On Sunday afternoon, sporting their nicest dresses, the girls in my Chicas Brillantes group showed up to the community center excited for their graduation. We spent time decorating with pink and purple balloons, flower-filled signs, and fancy curtains. The front row of the center was full of their friends and siblings ranging from toddlers to [...]
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After a wonderful “winter” break full of visitors, traveling, and exciting new year’s and birthday celebrations, I finally got my groups back up and running this past week. My little engineers made amazing newspaper towers, which we had fun lighting on fire at the end (not part of the original plan). My 8th graders played [...]
My Chicas Brillantes group received your letters, photos, and surprises! We spent an afternoon learning about the Girls Scouts and each of you. The girls in my group then spent time creating some surprises for you. A package full of pictures, photos, a few surprises, (and lots of glitter!) is on its way. Thank you [...]
12/30 I apologize for not writing recently, but as promised before, the past few weeks have been very busy. Starting off, I graduated my health promoters in a nice morning of reflection, certificates, and of course lunch. Although throughout the planning and graduation, I realized that I do not have the most faith in some [...]
This week has been pretty busy, as will be the next few. I’m winding down my health promoter training group, Hogares Saludables. The women, who have been a part of the group, will be graduating on December 9th. Groups from the neighboring communities will be graduating as well. Around 100 women in total from this [...]
My 8th graders. 10 boys and 1 girl…that poor girl. We talked about how to make healthy decisions. They all made “personal stoplights” as a way to get them thinking about some tough decisions to come; the things they would do (green), things they may do depending on the situation (yellow), and things they do [...]
This is Higuero, a fruit that is mostly used for it’s “shell,” which Dominicans use to carve beautiful bowls, plates, cups, etc. I have a tree in my front yard and was told I could use the insides to cure Plum’s minor case of mange. (Also, I was told that making a wine out of [...]
October 26 Last week my family and I began preparing for Christmas. We made wine (or at least started the process)! I currently have a 5 gallon bucket of corn wine and a smaller bucket of banana wine fermenting in my bedroom. My host family bought the yeast, I bought the sugar, and that night [...]
This is how I spent my morning… Starting our trip to get water… The tap Filling up… Kids will be kids anywhere. Fighting, throwing water, throwing buckets. Ready to head back…
My girls group (Chicas Brillantes) hard at work making their flowers. In each petal they wrote a word to describe themselves. (My words were talented, educated, happy, tranquila, and fun…I was pretty proud of my flower!) The older girl in the desk is 13 and is helping me lead the group. A little fuzzy but [...]
I had arranged with the health promoter in the batey nearby to start the income generation project with her group yesterday. We were going to make Mistolin (floor cleaning stuff that they use when they mop). By selling this, along with other things we’re going to make in the future (soap, shampoo, menthol, etc) the [...]
10/5/11 Coming back to my site after spending almost three weeks felt surprisingly very good. I arrived after dark with a family friend, multiple bags full of great American things, and Plum acting like a nut in the back seat. We stopped at the first house at the bottom of the hill. They gave me [...]
I am starting a new project in my community and I need your help! I will be combining a basic nutrition course with the construction of 10 gardens for families in my community. The main goals are to not only educate the participants about eating a balanced diet but also give them the opportunity to [...]
Waiting for English class to start on my front porch. Don’t let this photo fool you; they only come for the stickers. What we do after class. The kids. Missing one or two. This right here may just be the sole reason I never have children. I make sure to tell her this on a [...]
How it started out. Surprisingly, this wasn’t up to Peace Corps standards. Knocked that thing down in an afternoon. Beams went up. Almost there… Inside. View from the front porch. 2 men. 18 days. Brand new pink house.
8/16 Things in my site have been going well. My health promoter training group (Hogares Saludables) has been meeting now for 4-5 weeks. I’d say the most interesting meeting I’ve had with them thus far was the week during which we were discussing breast cancer. I had invited a health promoter from a nearby community [...]
Brandon came to visit last week! First, we spent the weekend at a resort… Parasailing… And living the nice life. Oh my god, I look so clean. And then we went back to my site… We rode horses to the river. (The pink house in the background is mine! We painted it!…and by we, [...]
7/11 To keep this short – a lack of work support and security issues in my old site have forced me to move. Productivity over the next year plus and sustainability thereafter would have been virtually impossible. Saying goodbye to some was tough, but the move was necessary. Plum and I now live in a [...]
6/5 I don’t have much exciting to report. It’s the rainy season. Good for my water situation. Bad for my projects and mental health. I get stuck in my house almost every afternoon. I think the most excitement that I’ve had is the most recent transportation strike. I swear, these people only work together and [...]
5/9 Plum killed her first chicken. Plum proceeded to puke aforementioned chicken all over my floor. Did you know that a goat jumps 4+ feet in the air repeatedly and quickly bows into a charging stance when angry? No? Well, Plum and I shouldn’t know these things either. I am not a fan of goats. [...]
Jess brought Plum her first American beef rawhide. She was scared at first, but quickly moved past that fear. We took walks… We bought veggies…(this guy drives right up to my house; I love him!) We bought cinder blocks and plywood to make shelves for my house. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough pesos to buy [...]
4/19 Our aqueduct broke last week. My life has hit a low point. I have been “bathing” outside, on my dona’s front porch, in a blowup kiddie pool. (By bathing, I mean getting in wearing my swimsuit, splashing around, beating all the kids several times at the “Who can hold their breath longer underwater?” game, [...]
What happens when it rains…This is my front yard. What we did during the rain…she makes herself right at home. We also had a photoshoot… Check out Plum’s smile. Haha.
3/28 My youth group is going well. I also recently started up my nutrition course. This has been fun! It’s a small group of women (because god forbid a man even get near a pot or pan here). I gave a charla (talk) today about the basic food groups and how to form a balanced [...]
Cooking tostones with my ninas… And now Plum pictures… “Mommmm I’m stuck!” This happens every morning. She gets stuck in my neighbor’s back porch (in search of food of course)…and this is what I see from my kitchen window. Haha. Asleep on my rice sack (which is NOT full of rice).
3/6 The past 24 hours have been…colorful. Let’s start with last night. It’s around 7pm as I light my candles, switch on my headlamp, and begin cooking a really exciting dinner (the vegetable truck came that morning) as I listen to my niños play hide-and-go-seek outside of my house. Now, you should know that there [...]
My house (made out of palm tree wood). I didn’t pose Plum there; she did it herself! Living room area? Note the poster of me…I mean, Taylor Swift. Some of the cards you guys have sent me! Apparently I’m loved. Wardrobe room. Bathroom is through the door…figured you wouldn’t want to see a picture of [...]
2/24 Before moving out, I had my 3 month In-Service Training (after 3 months in our sites). All of the health volunteers and their project partners from their respective sites went to La Vega for 3 days. We presented our community diagnostics (the data from all the interviews I had been doing) and our plans [...]
2/10 I moved into my house a few days ago. It’s right next door to my host family’s house – actually my doña owns it. This lends itself to a beautiful rent of 500 pesos per month ($13.50US). I have electricity (one light bulb), but only for a few hours per day and it comes [...]
Chris and I with our pups! :) 4 week old Rottweilers. Plum! Check out those blue eyes!
1/24 All volunteers have “Yep, I’m definitely in the Peace Corps” moments. Some aren’t much fun, like when you find yourself being tested for amoebic dysentery or praying that you have electricity tonight. On the other hand, some of these moments are great. The past two days have been a slew of “Yep, I’m in [...]
Just a warning, apparently my site has dangerous cows. Dangerous enough to warrant 4 such signs. My new home. Kidding. Where those dangerous cows reside. Farmer houses… And some shots from my birthday party…
I met up with my two best volunteer friends in the capital on the 31st and we took a 4.5 hour bus ride up to Cabarete on the north coast. We met up with probably around 80 other PCVs to bring in the New Year together (Cabarete is an annual PC New Years thing). We [...]
12/26 My family and I traveled to the capital to visit more family for Christmas. This part of the family is apparently really wealthy. As we pulled into the neighborhood, the kids in the back seat exclaimed, “Look Jessie, these people are rich like you!” Oh god. I ignored that and pretended to not understand. [...]
12/15 The past week has been mostly BLAH. After my day trip to the capital, I went through about a 5 day stint of Peace Corps Depression. For no reason at all. Didn’t really feel like doing much. Wanted alone time, but at the same time felt really lonely. Read over 400 pages. Didn’t [...]
12/10 Finally bought my guitar. I came into the capital for a day and met up with a friend (Meredith). We had a nice lunch in the colonial zone (cheeseburger – when will I learn that this is always a bad idea). Then we ventured out for my guitar. I found/still find the following interaction [...]
12/7 My idea of a good, productive day has changed completely. Today began with my usual run – but I had 3 friends with me this time! Three of my teenage cousins/neighbors wanted to go with me. It was a lot of fun and they want to go everyday now. Maybe the neighborhood donas will [...]
2/12 The head of the NGO that I’m going to be working with a little (FUSABI) invited me to a health promoter conference in Jarabacoa for the weekend. I turned it down the first time, so I felt like I had to go this time. Honestly, I really just want to be in my site. [...]
Today I met a woman in my site whose 10 month old child died from diarrhea/dehydration. This shouldn’t still be happening. Anywhere. Today wasn’t a good day.
The view down my “street” They type of house I’ll be able to affordable (probs just lost all of my visitors). Where they make bread right across from my house. My house. I live in luxury. Views from the top of the water tank…
11/19 12 interviews down. 88 to go. Something I forgot to mention. My project partner is a 19 year old girl who has lived in my community her entire life. She is supposed to go with me on my home visits and help me out. This sounds a lot easier than it is. Getting stuff [...]
11/16 I’ve started the interviews. I’ve done 8. Only 92 to go. Some of the things that I’ve encountered already include, women who have had 9 pregnancies starting at age 15, have lost several children, have no source of income or make around 500 pesos per month ($14 US), and have only completed through the [...]
11/10 I got back to my site on Sunday afternoon. Everything is fine here. Apparently they were without light for 2 days (what’s new) and the nearest cell tower broke so we were without that for a day, but really there was just a bunch of rain. Some highlights from the past few days:Climbed the [...]
I am living the life right now. Actually I’m fairly certain that I am living better than most of my friends back in the states. I haven’t stayed somewhere this nice – ever. I haven’t ate this well in…well, 3 months. I haven’t been this clean in far too long. This is beautiful. Our public [...]
The last 4 days of my life have been absolutely ridiculous. I honestly think that I will come home a crazy person in 2 years, if life continues like this. On Friday we get…”It’s not if cholera makes it to the DR, it’s when…kids and old people can die within 4-6 hours of their first [...]
The girls from our training group at swear-in. I’m in the back (obv). The health volunteers! Love these guys! :) Health girls at the after party.
10/28 Our swearing-in was really nice! Chris Lambert (the senator) who is a RPCV, was here to give the government oath…got to shake his hand! Not quite sure why that was exciting for me, but it was. Some Dominican government official was here, too. It was a really exciting time. And the cake afterwards was [...]
Swearing-in is this afternoon! Our host families from Santo Domingo come, but I wish my real fam and friends could come! Apparently US and Dominican government officials are here…and the local news! And, most importantly, the rumor is that the food afterwards is great! We’re all going out downtown afterwards and having a joint celebration [...]
10/24 I just returned from my 5 day site visit. Riding into my campo for the first time was absolutely breath taking. I hope I can paint somewhat of a picture for you through my words. So I get off the guagua in the middle of nowhere, with literally all of my belongings in tow…80 [...]
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