we had a good time. We ate some sugar cane, then he gave me some mangos to eat and he picked me some fruit bread to boil. Don't really know what this fruit bread is, but I am always up for trying new things...as long as it doesnt look to scary and this looks relatively harmless.

Oh, and of course, the really good news is that the concrete floor was poured for my house! Now it only needs paint (pink of course...and I didn't even pick the color) two doors, and electricity. And ya~ all ready to move in! I am thinking right now that it looks like the begining of August. Very exciting!

Cow Thiefs and Watch Dogs

So the new drama in town is the stolen cows. Somebody, and presumably this someone is from my community, is stealing cows and butchering them in the middle of night to sell the best cuts of meat in market. Then they leave the rest of the cow to be found in the morning, which by that time the meat has spoiled and there is nothing that the owner can do. This week we didnt lose any cows, but last week we lost 5. We have no police in town (not that having police is very effective in a country where bribes are very common) and people dont have things like cow insurance. So they are just plum out of luck. It makes for a little bit of a tense situation when cows are some peoples livelihood. My family also has a cow, she is how I get milk every morning. (which by the way, what do they do to milk in the states? Because here it never quite tastes the same, at all) So to keep her safe, and our little calf we have them sleep in our front yard and our scary dog Bolito sleeps next to them. People don't mess with Bolito so I think our cows are safe. But, yesterday the cow was in the yard and her knot to the tree came undone and she started running around like a crazy cow and her calf was freaking out cause the mom was charging people. All the kids were running away, which just made her chase them and I just sat in my little chair in the lawn praying to god that she wouldnt notice me since I wasnt moving. Luckily, Paco came in time to take control of the sitaution. He just kicks the cow when she doesnt want to cooperate so she usually listens to him. And I am still in one piece-she never noticed me!

A Night in the Capital

So last night about 14 of us new volunteers went out for a night on the town:) We went out for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant...and I didn't even complain. Just ordered myself a cheese enchillada that wasn't that bad;) After that we took a van taxi (7 passanger mini-van) and if you have ever wondered if you could fit 14 people in one, well you can. Amazing really.

Next I went with Joe to the Jaragua casino. Really randomly we went there but it was fun. Not very many games to play only craps, roulette, poker and blackjack and then the machines. So I tried my hand in Craps, won and then lost. Then I won in the slots so again I didn't make any money but I didn't lose any either.

After that I went back to my nice air conditioned room, slept in and took a nice hot shower this morning. All in all a great weekend...Until I decided to finally go home and had my cell phone stolen in the Carro Publico of Villa Mella. Urg. Life is never easy.

Living the Life:)

Yesterday I came into the capital for a little R & R time. It think it was long overdue. I got a room at a hostel, checked in, took my second hot shower I have had in country and relaxed. It was great. Amazing though how used to the cold bucket showers and no running water I am becoming. And I think the several hot showers I took yesterday and plan to take today and tomorrow might even hold me over for the next 3 months or so!

My life in my site is going well. I think that every day it gets a little better. I am getting to know everyone and I spend a lot of time with my family and the youth in my community. I am also teaching 3 English classes a week...which are not easy. Imagine teaching a class for something that you have the utmost knowledge but no training or book to guide you in how to teach or where to start. Add that to the fact that my only supplies are a chalk board and chalk. Two of the classes are for the youth and one is for the adults. The adult class is a little better than the youth because they actually listen and participate. The kids spend the whole time talking and I don't know how to get them to pay attention. And its not just me, they are like that in school as well. It is because the students have little to no discipline in class from the time they start kindergarten....well the combination of all that is not adding up to the best English classes. Anyone have some advice? Kendall~more advice for me? Haha.

Some of the fun things I have done in my site which made for some great pictures:) I learned how to wash clothes by hand. Its a great workout for your arms. Mine were sore for a day or so afterwards.

I also made cashews. We tumbled the fruit all down from the trees, picked the seeds off and dried them for about a week. Then we set them on fire in our yard and burned them.

After that you smack them a few times with a rock or board to get the outer shell off and you've got cashews. It was pretty great. The outer blackened shell did dye my fingers black, and I had to use this soap that burned the skin off my fingers....but it was worth it:) Right now the cacao is drying in the sun and hopefully soon I will get to make some chocolate!

I also have been working to create an association of students in my sector (the larger community). This is so that we can support those who go on the University and hopefully solve some of the problems the high schoolers have. There is no HS in my community or for miles around. In order to continue after 8th grade, you either move into the city and live with a relative, or you pay 120 pesos per day to get yourself to and from the HS. Which 120 pesos equals approximately 4 dollars. And if you get hungry too...well its quite pricey for the kids in Sierra Prieta, which is an extremely poor community. If we can form an association, we can solicit the government for a bus to drive them to the school or even better if we have enough kids of that age we can get a High School built. At one of the meetings, we invited the local politicians and a lawyer to help us. That day I got two marriage proposals. And I think they were completely serious too. Yikes these people move fast. And ironic that it was a politician and lawyer that asked...