Saturdays are the New Long Run Days... centipedes, run, and laundry... gross but productive day...

 Today is mostly going to be a photo blog...
So today I had planned on getting up at 6 AM and running until 8... I slept in until 7:30 and ran from 8-10ish...While I was getting dressed I got surprised by this little guy on my pants... I proceeded to kill him.  I'm sorry I don't usually like to kill bugs, but when they break my bubble things change...
 and no I did not wear those pants afterwards...


The run did get off to a good start and I will show some photos of happier things now...

 This is the view of the ocean from about 100 ft from my house.

 Archer says hurry up mom!!
Also the just paved this part of the road :)









If you look closely you will see some interesting birds that Archer loves to terrorize on the reg...

In between this photo and the next there was a dead horse on the trail... I thought it best not to put a photo of a dead horse on this blog...









...And we go further


                   It rained a little...






 This is the swimming hole that I should be swimming in more often!


After I ran today I decided that anytime there is a centipede in the clothes it's time to do laundry so I spent the rest of the day cleaning and doing laundry...
Today I ate a banana pre-run, a Cliff protein bar during the run, and a smoothie and coffee while doing the laundry.... I made chili for dinner... This chili was amazing and cost me $200 RD but it will last me at least 2 days :)  Ohh and that fruit is papaya... Interesting note about papaya, I had never tried it before coming to this country... upon tasting it the first time I thought it tasted like puke... but if you ease it into your diet with smoothies one can develop quite a taste for it...DON'T think of puke when you try it for the first time!

Mosquitoes

Ok, I get it... the underlying theme of this blog is really about how much I hate mosquitoes.  It just goes to show how much I think about them on a daily basis.  For instance recently I've been thinking of how I could do a comparison of blood loss during all of the times I've donated blood in my life... every 4-6 months from the ages of 19-24... to the amount of blood stolen from me by mosquitoes in this country.  I mean really I kill at least 3-6 a day, but I get bit about 3x an hour during the day double that at night.  Those are conservative estimates... Also I think if I going to go into biology (which I hate) I would try to develop a mosquito virus to kill all mosquitoes... this would inevitably backfire and lead to zombies (I know I should not be a biologist). On that note, life does go on in this mosquito filled world...

Today I was rather lazy. I probably ran about 1.5 miles and walked a lot.  I went to la Romana to get my secret santa gift for the Women's Association christmas party, and picked up a few gifts for some special people back home :)  On my way I tried to read more of the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  Which is an interesting enough book most of the time, however like most self-help type books I think I would get just as much out of it if it were 50 pages, as opposed to 358 pages... I hate the feeling of reading the same thing repeated 10 times, just to fill some space. On the other hand it is interesting to look at development work through the perspective of the core paradigm shifts he discusses.  All too often we try to improve our lives through an outside in perspective (changing our environment, and expecting a real change in our live)  as opposed to focusing on changing from the inside out (focusing on improving ourselves and habits to change our lives).  And then come the development workers... and that whole dependent, independent, and interdependent thing comes into play... and I won't bore you by going into it.
After the trip I went and traded more books with kids and ended up playing card games until it was dark and the mosquitoes made me go home...
Today's diet- papaya & banana smoothie & coffee in the morning, grapefruit for dessert
Today's diet failure- I was hungry on the way to la Romana and I bought a slice of pizza $50Rd (it was the worst looking pizza I've ever eaten but I conquered it of course...) and then I was hungry on the way home so I bought a chicken and corn empanada and my favorite empanada place $50 + $20 RD coke (so delicious, and worth it).  Finally I was relatively cheap and fried a platano to make toastones drenched in tabasco sauce and ketchup, ~$20RD + $10 Rd grapefruit... so all in all I spent about $180RD  which is $4.50 US :(

Day 6 of 12 day count down until Alana arrives!

It has been cooler these days... ~70*, which has it's benefits, I don't start sweating just walking down the road or even just sitting in my chair,  I can sleep at night if the lights go out and I don't have a fan pointed at me, when I wear jeans I don't feel like I'm suffocating my legs.  On the other hand, taking cold showers, which in the summer can be surprisingly pleasant, is dreadful, it's also not cold enough to kill all the extra mosquitoes that have come to life with all the rain.  Well with the change of weather I get to see how little water I need to shower, as I boil a small pot on the stove and mix it with 3/4 of a pitcher, when the warm water runs out I am done...

Today I went on a 2 mile run/walk... mostly walk... During which I had an inspiring idea for a side project I want to do next year during my free time... Mostly walking around and taking photos of the oldest and most interesting houses/buildings in the East, and interviewing some of the oldest and most interesting people.... We'll see if I can keep the motivation up.  I think I'm going to start with my town... and just try to do a small spotlight/tourist booklet on my town.  I love my runs :)

Then I spent the rest of the morning studying for GRE and preping to make Christmas cards with the kindergarten.
We made Christmas cards for their moms... and the organization in this photo speaks to the total organization in the classroom during the project... however it was pretty fun :)

Today's diet:
1 smoothie, 1 coffee
left over rice, and chinola juice
1pan dulce- $5, 1 kola real -$10
1 more pan dulce $5
Then for dinner I at 2 breads-$10 and $25 in cheese and a banana... so all in all I spent about $65 on food plus ~$40 on food I already owned... so pretty close.  Still so much bread!  but it tasted so good.

Also, the world lost a great man today. When I read about Nelson Mandela's passing I started crying.  His life is an inspiration in an often confusing and overwhelming world.

Dogs love to bark

Today I was woken up at 6:30 by Sirens...  No there are no fire men in my town... but these guys had come from the town over at 6.30 AM because a light/ electrical post had caught on fire... just another way to be woken up these days.

So today I did not go for my typical run, instead I did yoga.  Then I spent the majority of the day making christmas presents for people I hope to see soon :)  And answering emails.  Now I have to admit that I have always been a slacker... especially in HS.  However as I listened to an NPR Health podcast about how stressed High Schoolers are these days, I really just did not have any sympathy.  There is no reason a kid needs to be taking 4 Honors classes in HS... and if you want to do that to yourself or your parents are telling you to do that, than you're a darn fool (or you're parents are...).  It's high school, get over yourselves and relax a little.
Archer had  a visit from his bff Toby today... Toby tends to come when Acher is barking super loud at other dogs running by... Toby comes and tries to calm him down, or eat his food.  It's adorable.

Today I didn't have my typical smoothie... as the electricity was out due to a fire on the pole... I had yogurt, grape nutes, and a banana... followed by a tasty salad for lunch.   Sparkles (dominican rip off skittles), and bread and juice as a snack.  For dinner, I tried something new.  I cooked rice for the first time in this country... Usually I figure that I get enough rice from Dominicans that I don't need to actually make it... Dinner was pretty tasty.  Washed down with chinola juice :)

Enjoying day 4 in 12 days of december before Alana Arrives!

I was so close to sleeping in... I was dreaming of this hot guy... and we were flirting in some dominican- american mixed world (maybe at a renaissance fair, I feel like we were in line for a turkey leg... I know I'm weird).. and then Archer broke down the door, and decided it was time to wake me up by running all around the bed... I guess I know why I can't sleep past 7:30 these days.  At first I thought it was cool and funny that he could open doors if he hit the handle just right... it really isn't.

Anyhow... back to the real world.  Today I ran 2 miles (as usual), then studied GRE flash cards... I tried to make someone a christmas gift, but I didn't like it so they will probably never get it... After lunch I made a weird christmas tree with letter ornaments, and brought it to the preschool.  We read books, practiced counting, and numbers for a few hours.  Then I walked around and traded books, until I wound up at a dona's house were people were playing dominoes... I ended up drinking coffee and watching dominoes for an hour.
On a good note for the day... A guy on a motorcycle carried my huge bottle of water back to my house... this is one of the chores I loathe most, and often think during these long walks that I would consider shaking up with a Dominican guy if I could just get him to carry my water bottle home... then I come back to reality.
Then I took a moment and called my first favorite dona... Pancheta... I missed her a lot but I have to admit if I were her real child she would have disowned me by now for never calling.  I'm horrible.  She was so happy to talk and I made plans to stop by the house on the 13 as I go up to see Sabine.

Today I ate a smoothie and coffee for breakfast.  Post run I made what I would describe as an asian dish.  There were noodles, cabbage, tomato, onions, and cucumbers cooked in a pot with teryaki  sauce, honey, and crushed red peppers.  It didn't taste bad... After my preschool class I ate cheese, bread, and a tamarindo juice.  As I was watching Dominoes, I got gifted plantanoes, so for dinner I boiled one plantano, fried one platano and boiled two eggs.  All washed down with a banana smoothie.  This will sound like a weird dinner... but it was greatly enjoyed... I love fried plantonoes and boiled ones too, but I've never allowed myself to fry them before... All and all today I spent about $110 RD.

day 3 of 12 days of December... until Alana arrives

Last night when I woke up ( I guess I have woken up every night for the past month)  I was hungry... I went back to sleep eventually.

I started today off well, with the breakfast and a 2 mile run, followed by yoga, and other exercise until I was exhausted again... Then I listened to Snap Judgment (NPR) and studied GRE vocab.  Note about Snap Judgement... the stories always make me cry (in a good way most of the time), do not listen to this on a bad day.  I crossed the river today and practiced numbers and letters... and played cards with some kids.  Then I traded books and came home.

I did not do well on the whole diet thing... I had a smoothie and coffee for breakfast... crackers for snack after run, More pasta and passion fruit juice (because I literally had nothing else to eat in the house).  On my way to the playita I ate a small bag of cookies, and upon returning I bought a $30 RD slice of Pizza.  Dinner was salad and more passion fruit juice. So I'm pretty sure I stayed under $100 RD in food today... so I guess that's a good day. 

Final note, a life goal of mine is to live in a place where I can sit comfortably and eat any meal I please without being molested by mosquitoes.... jajaja.

Day 1 of 12 days of December Dedication and Devotion in 2013... maybe I will pick a better name.

 So today was a great start!  As far as the Thanksgiving stole all my money and I'm broke diet goes... I had a coffee and Papaya Batida (smoothie) for Breakfast. Crackers for snack....Pasta and homemade passion fruit juice for Lunch.  2 Boiled eggs, 2 Bananas & Banana bread for dinner.  Total Spent $92 RD

Ohh... and I was gifted a fish empanada... as to be honest.

Today's Accomplishments:

• This may not look like it but this is my new Yoga studio (hey there's a mat and some pictures of Yoga...)
• 1 Dead Scorpion in the bedroom...Maybe this is what bit me the other day in bed... We'll never know. 
• 3.5 mile Run :)
• Re-registered for the GRE... going to show up on the right day this time.
• Cleaned House... Dear Archer, I love you... but you SUCK!  If you continue to stand in my dust pile and try to attack the broom you will regret it...
• Organized/ Improved my Wall of Inspiration.  
• Visited neighborhood people and played with kids...

Reading and sleep will follow... Tomorrow starts the real work.

Let's finish 2013 in my site with a BANG! and Start and Awesome Month :)

Thanksgiving was Awesome!  I loved spending some quality time with the girls... even though part of it involved planning for saying goodbye to one of my closest friends in Peace Corps... I'm going to miss your face Sabine... and our talks... and everything about you in general.

Sabine and I had a discussion about our perfect months we did earlier in the year... I think we both agreed they we ambitious, yet the simple setting goals made it easier to accomplish things that are often set aside, and build better habits.  Out of my perfect months I have started the habit of making awesome smoothies for breakfast everyday, running on the reg, I studied more for that GRE, and in general writing and planning personal goals.  However I did not stick to my plan completely (life gets in the way).  So here's to making goals and finishing out 2013 in the DR with a bang.  From the 1-12 of December I've made some personal goals to be accomplished in my site.  From the 12-18 of December I will have the lovely Alana with me, and one should not plan personal goals when they are planning on seeing their best friends for the first time in 2 years!  My goal from that time will be to relax and let loose a little.
So here are the goals for 1-12:
-Finally conquer GRE studying... I planned badly last time and I guess it means I need to study more.
- Plan party for my book club
-Plan/possibly do another mural
-Create collage with photos for Women's Association
-Run! everyday
-Blog! everyday... food journal... Maybe I should include photos?
-Write out more concretely the next two years of my life that I planned out last week... (we'll see)
-Yoga/exercise other than running
-Swim twice a week (why not... ?I live next to the ocean)
-Dance party at my house every night...
-Read another book (Simona if I read this book that you told me to read, and you don't, than our private book club is off!... get on that!)
On a different note, it has come to my attention that I might be broke, even in PC terms (We all know I've been broke for the past two years...)  So I've decided to save some money for my visit with Alana, who will be coming on the 12th by controlling my diet a little.  I know volunteers often go with less than $4 a day on food, hell half the time I do too, but not consistently.   My goal for the next week is to not spend more than $4 a day (completely possible) but focus on spending $2.5 a day ($100 RD...maybe possible).  I've done the math... kind of... and this is the break down as it stands now.  in a week I will spend $200 RD on Breakfast (Papaya Smoothies and Coffee).  That leaves $71 RD or $1.79 US to spend on lunch and dinner.  Staples will include onions, tomato, cucumber, lettuces/cabbage, eggs, bananas, plantains, and milk.  I will be cheating slightly by using pre-owned whole grain pasta and noodles.

The other side of the river

Last month I hit a wall with my projects... The river trash problem is what it is... How can one fix a problem on a local scale that comes from a problem on a national scale.  My water project fell apart due to a company coming in to buy up all the land... People stopped coming to meetings... it was hard.  I struggled with the idea that I'm wasting my time here, that I am not the type of person that can create meaningful change in other people's lives.  Luckily it was rainy season so I had a good excuse for hanging in my house and giving myself the space needed to get over the poor Kristie mood.  I decided to take a break from the town across the river, and focus on other things that seemed more successful (Books and Trading Books like cards with neighborhood kids).
Wednesday I saw the president of the Junta de Vecinoes of the other side of the river, and he was happy to see me.  He asked the typical questions when one's been absent.. Have you been gone?  Did you go home?  We thought that you went back to your country! and he asked me to come back to the meeting Thursday.  So I did.  Everyone was happy to see me :)  Menga, one of the christian grandmothers, told me how happy she was with my work and how the Teacher had really started to teach this year.  We did a campaign to get him to act more like a teacher over the summer... She said he loved the mural we did at the school and was using it to teach the kiddos.  I got her kid to read me a book (which is amazing considering last summer I was trying to get her kid to identify letters).  I don't know what kind of impact I've truly had but I was proud yesterday.  I'll go back again next week.

Guagas...

In training we went in depth about guaguas (public buses)... Try to have exact change, always have your ID on you (especially around the border), DON'T ride hanging onto the side or half way in if it's full (This is not safe...), be aware of where the hands of the people sitting next to you are and your wallet....ohh and get off if the driver is drinking...

Well I have to say I have had a passionate love hate relationship with guaguas and the adventures that they come with.  I have had a crazy old man sit next to me and sing loudly about me (the gringa that doesn't want to tell him her life's story), I have gotten lost many a times and found myself with the help of some friendly cobradores..  If you ask me about it I'll tell you about my close call with the train and the many reasons I'm happy to be alive today.  I have been on a guagua when it ran into another guagua, at which point the cobrador got off put the bumper back on and we were off again...Yet I have to say that at this point I love going on guagua rides.  I have always loved staring out the window of a moving vehicle and doing it on a guagua with the Dominican countryside passing in the window and background music of Bachata it's a perfect way to clear one's mind.  I like knowing that I don't have to know exactly where I'm going because there are Donas (old Dominican women) that will guide me... They will go so far as to call someone on the phone to check directions when they don't know... They will get off with you and walk you to the right street or house.  I am sure that I can not explain the feeling I get about guaguas... It's like floating along with your life in the hands of a complete stranger, but also knowing that for the most part everyone just wants to go to the same place and are willing to help you get there.  I guess that's life, most days.   Maybe I just like asking directions, because the responses tend to surprise me :)  Anyhow this is my advice... Follow the instructions given above (just good common sense) and always ask directions, even if you know where you're going you might find a better way.

Ohh October

Ok so I'm calling the month of October!  I'd like to squeeze it in the last week of September and into what was my October and call it a day with October right now.  In September one of my best friends here went home :(  She did what was right for her and I completely respect that, but I miss her.  This is not an easy position to do, especially when you reach transition when you don't know exactly what you're supposed to do.  So here is my account of the bad in the month of October... I got the flu :( luckily I was blessed with a week of rain and a ton of honey to pass the time.  Then Archer got into a fight with other dogs and come home all injured.  He refused to lay down for 3 days, resting his head on my bed and looking up at me with his big puppy dog eyes.  My water project has been scrapped because a mysterious company is buying up all the land in the Playita so they can develop it (I'm not sure if this is good or bad, only time will tell).  Worst of all I feel like a hermit... 

On the upside of October... I started a girls group, painted a world map with my BV kiddos, my first kid finished his reading card, which means he has read over 25 of my books now, and his mom tells me he's a much better reader than last year.  It's rained lots :)  this however has brought many nasty bugs.  

So I'm going to let go of this month that has frustrated me so much and next week I'm going to do a Med Mission and translate for American doctors in Dajabon.  A place I have yet to see.  Next month will be harder as I will be teaching a lionfish cooking class, and if you know me well you know that fish is not something I tend to cook in general.  I'm going to run more and be more social with my community.  

Friends.. Family.... what kind of life I chose to lead.

Ok ....so I don't even remember the last time I wrote a blog but I guess I should do it on a more regular basis... In the past two months I went to one year IST (this kind of blew my mind because I had to reflect on what I've done with the last year of my life... and what I'm going to do with the next).  I enjoyed popcorn ;)  I got to go home and see my friends and family... and finally my mom and dad came to visit which was awesome... My father's portion of the trip was cut short my a countrywide stand-fast due to a tropical storm, and included a neutering of my wonderful dog Archer... After he left, my mom stayed with me in my site and helped me readjust to being Dominican (which was interesting).  She also helped me while I held my dog in my lap and removed his surgery stitches (another thing I thought I'd never have the chance to do in my life...).   I dropped my mom off at the airport today and I know that in the next few days I'm going to be super depressed and feeling more alone than usual.  I know that I need August to be the "perfect month" more than ever.  I am determined to try to do all my list and keep up with kayla to help her too..  So you may ask what is the "perfect month"... it's the goal I've set for my august to try to do all the things I imagined doing in the peace corps and all the great Dominican Ideas I've had without letting my Dominican and peace corps obligations hold me back...  I know I need that extra push and I need to feel like I'm moving towards my personal goals.  Wish me luck... one of my goals is to write more in my blog and in general.

Confidence

Well I have to say that this blog has been inspired by the salsa I made for dinner tonight... it was well seasoned.
Anyhow I've been thinking about it lately but I think that I am more confident than I have ever been in my life and I guess I have to pay credit where it's due.  Now don't get my wrong but I've always been overly confident when it comes to brains (I mean I know I'm smart).  However everyone has their flaws and I've always been aware of mine... and upon coming to this country I think all of my flaws were amplified tenfold and I'm sure new ones arose.  My weight, my speaking ability, my shyness around strangers... nervousness, cooking ability and I'm sure there where many more...  It was all tenfold and it made me rather depressed...

Something about knowing that tomorrow marks a year in site is amazingly freeing.  I was walking down the street today after a meeting and even though the day didn't go as I planned and I didn't get everything done I still felt like I did more than most people could (or would want to).  I am not only fitter and cuter than when I got to this country but I'm sassier, a better cook, smarter, and happier.  I have the confidence that only an experience of being scared shitless by trainers, and then sent into a community of complete strangers and having to make it a home while developing some kind of job can give oneself.

I am content that most dominicans will never like my food (it's too spicy and lacks salt and sugar)  because I love to eat it so much I don't want to share...

One Year in Country

No... I didn't forget that I have a blog... it's just that everytime I think about sitting down to write I always think of something more "interesting" to do.  Things that I've found more interesting include playing tons of Soduku (which I am now an expert at..), looking up random info online, sitting with Dominicans (this is pretty fun, and reminds me of my grandpa wayne and how when he would visit we would all sit in lawn chairs in front of the house for hours), and playing with my dog.  

Well here is the update. 

March marked my one year anniversary of being in this country.  I have to say that while it's been the longest, hardest year of my life, I've also learned more in the past year than I could have imagined.  I basically relearned how to live (which makes me wonder what it'll be like going home).  It took me a while to integrate into my community but I do feel like this is my home (not my forever home because it faults so many crucial people).  Also we went to los Patos (The ducks) for our one year celebration and it was great.  It was the first ever beach of peables that I have seen (which I was told by scot is not that rare and has something to do with underwater currents).  It was rare for me and awesome!  Also on this trip I started to really enjoy dominican music, and I admit that it took me a long time to do that... But sometimes you need to be away from the normal surroundings and with people you are completely comfortable to enjoy dancing and listening so something.  Maybe that's just me...

My dog is huge and apparently very malcreado (he does't have good dominican manners).  I love him anyways.  In March he inspired me to start running (mostly to tire him out and also because now he's big enough that I feel safe running by myself) and I signed up for my first 10K.  I ran the entire 10K, which for me is a big deal, and at the end I decided that 'maybe' next year I need to do the half marathon.  I still have no intention of ever running a whole marathon in my life, because I can't really imagine how running that much at one time is good for somebody.  On the same trip as the 10K I managed to get myself a muffler burn from a motorcycle, and it was a rookie mistake because I got it mounting the bike... (shows how often I ride motorcycles in this country). The burn has prevented me from running much in the past week and a half because it just won't scab over :(  

However the past few weeks have been pretty good... My women's group is making progress with the their art and I think the ones that are progressing are beginning to get more serious about the project.  The government organization that works with aquaducts came to visit last week, so it looks like we are going to be moving forward with my solicitude for a response water volunteer (fingerscrossed).  And I had a fun visitor, who gave me good music, and explored parts of the town I've yet to have seen :). 

 

I'm very excited for the next year and I've decided that August is going to be my perfect month.... I picked august because it is the hottest most uncomfortable month of the year, so I have to make it my perfect month or it's going to just be the worst month.  My goal is to make a list of all the things that I've wanted to do in my life while I'm here like get up early to run (instead of running in the afternoon when it's mad hot), or make tortillas every week, and meditate and force myself to try harder to do it, if only for the month. I'll be making the list for the next few months and I'll try to remember to post it before the time.  

Also to any peeps back home that don't already know... I'm coming home for a visit in late June :) plan to make plans to see me, because I'm cool... and you know you miss me. 

Things I missed in Peace Corps

Ok so I know that it's super early to start making this list.... considering I have another 14 months or so in country... but I love my list and I want a distraction from my real life.  So here's a list of food I want to eat and things I want to do (mostly food):

1-I want lots of breakfast food!  waffles with whip cream, maybe strawberry sauce and bananas..whole wheat banana and chocolate chip pancakes, with whip cream.... and an omelet with mushrooms, and veggies galore and hot sauce.  I will wash all this down with coffee, but it'll probably make me want dominican coffee again.
2- Popcorn ;) this will be necessary I'm sure
3-Go to a movie... maybe the next star trek... but I'll probably have to rent that cause it will be out of theaters by the time I get home.
4- I want Thai food with feiven and kim
5- I want spicy pho, sushi, indian, and all other asian foods that I don't get to have here
6-Montclair chicken salad
7-Happy hour margaritas with mom
8-Jessica, you and I are going to finish that bike trail-I'm probably going to have to fix my bike up for that... or maybe buy a new one with my readjustment allowance (road bike :)
9-Take a hot shower
10-Go out with my friends and stay in with my family :)

Sprinting

It's rained all week... and I love it!  I missed having rainy days and I hope it stays like this for months.  

This month I've been running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off trying to prepare my women to apply for a grant... that I'm not sure we're ready for... but at least in the process of preparing we will be getting ready and they are making process in deciding what they really want to do.  I've also been working on getting a response water volunteer for the town across the river... :) which I think might actually happen now!

On a more personal level this month I got to go kayaking in a mangrove that let out into the ocean. Which was pretty sweet and next time I have good internet I'll load the photos. Also Archer is getting huge... I'm not sure how I'm going to bring him home, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to at this point cause I know he thinks I'm his mommy... He drives me crazy though... so far this week he has managed to bring about 5 bones into my house... the most interesting/ nasty of which was either the jaw of a horse or cow (the only large mammals that live in this county). Today was irritating though cause he brought home a dirty diaper and while I was distracted by two of my youth group girls he spread it around my house... I had to ask the girls to leave so I could collect myself enough to clean it up not go crazy... 

Also I have seen two squirrels in this country and that just cracks me up cause squirrels are only here to my understanding because dominican's think they're cute as pets... but they're so crazy that they have to let them go.