Thursday, December 13, 2012

2012 Lists

Alana- (I know you follow this and I felt like I needed to say this out loud... so this is for you) I miss you so much Alana!!!  I live my life in my head repeating words that I want to say and wanted to say and will say over and over.  Its like a constant conversation between me, myself, and I. Sometimes its interrupted my reality where I often say the exact opposite of what I want to say so that I know for sure how people will react.  This past year has been the most jumbled up stream of conversation and reality of my life.  Not only is it in Spanglish cause I suck at Spanish but Dominican culture never fails to surprise me.  This makes me think of you Alana of course because you are just neurotic enough to understand how that feels and it makes me love you even more and I'm sure it makes you love me even more.

Ok... so there are other things that have happened in the past year that I have yet to write about because I'm a pretty bad blogger but let me por lo menos write a semi-end of the year blog to share my thoughts and experiences with family and friends. Those of you who know me the best will know that I like lists so I'm going to break this into a number of lists cause it's how my brain focuses...

List 1- Things I accomplished and take pride in for 2012!!
1-I learned spanish!!! I maybe never be the best at it but I understand it and people understand me and that is freaking amazing!
2- I started an environmental youth group and my kids are awesome.
3- I became a pc volunteer, I have lived in the DR for 8 months now and have yet to give up.
4-I have jumped off of a waterfall, I've also jumped off of rocks into natural springs (I do now think I'm scared of heights thou)
5-I've lost 35lbs, and I'm not sickly
6- I'm proud of my work with my women's group (we've mostly just done fundraising, but I think we've bonded and they've learned some things from me... maybe)
7-I have been taking a cake decorating class- I do this to encourage my women to take it but I am also pretty excited to take home and eat a piece of cake every monday.
8-I'm scuba certified
9-I hiked in DR :)
10-I feel like I've made myself a dominican family and group of friends
11-I have cooked arroz con leche and habichulas con dulce (not that I'd be able to do it again)
12-I made a solar oven (it works but i made it late in the year so I haven't had much opportunity to cook with it)
13-I've learned how to travel in the DR on public transport (this I think makes me brave and crazy)
14- This is the longest I've lived on my own and away from home in my life
15- I got a dog

List 2- Things I've missed in 2012.
1- My family!!!! I can't even say how much I've missed my family it makes me want to cry thinking about it and the little things that I've missed in their lives and I haven't been able to share about my life with them.
2- My friends.  I've know for a long time that whatever kind of god there is or power in the universe likes me cause I've been blessed with the best family and friends.  I've missed my pw friends even though from the sounds of it we have scattered throughout the world.  I've missed my eip and gmu crew, when I come home we are all going out to Thai food and $3 movies, and I want to play soccer  (which ends up with me laying in a grassy field with kim and feiven watching clouds in the sky and talking ).  I've missed my bike/hikes with jessica.
3-My bed (my bed was freaking amazing back home (my parents told me in september that they got rid of it and bought me a new one... I don't even know what to say to that.
4-The 2012 elections... This makes it two presidential elections I've been out of the country for... the only two that I've been legally eligible to vote in too.
5- Lots of birthdays... I'm sorry I'm so bad at remembering too!

List 3- Not so good things in 2012
1- I saw a car accident and it really freaked me out (the month of July had way too many funerals in my town it was just depressing)
2- Dominican food- not that it's horrible by any means but it's not really my slice of cake.  Dominican food like any other cultural thing has some really great things that should be cherished but they do not include the use of sopita, salt, parts of the chicken or cow that include the feet... or any of the things that have made me sick.... On the other hand I have gotten over my disgust of cabbage because it's the main part of salad here.
3-Machismo- bad dominican come-ons, the idea that I should have babies and a husband by now, paripos (this goes along with come-ons but it's basically the things men yell out in the streets)
4- I have felt more awkward this year of my life than I have since I was in elementary school.
5-I had the best and I mean best donias in training, especially in cbt in santiago-she made me feel like part of her family and she cooked really great and was so sweet, the only reason this is not so good is cause I feel really guilty for not keeping in touch with her and that makes me a bad person.
6- Chisme (this is the spanish word for gossip)  I hate the gossip that goes on in my town and in my women's group... I don't know how to navigate it.
7- Sometimes I feel inadequate to do my project... this stems mostly out of not knowing really what my project is half the time... and the fact that I've yet to apply for any grants... I guess that's normal for some at my stage and very unnormal for others... but I try.

2012 has been a super long and interesting to the least year.  I'm happy the world didn't end on the 12 of December and that my family is coming on the 22nd... so I hope it doesn't end that day either.  I hope next year is as interesting as this year but maybe a little easier but with the hard things often come the greatest and most lasting memories

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Sept flew by and here's october

I'm living on my own now :)... I'm pretty sure I'm getting the pc soft experience because I would live in my apartment here in the states if I could...  I have a two bedroom apartment with an indoor bathroom... a real kitchen and tiled (not cement) floors.  Sure it smells a little (there's wetlands behind my house), there's still lots of bugs, and I don't have a fan yet so it's burning up at night...but it's lovely and I'm ready for visitors!!

I got my scuba diving certification last month, and I'm really excited to continue diving in the next two years (in money allows)...  While I was diving I saw an octopus, 3 manta-rays, and lots of other really cool fish.

In my community I'm been doing english classes 3x a week, and a Brigada Verde youth group once a week. I'm still working with my women's group trying to figure out exactly what we're doing... Hopefully soon we'll plan another clean up because the roads are getting a little dirty.

Commentary on Dominican cuisine... they sell juice packets (fruit punch) that come with oatmeal in them... I actually kind of like it... it's a different texture.

Friday, September 14, 2012

More lists



So how is my life… It’s been kind of simple and a little bit difficult.  I’m pretty sure I’m at one of the pretties sites in the country or in the pc world.  My site is on the ocean and it’s mad pretty with views of the national park del Este.  There are a number of beaches but only two that people swim at, playa blanca (which is on the other side of the river in the town over), and Hoyo Sumbador (which is just a sweet swimming hole).  For the first four months I was rather confused about my assignment or purpose… Eventually after visiting other volunteers and going to IST I’ve realized that the majority of the volunteers in my group are in similar positions and that it’s just part of the “process”.  Since then I’ve started doing small projects.  I’ve started an English class that is currently running 3xs a week, and I’m on my second Brigada Verde club and this one looks like it might stick.  I’m going to my women’s group meetings every wed, currently we’re trying to raise funds to replace the roof and put electricity in our building.  I've decided to try to run a Construye su Suenos course with my women to help develop business skills so that we will be able to start a business.  

Things that have driven me a little crazy in the past few months
1) All forms of travel... it's just scary and once I saw  that accident coming back from Mini-vac I've been nervous about the whole thing
2)Dominican Come-ons-  I thought I was going to excape the majority of the come-ons that the other girls were getting because I'm not super white and I don't look exceptionally foreign... but about a month ago they really started to set in and I get told (in that you know you want it to be me way) that I need a husband/boyfriend here to keep me company at night and make sure I'm not cold (as if that could even happen). Or asked if I have children or a husband and then lots of insisting that now is the time to acquire them.  
3) The fact that I have been able to find a place to call me own... Not that I don't love my dona and feel mad lucky to be in the house I'm in... but I want to live in my own space...and cook my own food
4) Ohh when I say a word in spanish and they don't understand it but then when i explain the word they say the exact same word!  

Things I'm happy I've done....
Jumped off a waterfall
Swam in natural spring
Swam in tons of beaches
learned spanish
there's way more but I really must go

Monday, July 30, 2012

5 months and counting

ok so I haven't written in quite a long time...since I've written... so where am I now... I've been in this country for 5 months and Now I'm starting to understand almost everything I hear in spanish and starting to speak and think I know what I'm saying... whether or not they understand what I'm saying is a different thing....

So what is my project... Not exactly sure yet, but I'm going to explain what I think it could be...
Recycling- I want to start a recycling program in my site to deal with the plastic trash...
English classes-  I want to start english classes, because people who want to work in tourism (they have a much higher chance of getting a job if they can speak english)
Brigada Verde- A club for kids to learn about the environment.
Cleaning- the river and the cave of Bernard, the two main tourist attractions
A Federation of the different associations of boca de yuma to help people to push for more development and get help from their family abroad.
Work to develop to some sort of business with my women's association... we'll see how that goes...

Friday, June 15, 2012

25th Birthday

Today I turn 25 years old... that´s a quarter of a century... I´m not going to lie yesterday I had a little meltdown thinking about my life and where I am and where I could or should be....  I´ve been here for 3 and a half months now...  I´d say my spanish is still pretty intermediate and my english is probably a little be more confused than normal.  I have about 100 bug bites on my legs and a small invasion of ants going on in my bathroom.   My host family is really nice, they own 3 seafood restuarants and work super hard.  I´m pretty sure my main project here will be working on improving the trash situation in the town and in the river... I´m not exactly sure where all the trash from the beach comes from at this point but it´s definitely a combination problem that if not resolved with impact the communities potential to develop anysort of ecotourism project which is the ultimate goal.  My town is really nicely located just outside the national park del East, it has a pretty river, one beach accross the river, and and smaller beach on this side which is kind of isolated from the coast by rocks which make it kind of a inland pool.  We also have caves and I´m pretty sure there is coral to be visited.  Its kind of like the tourist town that got forgotten by time and needs some touch ups.  I´m pretty sure we´re in a drought because it hasn´t really rained since I´ve been here and this is the rainy season... and they say climate change is a hoax...

Sunday, May 6, 2012

My first Site Visit

This weekend I visited my site I think for security reasons we´re not supposed to put the name of our sites oup in a blog... My host family is really nice, they have two little girls and the own two restuarants in the town... I´m pretty sure there is a good chance that I might gain back all the weight I´ve lost since I´ve been here if I eat everything they give me... On the other hand I think I´m going to be doing a lot more walking so that´ll help... .

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Farewell La Cumbre, Hello new Home

Saturday we left La Cumbre (which made me and my dona cry)  and got back to Santo Domingo  which has made me itch a lot more because the mosquitoes started to swarm.   Saturday I went to la cerena and bought some supplies (yoga mat and sangria)  and hung out with the other volunteers.  Then Sundayy we went to a big book fair in the city and then to the ruins of San Fransico to see a live marengue band and chill out.  This weekend was the most relaxed couple of days I've had in country...
Last night I went to bed around 9 pm... to the sound of the Colmado across the street and rain against my zinc roof... I woke up at 11:45 pm to the sound of the Colmado and the feeling of a wet spot in my bed where I guess I have a hole in my roof right above my bed... I thought about getting up and telling my dona, or putting my raincoat over my mosquitero to block the rain... but instead I just rolled over at went back to sleep.... Today was our first day back in the training center in Pantoja... I got to weigh myself ... and I've lost about 14 llbs since I've been here... and I'm one of the lucky volunteers who has yet to be sick :)... hopefully I don't jinxes myself because I'm going to a new home tomorrow.
So for the past two weeks I've been super anxious and nervous to find out where I'm going to be living for the next two years. Today I found out!!!  I´m going to be living  in the province of Altagracias.  It's a small town of about 2000 ppl by the beach in the eastern part of the country.  I'm going to be working with a womens group doing environmental education and doing some work with the fishermen because they have over-fished their fisheries.... I'm super excited and still very nervous... Tomorrow we'll come in at 7am and go to a place where we will meet our key community contact... this was described by my trainer Tim as the "best blind date ever, because no matter what you know you're going home with them..."  Idk how I feel about that... but I guess I'll see tomorrow.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Joys of La Cumbre

This past week has been pretty good, besides the fact that they closed down the internet cafe in la cumbre... so it´s a 45 minute walk to the next one.  I made my dona french toast monday... which I´m not sure she liked because she only ate one piece... but she did buy more vinilla so I could make it again wednesday.  I´ve kept up the walking in the morning which is probably the best part of my day because it´s very relaxing and gives me some exercise. My dona made some sort of past alfredo the other day which was pretty good.  This last week all of the spanish goups made a stove.... it was really interesting... Next week we´re going to be doing presentations in the local schools for earth day.  We have three more weeks left in la cumbre before we head back to Santo Domingo and get our assignments.  Its making me insanely nervous, the whole not knowing and then only have like a week of knowing before your there. 

Thursday was the first day I offered to do the dishes for my dona... I started doing them and one slipped out of my hand and broke another one and itself...  I had a little ohh shit moment in my head before I told my dona... but once I told her she was really sweet about it and told me about how when her daughter was young she would do the dishes and when she would break one she would throw it out the window into the back of the house... One day my Dona walked back behind the house and found like 10 broken dishes...
 

In other notes I know that I´m about to miss some birthdays... if I haven´t already... so... Happy Birthday Feiven, Alana, and Jeffy!  I miss you all and I hope all is going well. 

Saturday, April 7, 2012

La Cumbre


La Cumbre…

I don’t really remember what I wrote about last time but I think I should try to explain my host family in La Cumbre a little more… and the types of stuff I’ve learned here.   Since I’ve been we’ve done a community diagnostic…. Which helped us get to know the community a lot better and the types of resources it has and doesn’t have…  I’m getting more and more used to the beans and rice… it helps a little that my dona likes rice and peas more… which is the same basic thing but I like it better too.  She figured out that I wasn’t terrible fond of the boiled green bananas that they eat every day, and that I love their fried plantinos and bananas… so I get them with lunch and dinner.  I kind of which I could eat more of the green boiled bananas because I’m trying to develop a taste for them.  For breakfast I usually get crackers, juice, and coffee.  The juice is always fresh, and I think my favorite is Cantaloupe juice.  Lunch is the biggest meal and for lunch I get rice, beans, salad, and fried/boiled Plantinos and a little coffee.  Then for dinner I get something smaller like a plate of cut up salami, or cheese and potatoes.  Yesterday I got fried cheese, which was tasty (but probably not the best for me).    All last week I got up at 5:55 to go running/walking down the mountain with my dona… the hard part is coming back up.   I now have two other volunteers coming with some of the days so we have a little cohort of runners.  I’m pretty sure it makes the rest of my day better.

This week was Semana Santo so it was very active here with celebrations and I’ve spent a lot of time with my dona’s family.   We also started to learn how to make stoves which I think is what a majority of our projects will be.  I’m not sure what I think of that yet… the stove model they’re teaching us now is only about a year old, and is still kind of being tested out.  Also I’m not so sure about the sustainability of the project since while we can train people in our community to make them, they won’t be able to afford to get the internal parts once their volunteer is gone.  Hopefully our group will help to work our some of the kinks.  Also this week we started our gardening project by doing the French double dig method in a garden bed.  This involves removing the first three layers of earth.  Putting the top layer of debri on the bottom and the putting the middle lay back and then the top soil back where it started.  I guess this helps to aerate the soil and create a thicker layer of topsoil.  

The closed down the internet cafĂ© in La Cumbre… so I don’t really know how often I’ll be able to post anything…

Monday, March 19, 2012

Volunteer site visit


3.19.12
This weekend I went to Las Charcas which is a small down next to San Juan de Miguana in the South Eastern part of the Country.  I went to visit another volunteer in the Environmental section so I could see what the life of a Volunteer is like.  My volunteers name was Erin and she has been working on installing a new kind of cook stove in her community.  She’s faced a lot of difficulties with her community and her different project partners but she seems like she might be more optimistic about the project that she was just a few months ago.  She lives in a three room casa (well only two rooms are useable) with an outdoor latrine. The first day I was there we went grocery shopping in the pueblo and took motoconchos about 30 minutes to her campo.   We rode past rice fields, and other small fields.  She made me a quesadilla for dinner, which was awesome.  The second day we walked around the town and she introduced me to her neighbors and we did a brief community meeting on trash and the different types of trash…. This community has no access to trash services so they tend to either litter their trash or burn it.  Many people showed up to learn about different options. 
On the third day Erin let me ride her work horse (which she bought to help with her work).  Then we worked with her Brigada Verde club (kind of like boy scouts) to transplant some plants she had been growing into a garden bed and build a fence around them so that the chickens and sheep would not destroy them.  Finally she showed me how to use the mini stove she had to bake in a special pot.  We made banana bread.  By the way I learned a lot about the banana plant… for instance banana plants grow for about a year and then fruit and then they sprout little baby plants out of the roots (I think) and they don’t bloom or bear fruit again so the people just cut them down.   The structure of a banana plant is really interesting and is kind of more like a flower to me than a tree. 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Transportation

The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of the Peace Corps or the United States Government.


My experiences with transportation in the DR…so far…  I am by no means and expert, and from what I can tell the people in DR know what they’re doing most of the time when they’re driving,  on the other hand it is very different from the standard of driving the US.  Also I think sometimes they’re messing with us because they know where foreigners…  Things to know if you decide to visit… They cars are not going to stop for you, when they honk that means get out of the way now…  caminamos como perros…  Cobradors de Guagua (mini old bus) are always going to tell you that you’re going their way, even when you're not… 
First on Sunday we went to the City for a tour, which didn’t work out too well because it rained on us… and our tour guide was a low talker so you could only hear him if you were right next to him.  Anyhow on the way back some other volunteers and I got into a Carro Publico (Like a taxi, but with 7 people instead of one… same size thou… and no seatbelts) after negotiating the destination with the driver and his kid (10years old) got into the driver’s seat and proceeded to pull away from the curb… I’m guessing you’ve never seen people jump out of a car faster…
Then today we got on a guagua to go towards the city, and it was pretty empty which we thought was good, but might have actually been a sign… This guagua was probably 4 years past its due date, the transmission sounded horrible and I’m pretty sure the brakes were shot… Anyhow we hit a truck while entering the highway and the Cobrador proceed to get off and put part of the bumper back on and drive away… I think we almost hit like five other cars a well.
Reminder… These are just the bad experiences… there were other good ones too… Today I get a helmet and get to practice riding on a motoconcho… motorbike… because Thursday I’m going to visit another volunteer by myself and have to take a motoconcho…

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Arrival


3.1.12
Yesterday I arrived in the Dominican Republic (DR) around 3pm… We went straight from the airport to a retreat in Santo Domingo.  In the evening we were given our first shots, and went filled out a lot more paperwork… We also got sized for our helmets (the DR is one of the last countries where the volunteers are allowed to ride on motorbikes).  We’re not allowed to ride on motorbikes until we leave Santo Domingo… and I’m really thankful for that because I don’t like what I see of it in this city.
Today was my first full day in the DR.  After breakfast we were taken to the Peace Corps (PC) training center where we were given a third orientation, where they gave us a schedule for our training.  In the afternoon we were given a brief training in DR culture and a survival language class where they tried to tell us everything that we needed to know how to say in 1 hour… Finally we were tested in our Spanish abilities so they could determine what our language capabilities were. 
Finally we were introduced to our host family.  My Donia’s name is Romula.  She is around 70 years old and is a grandmother.  She seems really nice and lives with her granddaughter Laura and Son.  My room is very nice but I’m going to have to get used to all the noise… There is a comaldo (store) across the street that plays very loud music.  I’m really nervous… but very excited to get started J
My Donia told me that on Saturday I’m going to go with her to San Francisco (a city two hours north of Santo Domingo) for her sister’s 80th B-Day.
3.2.12
Today I woke up a little late so I had to take a carro publico with my Donia…In training we covered the basics of first aid and public transportation. Cobre me- means I pay you and Dejame- means leave me here... Cambios por favor - means that I need change, but you’re not supposed to ask for it right away because it kind of implies that he wasn’t going to give it to you…
After work I played cards with Laura.  I taught her house to play speed (rapido) and war (Guerra) and she taught me a few games and Dominos. 
3.3.12
Today I got up at 5:45 so I could go to San Francisco.  We left at 7am in a taxi for the Bus Station, where we met more of my Donia’s family.  I guess she has a Brother and sister in Santo Domingo.  On the bus there were lots of ppl trying to see candy and leche con chocolate. 
We traveled through lots of mountains and farms (I think they were rice farms)… When we got there it was a lot nicer than I expected.  There were lots of tables set up really nicely and there was a huge cake (looked like it was bigger than the cake I might have at my wedding some day…).  The first thing we did was go to church for a service in honor of my donia’s sister.  Then we came back and it was happy hour… everything was catered…  after we ate I sat outside with the kids for a while.  It was nice because there were two girls that had lived in the US with their parents so they spoke a little English…
On the way back we took guaguas (a cheaper bus) I think.  It was very crowded, and I never thought you could fit so many people in one bus.  The bus driver was good, but he made me nervous.  I guess instead of slowing down here, the driver just honks most of the time.   It’s up to the people to get out of the way. 
When I got home I tried to teach my Laura how to play soduko but I don’t think she liked it. 
3.4.12
Hoy es Domingo! Today I went to church at 7 am.  It was nice to meet all the people and I tried to understand the service.  After lunch my donia made me a grilled cheese sandwich with coffee.  Then Brendon and Barbara came and we went on a walk.  We went to a mini marcardo  and checked it out.  When I came back it was lunch time and my donia made carne, with some veggies and beans.  After lunch I got to meet Laura’s father (who works in a different city).  I think he only comes on Sunday.    In the evening my donia and I shared stories about animals…
3.5.12
Hoy es lunes!  Today was the first day of my language training.  I’m a 3 on the scale from 1-10. 
After language training we learned about water and all the things that come with it… diarrhea… malaria, and all the other things that make us sick…
3.6.12
I think I’m starting to really learn a lot more Spanish… When I think now, even in English the words kind of appear to me in Spanish too.  Sometimes I think of them in Spanish first.   
Today was our first day of technical training, and we started out with some icebreakers.  And a brief breakdown of the environmental state of the DR. 
After lunch we had a training on Mochismo in the DR… it was very interesting.  Then we had more Spanish training and finally we had a training in how to dance the merengue and a few other dances.    

Monday, February 27, 2012

Farewell to Family and Friends

I go to staging tomorrow...It's insane how quickly days go by when as you get closer to your goal... and how slowly they seemed to be going by this last year...
Saturday I had a going away party.  It was amazing and it really meant a lot to be to be able to say good bye to everyone, and have one last shin dig...
Today I finished packing and took care of some last minute things... like my absentee ballot info  (goodness knows I don't want to be part of the reason Romney gets into office...)  I also went out to dinner with my family... It was a little emotional, my mom has been crying all day.  I've also been kind of overwhelmed with emotions.  I'm extremely excited, really scared, nervous, happy, and anxious all at the same time.  I know I'm really going to miss everyone, I always do.

I've been truly blessed with amazing family and friends.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Intro to me

Personal info:
My name is Kristie Jacobs and I'm 24 years old.  I'm writing this blog to help document my Peace Corps experience in the Dominican Republic.  I was nominated to do environmental development work.  I'm set to leave of February 28, which is in 8 days.  I'm really excited and nervous.  So to get started I guess I'll list some things I'm going to miss while I'm away...

  • My family...winding down after work with my parents and brother...
  • Evenings with my friends...Chilling with Feiven and Travis in Fairfax... Getting Mexican food with Jon and Jessica... I already miss Alana!  I'm going miss so many more friends.
  • Baby... my dog
  • Being able to take hot showers... I have the feeling I'm going to miss that.
I'm sure I'm going to miss a lot more, but the things I always miss the most when I'm away from home are my friends and family.