Mi "Abuelo" Marcario

Unas pregunats

My mom recently sent me an email with a few specific questions, and I thought it might be interesting to share my answers with the rest of you. And so here you have it at last, the answers to your most important daily-life questions, in the order asked:

How do you get food to prepare?

I buy certain staples at the chaotic, smallish supermarket in Barahona, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes and 80 pesos up the coast. I’ll buy wheat bread, canned goods (black beans, garbanzo beans, veggies, tomato paste to make pasta sauce), bags of dried soy ‘meat’, pancake mix, organic local coffee, pasta, cheese when I feel like splurging, dried nonfat milk powder, peanut butter, etc. There’s a decent market in Barahona too, where I try to buy veggies like broccoli and cauliflower and bell peppers that I can’s get here in Enriquillo. It’s your standard developing-world market, crowded in a web of tiny winding streets, covered by tarps huing by ropes and packed with Dominican and Haitian men and women selling bags of spices and grains, fruits and veggies, and lots of used clothing. I probably go there 2 times a month or so, and to the supermarket 3 or 4. Otherwise, I buy everything here in Enriquillo, mostly at one of the many colmadoes near my house. They have a varying supply of veggies, so I’ll buy what’s available—mostly tomatoes, potatos, onions, little green pepeers, and garlic, and sometimes carrots and little eggplants. There’s a daily market in the center of my town where I can go get any of the above-mentioned veggies, plus some fruits, lettuce, cabbage, beets, and fresh cilantro. The women selling there are mostly Haitian, and they tend to spread their produce out on tarps and sit on the ground next to them. They just started rebuilding the market, funded by some Dominican organization and an org from the EU, so it should be much nicer soon. There’s also a butcher there, but I try to avoid going near the cow’s heads and whatnot. Overall I have decent access to food, and I spend quite a bit of time cooking. You have to if you want to eat anything healthy—otherwise it’s just white bread, hot dog bun-style, or chips and cookies. It’s fun to invent meals, especially when I have guests to share them with! When Kimberly and Nate were here we had fettuccini with pesto sauce I made from the basil growing in my backyard (so good!) and a noodle dish I invented with broccoli and potatoes and a spicy peanut sauce. Today I’m making lentils with squash and garlic and peppers to eat with brown rice for lunch—a new invention! Melanie brought down all sorts of spices, so I have lots to work with.

What is your monthly allowance?

I get a little over 9,000 pesos a month, or about US $270. My rent is only 1,000 (US $33), and I had to pay the full amount for the year when I moved in, so I don’t have to worry about that. I’d say the bulk of my money goes to food and transportation, since I’m always taking guaguas up and down the coastal highway, to get to meetings and to visit Iosefa and to go shopping and to the bank in Barahona. Trips to the capital tend to suck my wallet dry, so I try not to go too often… perhaps once every other month or so. The next trip is scheduled for the first week of August, after a regional youth conference we have Aug 2^nd -5^th. The allowance is usually just enough to cover my monthly expenses, and the end of month is always a little tight—like right now!

How do you wash your clothes?

I take my clothes in a bag down to Berta’s house (my host mom here) and she washes them in her washing machine. I pay her 200 pesos each time I bring her clothes, which seems to be fairly standard among volunteers. It’s not super convenient since she lives sort of far, down the hill, but I know she needs the money and she’s been washing my clothes since I arrived in Enriquillo, so I think it’s the best situation. Sometimes I’ll hand wash clothes here, especially underwear and delicates, but I’m always running out of water and I never feel like clothes get very clean when I wash them here.

When you are alone, do your read often for personal entertainment?

Yes, I read a lot. Sometimes I get on kicks and read entire books in 2 or 3 days, and I read magazine articles everyday. I just finished “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” a book by Julia Alvarez, and am now reading “We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families,” about the ’94 genocide in Rwanda. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that lately I’ve been reading a lot of gossip magazines too, like People and US weekly—mostly pictures with little substance, which are extremely addicting—I blame Kimberly though, she brought them!

How do you cool yourself when it is really hot? (Kimberly told us that she would never go into the rivers because of pollution)

Forget the pollution, I go into the rivers!!! Actually, I only get a chance to go to the rivers occasionally, since the “river” here in Enriquillo is more of a tiny stream, and although they have a pool set up in a nice shaded setting along the river, the current’s weak and the walls are slimy, so I refuse to go in. There’s a beautiful river in Iosefa’s town Bahoruco, so we go up there sometimes, and there’s a little touristy spot called Los Patos about 10km from here, where a wide, clear, cool river meets the ocean and they have little food stands and restaurants set up. I’ve been there a couple times, too. Other than occasional dips in the river or the ocean (where I’ll swim about once a week), I mostly just sweat it out in the shade, praying for a breeze or the electricity to come back so I can sit in front of the fan. That’s what I’m doing right now—sitting at home in front of the fan, with my windows and back door open to let in the breeze. If I have extra water, I’ll throw a pitcher of water on myself to cool down—but that’s only if there’s enough water. Lately the water’s only been coming ever 2 or 3 days, and then only for an hour or so… worse than usual. It’s a struggle, I’ll tell you.

How to you get computer connections?

I usually go to the internet café in Barahona, about once a week. It’s 40 pesos per hour, which is sort of expensive, but the connection’s fast and good, and it’s usually pretty cool in there. The mobile computer lab at the primary school here in Enriquillo is shut down for the summer, and the connection there is usually pretty bad/slow anyways. They’re currently constructing a computer lab closer to my house, next door to city hall, and I’m excited for it to open up since it’s so close. Let’s hope the computers are decent!

What is your plan if there is a hurricane?

Haha… Our emergency action plan calls for everyone in our region to meet up at a hotel in Barahona—ON THE WATERFRONT! I think they’re going to change that so we’ll meet in San Juan, which is further inland. My part of the island usually doesn’t get hit as hard, so hopefully that won’t be a problem. Plus my house is high on a hill, with a good roof and cement block walls with iron bars on the doors and windows, Iosefa’s house, on the other hand, is right on the beach, with a rusty, hole-filled metal roof and palm-wood walls that don’t look like they’d survive much. So hopefully we won’t get hit by anything this year—I fear it would tear his place apart, not to mention most of the houses along the coast.

Do you nap when it is too warm?

I get really sleepy, yes, but it’s impossible to sleep when it’s so hot during the day. Like, really nasty, sticky, sweating-in-bed hot. When there’s no electricity, I sometimes struggle to sleep at night too—it’s just so hot! So I do nap occasionally, but not as often as I’d like to!

Do you document your activities from day to day for your information and for the Peace Corps?

I document all work-related activies, both for reporting to the Peace Corps and for the cooperative’s sake. I try to journal for my own personal sake, but I get sort of lazy sometimes… but I’m trying to be better, since this is something I’ll want in the future. Plus I think writing things down keeps me sane in an often less-than-sane environment.

How often do you ride the public transportation and where do you go?

Like I mentioned before, I take the guaguas a lot—perhaps 3 or 4 times a week. Many of our meetings are in Los Blancos, where the coffee coop office is, and sometimes I have meetings in Paraiso too. Plus Kat, the other volunteer, lives in Paraiso, and I go hang out/work there with her every other week or so. I go to Barahona about once a week, and probably go to Bahoruco about once a week too—I try to combine the two to cut down on costs and time spent in the guagua. There are motorcycle taxis here in town, and I take them rarely; I don’t always have my helmet, so it’s usually not an option.

How often is the power on or off?

I’d estimate we have power about 50% or the time, though we’re near the end of the line (the same line feeds all the towns along the coast), and if something happens to the line anywhere north of here we lose power. We have gone days at a time without power, which is difficult. Plus when the power’s bad, they can’t pump the water, so we don’t have water either. Enriquillo’s worse than any of the other coastal towns, both electricity and water-wise. But at least we have it sometimes, right? But boy do I envy Kimberly and Nate, who have power almost all the time, and Iosefa, who always has water running from the tap!

Do you have any shade for your huts?

First of all, I think “hut” is a little misleading…. Although it sounds more rustic and romantic, I’d definitely say I live in a “house.” Not a big one or a fancy one, but a house nonetheless. I have a little shade out front, under the anon tree (a funny-looking green fruit with big black seeds and mushy white meat), but only early in the day. There’s shade out back all day, either from the trees or the house itself. I have coconut trees, sour orange trees, a little lime tree, and some growing little banana and cherry trees. I’ve been trying to landscape a little back there with rocks and flowers and plants, and it’s looking much better. There was a ton of trash when I moved in, and it’s better now.

How is your Spanish now?

I’m very comfortable speaking and listening, though I’m still not 100%. It’s rural campo Spanish too, so it’s not exactly the most refined, vocabulary-rich form of the language. But yeah, it’s pretty good. I think I’m honing my campo Dominican accent pretty well too.

Are the people still treating you like celebraties?

I don’t know if I’d say celebrities, but I’m definitely the center of attention wherever I go still. And I don’t like it. I’ve never liked being the center of attention, and I really miss the anonymity of big-city life in the US, much more than I ever thought I would. Just thinking about getting on the subway in Boston, sitting down and reading, with nobody so much as looking at me… well, just the thought of it makes me homesick sometimes. I think some volunteers thrive with all the attention, but I just want to hide away sometimes. I guess it’s not as bad as before, since people here in Enriquillo are used to seeing my face and I’m used to seeing theirs, but it’s a big enough town that there are lots of people who I’ve never seen before, and plenty of new people to gawk and stare. The attention from men is particularly difficult for me. There’s so much machismo and cat-calling and whistling and all that, and sometimes I just want to scream at them or give them the finger or something—which is totally NOT like me. Up until now I’ve kept those urges in check, but I could see myself snapping sometime. It’s just so annoying, and is so rude in my eyes. The thing is, most Dominican women like that sort of attention, whereas I just see it as disrespectful maddening. I’m trying to have patience. And that’s usually in bigger places, like Barahona—here in Enriquillo it’s not so bad.

Ya, that’s all the questions for now. Here’s un chin more info, in case you’re interested…

This week is my town’s Patronales, a 10-day party celebrating Enriquillo’s patron saint Santa Ana. Originally they had lots of activites like horse races and competitions where they’d scramble up oil-covered posts and rice and beans eating contests, but now it’s mostly about dancing and drinking and music. They set up a big stage down by the waterfront, right on the main street where it splits into two, and there are stands selling drinks and food all along the street; they also set up a ferris wheel and merry-go-round, and it’s packed with people every night. The second half of the week they’ll bring in live music, some fairly well known Dominican musicians, and it should be really fun. Saturday night Jill, the volunteer from Oviedo (down the coast), Iosefa and some Dominican friends from his town, and perhaps a few other volunteers are coming to stay here and we’re all going to go down and dance the night away on the highway by the shore—should be fun! It’ll also be the most people sleeping in my house at one time, which may be interesting. Let’s hope we get water before then!

Oooh, speaking of, the water just came!!!! It rarely comes in the afternoon, this is exciting!!! Perfect timing too, I’lm almost out. Okay, I’ll be back soon, after I go fill up my tubs and buckets….

After filling the buckets I jumped in the shower, to take a rare, real shower with water actually coming out of the showerhead! Usually I have to use the buckets because there’s not enough time when the water comes, or I’m not at home and I leave the shower on to fill the empty buckets that I leave in the shower. But boy, a real shower feels good! And then, after showering and getting the lentils going, I chopped off my hair. I meant to just trim it, but it’s a particularly hot day and since I wear my hair up all the time anyway, I thought why not just get rid of it? So now it’s just past my shoulders, and much uglier than before, but hopefully it’ll be cooler. Oh, how I miss being able to wear my hair down! It’s just too hot here, way too hot.

Before I end this, let me give you a quick update on my projects:

• The women’s group is coming along slowly, but it’s good. Sometimes I feel like I’m in charge of the group, and nothing would get done if I don’t do it or lead it, which is frustrating because that’s not why I’m supposed to be there. The whole idea is to assist them, making sure that they’re self-sufficient without me. But we had a meeting to sign up new women two days ago, under the mango tree in Los Blancos, and the president and other members of the directiva really seemed to take charge. A good sign, I think. My project du jour with them is recycled paper—particularly, recycled paper made with old papers, plus coffee tree leaves and other natural fibers. It barely requires any initial capital investment (you just need a blender !), and the paper itself is quite easy—no real arts and crafts skills required. Making and decorating cards and envelopes, on the other hand, will require some training. Right now I’m giving workshops to the women to teach them how to do it, and researching possible marketing opportunities in the capital and with local groups here. I see a lot of promise in it, and the women are quite interested too. More to come!
• The coffee harvest is just around the corner, and farmers are starting to move up to the loma, to stay and work until December or January. We recently had some trouble with money: that is, an organization we’ve been working with initially promised a large sum of money so that the coop could build the infrastructure necessary to clean and process the members’ coffee this year (and thus be able to buy coffee from members and sell it as a cooperative as “certified organic” for the first time), but the funds kept diminishing and their demands kept growing, eventually leading the coop directiva to reject the funds and decide to mostly sever relations with said organization. It’s a setback, yes: the members are disappointed that most of them will not be able to sell as “organic” this year, but also feel a sort of empowerment, knowing that their group is strong enough to stand up to a bad situation and decide to go ahead on their own. It was messy, but they showed strengh and conviction to do it. So now we move forward, hopefully to a good harvest and good profits despite this setback.
• The past few months I’ve been tutoring two lower-level English students, which will soon grow to a group of 5 or more, it seems. We gather every week in my house for coffee and discussion; we go over their lesson for the week, focusing on prononciation and usage, and generally talk in English to practice. They’re good students, and they recently invited others from their weekly class to come to our conversation hour. It’s ideal for me: I don’t have to teach a formal class (which I’ve been trying to avoid, to be honest—there’s already a private teacher here in town, and I don’t want to steal his students), but I do get to help out by practicing and teaching my students more about the United States and the rest of the world. We do a lot of work with maps and geography, since few Dominicans here have any idea how to spot the DR on a map, let alone tell you what continent Italy is found in or where Venezuela is. I enjoy it.
• Next week we have a Peace Corps sponsored youth conference called “Celebrando El Sur”, in which each volunteer from the southern region brings two youth from their community and we spend three days giving talks and workshops on all sorts of subjects, and then the youth return to their communities and give at least two of the talks/workshops with their local youth groups. We have to raise funds for the conference (to give them a sense of ownerwhip of the conference, partially), and so my two high school kids, Richard and Eva, and I have been doing raffles in our town the past few weeks. We tried selling tickets at Patronales, but had less success with that than we expected. Going from business to business (colmados, hardware stores, etc.) has worked well, and we plan to do that this afternoon and tomorrow for what will hopefully be our last fundraising raffle. We also asked the mayor for funds, and he promised an as yet unspecified amount. It’s good experience for the kids, though I must admit, I’ve never liked fundraising!

Okay, that’s it for now. My hands hurt from typing! Take care, and thanks for checking in!

Paz,
Melissa

A glimpse into the life...

Making "Mistolin" with the women of COOPMAFE

Our new Coffee Cooperative office in Los Blancos

(from left: fellow volunteer Kat, Wilkin, and me)

Dinner Party! Kimberly and Nate the first night

of my visit to their site

Easter morning breakfast with mi novio, enjoying the view from his back door

I'm back!

I feel as though I’ve come full circle, almost. I’m back in my bedroom in Doña Maria Antonia’s house in Pantoja, a neighborhood in north Santo Domingo, sweating beneath a weak fan mounted on the wall and getting my things ready for another day at the training center tomorrow morning. I’m here for my weeklong 6-month language training, which lasts until Friday. It’s nice to be back, and to return ‘home’ to a family who already knows me, and to just relax. Tonight a group of 10 community economic development volunteers went to a sushi/Mexican restaurant (who knew such a place existed in this country??) to celebrate our 6-month annivarsary as official Peace Corps volunteers; on a rainy day exactly 6 months ago in November, we swore in and, shortly after, shipped off to our individual sites. Hard to believe we're already a quarter of the way through our service!

So, where to start? Life in Enriquillo, on the rugged, breathtaking southwestern coast of the Dominican Republic, is an adventure. And with each day that passes, I’m appreciating it all more and more. The days are getting unbearably hot however, and I'm nervous about what's going to happen when summer actually arrives; right now, every time I complain about the heat (which is often), whoever I'm talking to kindly reminds me that this is nothing compared to July and August. Honestly, I can't imagine. Fortunately I have a fan (and a house!) now, so whenever we're not in the middle of a blackout, I can usually be found sitting within three feet of it. When there's no 'light' (and thus no fan), people in town deal with the heat by sitting outside beneath a shady tree for hours and hours, talking and shucking beans from their pods, playing dominos, or just watching the people and the motos pass. Fortunately there's usually a bit of a breeze on my street, and my neighbors have warmly added me to their usual group of tree-sitters. During the hottest part of the day life in Enriquillo falls somewhere between lethargic and comatose; doing anything that requires any amount of movement is a waste of energy. I'm fairly certain my red-headed, pale, freckled self was not made to withstand this climate. If Kimberly and Nate weren't coincidentally assigned to serve in this country too, I easily may have thought my placement here a cruel joke or mistake by our Creator. As it is, the fact that the three of us are here together serves to further my conviction that there is a reason I am here, in this precise spot at this time. I definitely have plenty of time to ponder such wonderfully deep thoughts--ideally 3 feet in front of the fan.

And what is the biggest change since I last wrote (ahem, 5 months ago...), you ask? Well, after 7 months of living with various host families, I am finally out on my own! It was a bit of a struggle to find an appropriate house in my town--safe and secure yet not ostentatious, in an acceptable neighborhood, with an indoor bathroom or at least a latrine in decent condition that's not too far from the house, etc. The main struggle was availability; people who were rumored to move out decided at the last minute to stay, and of the already vacant houses most were for sale and few owners were willing to rent. Nonetheless, a couple coffee cooperative members managed to sway the owner of a house near where they live, and she agreed to rent the house to me. Hooray! I'd be lying if I said it was charming or even cute, but it's certainly safe, and it has a nice big space out back for gardening and an indoor bathroom, and there's plenty of potential. And it came with some furniture, including a musty rat-infested couch and stuffed chair, two rustic wood tables, a dresser, and a countertop stove that's deteriorating quickly and should soon be replaced. Though it's not exactly Crate and Barrel, having something to start with was super helpful when I bought the other furnishings. Unfortunately most of my home improvement plans are on hold until I can convince the owner to foot the bill somehow, or until I manage to save up part of my monthly living allowance from the Peace Corps. We'll see. The house itself is composed of two decent sized rooms, a small kitchen, and bathroom at the end of a hallway. The outer walls are constructed of cement (you never know, exposed gray cement block could soon be as in vogue as exposed brick!), and the inner walls are made from plywood (light blue, pink, and unpainted) and knotty posts. The tin roof is fairly new so I luckily don't have to deal with leaks when it rains. My neighbors are absolutely ideal. The family immediately to my right is Evangelical Christian, and every morning the grandmother passes me a mug of homegrown, fire-roasted coffee over the barbed wire fence that separates our yards, and the granddaughters who all wear dresses with sleeves are always calling me over to play with their puppy "Scooby Doo" or offering to come over to help me sweep my back patio. Very sweet. Speaking of sweeping grass, one evening I went out to sweep my front steps, and before I knew what was happening a group of 10 neighbor kids were chopping and pulling and sweeping away at my front lawn, all armed with brooms and machetes and little helpful hands. I'll try to post a photo of them cleaning that afternoon, with my house in the background. In short, my house is far from luxurious and I have plenty of work to still do, but I love it and I love cooking in it and I love the freedom of once again living on my own. And don't worry, I still see my former host mom all the time!

Like most of life in the Dominican Republic, the work with my women's group is going rather slowly. Right now we're focusing on recruiting new members and becoming an official, legal cooperative, which involves cooperative education workshops twice monthly. This in itself is hardly a big draw for the women, so I've been giving other income-generation workshops where the women learn how to make products for familial use and also to sell. I've done a few Mistolin (floor cleaner) workshops so far which are quite popular with them (they love to argue about how much perfume we should add and suggest what scents and colors we should invest in for the future), and hope to do a recycled paper workshop for early June. We're also planning on making menthol (a popular Vicks Vapor Rub-like Dominican cure-all), candles, and shampoo. The idea is that these workshops will draw more and more women and get them excited about the cooperative, so that even though they may not have received a cow from our rotating pregnant cow project, they still recognize that they can get something out of the group. Moreover, they feel a sense of empowerment from learning how to make and sell products themselves. If anybody has any good ideas for projects we can do or easy recipes we can use (for vanilla, beauty products, cleaning products, decorative items, etc.), please send them my way!

Alright, I had planned on writing quite a bit more, but since this is the first time in a while that most of you have heard from me, I'll let you digest two pages' worth of news for now and leave you with the promise of writing more--much more--soon. In the next post: coffee, sunburns, and the novio. Hasta luego!

Amor y paz,
Melissa

Carta de Navidad

Dear friends and family,

Happy holidays! I've been thinking about you all, especially these past few weeks, and hope you're doing well and are enjoying some time off for the holidays. I've now been here at my site for nearly a month, and there's much to report. It's odd to think that it's Christmas with the sun blazing outside and cold and snow a distant memory, but the warmth of the Dominican people and their unique way of celebrating continually remind me of how fortunate am to be here. Enriquillo is festive and cheerful: the evergreen Christmas trees I'm used to have been replaced by creations made out of bunched-together recycled plastic bags, empty juice boxes dangle by the hundreds from tree branches in people's yards, and Christmas lights twinkle and flicker on the small, colorful houses--but only when there's electricity, of course. I'll be spending Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) with my host family, as that's the big family day here, and then I'll head up to another volunteer's house to spend Christmas day with some other Peace Corps volunteers from around the area, baking holiday treats and enjoying some American food (most likely spaghetti or pizza--not traditional holiday fare, but a welcome change from the standard Dominican diet of yuca and boiled plantains). And then I'm meeting up with Kimberly and Nate so we can welcome the New Year in together, on a gorgeous Carribbean beach with some of our new friends. Honestly, not a day goes by when I can't believe this is actually my life!

Enriquillo itself is a decent-sized town with a population of approximately 15,000, and is absolutely beautiful. The coast here is breathtaking, with green lush mountains rising up dramatically from the aquamarine sea, and the town, though poor, is colorful and alive. Though I'll be living mainly in town, my project partners also arranged for a room for me to use on a small coffee farm up in the mountains. The currently-empty house is directly above a coffee 'depositorio,' so I'll have to weave my way through piles of coffee beans to get upstairs to my bed! It's much cooler and more tranquil up in the loma (the mountain), and I know it will be a welcome refuge once the heat of summer sets in. Despite its natural beauty and varied terrain, this area has yet to be 'discovered' by the tourists that crowd most of the country's beaches. On the one hand that's a good thing, as locals retain their traditional way of life, but an influx of tourist dollars could really help the struggling economy here. The principal sources of income here are farming (primarily coffee, beans, and fruit) and fishing, and the small towns along the coast are shrinking as students leave to go to college in Barahona or Santo Domingo and rarely return. The people are resilient and hard working, and I can see that there is much opportunity for growth here as well. It should be an interesting two years.

Although I will likely be working throughout the community, I have been assigned to work with two groups in particular: a newly-formed womens group and an organic coffee cooperative. The womens group currently hase 24 members, middle age and up, and they are wonderful. They're awful about arriving on time, but they're charming and friendly and excited about their new group. 14 of them just received pregnant cows as part of a rotating pregnant cow program: once the calves are born, the women will return the cows to the group so another woman gets a turn. It's sort of ironic that they assigned the only vegetarian in the group to the cow project, but I'm hoping the women will choose the dairy/cheese route rather than raising these lovely cows for the butcher! We had our first meeting a few weeks ago and discussed other ideas for the group, and their enthusiasm was inspiring. We discussed cooperative lending and other services as well as small-scale income generation projects such as selling homemade candies and making our own floor cleaner. They also want to open the group up to other members as soon as possible, and are eager to get started. Oh, and they voted on a name for the group: Cooperativa de Mujeres Amor y Fe, which translates to "Love and Faith Women's Cooperative. As one woman explained, the name encompasses the two most important aspects of life. This project is about as grassroots as development projects get, and I think it will be great.

My other main project is working with COOCAFESUR (Cooperativa de Cafe del Sur), whose 150 members work on small farms in the mountains stretching from Enriquillo north to Paraíso. They're currently in the process of being certified organic, and will be able to sell the next harvest as such--and hopefully gain a better price for their beans. There is another volunteer who has been working with the group for the past year, and she should prove valuable in learning the ins and outs of the cooperative--and understanding all the various organizations associated with it. I spend a lot of time on the back of a government agronomist's motorcycle, climbing the steep, rocky dirt roads that weave throughout the lomas. Considering I was terrified to get on the back of a motorcycle just last year, I'm loving it now! The views, as I mentioned before, are stunning. As volunteers we will work to strengthen the organization, teach basic business skills like accou8nting to the famers, and work with the directiva to better their product, search out domestic markets, and tap into the export market.

Well, I had hoped to write more, but my guagua (minibus) will be leaving shortly and I should go. Again, happy holidays and thanks for all the warm wishes. I love and miss you all!

Amor y paz,
Melissa

Un chin más

´Chin´is one of my favorite Dominicanisms. It means a tiny bit, and they use it all the time for everything--and therefore so do I! This afternoon we have our official swearing-in ceremony, which is sure to be a soggy one since it´s been pouring since Monday. Then tomorrow we have a big Thanksgiving party (alas, no Tofurkey this year), followed by an all-volunteer conference on Friday and a couple days to relax in the capital with Kimberly, Nate, and a few friends. On Monday I´ll be heading out to my site and settling in at my new home, which I´ll admit is a little bit daunting. At this point, two years sounds like an eternity to me... but at the same time I´m incredibly excited about my site and eager to get started on my projects, and I have a feeling that come November 2008, those two years will have flown by. But I digress... Let me tell you more about what I´ll be doing, or at least what I think I´ll be doing:

Site news and photos

Finally, I know my site--and I love it! I'll be in Enriquillo, a small town on the southern coast not too far from the Haitian border, working with an organic coffee cooperative and a newly-formed women's group that just received 14 pregnant cows. I'm incredibly excited about the work I'll be doing (I'll add more details later, as they become known) and fortunately for everyone who was thinking of visiting, the site is absolutely gorgeous.

My new home, Enriquillo.




Just a short walk down the path behind my new host family's house. Rough, eh?



The view looking south towards the ocean from one of the coffee farms.



My new project partner, Maria, in front of her house in Enriquillo.


Coop workshop in the mountains last week.



Picking coffee in Jarabacoa!

A brief update...

I'm still in the mountains, and I'm still loving it. You should see the view from my street in the morning... Clouds resting in the mountains, pines and palm trees covering the hillsides, the sound of the river rushing by down below. Yes, that's right: pine trees in the Carribbean. I had no idea. Plus I slept with 3 blankets last night, which was pretty much heaven! I think we're all going to be a little disappointed when we get to our sites and it's nowhere near as gorgeous or cool. At least I will be. But then again, we might be by a beautiful beach, so who knows.

We're the only group that still doesn't know our sites, and they're telling us that we won't know until the 13th. I keep wavering between wanting to work with coffee farmers and artesania, and i think that either would be great. Sounds like the majority of sites are with one of those two groups, but I might also end up with banana or avacado farmers. We'll see. We've been learning a lot about small business in the DR, how to teach basic business skills, do feasability studies, etc. Today, for example, I'm in La Vega (the provincial capital) searching out gov't groups and NGOs to practice networking. I have a list of 5 names and am supposed to locate them (no map for this exercise), ask to talk to someone, and basically find out who they are, what they do, and how the PC could possibly work together with them. I was a little nervous at first, but you'd be amazed at how far a Peace Corps badge and an American accent can get you... At the last place (a technical training NGO that gives courses to youth and unemployed adults) they got together 5 of their top officers in a big conference room to talk to me, solely because I flashed my PC badge. Nice.

Alright, time to meet up with the group for lunch before heading home. Once again the pictures are proving difficult, but I'll keep trying. I have one of me picking coffee in the mountains, and I look just like Juan Valdez... Well, almost. Not to be missed!
Peace,
Melissa

Photos!

The electricity has gone out 12 times in the last half hour (literally, I´m not joking. Blackouts are a daily thing here, and today´s particularly bad), so I´m going to make this brief. Here are a few select photos from the past 7 weeks, in no particular order--enjoy!



Nate´s birthday in Santo Domingo. Check out the machete they gave us to cut the cake!





My homestay house in Santo Domingo (the green one on the left side)




The beach in Pedernales, where I went on my volunteer visit. Absolutely gorgeous.



The immigration post on the Dominican-Haitian border.



A little bachata dancing post swimming lessons in Pesernales. Considering we live on a relatively small island, a surprising number of Domincans don´t know how to swim, so in Pedernales a PC volunteer incorporated lessons into her work with the local youth group. Very fun.

Leaving Santo Domingo, 5 weeks in...

We've officially finished our first part of training here in the capital, and will be leaving for the mountains near Jarabacoa by bus tomorrow morning. So far in training, there has been a heavy emphasis on improving our language skills, gaining a good understanding of general Peace Corps policies, and cultural education and integration. All four technical groups (water/sanitation, health, youth development, and community economic development) were together for the first 4 weeks here at the training center, but last week we split up and only the business group remained in Santo Domingo. I hear Kimberly and Nate are doing well up north on the beach, and will get to see each other occasionally even though they live in different towns. Here in SD we've done some interesting things this week (met with a DR coffee federation, surveyed tourists and gift shop owners in the Zona Colonial), but I'm pretty excited to get out of the city and to get some fresh air up in the mountains. We won't find out where our sites are until we get back, after 5 weeks doing more technical training. I'm so anxious to finally know where I'll be!!

Some general notes so far:
Living with a host family:
Overall it's been a good experience, but it's definitely been challenging at times too. I'm forced to constantly speak/hear Spanish, and I have a firsthand view of Dominican family life--both important for my integration here. In general, women stay at home to cook, clean, and take care of the kids, and the husbands work to support the family. This is changing of course, but in general I think it holds true. The kids here only go to school about 4 hours each day, whether they're in kindergarden or high school, so there's plenty of free time for playing in the streets and watching TV--if the electricity is on. The electric system here is a mess, and blackouts throughout the day are the norm. My host family has a generator, and my Doña has a nice little side business going selling ice to the neighbors.
After so many years living on my own, I've definitely had to adjust to living in somebody else's house. I never feel like I have my own space, and I can't just go in the kitchen and make a snack when I feel hungry. They're pretty decent cooks, but the food's been a little heavy on plantains, yucca, and fried everything. Good thing I have my multi-vitamins. It'll be SO nice to finally have my own place and cook for myself, though I still have another 4-5 months of host family life before that day comes!

The Critters:
The big excitement this week has revolved around the rats that are attacking my room... Twice now I've woken up to a rat climbing through the window, crawling down the mosquito net that hangs over my bed, and making a dash for the desk. Now, I try to think of myself as being an animal-lover, not the shreiking-scared-of-mice-girly type, but feeling a rat on your foot at 3 in the morning quickly changes that. My Doña woke up one night to find me standing in the doorway, determined to wait until the rat came out into the trap I had laid in front of the desk before I'd go back to bed. She readjusted the trap and insisted I come sleep in the little extra bed in her room--which I did for the next three nights. We never caught any rats, but we did trap two mice in two days, and I got enough courage up to sleep in my own room again last night. As nervewracking as this is, it has proven to be a great way for my Doña and I to bond--I guess good can be found in any situation, no matter how ridiculous.

Transportation:
There are three main types of public transportation here: Moto-conchos, carro publicos, and guaguas. Moto-conchos are simply motorcycle taxis, though you'd be amazed at how many people and objects they can fit on the back. It's not unusual to see a man driving with a child behind him and a woman on the back, holding a baby in one arm and a groceries in the other. Unfortunately, helmets are rare and accidents are fairly common. The DR is the one country where Peace Corps volunteers are allowed to ride motorcycles, and we were each issued our own helmets a few weeks ago. Riding in the city is off-limits, but it may be necessary out in the mountains, so I'll have to get used to carrying a helmet around with me everywhere. The carro publico is an old, beat-up sedan with a yellow or green roof that has a set route and picks up and drops off passengers along the way. They're always stuffed: at least 4 in the back seat and 2 up front with the driver. Guaguas are mini-buses that are just as beat up as the carros, that should comfortably hold about 20 passengers. Why waste space though, when you could fit 40, or 43 with a few hanging out the side door? Plus there's always music (ususally bachata or merengue) blasting, adding to the experience. Lines between lanes mean nothing and the traffic lights only work sporadically (due to the blackouts), but somehow some sort of order still seems to exist. The other night we were in a guagua, music blaring, and we ran out of gas. No worries though--within 5 minutes a semi was pressed up to our bumper, pushing us to the gas station!

Nightlife:
Out in our barrio, where we spend most of our time, nights are mostly spent sitting in plastic chairs out in the street, talking with the neighbors. Sometimes we'll get in on a dominoes game at the colmado (little store) across the street, or share a beer or soda with our families. Generally it's all pretty chill. The Friday before the other groups left we decided to step it up a little, and we all met up at the Car Wash for a night of dancing. The car wash, you say? Yes, the car wash. Here in Santo Domingo there are tons of "Car Washes" (in English, not Spanish), where you can get a beer or two while they wash your car during the day. (Brilliant, right? Encourage people to drink before driving... Just great.) Then, at night, it turns into a Discoteca and people dance the night away. The one we went to had a Cardinals game playing on a big screen outside (Meagan, you'd love it!) and lots of plastic chairs and tables in the courtyard, and a bar and dance floor inside. I've certainly never seen anything like it before!

Okay, I'll save some of my other interesting observations for future entries--no need to bore you too much in one sitting. I'll only have internet access once a week while we're up in the mountains, but I'll try to keep in touch as much as I can. I'll still get mail while I'm up there though, so please send mail if you get a chance!!! I think this is the best address to use:

Melissa Watson
PEACE CORPS
APDO Box 1412
Santo Domingo
The Dominican Repbulic

Sadly I keep running into trouble trying to upload my photos, but I'll post them as soon as I can, I promise. Hasta luego!

Entrenamiento: Phase 1

Hola a todos!!! It's been a while since we arrived Sept. 7th (my apologies for not writing sooner) and they've kept us pretty busy, but now I have a moment to write and let you know how the weeks in Santo Domingo have been. First of all, it's HOT in this country. And you know how redheads fare when exposed to direct sunlight all day and intense heat all day AND night. I think I might actually be adjusting to the climate though, albeit slowly. For the first week I had a terrible time staying awake all day because of the heat, and found myself struggling to not fall asleep after all meals, breakfast included. However, this past week I only took about 4 naps, so I consider that an improvement.
The fact that the people here are so welcoming and friendly makes the adjustment easier, and of course the country is absolutely gorgeous. We haven't gotten out of the capital much yet, but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of the green mountains towering in the distance or the aquamarine sea, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be here.
The poverty here in the capital is very apparent, but at the same time, my accomodations with my host family are much nicer than I had expected. We have running water most of the time, and they have a generator so when there are blackouts (which occur about 3 times per day) the lights still work. Conveniently, I live right around the corner from the Peace Corps training center on the outskirts of the city, and the other 2 volunteers that live accross the street from me are great. My family here consists of a couple, their 4-year-old daughter, and the grandmother. It's actually really nice to have a little kid in the house; I've found that playing with and talking to kids can be the best way to learn a new language or--in my case--improve my Spanish and work on my accent. Plus there's a colmado (small store, like a bodega) across the street, and the neighbors sit outside, day and night, talking and talking and talking. And playing dominos. Our neighbor, "El Flaco" (which literally means 'The Skinny') taught the Americanos in the barrio how to play last week, and now we sit out there and play with him every couple of days. Along with baseball and Merengue, Dominos is one of their national pastimes--so, for the sake of 'cultural immersion,' it's extremely important that I learn to play and practice a lot. And it would be great to beat Flaco at his own game!
Training has been going well so far, but I'm anxious to get out to where I'll be living and get to work. This weekend we're all going out to visit volunteers scattered across the country, which should be really interesting. The girl I'm visiting is working with a coffee org. and a womens group in the border town of Pedernales, and has liked working in this country so much for the past two years that she'll be staying an extra year. She should be a great resource, and even though we can't cross over into Haiti, it should be really interesting to see what life on the "frontera" is like. More to come!
Love,
Melissa

The siblings, pre-departure

Nate, Kimberly and I during our last visit to Spokane, at the much anticipated (and much enjoyed) Schreiner wedding. Yee-haw!

Two days to go!

After a fabulous CSM send-off, an official apartment move, and a wonderful (yet far too brief) road trip to Dallas via South Carolina, I'm back in Boston--for now. I leave bright and early Tuesday morning for Miami, where I'll meet all the other PC trainees and spend two nights before flying out to the Dominican Republic. The excitement about what's to come combined with the sadness about saying goodbye is actually keeping me up at night, but I think I can safely say the excitement is winning out. I've been so fortunate to have such supportive friends and family thus far in the process, but still, I can't believe my time in Boston is coming to a close so suddenly. Don't worry though, I did get rid of the aforementioned bed (as well as the green couch and rickety dresser, right), so I'm pretty sure everything will work out just fine. Thanks for all the help and encouragement!

And it begins...

July 17th, 2006. My roommate calls to let me know the long-awaited Peace Corps invitation has finally arrived at my Somerville Apartment. I rush through my day at the Monitor, knowing that the plan for the next two years of my life is silently awaiting me in a sealed FedEx envelope at home. 5:30 comes and, trudging through the sticky mugginess of a New England heat wave, I walk--slowly, since in such heat it's impossible to hurry--and mentally brace myself for any possible invitation. When I open the front door my roommate Melanie bounds over to me with the envelope, practically as anxious as I am to see what it says, and we go situate ourselves in the living room. I look at Melanie, looking at me, and then I look down at the envelope and slice it open. As the packet unfolds, the pink-highlighted words jump out at me:

Assignment: The Dominican Republic.
Departure date: September 5th.
Title: Community Economic Advisor

I gasp, my mouth huge and smiling, my eyes wide in shock. It's absolutely perfect! A beautiful, Spanish-speaking country; a departure date that, though soon, coincides perfectly with the end of my lease; and the exact assignment I had been hoping for: community economic development! What I really couldn't believe, however, wasn't written on the paper in my hands: the fact that my sister and brother-in-law, Kimberly and Nate Cole (who had learned months beforehand of their own Peace Corps assignments) were going to be going to the exact same country at the exact same time. Now tell me, what are the chances of that? What a coincidence! So now I just need to pull my life in Boston together in time to be ready to go in a mere 6 weeks... Should be easy enough, right? Anybody need a bed?