graduation, getting robbed, and working with american high schoolers....

Past few weeks have been incredibly hectic - I went from having no schedule for the next few months and trying to figure out what my projects would look like at site, to having my calendar full until the beginning of August...Ay Mi Madre...

To star off with, I FINALLY GRADUATED MY WOMEN AS HEALTH PROMOTERS!!!

    10 months, a lot of charla prepration, continuous self-motivation and constant teaching - the moment came when these women went from students to being teachers themselves. Our graduation took place on February 9th and all the women brought something for our potluck and everyone brought one or two people. It took place in the backyard of my project partners house with a beautiful view and us all sitting under a mango tree! I gave them each a diploma, a first aid kit fully equipped with certification stickers for the homes they certify on their home visits, a blood pressure machine and stethoscope and a thermometer. It was beautiful and incredibly relaxing to know that Mondays I could now relax.

Since i don't have pictures - this is what the certificates given look like!

Typically, I would post pictures - I took A TON  BUT I was robbed about two weeks ago and no longer have my iPhone.

 The moment it happened - nothing was registering - I was not hurt I just go a burn from trying to hold onto my purse. I NEVER go out with a purse full of anything to go get lunch - I usually take the exact amount of what I need in cash. My favorite Nepalese purse was yanked and I immediately screamed and ran after the moto who drove away quicker than I could even blink. My cell phone, iphone, whole wallet, Larimar rings and sentimental things were all in there. I went back to the PC office with my wonderful friends who accompanied me the whole way and tried to start canceling everything and figure out how I was going to travel for the next two weeks in country without any money (there was a lot of cash in there). Luckily Peace Corps is amazing and made it all a smooth transition.

I went to the police to file a report and I felt like I was in a place where a bunch of bored adults play "house" but instead of playing house they are playing "police station". No one was organized, only a couple people knew how to write and what the procedure for a robbery was. It was in the moment when I remembered the lack of faith and hope that I have for Dominicans living here and trying to better themselves as contributing members to society.

The government and politics here is so corrupt that the wheels of the DR will forever be stuck and will never have traction. It was this day that confirmed all of this for me - it makes me sad for the future of this country and the options of development (or lack thereof) that it has.


The day after this happened I went and gave  presentation to the newest group of health volunteers - this was great - to get to know them all but also reminded me of how much I have done with my women - even if sometimes I feel like I havent.

I spent Valentines Day with a group of them eating pizza and drinking beer! It was perfect!

That weekend I went to an Island off the DR called Isla Saona - it was a beautiful surprise for Valentines day and had a blast doing something so touristy - especially after getting robbed.

a Diet Coke in a Can in DR?!?? so exciting!

Bayahibe

Isla Saona

Isla Saona

Post tourist trip I headed up to the mountains in the north with my good friend Kate ( a fellow New Englander). I signed up to translate for a group of high school kids who are on their February vacation doing service work - building a clinic in a community near another Peace Corps Volunteer. I was so excited to have such good Quality Tie with my fellow PCV friends too! This expirience proved to be incredibly insightful - I learned how much I have adapted to Dominican culture, simplified living conditions, and general tolerance of constant uncomfortable situations. Everytime a student was complaining or expressing general frustrations I found myself explaining why the culture is this way or that although it is normal to get frustrated because sometimes our American culture doesn't allow us to be uber-flexible with time, or rules, we are working in another country and need to adapt.

This reminded me of how lucky I feel to have the opportunity of being a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is something I think only other PCVs will understand but I have learned that most things in life are just not worth stressing over. That sometimes taking an extra 10 - 15 minutes to just say hi to neighbors and be late for a meeting is worth it. Not having the exact ingredients for a meal you wanted is okay...another day it will happen. Not having service means a couple days of not being able to work or talk to family. Cohabitation with other critters is what we signed up for so that's why when we see one, we no longer freak out. My outfit doesn't match? eh...whatever. We understand that if it doesn't get done today, then we'll do our best to get it done tomorrow and fully accept it. Weren't able to pay rent on time? Send the money with a muchacho tomorrow, or maybe the next day.

    This is what life has become for me and I didn't realize how much of it I have adopted into my lifestyle until the past week that I spent with the high school students. It gave me great perspective on where I am at with my service!

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Getting back from the week of beautiful mountains, fresh air, good company etc. was hard. The good thing was that I got to the capital, turned right around and headed back north but this time a bit west to a beautiful mountain town named Jarabacoa for a women's conference. It was for new health promotors so I went with two of my women! They loved the conference, said they learned a lot and ate a lot of delicious, free food! It was great to see them participate and share time with other promotors - the hard work in the last 10 weeks has definitely paid off.

All in all this time has been very good in terms of reflection on service ....

Until next time!

incredibly over due post...but here it is.

I have been writing this blog post for a few months now – I can’t tell you why I haven’t posted it but it may have something to do with my constant ADD.

Since the last time I posted a lot has happened and changed. Maybe part of the reason why I haven’t posted is because I feel like I have so much to catch you all up on or maybe not enough….I often find that daily things that happen to me now a days are no longer blog worthy because they have just become normality’s to me – part of my daily life, normal part of cultural exchange. Then, usually when I am bathing, I realize that if it had been the Laura of a year and a half ago experiencing this I would be blogging about it right away for the sheer shock value of an awkward cultural interaction. However, these cultural conundrums are things I am now viewing in two categories - things I would like to adopt into my lifestyle or things I couldn't even imagine doing. 

In fact - with only 9 months left of service this sums up exactly how I am feeling. I feel comfortable in my skin here, I know what to expect – most of the time – I feel like I finally have a personality I am comfortable enough to express in my campo and often times feel like I am just another community member that when there is an extranjero I even get territorial. This isn't to say that there are still things that happen that I often have to stop and say “wow, I don’t think I could ever get used to this” or “dang, I wonder if I will ever adopt that awesome part of the culture” – things that remind me how deeply ingrained cultural customs are, how deep they are rooted and how difficult they are to change.

First semester of college I took an anthropology course – to be completely honest I forget most of what I learned in it. In fact, I almost forgot I took that course until recently – I was discussing collective vs. individualistic societies with a very well  respected, upper class Dominican. I was explaining to him that here, people have a natural collective tendency and in the states it is not like that, full with examples and all. He asked, “did you study this in college?” and I said “yeah in college I took a course that gave me this introduction but now living it is a whole different ball-game”. I thank that course for giving me the two perfect adjectives in describing what I consider to be one of the most crucial parts of my service – coming from an individualistic society and living in a collective one.

The other day Jocelin, a girl who spends almost every waking hour at my house was helping me do oficio (chores). She worked really hard and did so much for me that week that I gave her 100 pesos. She said thank you, immediately turned to her little sister and said “Lokenja, please go give this to mom”. It may have been one of the most defining moments of my service. In this moment I not only felt humbled for her, but intense pride and gratitude – to know that a 14 year old girl who comes from one of the poorest squatting Haitian families in my campo probably doesn’t even conceive the concept of greed. It was complete second nature for her to do what she did, something she does all the time.

My possee - Jocelin, her two little sisters and my two little neighbors.

Last weekend I was mid-oficio, once again, and heard my name being bosiar-ed (shouted?) by a woman who I have adopted as my Dominican mama- Jovah. She shows up and says “hey, I brought you this.” I look down and it is a king crab – maybe about 5 pounds (I have no idea how to measure size of it) but it was really large. Already boiled she said it was for me to eat. Now, this may not seem like much but it is a huge deal – this woman’s family struggles daily financially. Her husband is a fisherman and they try to sell everything he catches – he could have sold this crab to a restaurant for over 1,000 pesos…I’m almost certain. She explains how I should open it and cook and it and just says, “I hope you enjoy it!”

I have been visiting one particular family a lot lately – I usually go a few hours after lunch time to spend the afternoon just plastic-chair-sitting with them and shooting the shit. Usually I hear the same stories, the same amount of times but it is my home away from home. Anyways this family does not have a source of income and they get help from the government monthly – there is a card here, similar to the WIC program in the states, where if you apply the government gives you money for gas for your stove and food staples. No matter what time of day, what day of the week or what attitude I go visit them with, they always have food saved for me. A full plate of whatever was cooked that day is always put aside for me.

All of these exemplify collectivism. I try, on a daily basis, to live this way – it is much harder than I thought. It involves taking yourself out of the equation almost completely. If I cook for more than just me it means I need to buy more food soon, which I may not even have enough for at the time - therefor it might mean going a few days with only one meal or hoping that my neighbors will brindar-me food everyday. It means the kids could get used to this and I would have them at my house more often than I already do. It would mean more dishes – which involved more water, which means I have to conserve on bathing and cleaning because water comes a few time a week. It means giving the villager a fish and not teaching them how to fish.

      These are the things I love about the Dominicans - most hospitable people I have ever met - a lot of it has to do with their need for unity and sincere need to take care of each other - something that I want to continuously practice and immerse myself in. 

OTHER UPDATES

          Projects:

               Since getting back from the states it has been really hard to get back in the swing of things. Thinking about the little time I have left and the amount of things I would like to do often throw me into a state of shock. How am I going to do everything I want to for my community. I often feel like my wheels are spinning as the whole behavior change things is almost absent - even after 9 months of charlas and home visits.

So my Hogares Saludables course ended last week and I am prepping the women for their jobs as health promotors. They are all very excite for they carnets (ID badges) as health promotors but most of them still don't understand the basic concept that sugar and salt are bad for you. "But Laura, isn't this what you spent the last 9 months training them on? Every week?" Yes, but where I live - and the whole region of the south in general - is very behind on health education. 

Their concept of health is the fatter i am the healthier my body is, the fact that i don't have any aches or pains means I am healthy as a horse and the more my body can ingest and consume the better my bill of health is. 

My youth, who graduated in November, are slow. One of them has started his own group which is AMAZING! He is three charlas in and it is going very well!

My secondary project currently feels like a mountain. I am waiting for donations - which are slow - and trying to figure out where to get book donations from. It is definitely going to be my biggest project during service and I am excited to see how it starts up...we will see.

ON FRIED CHICKEN:

I have been eating a lot of Pica Pollo lately and it is amazing. I really like it - never thought I would and I'm sure my mom would be repulsed to know how much I actually eat - BUT while I am traveling to and from the capital it is the easiet and cheapest thing to buy...well that and YUCA - which I always have been consuming a lot of.

ON PLANS POST PC:

Yes, I am already thinking about it. With 9 months left I have decided to stay in country and apply for a leadership position within Peace Corps. This is going to provide me not only with leadership skills but also to work another year in the development field but in a different area - one where I would imagine would be more similar to an NGO job in the states -  and see if it really is something I would like to do. It involves more strategic planning and in office stuff - a good transition between regular peace corps placement and real-world job. 

For now things are going...they are moving forward - the best way to describe it in few words. BUT if you want a better idea of my current life - just look closely at the photo below!

Toodles for now and - don't worry - I will be blogging more often - I want to try out the writing thing for a while...a possible gig post-pc? international journalism? maybe.