Un Viaje al Este

This weekend I went to visit another volunteer in the East Region of the Country. After all the training descriptions of how volunteer service will be, it was very useful to see and experience the way it actually is. Over the course of the weekend, I met 5 volunteers who live and work in 3 communities: 2 pueblos and 1 campo. They work on projects in Economic Development, Environmental Ed, and Special Education. I went to a meeting of a Brigada Verde group (environmental youth group) to see how things are run. I met some members of a Guiding Association for one of the National Parks. I listened to people talk about their primary projects and secondary projects. It was amazing how each person had a totally unique situation, despite similar project descriptions and similar location. I talked to a couple of project partners. That was exciting, since the project partner is the person who works the most closely with a volunteer, at least initially. The men I met seemed supportive and enthusiastic, which was reassuring. Best of all, I successfully communicated with various Dominicans of different ages and backgrounds. There is hope for me, even if my Doña still doesn't understand that I don't like sugar in my coffee. Additionally, I successfully got myself to the campo and back. By myself the first time, and with a fellow Aspirante the second. Since transportation in the DR is not the easiest for a notably white foreigner to navigate, this is a point of pride. I will not fail while on my own in this country.

The East is a well connected region, everyone who I visited had electricity and water most of the time. This made it one of the better places to get sick the first time, or at least one of the more comfortable. However, I recovered from my 12 hour illness in time to participate in a PC visit to a beautiful beach. The sand was white, soft and clean, the water was clear, tuquoise and warm, and there was even a reef farther out for the more adventurous among us. One of the volunteers also pointed out the cacao tree, heavy with yellow pods that are currently ripening. Inside is a sweet, fruity pulp, and the true commodity, the beans. However, they have to be dried, or even better, fermented, before they are ready for processing.

Now I am back at the home base for one more week before we go off into the mountains for technical training. However, it's Semana Santa, or Easter week, and I look forward to experiencing the Dominican traditions for this holiday.

Hasta Luego.

El Empiezo Dominicano, A more complete update

On Thursday, at 3:30 am, 36 of the 37 original trainees in my staging group met in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel in Washington DC.  After being issued our new Peace Corps Passports, complete with Dominican visas, we boarded a plane to Miami and then another one to Santo Domingo.  Being the star sleeper I am, I dozed through both flights.  The country director and his assistant had special security passes that allowed them to greet each of us as soon as we got out of the gate (even before we got to immigration).  From the airport, the PC staff whisked us through the sun, heat, and humidity to a ìretreatî. There they gave us our first briefing, malaria profilaxis, and the first part of our rabies vaccine. They also presented us with our first challenge as PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees): mosquito nets.  The vile taste of the anti-malarial was nothing compared to the frustration of setting up our mosquito nets on a few hours of airplane sleep.  We were all in bed by 9 pm.

 

Training:

In the morning, we were brought to the PC training center by more tiny (but air conditioned) vans.  This training center and the surrounding neighborhoods have been my (and the other aspirantes’) stomping grounds thus far.   Training is run on a very intensive schedule. A few times a week, we receive briefings regarding what to expect regarding PC policy, medical stuff, and a safety lectures, and Dominican culture, history, politics, etc.  These lectures are combined with 2-4 hours of language class per day, which at my level also involve cultural assimilation activities, such as fieldtrips to the supermarket and guidance on how to take public transportation in Santo Domingo and the rest of the country.  These activities are peppered with classes on Development Theory, dinámicas (icebreakers), and technical information relating to our project (in my case, Environmental Development).   We eat a delicious lunch daily, complete with the juice of chinola (passionfruit), lechoza (papaya) piña, or lemondade.  All of which are just as fantastic as the fruit itself.  For fruit lovers, it should be noted that pineapple and papaya are in season, as is avocado, and we’ve had quite a bit of these normally expensive tropical fruits. 

 

La Familia:

Dominican Spanish isn’t really like any accent I’m used to, but at least I can communicate with my host family beyond the basics.  My doña lives close to the training center, and I have a 15 year old hermana to spice things up. My host-hermanos are older and live separately- one with his wife and kids.   My host father taught me Dominos (a favorite Dominican game) and I have watched TV of various sorts with most family members.  My doña owns and runs the neighborhood Colmado, or convenience store.   I pass a lot of time sitting on the patio, reading the newspaper, and talking to the people who come to make purchases.  So far, it has been a good way to socialize with my family and meet my neighbors.

 

 

 

I am alive

Hello from La Republica Dominicana, people. I had a couple of posts all typed out but the wifi se fue (went away) before I could post. So I will have to make do with this.

I feel as though I am in a time warp. It is as though I have been here for months rather than just under 2 weeks. I have become acclimated to temperatures in the 80s, medium humidity, and almost guaranteed sunshine. There are frequent afternoon downpours, which keeps things green and the flowers and fruits blooming. There are many huge and beautiful bouganvillas, plants that bear passionfruit, papaya, mango and coconut, and of course many varieties of plantain and banana. My doña, Posada, bought me a large sack of guavas, which I am enjoying immensely, now that I have stopped eating the bitter skin. (My host brother delighted in enlightening me.)

Right now we are mainly training in Language and PC policy, as well as Dominican cultural assimilation. The Dominican accent is both very different and very similar to the Andalucian accent, but I´m communicating sufficiently and learning some slang. The people are all quite friendly, open, and willing to talk to me. Baseball is the national religion, practicially (they even postponed carnival for it) so I can talk to people about something. I´ve also learned to dance the bachata, which is the national dance, and a useful social skill. I hope it helps me in my community.

This Thursday, I am off to the other side of the country to visit another environmental volunteer and see how he works with his community. It should be a good opportunity to a) get out of the capital and see some other stuff and b) test my solo skills and c) see a volunteer in action. I´m excited.

Maybe I´ll be able to post those other entries before I leave, but if not, I´ll definitely write about the trip.

Hasta luego.