October

In the News…

* I took the GRE a few weeks ago, after months of studying, eating and breathing vocabulary, analogies, percentages, triangles, train problems.  Another lesson in failure… A week of no sleep and then a nasty cold distracted me during test day and I just couldn’t focus.  I didn’t score terribly, but I did worse than any practice test I took.  I'm going to take it again this month.  Wish me luck.

* Another Stateside, long-time (over 11 years!) friend, Sergio, came to visit.  He got the real Peace Corps experience – no water (see next update), frequent black-outs, uncomfortable transportation, the beach, and a youth conference.

* So I spoke too soon in my previous post – the water that finally came only lasted two days and then the pump to the aqueduct broke again.  My town finally got water 2 weeks later.  One night I tried to bathe in the rain (to conserve water b/c there was none – why not take advantage of nature??) in my clothes of course, but my neighbors were questioning me, laughing, watching me like I was in a circus sideshow.  I made Sergio jump in the street with me so I wouldn’t be the only crazy American doing it, but my spontaneous gesture was ruined by everyone getting in my business.

* Brigada Verde youth conference!  Yes, another conference, but this time we went to this beautiful eco-tourist hotel near a national park called Los Haitises.  The park is a series of large rock landscapes with trees and foliage mysteriously growing on top that jut out of the Samaná bay; only four places in the world have terrain like this.  We took a boat tour of the park, visited some Taino (the indigenous people, completely eradicated by the Spanish invasion that started with Columbus’s first colony here in 1490-something) caves that had sculpture and paintings, and admired the many different birds soaring elegantly above the large rock formations.

* Went to a Peace Corps mandated training about cholera.  It’s in Haiti for the first time in several decades, and supposedly Dominicans have little or no experience with it.  According to the CDC, it will inevitably come to the DR because all the rivers, which are our main sources for water, are linked.  However, Peace Corps gave us very thorough instructions on how to take precautions, basically things we should be already doing because the water isn’t clean in the first place, but they really drilled into us the importance of these precautions.  The fortunate thing about this very nasty disease is that it is completely curable with rehydration salts and antibiotics.  The key to preventing the spread of this disease is education.  Also, cholera is all over the world, including many Peace Corps countries – I just have to be careful to protect myself and I must tell people how to prevent it.

* I finally got a refrigerator – after over a year of living without one!!  My friend, Iris, who just finished her service, gave it to me and it’s wonderful.  Cold water, how I appreciate thee.  Now I can actually have yogurt, milk, leftovers, and chocolate in my house.  I also bought a Dutch oven for baking (since I don't have a real oven) so I've been baking a lot: brownies, chocolate cake, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and my greatest feat, homemade pizza with my awesome friend, Stephanie!  Therefore, eating has gotten a little bit better.

* Break-up Anniversary.  A year later, I’m still here and happy to say that this October was way better than the last.  I’m feeling good and I’m happy concentrating on me.  I feel strong, wise, optimistic, and I look forward to falling in love again – probably, in America.  This time is for me.

* A group of volunteers just finished their service at the end of October, some of them, dear friends of mine.  I was sad to see them go, but excited for them.  They were ready.  Now my group is next to leave.  We are the “seniors.”

 Brigada Verde conference photos, courtesy of Sergio.  (P.S. These photos took about an hour to upload, thanks to my .001 kb/s internet connection.)

We had to take an hour-and-a-half ferry ride across the Samaná Bay to go to the BV conference.  Sergio and I at the dock.

We finally arrive on land!

Explaining the conference registration process to my joven.

Presenting our community

Doing an ice-breaker with the kids.

Dancing around a bonfire!

Giving a motivational lesson on project planning.  Any good business or project has to have a vision and mission statement!

Sergio and I in a Taino cave

The national park had the largest mangrove forest I've ever seen.  They even have a mangrove crop.

A Taino cave statue.  The guide said that they are usually at the entrance of caves, standing guard.