28 November 2005

It's Official!

As of Wed, Nov 23, I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)! We had the swearing-in ceremony at the training center, and our host families attended. It was a nice ceremony, and very official. Out of the 51 trainees we started with, we have lost 6. But the remaining 45 were very happy to be done with training! One of our group gave a very nice speech - he represented us and our training time well. After the ceremony, we each stuck our pictures on the big map with all the existing volunteers. It was a test to see if we really knew where our sites were! ;o) It was an exciting time, and of course we all went out to celebrate afterwards!
The following day was Thanksgiving, which was held at a very ritzy club in the capital. Almost all the volunteers were there. There were sports, dominoes, swimming (although the pool was only filled half-way - it was empty when we got there!), good food and excellent desserts (!), a dance contest (where Kat & Juan won for bachata), and a talent show. In all, it was a very fun day.
Friday was the yearly All-Volunteer Conference. The best part was getting to know a few more volunteers. It was a long ay, but there was some good information. That night, we went out dancing at a club built in some caves. The place was really cool (complete with stalagmites!), but the music was disappointing. That night several of us stayed at a pension downtown since we knew it was going to be a late night. The best part was having running hot water!
Sat and Sun are a blur. Sat morning I went on a walking tour of the Colonial Zone, which was interesting although I was tired. Then we had lunch and a pool party at the Ambassador's house - although he was out of the country. Many people left for their sites from there or later that day, so there were lots of goodbyes to be said. It was hard to say goodbye to people we'd been spending so much time with, and knowing we won't be seeing them for at least 3 months, and many for a year.
On that note, I left the capital early Sunday morning to come start my new life for the next 2 years... in Jarabacoa!

22 November 2005

Training Outings

We´re in our very last weeks of trianing now. Grad is actually on Wednesday! This last week as part of training, we got to take several exciting outings. To learn more about the free-trade zones, we visited a cigar factory. It was very interesting to see the process and care that goes into production and exporting. Each cigar is handmade, and we even got to see them making the different boxes. (And yes, we got some free cigars, and I heard they were good! :o))
My sector-specific outing was to Jarabacoa (my site) with the other coffee volunteers. We got to visit the Julia Alvarez farm (although she wasn´t there), and the Ramirez Brothers factory (which is currently exporting to Europe). It was interesting (and overwhelming) to see the detail that goes into separating the coffee good enough for export. We got an overwhelming amount of information on coffee, but it will be good to have a base to start from. Tim, our trainer, is an amazing source of information, and it was good to get his input and ideas while at my site.
Leaving Santiago, the Los Camachos group (me, Kat, Erica, Cora) went back to Moca to visit our families there. We were there less than 24 hours, but it was so good to see everybody again - especially my girls! I´m lucky I´ll be close, but I think it´d be too weird to go without the other 3. Now we´re back in the capital for our final week. I can´t believe 3 months have gone by so quickly!

Go Aguilas!

Training wasn´t all serious... We spent some time just hanging out, and even went to a baseball game. Baseball is the biggest sport in the DR, and we got to see the 2 best teams play. There are only 6 DR teams - 2 in the capital (Licey being the favorite), 2 in the Cibao (where Aguilas is the favorite), and 2 in the East. We got to see Licey vs Aguilas, and as a future Cibao resident, of course I rooted for the Aguilas! It was an exciting game, complete with cheerleaders, a mascot, and a home run. The best part was winning! Oh, and of course, the ¨band¨ of drums, horns and guiras (traditional instrument) that roved the stadium! People waved their flags, danced to the merengue music between innings, and had a generally good and noisy time... true to Dominican spirit!

13 November 2005

Site Discoveries

So, I got the site I wanted. Does that mean everything is dandy? Well... I've made a few discoveries of my new home this week, and they will take some getting used to!
I'm actually really lucky as far as my room goes. It's set apart in the back of the house. It's a huge room with a dreser (partly full), a closet (mostly full - NOT of my stuff!), and my own bathroom. Yes... my own bathroom in my room! And here's one of many things to get used to: the shower is a tube coming out of teh wall... directly in front of the toilet! (And there's no sink.) I will have to figure out how to take a shower without soaking everyghing in my "bathroom"... and how to wash my hands without bathing my feet as well. :o) Unfortunately for these learning goals, the water was off for 2 days, so instead I got to practice being "clean" without a shower! And lastly for my shower learning experiences... the water here is freezing (straight from the moutain springs!), so I will have to learn how to heat my own shower water on the stove - including lighting the stove - and soon!
The temperature here is actually cold. It reminds me of camping in the mountains during the summer. It warms up during the day (if the fog & clouds leave, which isn't as often during the winter), and temperatures drop at night. True to dominican style, the houses are open & there's no heat, so staying warm is a little challenging since I didn't bring many warm clothes! And of course, the mayes thrive here, so I'll be battling more bites for awhile!
Lastly, some quick observances of my new home: 2 of the boys currently have chicken pox. Good thing I've already had it! I discovered they don't use toilet paper here. (How?!?) And my room is directly in front of the gallera - where they hold cockfights - so I'll have to make sure to be gone Friday afternoons to avoid the bullah (noise)!
But despite all these oddities, the family here is great. The house has a family of 4 (soon to be 5!), but everyone here is family... all 100 or more!
Oh! And how could I forget the most exciting discovery of all?! Wednesday I met Julia Alvarez, the author, who owns a finca across the road. Her finca (farm) is run by an organization to help teach the cafecultores here to better their coffee. I'll probably be working with her farm, but it was a treat to meet her since she's rarely there! Now I'll definitely have to read her books!

07 November 2005

NEWS UPDATE!

So, time for some news updates! Here goes...
1. MOST IMPORTANT! I got my site assignment today!!!!! I will be placed in JARABACOA, working with a coffee association. I haven´t read thru all what I will be doing, but I am super excited about the placement. It´s the site I wanted, and it´s beautiful! (Honestly, if anyone´s interested in visiting after March, feel free!)
2. PICTURE UPDATES! I updated some of the missing pictures on posts below that I couldn´t upload last week.
3. No phone. :o( We were supposed to get cell phones today, but it looks like we´ll have to wait another 2 weeks. I will attempt to get an email out when I get my number to let you all know.
4. MOCA UPDATE. The last week in Moca was good. We spent alot of time hanging out with our families, and dancing! Friday all 13 of us went with our technical trainer to a waterfall in the area, called Ojo de Agua. It was a great hike down, including wading across a river. We ducked a barbed-wire fence and treked down to the fall to go swimming. It was absolutely beautiful, and a great end to CBT. Friday night was sad as we all had to say goodbye to our families in Moca. The donas and the jovenes (youth) threw us a party, complete with dancing, to say goodbye. It was lots of fun, but there were lots of tears the next morning when we left. :o( The 4 in my group are all hoping to stop by Moca to visit again in a couple weeks, and we´ll definitely have to visit during service!
5. LASTLY... I may not be able to update this for a couple weeks. Wish me luck as this week we all have our site visits. Six days of just hanging out with our project partners! Hopefully it´ll all go well, and everyone will love their sites! We´ve been told that it´s the worst and hardest week of service, for lack of scheduled time. :o) After site visits, I have one more week of CBT at a retreat center in Santiago. It´ll be nice to hang out with just the 13 of us again and get some detailed info on our sector (mine being coffee). And after that, it´s the home stretch! We swear in on the day before Thanksgiving, and by the following Monday, I´ll be up in Jarabacoa as an official volunteer!