Volunteering in the DR

Roomies!

christyindominicanrepublic — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:18:00 GMT

Apparently I am sharing my house. There is a third bedroom which is locked and I don´t have access to. Since the room is mainly used for storage, everything is game in there. I first noticed my roommate while I was washing the dishes. Something dark scurried past my feet and down the hall. It was too big for a roach, even the flying ones, and so I did a double take. I saw fur and a tail. I freaked, but kept with the dishes. I kept thinking <out of sight, out of mind> and went about the rest of my day. Next time I saw him I was sitting reading at the table and it popped out and ran towards the kitchen. Brave little sucker. I kept reading. I debated: a cat (might be messy), rat poison (what if it dies in the locked room and I am stuck with the stench until it completely rots away, plus the roaches and ants it will bring) or sticky pads. Sticky pads it is. I bought two and the man that sold them to me said they worked and he would come by to help me dispose of it. I have been in the country too long to know that a simple remark could insinuate many things, so I knew this was going to be up to me, sort of. I scrubbed the house down and put a trap down when I knew Lenin would be over so that I wouldn´t have to deal with it alone. Smart. That week was patronales in the park (which translates to beer-rum-alchohol tents and loud music-perfomers for a week.) Living a block away from the park, I was obliged to attend. In the middle of one of the concerts a few of us had to pee, so we came back to my house. I saw something dark under the table where my trap was. I turned on the light and there he was: stuck, trapped. Yay! I was super excited, I had gotten him at last. I had to take a picture. I was proud, even though all I had done was peel the plastic off the pad. I went back to the park and proudly told the others of my catch. They weren´t too impressed, especially because one of the guys was an expert at catching. He told me his method of disposing: drowing it, as it is more humane than hitting it with a rock as others do. Plus, mice are smart, and when one is in trouble, they call out for each other, and so if I was really lucky, I would catch more than one. I was doubtful. I only had one. When I got back to the house, I went to show my catch and there were now two stuck. I had convinced myself I would only have one, that the one I had seen was the same one. Now, who knew how many were in the house. My uninvited guests. Lenin dropped them into a plastic bag and threw it in a trash can down the street. I didnt want to leave them near my house in case they escaped, or the cat I could hear meowing outside my door would mash them to pieces. A slower death, I know, but I just couldnt bear to watch them drowned or smashed. A couple of days later, I put another trap in the same area and I caught yet another one. Damn. This time I was alone, and the sticky pad had been out a few days so it wasn´t as sticky. I made my breakfast and coffee and sat down to read again, facing the trap to keep an eye on it until I felt brave enough to pick up. The little guy was strong. He was thrashing about and squeaking and managed to get his front legs and face off the trap and was dragging the trap behind him. I feared he would get away and so I scared him with my dustpan back on to the trap and he was stuck. No time like the present. I picked him up and dropped him in the bag and rushed him outside. The bag was moving. It was raining, I was still in my pj´s but didn´t want him to make his way back in. He was a strong little sucker. I ran him down the street and placed him in the trash can. Now if he gets out, he won´t be my guest anymore. He can find his way to a different home. So three mice, and now I am pretty sure there are more. Going to buy more traps. Now when I walk into the room I look everywhere, and even though my bladder feels like it is going to burst during the night, I avoid the bathroom just in case their family is out for revenge.

I told my friend about this and she said it sounded like I was in confession and sounded guilty for killing. It made me laugh. I don´t like trapping and suffocating them, but I don´t want them in my house. When I told my mom, she flat out called me a killer! What am I to do? Invite them all in and have a party?

As you can see, my first two guests. The third, i didn´t take a picture. They all look the same.

Photos: Mayo-Junio 2010

christyindominicanrepublic — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:12:00 GMT

Photos: More

christyindominicanrepublic — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:27:00 GMT

Photos: Beach Clean-up

christyindominicanrepublic — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:23:00 GMT

Photos: Nuevo Amanecer

christyindominicanrepublic — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:18:00 GMT

Women's group

Mas...

christyindominicanrepublic — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:07:00 GMT

Wow. Less than six months to go, and already I am a bit nostalgic for this country and my experience here without even leaving yet. I think it is because my good friend and fellow volunteer in my site finishes and leaves for the states next week. Now I will be really alone here, in terms of volunteers. I ride the guagua into the capitol and look out over the mountains and trees and feel as if it is my last time enjoying the view. I think I am more sad than my friend is, as this whole experience is tiring and sometimes just needs to end – she is happy to be leaving. I, for now, am trying to enjoy it all, because October is just around the corner, and I will be even more sad then.

March brought a new project to my attention – a women’s group in a nearby campo. Initially, when I first got to the DR, I wanted to work with women, and now I have my chance. It is not that much easier than working with kids, to be honest, as they can be even rowdier than the kids. No joke. I am working with a wonderful lady from Nueva Yol, that wants to empower and train women to market crafts in country and abroad. Jewelry is our business, and their name is Nuevo Amancer or New Awakenings. First workshop went prettly smooth, considering that we were baking in the community center (check out the sweat stains in the pictures – gross). Second workshop was like working in a zoo. Word got out about the jewelry workshop and even more women and kids showed up. I was translating the whole way and my brain got so tangled and confused that I wanted to flag down the next car driving down for a bola back into town. Instead I sucked it up and tried to have patiences for the LOUD women asking (or yelling, by American standards) for my attention. Did I mention I didnt have time to eat and was starving? Combine hunger, heat, and about 35 people in a small space trying to use a dremel, varnish, paints, and translating that made a 3 hour or so workshop seem like an eternity. Plus trying to keep a watchful eye on our materials and belongings. In the end, the women made a few good pieces using natural seeds from a tree called Javilla. Unfortuneately we told those that had pieces with fresh varnish not to put them in bags and istead put them on posterboard for us to take back with us to try to sell on the internet and in the states. With so much going on, and my (non)loud voice, the message didn’t get out. By the time got home, we went through the jewelry only to find their pieces stuck to the plastic bags, full of dirt, and just plain damaged. We sat on the floor by candlelight and found all of our hard work, messy and useless. Not all was lost though, as there were a few pieces that were salvaged and sold. The lady went back to the states, but I have continued monitoring and trying to organize the group. From a room full of women and kids, to about 4-5 women that are trying to make it a personal business. I was expecting this; past experience has shown me that interest is always there in the beginning, and only the die-hards continue. Most just wanted to see what the americanas had brought. Personally, I enjoy working with small groups better, as there is not as much BS to go around. I have been meeting with them the last few weeks to drill holes in the pieces and to go over logistics. I don’t want to be fully responsible for the group, but want them to take the initiative so that they continue for themselves, but I guess only time will tell as to the direction of Nuevo Amancer. Last week I turned over the money that a few of them had earned, and it gave them motivation to continue. They are learning to make jewelry out of coconut, and seeds, and I stress to them each time that they should use pieces that are found in nature as that is more unique and economical in terms of supplies, but of course, they are drawn to the flashy and colorful beads that are so popularly tacky in this culture. One of the women gave me a pair that she had made, and I was so excited to receive them. When I had seen what they had been making on their own, I wanted to buy them all. I can’t help it. I like to shop, especially when I know who the artisan is and the trouble they have gone through to make that piece, makes it even more special to me. While I work on the production side, my friend is working on the marketing side through shops and the internet.

I believe she has even made a connection with a tourist shop on the east coast that is interested in selling wooden boats that one of the local artisans make here. While she was here, I brought her (as I have brought all of my guests) to his home so that he can show what he has made and sells. She bought a few pieces and is now trying to market them on her side. I will be excited to see what comes of it, and hopefully my artisan and her can connect and he can count on a more steady income.

I am still struggling with my environmental youth group, and for the most part, attendance is about 5. Last week we organized a beach cleanup and only about 15 people showed up. Better than nothing, I guess. In about 2.5 hours we only cleaned about two blocks worth of the beach. Thankfully it was not too hot out, and we collected about 20 large trash bags worth. Everything from tires, shoes, shirts, hats, backpacks, glass and paper stuff littered the beach. It was a lot of work, but fun at the same time. I will be happy if it means that a few less people will be prone to littering, especially after they got stuck picking up other peoples trash. One of the guys told me that he doesn’t litter (a very popular and common habit) anymore after he started coming to the meetings, and at least I am happy for that. Small steps, is what I have learned. Everything starts small and then rolls onto to bigger and better things.

Photos: Christmas fair

christyindominicanrepublic — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:07:00 GMT

Photos: Xmas 09

christyindominicanrepublic — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:48:00 GMT

Xmas 09

christyindominicanrepublic — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:32:00 GMT

My Christmas day was spent on the road, waiting for a guagua that would take me back home, but being that it was a holiday, the buses were not very regular or timely, like most things in this country. We took a carro publico and little guagua to my bf’s aunt’s house outside the capitol for some seafood soup and beer. Being that I had just finished off a plate of fish soup and large cup of coffee at his house, my belly was full and so I opted only for the beer. It was yummy. According to the bus station, the next guagua was was to leave at around 2, and so we headed to the side of the highway to flag it down and jump on. Unfortuneately the sun was melting hot, and we walked a ways to some shade, which luckily, was next to a colmado. Colmados serve beer. We sat on some large rocks, waiting, jumping up to flag down any guagua that drove by, only to not be the right one. I had pretty much given up on going home. Three hours passed, about 4 bottles of Presidente’s, and 1 bag of chips later, a guagua came by that went about 2 hours away from my town. We jumped on with our last bottle of beer to ride for about 2 hours, connecting us to another little guagua. Being that it was so late already, we had it in mind that we were going to hitch-hike back to my site after this guagua had made its last stop. Either hope for the best to make it through the loma, or find a place to sleep. Somehow, we passed another guagua on the way that was magically my bus into town. A Christmas gift. We got off the second guagua in the middle of a random dark bridge, and hopped onto our last guagua, which was stuffed with passengers. We rode for a while standing, and practically hanging out of the open door. All I could do was laugh - so much work just to make it home for Christmas day. About 7 hours later, I made it to my host family’s house, just in time for another round of drinks.

Photos: Fotos

christyindominicanrepublic — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:18:00 GMT

Photos: My house - in town again.

christyindominicanrepublic — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:08:00 GMT

Catching up....

christyindominicanrepublic — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:57:00 GMT

Moved into my new house and it is a definite step up from my old neighborhood. For starters, I have water most of the time and so I don’t have to buy my water off the truck anymore. But, I still store water in about 4 different large tanks for when I am out of luck. Definitely one less thing to stress about. No more peeping-tom. Gracias a Dios. Did I mention it is furnished? So now my home looks more home-y than my last one. It is pretty impressive by volunteer standards. The irony is that now that I am back in town, I am super lazy even though everything is soo much closer (and it is starting to show – yesterday I was asked if I was pregnant). With all the commotion of moving into my fifth house in about a year, there is lots to write about in the comings and goings of my life here in the DR. In short:

November brought the re-creation of the environment youth group that fell apart during the summer. We went to every classroom in the highschool in both the morning and afternoon sessions to motivate and invite the students to the first meeting. Out of a couple of hundred students, only about ten showed up. Disappointed at first, but better to have a few motivated and genuinely interested students than a bunch of goofy kids. Funny thing is, all the members are male, with two American female facilitators. Compared to the last group, this one is more action based than social, which is a nice change. Within a few weeks we kicked off our first community activity which was sponsoring a movie night. We had permission by a friendly local bar to use their white wall and super speaker system. It was just like being in the movies, which for most, have never actually experienced. Entrance was free, but we sold popcorn and soda to raise funds and awareness of the youth group. We gained about two new members from that activity. Since there was no luz that night, we used their generator for electricity and that brought even more people to see the movie. We ran out of chairs and people were either standing, sitting across the street, or on their motos watching the movie. It was pretty cool to see, and many told us that we should do it every week. I laughed, so much work for just a few hours! But definitely worth it to see the community in this makeshift movie theatre. Next up is a community clean-up.

The painting school is still going, despite us having to scramble for funds to keep it moving. That is the hardest part, finding the funding necessary to keep this community project available to all interested. Being that the school does not require registration fees and is completely free, all funding must be found outside (and since this is a public website, I can’t even begin to bi### about the lack of local funding, to save my skin). So my time is spent doing grant writing (!in both english and spanish!), which is actually pretty difficult considering that art funding is not very common for development projects. Any ideas – please let me know. The easy way out has been to buy the supplies myself. I have bought construction paper, glue, scissors, colored penscils/crayons and hopefully I can find some glitter to make christmas cards with the kids next week. In order to keep the kids motivated we have incorporated different painting projects to distract them from the constant charcoal drawing of a woman’s leg that has been the subject for the past year. For an eight year old, it is a restless way to pass the time, but they keep coming back and that is a good sign considering there are more dangerous ways to pass the time in this place. I think that most of them are there to be able to participate in the fun activities such as actually being able to paint. Who wouldn’t? We have painted t-shirts, completed a color workshop, painted flowers, rocks, and leaves in the park. A nice distraction and more creative (in my opinion) outlet for them. Although, I must admit that the constant leg drawing has taken effect. The older kids have advanced in their drawings and it is impressive to watch them draw. They have taken to drawing and painting in the park, and I am amazed to see how much they have progressed. Very talented. Next month we hope to receive funding for more supplies and especially more work benches / easels for us to be able to accomodate all of the kids that are interested. Many times we have had to turn some of them away because we don’t have enough boards for them to draw on. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the new year brings.

Thanksgiving: I volunteered to be part of the Thanksgiving committee and so I helped bake pumpkin pies; 18 of them. It was pretty easy with four of us baking, so it was pretty much just goofing off in the kitchen and (magic!) wi-fi in the American household we were using. This all took place in the capitol. I ate the next day like there was no tomorrow. Stuffed like the turkey I didn’t partake in feasting on. Then came my one year in service training. Three days of being trapped in a center with my sector group, eating, listening to the different projects, and the general problems that seem to plague us all in this development work lifestyle. I had to give two different presentations which is still hard for me to do. I am just not made out for presenting. Can’t help it, but I survived.

Last week I came into the capitol (here now again). It seems that lately I have been living in both places, as my host mom / family likes to remind me that I am “lost” (pero tu ‘ta perdida!) and maybe I should just move to the capitol. It is an exageration. Last week we were participating in a art/craft xmas fair in the colonial zone. This year they dedicated the fair to the artisans of my town, and so, as part of my organization, I coordinated a few of our artisans to make the trip and participate. This means that my project partner and I had to put on a presentation about the org and its projects. Yay. It was pretty fun. I didn’t get to go last year, and so I was interested to see how much is sold and of course, what I can buy. Plus a few fellow volunteers were participating and so hung out at the fair. And what a prettier place to be but in the colonial zone in front of the cathedral when in the capitol?

Plus - added a few galleries of photos

Gallery: Picking grapes

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:37:00 GMT

Gallery: Jarabacoa

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:29:00 GMT

Gallery: My old barrio

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:22:00 GMT

Gallery: Capitol trip

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:11:00 GMT

Picking grapes.

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:56:00 GMT

Last Wednesday marked a year for being in my site. No big celebrations, just mentioned to my host family that I’ve known them now officially for a whole year. Then I bought my stuff in their colmado and I lugged all of it back to my house. Thankfully it was cooler, and so it was not too bad to carry it all. At this time next week I will be moved back into the pueblo, and food shopping will not have to be such an ordeal. I am excited. Yesterday my friend came to pick up Luna, and so I was dog-less last night. I felt bad because I gave her to him right in the middle of her being in heat. I hope he didn't get attacked as he walked back home.

Early this morning I woke up to hear something scratching in my house, scurrying about. I figured it was just Luna until I remembered that she was gone. Great, that could only mean one thing: a rat. I shone my flashlight around (I sleep with a flashlight just in case) which supposedly scares them away, but didn’t see anything. This was probably Luna’s way of getting back at me for giving her up, having nothing to scare the rats away. I tucked in my mosquito net and waited for the sun to come up. I couldn’t wait to get up and be able to look around.

On Thursday, my friend invited me to find grapes. I imagined juicy sweet grapes and was pretty excited. Who knew grapes grew on the beach? We started out on what I thought was going to be a quick trip to the beach, not this two hour rock climbing trek to find grapes that were disgustingly sour and that tasted like the trash that washed up shore nearby. I stopped picking grapes and instead took to taking pictures. The grapes were more like super sour cherries that grew high up on the trees and my friend worked on throwing down. The rest of the group was excited, quickly filling up their bottles to share back home. We walked along the coast, over rocks that were so slippery I had to hold onto Lenin’s hand, or more like I was being carried because I am not used to walking on rocks with flip flops like the rest of them are. Even the pregnant lady was walking effortlessly, as if it were just sand. It was a pretty walk, but by the end I was hating it. It was getting dark, we still had to hike up to the main road and walk all the way back. There was no way I was going to go back the way I came. I would rather take my chances on the dark dirt road than to fall on the rocks. My friend took his time knocking down coconuts, which I have to admit tasted very good and was worth the wait (of course like a good campesino, he had is machete on him). The sand fleas were out in full force and my feet and arms got torn up. I still itch today. I hate those things. Luckily as we started walking down the road, a pickup truck stopped and we all hopped into the back for a quick bola back into our barrio. Check out the pictures.

I told myself I was not going to fall back into the trap of looking for grapes, but yesterday afternoon after my hostfamily closed the colmado, they drove out to my house to pick me up to go pick grapes. Of course, I went. But this time it was a luxurious car ride out to the picking spot, and instead of picking, I sat down on some driftwood with bugspray in hand. Unfortuneately I forgot my camera that time, but someone did bring along some drinks. Much better.

I have attached some pictures of the crazy that is Santo Domingo, where I tried to capture what this certain section of the capitol is like. Just imagine, the loud music, the yelling of the cobradores on the guaguas, the endless honking, and the the smog. I love this city. It reminds me of downtown L.A. but ten times more chaotic. Some pictures are also of a photo shoot as we sat on a street corner in front of a colmado to rest and drink. I am going to miss the nice plastic chairs at colmados. I was in the captiol for a Thanksgiving planning meeting that I am a part of this year. Going to help with the baking, Yay. Then I took a few days to go up to Jarabacoa to visit my friend’s site, where it was a nice escape into the cooler climate. The winding road up the mountain reminded me of Santa Cruz. Unfortuneately the loopy ride up made me a bit guagua-sick and I didn't take any pictures.

Moving out and up

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:52:00 GMT

Funny how it took me five months to finally post pictures of my house, (nicely decorating it with some family pictures) and now within a month I am moving. I hate to leave this house, despite the lack of water and the (sometimes, depending on the heat) far walk into the center of town, but I have been offered a house that I really can’t pass up. It was the house I originally wanted, one block away from the park, one block away from the beach (not the pretty one, but a beach nonetheless), and three blocks away from my host family. No tinaco, but running water depending on the water gods, which still means I am going to have to fill up my tanks for storage, but at least I won’t be paying for it. I just have to be at home at the right time. Just like the luz. It really is a step up. Did I mention the price? It is about half of what I am paying now – yay! It comes with a few antique pieces, rocking chairs, a bed, a washing machine!!!, tables and chairs, and a few dishes. This house has been passed around amongst volunteers for years, so the owners know that I will take good care of the house (which counts for the discounted price). Plus easier for me to attend meetings, closer to my project’s Escuela de Pintura, and the guagua stop for Santo Domingo. I am so lucky, but a bit sad to leave this barrio, even though I have had my share of problems here. See you later my peeping-tom. Not sad to not have you as my neighbor anymore. But, being in town means not hearing the frogs, and not being able to look out my window and see palm trees, mountains, sugar cane, all the bright green of the campo. And moving into this house also means giving Luna up. Thankfully she is going back to her owner before me, so I know she will be well taken care of, but I can’t help but feeling like a traitor.

I have until the end of the month to take in as much of my house as possible, before having to pack up, redecorate, and feel at home again in my new house.

Gallery: Mi casa

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:11:00 GMT

Fotos

christyindominicanrepublic — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:10:00 GMT

I have finally added more pictures....it is nice to have higher speed internet. Lately the internet has been so bad, the rain messes with the signal, the luz messes with the computers, basically the connection usually s-u-c-k-s.

Anyways, I loaded a few different galleries:

Mi casa - I don't have cows in my house, it's just that I discovered the matadero nearby. See my buckets of water to bathe / clean? Or how I collect water from my nifty zinc roof..

Rio - bath time!

South - a trip to my friend's house / site. So jealous.

I will write soon.