End of 2012 Travels

Since I had not posted the past few months, I had very much neglected to write about my recent travels. There have been a ton of travling these past few months, but I realized that most of it has been to the capital, which is nothing new for me. However, I have had a few pretty cool new trips!

In early November, I did my first Medical Mission. I served as a translator for the ILAC Hernia Surgery Mission. It was an absolutely amazing experience - I helped with pre-op, post-op, and even in the surgery room! I would translate patient histories, describe care instructions to the patients and their families, and even translate during surgeries, since many were performed under only local anesthesia. These doctors that came were so selfless, and the difference they made in so many people's lives here in the DR by providing free surgeries is overwhelming. They performed over 100 surgeries, and afterwards, they invited us translators to go to the beach for 2 nights! We headed up to Puerto Plata to a fun resort, which was a much needed break for me.

I look pretty good in scrubs!

Translators and med students

For Thanksgiving, we had a big volunteer celebration in the capital. Even though the Capital isn't a new place for me, I wanted to highlight this trip because it was a really special trip for me. I have only spent one Thanksgiving alone, so it was very hard for me to be away from my family. However, it ended up being awesome - we went to a swanky hotel to swim at the pool, gorged ourselves on american thanksgiving food, and had a talent show of amazingly talented volunteers and a great dance party afterwards. I am so lucky that I have made so many amazing friends to spend the holidays with. I really couldn't make it these 2 years without all their support!

The gorgeous pool!

Kati, Jeff, and I

Happy Thanksgiving!

In December, we had a party at the Country Directors house, which was a lot of fun. The following day, a large group of volunteers headed to the Romeo Santos concert, a major Dominican singer. After those 2 days of craziness, Missy and I headed with my friend Ginny to Pedro Santana, her site on the Haitian border. It was really interesting to see a volunteers site so far from mine and so different as well! I stayed there for 3 nights before heading back home.

My girls!

Some of my favorites

At the concert with friends

My first Pilgrimage in Pedro Santana

I chose to spend Christmas in my campo. While at times it was hard, I learned a lot about the celebrations here. And my Dona, Ramona, made an absolutely amazing (and huge!) Christmas Eve dinner. Even though I couldn't be with my American family, I'm glad I got to spend the holiday with my Dominican family

The insane table spread of Christmas Eve dinner.

That takes us to my last major travel event of 2012, New Years Eve, We headed up to Cabarete, a really nice beach on the North Coast of the island for a 4 night stay. It was so relaxing, and tons of fun. We spent a good amount of time playing on the beach and had quite the New Years celebration. I would love to go back and spend more time on that beach - maybe if I get some visitors? 

Love my friends!

So that about sums up my 2012 travels. I am sure 2013 will have plenty more travels to come!

A Long Overdue Post

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.

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).

Missy, only 4 weeks old!

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!

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.

Catch up or "The First Six Months"

I know, I've been awful at writing lately. My Top 5 Fridays kinda came to an end, and I've had problems being motivated to write posts. In order to catch up, I am going to write a list of interesting things that have happened in these first months!

• I actually learned Spanish!
• I completely designed a water system that is 8 kilometers long and will serve over 50 families
• I secured funding for over half of my aqueduct
• I got a parasite
• I've visited the Capital, Manabao, Santiago, Jarabacoa, Las Galleras, La Vega, and Cotui
• I've read 30 books
• However, I also managed to break my kindle
• I've watched Game of Thrones,
• I built my own house (or, my community built me a house, but almost the same thing!)
• I moved into said house
• I survived my first tropical storm in the campo, including crossing a waist high river to get to my house
• I was gifted a kitten (Tiguere) and a puppy (Candi) in the span of 3 days
• I got Dengue Fever

So yes, I have had an adventurous first 6 months in country. It's crazy how fast the time here is going. The new volunteers came into country about a week and a half ago, so my group is no longer the newbies! Things are going fairly well - I'm still in the capital recovering from Dengue, which wasn't too fun. I'll be returning to site hopefully tomorrow to get settled in and start taking care of my babies, Tiguere and Candi, once more. I've still got another almost 21 months to go, so there is a lot of time for things to get done. I'm hoping to maybe begin construction on my water system before the end of this year, but for that to happen, I have a lot of hard work ahead of me!

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 Most Useless Traits brought with me to the DR

I've talked a lot about items that I did or didn't bring with me to the DR, but I thought it would be fun to talk about the personality traits that I brought with me that haven't been so useful. So here are the top 5 most useless traits of my personality that I brought with me to the DR!

1. A fear of insects, especially cockroaches and spiders. There’s no way to not have them in your house
2. Vergüenza, or embarrassment. People laugh at me all the time. You just have to accept the fact that you are going to mess up and laugh with everyone else!
3. A lack of Spanish skills. The first few weeks in country were really hard. I’m getting a lot better, but I still wish I had studied Spanish more and had a larger vocabulary
4. Light sleeping habits. With all these roosters, dogs, and early morning work by Dominicans, the ability to sleep through noise would be amazing
5. Independence. It’s funny, because to be a successful volunteer, you would think being independent would be extremely useful. Dominicans don’t want me to live alone, walk alone, travel alone, sit alone in my room, or in general do anything alone. If I was less independent, my life would be so much easier here!

Top 5 Friday - Top 5 Items I wish I had brought with me to the DR

To finish up this series, I figured I would talk about what I wish I had brought with me. It's impossible to bring everything that I wanted, and there were a few things that I did not bring that I really wish I had. So here are the top 5 things that I wish I had brought with me!

1. Rolling luggage. Basically anywhere you can roll a suitcase. While my duffel bags are super nice at times (shorter trips in particular), they are super heavy to carry long distances when others have rolling suitcases.
2. More photos. I don’t like to bring out my computer that often, and the only printed pictures I have are of me and my sister. I think the Dominicans might think I have no friends.
3. Yoga Mat – I had a yoga mat in my pile of things to bring, but due to space constraints I took it out. When I’m doing crunches or yoga in my room, that yoga mat would have been perfect. Definitely would have gotten more use than a lot of other things I brought!
4. Nice flats – I brought a few pairs of nice heels, but in a lot of situations they aren’t practical. Some pretty strappy flats would have been perfect to bring
5. Hanging organizers. I haven’t managed to find good ones here in country, and space can be VERY limited at times. Some good quality hanging organizers would have been amazing to put all my folded clothing in, rather than the crappy ones that I have now that are collapsing

Top 5 Friday - Top 5 Most Useless Items I brought with me to the DR

To continue on the topic of packing for the DR, I have found since being in country that many of the things I chose to bring were a little less than useful. In fact, many things have been completely useless for me! So for all those soon to be DR volunteers, take this little list as some suggestions for things NOT to bring. I present, the Top 5 most useless items I brought with me!

1. Polo shirts. I didn’t like them in the US. Why would I suddenly start wearing polo shirts all the time?
2. Toiletries. I brought several deodorants, toothpastes, face wash, plus big bottles of shampoo and conditioner. You can buy all these things here, and they aren’t that expensive. Huge waste of space and weight
3. Sleeping bag/mat/sheets/pillow. Maybe when I start traveling the country I will change my mind, and if I had been placed in a cooler area I might have a different opinion, but I haven’t used any of these things in country. I guess they could be nice when I have visitors or visit people, but they have been fairly useless so far
4. Clothes pins – really, did I think I couldn’t find those in country if I needed them?
5. Hair straightener – I’ve used it twice at nice Peace Corps events, and both times the humidity (or rain) made my hair curly within an hour.

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 Best Items I brought with me to the DR

In about 2 month, new volunteers will be entering the country, and I will no longer be one of the "new" volunteers. I know that when I was preparing to leave, I was looking for lots of suggestions on how to pack. So for you future volunteers, here are the top 5 items that I brough with me to the DR! I hope it helps with your packing.

1. My laptop and external harddrive - I have tons of movies on my external as well for at night when I need to hear English for a while
2. My headlamp – in the night when I need to use the bathroom, or when la luz se fue and I want to write in my journal. Every PCDR volunteer (and honestly, probably every Peace Corps volunteer in general) needs a headlamp.
3. My kindle – the ability to check email occasionally in the campo is god sent, and I love having so many books
4. Several water bottles – I already lost one on a bus, backups are great!
5. 7 different colored tank tops – I wear these about 80% of the time!

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 things I don’t like about the DR

For the mot part, I love this country. However, living in a new place and new culture, there are always a few things that you really are not a fan of. So, in honor of that, this weeks top 5 list - the top 5 things that I don't like about the DR. I hope you all know that this was one of the hardest list to come up with 5 things for, I do really love this country.

1. Mayi –Mayi are these horrible little bugs that bite you. They come in groups and attack your legs. They itch like crazy and last forever. I look diseased because of these things. 
2. Hissing – to get the attention of a lady walking by, guys will do several things. One that I don’t mind too much is yelling out Piropos, or “compliments.” The one I despise though is the hissing. I refuse to acknowledge anyone that hisses at me. 
3. Dogs off leashes – the fact that they are off a leash doesn’t bother me so much. It’s more when I’m running and an angry dog starts chasing me and growling aggressively. I would really rather not be bitten by a potentially rabid dog, thanks. 
4. The heat – Being from Florida, I thought the heat would be the least of my worries. I was wrong. The heat here is almost unbearable, and it’s not even the hottest months yet. From around 12-3, I literally cannot do anything but lie in my bed or sit on the porch and try not to move because I am so hot. I’m hoping to eventually become accustomed to it. 
5. Unexpected Proposals – I have had countless men ask me if I will marry them so they can get a visa to the United States. They don’t even try to be subtle about it. I really don’t like that they think it’s okay to talk to me in that way.

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 Funniest T-shirts I’ve seen in the DR

In the developing world, there are a lot of shops that sell second hand clothing from the US. Because of that, you see a lot of funny shirts that you might not expect to see in the Dominican Republic. In honor of those funny shirts, I am give you this weeks top 5 Friday - the top 5 funniest shirts I've seen so far in the DR. The moral of this is to think before you donate!

1. “Nobody Does it Better: Bridgeport Cheerleaders” Worn by a 7 year old boy
2. A Hot Pink Girl Scouts T-shirt – worn by a grown Dominican man
3. A Relay for Life Steering Committee t-shirt. I have a feeling the 17 year old Dominican boy didn’t organize that relay for life.
4. A shirt with the Playboy Bunny logo – worn by a 7 year old Dominican girl. It made me sad
5. Firefighters for Rod! Rod Smith for Governor. I found it really funny, since Rod is a family friend! 

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 things I’ve learned so far in the Campo

I have now lived in the campo for 3 weeks, and I have been learning some valuable life lessons and making some interesting observations. So without further ado, for this weeks Top 5 Friday, the top 5 things that I've learned so far by living in the campo

1. For children, clothing is always optional. I have seen more naked or half naked little kids here than in my life combined
2. There is such a thing as too much fruit. I love fruit. But when you are gifted 8 papayas in one day, you have some problems with what to do with them all.
3. I’m either really funny or act really stupid all the time. Either way, I make Dominicans laugh. A lot. I’m not always sure if they are laughing with me or at me.
4. People out here are so friendly and generous. I have been gifted more fruit than I can count. Every time I visit a house, they want to give me a glass of juice or a cup of coffee or some crackers. I love the feeling of community and the warm welcome I have received
5. I can survive with a lot less than I am used to. 

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 Ways you know you have a Doña

Oh Donas... what is there to say about Donas. Living with host families means that we have Donas, the mother of the family. Donas are absolutely amazing and hilarious. So, to honor Donas, I present this weeks top 5 list, the top 5 ways you know you have a Dona!

1. You get yelled at for trying to take your shoes off before entering the house, even if they are completely covered in mud. Make that you are yelled at in general for not wearing shoes in the house. Walking around in just socks is NOT acceptable.
2. After being yelled out for trying to take off said dirty shoes, the next day, those shoes are suddenly sparkling clean
3. You get served ridiculously large portions of food for every meal, and are offered seconds even when you’ve only eaten half of what you received
4. You are also served ridiculously sweet coffee, and are constantly asked if you need more sugar in it
5. You have a slew of endearing nicknames – mi amor being the most common.

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 favorite Dominican Non-verbals

While I have been working to learn Spanish, I also have to learn non verbals. Thinks aren't the same here as the US - thumbs up means you support a certain political party, and shaking your head no is useless. So, I figured a list of my top 5 favorite non-verbals was in order!

1. The finger wag. Shaking your head is useless, but if you use the finger wag, people know you mean no
2. Pointing with your lips. This one is so funny. You don’t point with your finger, you point with your lips. In the direction of the house, the store, or which item on the shelf you want
3. The nose crinkle. It means you don’t understand.
4. The finger circle. When it’s too loud in a party and you want to dance, you use the finger circle to ask someone to dance with you
5. Tacaño, or the elbow hit. It means someone who is really cheap

End of Training or "The Deep Nothing"

Hello friends and family! I know I've been slacking on writing actual posts. It's been a crazy few weeks, and I've been mega busy. The most important things that happened during this time was site announcement and visit and swear in.

For the next 2 years, I will be living in a small community outside of Cotui. I will be working to construct an aqueduct for two small communities - La Javilla and La Hondonada. The title of my blog is actually the translation of my community - La Hondonada literally translates to "The Deep Nothing!" It's a very remote community - you have to cross 4 rivers without bridges to get to my house. It's a bit of an adventure to get to my site with that, but I really like it so far. I went for a visit for about 4 days, and my family is wonderful and it's beautiful. Also, it is an area known for fruit - during my visit I was served pineapple, apples, bananas, oranges and more! I am really going to love all the fresh fruit in my diet.

I had an interesting miscommunication during my visit to my community. One day, we went into Cotui to see where the bus stop was, the presa, and good supermarkets. During that time, I decided to buy a machete. My project partner kept telling me that my host family had machetes, but I wanted to buy my own. Once I got home, proudly displaying my machete, I realized that what my project partner was trying to say was that my host family SELLS machetes! They thought it was really funny, but I was super embarrassed.

Other than that, we had our finals tests, including my Spanish exam, which I qualified for service with a 5.5. Then we had swear in. It's amazing, all 40 volunteers that we started with swore in, including one of our volunteers that had a torn ACL and had to return to the states for 5 weeks! We have such an amazing a dedication group, and I feel so lucky to be part of it. The ceremony was really nice - we were sworn in by the US Ambassador, and there were some really nice speeches. Afterwards we had snacks and punch and some cake. It was a great last hoorah at the Pantoja. We've been relaxing for a bit in the capital, and soon we will head to our sites for the next 2 years. It's crazy that I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer, but I am so excited to start my work here. Thanks for all your support, and I'll try to update as much as I can once I'm in site!

Top 5 Friday - Top 5 Photos from Training

There is so much I would love to say about training and how much fun I have had, but instead, I think since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I will post my top 5 photos from training! 5 pictures aren’t really enough to sum up my 9 weeks of training, but I will do my best!

Botanical Gardens

Water group construction

Baby goats!

Building a water tank

Swearing in ceremony with the Ambassador

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 strangest foods I’ve been served

The food it the DR has in general been fairly good, though repetitive. There is a lot of rice and beans and viveres. However, on a few occasions, I have been served some odd foods. Sometimes they are good, sometimes bad, but in general, weird things. So, for this Top 5 Friday, I present the 5 strangest foods I’ve been served in the DR.

1. Ramen Noodles for breakfast. I feel like I’m in college again!
2. “Avena.” Avena is oatmeal, but here, they don’t like the oats, so they grind the oats into a powder and add chocolate and sugar, so it’s basically like thick hot chocolate. It is served with some bread. Bread and hot chocolate for dinner. Dinner of champions
3. Fried hot dog for breakfast. Or dinner. Or both. Enough said.
4. Boiled yucca with bacalao (dried salted fish). The one time I’ve had to choke down the food given to me. And it was for breakfast. Who eats dried fish and starchy vegetables for breakfast?
5. Fried Mayonnaise Sandwich. 

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 things I will miss about Manabao (and CBT)

Today is my last day in Manabao – tomorrow, we head back to the capital. In honor of my time here in Manabao, I present the top 5 things I will miss about Manabao

1. The weather – the rain hasn’t been fun, but I like the cool weather here. It’s going to be tough going to a warmer climate
2. The mountains – it’s absolutely beautiful here, and I love getting to hike in the mountains in the weekend
3. Doña Diana – I absolutely adore my Doña here. I’m going to miss her tons, especially her amazing cooking!
4. My fellow Americans – It’s been really fun having the 6 water volunteers together, as well as our awesome trainer Mark. I’m going to miss them all once we head to our respective communities across the DR
5. Running water – I have been blessed during CBT to have consistent running water, with flush toilets and sometimes even a hot shower! Back in the capital I have bucket flush and bucket baths, and once I head to site, I’ll have a latrine. I’m definitely going to miss this life of luxury that I have!

Sick in the DR or ¨The Gripe¨

Hey everyone. I´ve been a little MIA recently. I had my first illness here in the DR, which wasn´t fun at all. Basically, any headcold or flu here is called the gripe, which in my opinion, sounds like I am going to die. I started with a headcold, and the next day I got a fairly high fever, chills, and just in general felt like crap. They got me on an antibiotic for what they thought was a sinus infection and after a few days I started to feel better. I´ve still been having some allergies and congestion, but I am doing tons better.

Other than that, training has been going well. We have one more week of training, and then we head back to the capital to get our site assignments. Shortly after that, we go for a site visit, and then swear in the following week. 3 weeks from today, I will be in my site for good, moved in with all my stuff and meeting the people I will be spending time with for the next 2 years. I already unofficially know where I will be living, but I am going to wait until I get the final announcement and information to share it on here! It´s crazy to think that it´s so soon, but I am really excited to get started on my project and getting settled in. It´s hard at times to not have a real home and to just feel like a guest in someone´s house, but soon, I will have as home!

Top 5 Friday – Top 5 best foods (or drinks) that I’ve had in the DR

On the topic of food, I thought this next top 5 Friday should be about the good food I have eaten here. So without further ado, the top 5 foods and drinks that I have had here in the DR

1. Chinola Juice – it’s basically like passion fruit juice, and it is my favorite things ever. Yum.
2. All fresh fruit. I know this might be cheating, but it’s my top 5 list so I make the rules. The fruit here is out of this world. Papaya, pineapple, mango, bananas, avocados. I get served fruit fairly often, but once I’m on my own, I’ll be eating it every day
3. Coffee brewed with ginger. It might sound strange, but it is so amazing! The coffee here is wonderful, I’ve started to even drink it black on occasion, and never with milk. The ginger is such a great flavor with it – crush up some ginger and have it with the coffee while it brews. Yummmmmm
4. Stewed Eggplant. It might sound like a weird thing to be obsessed with, but my Doña makes the most amazing stewed eggplant. Those are the happiest days
5. Pizza Empanadas. That might be cheating, since it’s not a Dominican food and we cooked it, but the dough was absolutely amazing

There is definitely some good food here! I will definitely be picking up some of these recipes once I head home to the US

Top 5 Friday - Top 5 Foods I Miss

To continue with the topic of things from the US that I miss, here is my list of the top 5 foods I miss. If I hadn't separated foods, 3-4 of the 5 things I miss would be food related, so I figured it would be good to keep things separate

1. Sushi - Yum
2. Camembert Cheese with a fresh baguette... heavenly
3. Pasta that isn't cooked until it is mush. Whatever happened to al dente?
4. Anything SPicy. I'm not the hugest fan of spice, but here, no one like anything "picante" or spicy. I can add hot sauce to my food, but it's not the same
5. Leafy green vegetables. I get salads here, but its with iceberg lettuce or cabbage and it's not the same as a yummy romaine or spinach salad. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Well that's it for this Friday! I hope to post a good top 5 next week!

Samana Santa and Construction or “Dominicans Know How to Throw a Party”

Hello blog followers!

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to write. Things have been crazy here – lots going on with Samana Santa, training activities, and more.

Samana Santa was my first real Dominican holiday, and it was pretty nuts. Samana Santa is their Easter celebration. It is a very family based holiday, so most of the extended family will return home to celebrate. That meant my Doña’s 6 kids, 4 grandkids, and multiple nieces were visiting. I think I counted and at one point over 15 people were sleeping in the house. The house only has 3 bedrooms, and one is for me only, so you can imagine the sleeping arrangements were creative. For Samana Santa, there is lots of eating, drinking, parties, and dancing to celebrate. We had our major fiestas at a cabaña that a wealthy family in Santo Domingo owns. My host family takes care of the cabaña, and they are really good friends and celebrate together. Even though it is a religious holiday, it is more of a cultural celebration. I had a great time dancing bachata and merengue, eating huge meals, and meeting and talking with all my host siblings that were visiting. One son came all the way from the US with his 2 kids! It was a really fun celebration here, and I think I might just have to come back and celebrate it here again during my 2 years. My family in Manabao knows how to have a good party.

Technical training continues to go well, though it is some long days. We have been working this week on constructing a water tank for our community. All of us will have to build a water tank during our service for our water systems, and this construction practice is so that we will understand what goes into building a tank. It is hard work – lugging sand up hills, sifting that sand, mixing concrete, applying concrete onto the walls, and more. I have tons of cuts on my hands from the work, but it’s a really amazing feeling to see something like this being built by my own hands. I can’t wait until I get to design my own water system and see it constructed by my community – it will be a surreal feeling for sure!

Other than that, all is well. I had a little bout of dehydration one day after construction, but I am starting to feel better. My Spanish is continuing to improve little by little. All in all, things are good. I’ve been in the DR for more than 6 weeks now, and I am excited to be staying here for a little more than 2 more!