My service is all but completed. I'm here in the capital for my last week before heading back to the States on May 3rd. I had my going away party last Thursday, we had a lot of speeches and retelling of fond memories. Plus, I got gifted a t-shirt, 4 handkerchiefs, 3 coconut dulces and a sweet potato dulce.

I'm done, it's weird to have left my site out in El Rincon and Samana, but it's time...I'm done.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

This week is our close of service appointment week. In order to end our Peace Corps service, we must get medical and administrative approval on a wide variety of subjects ranging from the mundane (video interviews recounting our service) to the bizarre (3 samples of your poo). The whole environmental sector is here to get all of the appointments and signatures needed to head out on May 2nd.

We also gave a despedida to good friend Marc Mitrano who left this morning for the States.

I put together a goodbye photo for the people in my community to leave behind. I know it sounds odd to us, but Dominicans love the photo memories...it's "culturally appropriate."

Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Last week marked our Close of Service (COS) conference, beginning the final chapter of my Peace Corps service. We spent 3 days discussing the exit procedures and accompanying paperwork needed to leave Peace Corps, as well as the readjustment process back into America. It was the final Peace Corps conference we will attend.

I got back home for just a few brief days in Samana before turning around to head back to the capital to translate for the MACLA plastic surgery mission run by Dr. Tom Geraghty. Every 6 months, Doctors from Kansas City, MO take their vacation to come down to the Dominican Republic to operate on cleft lips and palates, burn victims, hand deformities, and tumors on underserved Dominicans. Every mission, Peace Corps volunteers work with the patients as translators for the medical staff in the pre and post-operating rooms, the recovery room, and even inside the operating room. We got a really close up look at the procedures, one day I even scrubbed in and got to help out on a cleft lip surgery. The experience was incredible. Being so intimately involved in the entire process, from the initial consultation to their recovery and bandages being removed, made me feel like I was part of the patient's story. It was a very emotionally-charged week. The highs of families' faces when patients came out of the OR had bandages removed were coupled with lows, of having to tell patients "I'm sorry, we just can't operate on you." We worked from 5:30AM to 7:00PM for 6 days, had a great time with the doctors, patients, and fellow volunteers while learning a lot about procedures you rarely see in the U.S. This week is Gringo Grita week, the volunteer magazine PCDR publishes every 4 months. It's going to be my last one and definitely has been the most fun project I've been involved in here.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

The architecture students from Yestermorrow arrived to El Rincon on Friday to begin their 3 week long project in my town. They're designing a new landscape for our community center that houses the water tank, our eco-tourism center, and the women's group meeting house. Construction starts tomorrow and it promises to be challenging work for the students and a great help for the community.

It's not everyday 12 architects come into your town and design a beautiful work for free. Here are some pics of the design phase so far.

Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Happy 2008!

In addition to being a new year, I've also got a new house (again). I moved into Samana, which is the town and seat of my municipality, about an hour from my old house in Rincon. In theory, I'll be helping out the Secretary of Education to do teacher training, and helping out on a new ecotourism project 1 hour from Samana in Bajo Yuna.

We had a good Christmas in Las Terrenas with Matt Crossett and his family, and a new year's in Cabarete (could Cabarete actually be hell?). Now I'm back here in Samana, getting ready for the arrival of the architect group Yestermorrow, which will be doing a project with my mother's group in our town for the next 3 weeks.

Matt's Family (and Ginette)

Cabarete Beach

Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

I'm totally fine from Tropical Storm Noel. Fortunately, the storm did little more than dump 3 days of rain on the Samana penninsula and fill up our water tanks. There are still many parts of the country where roads and infrastructure are severly damaged, and homes and families have been broken and swept away by swelled rivers and landslides. There is still a friend of mine Christina here in the office, unable to return to her site due to a damaged highway (part of it was collapsed, so they made a rope bridge with two rope-handrails to cross a ravine...she's staying here until it's fixed.)

The storm brought me a powerful flu virus. I've been sick for about a week, and on Monday night, had one of the highest fevers I can remember. I'm in the capital getting a bunch of tests done: it wasn't dengue nor a parasite, the doctors say it was just a strong virus.

I got stung by FOUR BEES on 2 SEPERATE OCCASSIONS last week as well. I have not been stung by a bee in over ten years, but this week 4 of them decided I was overdue for a swollen stomach and arm (two on my right arm).

I bought a sack of freshly picked coffee in hopes of drying it, peeling it, toasting it, and drinking it. We'll see how it goes. It started out with a small task I did for my Dona to mash some toasted beans. Now, I hope to get the mother's into selling this stuff to tourists on the side of the road.

Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Please vote for my blog as a good one at http://bloginterviewer.com/north-america/foreign-service-michael-menelliPeace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

I arrived last Sunday, accompanied by my sister who is filming a short documentary on life as a volunteer in the developing world. We finished shooting today, back at the Peace Corps office preparing for her flight out tomorrow. Here's a quick breakdown of her visit:

Sunday, Day 1: Arrived in Santo Domingo International Airport, my taxi driver was nowhere to be found and we had to find an overpriced one there. Got back to the office/pension and had Pizzarelli's pizza for dinner, easing my way back into the vivere and salami onslaught that would ensue for the following 7 months.

Monday, Day 2: Left the capital on the 6-hour journey to my campo. Once we got there, I distributed some gifts I bought, introduced my sister to everyone visited my girlfriend for the night. We took it easy, it was way hotter than I remembered.

Tuesday, Day 3: Took it easy for the morning, and re-oriented ourselves around town. After lunch, we went down to the beach to go swimming and film some stuff. The Caño Frio was chillingly refreshing and I had a nostalgic blast.

Wednesday, Day 4: Ditto for the mañana, had lunch at Yinet's and went down to the beach with her family.

Thursday, Day 5: Installed a water filter at Chi-chi and Deyanira's in the morning, and made a compost pile in the afternoon at Carmen's.

Friday, Day 6: Did nothing in the morning, and went out to the Laguna del Diablo. Damn it is far, and a shadeless walk. In the afternoon we filmed me bathing and using the latrine.

Saturday, Day 7: Left early in the morning on the gua-gua and am here.

This week I'll be working on the PCDR Gringo Grita volunteer magazine again. Let's hope it's great, and comes out stunning.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

I've been here in the U.S. for almost my full 3 week stay. Last weekend I went up to D.C. and had a great time visiting with old friends. Tyler, Brendan, Berkin, even Tom Ross and Bobby Gracey were up by chance and we all got to hang out.

I needed the trip. Life here on the couch all day isn't exactly everything it's cracked up to be. Sure, I have an endless supply of food and drinks that I consume on a leather couch in the comfort of air conditioning, but the boredom and the bedsores will drive you to insanity by the 3rd re-run of Scrubs you've seen TODAY. So, heading up to DC brought me a much needed change (and some great weather) to keep me going my last week here in the U.S.

It's weird, the last thing I ever foresaw feeling here was an urge to get back to the campo. I bought a lechosa yesterday in the supermarket and I've been making batidas de lechosa. I think it's doing something weird to my blood, pulling the veins and masses of flesh they flow through like a magnetically driven bird-sense towards its birthplace somewhere in the DR.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

I've been here in the States for 3 days now, and I've found myself slipping with a number of different Dominican customs that I've sub-conciously brought with me that don't mesh with life here.

1. Throwing your half-filled glass of water out on the floor when you're done. Floors aren't mopped twice daily here and it leaves a dangerous slip-prone puddle.

2. Greeting a room full of strangers when you enter. There's no good way to say "saludos" in English, and "Hello" just doesn't have the same commanding tone.

3. Scrunching your nose when you don't get what someone has just said to you. Instead, they might hand you a Kleenex tissue expecting you to sneeze. Salud!

4. The urge to pour a bottle of beer into a cup...just drink from the bottle man!

5. I washed an old (and now desired) pair of tennis shoes the other day. They are apparently better cleaned by pulling out your wallet and buying a new pair.

So far, the best food I've eaten has been the bratwursts I grilled tonight on the BBQ with baked beans and Guacamole. I'd been thinking about bratwursts for a long time, and the word is actually making my mouth water as I type right now. I'm really looking forward to a trip to the Cheesecake Factory.

I'm going up to DC from September 14th-17th to visit my friends from college.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Finally, after 1 year and 6 1/2 months, I'm back on US soil. The flight from Santo Domingo to Miami was shorter than I remember, and gave me a number of beautiful views of small untouched Caribbean islands that speckling the blue-green waters like dobs of paint. I was first amazed, flying over Biscayne Bay and Downtown Miami, at the amount of buildings there were. Blocks of houses behind houses, behind houses in all directions, completely filling my view of the city. There were also a multitude of cars running along the highways below like micro-machines, and the skyscrapers of the downtown district reminded me of a play-city set I played with as a kid. All very novel.

I arrived today in Miami at 1:00PM and my mom, sister, and brother were there to pick me up. My sister is shooting a video documentary on my Peace Corps transition to the U.S. and back to the D.R., so she arrived shooting video at the airport.

An hour into the ride back home, I found out that my Grandmother, Barbara McCormick Menelli passed away today from lung complications at the hospital in nearby Punta Gorda. She was 76 years old and the mother of 5, including my father.

My first meal was a Publix turkey sub and Dirty Potato Chips, BBQ Mesquite flavored. The man working the deli was Haitian, and I started up a conversation with him about me being a volunteer in the DR. He informed me that actually, although Haiti shares a border with the DR, they are actually very different with distinct histories. Thanks deli-man! He didn't understand that I was there for a year and a half, and just wanted to let him know I got back to the U.S. today from his island. He graduated from a university in Haiti in Accounting Sciences and Construction Engineering, and came to the U.S. to work. Disappointingly, many immigrants work extremely hard in their home country to gain the credentials for a U.S. visa and arrive to fill menial labor openings and other jobs that they are well over-qualified for but limited to due to their nationality.

Tomorrow will be my first full day in the U.S., I hope to visitPeace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

May 8th was my last post and in the past 3 months, a lot has changed!

My principle project (developing an Eco-tourism destination at the Laguna del Diablo with the local womens group...remember?) has been completed and was inaugurated on July 20th. We had a get-together in town and roasted a pig to celebrate. My boss Alberto Rodriguez came up along with a group of fellow Environmental volunteers (Julie Mullen, Marc, Matt, Adam, and Lindsay) and we all went out to the Laguna to check out the project. Unfortunately it was raining and we couldn't make it all the way out, but we climbed to the top of the trail and caught a view on the Laguna from a little ranch I made with my friend Wilian to view from afar. Afterwards, me and my friends went out to Las Galeras for the night and had our own "inauguration". It was great fun.

I have also been dating a Dominican girl for the past 4 months, her name is Ginette and has added even more crazyness (in a good way) to my life here as well giving me the singlemost impactful experience in my Peace Corps "experience"

I'm in the process of deciding whether to opt-in and take the Peace Corps Volunteer Leader position for the Environmental sector. This is always a 3rd year volunteer and I would serve as support for both the Environmental volunteers in the country as well as my boss Alberto. We haven't worked out the details yet, but it usually means staying for a longer period of time (up to an extra year) and moving into the capital. My project is already completed, and I'm totally burned out at my site. I'm ready for a change, and the PCVL position would be a good career development move, getting experience in the administration here at the PC office, as well as living with running water, cell phone service, and internet. More details to come. Cara's had some flea issues, so I rigged her up a Dominican version of the funnel U.S. veterenarians put on dogs (with wire and a used tub of butter) so they don't scratch/bite themselves. Luckily for her self-esteem, she's since been cured.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Look back on the "progress" of one year of community development work. Sharing tools, along with challenges, we incorporate into our efforts to effect positive change in our communities. Planning our next (and final) year of work in our communities.

We had our 1 year in-service-training this weekend and that's what we did.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Check out the Google Map I made giving a geographical perspective to this trip.

This weekend I was off to the despedida (going away party) of fellow volunteer Tommy Ventre who is finishing his 2 years of service. Tommy lives on the opposite end of the country near the border town of Loma de Cabrera in a campo called La Berengena.

I left my site at 8AM to leave from Samana to Santiago on the gua-gua. I arrived at the bus station in at Santiago at 1:45PM, 15 minutes after the gua-gua to Loma de Cabrera left. I would have to wait until 4:30 PM to catch the next one headed out to the town closest to Tommy. This was a long time I thought, and would put me in Loma late. However, the manager of the bus station assured me we'll get in a bit after 6PM and there would still be trucks at the stop taking passengers out to Tommy's campo. In one of my persistent check-ups of the departure time of the gua-gua to the ticket vendor, an older woman said that she too was going to Loma, and would be sure to help me find a way to get to Tommy's.

Of course, 6PM rolled around and we were still well out of Loma. 7PM brought a setting sun and I began to worry. The passengers began to break out into mini-conferences discussing the future of my trip. The bus echoed with warnings and ill-news: "it's very dangerous to travel at night here" "It's that he doesn't know the area, he can't go on a motorcycle with someone" "at night, everyone looks really dark" "he should just stay in Loma and leave in the morning for the campo". Even the driver didn't want to take responsibility for finding transport for me, as he related a story of another driver sending someone on a moto-taxi with someone he "knew" and that person getting beat up and mugged. No thank you I thought, I was sufficiently freaked out, I would just have to stay in Loma. At this point, at the last town we passed through before Loma, a smelly man wearing camoflauge got on and heard the word "motoconcho".

He offered, "where are you going on motoconcho? I'll take you."

"La Berengena", I said.

"La Berengena?" he questioned, "where the f*ck is that?"

And in a surprising display of incoherent logic he continued, "I'll take you there for 300 pesos."

"But you just finished saying you didn't even know where it was! Why would I pay you 300 pesos to take me anywhere?!"

The bus started laughing hysterically at his offer to take me for 300 pesos, and spent a long awkward while trying to laugh with me and recount the story, though after 15 seconds it was clear all the laughter left in me had been spent, considering I might be sleeping on the street in some random border town I had never visited.

When I got off the bus, frazzled, tired, and worried for my well-being, I was going to walk to the police station to inform them of my situation (important to note that many police officers are more criminal than the criminals). At that point the Dona from Santiago approached me and told me not to worry, she has a neighbor with a big house who would rent me a room for the night. I hurriedly threw every last one of my eggs into this woman's basket and followed her to her house. She introduced her family to me, fed me a big meal, and hooked me up with her neighbor who had a giant 9 bedroom house, though only herself and her son were living there. I paid my tab of 350 pesos, told her I was leaving at 7AM in the morning to head out to Tommy's, showered, and slept.

At 6:45AM the door knocked. It was the Dona's son in a towel giving me a Dominican wake-up call to inform me that it was almost 7AM. I stared at him in an early-morning confusion slightly cross that a total stranger was so worried for my travel plans that he did not allow me to sleep an extra 15 minutes.

I waited at the guagua stop until 8:30AM when the truck finally pulled up in town to go out to the campo.

"FINALLY," I thought. "So when are we leaving?"

"9...10 o'clock." says the driver.

Right then and there I gave up on the idea of going into Tommy's for the day. I curled my tail up through my legs, and head down to the capital. At that very moment smelly-camoflauged man rolled up on his motorcycle (albeit clean and nicely dressed this time) offering to take the long trip into Dajabon to catch the guagua on his motor. Wow, this man really did not get it; I was not giving this tigüere any money.

So I missed his despedida, I traveled back into the capital on a 7 hour trip, to find out that Lindsey Alexander, one of my best friends is leaving the Peace Corps on Wednesday. It's going to be very tough adjusting to a new life here without her around.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

This weekend was comittee weekend, when many of the volunteers around the capital come in to the office to meet with the different Peace Corps Volunteer-based comittees we have among ourselves.

Medical Missions - volunteers serve as translators for American Doctors who do week long surgery campaigns in local hospitals for free to local communities.

Information Technology - constantly updates (and invents!) much needed technology with in Peace Corps, files, a new wiki site (www.pcdrvolunteers.org), computer based resources.

Regional/Cultural comittees - do activities and conferences within each region for youth.

Coffee - the agroforestry sector sells organically grown coffee from their communities and the cooperatives of coffee farmers in which they work.

Gender and Development - organizes Camp GLOW, a hugely successful girls camp that teaches about health and social issues unique to female youth.

It is also the worker's day holiday, so a small group of us went up to Cabarete beach to celebrate our 1st full year of service, which we will complete on May 5th.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Over easter week (or Semana Santa as it is known here) my family came down to make there first visit to the Dominican Republic, or out of the country. We had an awesome time and it was really wonderful, and needed, to see them finally after one year and 2 months without having seen them in person.

We stayed up in Las Galeras at Hotel Todo Blanco (http://www.hoteltodoblanco.com/) for the whole visit, and passed the day in my town or down at the beach of Rincon. During semana santa the normally desolate beach fills up with wealthy dominicans from the city camping in little tent villages they set up down at the beach. I stayed with a friend of mine visiting from Bonao with his family in one such tent and had a great time. They brought along a self-sustaining kitchen including a stove, utensils, cookware, and a huge amount of food.

It was really cool experience in introducing my family to the community that I'm working in, and vice versa. Even though they didn't speak the same language it was possible to interact through human emotion, and my broken translating of thoughts and sentences.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

A couple of weeks ago Lindsay Dance and a friend of hers came up to visit me in Las Galeras. We made a return visit to the famed "Pirate Beach" Playa Fronton, this time by sea in a small boat. The ride was insane. It was a windy day and particularly rough approaching the cape which houses the playa and waves attacked our little dinghy from every direction, something to do with an uneven ocean floor.

We got some snorkel gear and went snorkeling out on the coral-shelf reef and I remembered my underwater camera also has video capabilities! So I got great footage of barracudas, nice shots of coral reefs and their vibrantly-patterned fish companions, tons of great stuff.

Leaving Las Galeras to head into town, I LEFT MY CAMERA ON THE GUA-GUA AND IT IS NOW LOST AND GONE FOREVER.

I feel as though a large part of my existence here in the Dominican Republic has been taken from me. If I can no longer capture images of my surroundings, it seems more futile then ever to bring this experience back home with me. I have a terrible memory and must write everything down accompanied with photos.

Please send me a new digital camera, I will pay you back when I'm done with my service here.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

As the Laguna del Diablo project closes in May, we've been completing our finishing touches: we've been building a dock, thinking about a canoe to go around the Laguna, and building a bathroom. Instead of a normal latrine, which entails digging a 10 ft. deep hole in the ground for your poop, the composting latrine (letrina abonera) keeps it all above ground in a holding cell where it is dried out and later used as organic fertilizer. It's a big hit in the developing world (I'm not kidding, please click this link right now) because it knocks out two bad birds with one stinky stone: contamination from feces and the use chemical fertilizers. Instead of using cinder blocks (carrying 60 blocks out to the Laguna would be impossible) we're using the rocks that are found around the Laguna, giving it a more natural (and easier) look. We also got the limestone gravel, or caliche, from the site instead of having to carry in bags of cement.

Anyways, here's a quick photo essay of the process so far:

Making "2x4's" - Stripping the bark from logs to build the latrine's privacy walls

Cement Truck - Carrying cement from town to the Laguna on horseback

Digging out the Mix - We dug this out of the side of a hill with a crobar and a palm husk, and then filled empty rice sacks and carried it on mule back 1km back to the latrine site.

Measuring, leveling, and making the footprint

Building the walls from the footprint

Mixing materials and carrying the mix to the site

Pouring buckets of cement within the rocks Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

As many know, I love pirates. They're crazy, love singing, and have an unquenchable thirst for gold. These pirates however, are only in movies and stories. Real pirates suck.

After the 45th Anniversary, me Lindsey Alexander, Lindsay Dance (+2 US friends), Jenny Galasso and Marc Mitrano headed out to Las Galeras where I live to go vacationing. Jenny and I painted a mural the first morning while the others went down to Playa Rincon. The mural reflects, "Clean Air, Pure Water, Healthy Earth...Keep your Community Clean!" and was a really good way for me to feel like we're leaving some semi-permanent impact on the community, albeit an amateur painting. Me, Jenny, and Edwin (my friend and painter) spent the morning through 1:30PM painting and chatting it up with passer-byers.

The following day we went out to Playa Fronton, a wild (more wild than Rincon?) beach on the outside western cape of Samana. You get there by taking a 1 1/2 hour hike splitting through a tropical mixed forest cliff-side and the Atlantic Ocean crashing into a volcanic rock shelf. The hike is absolutely breathtaking. Once you get to the beach, there is really no one there. Most people who arrive, get there by boat, and there is a crazy old man who cooks on some cinder blocks at an outdoor chickee bar. We were driven out to the trail by my project partner and spent the whole day out there just being amazed.

However, when we arrived at the trailhead at 4:30PM as agreed, he was nowhere in site. We waited until 6:30 PM and then finally started walking the 8 km road back to Las Galeras. What I did NOT know, was that the road to Fronton is the same trail that leads out to the Boca del Diablo, where a group of bandits from the capital have been robbing (and in one terrible case raped) tourists passing through given it's remote location. When we hit the first house outside of the trailhead we were advised not to continue alone and wait for our ride there. Finally after another 45 mins we paid the man to drive us in his car to Las Galeras, whereupon we met Domenico my project partner in the path racing to get us. Turns out he sent someone to pick us up, and that person forgot to get us. We made it home safe and tired, and ate lots of pasta before passing out.

Also, I've gotten to go whale watching a couple of times in the Samana bay. Every January through March, Humpback whales come down to breed and give birth in the warm waters and protection that our bay offers. This last time I went we were out in really rough (4-5 foot) water in a really little (15') boat. What made it all worth while was a big momma whale jumping clear out of the water about 25 yards off of our bow. This photo is from the excursion before where we saw lots of whales, and were waved "good-bye" from two at the same time for a good 20 seconds.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Last week we celebrated Peace Corps Dominican Republic's 45th Anniversary here in the capital. The celebration included current and former volunteers from as far back as the first group in 1962 attending 3 days of conference style workshops, presentations, luncheons and cocktail parties, as well as an artisan fair showcasing local Dominican artisans working with volunteers around the country. As members of the planning committee, we were sponsored by former volunteers, and my sponsors Rik and Patti Laird turned out to be a serendipitous match. Patti is head of fundraising for the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and a well-known bird lover and activist with the Hispaniolan Ornithological Society. I also met a fellow friend of theirs Amin, who has lived in Boston since he was 8 and is dating a Dominican from Malden, MA - where my Mother's side of the family was born/grew up.

I was in charge of organizing the visit to the National Palace for the volunteers and as such, was privileged to sit in on the courtesy visit to the U.S. Ambassador to the DR's (Hans Hertell) office with visiting Peace Corps staff from Washington. There was a really nice reception at the palace by Dominican Vice President Alburquerque, and me and fellow volunteer Kate Dempsey got to visit him personally in his office before the reception. It was a rare time to see what things are like inside the Dominican Executive Branch and share a brief moment with Ambassador Hertell, the VP, and a PC staff including our country direction Romeo Massey. Romeo and I worked hand in hand on the visit, and we were both very happy with the results of the visit. The VP lit-up when he heard there were actual current volunteers in on the meeting and gave us an opportunity to discuss our projects. So...my project in the Laguna del Diablo with my Mother's group got 30 seconds of fame and light-hearted discussion about the challenges of development work.

We had a great time, and headed up to my site in Las Galeras afterwards with some friends and visitors from the states.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

I've been in the capital a lot since Christmas, which I spent in Las Terrenas with Adam Matteson and his family. They very generously offered to house me in their hotel and spend Christmas with them, and we all had a wonderful Christmas time.

Since then, I've been helping out in the planning of Peace Corps DR's 45th Anniversary celebration on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of February here in the capital. My principal responsiblity is organizing a visit to the U.S. Embassy and Dominican Presidential Palace to be recognized by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez. Since then, I've also taken on the task of supporting the video team in recording a short documentary on current volunteers, their Dominican counterparts, and their sites. This little addendum has had me far busier than my principal project, running around the country filming and visiting volunteers in their (usually remote) project sites. So here I am back in the capital, and we're having serious issues capturing the video onto a usable editing platform to get this pumped out. 2 days and nothing yet.

I also got a neat little dispatch from David Benitez, an incoming Environmental Education volunteer. Turns out he went to college with me at George Washington and was a fan of emocapella. The new group of Environment and Education volunteers gets in on February 16th.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Merry Christmas to all from my home in Rincon de Las Galeras, R.D. Though we aren't the typically festive Christmas well-wishers, the spirit is in the air with cooler temperatures, the community buying lots of food for the family, and alcohol consumption in plain view starting at sunrise. During the Christmas season, the cities and the countryside exchange family members as those working or studying in the Capital come out to the country to be with their families, and some from the country head into the Capital to be visit their extended family and bring back nifty gadgets and stories of a modern developing-world city.

Contrary to American culture, the biggest celebration is on Christmas Eve (Noche Buena, or The Good Night) instead of Christmas Day. In the countryside, there is no formal exchange of gifts, but instead never-ending food and beverages for a number of days on and around Christmas Day. Families that do have money will give gifts leading up to Christmas day, but you won't find any little Dominicans racing down a tinseled staircase looking for a new puppy under a decorated tree. Wealthy families in the cities whom have experienced Christmas in the U.S. or Europe, I assume, (Though I don't know because I don't live with them) have a more similar celebration of Christmas trees, gifts, and cheer.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

-Maya Angelou

Which is why, as a tradition, the Peace Corps DR family gets together to kick off the holiday season to celebrate the grandly American holiday of Thanksgiving. Instead of sitting in our palm board homes and wishing for just one leg of Mom's turkey or even a piece as simple as a dinner roll, all 154 of the PCDR volunteers get together in the capital. This year, at a club in the posh Arroyo Hondo neighborhood we joined together to give thanks for things we had once taken for granted: swimming pools, air conditioning, and of course -- food that actually has flavor.

The festivities lasted all day Thursday and began with sports competitions. I played in the 3 v. 3 guy/girl soccer tournament with two of my closest friends Matt Crossett and Lindsey Alexander, and we were blown out in the first game 7-2. Sadly one of the 2 goals scored for our team was by our opponents confused on the side switch after the half. A 3 on 3 B-ball tournament also went down, along with a new Peace Corps Volunteer Leader, who was elbowed so hard in the eye, it broke her face and she is heading to DC on a Medical Evacuation.

After swimming and an informal diving board competition we ate together, buffet style, food prepared by comittees of volunteers working hard to put it all together since August. The food (and of course, desserts) were finished by a bachata and merengue dance competition (I've included a video of the bachata and the merengue in case you were still unclear as to what the music/dances were). I danced in both contests, and although we were knocked out both times, "it was still fun".

There was a lackluster talent show, and a no-holds-barred alcohol-induced dating game for both the guys and girls. When my friend Iris was on the stand for the guys we found the most entertaining.

From left to right, Dominic, Matt Crossett, and Adam Matteson compete to win the heart of the beautiful Iris Laurencio.

Do you like my mesh shirt?

head back to Rincon for just a week before leaving again to the captial for my 6 month In-Service Language Training to stay with Dona Augustina and my Santo Domingo host family. That Friday, my buddy Brendan will be visiting for one whole week which will include scaling 27 waterfalls, windsurfing, and controlled insanity.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

The holiday season has begun here in the Dominican Republic, and I'm not talking so much about Dominicans. The Peace Corps calendar has started to fill up with meetings and activities for the next two months, as most volunteers plan to pack up and head home for Christmas. I unfortunately, will not be:(

That's enough pouting.

There's lots of stuff to smile about! For starters, I'm not freezing my gringo tush off like most I know are right now in the American winter. In fact, here's a quick story:

Last Saturday I woke up like any other day, at 6:45AM after the village roosters began talking and the butcher starts honking his damn conch shell to let everyone know there's meat today. I decided despite the dark morning sky I was gonna head down to the beach to run and relax some, taking advantage of the desolate morning hours down there. After the 25 minute walk down the hill with Cara the clouds proved to be real and dumped 30 minutes of a Caribbean downpour upon my bed-combed hair and crusted-over eyes. I hit the sand belly down with the dog, as she dug a hole down in my armpit to shield herself. There we stuck it out until the clouds decided to wander elsewhere and finally left us with a beautiful morning.

A few weeks ago I began teaching an english course to tour guides in Samana twice a week. The program is funded by a USAID sustainable tourism grant and allows me to go into town (free) twice weekly. I've met a number of cool guys in town now, including Julio, the Dominican husband of the Canadian woman who runs the English school.

We've been building a dock down in the Laguna for the past few weeks with some of the heaviest wood I've ever carried. Two men spent a week climbing these trees with a band saw and lumber-jacking our planks. I'm told only the hardest wood proves resistant enough to be submerged as pilings, and should last about 10 years.

In planning my post-Christmas community vegetable-garden movement, I started a demonstration plot in the new high school. It turned out looking nice with a stone border and a fine selection of Cilantro, Tomato, Pepper, Lettuce, Carrots, Eggplant, and Cucumber (if they grow as planned). We did it together with members of my "so-called" Brigada Verde group, an environmental youth movement. Many others watched us sweat in the sun, criticizing our work (a common Dominican characteristic) as too wide, too deep, too narrow, no good, but as always shut up by the generous offer "come over and show me how to do it." A lot of people wanted my seeds, but I told 'em to hang on until I set up a workshop session, and we'll determine eligible families" so as not to waste seeds on 1 week gardeners.

My new house (you can get a video virtual tour here) is proving to be both a hot hang out and a welcoming refuge when I need it. I just got my latrine construction proposal approved, which means I won't have to be wandering around town using other people's poopers for much longer. My latrine has been full from the previous 15 years of use, but we're starting construction next weekend to put a new at my house.

Last Saturday, I killed a chicken and ate him.

After getting back from the beach, my 15 year old neighbor suggested to me that we eat his fighting rooster for dinner. The rooster was apparently afraid to fight and "good for nothing". Well I'll tell you something, he was good for eating. After nearly sawing through his neck muscles to bleed it (they are very tough) we dunked it in boiling water to defeather it and turn it into a regular (albeit smaller) supermarket bought chicken like you all have in the states. I had to come to terms with my carniverous habits and be able to kill the meat I love to eat. Thank you Johainy.

Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government

Last week I had a two meetings in the capital with two of my bosses. In between the two meetings was a 4 day weekend, so naturally I took off on vacaction. This trip took me down to the dry southwestern quadrant of the country to visit San Juan de la Maguana and 5 of my friends from my training group. Lindsey Alexander and I arrived late at night and spent it in San Juan with a group of 3 of my friends. The next morning en route to Marc's we stopped in town and ate the largest and most delicious grilled cheese sandwich of my life. It was a double decker with ham, mayonaisse and loaded with vegetables, and I had a Zapote shake (a fruit that tastes like bubble gum) on the side. Yum.

We stayed up at Marc's campo for two nights. It's weird being without electricity permanently, we were used to frequent blackouts in the capital and Santiago, but now living in Rincon with permanent power it was a stark contrast. We stayed there through the night until leaving in the morning on foot for Matt's campo, about an 1 1/2 hour walk around the mountain to the other side. We arrived hot and dusty, and had the luxury of watching Matt display his new whipping abilities before feasting on a not-so-savory Auyama Gnocchi experiment at his house. We then picked up and headed back to Marc's site (with Matt's left-handed guitar) for the night to what I thought was cooling off and relax from the day trek around the mountain. Boy was I wrong.

We ended up packed into Marc's with his entire neighborhood singing and dancing to American songs as I played on Matt's six string until 1 o'clock in the AM. More incredibly, I played a personal record 3 hour set without stopping. You don't realize how late it is getting when you never had lights to begin with. It was one of the best experiences I've had so far here and I realized that experiences like that have a habit of just showing up on you and kicking any sort of rutt you might be in.

I was in my site for a day after that trip just to head out on another to Bayaguana for the weekend national Brigada Verde conference with two of my youths Enrique (19) and Melvin my host brother (13). Melvin was a complete disaster (read: ungrateful brat) and made the conference miserable for me until I decided to let go and "let him learn his lesson on his own" and stopped attending sessions with him. Some of my favorite quotes were "I want that puppy over there, bring it home for me" and "Matt is better than you, you're evil, I'm going to kill you (directed at me, Camp Counselour Mike)".

Last Monday I was playing my guitar on the patio and a guy walked up to me surprised I played. He told me about a Bachata band playing in neighboring Los Tocones that I had heard about before and invited me to play; it turns out he is the bassist. So last night I headed over with my guitar in hand on a motorcycle with him and had a blast playing with these guys in the Catholic church where they're all set up. The percussion is done with the Guira (a typical Dominican instrument that looks like a metal can with holes punched in it) and a Piano with rhythm functions. They all want to learn "Roo" (or Rock as it's pronounced correctly) and I want to learn the Bachata from them. What a happy exchange.

I also think you all missed out that I finally have my own house. It's two bedrooms with a front porch and a kitchen, as well as a bathing area outside. Check out photos here and cycle through.Peace Corps Dominican Republic Foreign Service Volunteer International Development Government