Christmas Past & Present

Well, Christmas this year was certainly different. I spent the 2 days with y family in Los Dajaos. Relatives came in from the capital and town to spend a couple days. Most of their time was spent going from house to house visiting friends and family. On Christmas Eve day (Noche Buena), we roasted a pig. They roasted it for 10 hours in the yard next door, and we had puerco asado for dinner. This wasn't my usual sit-down-with-the-family dinner though. I think about 15 people came in to eat. Everybody grabbed their own food, and some sat at the table while others took the food elsewhere. Within 15 or 20 mins, everybody had eaten and most had cleared out to go back to the colmado to talk and drink. The women stayed behind to clean up or went to clean their own houses & take care of the kids. Later that night, Fernando put on some music in the colmado and a few of us danced. But about 9 pm, the lights went out and then the radio died, so we all went to bed early.
Christmas day I assumed I would stay around the house with the family, but I shortly found out that half were going to the cemetary, and the other half to a vela (similar to a wake) across the valley. I opted for the vela, and soon found myself on the back of a truck with about 10 other people. A vela isn't a very somber affair here, and the guys grabbed a few beers to enjoy on the way over. It took over an hour to get there, and when we arrived there were lots of people there. Generally for a vela, people come visit the house, eat, and talk. I think the close family was in the house praying and crying all afternoon. It's almost like a family reunion! We were there for a couple hours, but the people I went with didn't know many people there, so we sat off by ourselves in the shade. How's that for a Christmas?
After that interesting Christmas experience, I celebrated Christmas night in a very Dominican way - dancing. Several of us went out to Las Guazaras and danced the night away. I discovered I like bachata, but my merengue needs some work still! We left about 1 am, and I was the party pooper who was too tired to go to another club. :o) For New Year's we'll "amanecer" (wake up) dancing though!
Hope you all had good, or at least interesting, Christmases as well! I definitely missed seeing all the family and friends... but you were all in my thoughts! Here's to an interesting New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope the holidays are treating you all well. This year, Christmas will be very different. I will be spending it at my site with my family. It definitely doesn't feel like Christmas time here... even in the cold of Jarabacoa. It's been a busy start to my service. But hopefully I will get a chance to calm down and reflect on the meaning of the season in the next couple days. I will definitely let you all know how Christmas goes and how we celebrate here!
I wanted to thank all of you reading my blog for your comments and well wishes. I love getting the notes from you all! Keep reading to discover life in the DR!

Welcome to Insanity...

...it´s a state of mind.
I don´t really have much to update on, but I owe you all something for this week! I´m still adjusting to my living situation and trying to figure out my role for work. Last week I attended 3 meetings with various organizations, and this week I attended a 2-day computer workshop with Arelis in the capital. This weekend there is an artesianal fair in the capital also, where I will sell ASCAJA´s coffee: Café Jarabacoa. Last year they sold 300 lbs! Hopefully I´ll do as well with Chris´ help. Soon though I need to buckle down and work seriously on my diagnostic!
On the home front, it´s been interesting. My dona is currently in Nueva Yol (as they call NYC), although rumor has it she´s returning while I´m gone this week. In the meantime, I´ve been living at her house with her son (48), daughter-in-law (19), and 2 grandsons (1 1/2 and 3, with another on the way). We´ll see how things change in the house when the dona returns! Next door is the local colmado where the community congregates to talk, drink, and play pool. It´s a great place to meet a lot of people, although occasionally it gets a little rowdy. I´ve found a few people in my community that I can hang out with. One is a Spanish lady who´s been in the area 5 years teaching ceramics to the ladies in the area. The ladies all have their own kilns now and are working from their own houses. In Jan, Angie is going to start working with kids in a little school where I might help if I have time. The finca de Julia Alvarez is right up the hill from me. I´ve gotten to know the lady who cooks there, and it´s nice to spend time at her house where it´s tranquillo (quiet). She always gives me coffee too!
Overall, December is a month for transitions here. Lots of adjusting: new house, new family, new friends, new coworkers... (luckily not a new language too!). Although things are a little tough at the start, I´m sure things will smooth out soon. Lucky for me, there´s 2 volunteers from my training group nearby, who I saw this weekend, and one that´s finishing up. It makes things easier to have someone to share with!
As Christmas is coming quickly, I might not have another chance to write. So... Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year!

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!

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!

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!

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!

La Finca

So, Kat’s don, a sickly older man, invited us to visit a finca this week. The poor man had/has cancer and had surgery this year, and the most movement we’ve seen out of him is a walk across the street to the colmado (general store). As he has no vehicle, we weren’t quite sure what we were going to see or what we should expect. He began the morning by inviting each of us to visit a finca in the afternoon. Generally a finca is a ranch or farm. When the time came, we made sure to wear walking shoes, and we set off. We crossed the small river leaving our neighbourhood and headed up the steep shortcut to the main road. Although it was slow going, we couldn’t believe he was making it! When we got the main road, we proceeded up an even steeper hill! As we neared the top, we noticed a closed gate. But this was no deterrent! We began walking thru the grass on the hillside and ducked thru some barbed wire… (Of course the view was amazing!) We were about to duck another barbed wire fence (right were the cows were… naturally), when we noticed some people inside the closed property. Dominican-like, they invited us in, and I thought we had escaped our second fence encounter. Little did I know what was in store for us! After enjoying a gorgeous view of Moca, we returned to the second fence crossing. At least the cows had wandered off! A beautiful walk, a steep hill (holding the grass to keep from falling downhill!), lots of clay mud, and 2 more barbed-wire fence crossings later, we arrived back to the shortcut! Apparently in this case – we learned – a finca just meant a large expanse of property! But to round out the visit, we made sure to stop at a chicken and pig farm! More on that below…

20,000 Chickens?!

Yep, that’s how many chickens one of our neighbors raises. He raises and ships them all over the DR… even as far as 5 hours away. (That’s far for the DR!) Chicken and pig raising is the primary income for many people in this area. And we were lucky enough to visit a farm that had both! Did you know pigs can reach 4 feet tall or more?! These animals are huge! And it’s quite an experience to encounter one being walked down the road! At the farm, each pig is in its own cage – just big enough for it and the trough. It’s really not something I’d want to work with… a feeling doubly reinforced when one sneezed on my foot! Ewww!
The chickens are also raised from birth – usually in 60 day cycles: hatching to growth of about 4 pounds for sale. Chicken is the primary meat in the DR, and these chickens are transported all over the DR for consumption. Can you imagine cleaning up after 1,000 chickens once they are sold? What about 20,000?!?

Gallera

A couple weekends ago, we got to participate in one of the DR’s favorite pastimes (besides baseball) – a cockfight. One of our dons (fathers) is involved and invited us to one. On top of that, our Spanish teacher raises roosters in the capital for fighting. So Dany took the four of us, plus a Dominican female Spanish teacher, and an African-American trainee. We must have been quite a spectacle! Five women in a place primarily for men, 4 gringas, and 3 native-looking people! Dany explained how the preparation, weighing, fighting, and betting works. (Unfortunately, he lost 70 pesos!) It was quite an interesting experience… although one I don’t feel a great need to do again. But I must say it’s not as violent as bull fighting!

Moscas in Moca

Ever lived in a small town? Here EVERYONE is related, and naturally everyone knows everything about the 4 gringas staying here! Last week, the biggest town news was that the gringas were sick. Of course, to top off the joys of being sick, within 24 hours I was both asked out on a date AND asked to marry someone so he could go to the States! I guess I didn't look as bad as I felt...
This 2nd month of training is very different from life in the capital, and much more like life will be at our sites. The barrio I'm living in now is primarily an agricultural community. Just about everyone (all 500 habitants) has their own plot of land to grow crops or raise pigs, chickens, or ducks. The roads here are dirt, although stones were laid so it wouldn't be as muddy, and there's a small river just down the hill to ford when leaving. When it rains, the river raises, and nobody SHOULD cross! Naturally with all the water and livestock, flies (moscas) and mosquitos are plentiful here. Water comes twice a week, and the houses fill up their tinacos (water storage tanks). Although, this week we had to wait from Mon to Fri before the water came again, and 2 of our houses ran out of water!
We've had class - Technical Training or Spanish - almost every day. The rest of the time is spent with our families or doing diagnostic interviews in the community. We've only got a couple more weeks here, and then things speed up until December! I get to hear about my site on Nov 7... and I'll be sure to let you all know the details as soon as possible!

Life in CBT

This last week we began CBT - Community Based Training. It's just the business group of 13 here. We're in a small town in the north of the DR, out in the campo. We all have new host families, and mine is wonderful! My dona loves to talk... She carries on all the time. Of course, for me that's great! She lives with her husband, and her children live in 3 houses surrounding her house. Three of the grandchildren are over all the time, and I am enjoying playing with them and getting to know the families. One of the babies is 11 months old, and she just started taking her first unassisted steps this week! It's an exciting time here. :o)
We have business (technical) class twice a week with all 13 of us. We are further divided into barrios by Spanish class. There are four of us in my Spanish class (which meets every day), and we're all living close together. Three of the four of us are living with sisters! The whole community knows everyone, and almost everyone is related. It's definitely a small town life! My particular house has a flushing toilet... But it's outside. This makes for some interesting problems in the middle of the night since the back door is really hard to reclose! Most of the other families have toilets inside, although there are a couple people in our big group whos families have latrines. Almost all of the families in my community raise some type of livestock - pigs, goats, ducks, geese, chicken... and almost all have some sort of plot of land where they grow some plants, either for consumption or sale - plantains, bananas, beans, corn, avocado, and more. Many of the families have their own fruit trees also - mine has a mandarin orange tree, cherry tree, orange tree, and more! It's been interesting to see how these people live off the land. There's not much of that left in the US!
This last week we started our first big project - a community diagnostic. Unfortunately, we haven't had much time to work on it. Either it's been raining (we have dirt roads), or the power's been out (I'll have to explain the power situation here in the DR at a later date), or we have school or homework. It's definitely been a busy week. On Monday we have to present our findings in Spanish to the rest of the business group. Luckily it's a group project by community, so the 4 of us have been working on it every chance we get!
As this post is getting long, I should bring it to a close. Sorry there's no picture attached to this post... I haven't brought out the camera here yet and I forgot the cord at the house. I'll be sure to at least post one pic next time! If you're sending mail, please send it to the same address in Santo Domingo. Mail will be brought out to us sporadically. Hope all the beautiful people reading this are doing well! Send me a line so I know who's getting this. Miss you all and I'll write again as soon as I can!

Happy Birthday... to me!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! A few people here actually knew it was my birthday. :o) My neighbor found out our birthdays are a day apart, so we went to the beach (Boca Chica) on Sunday to celebrate. To give you an idea of Dominican travel, the rule of thumb is to ALWAYS fit one more person than there are seats (ie. 4 people in the back seat). So, I counted the bodies to see how well we did in a personal car. Can you guess how many of us went in one car??? NINE! (ok, ok, only 4 of us were adults, but still!) It was a nice day at the beach, and this weekend I´m going again for a friend´s birthday.
On Monday, my actual birthday, my wonderful fellow trainees dutifully embarrassed me... and sang twice! Of course, the ice cream after class made up for it. :o) In all, it was indeed a happy birthday... and I´m looking forward to a good year!

Stepping Out

This week we all got to visit current Volunteers scattered throughout the DR. I was super lucky and got to visit one up in the mountains! Everyone in the capital kept telling me it was cold up there, and indeed it was cooler! (Although, definitely not COLD by our standards - merely nice out!)
The trip up was very easy. Carribe Tours runs bus lines to various parts of the DR, and the buses are caoch buses with AC. The trip took a couple hours, and when I got here, we went to lunch - 2 volunteers and 3 "Aspirantes" (Trainees). We ate lunch at this very conspicuous place that the local volunteers call "Starbucks" simply because it doesn´t fit in here. In any case, we had a nice break from Dominican food! Shortly after that, I got my first "motoconcho" ride! I was glad the volunteer was there to get me one, etc and I didn´t have to negotiate it myself! So, I got to use my helmet and lo and behold... I did it! :o) (Still not a huge fan though!)
There´s too many stories to recount here, but here´s a brief overview of the week: I got a tour and explanation of the coffee factory and how it´s produced; Thrus we went to a junta in Santiago for the coffee growers; Friday we went to visit some coffee fincas where I got totally eaten by bugs!; and Sat we went to a little known waterfall which was absolutely beautiful. Of course, then we had to come back to the hot, sticky capital. I didn´t realize quite how LOUD the capital is until I got back!
It´s been a busy week! But one quick guagua story before I go...
We were riding in a guagua (bus) back from Santiago, and naturally it was packed full. There were 3 people in the front seat (plus the driver!), and someone mentioned the front door was open. Without warning, the cobrador (the man who collects the money, etc) swung around and opened the front door while we were moving! The lady up front was super surprised! When she got off 15 mins later, she poked her umbrella at him! Wow, gotta watch out for those crazy cobradors!
Hope you´re all well & not encountering any crazy cobradors of your own!

Saludos!

Saludos de la Republica Dominicana!
I have survived my first week here in the DR. We've had lots of firsts (many of which have been repeated, such as shots!): first day (HOT!), first bucket shower, first day on public transportation, first malaria pill (so far so good!), first nite under a mosquito net (yes, they're required)... and many more!
My host family is great, although frequently a zoo! I live with the Dona and her 30 yr-old son. But she has 7 grown children, and 13 grandchildren! Of course, at least 2/3rds are over here every nite, and since her daughter from Nueva York is here with her twins, we now have four 2-yr-olds! It's definitely been a learning experience!
Yesterday we took class trips to the centro of Santo Domingo. We squished onto the guagua (bus). I think at least 40 of us fit! We went to the Peace Corps office - a beautiful building near the old part of town! We got to see the old city ruins, the gate where the revolution started, and the cathedral. We didn't quite make it to Cristobal Colon's house, but I'm sure I'll see it before I leave!
Next week, we get to take a 4-day trip to visit another volunteer in the interior. I get to go up in the mountains to visit a volunteer working with coffee growers. It will be a great part of orientation!
Dios les bendiga! ...Until the next adventure!

The Land of Coffee and Sugar Cane

Coffee - what a beautiful thing it is to sit and relax with a hot cup of coffee. Of course, with milk, chocolate, sugar, etc you can make a multitude of variations on the basic cup to suit the many moods of life.

As I head off to the Dominican Republic next week, I am looking forward to living in a land where coffee and sugar cane is grown. Maybe I'll even get to work with coffee farmers for my Small Business Development work. For those of you wondering what this is all about, I'll explain. Beginning Sept 6th, I will be a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic. Of course, this means 3 months of training before I can begin my position as a Community Economic Advisor. (And if anyone can translate what exactly that means I will be doing, you would have my eternal gratitude!) Once I have completed my training (which naturally involves language training, cultural training, and job training), I will be off to my site, which will be my new home for the next 2 years. As daunting as all this sounds, I am finally getting excited. The whole process (application, interview, medical clearance, and more!) has taken an entire year... and I can't believe it's finally here! So, here's to friends and family that will accompany me electronically for the next 2+ years! PLEASE email and keep in touch! In the meantime, I will continue to dream of coffee and hope for the best!

My mailing info (at least thru Nov):
Jessica Stearns, PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado 1412
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic

Email (for as often as I can find internet cafes!):
jstearns @ westmont.edu

Blogs (yes, I have two... I'm still deciding!):
stearns003.blogspot.com
spaces.msn.com/members/stearns003

Cheers and blessings to you all!

Travel/PC Links

• DR Travel Health Info - CDC
• Travel Warnings - Haiti - US Dept of State
• Travel Registration - US Dept of State
• DR Embassy - US Embassy in DR
• DR Facts - CIA World Fact Book
• DR Consular Info Sheet - US Dept of State
• DR Info - US Dept of State
• Microenterprise Development - USAID
• FrontLines - International Development (June 2000) - USAID
• DR PC Info - Peace Corps
• DR Returned PCVs Newsletter - Friends of the Dominican Republic (FDR)
• DR Travel Guide - Fodor's Travel Guide
• DR Travel Guide - Lonely Planet
• DR News & Travel Info - DR1.com
• DR Facts - Encarta
• Dominican Food - Aunt Clara's Kitchen

Peace Corps Books

• A PEACE CORPS PROFILE: Kirk A. Hackenberg
• DEAR EXILE: THE TRUE STORY OF TWO FRIENDS SEPARATED (FOR A YEAR) BY AN OCEAN: Hilary Liftin, Kate Montgomery - Best friends' letters between Kenya & NY
• FROM THE CENTER OF THE EARTH: STORIES OUT OF PEACE CORPS: Geraldine Kennedy (editor) - Short stories compilation
• IN SEARCH OF THE ELUSIVE PEACE CORPS MOMENT: Douglas Wells
• LIVING ON THE EDGE: FICTION BY PEACE CORPS WRITERS: John Coyne (editor) - Short stories compilation
• LIVING POOR: A PEACE CORPS CHRONICLE: Moritz Thomsen - 1960's Ecuador PC experience
• MANGO ELEPHANTS IN THE SUN: HOW LIFE IN AN AFRICAN VILLAGE LET ME BE IN MY SKIN: Susana Herrera - PC experience in Cameroon, Africa
• PEACE CORPS - THE GREAT ADVENTURE: VOLUNTEER STORIES OF LIFE OVERSEAS: Peace Corps (editor) - Great opening taste of PC life; available free at PC recruiting events
• PUBLICATIONS INDEX: Peace Corps Online Library
• SO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE PEACE CORPS: WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: Dillon Banerjee - A must for PC applicants!

DR Books

• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC & HAITI: Lonely Planet - Travel guide
• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (THE): Rough Guides - Travel guide
• FARMING OF BONES, THE: Edwidge Danticat - 1937: Haitian laborers in Dominican Republic during the nationalist period
• QUISQUEYA LA BELLA: THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN HISTORICAL & CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE: Alan Cambeira