So, after most of the month of Jan. rained (making it very difficult to build her kitchen) we finished it! And it's green! The top two pictures are the old kitchen and the bottom two pictures are of her new kitchen. Enjoy cause I know she's also enjoying it!

My birthday was actually postponed to that weekend so Yassir (who's birthday is on the 8th), his father (who's birthday is on the 5th) and I (my birthday is on the 6th) could all celebrate it together with a stew and ice cream cake (pralines n' cream with chocolate cake), and a few ice-cold beers!

Christmas Spirits, thank you for making Christmas one of the nicest I have ever had! My parents finally met Yassir’s parents. My parents, which are not easily surprised, were a bit thrown off by Yassir’s parent’s very humble home but the conversation and the meal were excellent (well, I would have liked mom’s mint glazed lamb rack instead of rice and chicken, AGAIN!). I was very nervous about the two families meeting cause my parent’s are not the religious type and his family are VERY Roman Catholic but aside from those differences there were plenty of laugh and cheer. Thank god that the power company was into the christams spirit and didn’t cut the power till the morning, but like my mom said, the Christmas dinner by gas lamp/candlelight would have been romantic as well!!! My mom and dad are the bestest parents, just so it is clear! All the groans and moans aside, I’m freaking proud as hell to call them mom and dad!!!!!!!!!! Mom and Dad gifted two new laptops to Yassir and Antonia’s daughter, Gissell (she’s a university student studying accounting). They also bought Yankee (Jean Carlos), Antonia’s grandson a baseball bat and baseball shoes (we had a deal that if he was an honor student I would get him baseball supplies), and a hula-hoop for Antonia’s other granddaughter, Amy (she’s my little shadow). The last Christmas gift that my parents and Juan, my cousin are giving is a simple kitchen for Antonia, which is going to begin construction later this month. Right now, her kitchen is a couple of buckets of water with detergent. I promise to put up pictures!!!!! Oh yes, they also took me to the grocery store and stocked me up on some goodies!!!! I just ate my last piece of raisin bread! Merry Christmas to all!!!

I was at La Sirena (the DR's version of Walmart) and I bought two bags of marshmallows. I thought to myself, this is going to be so much fun!

Sure enough, we had a blast. We built a bonfire, got a bunch of sticks and I handed out marshmallows. There were burnt marshmallows left and right, the kids screaming, laughing, running around... I almost got my eye poked out a dozen times. Even Antonia and Gisselle joined in!

I forgot my camera, so I plan on doing it again in the next month. I won't forget it the next time!

This article should have been written a while ago but I decided to do it now, which is later… Back in February I moved into the Barbie House. I don’t know if I mentioned that I was moving next door to a widow, Antonia, her youngest daughter, Giselle, and her grandson, Jean Carlos (tenderly known as Yankee). Well, I am dedicating this article about them because they have helped me tremendously since I have moved in. Antonia has been the most caring person I have met in my community. There are days were I wake up and I do not care to move from my bed. If I don’t appear out of my house by 10 am, she pokes her head in the door to make sure I am all right. I pretty much consider her my second mother here (Mom you will always be Mommy). When I was having issues with my stomach, which later turned out to be a set of parasites and lactose-intolerance, she would make me teas and juices of all sorts to take away the pain. When I do my laundry and I walk away to do something on my computer, she’ll step in and, if I don’t interrupt, she’d finish it. Now, I am not abusing her. I constantly tell Antonia to stop doing so much and that taking care of one house is quite a lot of work for her. However, she always keeps helping me. When I moved in, she would make me food all the time!! Let me tell you, I really do suck at cooking and in the middle of summer here, the last thing I want to be doing is standing in my hot kitchen cooking. So I decided that I would take advantage of her need to cook for me and just pay her, that way I don’t feel so bad. Lastly, she’s always the first one in my house if I find a frog, toad, scorpion, rat, mouse, tarantula, etc… and she always knows it one of those if I begin to scream at the top of my lungs. Giselle is the girlfriend I joke around with. We watch TV shows together, we paint our nails together, and I help her with her university homework. I always ask her advice about work or general cultural questions. What’s really refreshing is that she doesn’t poke her nose in my business. If I feel like talking about something I’ll ask her about it but she’ll never ask me. The really impressive thing about Giselle is that she works Monday – Friday from 8:30 to 4pm and then has an hour commute to get to school come rain or shine until 10pm. This semester she doesn’t have Saturday classes but the last two semesters she would get up at the crack of dawn and be in class by 8am. On top of that, her paycheck goes to support her, Antonia, and Yankee. I wish there was a scholarship for her cause she’s a super hard worker. Jean Carlos, Yankee, Antonia’s grandson is super fun. He loves animals and always plays with my dog Diana. Antonia and I always scream for Yankee when we find a frog, toad, scorpion, tarantula, rat, mouse, etc… Since he is the only “man” between the two houses he’s always thrilled to come to the rescue. By the way, he’s 11 years old. Yankee is extremely intelligent though at one point his grades didn’t reflect it. One of Yankee’s passions is obviously, baseball. Since Yankee lacked the motivation to study I decided that I should help him find the motivation. I made a deal with Yankee that if his next set of grades where straight A’s I would buy him baseball supplies (they are really expensive here in the DR cause it’s all imported). So far he has a glove and I think he’s going to ask for a baseball bat this Christmas. If anyone would like to help me cover the costs I wouldn’t mind as well cause they are super expensive on my Peace Corps salary! ;) Now, for all you that think I am completely taking them for granted, I’m not… I give back! There are a lot of energy black outs cause the electricity companies suck here so I helped them buy an “Inversor” (its basically huge car-like batteries with a charger) so that we could all keep the lights on and watch TV whenever the power was out. It helps Giselle a ton cause she had to do her homework by candlelight when the energy was out and Antonia can listen to music or Catholic sermons while she does housework. I helped them finish a bathroom that they were building with an overhead shower (it still only cold water). We had all been using a latrine before and that just sucks cause there were always cockroaches. Now I decided that I was going to make up a Christmas list for them and if you would like to contribute I know that they would really appreciate it: I want to build Antonia a simple functional kitchen with running water, very similar to mine (refer to my Barbie house pictures). She doesn’t have a sink or running water in her house. The kitchen would cost around $100 USD depending on the market. Laptop for Giselle (used or new) for her studies. Baseball supplies for Yankee. I think it costs $50 USD. Bicycle (Pink) for Amy (she’s another neighbor that helps me when I clean my house). I haven’t investigated the price actually. Crystal/Glass baking pan for Antonia. This costs around $30. If you would like to contribute in some way please email me at Nicholesalinger@gmail.com. If you would like to buy a laptop or baseball supplies, my parents are visiting on December 19 so make sure you get it to them by that week so they can pack accordingly. Thank you for all the kind words about my blog and my recent engagement!

As I left the United States I remember getting teased about finding the love of my life in the Dominican Republic. Some friends said I would find a wealthy Dominican invested in the sugarcane tobacco industry, others said I would find a Dominican baseball player who would sweep me off my feet, he-he. I know that I had been smiling and joking right along with them but deep down I said to myself that there was no way I would find the love of my life on a tiny island that had so many internal problems. When I met my fellow Peace Corps volunteers they all were equally hesitant to get involved with Dominicans either from fear of cultural clash or for health issues (DR has a HIGH rate of STDs and infidelity is rampant because it is tolerated culturally). As we moved through training we began interacting with Dominicans and found that our fears were confirmed and/or found that there were indeed fabled loyal Dominicans. Let me tell you, Dominican men and women are incredibly sexy despite their obsession with the traditional diet of rice, beans, and chicken. At no point did anyone say otherwise… ha-ha. At the end of October, as my training was wrapping up, I visited the community that would be my home for the next two years. I met with my host organization, the chocolate factory, my host family (+20 people), and the local organizations. My host mother who is coincidently my counterpart at the chocolate factory introduced me to the other two local NGOs. One of the visits was the local medical clinic, run by a chubby and short domineering man. The clinic employs about 9 other locals and had two doctors (sent by the Health Department) treating patients. There I met the love of my life, Dr. Yassir Rosario, even though I didn’t realize it at that point! I met him that day and my first impression was that he had chubby cheeks, tall, well built, and a smile that made my heart melt. Unfortunately we were interrupting office hours and there was a long line of patients. I excused myself and said I would come back later in the day to converse with the doctors about their community experience. However, they were STILL busy when I stopped by in the late afternoon so I went home. The next day during lunchtime I had a surprise visit at my host family’s house, it was Dr. Yassir Rosario. He had heard that I had stopped by yesterday but since they were still busy I had left to finish up other things that I needed to accomplish. We spoke about his experience and how he had been placed in the community. He asked me about my job and what would be my role in the community. It was a short visit because he had to head back to work but both of us wanted to continue speaking so we agreed that after he got off of work I would come to the clinic. Of course throughout that day, I was anxious to speak with him again and it did not disappoint! I think we ended up talking until after nightfall. What's funny is that my host family though it would be more appropriate that we have supervised visits at their house. So for the next three months, Yassir would come to my host family’s house for supervised visits with me. OF COURSE, we also met outside of my community for ice cream or day trips to Santiago, I’m no saint and neither is he. Even after I moved to my own house, for 5 more months were we ever caught inside my house alone or even after dark we would move over to my next door neighbor’s house. Crazy, huh? On October 17, 2009, after a day at the beach with friends and his sisiter, Yassir got down on one knee and asked to marry me… I said yes. It was the happiest moment of my life. So, in the end it wasn’t a rich or athletic Dominican who caught my heart. It was a very humble, hard working man, whose smile makes me giggle with glee, whose hugs make me feel loved, who supports my dreams and makes sure I am always following them.

The machinery of the chocolate factory to make refined chocolate

Refined chocolate, they also make white chocolate!!!

More machinery, we have 5 more around the factory.

Toasted cacao beans.

My project partners, Pascual Silverio (my host grandfather) and Noemi Crisostomo at the grand opening of CHOCAL!

The Doñas (matriarchs) making bolas (chocolate/cacao balls to make hot cocoa)

Smaller bolas

A cacao tree

The ladies/Doñas making bolas and shelling the cacao beans. It's an arduous process and it HAS to be done by hand for the best quality cacao!!!!

Photos of my project with CHOCAL (Chocolate de la Cuenca de Altamira) working on marketing and production (quality control).

My loyal, beautiful puppy!

She's definitely well fed! Probably the best fed dog in my campo.

She's always looking for trouble!

My host grandfather wanted a picture of us two like this, lol...

This is while we were still painting. The colors you see on the inside of my house (after finished painting are the colors I used on the outside

My bedroom with my mosquitero.

My puppy Diana sleeping on my new rug, grrrr... I just can't stay mad.

I have a room dedicated to my clothes and personal items.

My living room.

There are no doors, just curtains to seperate the different sections of the house.

My back door through my kitchen.

My kitchen is still under construction.

I have a sink with running water... that is when the aqueduct is not broken!!

Painting my house was a messy process

This is Kacie, a fellow volunteer helping me paint my house.

This is my really good friend, Yassir.

For the last week and a half I have been “luchando” (fighting) to finish my house. I painted my house, electricity connected, changed the locks on all the doors and windows, had a sink and running water installed. My host family is mad at me for moving to other side of town instead of living next door (no breathing room) in a house, converted from a store. I feel like everyone in town has expressed doubt over some part of my plan, from the colors or my house or disbelief that I could do these things on my own, but they never came to help.

Despite this “lucha,” I have finished my house. All I need is the power turned on, which should be in the next couple of days? Also, I need to buy my furniture. Oh sweet headache. I have decided that I am at my limit of living with families and I need my own space, ASAP!!!!

In my struggle to fix up my house, I have decided that I definitely picked the right neighborhood. It is full of young, intelligent women who are attending university. This is a rarity in the DR. Most of the population struggles to finish high school. Furthermore, I have a caring mother-like figure that checks on me but is never intrusive. While I was fixing up my ¾ palm wood and ¼ cement-block house, she made me food and brought me juice and water. Even her daughter helped me paint (one of the women who goes to college); I should say she did almost as much painting as me.

I am now living in my house. The girls that helped me clean and some minor painting have nicknamed my house, the Barbie house (refer to picture). I may not have a flushing toilet (I am using a latrine) but I have never felt such utter satisfaction, I worked so hard on my house and I even planted grass and flowers. My house is my sanctuary. It offers me tranquility and I can come and go as I please now. Six months of living with families, I don’t think I’ll ever live with another family who isn’t mine again. It’s just too stressful for me. I like my own mess.

Now all I have to decide is which curtains to put up since I don’t have doors between my living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. Wait, I have to stock my kitchen, find a washing machine to wash my clothes on a weekly basis and build a shed for my puppy cause I can’t leave her outside in the rain which comes on a daily basis but it is my perfect Barbie house!

The PLD is the political party in control right now (Team A) and the white group is the other political party (Team B). Each of them goes up to bat approximately once every 2 years, changing between senate and presidential elections. Now you may be asking why I am utilizing beisbal to describe these two political parties. I have come to understand that everything, and I really mean everything, comes down to politics in my little campo. The federal government seeps into everything and then the corruption seeps into your skin like the oil on a glove. Now how does this affect me? Well, I’m the pelota (ball) that the alternating parties get to swing at to score their home runs so that cash and power gets passed down to them.

I’ve been in my campo for 7 weeks. I just got off the phone with a peace corps volunteer who left my site 6 months ago and we spoke about how the different political parties control the organizations and dynamics of the community. I’m still not sure how I’m going to utilize this information but I’m sure it’s going to be a constant battle to get people from the different political parties to work together.

I think that despite my lack of talent for diplomacy, I’m going to have to learn this skill double time, cause without it I’m not going to get things done. Plus I don’t have the budget to bribe people, he-he, so I really need to be savvy. So yes, right now Team A is up to bat and I think I just became a curveball…

Ha-ha, you thought I was going to say the umpire… Life isn’t fair and I don’t want to be the whistle blower for right now. I’m saying lets play ball!!!!!!!

;)

As it gets closer to Christmas, I hear more talk of all the different pig roasts that people will have, of course I am invited to every pig roast in Bajabonico Arriba and many throughout the area. If I attend every single one (which logistically would occupy all of my time) I believe I would gain about 20 pounds in 2 weeks. At the moment I am looking at the over-consumption of pork, the celebrations and disappointments of the celebrations, and last but DEFINITELY not the least, building of my septic tank (yes, I am going to dig it myself). People here can’t believe that I’ll do it on my own and I know it’s going to end up being a headache but I’ll surely appreciate it after I’m done, especially at night when I won’t have to fend off the cockroaches that invade the latrines at night!

The house where I will be living, starting the first of February, is going to be a cement floor, palm wood house. Currently there is no indoor plumbing (I am going to work on this “problemita”) but the water system comes up right behind the house. Also, there is an outdoor shower area, where I will take bucket baths (also working on putting an overhead showerhead). My rent will be $1,000 pesos+ $300 for water and electricity. If you do the exchange rate calculations its ridiculously cheap but it’s just barely in my budget. Thank god that cement and tube materials are not expensive at all but the sink and toilet will come out to about $6,000 pesos. On top of it all I need to buy furniture but most important of all, my plush pillow top bed (totally going to have a bomb ass bed, I freaking deserve this little luxury).

Anywho, I’m back in the capital cause my body going bonkers cause I’m still very stressed and I’m waiting behind some 20+ people for an x-ray, which means it’s a 2 hour wait. The good thing was that last night I stayed in my own room with air-conditioning, my own bathroom, cable, and 24 hours of electricity. The Peace Corps has the lovely little policy of giving you a hostel with all the amenities free of charge and your meals are covered as well. Hopefully I get out of the clinic early enough to go to the artisan fair so I can get myself a Christmas present since my mail hasn’t gotten here, gosh durn it!!!!

By the way, I am feeling kinda lonely so I nice email from you all (minus Mom, Dad, Mamisa and Tito, you guys have been amazing with the care packages).

I wish you all a very lovely Christmas and New Years Eve where ever and with whomever it may be. Besos!!!!!!!

It’s Monday afternoon, I just finished eating yet again rice, beans, and chicken for lunch. Currently it’s raining and it hasn’t stopped since Friday night. On Saturday it rained so hard that I was cut-off from the main village because the small “creek” turns into a raging river when it downpours. Seriously, my fellow Coloradoans wouldn’t even think to cross this small stream when it rains hard. I had found a “house” right next to the family where I currently live but now I think that maybe it isn’t such a good idea to have a house that can get cut off so easily by a big storm. There is another house on the other side of the village and I think that it may be a better idea to live there. The other plus is that I won’t have to supervise major renovations, just install running water inside my house and if I can afford it, a toilet and septic pit, si Dios quiere.

Coming up to date, I am finishing month 1 of a 3-month community diagnostic. So far I have finished a map of my community, met with the major organizations of the community, asked around about the different projects that the previous volunteer was involved in, and learned how the chocolate factory. In this time period I have also learned that meetings don’t happen when it rains, electricity comes and goes whenever the electricity company (EDENORTE) wills it (means I may have electricity all day but come nightfall they turn the power off or just the opposite or nothing all day long). I have begun the process of mastering the art form of Dominican indirect communication and last but not least I have become the community’s photographer and CD burning queen.

The community has also learned that I don’t “cook” and they are on a mission to teach me how to cook a basic locrio (rice and meat). They think I can’t cook because I don’t know how to cook rice (yes, I know how to cook rice with a rice cooker but here they have a method similar to paella).

In my time off I play Dominoes, read, swimming or bathing (if there isn’t running water) in the river next to my house (this is the actual river and not the raging “stream”), and playing with my new puppy (Diana). Since it is still chokingly hot here I don’t really play sports but in the morning I have been doing as much yoga (which isn’t much) as I can remember or make up, he-he. Basically, I spend most of my time looking for things to keep me occupied.

Life here is slow and dependent on many things outside the control of the people who live in Bajabonico. This week, I go to Santo Domingo to spend Thanksgiving with my fellow volunteers. The Peace Corps has rented out a country club for the day and we will have activities all day long with a lunchtime feast. For those of you who would like to call me from time to time, my Peace Corps cellular number is 1-(809)-807-7868. Since there isn’t a good way for me to get to Internet on a consistent basis, I will be posting on my Blog more sporadically. So if you subscribe to my Blog, the website will notify you when I post something new. I hope everything is going on the other side of the ocean (I hear there is no snow in Colorado, which sounds terrible). On February 1st, I will be moving into my own house I can start receiving visitors. I’ll have an extra bed in my house for those who are on more of a budget. The expensive part is the airline ticket. Talk to you later!

I became an official Peace Corps Volunteer on Wednesday, October 29, 2008. The American Ambassador swore us in. We all wore our best, got our hair done and then went out to the local Carwash. *The Carwash is the Dominican version of a place to drink some beer, dance and chill with your amigos*. I negotiated the price of the beer down to 80 pesos from 100 pesos (the bottles are the size of 40s). Now, for those of you who love these conversions because you are trying to gauge how much money it will cost you to visit me… he-he… that comes to two dollars and change.

Yesterday I left my barrio in Los Angeles and that was a relief. That neighborhood was really kind but it was always dirty and smelly. My Doña was a nice lady but we never had much to say to each other. I’ll miss the days of training and having easy access to shopping but I really won’t miss waking up to the Catholic radio prayer sessions in the morning or at night and having religious singing all day long. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that my host brother was a hard core Adventist. Man, thank god they were really respectful of my views and didn’t ever push me to attend any religious services.

After I left, we headed downtown to Santo Domingo to check into a nearby hostel called the Pension. It’s 4 blocks away from the Peace Corps office and it costs $175 pesos a night in the dormitory rooms. From there I went to the Embassy and went swimming at the Ambassador’s swimming pool and ate hot dogs (it was the Ambassador’s treat). One of the perks to being a volunteer is that we have free access to the Ambassador’s pool for free, anytime the Embassy is open. After spending a couple of hours there I went back to the office to do laundry (yes, we have a washer and a dryer!!!) and surf some Internet since it had been 3 weeks.

Do you know what we did that night (we were about 20 volunteers there), our first night out of our houses? We got Burger King, a few bottles of wine and sat in our rooms watching TV in English and played dominoes. It was the perfect way to spend the night because after 10 weeks of being pretty much escorted around we could finally have a sleep over and do nothing except “compartir” (hang out and share) between each other.

The next day I spent the morning shopping for things I needed in my site like another softball and some light linen pants and blouses. After sweating profusely getting all of my purchases back to the Peace Corps office I threw on my bathing suit and went to the pool for an hour.

*Instead of eating more junk food I went to a vegetarian store and bought granola, yogurt and a very big and shiny apple*

That night I talked to my parents on the phone and then I went out with the volunteers to a bar in the Colonial zone for an evening with nothing but classic Rock n’ Roll.

Right now I’m sitting on the bus heading back to my site wondering if I’ll get to my community with the rest of my luggage to play softball with the girls in my community (I’m bringing the softball). Anyway, its not so exciting but I’ll put something more exciting up later, I’m freaking exhausted from last night’s activities. Peace!!

Last week I went to visit the community that I was assigned, Bajabonico Arriba. It’s located in the province of Puerto Plata in the mountains about 20 minutes from the nearest paved road and 30 minutes to the nearest beach. I’m living with a family of four and they are super cool. I get along with them really well. They respect my space but we hang out together the rest of the time. I never feel lonely, bored sometimes, but never lonely.

I’ll be living with this family for three months while I learn and integrate into the area. The house is located right next to a very nice river, which is deep enough to sit in but not swim. Regardless, this is a rewarding escape from the heat since it’s 80-90 degrees year-round. Last week I hiked to the top of a nearby mountain in sandals (such a bad idea) but came back with three grocery bags full of wild oranges and lemons. Oh, I forgot to mention, the family has a grapefruit tree and a mandarin tree in the backyard that produces year-round. The next day, we went to the family farm and picked coffee beans to roast for our personal use.

Right now I’m sitting in front of the TV watching the baseball game playing in the DR. We have television only when there is electricity but you can’t count on it. There is a serious energy problem in the country. The companies have lots of trouble making people pay for the energy they use. There are lots of reasons for this problem but the primary one is that the companies are partially owned by the government causing there to be lots of inefficient corruption and bureaucracy. There are areas of the country that have energy all the time but it’s because 90% of the community pays for the electricity used and it’s a tourist area. For the rest of the country, they have “apagones”. Essentially, the community doesn’t know when they will get electricity or for how long. So far, the electricity has held out long enough to charge my computer and iPod, he-he.

My assignment in the community is to work with an organization called FUNDELOSA. The organization is supporting an all-women’s cooperative, which produces chocolate, and my job is to help market their product. Yes, the chocolate is good but I haven’t had as much as you would think. They make milk and white chocolate ice cream with cinnamon, chocolate bars, cacao powder, and all organic chocolate. The women have all the resources but the members of the cooperative lack the time to go out and do a market analysis since they all have family members to take care of or other paying jobs. That’s where I come in!!!!

I won’t start my project right away since I also need to research the resources and community members so that I can utilize as many community resources as possible and to find some secondary projects (i.e. English classes or community groups). The Peace Corps always tries to leave the projects going long after the volunteer has left the community and that is the hardest part of my job.

Here’s a good example: there is lots of demand by business owners to set up a computerized accounting system but the owners don’t usually know how to work a computer and are usually scared of making a mistake. My job would be to set up the accounting system and then teach a person of 30-40 years of age (someone who has never touched a computer in their life) how to work the computer and how to properly use the accounting system. The hard part is finding someone to fix the computer every time it breaks and make sure they have enough money to fix it. In a society that takes a long time to do anything, this is the most frustrating process. That’s why I have to find secondary projects to keep myself busy when my initial project feels like it’s about to fall apart.

There’s a lot to talk about but I’m saving them for a rainy day… I’m sure there will be lots of those! Besos…

My training group left Entrena to go to our Community Based Training (CBT) area for five weeks. Essentially, this time is spent learning some technical skills, intensively improving our Spanish, and practicing how to interact with our new host families and our individual communities. They separated us by Spanish levels and put us in neighborhoods far away from each other but within 30 minute walking distance. I’ve got to say that my new Doña sure knows how to cook platanos, yucca, rice, etc… It’s hard to not overeat but it’s working out all right. I just have to be firm. CBT in my opinion is really great for several reasons: our program gets to know each other ten-fold better since we see each other everyday, we are actually interacting with our community doing research exercises, and I’m outside of icky Santo Domingo and close to the mountains and cooler weather.

Two weeks into CBT we had to go back to Santo Domingo to attend the Business Plan Competition so we could see how youth entrepreneurs have formulated business plans and we plans actually win. It was definitely eye opening since many plans submitted were quite unoriginal but they left out vital details like how they were going to divide up profits between their partners or getting licenses to operate and including those details on their balance sheets. I want to share the story on one of the winners. He’s a Haitian who is already giving music theory classes to a group of kids and adults near the Haitian border. He crosses the border on a biweekly basis to give that same class to the Haitian counterparts. People around these communities have already donated a classroom area and a guitar so he can begin to actually teach using instruments. I believe that the reason he won in his category was because he had a completely original idea and left the audience moved because this situation represents two enormous problems that the DR has: immigration between the DR and Haiti (human rights) and finances (disgustingly high interest rates of 2.5 % monthly interest x 12 months = 30% annual interest). Evidently, his original business plan wasn’t realistically viable and when his partnered Peace Corps volunteer told him to look at his life and see if there was something he was good at and had already some experience in he saw that he loved music and he was already informally teaching the children and his friends music. All he needed were instruments. That’s were the BPC comes in, to each winner they award 50 % of the funds they need to start their business and during the competition they teach the participants how to network so that they can find funding on their own. It was simple and direct. There were going to be immediate results, high start up costs (instruments) but a positive effect of cultural interaction between the DR and Haitian population. For those who know me, I was left on the border of tears because something as simple as music (a common interest between every person in the DR since Merengue and Bachata are fixtures in this country) could reach a great number of people, especially young children who are easier to shape than adults.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, I want to improve the lives of these populations and I need to think outside the boxed version of American success, which is to be rich and have the newest of the new and the best of the best. Something that I have taken for granted, music in my life, changed the lives of about 50 some students in the DR and Haiti. This man reached out to his communities using a common factor that I overlooked… he didn’t even have a college degree. This gives me more hope than I can express. Success is measured in happiness in this culture.

**I’m in a sappy mood… ☺

Oh yeah, I’m also learning how to play the guitar and DR songs, I’m growing out my nails and I have developed a tick for nail polishes, as well as learning new dance moves!!!!

Starting where I left off at the spiritual retreat the next morning. We packed up and went to Entrena, a training facility that the peace corps utilizes for its incoming volunteers, to meet our host families for the next three weeks. My host mother, Doña Angela “Alida”, came and found and proudly stated that I was her new daughter. This statement is not unusual because in Latin communities, if you live in the house you are considered a member of the family. Needless to say, this makes volunteers uncomfortable at times because as Americans we really value our personal space and freedom. I have had a lifelong experience and knowledge of living with a Latin family, between my own Argentine family and my host family in Spain. Therefore I wasn’t surprised by the constant attention and invasion of personal space. I was given hugs and kisses as if I was their long lost daughter by every member of the family and then they took me to their home.

Upon arrivalthey immediately started to feed me excessive amounts of food to make me strong (being chubby/fat here is considered being well-fed in the nicest way). I wish I could take pictures to show you the buffet of foods they serve me at every meal. Essentially, there were platanos (fried and/or boiled), rice, fried cheese, eggs (fried or boiled) and avocado at almost every meal, each in its own bowl. Man, they really pack the calories in. Good thing that my Spanish is strong enough to get across that I don’t need all that food at every meal and I would prefer fruits in the morning with juice and coffee. You can’t come straight out and say “ugg” I hate the amount of oil and fatty foods so please just give me veggies. The first night I ate all the food because I felt obliged but when I woke up the next morning almost nauseous from still being full I decided to drop big hints. That morning they served me 3 fried eggs, 3 slices of fried fresh cheese, huge bowl of mashed boiled platanos, an itty-bitty bowl of tropical fruits, coffee, juice, and a glass of milk. I exclaimed that they had fed me so well last night that I wasn’t hungry yet and that I would eat just the fruit, coffee and the glass of milk. My Doña tried to guilt me into eating it but I decided that if I gave in then, that I would always have to eat this much at every meal. So I explained that in the morning and in the evening I only eat a little and that I was already “gordita” enough and I was on a diet. Of course she went into banter about how I looked beautiful and that being fat is a sign of good hospitality. After several minutes of going back and forth we settled that she could serve me enough food so she doesn’t look bad but I was free to eat how I wanted.

The next few weeks were relatively smooth sailing between classes, vaccinations, and interacting with the family. However midway through my stay in Santo Domingo, I found out that my host parents had separated and that the Don was living elsewhere. It came out of the blue cause I had never seen them fight or even a hint of unhappiness. Evidently, he has a lady friend, which seems to be common among Dominican men. On top of that I had seen a tarantula inching along the side of our open-air classroom at Entrena and a python that was caught in someone’s bed when the person went to go lay down in an apartment around the corner from my own house. The kids were trying to figure out what to do with the 7-8 foot snake and when I came out to go look at it I saw the lightbulb go off in the heads. The yelled, “Gringa, you want to buy the snake for 200 pesos?” I immediately chuckled and said I’m terrified of cockroaches so I doubt I would find the snake any less scary and than a silly bug (all this was said in Spanish). Later I learned that they were trying to make a quick profit cause they knew that the police would show up and force the person with the snake to donate it to the city’s zoo.

*All my friends and family better be reading my blogs cause i just spent an hour trouble shooting this stupid post... evidently I can't use Safari... grrr... ok putting happy face back on!

"WHEN FACE TO FACE WITH THE UNEXPECTED, WING IT"

HELLO, Y’ALL! I HAVE DECIDED TO WRITE A BLOG SINCE MY VARIOUS FRIENDS AND FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO STAY UP TO DATE ON WHAT I’M DOING ON A DAY TO WEEK BASIS- THAT’S IF I HAVE WEEKLY ACCESS TO INTERNET.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME: I’LL BE 24 YEARS OF AGE AS OF JANUARY 6, 2008 AND THAT MEANS I’M GOING TO HAVE MY FIRST BIRTHDAY IN THE DR SOON. I WENT TO SCHOOL AT CHATFIELD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN LITTLETON, COLORADO AND I GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER, NO I’M NOT A HIPPIE DESPITE MY WANNABE TENDENCIES. MY MAJORS WERE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND ECONOMICS. I APPLIED TO THE PEACE CORPS AFTER SPENDING SOME TIME VOLUNTEERING WITH MY LOCAL COUNTY’S ACTION CENTER FOR ITS’ INDIGNANT POPULATION. THAT WAS SEPTEMBER 2007. I WAS ACCEPTED IN MARCH AND THEN IN JUNE (?) I WAS TOLD I WAS FORMALLY GOING TO THE DR AS A COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VOLUNTEER. I CAN’T REMEMBER, IT ALL SEEMS SO LONG AGO.

I’LL JUST QUICKLY RECOUNT MY LAST SUMMER IN THE US OF A FOR ALL UPCOMING PCVS TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT I THOUGHT AND HOW I PREPARED. FIRST I FIGURED THAT I WAS LEAVING FOR SOME CRUMMY LIVING CONDITIONS SO I WORKED A TEMPORARY JOB AT AN INSURANCE AGENCY (THAT DIDN’T LAST LONG) AND THEN AS A HOSTESS TO MAKE SOME MONEY TO HAVE AN ALL BALLS OUT SUMMER! I SPENT THE SUMMER GOING TO CONCERTS, FESTIVALS, VISITING MY TWO FRIENDS AARON AND ELYSA IN THE MOUNTAINS, AND LIVING “LARGE” AT THE YELLOW HOUSE IN BOULDER WITH MY ROOMMATES AND GOOD FRIENDS JESSE, LIIA, LAUREN, TAWNY AND KATE. I WANTED TO SPEND AS MUCH TIME DOING THE THINGS I ENJOYED, LIKE CAMPING BY THE MISHAWAKA OR HANGING OUT IN MY BACKYARD WITH A PBR AND A HULA-HOOP WITH THE PEOPLE I HAVE COME TO LOVE AND RESPECT. IN THAT RESPECT I WAS COMPLETELY SUCCESSFUL AND I LEFT KNOWING I DID AS MUCH AS I COULD TO HANG OUT WITH EVERYONE THAT MEANT SO MUCH TO ME. AS FOR MY PACKING LIST, HE- HE, I FOLLOWED THE “LIST” THEY GAVE US AS A GUIDELINE AND NOT SO MUCH WORD FOR WORD. I BROUGHT MY WEEKEND CAMPING BACKPACK (IT WAS A SWEET CHRISTMAS PRESENT FROM MY PARENTS) AND AS BIG OF A SUITCASE AS THE AIRLINES WOULD LET ME WITHOUT CHARGING ME EXTRA. I MEAN PACKING MY LIFE INTO TWO SUITCASES, A BACK PACK, MY PURSE, AND A COMPUTER (I DECIDED THIS WAS DEFINITELY NECESSARY CONSIDERING MY PROGRAM) WAS QUITE A FEAT BUT IT WASN’T IMPOSSIBLE. I STAYED REALLY OPEN TO DONATING A LOT OF UNNECESSARY ITEMS. IN THE END, I DONATED ABOUT HALF MY CLOSET, MINUS MY WINTER CLOTHES, WHICH STAYED BEHIND FOR OBVIOUS REASONS (I.E. TROPICAL CLIMATE). MY MOM HELPED THROUGH THIS PROCESS BY BEING REALISTIC ABOUT THE COUNTRY I WAS GOING TO. I KEPT LEANING TOWARDS LIVING IN THE WOODS TYPES OF CLOTHES AND SHE WAS MORE ABOUT CASUAL BUSINESS ATTIRE. IN THE END, AFTER SEVERAL TRIPS TO FASHION YOGA STORES AND REI (SUPER SPORTING GOODS STORE), WE LANDED WITH A FUNCTIONAL CASUAL BUSINESS WARDROBE. LET ME JUST SAY NOW, I SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT MORE LIGHTWEIGHT LINEN PANTS TO KEEP MOSQUITOES OFF WITHOUT ME SWEATING PROFUSELY AND SOME DEEP FOREST “OFF” MOSQUITO REPELLANT CAUSE THESE GUYS LOVE OUR BLOOD. I ALSO TOOK WITH ME MY HULA-HOOP (IT BREAKS DOWN) CAUSE I WANTED ONE ITEM THAT WOULD REMIND ME OF HOME BUT OTHER PEOPLE COULD ENJOY (IT’S BEEN A SUCCESS THUS FAR). THE DAY I LEFT, I TOOK WITH ME MY BANK CHECK CARD AND AN EXTRA $300 IN CASH AS A “JUST IN CASE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AND I NEED MONEY TO BRIBE/BUY SOMETHING AT THE LAST MINUTE” MONEY, WHICH I ENDED UP PARTIALLY USING TO BUY A SET OF SPEAKERS FOR MY MUSIC COLLECTION. (I BROUGHT MY IPOD AS WELL)

SO NOW YOU HAVE AN IDEA ABOUT ME. I LEFT FOR STAGING, IN MIAMI, AT THE END OF AUGUST (SPECIFIC DATES ARE BORING). SPENT THREE DAYS GETTING TO “KNOW” OUR FELLOW VOLUNTEERS. MAN, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO SHARE SOME PRETTY INTIMATE DETAILS WITH PEOPLE WE JUST MET. THANKFULLY FOR DINÁMICAS (ICE-BREAKERS) WE WERE ABLE TO KEEP THINGS LIGHT. I THINK MY GROUP IS A FAIRLY FUNNY BUNCH AND WE DON’T MIND MAKING FUN OF OURSELVES, WHICH IS SUPER AWESOME SINCE WE ALL WILL MAKE MISTAKES (SOME HUGE, SOME SMALL) IN THE FIRST FEW MONTHS. WE THEN HOPPED A PLANE FROM MIAMI TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (A TWO HOUR FLIGHT) AND SPENT THE NIGHT AT A SPIRITUAL RETREAT AFTER OUR FIRST SERIES OF SHOTS, OH SO MUCH FUN! NO, SERIOUSLY, WE HAD A GREAT TIME THE FIRST NIGHT WE WERE THERE. ALSO, IT WAS ENTERTAINING FIGURING OUT HOW TO HANG UP OUR MOSQUITEROS (MOSQUITO NETS) SO WE DON’T GET MALARIA (NIGHTTIME MOSQUITOES), DENGUE (DAYTIME MOSQUITOES), OR WAKE UP WITH A SPIDER/COCKROACH/SOME HUGE BUG ON OUR FACE OR BODY. YOU WILL COME TO HAVE A LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR MOSQUITERO.

IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO A COUNTRY WHERE MOSQUITO NETS ARE REQUIRED YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK INTO GETTING ONE WITH A ZIPPER FOR EASY ENTRANCE/EXIT AND THAT ALSO REPELS “NO SEE UMS” (TINY INSECTS THAT CRAWL THROUGH YOUR NETTING AND BITE YOU BUT DON’T WORRY THESE GUYS DON’T CARRY ANY DISEASES). TAKE A BREATH NOW, CAUSE IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE BUT YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP IT FUNNY. I’M WORKING ON MY MOSQUITO NET PROJECT AND I’M GOING TO MAKE MYSELF A BOMB MOSQUITO NET – I’M GOING FOR A PRINCESS IN FOUR-POSTER BED LOOK. WHEN I HAVE MADE IT I’LL POST PICTURES AND DIRECTIONS. ALSO, I’M CONSIDERING MAKING A BELT HOLSTER FOR TWO CANS OF RAID, ONE I CAN SPECIFICALLY USE FOR FLYING INSECTS AND THE OTHER FOR LARGE INSECTS SINCE COCKROACHES KEEP INVADING MY PERSONAL SPACE.