woo been pretty busy. Spent a week in La Vega at an orthopedic surgery mission, as a surgeon...i mean...translator? Thats was fun. We also took my class to a local baseball game. Well, it was kind of like the wild card playoffs for the Dominican League. Our team won and all the kids were so excited, most of them had never been to a game.

We also started construction on the water system i received money for. That has been a blast. I spent this past weekend starting and finishing it basically. It is just a small extension of a pre-existing water system, but it will have a huge affect in that it will serve over 20 families that did not previously have water. The only thing i was in charge of was buying the materials. These dominicans wasted no time, and had the entire trench dug out in 4 hours. Of course, i bought one wrong part so we had to wait until the next day to actually put the tubes in the ground. My one job, right? We got the part and they put all the tubes in right away. These guys know exactly what they are doing. It is crazy. Also, i have a confession....i have never swung pick-axe. I came to that painful realization when i began digging out some of the trench and another worker came over and send, "Here let me take that, Americans are really good at supervising." Ha! Another one of those humbling moments....i AM really good at supervising :) It has been a really positive experience. The community has taken all the manual labor upon themselves, even some of the women are providing meals for the workers. They are collecting money from each house that is receiving water to put in a fund for future projects such as quality electricity cables. It is crazy how sustainable this one little community on a hill is.

The children that live on the hill have been the most excited. They have been running around screaming, "we are gonna have a faucet in the house!!" When is the last time you heard kids screaming that in the suburbs? ha. Before this project, these people had to create this elaborate contraption of hoses and tape, basically a hose long enough to stretch a football field, in order to fill their 50 gallon tanks with water once a week. From the tank the fill buckets to bath, cook, flush the toilet, etc They were not only bathing with this water, but drinking it straight from the hose. We were able to solve both of those problems by 1) extending the water system to this community so they can have running water 2) installing bio-sand water filters n the houses so that they can drink purified water. It has been a blessing to see this community work together and get everyone involved, even the kids carrying shovels, in order to make this project go as quick as possible. Sometimes it is just a lack of resources that prevents the most basic of services from being offered.

Other than that, just going to the school everyday and getting ready for the 50th anniversary celebration stuff. I am helping organize some of the presentations for this fancy shin-dig in the capital for a bunch of returned Peace Corps volunteers. I will be in the capital from Feb. 7-10 doing stuff for this bash, which i think is gonna be pretty cool. You can see more about what we are doing at the conference through this link http://new.fotdr.org/50th/nationalinitiatives/

Josiel and I will also be representing Fondo Quisqueya grants, which he applied for and received to study english. He will have to present himself and what he has done through the grant. It will be a great opportunity to rub shoulders with some bigwigs and make connections with some organizations.

Then, on the 11th i am hosting the director of the organization that granted me the money to complete the water system. I have to take him through the community we worked in and just show him where the money went, basically.

At the end of Feb. we have our Close or Service conference, which talks about life after Peace Corps and begins to phase us out, haha. Then Stephanie Dutka is coming to visit!!! My first friend to bite the bullet and make the trip down! Thanks a lot guys, 2 years have gone by and i haven't seen any of ya! just kidding, ha.

Well thats about it! enjoy the photos!

So, not too much going on here. I just got back from a trip to Yasica to help translate for a medical team that comes up twice a year from Maine. This trip is always fun because we usually hike to different villages in the mountains to administer care. These people are the primary car physicians for over 15 different villages. Anyways, this time i got the opportunity to hike up to Los Hobos with a team of students, nurses, doctors, etc. This was probably one of the more challenging hikes i have ever been on. First we drive a few km's up the mountain, then we get out because no vehicle is capable of scaling what we are about to climb and descend. The trail is one of perpetual mud...up to your knees kind of mud. Not even 2 steps in and i am halfway in the ground. It was tricky trying to avoid the big holes, which you cannot see very well with the nude eye. We had a pretty pleasant hike up to the village, but the whole time your hiking this challenging trail you begin to wander if these people ever come down off the top of this mountain. We hiked at least 5km's up to the top in very wet mud. This is not mud that dries when the suns out, it goes so deep it is always muddy. At the top is this tiny village of no more than 60 families. It is so pristine and the air is so pure. The nearest car is a few miles down a mountain. Now, think about a village this small, so secluded from the rest of the world that most of the people have never left. There is constant running water because they live at the source of a river, but they have never had electricity....ever. No blaring music, no tv, no motorcycles, no cars. It was so interesting, and so beautiful up there. With these tiny populations come other problems, too. There is a substantial albino population, which the nursing staff informed me is due to incestual relations. You think you grew up in a small town? Ever date your sister? I don't know this for sure, but i imagine it was out of necessity, maybe to sustain the population, that certain people had to do this. I did not get a vibe that incest was frowned upon in the village either. Maybe im just an idiot, lol. Anyways, the trek down was even harder. I did it barefoot for a while because my shoes kept getting stuck deep, but after a mile or so i put them back on because i was stepping on sharp rocks, lol. It starting pouring rain the second half of the hike, so that was fun. Just another cool experience that ill never forget.

Other than that, my life is not that exciting. Francisco and I are taking my class to see a baseball game! Saturday we are going to watch the Aguilas vs Licey, which is like Red Sox vs. Yankee-type rvialry here. Not to mention this is a playoff game. The kids are really excited, and it should be a cool experience. Some of them have never been to a game.

Thats about it, just had some free time thought id write a little diddy.

Adios!

Oh! I went exploring the other day and found this cool park area under a bridge. It goes back about half a mile into the woods right along the river. It is really really nice and quiet. Every second of every day is filled mith revving motorcycles, blaring bachata and screaming children. Here.....nothing, just the babbling of the brook. Here are some photos:

Francesca and me at the end-of-the-year dinner for the teachers from my school.

Famous Christmas pork! BEst meat i have ever had....

I chewed on the tail....still some hair on it.....

Francisco and Ari masters of the pig

Case presenting Francisco and his daughters with Christmas presents!

At the Monument for New Years.

Just some photos, enjoy :)

Finally! Something to write about. I will spare you guys my witty intro banter and get right to the meat......i walked in on a naked bum sleeping on a couch.

So many questions right? Your heads must be reeling....When did you get a couch? How did the bum get in there? Why was he naked? Is nickel heavier than copper? What did you do?

Relax, all of these questions and more will be answered. So, Heather and I had been switching off house-sitting at the HUB while the owners were in the United States. This means we had to check-in guests, help orient them to the city, clean up a little bit, etc. (some of you may not know what the HUB is, house church on Sundays and ex-pat hostal) So, i was on duty one night. I had been working late in my site installing filters so i didn't arrive until around 9 pm. I unlock the 3 separate locks, open the door, set my stuff down on the table and take a look around and i saw this large shape on the couch. I took a closer look, because the room was really dark and i thought it might be their dog. As i get closer i realize thats a human being, naked, curled up in the fetal position......what? Chills rock my body. I don't know if this joker is dead or alive. How on earth did he get in? and why is he naked? I grab my stuff and walk slowly out the door and close it softly (because i don't want to wake him?) I was quite terrified to be honest, so i called Heather and she called one of her friends in the area to help me out. I meet up with the guy and we call the police. By this time a lot of neighbors are outside their homes because we have been conversing with the bum. He has woken up and wont let us in the house. Every time we unlock the doors he locks them from the inside. He claims he is presidential candidate Danilo and this is his house. It is obvious that he is out of his mind. Ten minutes go by and 12 police offers are banging on the door threatening to break it down. Im just thinking to myself, is this really happening? What a ridiculous situation. Anyways, the guy opens the door a crack and some officers force themselves in and force the guy in a corner. The whole lot of people spills into the house to watch the show. As we all pour in everyone is smacked in the face by a terrible oder....the bum pooped and peed on the couch. Yea....this is real. The police tell me to give him some shorts. I don't have any clothes there, its not my house. So, i go and look for an extra pair of underwear i brought with me and reluctantly throw it at the bum. He slides them on. Out back his clothes are strewn about. So, he arrived with clothes, but took them all off before he entered the house....makes sense. I turn around for a second, turn back and they are dragging him outside of the house and onto the street where the bum scurries away. The police shrug their shoulders and drive off. The bum lives to see another day. Still confused as to how he got in, must have been through the back door.

I go back to my house to sleep because i don't want him to break in again, lol. I arrive the next afternoon to check on things and i see the same bum! sitting in front of another house hugging his knees.....wearing my green boxer-briefs....True story.

Its moments like this when i realize i gotta get outa here haha.

Outside of that, my brother just left to go back home. He spent the past few days with me at my site. It was pretty cool. It started poorly as i threw up all over the bathroom after our first dinner. I proceed to live out the will of the hybrid flu/parasite inside me for the next 4 days. We were not able to do a lot of the stuff we wanted to but we made the best of things. We played stick ball in my community, basketball, dominoes, met neighbors had coffee, soda, saw some water filters, visited the poor community next to mine, participated in my class graduation, ordered room service at a hotel, went to the movies, met a bunch of volunteers, enjoyed a hot shower, enjoyed a cold shower, among many other things. I think he still enjoyed his trip even though we didn't make it to the beach. I could not retain anything i ingested, so it made things a little tricky. It was really nice to have him here, and share this experience with him.

We spent the New Year up at the Monument in Santiago with Francisco. The firework show is known around the country as one of the coolest things to see on new years.....the clock strikes midnight.......pppppssssssuuuuuuuuuu........pop.......done. One firecracker. Literally. It. So dissapointing. Luckily its good for one hardy chuckle. Since there is a one hour time difference, we were able to get back to the hotel and watch the ball drop in times square(on tv). Double the celebration.

Well that is about all the hoopla here. Now im at the Marriot in Santo Domingo enjoying my last relaxing evening until i go back to the craziness! I will post pictures later.

Adios!

Whats new........not too much. Last time i wrote i had just gotten back from the South, so i have been re-adjusting to life in the big city. School is ending for break on Friday, so it has mostly been exam prep then exams for the students, leaving myself mostly useless. I have been spending a lot of time playing basketball and just hanging out with the kids in my community. That is part of my project too! ha, being a good example.

We have been preparing for the arrival of 80 bio-sand water filters. I have a colmado-turned-storage room right next to me that the owner graciously is allowing us to use. Unfortunately, it is literally covered in dog and rat poop, not to mention all of the personal belongings of the owner. Here is what it looked like before we cleaned her up!

We strapped on a pair of industrial strength black gloves and in 2 days converted this crap hole into a sanitized storage room for 80 water filter materials.

Quite impressive.....i know. Pictures don't even do it justice. Let me to my own horn for a bit. Josiel was a huge help too! We shoveled at least 5 pounds of hardened animal excrement into trash bags. We battled various types of mold and killed over 50 cockroaches and spiders that had made homes there, along with a mystery species of ant that i have been meaning to call someone about....... We created space where space could not possibly have been created. In other words, we rocked that storage room! YEa, this is what my service has come down to, haha.

Anyways, other than that the only new development is that we are in contact with a local orphanage that wants us to come in and do some stuff with the kids. They live in this huge mansion owned by a drug dealer who was killed so the government ceded the property to this organization. There are about 15 kids ages 8-17. Kind of reminds me of the Carpenter House a little bit (Mom). Honestly, these guys are a little better off than Carpenter was originally. So, on the 29th we are hoping to do a big interchange with my class in the community and the kids at the orphanage. We will bus ourselves in and spend the afternoon playing field activities and just spending time with the kids. My class is really excited about it, and im sure the orphans are too.

Well, that is about it. Not too exciting. I am also house sitting for the HUB for a few nights while the owners are in the US. I just have to check guests in and make sure they know the rules and field any questions....and make coffee, ha. It is a pretty sweet little break and i get 24-hour luz and water. Not too bad.

Thats it for now. hasta luego

Im fluent in Kreyol now. Just kidding!

So, i just spent a week in a Batey in the south of the country learning Kreyol. It was a blast! Kreyol is a very simple language to pick up. Verbs never conjugate, its basically all vocab, lol. Our class was held outside to the amusement of the pigs, goats and chickens that would run through the middle of it. The community we stayed in was one of the poorest i have ever seen, with kids literally pooping in the streets. We played soccer and frisbee on a field made out of hard-packed animal manure.

During one of our breaks we were sharing a bag of peanuts. A little girl came up to us and asked if she could have some....of course right? So, we gave her some, then we finish the bag.....then she asks for the bag......and puts it in her mouth, chews it and swallows it whole. I saw her put the bag in her mouth, but i thought she just wanted to suck the salt out of the bag......There is your perspective right there people. Stuff might suck, but at least your not begging for plastic bags to eat.

After training ended a few of us went further down south to Los Patos to hang out with a volunteer that is placed there. He lives right on the bach, its an incredible site.

It would be so distracting to live there. We ate some of the local fare: fried fish with rice and fried plantains. The fish is so fresh and i have not had any better anywhere else!

We just hung out on the beach and relaxed out minds from being taught how to speak Kreyol in Spanish and speaking a little english, ha. We then caught the bus to PEdernales which is the western most city in the DR. Super close to the border of Haiti. We cruised down there and got 5 pounds of mahi-mahi from someones sketch backyard walk in freezer. NEver thought i would see one of those here! We grilled it up on Justins grill that is a propane tank cut in half, very cool.

Over all it was an awesome trip, alot of work a little play. Now im back to the grind. We had 40 more filters approved and waiting on 60 more. I still have my celebrando el mundo class, and im trying to organize a small basketball tournament in my community to raise money to buy trash cans. A few things going on, staying busy.

Well thats about all i got for now. Enjoy the photos!

Latah!

Just got back from the Capital, where i spent the past few days living with a very nice family that works at the US Embassy, and sharing a massive and delicious thanksgiving feast with around 200 other PC volunteers. It was pretty amazing, and i am so thankful to have such a great family of friends here. This holiday would be very depressing without them.

The family I stayed with along with a few other volunteers was very nice and accomodating. Unlike us volunteers, embassy employees make money, and live very well. So we were treated to our own beds in air conditioned rooms with hot water showers!! There was also a fool sized fridge in the house....packed to the brim with food! They told us to have at it.....oh....and we did. It was a great experience. The wife is a foreign service officer working in the department of civil rights, and the husband is in the army reserves and was deployed in Iraq a few years ago. They are a very interesting couple, and i had a blast staying with them.

So, that is how i passed my thanksgiving.

In other news, i just ordered another 40 filters with Francisco. Excited to get that project started again. I also signed up for some optional language training. I will be spending the next week, starting tomorrow, in a Batey (look it up)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batey_(sugar_workers'_town)

learning how to speak Haitian Kreyol. I am very excited to learn a little bit of this language. It is kinda similar to French.

Other than that, life is same as always here, nothing too exciting to report. Im sure ill be updating you guys after my training.

Dios Le Bendiga!

p.s. we made Guacamole in my class while we studied Mexico. The kids loved it!

So, my family was here a few days ago. My Grandpa, Uncle and Dad (GUD) came down for a long weekend and we were all over the place.

Day 1 - Wednsday: I take 2 public carros and spend 60 total pesos to arrive at the airport at 8:30 to meet up with my GUD. Hours before i had been informed that my dads plane was delayed and he wouldnt be getting here until maybe the next night. Im pretty angry at the system at that point, but realize that i still have GU coming, and cheer right back up! I spot 2 pasty white folk walk out of the gate and run up to hug my GU. We exchanged pleasantries and immediately headed to the shuttle we arranged to pick us up and take us to the hotel. We arrive at the hotel to realize the reservation was wrong (of course) so i have a stern talk with the management and we get things figured out. Its about 10 by the time we head out for dinner at this fancy place called NOAH that i have never been to because...well...its fancy. We have a great dinner of assorted raviolis and head back to the hotel to sleep.

Day 2 - Thursday: We get up around 9 and head up to our complimentary breakfast of omelettes and fresh squeezed juice, mmm. Usually i have a glass of water and a deep breath of air for breakfast, so this is a welcome change. We head out to my school from there. We get to the school were my project partner Francisco meets us and gives us the grand tour, all the while saying how GU should come back as soon as they can, even though he just met them 5 minutes ago. We walk into a few classrooms to introduce my GU and the classes stand to applaud and share a few nice sentiments and welcomes that i effectively translate into flawless english. We then proceed down to the science lab, where there is an art exhibit of project turned in by students, theme: Columbus and the indigenous people. Francisco picks up 2 random kids' artwork and gives it to my GU. Who knows what those kids will do when they realize their precious works have been robbed by 2 gringos (americans). We grab a few seats outside in the shade and just sit as recess commences and the kids run all over the place. We meet a student who is beeing recruited by the Washington Nationals, and the Clevelan Indians (Major League Baseball) and who knows, maybe we just met the next Albert Pujols. We meet a few of the teachers who are very interested in knowing what my GU is doing here and why they are only here for a few days. They proceed to tell them to come back as soon as they can......10 second interaction.

We leave the school with our stolen artwork and head out the Franciscos moms house. We sit outside here little porch thingy...and his moms asks us if we want any coffee. I know how good the coffee is here, so i say yes please but my GU dont want any of that. She makes them coffee anyway assuming that everyone in the world HAS to love coffee, it only makes sense. They reluctantly take the cup in their hands, a look of confusion and possible erratic bowl movement in their faces. They end up drinking the entire cup and proffessing their love for dominican coffee. My uncle hasn't had coffee in years and before they day would close, he would drink 2 cups.

We then head back down to my community. Hang out in my house for un chin, then walk over to the poorer community i work with. We walk over Scetchy Bridge, through Trash Valley and up Steep Dirt Hill to arrive in the town. We spend a little while walking through the community until we end up back out at the main road. We debate on what to eat for lunch, and since my dad wasnt here we had the opportunity to eat on the street, ha. So we decided to take Francisco an go to a little place called Chimi Jose, a little cozy restaurant right in the heart of the B-car route, heavily trafficked, exhaust fumes gracefully coating the rice and chicken sitting in warming trays. They order the usual and we make it out alive. We even drink water that a 50-something year old guy wearing a pinstriped american eagle v-neck shirt gets us by dippng a pitcher into the top of a water cooler. That cant be sanitary.

We make it out alive and head back to the hotel to wait for my dad. We wait for a few hours and eventually he arrives in the taxi i had sent for him. Of course, my dad used the 4 phrases he know to become best friends with the guy, almost promising him we he could take us to Santo Domingo (easily a 300 dollar trip). We quickly correct him and pay for his service. We put dads stuff up in the room then head straight back to my community. We hang out in my apartment for a bit and Josiel comes up to meet everyone. We then go to his grandmothers house to install a water filter. They newly established GUD kills it in under 20 minutes, effectively providing pure water to a family that didn't have it before. We go outside to play a game of "ninja" with the kids, and at this point half to the town is out to see who these mysterious celebrities are. We are invited back into the house to eat a typical dominican dinner. At this point it was dark outside and there was no electricity (welcome to my life) so they light a few candles and we sit down to a dinner of fried plantains, onions, fried salami, cheese and crackers. Everyone, even my dad tried and liked everything! The electricity came back in the middle of us eating and everyone was relieved. We hang out for a little bit more, talking about all kinds of stuff, then cross the river to the poor community and cram into a public car that takes us back to the city. We went to dinner at this fancy place called Satay that i always see but am afraid to try because it looks......fancy. I have an incredible steak and we head back to the hotel. Santo Domingo tomorrow.

Day 3 - Friday: We get up at the crack of dawn (6:30) to eat breakfast and catch a public car to the bus station. We get on at 7:30 and get to Santo Domingo at 10:30. We get to the hotel, put our stuff down then walk through the colonial zone to the Peace Corps office. We meet up with some volunteers then head to lunch at Pizzareli, a pizze joint, obviously. My GUD gets to hang out and meet the new peeps and then we catch a cab back to the hotel, but not before being rejected from the embassy because it looked like we were planning an attack. My dad was on the phone while GU and i stood right outside the door. Sounds really sketchy when you think about it. We rest for a bit then head out to check out some sites then make it back to the hotel around 5. We have a few drinks and a snack on the pool deck and just talk about life. Then we get ready and head out to the best italian place in the Americas (my opinion). We have a great dinner with a complimentary starters champagne and lemoncello to finish. GUD loved this place. We grab a nightcap and some ice cream back at the hotel, then sleep.

Day 4 - Saturday: We get back to Santiago at around 11. We head right out to lunch and have La Bandera, which is the typical DR lunch; rice beans chicken and salad. My dad trys cherry juice for the first time, and loves it. All kinds of new things going on, its a wonder no one had diarrhea. We had back to the hotel and right on to my community where my class starts at 3. 12 kids show up to our Celebrating the World class. The topic for the day was world religions and Afghanistan. Should have seen the kids light up in amazement when we told them Buddhists believe in reincarnation, and that in Afghanistan music is prohibited and domestic abuse against women is almost encouraged. My dad and Grandpa did a skit in spanish and slaughtered the language but the kids found it hillarious, and that was the point, ha. Afterwards we had a snack of cookies and orange soda with all the kids, and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

We grab a taxi to head up to Camp David which is 2000 feet above sea level, and the restaurant overlooks the city of Santiago. Its the most breath-taking view i have seen in country. Pictures do not do it justice. We have a nice steak and head back down the mountain, where we say our final goodbyes because they are leaving at 5:30 and i like to sleep :)

Day 5 - Sunday: Everyone leaves and i stay at the hotel until church starts. Great Trip!!

So that was a quick recap of the trip. It was so much greater than that, though. I got to share my life with GUD. It makes me feel more connected with my family to show them how i live. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we ate at some awesome resteraunts. We crammed into public cars, and on 2 different occasions i had to sit on Grandpas lap in order to fit. Cheap and easy though, ha. A very memorable experience!

p.s. I know spelling is terrible in this, but i messed up the spell check thingy, and know it wont tell me what i spelled wrong, and i dont have time to run through it again, ha, suffer throught it.

I just got back from an exciting weekend in Monte Cristi helping facilitate an environment based youth camp. It was very cool. We hiked to the peak of this small hill which overlooked the ocean, which was beautiful!

We visited a small island off the coast and talked about protecting the coral reefs, how to help avoid erosion, stuff like that. It was a very cool hands on camp. We had classes in the water....literally.....

Overall it was a success. Fabian and I led a few science experiments like the egg drop, tornados in a bottle and a few other activities that the kids loved. Everyone seemed to have a blast and we got to stay in a hotel with sheets and pillows provided, not to mention running water and electricity!

We finished installing filters!! 40 Bio-sand water filters have been installed in mine and a neighbor community. This has been one of the coolest things i have ever done. The response was so positive that people have not stopped coming up to me and asking me if they can be on the list for the next round.....thats right....doing 50 more! Im sending 2 members of my community to be certified so that they can eventually do this all without my help, then we are soliciting 50 more filters to install. Im pretty excited about that. It has been great to see these families so happy.

I also took a trip to the Haitian Border with Heather. We visited the Haitian Market which is a massive market only on fridays and mondays. Haitians have a short window of time to run across the border, collect their supplies then run back. A short window of time that doesn't require any documents. It was pretty shocking. I just didnt know what to expect. There were Haitians with massive rickshaws of materials running at full speed, massive roadblocks, it was a little overwhelming. Yes, thats a lady carrying a cow head.....on her head...

Quite an experience though. Some guy attempted to pickpocket me twice, i felt his hands in my pockets. Luckily i didn't put anything in my pockets for that reason exactly, ha. You live and you learn.

Anyways, thats about it. Im heading to the Capital this weekend for the business pan competition. Wish my kids luck! They could win $60,000 to start their business!

Cuidate mucho.

Whew, what an eventful weekend. So, Saturday was our sports camp!! Conviviendo en Deportes, and it…was….awesome…..Ok, so definitely underestimated handling 40 dominican kids. It was super stressfull, but gracias a Dios we had 5 more volunteers helping uso out. We had a great turnout! 40 kids were invited….39 showed up!! That’s an incredible success rate. These kids were from 7 different communities all around the Santiago/Moca region. Everyone showed up on time too, which is absolutely unheard of. We played all sorts of games such as: octopus walk, capture the flag, hula hoop races, tug of war, alka-seltzer tag and water balloon toss. We had a great lunch of chicken and rice with cherry, chinola, and orange juice. 2 awesome girls that attend my highschool and are part of a peace corps sponsored group called escojo mi vida that deals with AIDS awareness came in and talked to the kids about all that good stuff. It was important to us to have Dominicans teaching other Dominicans. They respect hearing this stuff from people who they can relate to. My friend Josiel also gave a great speech about taking care of the environment, conserving energy/water etc. So, we had an awesome fun-filled day and included 2 great educational aspects. All in all a huge success, and the closing ceremony was the cherry on top. One of the volunteers Amber, made these awesome ribbons to award to 4 kids that had shown the best sportsmanship and most impressive overall behavior. The first 2 teams (yea 40 kids were split into 4 teams, ten on each team, competing in each event for points which were tallied up at the end to anoint a champion!) were awarded medals, which another volunteer Sabrina made out of clay. It was the most creative camp award ceremony ever! I am so happy with how it turned out. We (Fabian, Chandler and I planned the camp) could not have done it without them. If they ever end up reading this blog, Topher, Heather, Sabrina, Carly, Amber, Josiel we love you guys!

Also, I wanna thank the people that donated money to this event. You know who you are. You helped provide a buttload of kids an awesome care-free day of fun. Most kids never leave their communities. This was a great opportunity for them to meet new people and just relax away from their parents. Seems simple enough to us, but I know it meant the world to them. HEre we all are, THANKS!

In other news, we have been installing filters like crazy. Running at a clip of about 3-4 a day which is pretty good. I taught francisco how to install them so i really just sit back and supervise (sustainability!!!)

We are doing so well we are already talking about ordering another 40! that would make 80! Yes i can still do math! People love them though. The other day we installed a filter for a lady who purchased 5 botellones each week (a botellon is a 5 gallon purified water jug) each one costs 30 pesos each, so were looking at 150 pesos a week or 600 pesos a month or 7,200 pesos a year or almost 200 dollars. She will never have to buy another botellon again. Not only that, they can make and sell ice with this water too, which serves as a source of nominal income.

Good stuff happening. Going to the capital this week for comittee weekend, which is basically where all the many national peace corps iniciatives get together, elect officers, recruit and inform people for the cause. I am giving up my position as medical missions chairmen. It was a fun year, but its time to give it up. It is a fun job with a lot of perks, and a lot of other stuff too, ha. So, we are having formal elections, vamos a ver.

Well thats about it. Oh! you guys remember the small business class i was teaching which offered dominicans the opportunity to compete for 60,000 pesos to start their own business? Well if you didnt, there it is. Anyways, my students finished their business plans, one for a restaurant, another for a school supplies store, and sent them into the national board. ALL OF MY STUDENTS WERE ACCEPTED! keep in mind, i have 3 students and 2 business plans, haha. But out of 60 plans submitted only 20 were accepted and all 3 of my kids are going! this means we will be traveling to the capital to attend a conference where they will present their plans through powerpoint, etc and there they will have the chance to win the money. Exciting stuff happening.

Well thats about it for real. Adios!

Creativity continues to elude me as i search for any kind of interesting title for these blogs.

Anyways, business as usual over here. I do not have rabies. I know thats been hanging in the air and you guys were so worried about the development of this silent killer. Lockjaw has not set in, so im in the clear.

ummm.....going to school in the mornings, and putting in filters in the afternoon. Sounds super boring but its my life....Our sports camp is coming up this weekend! months and months of planning all culminates into a day of awesomeness. We are bringing in 40 kids from 7 different communities, ages 10-15. We are having 4 responsable Dominican youth, ages 16-19, come and talk to the kids about the dangers of AIDS, and the responsibility we have to the environment. We are playing all kinds of awesome games, we have shirts, medals and crowns to give out at the end. Im so excited! Look forward to some pictures!

So, yea thats about all. Im attaching some photos of one of my best friends (3-year old girl names Cha-Cha) and her first day of pre-k! So proud!

...since my last post...what have i been doing? I must have been too busy developing the character of young children and saving babies to update my blog, APOLOGIES! haha just kidding.

So, for real, what have i been doing.....well, let me think....i have been installing these bio-sand water filters i have been talking about for the pat few months. We have installed 8 of 40 so we are moving at a slow pace, but it is super cool to see the end product of something i do. Mostly, i teach classes and never really get to know if anything sticks, it may or may not. With the filters, i get to install (well i supervise francisco or josiel) the filters and then i get to literally drink the end product! All 8 people we have installed have been absolutely ecstatic with the results. They were all skeptical. Believe it or not, 2 people actually returned their filter before we got to install it because they didn't trust it, SUCKERS! These filters can filter 200 gallons of water a day! The water is cleaner then the stuff that comes out of the botellon (5 gallon water jugs you see at your office). Im certified, so i would know, ha. Anyways, so this guy gives me a cat in return for installing his filter, and im like ok cool i wanted a cat to kill all the rats (that ate through BOTH my air mattresses, sorry future visitors) and spiders and lizards that i live in peaceful harmony with. So, the guy brings the cat over in a sack and tells me its really brava (angry). Im used to cats being all fluffy, calm and kinda doing their own thing. This cat must have swallowed a pit-viper. The sounds this thing made to defend itself were terrifying. Yes, i was terrified of this cat and you would have been too. So, i throw a blanket over him run upstair and throw him off my balcony.....just kidding. He tried to kill me, so i just let him go in the house to get used to everything. I went out for a bit that night and by the time i had come back the cat was gone, and it had broken 6 glass coke bottles that were on the floor. GOOD RIDDANCE ya stupid cat. Anyways, a few days later my neighbor tells me she found the cat in the garbage dump right next to my house. Im like, gimme a break, i dont want the thing anymore. So, i decided to give it back to the guy who gave it to me, but when i went to grab it, it bit the living tar out of me. There is a 99 percent chance this thing has rabies, especially now that its been rummaging in trash for 4 days. The wound starts to swell and get infected, and i start to get really angry (probably just in my head, ha) so i call the medical office at Peace Corps and they tell me to come in for a rabies shot. So, at 1pm i head to the capital, get there at 5, receive the shot, leave 10 minutes later, get home right at 10. Moral of the story, I am not a cat person!

In other news, i have just been working on the usual stuff, school, engineers club, finished up my business class, gonna start another youth group based on global diversity, which i am pretty excited about. It will be a 6 week class that takes a tour around the globe. We will be learning things about different cultures, how to speak different languages, different customs, etc. It will be good for these kids to get a sense of global awareness. Not everyone believes in God (unfortunately) not everyone looks like you, not everyone dances bachata, stuff like that. The biggest thing in my life has been the whole rabies scare, so thats all i can really think of right now.

Ill try to update more frequently, ha.

ps here is my awesome beard! with two other volunteers Topher, and Chandler at this new hang out spot in Santiago.

Not much new going on since the last post. Graduated one group of engineers, one class 3 of my new group. Thing are going just as smoothly. Im telling you what, i dont think i can teach any other class than this. Kids love it, and i love it, its easy to teach.

I just participated in a teacher training conference setup by 2 volunteers in Moca (Sabrina and Heather). As most of you probably dont know, the main focus of our job is to create sustainability. For us education volunteers are method of doing that is teacher training. Teaching teachers how to teach is the best way to keep the ball rolling, lol. Anyways, they had this 1-day conference planned to the tee. It was awesome, they had interactive charlas, free goody bags filled with school supplies, incredible. They asked me to fill in for a girl that was not going to be able to show up due to the tropical storm. So, i gave a lecture on the biological explanation of how the brain learns best.....it was alright, i did the best i could do on 1-nights notice, ahah. I was able to invite Francisco, who teaches night classes now, to attend the training. He loved it! all in all a very successful conference which i hope gets expanded to include most of the country.

This weekend i am bringing to kids on my community to another youth camp. I know, it seems like all i do is go to camps, but they are a huge part of what we do, and a really effective method of developing youth. Anyways, the focus of this one is diversity. Teaching them how to accept each others differences, especially on this island they share with Haiti. Haitiains are not viewed well here, so we want to try to spin that image positively. It is also a camp where they will learn more about the world. Ask any Dominican kid where the United States is on a map, they probably wont know what your talking about.....United States.....map? haha, they all think nueva yol (new york) is the entire US. When you show them a map and sw the New York is one of the smallest of 50 states they are blown away. Each kid (50 attending) will have to make a poster that represents a country. They will have to investigate they spoken language, typical food, currency, fun facts, etc So that they can build awareness of the world they live in. The camp will be great, its just this Friday till Sunday.

Then on Monday myself and 9 other volunteers are going to travel to San Francisco de Marcoris to help out at a youth conference (150 kids) setup by the country's ministry of environment. gonna be a busy weekend. Then, next Wednesday school starts back up!! I get to go back to the school that is all but unresponsive to my classes, haha. New year, new attitude, they will come to my classes!

Also, other good new. I was approved for a $1,500 international aid grant to complete a water system in the community next to mine. I had been waiting a while to receive notification and it was finally approved! Now im just waiting for the money to be wired to my peace corps account.

That is about all for now guys. Sorry i dont have any cool stories. I do have an epic beard going now.....sooo thats my august project....letting it goo.....look forward to photos, haha.

Woo hoo! So i graduated my engineers club! It was a pretty epic 2 months ended by an awesome camp. Im so proud of these little guys. I am starting another class on Friday and our goal is to have 1-2 kids from the old class, help teach the new guys every week. Then, with the new guys, i hope to take them to the neighbor community and put on a little science fair type thing for a group of kids over there. All about community service and sustainable education, woo hoo! Im gonna remain optimistic that its gonna work out, haha.

Each kid received a diploma and a superlative (most creative, best leader, most compassionate, etc) which were little origami shirts and ties, i thought they were just the coolest things ever. We had donuts and fresh-squeezed lemonade. They were excited about the idea to teach the new kids.

Wrapping up the business plans from my small business class, they are due on Sunday, so we will see how those turn out, lol.

Not much else going on here really. Oh! I guess i haven't told you guys about this. Myself, Fabian and Chandler (2 other volunteers) are planning a small "Sports day" for the kids from our 3 communities. It will be an all day event held at my high-school, we are gonna do things like water-balloon dodgeball, a couple relay races, some kickball, wiffle ball, etc. The point is to try to relate some relevant information to these kids ages 10-15 about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, safe sex, all that stuff. We see it as a huge problem in our communities so we thought we would bring 45 kids together, butter them up with sports and candy so that they don't fall asleep while we give our speeches, haha. That age range is around the time kids start discovering themselves, so we figured we would try to nip it in the bud. Anyways, through the donations you guys made last time i was home, and the fundraising Fabain and Chandler are doing it is looking like we are gonna be able to expand our little camp day. We may be able to invite other volunteers in the area to bring their kids and increase the diversity. So, thanks to all you guys forthe support and we promise to make it worth it! The tentative date is set for Sept. 3, so look forward to that!

Anyways, thats about it. Pasa un buen dia

Ok, so i wasn't planning on writing a blog today, and i have limited time to finish this one, but i thought i would post an insight i had today, i kind of revelation if you will. So, as many of you probably know i have been robbed twice, and lost most of my faith in Dominicans. So, if someone left a cell phone somewhere, no one is gonna return it to the front desk or call someone in the phone book to return it. ITs every man for himself here, lol. Well, today i was heading into the city, wearing my zipoff pants with really shallow pockets. My phone was in said pocket, and upon exiting the public car (main form of transportation here) must have fallen out onto the backseat. I did not realize this until i had reached the internet cafe. I quickly realized it and hustled back to the main road. For a brief moment my mind was this: im thinking how much this sucked, i would have to take a bus to the capital to get a new phone (700 pesos trip), my number would be different so no one would know it, i would lose all my friends, wouldn't hear about anything, pretty much my life is over, right? Normally this would make me lose it, i have a relatively short fuse, and i lose stuff all the time, phones, watches, wallets. Well, i decided to just TRUST that it would work out. I began to lose it, then regained myself, asked God for strength and hustled back the half mile to the route the cars are on. These public cars have a distinct route, and i took the B-car route so i knew where he would pass by again, but by this point he would have already filled the car up again and made a complete round trip. Someone would have seen the phone and taken it, it is a pretty nice phone. So im standing on the side of the road trying to memorize the car and the driver, i stopped 2 other cars thinking that was it and they looked at me like i was crazy, one guy said, "its long gone". Then, like a shimmering angel i spotted the car made eye contact with the driver, my heart raced as i realized this was it. If he does not have it, my week just got a lot worse. I asked him if he has seen it, he reaches down into his seat and hands me my phone with a smile on his face, i say " Ay Dios, gracias a dios!!" (Thank you God!!!) This may seem like a really stupid story to all of you guys, and i know its hard for you guys at home to relate because its pretty easy to replace a phone. This made me realize a few things that i wanted to share, though.

1. We put way to much stock into personal items. I realized how big of an impact this little phone had in my life and it was pathetic, lol.

2. We have to trust in God more. My mom, once told me, "people will always let you down. We are human, and no one is perfect. We may even let you down as your parents, but God will never let you down, he always has your back". In this instance, Dominicans blew away my expectations, but i thing it was because i trusted that God would take care of it. Even though it would have made my life a lot more stressful, it wasn't anything i couldn't handle with Him. It gave me great comfort. I truly think God was testing my faith/trust in Him. I think he rewarded that faith by giving me my phone back. You have to understand, this was like a miracle to me, haha. I never expected to see that phone again. To sum it up, I think God sometimes takes things away from us in order to shift our focus onto what is really important. He tests our faith and trust in Him, because there will be times when He is the only one we can trust. This has become more relevant in my life, the past few weeks have been really rough with work, community issues, general life stuff and I have been praying to be able to see God, to want to trust him with these issues that seem to drown me, to not have to worry all the time. I think thats exactly what he showed me today. At least, thats the message im taking out of it, may sound crazy to you, lol. He showed me that if i trust Him, everything will work out. It may not happen just like I want it to, because he has own plans for our lives, but sometimes it works out just how you hoped. He took away something i held dear, then returned it. Either way He will solve the problem, the trick is to keep that faith even when there doesn't seem an end in sight.

As for the 2 other people that i stopped, i was looking for answers in the wrong places. I thought i had found it! but twice i was disappointed, im not saying Jesus has a B-car route, but i kept the faith, seeked and found.

I just wanted to share this story with you all, because i know im not the only human that has struggles, haha, ps. i have more diarrhea, yippee. Hope this helps some of you as it has helped me.

Keep the faith! Adios

So, the last time i wrote in this thing i was on my way to the states. I have been back for a few weeks and a lot of stuff has been going on. I have been super busy.

Here is a little bit of what I have been up to; few days after I came back from the states Iwent to a 2day long training on Bio-Sand water filters sponsored by Rotary International and USAID. It was all in Spanish and I was the only American there, quite a welcome back into the country. Now I am a certified water filter “specialist”, so I am now in the process of developing a project with 3 of the community leaders in my community and choosing the 40 lucky families that will be receiving a 120lb water filter, lol. These filters are quite incredible, though, they filter out pretty much everything; Cholera, Diarrhea, Amoebas among many other water born illnesses, and they last for decades (if maintained well). What does this mean for the people in my community? They will never have to purchase water again. That may not seem like a big deal for many of us, but think about a family of 4-5. People buy water in 5 gallon jugs, many go through 1-2 a day, each one costs 30-35 pesos, so your looking at anywhere up to 500 pesos a week, 2000 pesos a month 24,000 pesos a year or 650 dollars. That’s a lot of money for a family who has an income of around 5000 pesos a month. Not to mention, it will allow families who couldn’t afford to buy clean water the opportunity to drinkas much as they want for free! Unfortunately, a lot of people drink from the tap here, which as many of you may know from my earliest blog posts is the worst thing possible. ☺

We just recently celebrated July 4th here aswell. A couple of us went up to Puerto Plata to the beach for the day ( gracias a my Aunt andUncle, haha), then the next day we bought a little disposable grill and grilled up some bratwurst, hamburgers and watched the Sandlot! It was a very nice andrelaxing holiday. Interesting story, on the way back from Puerto Plata we came upon a motorcycle accident, a motorcycle had run into a car or vice versa. Unfortunately, the man on the bike died, probably instantly. We saw a few people pick up his body and set it into the back of a random truck that happened to be passing through, and sent him to the hospital. After this there remained a group of people looking in the tall grass where the man had been thrown off his bike. I heard some people talking and then saw someone pick up the mans severed arm by the finger and carry it to the rode, get on his motorcycle (no helmet) and head after the truck on the way to the hospital. It was so crazy! I had never seen anything like that before, a dead body or a severed arm, I mean bone, flesh, blood, it was shocking, didn’t seem real. So, that was a great way to end a day at the beach, ha.

Then on the 6th of July I headed off to Camp Superman with 2 kids from my engineer club. It was a 5-day camp way way way up in the mountains above Santiago in a community

called Los Bueyes. 45 boys ages 11-15 attended and about 15 volunteers. We played all kinds of games and talked about all kinds of topics. It was similar to a summer camp in the US, but absolutely in the middle of nowhere, off the grid. It took us 2 hours to climb the mountain in 5 trucks packed with kids and bags, and then we arrived to this little campsite by a river. It was an incredible 5 days. I was given the opportunity to see God work in the lives of these little kids. We split up into 5 teams, myself and 2 other volunteers headed up the green team, and we were able to see these kids mature in a span of 5 days. We had kids that came in rowdy and obnoxious, making fun of the other kids, saying bad words and by the last day they were helping those same kids, arriving quietly to all events, obeying all the rules and saying please and thank you at every meal. I was so proud of our team. There was this kid named Nilson (no, not nelson) and he was pretty heavy set, not very athletic, which was a shame because we played sports all day everyday. Anyways, by the 3rd day he ended up cracking under all the pressure from his teammates constantly making fun of him. He realized he wasn’t very athletic, but he never gave up trying. It all came down on him at once and he just starting crying. One of the volunteers sat with him and tried to cheer him up while myself and another volunteer tried to calmly explain the terrible thing they had done to one of their friends, while we wanted to drown them in the river, ha. Well, by the end of the day all the kids had apologized to him, and one kid named Frailey, who had been a terrible, rude, inconsiderate, leading the charge against Nilson ended up staying behind in the last activity so that he could run with Nilson and help him across the finish line! That’s all we as volunteers could talk about for the rest of the camp. It was such an incredible thing to witness; a kid who we thought had no hope of changing (Frailey) helping out a kid whom he had mocked mercilessly ( Nilson). Man, it was one of those moments when you can see Gods hand.

So, we come up on the 4th day of camp, we had just gotten back from a 2 hour hike to a magnificent waterfall. All the kids are settling in and getting ready for the afternoon when I see a group of kids huddled around one of my kids Starlin. Apparently, he had fallen while running a hurt his wrist. We checked with the volunteers from the Red Cross who were with us and they confirmed that it was dislocated…great. So, we had to take him to the hospital to get it fixed but it had been raining and no vehicles could make it to the campsite. We walked with him about 1 mile up a very steep, muddy hill to get to a level dirt road where there were cars. We took this mans 1970-something jeep about minutes to the nearest town to a free clinic. He told us we needed an x-ray and it may be fractures as well. So we get in the car and drive 30 minutes to get an X-ray from a technician with an “I Love Canada” t-shirt and a hat that said “Cowgirl”…perfect, why is this guy wearing a hat in the first place, lol. Anyways, we got the x-ray for 450 pesos drove back to the free clinic where I almost threw up watching the doctor reset the kids arm by breaking it again, then they but on a cast that went up to his armpit with a sling. The whole time i'm thinking that this kids mom is going to kill me. I take her son to a camp and he comes back with a broken arm, perfect. We leave the blood stained clinic and head back to the camp, oh but first we have to pick up the dinner for tonight. We stop by this random dudes house, walk into his garage where he is roasting 3 whole pigs, it was pretty cool. I got to try some meat while it was still on the spit. I helped break apart both the pigs and stuff them in black trash bags. Then we got back on the road, stopped by a store to pick up ice and 25 gallons of pure water for the camp. Lets recap: In this 2-seater truck we have the driver, Starlin with a broken arm in the front. Myself and the Red Cross volunteer are in the back with two 50-pound pigs 25 gallons of water and 6 bags of ice. Not to mention this truck is as old as time and looks like it could give at any possible second. Ok, all caught up. At this point it is pouring rain, and we still have to cross a river to get to the camp, and all the roads are muddy and slippery, obviously not paved. We are fishtailing while the driver continues to look back at me and say how much he likes driving in this weather, I’m just nodding my head while thinking about all of my loved ones and praying harder than ever, haha. Then the Red Cross guy starts trying to show me picture on his camera about his job, and I’m just like, hey guy I’m pretty sure we aren’t making in through this and the last thing I DO NOT want on my mind is a picture of you receiving an award at some ceremony for the deaf. Eventually, we did make it back to the entrance of the camp, still one mile to go by foot, this time downhill in the rain, I’m almost breaking this kids good arm with my hulk-like grip from my abnormally tiny hands for a man (thanks mom). We arrived at the site where all the kids were waiting for him and they began chanting Starlin, Starlin, Starlin and he just got the biggest smile on his face. It was nice for him. The first thing he said was, “ I didn’t even cry once!” He was a trooper through all of this, I think I probably thought about crying more times than him. Now it is a cool story, and all the kids signed his cast. Unfortunately, it had been pouring there as well and all the tents flooded (just cant escape it, lol). All the kids stuff is now soaking wet, sheets, towels, clothes, shoes, everything. So, there is only one area for shelter at this camp, as you will see on the photos, and it’s no bigger than a studio apartment. So, we moved all the kids’ stuff into this area, threw down a tarp and wrapped another one around the outside so no rain could enter. All 45 kids slept huddled together in this area. Guess who volunteered to sleep with them…..me! I had been sleeping terribly the whole time because I had been lying at this weird downward angle and blood would keep rushing to my head and I would wake up dizzy and numb, lol. In this gazebo thing, it was very level and smooth, still dirt, though. Another volunteer offered to take the bullet as well, unfortunately he happens to be 6’5” and took up all the rest of the free area on the tarp. I ended up sleeping on wet dirt wrapped in a single sheet like a burrito, did not fall asleep once, but I do remember having nightmares…very strange…maybe my nightmare and my reality somehow fused into one mega realtimare. Anyways, we woke up the next morning, packed up and left. Now I’m back in my site recuperating from the weekend. Starlins mom was actually very understanding about his arm. She said it could have happened anywhere and to not worry about it, which was a huge relief!

So, now I’m back to working on the water filters, and I may have to attend a medical mission in the next week because 6 people dropped out last minute. I may go there this weekend. I also have a meeting with the owner of an empty plot of land next to my house to have him donate a piece of it to our community garden project. My buddy Josiel is also meeting with the “vice-mayor” of Santiago to see if she would donate to our cause and he is also going to the nearby University of Agriculture to see if they would donate plants and stuff. A lot of stuff happening. Hitting the ground running. My small business class is finishing up soon as well.

Well, that’s about all for now. Love and miss you guys a lot. Hablamos!

So, I just got back from the Dentist here in Santo Domingo. Nicer than the one in the states i go to! Weird right? And, with this awesome, everything is absolutely free, health insurance i have as a volunteer, i got a free filling :) Since there is no fluoride in the water here, you have to take special care of teeth, and as my mother knows, i wasn't to great to begin with. All kinds of plaque and nasty stuff. Anyways, i finished that up and am waiting in the Peace Corps office to have my physical done by our in-house Doctors. We have 2 doctors stationed at the Peace Corps office just in case someone gets...i dunno.....ameobic dysnetary, among many other things. They are great.

The usual "hotel" we volunteers stay at when we are in the capitol has been condemned due to an undisclosed "security incident", so now we get to stay at a hotel where i did not contract scabies and get it reimbursed! What a day!

Im going to the US tomorrow!! Quick update on stuff here. Classes are going well. Small business class will be finished by the end of June, we have 2 sessions left. Engineer club is going amazing as usual. My kids threw my a surprise birthday party! They made Spaghetti, and made decorations out of recycled material, just like i tried to teach them in class.

The HBD is Happy Birthday. All about saving materials, lol. Made me so happy that they thought to do this for me! I have the best job in the world.

We just completed a trash pick-up project in our community as well. We got the kids together and told them we were gonna pick up all the trash in the field next door. They were all bummed out until we told them they would each receive a pair of brand new(12 peso) rubber gloves! Then they got so excited to clean up, and were asking if they were allowed to keep the gloves, haha. I totally underestimated how much trash there actually was, though. Its just layer upon layer upon layer! Anyways, we did a lot of work and at the end, the kids planted the sign we created in class, it says Engineer Club asks you to please not throw paper in this area, thanks! These guys are the best!

Well, i cant remember the last time it didnt rain here. Seriously its been non-stop for weeks. Luckily, i managed to put my 2 cents together and purchase a tarp. Oh yea, i attached a massive blue tarp to my roof with bricks and nails and flung it over the side to cover my massive open window (photos coming soon). I secure said tarp with to pad locks around the base of my gallery window, and old gorcery store bags to tie it up at the top.

This is the window im talking about.

In other news. My fan, "Reginald", died a few nights ago. Finally bit the proverbial and literal dust after i snapped him in half over my knee in a blind sweaty furry trying to revive him. Needless to say, first thing next morning i went out and bought another one. His name is Steven, fans are obviously dudes, not my call.

My engineers club is going remarkably well. My only regret is that i didn't do this in my community from the start. I spent so much time trying to get projects going at the high school that i completely neglected the kids on my community. Now i have my small business class, and engineer club here, and people come!! Its great. Yesterday we did egg olympics, match stick rockets, and paper helicopters. Bet you didnt know that if you hold an egg in the palm of your hand, wrap your fingers around it, and squeeze as hard as you can, it wont break. (Unless you have a ring on, lol). These kids love it! They are learnging these projects here then going out and showing their friends. Last night 2 groups of kids came by to as for more materials to make helicopters and match stick rockets. It took a year, and many failed attempts, but i finally found what i am supposed to be doing, lol.

These are my kids! oh yea, we did the old menos in the coke trick. Man, they loved that. Chase, that ones for you buddy, ha!

Coming home in 6 days! woo hoo! Vacation!

So Hurricane season is upon us! It is supposed to be an overactive one this year, which means i seriously have to do something about the huge gaping window in my apartment. Thinking about just tying a shower curtain to it when it rains. There is a tropical storm heading towards us right now actually so i better get on that, huh?

Anyways, short blog. Not much going on here. Started my engineers group to a raging success! 10 kids showed up on time, were excited the whole time, didnt want to leave, and couldnt wait till the next class! ITs such a refreshing attitude, as opposed to the way people have felt about my computer classes, which can be summed up in one photo....

Thats a picture of a boy smashing a computer monitor like it tried to molest him.

Other than that, weve been advancing through my small business class, and are halfway through with my 2 students, lol. They are getting a lot out of it, though, which is good.

Well, thats about it. Gotta go to the hardware store to pick up some waterproofing materials.

Here is a picture of my new engineer group!

Here is a photo of me and the group

Here is another cool picture i wanted to share with you guys. This is my group of friends whom i came in with celebrating our 1 year anniversary in-country by cave diving!! How sick is that! We went down into the annals of the earth and there was this pristine crystal clear pool at the bottom. Absolutely one of the coolest things i have ever done. The flash from the Camera makes its look a lot brighter than it was. It as pretty hard to see down there. Bats and stuff..

Starting these blogs is always awkward. I never know how to start them……soo…..alrighty…….whoopsidaises? Then there is the title of the blog. Due to my utter lack of creativity i cant come up with anything better than….update #7 or…..next blog…….

Anyways (theres another one) not much new here. Yesterday was an awesome day for me and my school. As I mentioned before, I have been communicating with the Carol Morgan School to come and help us out with science lab equipment...since we have none....and yesterday they came!!!

Oh man was it great! They came and held a 3 hour science lab with 25 of my students!! Keep in mind that these kids have never in their lives been a part of a science lab, or done any science experiments in school. They had no idea science was anything but theory. we split up into 5 groups of 5 with 3 students from Carol Morgan in each group. These kids are bi-lingual, very privileged students that have very bright prospects, in contrast with my students who can speak one language poorly who have no real regard for the future or anything past lunch. It was hard to convince these kids to stay after school to attend this lab, because they reaped no immediate benefits from it in their mind. One kid kept asking if they were going to give diplomas or certificates....for a 3hour lab!! Its so frustrating sometimes. Anyways, They ate their words, because each and every one of them had a blast. I could tell from the look on their faces, I had a few teachers sit in, and they were loving it. It felt so good to be able to connect 2 existing organizations together. At the end of the lab they presented us with a brand new microscope!! The room burst into thunderous applause. Not only that, one of the teachers from Carol Morgan is making a second trip up here to deliver more chemicals and instruments for our lab! We will finally have the tools necessary to start using our science lab. Sustainability!

Other than that, my small business class is going pretty well. I have 3 students (take what you can get) and 1 actually just dropped out.....kinda....shes gonna sit in the class but not actually partake.....so another one bites the dust. The other 2 seem pretty motivated. One has the idea to open his own restaurant, the other to open a Laundromat. These dont sound that cool, i know, but they are pretty big needs here.

Im started that engineers club June 1st, just made the formal invitation for 15 boys between 11-15 years old. Its gonna be on my roof deck, pretty excited about that. The kids ask me every day when it will start.

We have still been having a lot of rain here. My apartment flooded again yesterday, so that sucked.

Now im gonna vent about something. Some of you may know my project partner/good friend Francisco. Well, some of you also may know his wife left him/kicked him out of the house for no apparent reason other than she wanted her "freedom" back, (bitter). He now lives across the street from his house in a tiny shack of a house, while his ex-wife and kids live in the house that HE PAID FOR. I know there are 2 sides to every story and what not, but this woman is cold-hearted and just....a.....ya know. She admits he never cheated on her, and wont give any reason why they broke up other than the freedom thing. She just hates him. He is just as confused as ever, and to make matters worse, she now refuses to cook for him, even though he is paying her!!! Its not like he eats in the house, his daughter brings the food to him and he eats alone. Now he has to go out and buy food. I make him some food sometimes, but as the father of her children , i believe its her responsibility to make the food that he is paying for. There is one side to this story, she's horrible, thats it. I just want you all to take his side on this, haha. I know its a terrible thing to say, but she is pure evil. Ahh, makes me so angry.

Anyways, thats all for now. Adios!

Soooo....almost a month since my last post. Its hard trying to remember back on all the stuff that happens here. Lets see.....its been raining a lot here. Since I live practically outdoors.......

......Its kind of difficult to keep the rain from coming in. That huge window is always open, there is no glass just iron bars. My house flooded 3 days in a row. Not too bad, maybe an inch of water, and thanks to my chic cement block interior design scheme, everything was already on blocks and nothing got wet. So, thats been pretty exciting.

In other news. I started my Small Business Class at the highschool to a rousing auditorium of 0 people. Despite the flyer promotions and myself passing by each class room to advertise this great new opportunity where you can win 70,000 pesos to start your own business....no one showed up. The first class i figured everyone forgot, so i went by the classrooms again to advertise and people still didn't come. If money wont motivate 3rd world countries, what will, ha. It was super depressing, but i'm lucky to have friends here that understand exactly what I'm going through :) So, now i am teaching 3 of my friends in my community who showed a strong interest. I think its better this way too. Each student has to write a business plan about their idea, this way i can spend more 1 on 1 time developing their ideas.

I completed a grant to complete the water system in a community next to mine.

So, hopefully that gets approved and i can start working on that. It is the community i was going to move to. Its very poor and needs a lot of help. I am going to a training session in Santiago next month about the possibility of Biosand Water Filters. There are a lot of people who could really use those here. It would allow them to drink their tap water, which is huge!

Sasha (my bike) has been having some problems. She is originally from Japan, which means she had to travel quite a distance to get to the ghetto pawn shop i bought her from. The pedal broke once already, and she's making some interesting noises, straining under the pressure of my legs of fury. Im afraid shes on her last legs, keep her in your prayers, ha.

May 26th! Thats when the Carol Morgan School from Santo Domingo is making a visit to my school here in Santiago. We have been keeping in touch and they are donating hundreds of dollars worth of science instruments so we can finally open our science lab! Im so excited about this. We have a science teacher who teaches the class part, of course, but she's never used the lab because there is nothing to use. This will hopefully change the science program in a positive way for some time to come.

On June 1st Im starting an engineers club, this time with the kids in my community. It will last the month of June and end in another boys summer camp, this time 5 days long in Los Bueyes, another epic mountain retreat near Santiago. We are gonna do things like build volcanoes, egg drops, exploding mentos, spaghetti bridges, all kinds of science projects. My friend Josiel is helping me out big time with this, and it should be pretty cool.

I have also been robbed again. Someone broke....well walked into my house and stole about 3000 pesos cash. I went down to the basketball court for 5 minutes and when i came back my wallet was empty. Granted, i should not have left it on my bed, but who would think someone would rob you in 5 minutes. So that sucked big time, i wont get reimbursed for that cash so thats a big loss. I have been pretty frugal lately so it hasnt been too bad.

Still waiting on visitors people! You all have the unique chance to have a super cheap (aside from plane tickets) vacation to the DR. My tour guide services run at the cost of buying me a cheeseburger. Stay at my place, meals run about 1 dollar a day, it'll be a good time!

School gets out at the end of this month so summer is near!Adios!

These are just pics of me and my bike, Sasha. First is of us on the way to the museum. The second is of us on the back of a truck hitch hiking back to Heathers house. We have the best times......oh, Sasha.....

Just got back from an amazing 2 week vacation...oh yes....2 weeks. It has been a blast. First there was Semana Santa, like i told you guys so everyone in the entire country was off celebrating that. The second week my Aunt and Uncle came to town to visit and put me up at the Barcelo resort with them! Man, was that nice. All you can eat, air conditioned rooms, hot water(most of the time) and comfy beds. It doesnt get much better than that.

So Semana Santa started off by hanging out in Moca. Heather and I rode our bikes 2 hours straight to get to the Hermanas Mirabal Museum. Who are the Hermanas Mirabal you may ask? Well look here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabal_sisters

It was quite a fight to get there so we decided to hitchhike back to her house. Luckily a truck stopped to give us a ride and they happened to be going right by her neighborhood! so we rode with our bikes in the back of a truck filled with empty chicken crates, haha (hence my facebook pic).

Midway through the week another volunteers(Carly) parents came into town so we all enjoyed a free night out in Santiago, gracias a sus padres.

On Saturday i headed up to another volunteers(Topher) house in the mountains towards puerto plata and hung out with him and another volunteer (Chandler). We hung out in the local river and enjoyed some good tunes and good people. Very chill.

Sunday, I made the trek over to the wonderful Barcelo all-inclusive beach resort to meet up with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. They stayed until Friday and we did all sorts of stuff. We went on a cable car ride up to the top of this small mountain which had amazing views of the country. Then we went and jumped off some 12 waterfalls in Imbert for half of a day, that was fun. We ventured to Santiago to visit my site but i had forgotten my keys so we couldnt get into my apartment. We did manage to rig up a ladder and my 2 cousins and I climbed through the window for a bit, haha. We went to Cabarete the next day to enjoy the beach, and then friday the left. It was a much needed break :) and i was so glad they had a good time. I loved showing them around my little island. Seriously, if anyone wants a free tour guide, im your guy!

Now its back to reality. This weekend is a readjustment period and then i start a new small-business class on Tuesday. Im pretty excited about this one, well see how many kids show up. Also filling out a grant to get cement floors and tin roofs at a neighbor community, and working on helping paint the basketball court in my community.

Oh! we also celebrating my little neighbors ChaCha's 3rd birthday. We went to McDonalds and had chocolate sundaes. Haha she wore this little dress and a crown. It was the cutest thing ever! She doesnt look very happy in the picture with me, but trust me, she loves me, haha.

Good things happening, staying busy, living the life, poor as dirt, haha. Thats about it for now. Hablamos.

Hmmm...whats happened in the past month....instead of going 4 days straight without water.....hard to think of anything other than that haha.

Seriously, that was a while ago, and it really wasn't that bad. There was an "incident" where a few fellow volunteers were staying at my house and one of them was stricken with a variation of intestinal distress, of course, i had no water that day. Theres not much worse than 5 people in one tiny apartment while someone is "going through the motions" in the bathroom with only a bucket to flush. It is a sufficient way to get it all down.....but it doesn't necessarily complete the job, and lets face it, there are a whole lot worse things than that, ha. Gracias a Dios, it wasn't me this time.

Anyways, in related news....we just had our annual bola race! Each year most of the volunteers in the country gather in one location, then are given the name of a destination to get to using only free rides. Basically, we all gathered in Santiago, and were told the morning of the race to hitchhike to Las Terrenas. Rules of the game: You must have a partner of the opposite sex. You must wear a costume. You must assume a character. So, another volunteer, Heather and I dressed up in wedding attire. Full on dress and tux and raced up to LAs Terrenas. Ultimately, we took the wrong route and ended up next to last, BUT it was a blast and a once in a lifetime thing. Who can say they hitchhiked with a bride halfway across the Dominican Republic! Ha! There is my 10 year reunion story, haha. Im not really married though. Dont get your hopes up....or be disappointed in me :)

Other news, a few weeks ago we completed the boys science camp we had been anticipating for a while. It was an awesome success. We hosted 32 boys ages 10-14 for a 4-day 3-night camp focused on engineering and becoming a man/proffesional. I gave a presentation to 32 little boys about what it means to be a man.....can you imagine....it was a disaster, i could not have done a worse job. They seemed to take little bits and pieces from it though, so who knows. We did all kinds of science projects. We made cars out of rat traps and raced them (my team came in 3rd), we made boats out of recyclable materials (my team was the only one that could fit a person on and float the boat down a river!) We also did a lot of tiny experiments and a lot of team building educational games. We slept on the ground in a town that is probably the highest elevated town in the DR. At night it got into the low 50's thats cold when your outside, ha. It was awesome to see these kids run around in a camp-like environment. None of these kids had ever been to anything like this. We take summer camps for granted in the US, they loved it!

I was able to bring 2 kids from my community and they both had an absolute blast.

Now, its back to work as usual. Spend a few hours at the school everyday, tending to the needs of the people, lol. This week is Semana Santa, which means Holy Week. It is in observance of what we call Easter. We get a whole week, i dont know what you suckers get! I plan on traveling to see a water system inauguration tomorrow. Another volunteer has finished his water project, which basically provided water to a town that previously had no direct access. How awesome is that? Im gonna spend this week traveling throughout the tri-region area celebrating the Holy Week. LIFE IS TOUGH.

You will all be pleased to know that i am not moving to that shack i showed you in my last post. After much thought I have decided its just better to stay where im at for many reasons. But, i will still be working over there. Yesterday i went through about 25 houses inspecting them for a grant i am writing focused on cement floors and tin roofs. There are a lot of homes, like the one i was gonna rent, that have dirt floors, and a lot of houses that have very damaged tin roofs, which leak heavily when it rains. Im hoping to get this one approved so we can start working over there.

Also, I have been in contact with a teacher from the Carol Morgan School in Santo Domingo. He is going to bring 25 of his advanced AP students (this is an international school where all the students are multi-lingual from very fortunate backgrounds) to my high school for one day on May 26th and show the teachers how to utilize the science lab we have. We have a room labeled Laboratorio de Ciencia but no one ever uses it because there are no instruments. They have offered to leave us with sufficient instruments to run and sustain a science lab!! I'm really excited about this project.

That seems like all for now. I attached a few pictures. Hope you all enjoy! Miss you guys! Excited for my aunt and uncle to get here in a week!

I know, i know , i know. Its been a while, and everyone is dying to hear about my crazy exciting life! I would say i have been to busy to update, but lets face it, the Dominican culture of taking it easy and pushing things back another day has gotten a hold of me.

Lets see. The whole month of Feb was pretty wild for me. I spent about 2 weeks on a med mission i had spent 3 months organizing, so it was nice to see that come to a successful close. This one specialized in Cleft Palates, severe burn scars, and extra toes and fingers. Many women came into the clinic with massive keloids, or built up scar tissue all over their body. These massive burns were due to their abusive boyfriends who got jealous/angry and threw battery acid on them. Its not over there, not only did they throw hot battery acid, they mixed it with honey.......yea.....so it would stick to their skin. Terrifyingly depressing stuff. When i asked a few women what happened, it seemed pretty normal to them. I just dont get it. The final 2 days of the mission were a wash because the electricity went out in the hospital, surprise, and didnt ever come back, lol. We had to cancel the final 2 days of surgeries, ouch. No cool surgery stories this time, because i was the one planning and organizing/supervising and making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. So, that was pretty much my February.

March has been pretty slow. Med Mission stuff is not as intense. We have a few this month and next, but i dont have to go to any of them. I have not started any more classes, because we still dont have electricity in the school. Im on strike till they fix it, at least for computer related stuff. I saw my first Carnaval parade. It was pretty cool. Only stayed for about 20 minutes but very interesting. The past 2 weekend i have been hosting a lot of volunteers. This past weekend was out volunteer visit. This means there is a new group of volunteers that just got to the country about 3 weeks ago. They were sent out to visit older volunteers with experience to see how things are really done, as opposed to being stuck in training for 3 months. So i was able host a new volunteer and show him the ropes, how we do things here. I showed him my school, we visited an english institute for an intensive Q&A session, ate lots of dirty street food, haha. Met up with a bunch of Volunteers with their visits on Saturday just to hang out and see Santiago and all that jazz. Other than that, i have just been hanging out and working on some new ideas.

Projects to look forward too:

-MArch 31st-April 3 i will be bringing 2 kids from my community to a Science/Engineer camp in La Cienaga, thanks to help from my Grandparents! Thanks guys! Its a camp focused on team/self-esteem building and using your hands to make something all your own. We will be doing projects like building a raft out of recyclable materials, studying new advances in robotic technology, possible career paths in both science and engineering. It will be a great way to expose some of the youth to ideas outside of their own communities. And it will be a ton of fun! I will also be giving a lecture on what it means to be a man, hahaha laugh your butt off. I have to fill an hour and a half talking about this. Im pretty excited though, it should be a good time.

- Construye tus suenos: This is a new class i will be starting on April 5th. It is a 2 month course on creating a developing a small business idea, with the end goal being to submit the finished business plan to a competition where they can actually earn money to start it! Im really excited about this.

- Alta Gracia! This is a small campo (rural village) right across the canyon from my community. That makes no sense to any of you im sure, but trust me, its there. Anyways, it a very rural tiny village with nothing but wooden houses, tin roofs and dirt roads. I attended a meeting with the leaders of the community to see what i could do to help out in the area. I have a follow up meeting on Sunday to meet the whole community and talk to them a little bit about what i bring to the table. I at least want to develop this site so that another volunteer can be placed here in the future.

- I MAY BE MOVING! Thats right i may be moving to the aforementioned campo. I found a house with help from my buddy Francisco and its mine if i want it for 3000 pesos down payment and 1500 pesos a month. Thats 40 bucks a month! Half what im paying right now. I will attach a photo of the house. Im still seriosuly considering it, nothing is final. Im taking my time with this decision because its a huge change. Right now i have tile floors, cement ceiling, indoor bathroom, 24 hour electricity and pretty good water. I would be moving to dirt floor, scrap wood walls, tin roof, outdoor bathroom, spotty electricity and water. Let me know what you guys think.

Anyways, i think thats about it for now. Oh! i also just bought a bike! Her name is Sasha and she is blue. I ride her to work every day and even to the city. I save at least 40 pesos a day now. I also get some much needed exercise :)

Thats all i have. I will try to write more often. Adios!

Well, hello. This is me trying to be more disciplined in this blog, haha.

So, not too much going on here. Staying busy with Medical Mission stuff until March, when i begin my new projects. A little twist is that i am know pairing up with the science teachers at the school to introduce a series of science expiraments. I will be implementing 3 different projects and having the teachers participate so that they will learn the process, and HOPEFULLY continue to do these projects for years to come. I always remember how much fun it was to do team projects in school. All clases here consist of are straight-forward lectures. So, i decided to start this Project while they try and correct the problema with the electricity…..you know…..how it goes out for 6 hour blocks…….

Learned how to make Dominican fried chicken last night, which was cool. My cookbook is expanding rapidly lol. I attached some pictures with this blog.

One of them should be of my classic DR dinner the other night. Fried eggs and cheese, fried solomi, and boiled bananas.

One of a truck is the truck that comes through my community each day with bananas and fruit and veggies. Thats how people get their food for the most part.

One of the Dominican Baseball game we went to a while back. Vendors selling whole bags of popcorn, haha.

One of my little neighbor named Chacha and the Dora doll my Mom got her for Christmas, lol. Shes the cutest little girl ever.

Enjoy the photos. Les extraño!

Well.......i understand its been a long time since we last spoke. :)

Id like to say ive been way to busy to bother with this blog, but i have just simply forgotten about it, lol. Im gonna try to do better , though.

So my trip home was great, got to see all my friends and family, went to South Carolina, Tampa, Orlando, Mt. Dora, muchas lugares, had my first firehouse sub, tasted the sweet bliss of coal fire grilled steak with twice baked potatoes and milk that was sold....and has been cold. Loved the trip, but was happy to be coming back to my life here as well.

Upon returning, Heather and I took a little readjustment trip to the southeast of the country. We just wanted to give ourselves a little break from vacation, ya know? We visited Juan Dolio, La Romana, and Bayahibe. We also visited two islands off the coast of Bayahibe that are part of the national park system here in the DR. We visited a tiny deserted island called Catalinita, which is also where the beach fight scene from the second Pirates of the Carribeean movie takes place!!!!! We snorkled in the crystal blue waters for star fish and conch shells, Heather saw a shark, and im glad i didnt because it would have smelt my fear and bitten my legs and arms off letting me fend for myself as human chum. I hate sharks. We went to Isla Saona which has a small indigenous community of only 500 people and 1 Peace Corps volunteer, lol. It was a great trip.

Since then i have been figuring out ideas to implement in my community. My Tentaive plan as of now is to finish all my Medical Mission responsibilities by the end of February, yes i do work. Med. Missions is really crazy this time of year we have 5 happening in Jan. and Feb. By the start of march i will start a Business Plan group, where i will teach a group of kids how to create a business plan and ask for funding. Its a program set up by Peace Corps and every year they have a competition to see which plan sounds the most feasible. The winner can win up to 70,000 pesos to start their small business.

Other things i have planned are an Engineers Club in my detention center. Its basically a series of science experiments that lets kids get hands on experience with science and that sort of thing. I am excited to start that soon. These inmates have never seen anything like this.

Im also planning out my second level english class, because my neighbor wont stop talking about it, lol.

In other news, my best friend and neighbor in my community was just exiled from his house. Thats a little harsh, he still living there, but his wife told him to leave for whatever reason. He wasnt very clear with me, and its a subject that is none of my business. He is moving across the street to the unit below mine, lol. Hes been taking it kinda hard so keep him in your prayers.

I also witnessed a domestic stabbing on my way to work the other day. I was walking and i hurt a bunch of kids get up and start running towards me screaming CORTALO which means cut hiim! in spanish, so you could imagine my paralysis. I accepted my fate at that moment, i was like this is how its gonna end i will be stabbed to death repeatedly with little tiny dull cheap knives so they can steel my cell phone and latest john irving book. They ran right past me though to a disputing young couple. I didnt see how it happened but the man walked away with a stab wound that was bleeding quite well.

On the health front, i have some mystery rash again. Dont know what it is or why i have it, but its there. a million tiny insect bites is what it looks like. Pretty painful, but nothing new, lol. Just gotta wait it out. its all over hands and arms, waist and knees. It keeps spreading.....I have enough lotion to last.

Anyways, thats about it. Ill have to post pictures later because im on the school computers. Adios

Sorry again, this blog thing is getting more and more tough. So here is a brief update of what has been going on, bullet point style.

- Brought a student of mine to a youth conference about Information Technology put on by the Peace Corps. It was a 3 day conference with workshops and games to help kids gain the tools required to teach their communities a little about the basics of IT. It was very cool and my student even won a prize. The most participative, lol. He had a really great time and had the opportunity to meat a lot of other dominican youth from around the country. Great experience overall for me and him.

- Finishing up my computer repair class at my high school, and beginning to formulate a plan for next year. The class dealt with small repair basics and formatting of computers, throughout the class we began re-formatting all the computer, and am proud to say that my students will finish formatting the computer lab on tuesday (tomorrow). They will graduate then as well with certificates and cds with a bunch of computer programs. The class was not as successful as i would have liked. We only had electricity maybe 30% of the time, but the kids had fun.

- Trying to figure out what to do at the Detention Center. Computers keep breaking, kids are never interested. Frustrating scene.

- The lady who does my laundry claimed i did not pay her one month ago. When, in fact, i did. I decided to agree to pay her for this lost month to avoid a huge blowout and losing one of the few families that i am close with in my town. I did, however, mention that i did pay and that we will be moving to a receipt system to avoid this kind of problem again. I will be paying here the lost month over the next few months, just to prove to her that i am not made of money and to reinforce the fact that i am poor too, lol. We are on good terms now. Good as normal.

- I had the most amazing tacos last night.

- Med mission stuff is really picking up. Sent out a request for 34 volunteers. Confirmed travel on another 12, and chose participants for another 6. January is going to be a really busy month.

- I am coming home in 9 days!!!!

Well thats about all. Its pretty tranquilo here so no cool news yet. Sorry for the lag but i probably wont be updating until January. Adios y cuidate!

I know im swamping you guys with photos but i just got this other lab up and running and it has super fast internet, so i am able to download things super fast, lol. These are from the med mission in Dajabon. One is of the border, the other is at the beach and the last is me at the clinic.

So, i have climbed to the top of the tallest peak in the Caribbean! Pico Duarte (look it up).

It took 7 of us 4 days, 5 mules and 15 pounds of rice to reach the summit and come back down. It was the most physically demanding thing i think i have ever done, but definitely worth it and i cant wait to do it again!.

The first day we hiked 4 kms. to a cabin where we camped for the night. The next night we hiked 24 kms to the peak, but it was too cloudy to really see anything. The next day we hiked down 14 kms. to the Valle de Tetteros, which is a really cool valley with rivers on both sides, very picturesque. The next day we hiked down the nearly 20 kms. back to the base. We actually ran most of the way down the mountain, it was too steep to tiptoe down so to reduce the destruction of my knees we jogged down pico duarte, haha! So much fun it was like a video game, trying to keep our feet under us.

Each night we had rice and solomi for dinner, and each morning we had hot cocoa, boiled bananas and solomi. We had to drink out of the rivers, which means yes......i ....drank.....from...a....river. You would think that all the times that i got sick from merely looking at faucet water in this country would deter me from sticking my head under the river and sucking in all the bacteria, haha. We also bathed in the rivers....but we did not drink and bathe at the same time, we made sure to always drink up stream....lol.

All in all it was an incredible trip, im trying to attach some photos. Enjoy.

Sorry again for the massive gaps in between my posts. Activity is starting to pick up here and the next few weeks are looking pretty busy.

So, i just got back from Dajabon last weekend. Dajabon is a region located near the border of Haiti. I was there with a few other volunteers helping out at a medical mission. It was a really great town. The organization was called Waves of Health, they are a new non-profit that has been in the country for about 3 years. They are doing big things here. It was exciting to collaborate with them.

Towards the end of the trip they took to the Haitian border. Yes, the border. I know all the other 0 volunteers who read this are saying, noooo you will be fired if Peace Corps reads this blog! But as far as i know the border is in bounds, as long as i dont step across it. I could see Haitim though. We saw this Haitian guy carryign chickens across the border, the gate shuts, then all of a sudden there is this ruckus and up fly 50 chickens back to the DR. The Haitians were throwing the chickens back at us, it was the craziest thing i have ever witnessed. A people starving for food put their pride ahead of eating. Idiots. I dont know the whole story because i dont speak Patui or French, but thats the just of what i understood.

We also went to a national park in Monti Cristi, which is on the north coast. We climbed this really sweet hill and could see for miles in every direction. I hope to get a few of thosepictures up on this blog when i have some time.

Then when i get back on Friday we were being consolidated to a Hotel in Santiago because of Hurricane Tomas. So i enjoyed 2 nights of hot showers, and 24 hour electricity, and ESPN!!! Arrived back at my house on Sunday night and have been coming to the school trying to do some work since Monday. So, today im in the lab trying to fix these darned computers still.

Tomorrow i leave to climb the highest peak in the Carribbean, Pico Duarte. Look it up on google. Im pretty pumped, its a 3-day trek up the mountain, and we will be reaching the peack before the sunrises, i cant imagine how beautiful it will be! We will have pack mules, and a few guides with us. Pretty stoked about that! Wont be back until Sunday i imagine.

So thats whats going on, ill try to get better at updating this thing.

Miss you guys, and ill be seeing most of you in about a month!!!!!

I know its been a while folks, and i also know you definitely do not want to hear about it again, but the D-train has left the station. Were chugging at full speed, lol. Its been a long time coming, im just glad i had such a good run there for a little while. I think it was because i ate 3 day old street food........I just got greedy. Im just glad im here in my own apartment, with my own bathroom, and running water. Couldnt be under better cicumstances, lol.

Anyways, Finally have something to write about. I am graduating my first English class next friday. They take their exam next wed. and i am planning a little graduation party for them. Ill bring some sodas, a few twinkies, some candies, etc. It should be fun. I printed out their certificates. Certificates are a huge deal in this country, you get them for just about everythin. Peoples resumes are like 5 inches thick with these ridiculous certificates, with everything from recess MVP to Chess Club. Anyways, I made them for the students and now the director of the school wants me to make one for the school, lol. She wants it to say something like, "Certificate of appreciation for letting Peace Corps utilize one of the classrooms to teach english." She wants to put it up on the wall of her office.........i guess whatever makes people happy, who am i to rob them.

Im also beginning a 4 week computer repair class at the school. They have been begging me for it, so i decided to just suck it up and do it. Even though we dont have electricity half the time, ill still try to teach a computer class, lol.

Im also going to the border town of Dajabon next sunday. Its....60 miles from Haiti? Something like that....we have also been advised that there is a breakout of Cholera in Haiti......when was the last time you heard that.....anywhere.....isn't there a book thats titled "Love in the time of Cholera"? It just makes me think of a really old obsolete disease that just rose from the grave to torment the unfortunate people of Haiti. Symptoms include but are not limited to: Painful pure white liquid diarrhea and vomiting......sounds like dinner at a Dominican restaurant to me. I guess the difference is that this disease will kill you in 24-48 hours purely from dehydration. Bring it on!!!

Also, another woman has jumped off the bridge to their death here in Santiago. This is the second time a woman has jumped off this bridge. Its crazy! Its the bridge of death. Ive never really lived near a bridge so i dont know if this is normal bridge behavior, but its wild to me.

Thats about it for now. Miss you guys!

Sorry, i have not been updating my blog very regularly. Work has taken up most of my time, so i don't have as much internet free time. I have begun work on the other laboratory in my school. So, the good new, the first one is done! Computers are all up and working with the required programs and internet. Took my long enough with the inconsistent electricity and the constant pestering of the students, lol.

Other than that, i am still carrying out my duties at the detention center. Still.....really tough, lol.

Medical Missions business is really heating up. Trying to coordinate a few missions right now.

There is really nothing special going on right now. Just working working. No cool stories or anything. Ill make sure to keep you posted though, lol.

Here is a picture of some of my Dominican friends, enjoy.

So my parents just left the country yesterday.

It was an exciting time. They arrived last thursday afternoon and left yesterday afternoon. We squeezed a lot of stuff into a small window. We visited Yasica, Cabarete, Puerto Plata, Santiago. I had some amazing meals, slept in AC, had hot water, swam in a pool. IT was so nice. It was great to get to see the fam also.

Now, im back to the ol grind. 5 people showed up to english class today, so i can see the interest is waning.

Not much else really going on here though. Just same ol same ol.

Anyways, adios and cuidanse

Pica Pollo is fried chicken...and made my first batch of fried chicken last night!!! So pumped! There was this pre-made pica pollo mix at the store, picked it up slapped some on a few drum sticks let those bad boys sizzle. Delicious! My cooking portfolio is expanding greatly here. The other day i made scalloped potatoes. Just sliced a potatoe and threw em in the frying pan with some veggies for a few minutes. Super simple, cheap, easy.

I also would like to say that i have been in relatively good health for almost 2 months. Ever since i moved into my own house, i have been feeling so much better. There are a lot of reasons, i think.

1. Im home. I lived with 3 different families over the course of 4ish months. All the moving around and adapting to different environments was stressful.

2. No one washes their hands here, that would be ok if they didnt serve the food by sliding it on your plate....with their hands..

3. Everyone "rinses" cups and plates of with tap water aka devils juice. They dont get that ever bead of water contains a bajillion little parasites.

4. Im eating smaller quantities. Im not eating until i throw up anymore just to appease my host family and feel socially accepted.

Life is pretty sweet.

On the flip side, i saw a woman jump from a bridge yesterday. I think she intended to kill herself, but it really wasnt high enough for that. She ended up landing on the sidewalk with severe injuries.....man that must suck. Whatever she was going through before is now tripled with physical pain....but God obviously had some other plan for that woman.....makes you think.

Well i gotta go teach english now.

Adios

So thats where ive been this past week, Santo Domingo. Ive been participating in a med mission specializing in ear reconstruction. The perks were amazing. We got to stay in an amazing hotel. We were taken out to dinner every day for lunch and dinner, and not to just any old place, to AMAZING resteraunts. Just a preview of some of the food i had..... Angus beef tenderloin with melted gorgonzola cheese on top, Veal scaloppine, Beef Filete, Smoked pork chops, etc. Needless to say it was incredible! AND i did not have any intestinal distress!! Big week!

As far as the work went.....We worked for our food and accomodations. We put in five 13 hour days in a row. I have never worked so hard for so long. We were running back and forth between the operatin room and the post-op. I was removing IV`s and discharging patients with instructions on how to mantain their scars....Laura eat your heart out...haha. I got to scrub in on surgeries, holding peoples ears that were dangling by a thread as the surging dug for a hole. I got to fill needles with local anesthesia. We had a lot of responsibility, more than i ever would have in the US, lol. Our main responsibility was to translate for everyone, doctors, nurses, etc-It was a mind changing experience, though. The dominicans were so patient and soo appreciateve of the service we offered. It was refreshing to see the family element. Whoel families rallying behind their children as they came to and from surgery. To see their eyes light up as their little girl/boy was wheeled into post-op, still half asleep. The families would stay for hours. There were tears, hugs, laughter all that junk. The medical team that we assisted was incredible. 3 dedicated surgeons, and a handful of nursing staff. They were all super nice, and patient. They also paid for all of our meals, lol. Days were rough, and it felt liek we never got a break, literally we took 10 minutes for lunch. But, at the end of the day when you've worked your butt off for something bigger than yourself, it feels pretty good. It was miserable, exhausting, stressfull, mentally tiresome, but i wouldnt trade any second of it for anything else. This is the best thing i do here.

Also, on a more selfish note, i won 6000 pesos in the casino while in Santo Domingo. I keep winning, lol.....

So im back home now. Back to high schools and prisons, lol. Quite a change of pace, but im ready to be back-

Love and miss you guys tons. My parents are coming in 2 weeks!!!

Sorry for the last gap in posts. I recently told you had a super fast internet card, well it was taken back by the original owner, so i dont have it anymore. Back to the ol 30 minutes of internet a day thing. Which i am kind of glad about. The internet took up probably 80 percent of my time in the US, rendering me useless to the outside world. Without i have had a chance to rediscover so many other things like reading, hanging out with neighbors, traveling, working more. Its a releif to not have internet constantly at my fingertips, although sometimes it would be nice...lol

Anyways, im here in the computer lab trying to continue formatting all the computers. Its such a pain in the butt! But what else do i have to do, i have precious little electricity so i have to bag em out as quickly as i can.

Im leaving for La Capital tomorrow for the next 10 days. I will be on another medical mission. This one is ear reconstruction and its going to be intense. Aside from all the administrative duties that we have, we will also be taking dominican patients into the pre-op rooms, prepping them for surgeries, outfittin gthem with sterilized gowns and such, then walking them into the surgery room, translating between the doctor and anesthesiologist, and then wheeling the patient into post op and waiting for them to wake up to offer support and care, lol. It sognna be an adventure, but we get to stay at a super fancy hotel with AC and hot water, TV and a full service gym. Everything is paid for, so for the next 10 days i will not be paying a single peso for anything....love it.

Anyways, thats about it, gotta get back to work. Tenga un buen dia, adios

So my friend is letting me borrow her Internet card for an undefined period of time until she gets a new computer. Basically, it means i get rapid fast internet all the time now, which is awesome.

So, not a lot going on since Monti Cristi, just been working like a fool. Long stressful days. It's nice having something to fill my time though. I feel like im contributing, lol. So here are a few things ive been up to:

1. English Classes: We are the end of our second week and everyone seems to be enjoying the class. We play lots of games that incorporate english vocab and stuff like that. Its a very interactive class, had our first pop quiz the other day and everyone seemed to do well, so i think were on track. We played jeopardy with numbers the other day and it turned into a battle royal. Both sides were standing and shouting, the game ended in a tie, and they were not having that. Someone was going to win, but it worked out for me because i could just say, "Everybody is a winner, yay!" Dominicans don't like that very much....noted.

2. Juvenile Detention Center: Probably the most difficult thing i've involved myself in. The kids are so rowdy, they always stray off task, never pay attention, its a chore just trying to get them to stay in their seats. But every now and then you get through to a kid, and it makes all the crap worth it. Like today, i was teaching out of a program called Typing Master Pro, and there was this one kid, Joheidy (no its not a misspelling), and i tried to explain the program, then he explained he didn't know how to read. I just assume that 16 year old kids know how to read, but its not always the case here. He struggled a lot at first with the program, but i just sat with him and tried to explain it in other terms, and eventually he was getting better. I could see his progress, he was so excited kept telling me to come over and see how well he was doing. By the end of class he could manage the entire middle of the key board, which is huge for a kid that can't read. Oh, it was just the greatest feeling in the world. To see a kid be proud of himself in something he should be proud of. He just kept getting better, by the end of class he didnt want to leave. Ive come to realize that these kids sometimes just need someone to encourage them or give them a pat on the back, some kind of shove. Its been difficult finding a teaching style, and its difficult having patience with these kids, but its probably the most rewarding thing ive done so far.

3. Medical Missions: I have another med mission on the 17th of september, so next week. Its about 9 days, im pretty pumped. Stay in a Hotel, everything is payed for. Ill be working my butt off, but ill get some nice accommodations.

On cultural note, Dominican children have no grasp on the fact that i speak english as a primary language. They know i dont speak spanish well, and then when i start speaking english to them, they are stunned....like they assume im just stuck in the middle of a few languages, but dont really speak any of them well.......guess you had to be here, lol.

Anyways thats about it for now, im gonna ty to attach some pics for you guys. The picture of the truck is the what we rode in the back of for 45 minutes down a mountain, lol.

Buen provecho

So here are some photos of Monti Cristi, and the beautiful beach we went to. Life is rough....

So, sorry for the gap between blogs. But, i have been a busy bee (yea i said it), for the past few days. My classes started Monday. Planning these suckers and making it worthwhile for these students is a lot of work. I have a new found respect for teachers now, lol. I have one class and its takin up all my time, lol. Anyways, my class is going really well all 20 kids have come to every class, which i know that doesnt sound like a big deal to you, but in a culture where people dont go anywhere when its either 1. Friday or 2. Raining , it saying a lot. We’re having fun. They seem realy excited, i had them make their first oral presentation in class on Friday, Show and tell, 5 sentences about yourself and the object you brought with the formato f

My name is

I am from the

I am a

This is a

It is

It is from

Pretty difficult, but they nailed it. I was so proud! I made books for them, i do handouts, games, everything. Its a fun class.

The detention center has been going well also. Im going to be teaching four classes their now, lol. 2 on wed. 2 on thursday. My plate is slowly filling up, lol. One of the kids was released the other day, 2 more new ones came in.

Ive been pretty busy with Medical Mission staff too, since i am a new chairman. Lots of emailing, lol. I have a lot going on right now. No worries, though, because tomorrow im going to the Beach in Monti Cristi! A new Group of volunteers is here, so were gonna go see what the deal is and have some fun. I cant beleive ive been here for 6 months.

Anyways, thats about it for now. Hablamos muchachos

So today is the day all the kids will sign up for my english classes. I cant start my computer class because the power goes out too much and we dont have a generator....that works. Im supposed to go by their classroom and collect the money (100 pesos) to sign up. Its gonna be another 25 pesos each week to stay in the class. Hope people sign up. Vamos a ver.

So for the forseeable future i will be reformatting every computer in both the Liceo and Detention center, lol. This becomes tricky because we lose electricity for about 6 hours during the middle of the dayso ill usually have it until 10 am, then lose it until 4, school closes at 5. Each computer takes a good 45 minutes to reformat. I have a long road ahead of me. Plus im trying to teach the IT teacher how to format the computers, but she is kind of slow, and takes multiple repititions.

Ive also met a new friend in my neighborhood. His name is joseal and he studies at the English Institute in Santiago. So he speaks very well. HE asked me to be a guest speaker at his class, so ill be going on friday to show off my poorly organized english dialect. Just look at the grammer and punctuation in this blog, should i be teaching anyone? haha. Should be a good time though, im looking forward too it.

Also, im looking after my friends dog for a while, its a mix between a doberman and a chow chow, whatever the heck all that means. All i know is, she is crazy, she pees whenever she gets excited, which is all the time. ITs reaffirmed the fact that i will never get a dog here.

Man, well thats about all the news here. Steelers play on Saturday 8 oclock!

Love and miss you guys a lot. Adios

So ive been here in the Capital this past weekend. Santo Domingo, for those not familiar with this fine country. It was committee weekend. I was elected MEdical Mission Chairman, woohoo. That just means i will be coordinating with different NGOs with medical missions and stuff. IT shouldnt be too hard, but it will look AWESOME on my resume!!

We stayed at a hostal with AC and hot water showers!!! Luxury! Went out last night to Calle Venezuela to dance a little bachata/merengue. It has been a good time.

Sorry for this boring post but i feel like i should take advantage to the internet.

adios

Ahora, I knew in some of my later posts i discussed how much i hate the food, and ill never adjust to it. Well....im adjusting. I have honestly never been this healthy for this long in this country (knock on wood). I guess ive never had the opportunity to really enjoy everything i eat, because im either sick, worried about getting sick, just getting over a sickness, etc. Pero, Gracias a Dios estoy in bien salud. Entonces, i thought i would review with you a fie of my favorite dishes:

1. Spaghetti with tostones - i cant really describe the spaghetti, but its different, and good, tostones are flattened platano chips fried twice.

2. Moro de guandules con Pollo Frito - This is like brownish rice with spicy little bean thingys, and fried chicken, super good.

- Ive also found that avocado and bananas are good to mix in with the rice. Seriosuly you should try it sometime. Hot rice with a cold avocado/banana.

3. Sopa - Soup, says it all. Usually noodles, potatoes, chicken, and anything else on the table.

4. La Bandera - This is the typical Dominican Dish. White rice, beans, salad, seasones chicken. Super awesome, super delicious.

-I have also grown accustomed to boiled bananas, platanos and yuka. Sure they boil the flavor right out of them, but they make a great compliment to a slice of cheese or an egg. A plate of boiled platano with 2 fried eggs and a slice of cheese, mmmmm.

Also, i find it amusing how no one drinks liquids with their food. They usually drink afterwards. Im sorry, i cant pound 3 pounds of rice on a dry mouth, its just no happening. Everyones like, here comes Jose better give this weirdo a glass of water with his dinner, pssht.

Well, thats my food rant. In other news, im fixing every computer in the computer lab because they all have a abajillion viruses because these muchachos download anything and everything they can get their hands on. I have to re-format practically every single one. Doesnt help when the electricity goes out either, lol. Also, i taught at the detention center today, and 13 of the 15 computers pooped out so i had 9 kids huddled around 2 computers teaching them how to type. You had to have been there.

Anyways, thats all for today, Hasta Lunes.

Im not teaching at the highschool until next week. But, today was our first day of highschool!! Really, cool. It felt great to be able to start fresh with these kids, instead of when i came in at the end of last year. Im a little more familiar with everything, i know i few more people. Im liking this siuation. Well see how it plays out, but as far as first days go, it went pretty well. We gathered all the students in a large classroom and introduced all the teachers, adiminstrators, and even played a few games, a few videos. It was a very well put together presentation. Obviously, i was roped into managing everything technological, and when they couldnt hear sound from the computer and i just unclicked the Mute button, everyone gasped in awe and wonder, "this man knows everything". I dread the day i have to dissapoint them, haha. Everyone is excited about the new year, but isnt everyone always? even in the states everyone is pumped to have a new backpack, pencils, clean fresh notebooks, then you get the first assignment and want to go home. So my schedule is as follows, i dunno if i already told you about this, but anywas

Computer repair Mon-wed-fri 3-4

English Tues-thurs 3-5

Basic computer class at the detention center Tues-wed-thurs 10-11 am

So thats what im starting with. Once i get the feel of things i may or may not add more. Ive also been having to do some laptop repair on the side which gives me stuff to do at home....its lonely....lol.

I also wanted to address an issue of Dominican culture: cell phones. I m not sure how long ago they descovered cell phones but it may as well have been yesterday. People here are always on their cell phones, which is weird because no one ever has any minutes.....so you wander who they are talking to. There is also the part where they keep their phone on full blast...even in meetings.....francisco.....so that people can see them answer their phone, like they have something important to talk about. They pick up their phones during meetings also, its not like, oh ill get this later, its oh lets talk about how things are going in the middle of a budget meeting. They love attention, so they will let their cell phones ring on full blast until they see enough people turn around to look at them, then they answer and talk in voz alta (a high voice). I just shake my head sometimes.

Anyways, things are pretty normal here.....reading alot

Im going to the capital this weekend for committee weekend. Im trying to get on the Medical Mission board, wish me luck.

Friendly reminder: feel free to call me anytime, my number is 809-723-9772 it will cost me nothing but charge you out the wazzoo, lol, or buy a phone card and say hello, or send me a text, lol. Texts arent expensive. Love to hear from ya.

Cuidanse muchachos

Ok so now that i have awesome internet im gonna try to upload as many pics as i can. Here we go.

So im back from an awesome week. We spent Monday through Wed. in Jarabacoa which is a little town smack dab in the middle of the country. About an hour and a half from Santiago. Very cool. There we presented our project plans for the coming year and thusly ending (formely) our training period. We are now free to do whatever the heck we want to do for the rest of 2 years, lol.

After the conference on wed. a couple volunteers and I went up to visit another volunteers site in Manabao, which is way up the mountain towards Pico Duarte. We visited a freezing cold river, and got caught n a pelting downpour. IT was the first time i have felt cold in months. At night the temperature drops into the 50s, yea thats super cold here. We slept under comforters! We made a solomi, egg, platano dinner and played dominoes all night, it was a blast. The next day, Thursday, we went white water rafting down the same river we saw the day before. Since it had rained so much the rapids were sizable. IT was so much fun. We went with guides, obviously, but it was so cool weaving in between huge rocks down tiny waterfalls for 2 hours! A couple people fell out, including me, and a few people were injured but it was no big deal. After that we all went and got pizza in town. Sooo good. I love pizza. Then a few volunteers came back to Santiago with me to spend the night and check out my environment. WE ended up going to Chilis (thats right the american chain resteraunt). IT was built 2 months ago. Quesadillas, chicken tacos, burgers, fries,mmmmmmmmmm!!! Then on Friday we all went into the city to check out the sites and hang out for a bit. They all left after lunchtime and i was left extremely tired from the weeks activites. So i went back to my apartment and took a long nap....then went to bed, lol. Today ive just been chillin, tonight im going to the nursing school graduation of one of my neighbors. PRetty excited about that, should be a good time. Anyways...im gonna try to attach some pictures and see if it works.

So its the hottest month of the year here.....if you can imagine that. Its one of these mind melting, slit your wrist kinds of heat. Where you sweat walking into the shower, sweat during your shower, and then sweat even more after your shower. There is almost no relief except to sprinkle water on your forehead and stand an inch away from the fan. Air conditioning is sorely missed here.

In other news, i will be presenting my project plan this week in Jarabacoa. All the volunteers in my group will gather to present their individual projects. What they plan to do for the next 2 years. Im psyched because Jarabacoa is supposed to be an awesome town, and some of us might get to go white water rafting!

My apartment is coming along nicely. Ive been able to take some cement blocks and a few peices of scrap wood to make some shelves for my room and kitchen. The other day we went to Price Mart. Which is like Sams club. Bulk shopping...I know, life here is tough....And i got a sweet deal on some peanut butter and bar-soap, woo hoo!

Not much else is going on here in the City of Gentleman, but im trying to upload this one photo of my apartment. Hopefully it shows up for you guys.

Love and miss you guys! Ciao