Windshield wipers! We don’t need no stinking wipers!

Yesterday I traveled with my Dona to Santiago. We were going to go to Santo Domingo Monday thru Thursday to visit her granddaughter. Monday morning about 10 am I packed my bag, called “Whereabouts” (if we leave our sites for the night, we have to call Peace Corps Whereabouts and tell them where and why), and then told my Dona I was going to go up to the school for a bit before we go. She said, oh, actually we’re not going to go. Instead my granddaughter is coming here. But you and me are going to go to Santiago on Wednesday but just for the day. SOOOO I unpacked my bag and called Whereabouts back and told them nevermind.

Anyway, Wednesday morning I got ready and planned to keep track of how long it took to get to Santiago and back, for future reference.
On the way down: We caught a bola in the truck of a friend of my Dona’s from Estero Hondo to La Isabela.
Total time: 30 minutes

At La Isabela we took a guagua to Santiago. The driver stopped in every town, it seemed like, so it probably took a little longer than normal.
Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes

On the way back: From Santiago to La Isabela we caught a bola who drove fast but smooth and hardly made any stops.
Total time: 1:15

Then we got off in the center of La Isabela to catch a guagua to Estero Hondo. There’s only three ways to get to Estero Hondo: bola it, take a motoconcho, or wait for the only guagua that goes to and from Estero Hondo. I don’t think my Dona likes the idea of “bolaing” with strangers and there’s no way she’s getting on a motorcycle so it was choice numero tres. Plus she knows the driver of the guagua! So we walked over to where he waits and he was actually there. He told us to wait next to a colmado while he went on some short errands and tried to get more people to go. So while we waited, it started to drizzle, got a little harder, and then the wind picked up and it was pouring. Then, of course, the guagua pulls up, and, also of course, doesn’t have any more passengers. So the helper of the driver, my Dona, and I run to the car and climb in. They told me to sit in the front passenger seat; which I still don’t know why, but I got in and we were on our way.
So the guagua… not so top notch…to say the least. The headlights didn’t work so he had the hazards on, no radio, he had the A/C on high but I could barely feel it, the windshield wipers didn’t work, and the driver’s side window was cracked open and he couldn’t roll it up because it was broken.
We got a little ways and then the rain started to go sideways. Right into the driver’s side window and it was getting all over the place. They told me to open my window so it would go straight out. Finally it got so bad that he pulled over so we could find shelter. But before I got out of the guagua, I was already soaked. We ran under a covered carport, thank God they left the gate open, we were all soaked now. Nobody was at the house, so we had to stay outside in the wind, but at least we were out of the rain. The rain kept getting harder and it starting hailing for a while. I wanted to take a picture of my first really bad rainstorm in the DR, so I got out my camera (which I actually had!!!) but then I realized I had taken the batteries out to use my flashlight. After a while, it lightened up a little and we ran back to the guagua. So we headed off again, after the driver pulled his window up as far as he could. Every time I shifted my weight to the left (which was often because now the driver was dodging potholes, huge water puddles, and tree branches) a squirt of muddy water would shoot up about a foot in the air from the right corner of my seat. It was so gross and so funny at the same time. Then a 4x4 truck with headlights and super fast windshield wipers zoomed past! But later we past two guys pushing their motorcycle down the street so I had to count my blessings. We finally got home safe and sound about 6:30.

Total time: 1:07 or N/A

First English Class

Yo tengo una nueva amiga. Ella se llama Escaiesrafieles (Escales). Ella tiene 7 anos. Ella le gusta el color rosado y pintar. Ella le gusta escuela pero no hoy porque esta lluviendo! La vaca es su animal favorito. Ella es mi vecina y vive en una casa rosada, rojo, y verde. Ella tiene dos hermanos, ambos son mayor. Ella es muy intelligente.

I have a new friend. Her name is Escailes. She is 7 years old. She likes the color pink and to paint. She likes school but not today because it is raining. The cow is her favorite animal. She is my neighbor and lives in a house that is pink, red and green. She has two siblings, both are older. She is very intelligent.

This was my first English class. There will be a lot more to come.

A lot of people are asking what my job is now that I´m at my site. Well in actuality I am a teacher, a construction worker, a modivator, a park ranger, a coach, the gringa, a learner, a counselor, a farmer, and more to come. I am a development worker. I am a Peace Corps volunteer.

Mi Sitio...

The long wait is finally OVER! Tuesday May 5 I finally found out I will be going to:
Estero Hondo in Puerto Plata
to serve in the Peace Corps from May 13th 2009 to May 13th 2011.

I just got back from my site visit. Basically I got to know my project partner, see where the town is and how to get there, drop half of my stuff there (that way I don’t have to carry everything in one trip), and start building confianza.
Confianza – Confianza directly means confidence in Spanish, but here it means a whole lot more. It is like respectable, serious, good person, etc. rolled into one. If you don’t have confianza in your site you don’t have anything.

I have final tests on Monday, workshops on Tuesday, then Wednesday, May 13th is the big day of Swearing-In as a Peace Corps Volunteer!!!

La Caleta

Wednesday through Friday we studied eco-tourism and did a case study of La Caleta (about an hour away from the capital). La Caleta has a national park right on the ocean. It has problems with trash (like all towns here), protecting the national park, local caves and the wildlife just off-shore.
Wednesday we learned about the park and took a tour of it. Then we did surveys of community members on local resources. Thursday we learned about native fish and other sea creatures and most importantly the reef. To go along with the national park work, the volunteer in La Caleta is trying to preserve the reef there, which is being affected by over-fishing and global climate changes. Then in the afternoon, we got to go snorkeling (my first time) and see everything in action. It was really cool (No Mom I didn’t see any Nemos but I did see a Dori)! Friday, we presented our results from Wednesday to a representative of the mayor. Then we went cave exploring!!! The caves were very cool but, of course, I didn’t have my camera!

Goodbye Arenoso

We are now back in Santo Domingo. I am really going to miss the mountains. I’d never lived in the mountains before; it was so beautiful and my host family was awesome. I almost started crying when I had to leave.

A couple of things to mention from last week or so in La Cumbre:
4/22 Earth Day! We put on a charla (speech) for 5th and 6th graders at the local school about trash and proper handling; then we did a trash pick-up along the road. Some kids got really into it and of course others did not. But I think everyone had fun.


The guy in the yellow shirt is "Papi" the local crazy.

4/25 Santiago! A group of us headed to Santiago to get a couple of things and then eat pizza for lunch from, of course, Pizza Hut. It was a lot of fun. One the way down we got what is called a bola (free ride, like hitchhiking). The “bola” system is really popular here and pretty safe which making traveling a lot cheaper and easier.

This is us crammed into the back of a carro publico.

4/27 Maribol Sisters Memorial! We took a bola to La Cumbre and then walked about a mile to the Maribol Sisters Memorial. I don’t want to go into long detail but in the 1950s there was a dictator in control of the DR called Trujillo. He actually did a lot of good for the school system and infrastructure, but he killed a lot of people and was known for “liking” a lot of young women. The Maribol family was a very respectable one and Trujillo wanted to “have relations” with one of the daughters. The daughter refused so Trujillo had 3 of the sister’s husbands imprisoned. One day on the way back from visiting their husbands in jail, the 3 sisters were stopped and killed by Trujillo’s men. Then their bodies were dumped (where the memorial is today) to make it look like an accident. The family was outraged and it lead to a revolution against Trujillo. Trujillo was eventually assassinated on his way home from visiting a girlfriend in 1961.
I recommend the book “In the Time of the Butterflies” even though I haven’t read it yet. Also, I recommend another book that I read about the DR called “The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” It’s not your typical book but if you don’t mind a lot of “street-talk”, it’s really good and also talks about the time of Trujillo.
Anyway, knowing the history of these brave women and seeing where they died was really sad and touching.


Then later that day we learned how to make empanadas which was really fun. Plus they turned out really good!