I'm embarrassed - I haven't blogged now in over 4 months. Things have been both crazy and dull at the same time, so I didn't really feel I had a lot to write about. I also got in a little bit of a funk in November and December after some tough events, so I couldn't get back into the swing of blogging.
However, one of my New Years Resolutions is to start blogging again regularly! I didn't really define regularly - I had tried to blog every Friday, but the lack of internet in site made a set schedule difficult. I am going to try to blog twice a month, which I think is reasonable, and more often if I have a busy month with lots to share.
In the past few months, a lot has happened. I did not begin construction, unfortunately, due to delays in my funding. That isn't surprising, but because of that, things on the work front have been rather slow. Good news is that money should be coming in the next week or so, and I should begin either January 22nd or January 28th, depending on when money actually comes through and when materials make it out to my site.
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| Me and Candi |
I also had the horrible event of having Candi, my dog die. I won't really go into details, but she died at the beginning of November, which led to me having a very hard two months dealing with that and the holidays. My neighbors, in an incredibly sweet, yet misguided attempt to cheer me up, got me a new dog - a chihuahua puppy. She was only 22 days old when I got her, but I took extra good care of her and she made it through just fine! Her name is Missy, and I am a lot more comfortable with her since she is very much an inside dog. Since she's only about 4 pounds, she is also easy to travel with. She has been to Santo Domingo and Pedro Santana on the Haitian border, and is currently with me at Playa Juan Dolio. My cat also ran away the first week I got him and refused to come back because of Candi. I hope to get a kitten soon, to deal with mice (which I have already had and killed one).
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| Missy, only 4 weeks old! |
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| Merry Christmas from Missy and I! |
I had 2 visitors during the past 4 months - My mom came in mid-October, and my sister is currently here with me for this first week of January. It's been wonderful having visitors and getting to show them my community and friends. In February my mom will come again with my Dad for over a week, where we will visit the capital, my site, and an amazing resort in the Samana peninsula. It's a huge understatement to say that I can't wait!
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| Mom and I during her visit in October |
That's a fairly brief summary of how the last 4 months have passed, and I promise to not go this long again without updating. I'm sure once I start construction and have visitors and camps in the coming months, I will have PLENTY to write about.
Please do not beat yourself up about anything related to your Peace Corps service. I was a volunteer in the DR 25 years ago, married into a Dominican family, and sort of kept of with what PCV's are up to today. It is amazing how much it really hasn't changed. The PC funk, you get through it, visit friends the beaches and the mountains. When it comes to the work, do your part and sometimes, sit back and wait for it to fall into place. As you have found out, they set the pace. In the end, whatever was accomplished is good. What every volunteer I have ever known to come out of the DR finds important, are the relationships we make along the way. Some of the volunteers become friends for life and others like me have been eating rice and beans every day for almost 25 years.
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