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. 

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…

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 80^th 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.