I was attempting to check up on the current Peace Corps status in Honduras. All I really know so far is that due to the golpe de estado (Coup-de-etat), the new training class that was scheduled to begin this week will now be heading to the Dominican Republic for a few weeks. They will begin language training as Peace Corps monitors the situation and receives further instructions from headquarters in D.C. As for the Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Honduras, I assume they are all safe and sound. A PCV from the D.R. (and Bay Area native) is currently doing a third year extension in Honduras so I will try to email and find out her end of the situation....
A situation that happens in a place most of us hardly ever think about (some may not even know where to look for it on a map) comes back around and effects us...Remember, we are all connected.
To the training class : Bienvenidos!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
New Friends
These are my pets Rusty (dog) and Marcel (cat). They help me keep a schedule while at my site and provide me with sanity. They are my only site friends that know English ;)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
My 25th BDAY/Christmas!
Christmas day Leti and I went over to the Hub (volunteer hostel) and met up with PCVs Kevin and Maryam and M's friend from the states Angela. Angela brought a gingerbread house kit.
After taking the group picture, I realized this was the first birthday I'd spent with just friends. Weird, right?
Christmas Eve
Teo, Leticia and I spent Christmas Eve together in the city. I know, I ate my birthday cake early, but it was an ice cream cake and I didn't want it to melt.
The tree is inside my house. Dominicans were amazed I knew how to decorate it myself. I tried not to take offense to that.
Starbucks
When I arrived in the DR, I was looking forward to learning about a new culture, eating real Dominican food, and living by a new daily Dominican routine. This lasted about 1 week. I realized that I missed my computer, my ipod, movies, The Today Show, spicy food, soy chai lattes, cheesecake, hot showers, running water whenever I wanted it, flushing toilets and refrigerators.
Don’t stop reading…..I promise this won’t be one of those depressing I-want-to-go-home-blogs. Well, not entirely. Just read on…
I’d like to say that I have learned not to enjoy the previous luxuries, but then I’d be a big fat liar. The truth is, we PCVs need to escape our simple campo lives from time to time. Usually, this is accomplished by a trip to the capitol. You can get almost anything in the cap. The only bagel shop in the country is located there. There is a Pizza Hut down the street from the PC office (where there is wireless internet), a movie theatre with discounts on Tuesdays, cable TV in the hostel and the office, a huge grocery store, hot showers and a clean pool at the US Embassy, flushing toilets galore, an American Sports Bar (it’s really called that) with every sports game covered on massive flat screen TVs, and a T.G.I.Fridays. Ok, so guess what is NOT available in Santo Domingo? What’s on almost every corner in the US? What is all the rage all college campuses? Where did that deliciously tasting, very sweet, hot drink sitting on the corner of your desk come from? STARBUCKS!
That’s right, there is no Starbucks in Santo Domingo. When we arrived in country, someone started a rumor that the only Starbucks in the country was located up in Santiago (the 2nd biggest city in the DR). Wrong. Some of us have traveled high and low in search of a tiny cup of delicious goodness just to be disappointed in the end.
Until now…
Let me start from the beginning (okay, you can have a bathroom break)
Back? Great.
A few months ago, a friend I’ve had since in grade school, shot me an email and said that she was going on a cruise with her boyfriend and parents and that they were going to stop in the DR! Since, the last person I’ve seen from home was my mom in May, I jumped up right away and marked the day Keri, Kevin, Pam and Kerry were going to come see me.
A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I set off on a very adventurous guagua ride into La Romana. I was really nervous, not because I was traveling by myself to a part of the country I’ve never been, but because I hadn’t seen Keri for years! It’s been a while since I’d even talked to an American not living the PC way. I was scared they were going to smell the bucket bath water on me, or notice some the Dominicanismos I’ve picked up (nose scrunch, hnpf grunt, lip point, etc). I was really afraid I’d speak in Spanglish the whole time too.
As I timidly walked up to the gate surrounding the ship area, all my worries were subsided the moment I saw Keri and Pam walking towards me with big smiles on their faces. It was so good to see familiar faces and feel familiar hugs. A few moments later, Kevin (Keri’s new fiancée) and Kerry walked up with equally as big smiles as the first two. Even though they were probably on some vacation-on-a-cruise-high, I pretended they were just really excited to see me J .
Anyway, I was able to tag along with them to Casa de Campo (this really big country club type of place with an artisan school) and to a different part of CdeC that had a market, fancy apartments, and yachts everywhere. While looking at the map of the grounds, Keri noticed a little Starbucks logo at the top indicating there was one on the premises. All I could say was “No way, they probably just brew that coffee and have the little cups”. I then asked a Dominican worker if she new where the Starbucks was located. She looked at me like I was crazy and then pointed to a place that sold some cafesito, but it wasn’t Starbucks.
We walked around, ate some ice cream and pastries and continued on our way. We were passing what looked like a small convenience store and something naturally brought us in. Maybe it was the bags of Stacy’s pita chips, raw almonds and Haribo gummies looking at us through the windows…
The moment I walked in, I saw colorful chalkboards that read words about The Cheese Cake Factory desserts and appetizers and Frappuccinos. Underneath, there was a pastry case full of cheese cakes. Oh man! I looked to the right and there was the Starbucks logo on napkins, cups, and signs! I felt like I had been illegally transported back to the homeland. I won’t lie, tears were shed. My friends said “Go on…get whatever you want”. Bless them. I ordered a Frappuccino and felt every last sip in my throat. It was awesome!
Thinking back, Keri and her family probably thought I had a few screws loose that day. I mean, who cries over Starbucks? Answer: a PCV who hasn’t been home for 14 months does.
I don’t know what my point in telling you this is. It sounds like I’m letting you know I’m deprived, I’m really not. I guess I just want you to stop and enjoy the actions that take up your day. Sounds cliché, but I don’t care. Smile at the Starbucks barista every time you order your grande, non-fat, double-something, extra whip, shot-of-something-else, mocha. Then, sip it and take in all of that rich, scrumptious sabor.
*Thanks to the Husted family for the hugs and love.
**Congrats Keri and Kevin! Good luck planning the wedding.
Don’t stop reading…..I promise this won’t be one of those depressing I-want-to-go-home-blogs. Well, not entirely. Just read on…
I’d like to say that I have learned not to enjoy the previous luxuries, but then I’d be a big fat liar. The truth is, we PCVs need to escape our simple campo lives from time to time. Usually, this is accomplished by a trip to the capitol. You can get almost anything in the cap. The only bagel shop in the country is located there. There is a Pizza Hut down the street from the PC office (where there is wireless internet), a movie theatre with discounts on Tuesdays, cable TV in the hostel and the office, a huge grocery store, hot showers and a clean pool at the US Embassy, flushing toilets galore, an American Sports Bar (it’s really called that) with every sports game covered on massive flat screen TVs, and a T.G.I.Fridays. Ok, so guess what is NOT available in Santo Domingo? What’s on almost every corner in the US? What is all the rage all college campuses? Where did that deliciously tasting, very sweet, hot drink sitting on the corner of your desk come from? STARBUCKS!
That’s right, there is no Starbucks in Santo Domingo. When we arrived in country, someone started a rumor that the only Starbucks in the country was located up in Santiago (the 2nd biggest city in the DR). Wrong. Some of us have traveled high and low in search of a tiny cup of delicious goodness just to be disappointed in the end.
Until now…
Let me start from the beginning (okay, you can have a bathroom break)
Back? Great.
A few months ago, a friend I’ve had since in grade school, shot me an email and said that she was going on a cruise with her boyfriend and parents and that they were going to stop in the DR! Since, the last person I’ve seen from home was my mom in May, I jumped up right away and marked the day Keri, Kevin, Pam and Kerry were going to come see me.
A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I set off on a very adventurous guagua ride into La Romana. I was really nervous, not because I was traveling by myself to a part of the country I’ve never been, but because I hadn’t seen Keri for years! It’s been a while since I’d even talked to an American not living the PC way. I was scared they were going to smell the bucket bath water on me, or notice some the Dominicanismos I’ve picked up (nose scrunch, hnpf grunt, lip point, etc). I was really afraid I’d speak in Spanglish the whole time too.
As I timidly walked up to the gate surrounding the ship area, all my worries were subsided the moment I saw Keri and Pam walking towards me with big smiles on their faces. It was so good to see familiar faces and feel familiar hugs. A few moments later, Kevin (Keri’s new fiancée) and Kerry walked up with equally as big smiles as the first two. Even though they were probably on some vacation-on-a-cruise-high, I pretended they were just really excited to see me J .
Anyway, I was able to tag along with them to Casa de Campo (this really big country club type of place with an artisan school) and to a different part of CdeC that had a market, fancy apartments, and yachts everywhere. While looking at the map of the grounds, Keri noticed a little Starbucks logo at the top indicating there was one on the premises. All I could say was “No way, they probably just brew that coffee and have the little cups”. I then asked a Dominican worker if she new where the Starbucks was located. She looked at me like I was crazy and then pointed to a place that sold some cafesito, but it wasn’t Starbucks.
We walked around, ate some ice cream and pastries and continued on our way. We were passing what looked like a small convenience store and something naturally brought us in. Maybe it was the bags of Stacy’s pita chips, raw almonds and Haribo gummies looking at us through the windows…
The moment I walked in, I saw colorful chalkboards that read words about The Cheese Cake Factory desserts and appetizers and Frappuccinos. Underneath, there was a pastry case full of cheese cakes. Oh man! I looked to the right and there was the Starbucks logo on napkins, cups, and signs! I felt like I had been illegally transported back to the homeland. I won’t lie, tears were shed. My friends said “Go on…get whatever you want”. Bless them. I ordered a Frappuccino and felt every last sip in my throat. It was awesome!
Thinking back, Keri and her family probably thought I had a few screws loose that day. I mean, who cries over Starbucks? Answer: a PCV who hasn’t been home for 14 months does.
I don’t know what my point in telling you this is. It sounds like I’m letting you know I’m deprived, I’m really not. I guess I just want you to stop and enjoy the actions that take up your day. Sounds cliché, but I don’t care. Smile at the Starbucks barista every time you order your grande, non-fat, double-something, extra whip, shot-of-something-else, mocha. Then, sip it and take in all of that rich, scrumptious sabor.
*Thanks to the Husted family for the hugs and love.
**Congrats Keri and Kevin! Good luck planning the wedding.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
The T-Committee was comprised of 15 volunteers and we essentially spent the entire year planning for the big day. The idea was to have a family style dinner of all the normal fixings and have a full day of fun. Sounds easy right? Now think about adding 200+ people (PCVs, RPCVs, Embassy employees, and PCDR office staff). Also, keep in mind that the committee has the added bonus of figuring out how to fund this one day event. Still sound easy? It wasn't. Instead of boring you with all the pre-day details (there are really too many to write about), I'll just tell you that the PCDR Thanksgiving celebration was fantastic! It was held at a country club where we played volleyball, basketball and dominoes, swam in the pool, ate TONS of food, watched an awesome slide show (thanks Bexx), laughed at the no-so-talented talent show performers, had a merengue and bachata dance contest and danced until we were kicked out of the club. This Thanksgiving was so much better than last year's and I'm happy I was a part of the committee because people can't stop talking about how awesome it was.
**Thanks mom for the package of all the stuffing and brownie mix! Thanks to everyone else in the states who sent stuff down too.....we wouldn't have been able to do it without ya!
Look forward to the Starbucks story...coming up next!
Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving:
me and Dave by the pool
Turkey trot runners ( I worked the finish line)
Trot workers Me, Tod, Judy
cooking veggie lasagna and stuffing at our country director's home
**Thanks mom for the package of all the stuffing and brownie mix! Thanks to everyone else in the states who sent stuff down too.....we wouldn't have been able to do it without ya!
Look forward to the Starbucks story...coming up next!
Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving:
me and Dave by the pool
Turkey trot runners ( I worked the finish line)
Trot workers Me, Tod, Judy
cooking veggie lasagna and stuffing at our country director's homeSunday, November 16, 2008
Health Promoters' Conference
These are a few pictures from the Health Promoter's Conference held in San Jose de Ocoa on Nov. 7-8, 2008. The entire conference was centered around a new didactic manual created by another PCV who is finishing her service really soon. The manual is called "We're Healthy. We're Examples. We're Health Promoters." The two women shown next to me are members from my community that are currently completing my nutrition course.
The next big event is a World AIDS Day activity with youth from my region.
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