1/14- 1/24 Ten Days of Diagnostic stuff and Reflections

Its chilly up on the mountain after a few days of rain!->


1/24 Saturday: Change of Plans and Scenery but not Weather

Yesterday sometime during the 5 ½ hours I was working on my diagnostic, Sarah text me and asked if I would be interested in going to Santo Domingo to work on our diagnostic together. We were planning to go to the Hub in Santiago but we weren’t able to get a hold of the owners to make a reservation. With the rain for the last few days, the cold weather, the constant distractions when I was trying to work and the irregular power schedule, I figured going to the Capitol was a great idea.

I woke up in the morning nice and early at 7 due to my alarm clock, Koodbie. It was so cold and my blanket wasn’t doing the job so I was using my pillows as insulators on each side of my body as well as Koodbie under the blanket, curled up on my leg. Due to the comfort of my bed and the cold environment afuera, I felt the need to stay in bed for an excessive amount of time. When I finally did get out, I knew that it was time to wash my hair. It had been a few days and putting a hat on just wasn’t going to cut it today. I managed to deal with washing my hair but the idea of submerging myself in the icy cold water to scrub a dub dub was too much so I just washed my hair and put on some nice smelling spray to make up for the other part.

When I left my house it wasn’t raining. I asked myself, “Should I take my poncho?” Nah. So, as Noel and I headed down the mountain and it began to rain, I did what any sensible person would do: I ducked behind Noel and chuckled. We ended up stopping at someone’s house to wait out the rain but it was too late; Noel was soaked through his coat and t-shirt. I was wet but nothing compared to Noel, thanks Noel.

I met Sarah and Mark in Santiago and we hopped on a bus to Santo Domingo. The bus company that we took, Caribe Tours, is under the impression that we’re in the freaking desert or something and tries to freeze us with the air conditioning- something amplified this time since we were all wet from the rain. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Santo Domingo, dismayed to discover that the storm had followed us and it was raining. We got some lunch, some delicious yogurt and headed to the office to do some work. Tomorrow is another day and we’ll see how productive I can be:)
1/23 Friday: Still raining… still cold but not as cold
Well, it’s still raining but today it’s not as cold at least. I’ve noticed that people like to use how cold it is as a preface to telling me I need a boyfriend, a Dominican boyfriend. For example, here is a scenario played out yesterday when I went to the colmado…

Colmado Man: “Man, it sure is cold isn’t it?”

Me: “Yep.”

Colmado Man: “What do you do at night? All alone… isn’t it cold? I bet you’re pretty cold. You should get a boyfriend to keep you warm at night. Why don’t you look for one here? There are a lot of good ones here.”

Me: “Sure there are but I have a cat who loves to sleep in bed with me. If I got a boyfriend the cat would get jealous. If my cat was jealous I would be afraid.” (Yes my friends, this is how I actually talk here… somewhat like a 3rd grader)

That generally stops them in their tracks since people are appalled with how I treat the cat which has soooooo many parasites. (You kiss it?! Aye mi madre!!!) After I’m given the advice that the parasites will kill me I ask if I should be buried here or in the States. I mean, there is a cemetery conveniently right down the road. Then I ask if it’s here if they could please make sure I’m in a tomb off of the ground; like maybe on the 3rd level or something. The idea of being in a puddle in the ground makes me even colder. If the cat sleeping with me didn’t distract them from the fact that I’m sleeping solo, the grave thing does it every time. Hehe

My days have been consisting of working on the computer and whatever distraction happens to fall into my lap. Today I was so cold when I got up that I stayed in bed with the hell-cat until 9:30. By the time I put breakfast on (hot chocolate), and got dressed it was 10: time for se fue la luz. I worked on my computer and was distracted by Wandy barging in my front door without knocking- something I yelled at him for. How rude can you be? He left but then returned with a friend. He and his friend sat out on my porch for an hour (making sure to pass by or stand in front of the window incase I didn’t see them) until they finally knocked and I let them in. My battery was just about to die anyways.

I decided to study Spanish while they played cards and looked at the Gringo Grita magazine I somehow have that has the Closing of Service (COS) information of Kevin in it (from Fall 2007). The Gringo Grita comes out 4 times a year and 3 of those 4 issues have COS information from whomever is left in the group about to COS. Each person fills out a survey complete with questions like, “I knew I was Dominican when…”, “Funniest moment in country”, “Advice to new PCVs”… and so on. My neighbors here love to look at the magazine from the fall 2007 since it has pictures of people they knew, even though the magazine’s almost completely in English. The Gringo Grita isn’t online or anything because it’s written by a bunch of people mostly in their 20s with a lot of time on their hands so it’s not exactly politically correct and most likely wouldn’t give the best image of PCDR. It’s freaking hilarious but most of the things are probably inside jokes for PCVs who live here.

Anyways, I was just asking Robin, Wandy’s friend, if he was going to be in my Escojo group (the HIV/AIDS education youth group) when they started getting all excited by something in the magazine. One of the types of dances here is called Reggaton and is pretty risqué. Well, this particular magazine posed the question: What came first in the DR: crazy sex positions or this dance? And it was complete with stick figures demonstrating to ensure the reader was following the descriptions. So much for asking about ways to prevent STIs and such, Robin wanted to know the answer to the question. I don’t know, which do you think came first? Could this be a debate topic at one of my classes? After two years here I’ll be remembered like this: Betsy Spencer, PCV who didn’t teach about abstinence but about different sex positions. “Use a condom kids!”

1/22 Thursday: A visit from Miguel and rain that wouldn’t stop
I got a phone call around 10 am from Miguel’s receptionist letting me know that Miguel would be visiting today around 3. Ernie, Wandy and Noel were here at the time and asked who it was. When I told them they all started cleaning my house in a frenzy. I felt a teeny bit bad since I wasn’t helping but the power was already out and my battery has a very short life for some reason (It’s depressing; during CBT it would last for 3 hours while I typed but now it’s good for about half that) so I wanted to keep working. They cleaned my whole house, mopped and all, in about 25 minutes. After my computer died I felt compelled to do something to help the appearance of my house so I organized the books on my shelf. Every little bit helps right?

When it was lunch time I went to Minga’s house for the bandera of Domincan food: arroz, habichuelas, y carne (rice, beans and meat although I pretty much never eat the meat unless it’s chicken- they know how to cook chicken here let me tell you). Minga had a mini food crisis on her hands today though: she ran out of gas to cook. Luckily, she has a back-up: a fogon, which is a large can fashioned into a stove with wood in the bottom half, a large hole cut into the side for air and to load up the wood, and a shelf near the top to put more coal/wood and the food. She cooked the rice on that and I think she felt happy that she had my food from the day before she could give me- more rice and beans.

I didn’t eat there yesterday because at noon I wasn’t hungry and I told her I’d come by later to get the food. Well, I went to that party and then the discoteca so by the time I went to her house to see if she was still up, it was 9pm and all the lights in the house were out. So, I headed home and ate leftover pancakes from lunch. (I found a box of blueberry ones:) When Minga asked why I never came by and I told her I did she insisted that she wasn’t sleeping. She said although I sleep somewhere else I still live there so she wants me to knock on the door “at 12 in the afternoon or 12 at night”. Awww:) That’s really nice but I still won’t wake her up.

After lunch, I went back home around two, stopping at the colmado for some crackers and Coke to give Miguel when he arrived (I wanted to make the Doñas in LR proud). I sat on my porch and was just about to start reading a book, happily listening to my iPod when Ernesto and Mercedes came over to wait with me for Miguel. Dang, so much for some alone time, I put my book down and took off my headphones. I guess I get enough of that in the mornings when I don’t open my door until 10 or 11 sometimes. Miguel called around 3 to tell us that he got his SUV stuck in the mud and would be late. It has rained every night now for about 3 days and now all day today so there was a lot of mud and I guess he was stuck for about an hour and a half.

When Miguel finally arrived it was a little after 4 and we all piled into Ernesto’s house. This means that I got my house cleaned as a freebie, hehe. The meeting was a little annoying because it was pretty much Ernesto talking to Miguel the whole time with other people pitching in at times and I was just sitting there. At one point Miguel told Ernesto that he was talking about the other PCV too much. Which, yeah that happens a lot but it really doesn’t bug me since it’s something to talk about and also I can understand it. He was here for 2 years and I’ve been here for 3 months; there are a lot more stories to talk about dealing with Kevin. When I did finally talk I told Miguel that it was lucky there was an activist group here and I was hoping that they would be motivated enough to do something about the trash. When I mentioned the name Miguel flipped. Guess the group isn’t exactly peaceful. They have strikes, throw rocks and bombs sometimes and sometimes use guns. Hmmmm….. well, so I guess that means I should maybe focus on getting the Mother’s group to do something about the trash. And don’t freak out, there are only like 5 people in the group here so I seriously doubt anything is going to happen here in La Lomota- I wasn’t planning on going down to Navarrete with them to strike or anything. Ah well…

1/21 Wednesday: I’m going insane
Although I know you may not feel bad for me, if I was in your shoes I probably wouldn’t either, but- remember how I said that this job was so great? Having to make posters and be social was right up my alley… well, this is more social than I’ve ever been in my life and for the longest duration too. It’s tiring! Maybe because it’s in Spanish it’s more exhausting but let me just say- dang! Not to mention that finding a balance between being social and doing diagnostic work isn’t easy either.

For instance, today was a holiday. Everyone went to this big party up the road to drink and dance. I was faced with a dilemma because I thought that I should go since I’ve been locked up in the house a lot working, but there was power when everyone was going to the party and I wanted to get some work done. Plus, I’ve never been a partier and this parting all the time thing is wearing me out! It takes extra effort to do willingly do things that are embarrassing and I wouldn’t normally do- like dance in broad daylight to a beat I can’t keep and a dance I don’t know while a lot of people were already staring at me. I would also like to point out again that I never danced while back in the States thanks to an embarrassing incident when I was 16 so dancing in itself is a bit of a push for me. (Although, I really do love dancing:) Anyways, this is hard in a different way, one that I didn’t expect but I still love it here and I love my “job”.

So, back to my story- I ended up staying home from the party today until the power went out. I figured that people will probably forget that I was antisocial in the beginning of my service and besides, I need to get my work done. Not to mention that I’m sick of trying to keep up with trying to get people to think of me a certain way. It seemed like training tried to get us all to do that but you know what? I live here and I’m going to live here for two freaking years. I couldn’t try to be something different (or be on my best, tip top behavior reserved for when relatives visit) for that long even if I wanted to. I’m going to try to be social and have a degree of professionalism but overall I’m going to try to relax finally. I think that’s what’s really been wearing me out.

Anywho, after the power went out I went to the party for about 2 hours. The power was still out so we went to the discoteca where we were supposed to only stay for a little while but ended up staying for over two hours. The power finally came back while we were at the discoteca but it was pouring and chilly- forget walking home in that. After we waited out the storm by dancing, we left and I got home just in time to have a conversation with Wandy about what I did today when we went out that upset him. Ugh.

Finally, I’m here in the house with psycho Koodbie and I can do some work since there will probably be power tonight (generally there is every other night) but I’m pooped! And, I know I told myself I wouldn’t stress about my diagnostic but today I found a CD that had some useful information on it, including another diagnostic (much shorter) that I found out I have to have done and the CD also pointed out that the report I have to write is in Spanish! AHHHHHH!!!! So much for whipping that out at the last minute.

I have 12 days (well, actually 10 since I have two days of meetings in there) to get all that done, plus of course drawing my whole presentation out- all while trying to navigate between the sporadic power schedule. There is something to be glad about here though; the power does have somewhat of a schedule that I can plan around. If it was the night where there wasn’t power, it generally comes back during the night, and it always (so far) goes out at 10 am. The afternoons I haven’t figured out much yet but I think if there’s going to be lights at night, there’s power in the afternoons (from when to when, who knows) but it goes out in the early evening and returns around 8:30pm. The days when there’s not power at night, generally the power is out from 10am until later in the afternoon (like 4) and lasts until 8-9pm. Then it comes back sometime in the night (like 2 or 3 am)- except last night when it didn’t come back at all. Ok, so I wouldn’t try to set my battery powered clock to this schedule but it’s something anyways.

1/20 Tuesday: A different view
Ever since I signed up for PC, people have been telling me that the whole process is an emotional rollercoaster. I hadn’t experienced it much until arriving at my site. Although I have only had about 2 really bad days, (and those were right before I went on my site visit) I have definitely had some rollercoaster-type induced nausea with this whole experience. Life is so absurd in PC. I live in the DR which is somewhat like being in the States at times. I think that makes it difficult in an unexpected way. Sometimes I forget that I’m here and when one of the many different cultural things happens I get really annoyed by them, as if they were happening to me at home. (Like when Dominican men call me like 9 times a day) I need to remember to keep an open mind and not think that just because it’s not what I’m used to its wrong. I hope that this is a habit I get into and take home with me. Each PC experience is unique I’m sure, but I think that overall the experience for every person in PC is just plain bizarre and yet can be so normal.

For instance, today Obama was inaugurated. I had just finished putting the last of the information from the interviews in my computer. Kenzie texted me during this process, telling me that someone at a grocery store had just robbed her. (She’s ok thankfully. It’s a little alarming that my entire Spanish class has been robbed in the last 5 weeks). 20 minutes later, during the inauguration ceremony, Minga was screaming (yes, literally) at Marvey to go to school, I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, the annoying roster on the porch wouldn’t shut the heck up, and I was contently eating my rice and beans, trying to concentrate on what Obama was saying and ignore the Spanish translator. I didn’t think about how strange all this was until I noticed the neighbor boy staring at me, I assume to see how I was reacting to the ceremony. Then I remembered that even though, right then at that moment I felt comfortable and at home, I’m not. I’m still in the DR and I still am the center of attention nearly all the time. Even though these things seem normal now, they’re still there and life is anything but my idea of normal. It kind of opened my eyes to ridiculous and relative idea of normalcy.

Sure, at times my situation can be unnerving. This past weekend was a little unnerving for some reason. However, there is always something positive to focus on here in La Lomota. For instance, yesterday I went to the club de madres (an hour late, whoops) and they were having a session on HIV/AIDS awareness. Everyone was sitting, listening intently to a woman reading a brochure. Dang, if that can keep their attention then I should have no trouble with my presentations! I talked to Mercedes and she said that they would love it if I could give presentations at their meetings. This is great news since normally the women want to have their own time at their meetings and want to keep them short.

Also, I was a little relieved at how excited I felt to be able to give a charla (technically translates as a speech but it’s more like a presentation or a mini class). I can’t freaking wait to be done with the diagnostic and begin my English classes and whatever else! I was worried about it before but suddenly, I feel ready. This is great news. I have two weeks from today to finish up my diagnostic presentation and after that I’m free to do what I would like with the community. I can’t wait.

1/19 Monday: And this is why I’m a dog person
I was sitting with Wandy and Ernie, practicing my best “I’m focused, don’t ask me a million questions” face, working on my interviews in the dark when I heard a cat growling. I couldn’t find my headlamp and tried to use the lantern that I had but it wasn’t cutting it. The growling was getting louder and it seemed like Koodbie was about to get beat up by some kind of a tiger or something. Not that I think she doesn’t deserve it after how she treats the kitten next door. Wandy was under the impression that it was the other cat that lived there with Kevin, Grendel, who was about to put Kood in her place. I guess Grendel liked to fight with other cats, was a little feisty with people and was a giant, super-sized beast.

Right when I got to where the growling was coming from, the power came back and Koodbie took off under the bed. Whatever it was that scared her scared her so much that she pooped all over the floor! Right in the doorway and not in a nice little pile either. Gross! I guess it was time for something to happen since I hadn’t mopped the floor yet (I don’t like mopping) Lucky for me, everyone thought it was as funny as I did and Ernie jumped up to help. She’s a machine! She ended up mopping my whole house, and my porch! Sure she did it with the broom for some reason but hey, it was clean. She then made some coffee for everyone and washed the dishes! So, in return I tinkered with her iPod (left from Kevin) and put some more Spanish music on it. What a trade off:)

The thing is, Koodbie is super cool and all but she is annoying! I mean, she has her perks but dogs are so much easier! She scales my mosquito net at least 5 times a day (that I see) and that’s bad news! I also hate cleaning out the poop box. Not to mention that I use dirt instead of buying litter and it’s been raining at least once a day now for the past 4 or 5 days so all the dirt is wet. FYI: wet dirt doesn’t contain the smell like dry dirt does- and I clean the thing every day. I guess I have to take the good with the bad. I feel a little bad since I know that I don’t appreciate her like I should. And Kenzie put it in perspective for me; she’s annoying but not as annoying as Wandy. If I can deal with him, I can deal with her and like her. Plus, she eats cockroaches.

UPDATE: Later that night, it was raining and when Wandy left he shut my front door, mistakenly locking Koodbie out. I didn’t realize it (how I have no idea since she’s extra annoying during the rain storms that she’s afraid of) until about an hour and a half later when I was going to bed. I went outside, looking for her but eventually just went to bed. I thought it was ironic that I had just written something about taking her for granted and then she disappears. She was ok though. It turns out that she broke into Ernesto’s house and spent the night in Wandy’s bed all night. I asked how he slept with her and he said hardly at all! Ha! At least I’m not the only one who thinks she’s obnoxious!

1/18: Sunday Morning: A recap of Friday and Saturday and some insecurities
Friday I went to the school dance party thing with Ernie, Vangie, Ernie’s brother whose name I always forget, and Wandy. It went pretty well for the most part. I had a talk with Wandy about being jealous and how unattractive/annoying it is. He was upset the last time we all went out and acted like a total baby. It was so obnoxious; something like a bad combination of a 17 year old and a 12 year old. Friday he was better but still a little irritating.

I should have remembered that the last time I went out with them to a party type thing we played the game Surprise. This game is a little embarrassing but I guess that’s the point. Someone goes up to the front, pulls out a strip of paper, reads it, and has to give a kiss on the cheek to someone of the opposite sex that the paper applies to. Of course, all the things are slang so I’m never sure what they say- not that it matters because the point is pretty much the same of them all. It’s also so great that all the girls are incredibly enthusiastic; all of them silent as the person reads the paper and chooses who to kiss. Once the person hones in on their target and it’s obvious who will be next, the room fills with cheers and screams while the person makes their way over and delivers the little kiss. What a site.

I got picked pretty much at the beginning, and it was especially great since the boy kissed each of my checks twice to show off, also that it was the boy who told everyone I was his girlfriend at school. (I had a talk with him about this but really, I mean who cares? I can’t be everyone’s girlfriend like a bunch of muchachos are claiming and people are going to think what they’re going to think.) When I picked my note it said something about the skin of a chicken. Apparently saying someone has the skin of a chicken here is a compliment, meaning it’s soft and nice. I personally think this is weird since I think the skin has a nasty texture and always give it to the dog or cat to eat. Anyways, I wanted to pick someone safe; someone who wouldn’t think it was a big deal that I kissed him on the cheek. I went for Ernie’s little brother and he wouldn’t let me! I gave a kiss to my friend Franklin instead and I would have been embarrassed by the failed attempt (since this doesn’t happen) but everyone seemed to peg the shame on him. So I felt really bad instead. I didn’t mean to embarrass him. After about 15 more minutes, I acted like I had a phone call and went outside trying to call whomever.

Saturday there was power for a good portion of the day, an amazing phenomenon. I should have worked on my interviews more than I did but I felt like studying Spanish instead. I was out on my beautiful porch when these two old dudes came over. One of them is a neighbor of mine but the other was some dude from Santiago and was a total showoff. He was like, “Oh, I have three cars…I have a great job… I go to the States for business conferences…” Great. What do you want a sticker or something because I’m fresh out. I had to sit and listen politely to him for like an hour. Then he got his 13 year old son to come up and wanted us to talk English. Well, the poor kid didn’t know much or was nervous or something because I asked where he was from and he told me his name. I asked his age and he told me his name. I asked how he was and he told me where he went to school. So on and so on. After that, one of the old dudes invited us (me and Ernie) to go down to the drinking colmado and hang out a bit. It’s rude not to go so we went and were the only females with 15 drunken men. There were 7 empty bottles of rum on the ground and countless bottles of beer. Ernie and I each took a glass of beer and then I said I had to get back to studying. Awkward.

The night was a pretty quite one. We all just hung out at a friend’s house. Ernie called Wandy out on his crush on me in front of 4 other people which was nice and awkward. She also started this annoying thing calling me gringa. I told her not to but she keeps doing it. I’m not sure why this bothers me, maybe because it’s what they call the white chickens. Quien sabe but it’s obnoxious. I don’t mind Americana, or Rubia but that one bugs me.

Sometimes I wonder what the heck I’m doing here. I mean, I know that I’m going to walk away with Spanish and friends but what else? What am I doing in my community? And will I go about it the best way possible? I don’t expect to change the world or even make a huge, noticeable, measurable difference but I want to make sure I’m helping/changing at least a little. The time in my site has been going sooooo fast and I wonder how I’m going to get going on things. That’s the thing about development, it’s not something you can jump into and change. It’s frustrating and takes a lot of time. (So, I hear… I haven’t had a lot of experience with it yet you know) It’s been going fast but I still have a lot of time left. I get down when I over-think things. I don’t know how my community is going to respond to the programs I want to do here like English classes, Nutrition, Women’s Health, HIV/AIDS education with the youth, school murals, the garbage… there are a lot of opportunities and I haven’t started anything. I know it’s early and as soon as I can, I’ll jump into it like I have with this whole PC thing. The truth is that I’m afraid to start. I will but I’m nervous. It’s like, how the heck do I get started? I’m afraid of the things I can’t control. I know it’s useless to think about it but I can’t help it sometimes. For instance, where is the line on going out to the discoteca? I know that each community is different but during training they warned us a lot not to go out a lot since we shouldn’t seem like partiers. I’m anything but a partier. My community seems to encourage going out, to socialize. I want to socialize but I want to make sure I’m not secluding myself from the people who don’t believe in dancing and singing. Also, I’ve noticed that training seemed to take the extreme on everything so that we were prepared. I know I can’t please everyone but I’m hoping I can find the balance so I can bounce between the most groups possible. Not worrying about this stuff and telling myself not to worry about it are two completely different things.

For now, I’m trying to just go with the flow and see where it leads me. Today Ernie, Franklin and I are supposed to go on Franklin’s motórrr to “get to know” a street. I’m not sure which one or why but I love riding motórrrs so I’m down with it. It’s been raining for about 10 hours though so I’m not sure if we’ll be going. Vamos a ver.

1/16 Friday: Rants
So, yesterday and today I woke up to music from my great neighbors. I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s only happened twice or what but for some reason it doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I kind of like the music that they play. Lucky for me, their kitten slept at their house last night so I was able to sleep a little better. Today though Wandy brought the kitten (him) to my house, concerned that he wasn’t eating the rice they were giving him. Poor little guy hadn’t eaten in like 2 days. I put some of Koodbie’s food in water and gave it to the kitten who happily ate it.

So, Wandy told me last night that he has a crush on me which was no surprise since he’s always at my house. I told him I didn’t want to date him and didn’t want to be friends if he was going to be all jealous all the time. I feel a little bad for him but at the same time it’s annoying. He wants to talk about it all the freaking time but at least understands, I think. He’s at my house a LOT. This morning I had my door shut and when I went outside to throw out the food scraps he was on my porch! It scared the crap out of me! I wasn’t expecting to see him there. Also, I’m not sure if I said this, but when I left for Santiago Monday I asked Ernie to play with Koodbie and to make sure she had food. When I got back I found out that Wandy took over the job. He slept at my house too…. I’m thinking in my bed since it’s the one with pillows. That could be a little creepy. I don’t think that he’s creepy or anything, I just think that he’s a 17 year old with a crush. I’m not sure what to do about this; first I tried to be nice about it. That didn’t work. Then I was snotty about it. That didn’t work. Then I ignored him. That didn’t work. Now, I’m just waiting it out. After all, he can’t be persistent forever. What a pain.

I don’t know if I’m getting stingy or what but I’m starting to get annoyed with Minga again. She was one of the people who told me not to give Angie my clothes since she takes so long to give them back (like 5 days to give back a dress) and here Minga had one of my sweaters so long I forgot she had it! Then she talks about how I let her borrow it so she’s going to wear it. I was like, “Ummm, yeah I let you borrow it- not forever.” She asked if I wanted it back and I said of course. It’s cold today (and raining) so I asked if she was going to wear it today and she said no and gave it back. I like to share clothes but a lot of people here are looking for handouts. It’s the mentality of a lot of 3rd world countries. People come, build a school or give a bunch of stuff and leave so it’s what’s expected. I get pissy when people ask me to give them stuff. I say; “No, what do you think am I? A store?” Besides that, the majority of people here have more clothes than I have! (Amazing I know:)

Another thing that gets me is that now that I’m paying 2000 pesos a month, I’m not going to be supplying food. When I moved I saw that Minga used half of a container of my chocolate power (which I never even opened) and like half of the cinnamon I had. I figured after I moved that she wasn’t going to ask for my stuff since I’m not walking home to get things to share. Today she had some fruit and was like, “Oh, we’ll save this for tomorrow when you can bring some milk to make a smoothie.” Guess I need to lay down the law. I feel a little confrontational doing this but I’m sure I’ll think of a way to do it where it’s not confrontational. One great thing about this culture is that you can be as blunt as you want and it’s not rude. Great for me.

1/15 Thursday: Power, Activist Group, Drive, Dance= my day
The lights were finicky today. They were here, then they were gone…. completely unreliable but maybe that’s because no one pays for electricity. I don’t like to have my computer plugged in when there are surges like that even though I have a surge protector. I have a method for charging my computer. I use it in the morning until it dies. Then I do the dishes from the cooking fiasco from the night before. Next it’s time for lunch and I bring the computer to Minga’s house to charge it. It takes forever to charge so I plug it in, eat and then watch a telenovella with Minga while it’s charging. I’ve noticed that for some reason the battery monitor thingy in the corner lies and doesn’t tell me how much charge I have left really so it’s a guessing game for how long to let the computer charge.

After the novella, I head back to the house and see what distractions are there to entertain me. Today it was one of the boys who used to live in the house I’m living in, Jeraldo. He was telling me all about the movie he had seen called Hanky Panky. It’s pretty interesting; an entire movie set in the DR about how a guy (or two, I’m not sure) is trying to get an American wife. That seems pretty comparable to real life here. So that took like two hours. When I first met Jeraldo I thought that he didn’t like me much. He was a little snotty with me and quiet. He’s really funny though and surprising. I guess you shouldn’t judge a person by the first impression (or maybe the impression for the first 3 months.) Anyways, that makes me want to get to know more people in the community.

Right after Jeraldo left Minga came over to walk with me to the school to pick up a map someone drew for me. Not what I was looking for but I appreciate the effort. Going to the school reminded me of my site visit when I went to the school and everyone was hissing and saying nasty things to me in English and Spanish. Then, I was horrified and kind of embarrassed. This time when I went I was able to look the students in the eyes who were doing it and at least shake my head at them. It was still awkward but I felt a lot more confident about the whole thing.

After that I went to Minga’s house to drop off my computer to charge while I went to a meeting for a group whose name I forgot. Turns out that there is this activist group in my community! This is really good news if they’re actually active. There are like 3 places in the DR that are really active and strike a lot; Naravette is one of them. Well, I guess this group is really large in Navarette and take part in a lot of the strikes. Strikes can be dangerous so PC wants me to stay away from them if possible of course. I almost got stuck in one once but thankfully it was just beginning so I was able to get right past it without problems. Since the larger part of this group (the part in Navarette) takes part in strikes a lot, people in the community are afraid to join because they correlate the group in LR with being killed by the police. A bit of a jump, I know. Well, yesterday I went to the group and brought up the issue with the trash. (Recap: there is no trash pick up here so people either toss the trash out in the ditches of the road to wash down when it rains or they burn it. There is a school in my community that has trash pick up from the city so I don’t see why they can’t pick up trash for the community too.) I want to talk to the Women’s group and the Water Committee as well. I can’t solve the problem myself. I would like to go to City Hall with someone or a group and help but I don’t want to actually do it. Doing things for the community instead of helping people do it themselves isn’t going to sustain after I leave.

When the meeting was finished I went to Minga’s house to get my computer. She insisted that I go with her and Tolo to Rosa’s house. I asked like 6 times who Rosa was or where she lived and they were like, “Up! Up!” Wow, so specific. I told her I had work to do but she assured me that we wouldn’t be there long. While that was true, we went like three other places as well so I was gone for over an hour and didn’t get home until about 6:30.

Amazingly the power came back around 8 but instead of doing more interviews, we had a dance party at my house. It was me, Ernie, Vandy and Wandy. They said that it looks like I can dance Merenge (finally) but I need to work on Bachatta. Well, that actually gave me some hope. I guess tomorrow is a party at one of the discotecas for Ernie and Wandy’s grade- invite only. Vangy and I have been invited by Ernie and Wandy so it’s a good thing that I had some lessons!

1/14 Wednesday: a kitten and dinner in the dark
Yesterday Ernesto sent Wandy to get a new kitten for his house. For some reason the kitten had to sleep in my house which I didn’t think was a big deal until I realized that it was going to cry endlessly. Plus, Kubdie like to “play” with the kitten who doesn’t seem to want to play. The only way I could get the kitten to shut the heck up was to let it sleep with me in the bed. Somehow the two cats slept peacefully next to each other and so I had one on either side of me the whole night.

There wasn’t power at night but I felt safe in the house with two guard cats. The power has gone out at 10 am each day and sometimes comes back at night and sometimes doesn’t. For this, making dinner can be a mild challenge. Writing in my blog is also a minor challenge since I have to use my computer for my interviews and the battery only lasts about 90 mins.

Anyways, tonight Wandy and Noel were “helping” me make dinner. I was trying to make a stir fry with the only meat I have: salami, but it ended badly. I couldn’t see how much oil I was putting in or how the meal looked when I was done cooking it. So, when I thought it was done… well, let’s just say that it was nasty. I was pretty glad that Noel and Wandy left early so my cooking shame wasn’t made public. Even though it didn’t’ turn out like something from the cooking channel, I ate it. I am not deterred. I’ll have a lot of time to practice and hopefully I’ll be a decent chef after 2 years, especially in the dark.

Well, I was going to write more about this but the power was out for a long time and my computer died. I don’t remember what else I did that day so I’ll use this opportunity to say thanks a bunch Grandma and Grandpa for your contribution to my Christmas fund:) There’s nothing like having a little extra cash for when I’m in the Capitol or who knows where- maybe at the beach! I’ll probably use it for food, to eat something other than the Dominican Plato del Día of rice and beans when I’m out. Or maybe I’ll add it to a savings that I haven’t started yet to pay for scuba diving lessons. I guess there’s a guy here who gives a discount to PCVs and it’s a type of scuba cert that’s good for life and I can use anywhere. Sounds like fun but I’m going to have to save for a while for that so maybe I’ll go with the more instant gratification of a big, juicy bacon cheeseburger. Thanks so much! :)

12/26- 1/13 New Years and a New house

Hey there everybody!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. It's been crazy lately and hard to get to decent internet. Anyways, thanks so much for the comments!! One was anonymous so I don't know who else to thank! But Mary Alice, thanks so much for the updates!! I miss you all there too. How are you Deb and Chris? I hope you guys had a great Christmas!! Good luck with the new intern, I'm sure you'll make them feel right at home. Make sure to never call them by their name, instead always call them intern, that will make them feel all warm and fuzzy:)

Mary Alice, it's so great that you're doing well with the baby! Make sure to take lots of pregnant pictures so I can see when I come home to visit and also keep me posted on the sex of the baby. I bet you have some interesting names picked out, Mertel Janis or Ivan Humphrey... just some suggestions:)

I haven't gotten any package yet but I'm sure it's just taking it's sweet time to build up excitement! I did hear about Costa Confections, that's a bummer. With the Sweetery closed for a few more days what have you been eating to fill the void? I feel for you, I really do.

Well, I think I covered it all, I posted some more pictures on myspace so feel free to follow the link on the right to my page. I hope you guys are doing well there! I miss you a lot!!



1/10-13 Move in Weekend:

Saturday: This weekend was so much fun! I pretty much was moved into my house Friday night so when Sarah, Mark, and Kenzie showed up on Saturday we had the day to ourselves. We went to the store and got some groceries so Mark could make us some delicious meals for the next two days. When we got back we went to this party that was a little awkward since, after we go there, found out that it was invite only and we didn’t have an invite. But, I guess the group of Americanos was enough of an invite since we were all welcomed and asked to dance.

After that we went home and Mark made some great food- a chicken-veggie stir fry that barley fed us since there were 5 extra people in the house at the time (so we had to feed them too). It worked out well though because after that we went to a colmado that I had never been to for dancing before and we got free beers and food. Mark bought a different type of beer, Presidente, which costs a little more and tastes a little better, and I was able to drink like 5 cups of it! I was so proud of myself!

Earlier in the day I had a joke with Noel that he should try to date Kenzie because then she would come and see me more often. Never mind that she has a boyfriend in her campo. Noel knew she had a boyfriend but he was trying to work for the better good and get Kenzie to fall for him so she will pay the 1000 pesos to travel across the country more often and visit! So, Noel was dancing with Kenz and I was dancing with his cousin, Franklin. Meanwhile, Wandy had been amazingly annoying this particular night. It was ridiculous. Sometimes he’s great and other times he tries so hard to be cool that it’s hard to tolerate being around him. He was getting on everyone’s nerves and acting like a 14 year old nearly the whole night.
Sunday: The next day Kelly arrived and all the girls went to get our nails done after we shared some drinks at noon with some neighbors. We ate a very late lunch and Minga told me that I would need to pay her 200 pesos since she bought chicken for us all to eat. I was a little pissed off by this since we didn’t eat a whole chicken and also since when I don’t eat there for a week straight I don’t pay any less. I told her that she would need to tell me before hand next time and then gave her the money.

We were supposed to have some dance lessons that day in my house but we ran out of time. Before we knew it, it was time to head off to the discoteca. We ended up being at the discoteca for about 6 hours that night; it was absurd but so much fun. Wandy was being even worse this night; being annoying and jealous! After about three hours of it I was getting pretty pissed at him and told him just what I thought about how he was acting. He was mad since I told him there was never any chance a PCV would date hi since he was jail bait. I know I was maybe a little mean and incredibly direct but if anything, I’m learning that’s just what is needed sometimes. Talking to him helped a lot but he was drunk so he was still obnoxious. That night he sent me an “I’m sorry” text. I didn’t respond. The next morning he was sitting on my porch, something that I have a feeling will be normal for him and Geraldo (the other boy who were living in the house until I moved in), and I didn’t say much to him. I’m definitely not mad anymore (I can stay mad for about a day and that’s with effort) but I wanted him to know that it’s not ok to be a jerk when your drunk, say sorry and expect things to be ok.

After we got back to the house Sunday night, Sarah’s allergies were so bad (because of the cat we think) that we had to move one of the mattress outside on the porch for her to sleep on! I tried to leave the door open but Mark was sleeping out there with her and said that they would be fine. I just felt bad shutting the door on them! It was a great view for them though:)

In the morning, we ate breakfast, said bye to Wandy and Ernie and headed out. Sarah and Mark went home while Kelly, Kenzie and I went to Santiago to get some things and spend the night at Kelly’s sight. We ate at this great pizza place for lunch and decided to get some ice cream for dessert. I splurged and got a Brownie A La Moda for 125 pesos. I asked for chocolate and dulce de leche ice cream with it and when they handed it over to me, there was no brownie. “Donde esta la brownie?” I inquired and was told that there’s no brownie in the Brownie a la mode, it’s just a name. Also, the price wasn’t 125 like the sign said, it was 150. Kelly and Kenzie got two scoops of chocolate in a cone and it was 40 pesos. Normally this would have pissed me off but since I’m here, it was so outrageous that we all started laughing hysterically. The thing is, I’ve ordered that at another store of that franchise and it had a freaking brownie! Despite this, the ice cream was still satisfying.
Kenz, Kelly, and I headed off to her site after that. I was starting to feel a little bad about how great my house was, like I wasn’t suffering enough since it’s so much better that other water and health PCVs. That is, I was feeling bad until I went to Kelly’s host family’s house! She has her own bathroom, running water, a generator… she even has a sink in her bathroom and a tub! WOW! So, I’m feeling a little better about my house now:)

We watched Sex in the City after eating yucca balls (very tasty fried, cheesy treats) and went to bed. Kenz got up and left around 7:30 and I left to meet Rachelle around 10. Rachelle and I went to Santiago where I got some things I didn’t get before (like a mirror) and now it’s about time for me to head back to Los Ruales. I don’t feel any campo guilt for being out of my site or anything but its weird; when I left yesterday I couldn’t help but miss Los Ruales. I think it’s starting to finally really grow on me. I’ve always liked it but I’m glad that I’m starting to miss it when I leave:)


1/9 Friday: Last night with Tolo!!!!!!!!

Although I don’t know if the music from the colmado down the cliff from my future home will bother me or if my neighbors will wake me up each day, I am holding on to the hope that the grass is greener on the other side. ONE. MORE. DAY. YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I feel like sharing that Marvey peed the couch again so remember that when you all visit (I’m also keeping a hopeful view of that, notice I said when not if you all visit:) steer clear of the couch in Minga’s house. Minga says that Marvey never wet the bed before (yes, the one that I have been sleeping in for the last 10 weeks and seemed damp when I first began using it). It’s so perplexing. To me the child has a problem, there’s no mystery in that.

Something that is perplexing to me though is the school system here. I think I’ve already pointed out how the kids are only in school for about 4 hours a day, which in itself is obviously a problem. However, today I went to the school to return a map to one of the very helpful teachers and walked in on what I guess was a parent-teacher conference. The parents go to the school and talk with the teacher right there in front of the class full of other students while the students are doing busy work. Turns out that Marvey failed his grade this year. He’s in 3rd grade right now and I guess he’ll be in it next year too. I’m no therapist but I think that an 8 year old who whines like no other, pees the bed, and is failing school has some issues (well, the whining thing may be normal…). I feel a little compelled to take some sort of action but I’m at a loss at what to do. I don’t really like kids in general and especially not this one. That’s not even the problem really though, even though I don’t like him doesn’t mean I want the kid to fail in life. I’m just not sure how I can help. When I talked with his Aunt she seemed un-phased that he failed as most people fail two or three times!!

Later that day…

I realized I need to readjust my goal of getting the 93 interviews entered into my computer by tomorrow. I managed to get 15 done by the end of today. Well, ok so it’s not quite 93, it’s not quite half or even a quarter but I’m not deterred. Although it’s a little bit of a downer, while I was finishing up interview number 12, Ernie and Vangie showed up to do some twisty thingy to Ernie’s hair. When I reached my more realistic goal of 15, I stopped for the day and went out to talk. They were all excited about me moving and so we ended up taking all my stuff tonight (minus what Kudbie and I need for the night) to the sweet house on the hill: my new house! At first I thought that we were just going to take some things but, nope, we ended up having some guy take the big suitcase to the house and we took the rest of it. When I got there, Ernie had already unpacked all my stuff that was already there! (Stuff I bought and some stuff I brought earlier with Minga) Some people may be annoyed by this but I think it’s great! This is the fourth time I’ve had to move everything and unpack it (sure it’s not that much but it’s still a pain) since August! She and Vangie seemed to have a heyday unpacking all the stuff that we brought over too, I didn’t unpack anything. I was pretty dang happy.

Another reason to celebrate? Ernesto is on the ball and went to Navarette today for me and bought the stuff to hook up my huge (150 gallon!) water tank. He also already filled the tank so I have running water in my shower and a flushing toilet!!!!! I haven’t had a flushing toilet in my house since the States!!!! I’m sure I’m not going to flush any paper and to tell you the truth, I’m a little afraid to go #2 in it. Kevin never used it (remember he was a water PCV so for the majority of his time here there was no water) I guess and since there was no water hooked up to it until today, it would have just been easier to use the latrine for the kids living in it up until now. I’m afraid… we’ll see how long I keep using the latrine, I’ll be sure to let you all know:)

As far as the shower goes, I think I’m still going to do the bucket bath though because the water is COLD. Ernesto is going to put up some shelves for me in my kitchen sometime too and tomorrow he’s going to hang some tubing so I can have a closet. I’m sooooo pumped! I didn’t even ask him to do all this for me, how nice is that!?

I feel a little bad for Minga since she’s told me how she’s going to miss me so much when I go. I’m literally a 5 minute walk (and that’s walking Minga’s speed: s…..l…..o….o…..o…..w……) up the hill. Plus, I’m going to be eating with her each day for lunch and she’s going to wash my clothes. I’m starting to appreciate her more already and I’m still in her house! Poor Minga, I told her to come to my house and I’ll make her feel better with some hot chocolate when she was feeling down:)


1/8 Thursday: Two more days and a goal

That’s correct: just TWO more days in this house. Although it’s just the start of the day, tonight and tomorrow night are all I have left to suffer with Minga and Tolo competing in the Snoring Olympics, with Tolo using the pee cup at night, waking me up with his nasty, endless farts. Yes, two more days, and only one with Tolo. While I’m sure I’ll miss the little perks (not having to clean anything, a generator…) I’m equally sure the happiness of having privacy at some parts of the day, being able to sleep, and having a Marvey-Free Zone will certainly be worth the trade off. Ahhhh, I feel relaxed just thinking about it; it’s like I’m on a beach:)

You may have noticed the other part of my heading: “and a goal”. That is because, well, I have a goal. I would like to get all my data entered into the computer by the time the PCVs arrive Saturday. This means that I will be spending a LOT of time in front of the computer today, tomorrow and possibly Saturday. Wish me luck (and my neck from looking down at my lap all day long).

Later that day…

After working for 3 hours straight and only getting 4 interviews (out of 93 so far) in my computer I’m starting to wonder how realistic my goal is. Maybe the speed will pick up, we shall see. After my three hour stretch I went to take a shower and was assaulted by the smell of urine. The only reason I can think of that the shower area stinks like urine is 8 years old and peed the couch again last night. Sick.

Looking on the bright side, at least Rach brought me a portion of the insane amount of body washes and lotions I had accumulated as if stocking for Y2K. So, while I had to breathe through my mouth in the shower, at least when I got out and put on some lotion I smelled like an attractive flower that mosquitoes from miles will flock to (despite the fact that they’re not attracted to flowers I think they’re attracted to Cherry Blossom Bath and Body Works lotion).

I’m pretty sure I forgot to mention something interesting that I discovered on Monday. PCVs are supposed to be solicited by the community to show that the community has interest in the PCV and is going to be active in working with the PCV. Since I arrived I’ve wondered what the heck Los Ruales needed a PCV for. It seemed that there were some things that I could help with but for the most part, the community seems to have a handle on it. Well, turns out that they didn’t solicit me. Ernesto called my APCD one day in July to see how he was doing and my APCD asked if they wanted a health PCV. Awesome.

I could see this in a very negative way since I am sure there are other communities were that have more need and who maybe petitioned for a PCV. I hope that my community will be willing to put effort into working with me even though they didn’t put any work into requesting me. Who knows? Maybe Los Ruales will work with me. I hope I don’t end up feeling like a free mosquito net given to people who later just used it to catch fish; after all, they didn’t buy it so why take care of it? Despite these concerns, I feel like there is some good to come of this. Amazingly, all this makes me feel a little better. This sounds bad, but I guess it takes some of the pressure off. I am going to do my best, like I was before I found this out but I feel like, well they didn’t work really hard and wait a long time for a PCV so if I hit wall after wall, at least I won’t be letting anyone down but myself.


1/7 Wednesday: Getting Ready to Move!!!!!

Yesterday when I walked with Ernie back to her house Ernesto told me he was under the impression that we were going to go to Navarrete to buy stuff for my house today. I never met to say that but hey, it sounded good to me! The PCV was supposed to be at my house in the afternoon for the inspection so Ernesto and I had the morning to look for the stuff that I wanted to get. I was pretty excited about this; I even got out of bed early at 7! Quite the accomplishment, I know:)

We went to Navarrete and bought plates (45 pesos each but so worth it, they’re so cute!), bowls, cups (cute clear ones with blue polka dots), silver wear, a water tank so I’ll have “running water” in my shower (Si Dios quiere…) three plastic lawn chairs (for only 100 pesos each! So what if they kind of look like a dog chewed on them and are quite possibly the ugliest colored plastic chairs ever produced?), a box spring, two large bowls to wash dishes in, a toilet cleaner tool thingy (because- that’s right, I have an INDOOR TOILET!!), a plunger (just in case…), a mop, two coffee mugs (for hot chocolate- one for me and one for you when you visit:), a broom, a bucket, a sponge, a hamper (Mercedes said it wasn’t good to just use the floor like I’ve been doing and that a grocery bag wasn’t a good idea either), and dish soap. Minga is adamant I go to a house in the community this Monday (she tried to get me to go yesterday) that sells blankets and sheets and buy some. I guess it’s like 100 pesos for a sheet so that’s not bad. Sure, they’re used and don’t match or anything but I’m sure they’ve at least been washed right?

I bought all that stuff and I still have almost half of the move in allowance left- 5000 pesos! ($143) There are a few other things I would like to get (like a mirror and also a shelf so I have somewhere to put the food I don’t have and the dishes I do have) but I don’t need to get that stuff this month. Whenever is fine with me. I’m not sure how much that wall I need to build will cost (you know, so the house doesn’t fall off the cliff eventually) so I think it’s a good idea to hold on to the extra money I have.

In the afternoon, Neal the Regional PCVL, came to inspect the house. I was afraid that he wouldn’t be cool about me moving in early but he knows about it and even may come to my move-in party on Saturday-Sunday. Sure it’s true that I don’t have that much stuff to move so I don’t exactly need to enlist the help of other PCVs. I mean, really if there were like 5 people who each took stuff probably all of my stuff would be moved in one trip but it’s a good reason to have people over. Plus, I like to show off my site and my house. And I really don’t want to spend the first night(s) alone in my house, even though Kudbie will be there. Let face it though, cats are only loyal as long as they are being fed and even then it’s questionable.

One thing that I don’t have to question is the house. The inspection went off without a hitch so I’m all set to move. I’m soooooo lucky! I talked to Kenzie yesterday and she had to buy a bed, a stove, and a bunch of other things. She’s not going to have enough money to get what she needs. I saved money since I didn’t have to buy that stuff which is partly why I sprang for the water tank. I’m also lucky that I have this fantastic, rent-free house to live in! Sarah is looking for a house in her community still and it’s either a house that is on the edge of town, may flood, and is supposedly possessed by demons or it’s a house that needs a new floor and roof among other things. If she has to make repairs before she can move in, it comes out of the move in allowance or her personal money from home. Not to mention that neither of the houses available to her are furnished so she’ll need every peso for that. The majority of PCVs have to pay rent and don’t have furnished houses. Most people aren’t lucky enough to live in a block house either. Marc is just building his house since there aren’t any available and he doesn’t want to live with his host family for two years.

Something I’m not so lucky about is how much I’m going to pay for my laundry and lunches. Minga and I talked about it and I’m going to pay her 2000 pesos per month starting this month- a 400 peso increase from when I was living with her! Sure that’s a little less than $60 total each month for lunch everyday and hand washed laundry- but dang! I had to do it, Ernesto pretty much told me I had to so that’s that. I’d rather pay it and be in good favor than not and have Minga bitter with me or something.

Anyways, me casita is pretty much set now except that for some weird reason the water tank, chairs and box spring haven’t arrived yet (it’s after 8pm) but I have hope for tomorrow. Minga gave me all kinds of crap this morning trying to convince me to buy two large buckets for water instead of a tank since they’re so much cheaper. While they are cheaper, they’re also smaller and we don’t have water all the time as I understand it. When there’s not much rain the aqueduct can run dry. Also, there is a chance I’ll have running water for my shower with the tank so I think it’s worth it. (By “running” I think it’s more like a gravity-flow system type thing but hey, it’s not due to my arm rotating a bucket) The tank cost me 2,500 of my 12,500 pesos (it’s actually only $357 we get to move in) I received for move in. I’m hoping the water will come out at least lukewarm if I take a shower at the hottest time of the day. If not, well, I’ll be boiling my water and using the good old bucket bath for the next year and 9 months which isn’t so bad really. At least I’ll be doing in inside! :)

PS: I wanted to say Happy 24th birthday to my great friend Lisa!! :) I hope that you had a great birthday!!

1/6 Tuesday: Off to meet the secret boyfriend, you put what in your eye?!

Ernie and I were supposed to do some more interviews and finish up the map but she never came to my house. It’s just as well though because I wanted to get started on entering all the information into Excel so I spent the morning doing that. After lunch around 2 she showed up and we went off to look for the notebook I misplaced that had the entire map I had been working on. We also tried to do another interview but the person was gone at the hospital for an “eye allergy”.

After failing at each thing we needed to do, we headed up the mountain to meet up with her secret boyfriend. We hiked up and over the other side of the mountain to meet up with him at a friend’s house. I figured there would be other people there but there weren’t. So, I awkwardly sat there and actually read my dictionary for a while before realizing that my PC phone had service. I talked on the phone for a while and finally, after about 2 hours, we left. I told her that I don’t want to lose her Dad’s respect, that it was nice meeting her boyfriend but that I didn’t want to make a habit of this. I did find out that her bf knows how to play the guitar and so do a few friends of his so I may be getting some free guitar lessons. They won’t be in secret though.

For the last two weeks or so Minga has been telling me that she has pain in her eye. She’s a bit of a hypochondriac though so I didn’t pay much attention to her complaints. She also tells me often how her eye is swollen but it looks the same as the other eye. So, last night I was in the kitchen when she came in with cream all over her eye. It was globbed on her eyelashes, in her tear duct, and all underneath her eye. I asked what type of cream it was and why she put in on her eye lid or with her eye closed. She can’t read and didn’t know what type of cream it was but figured it was a good idea because it was medicine and her eye hurt.

We went into the house and I read the type of cream it was as she wiped it off. It was anti-fungal foot cream. The next morning she told me that she found another cream and put that on. She showed me the tube and this time it was a used tube of vaginal anti-itch cream. I suggested she go to the doctor and turns out, she has an eye infection! I feel kind of bad for not suggesting it sooner. I don’t understand why she didn’t go herself though. If it was really bothering her, why didn’t she just walk there? When I suggested that she go she argued with me that the doctor’s are never there but she’s the one who took me to the clinic in the first place! I thought that she knew that they were there in the morning! Not to mention that they drive by Minga’s house every day when they arrive and leave- it’s the nice, black, shiny Mercedes. Now she has two types of pain medicine to take and Amoxcillin; a step up from yeast infection cream.


1/5 Monday: Make fun of me, why not? A wipe out and a meeting.

I woke up wondering how I should feel about last night. The way people gossip here I’m positive everyone knows about it (and I really mean everyone). I decided that there’s nothing I can do about it and, who cares actually? It was fun…. sort of. I went into the kitchen and a few minutes later Noel showed up and graced Ming and I with a reenactment of my dancing debut last night, complete with the “Por ya!”, “ Por aqí!”-s. Guess now I’m even more famous and for such a fantastic reason!

A little while later this cute little boy-terror fell on some metal thing and gashed his head. There was a decent amount of blood but really, the cut was nothing. I whipped out the ol’ PC med kit I have and put some antiseptic cleaner on it, some Neosporin and a Band-Aid. Good thing I was there because they were talking about taking him up the road to the chick who is the receptionist at the Clinic to get stitches. She apparently knows how to stitch foreheads, guess their receptionists are better trained here in the DR. Just hope people don’t think that I’m some sort of a doctor now because I have no freaking clue about 90% of the problems people have already been coming to me for. “No, I’m sorry but I don’t know how a swollen eye can give you a fever or what’s causing the shaking…. Maybe you should walk down the road to the Clinic.” I’m sure there’s a pill they’d looooove to give you.

By the way, I would like to announce that I remembered to go to the Woman’s Meeting today. I couldn’t hear anything that was going on thanks to the three dog fights, the children throwing rocks at the dogs, the naked children who were running with squirt guns (where did they get those…?) and the seemingly never ending stream of motors driving by. I seriously have no idea what happened… I think it was something about watching your children though.

Not much else happened today. I got a lot of practice with my Spanish, got hit on, drew some more of the map, did a few interviews, got made fun of more, found a dead spider on my face clothe…. just an average day here.

1/4 Sunday: Discoteca time

Today I began the day with Ernestina. We walked to her house and I sat and talked with Ernesto for a good two hours when I just went there to find out how much I owed him for the ride to Altamira. I like talking with him a lot. There is another guy, Minga’s son-in-law (but he seems kind of close to her age), Tito, who is really fun to talk to. I don’t think I have to worry about either of them putting the moves on me which is a relief.

After lunch at Ernesto’s house I found out that I only owed him 30 pesos and I set off for Minga’s house. Around 3 Tolo, Minga, Ernie, and I were on our way up the mountain. After a lot of discussion, a lot of walking and a lot of time, Ernie and I ended up at the discoteca in town closest to me. It’s the one where I think the most people go to. I really love dancing (this is a new occurrence in my life) but since I’m still learning the dances here I like to go to the one that is a real hike up the hill since there are less people.

I was sitting there with Ernie for a loooong time without dancing. I mean, she was getting asked to dance but I wasn’t. What was the deal here?! Was it the sweater I was wearing? I was starting to think that I must be putting off a vibe or something. After a while some guy asked me why I didn’t want to dance. What? But I do want to! Why isn’t anyone asking me? That did the trick and after my first dance, I think people realized I want to dance so I finally was getting some practice. Yipeeee!

It was all going so well until The Incident. I think the Ernie was upset about something and thus wasn’t being quite as helpful as normal. One of her friends asked me to dance and I looked to Ernie who said it was ok. Great. Well, turns out he was a little drunk. This is something I actually didn’t notice at first. We danced one song and after it was over everyone left the dance floor. I tired to as well but it was too late. He pretty much wouldn’t let me and continued dancing despite the fact that there was NO ONE else out there with us and also that it was a different type of dance I haven’t learned. So, here we were, in the middle of the dance floor with just one other couple who wandered out with us, “dancing” together in the packed discoteca. It isn’t enough that people stare at me when I’m simply walking down the street but add bachata dancing and a big guy trying to “teach” me by saying “Por ya!” “Por quí!” which of course was indicating direction change, and you possibly have a valid reason to stare. Did I mention that the songs people dance to here are loooong? I’m talking like after I dance one song my hips hurt. It was long enough for me to get over the shame a little, make horrified eye contact with several people sitting down and then start to enjoy it. Yes, it was so awkward and embarrassing but hey, I have to learn somewhere, somehow right? Can’t get much worse than that so I guess it’s down hill from now. On the up side, now that everyone knows how great I dance, I think they’ll compliment me on my improvement pretty much no matter how I dance when I leave.

When I got back home Rach called me and I wished her a belated happy birthday. Minga wanted to get in on the fun too so she serenaded Rachael with her own rendition of Happy Birthday. Apparently a lot of people thought that the song was Happy Baby Foo Foo… I had to laugh but of course I can’t really make fun since I still don’t know the birthday song that they sing; it’s pretty long actually.

1/3 Saturday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHAEL!!!

I’m not the only one missing Rach on her 27th birthday; Minga has said several times how she misses Rach and to make sure to tell her happy birthday. It’s the first birthday of Rachael’s I’ve ever missed and the second one I’ve missed in my family (I missed my brother Aaron’s in October:( It’s a bummer but at least I got to see her last week and I get to talk to her as well.

Today has been a slow day. I was so tired from lack of sleep in Cabarete that I thought I would sleep really well last night but nooooo. Part of that is because, beginning at 6:30 am, Minga started the washer. About an hour later I think there was some type of a party or loud game in the street outside of the house with a lot of screaming children. I’m still really tired, despite predicting I would wake up early and thus went to bed early at 9:30. Minga told me I should go to the doctor and get some medicine to help me sleep. Hmmm….

I’ve begun the tedious task of tallying up the interviews. So far I’m just entering all the questions into Excel and man is it boring. I still have to draw out about 1/3 of my community in my notebook and then I can begin drawing the map. I can spend hours drawing the map and the diagnostic with out problem but entering in all the data makes me painfully aware of how long I’ve been sitting in front of the computer. Ick.

One of the many things I did today as an excuse to get away from the task at hand was to talk to Minga about how much I would be paying when I move out. I’m still going to have her do my laundry and eat lunch with her and we haven’t really talked about how much I’m going to pay. A lot of PCVs kind of mooch lunch off of different people in their communities and so they just pay for laundry. Minga was insistent that I eat with her and have her do my laundry. Fine by me.

Well, when I was talking with her about the price, she told me that I should pay the same or more. I pointed out that I will be using less stuff, she won’t have to clean my room (she insists on mopping it every day), and I won’t be here as much so I should probably pay less. I’m not sure how to say “it makes sense” in Spanish but I was trying to get the point across to her that paying less when using less is generally the way it goes. It turns out that the problem is Ernesto asked her how much I was paying now. She told him and he said it was too little. Then he told her that when I move out I need to pay more. I had to admit that I am a little annoyed by this. I told her I would pay 1000 pesos/month for laundry and food but I don’t want her feeling like she’s getting ripped off so we still didn’t pick a price. People here have told me that the guy who lived here before me, Kevin, overpaid for his laundry and lunch so I’m wondering if they expect me to overpay. Ugh.

One other problem I have is that Minga was under the impression Ernestina was living with me. Who would have told her that? This leads me to believe that the day Ernie was drunk and talking about living with me, she was serious. I told Minga I would be living by myself and I’m hoping to talk to the guy who’s going to inspect my house, Neal, and see if he will say something about it being PC policy that I live alone or have to have my own room or something. (there’s only two rooms in the house so I don’t think that she would want to sleep in the kitchen/dinning room) I can only hope. There is no way I want to live with anyone. I even have my doubts about Kudbie.

Kudbie has stopped using the cement under my bed as her toilet. She figured out how to use her box of dirt while I was gone I guess but she still enjoys using the kitchen floor as her bathroom. Mark told me that cats hate baby powder so I bought some and sprinkled it under Minga’s and my bed. The kitchen is next on the list. I figure even if it doesn’t work, at least it smells nice. I also have a backup plan suggested by Mark: hose the cat with a squirt gun when it goes where it’s not supposed to but be stealth about it so the cat doesn’t know it’s you and hate you instead. Well, that’s why it’s plan B.

1/2 Friday: Back to the Campo, goodbye beautiful beaches and PCVs…

Yesterday was a lot of fun, spending allll day at the beach and eating good food at Jose O’Shays. I seriously feel like I’m on a vacation here! I’m having a lot of fun but I’m ready to get back to the campo. A bunch of us met up and ate at a place called Friends. Aside from the fact that the food took for-freaking-ever, it was really good as well. We all went out again last night and there was a little trouble this time. My friend who was really sick, Iris, was over her aliment so that was good but another girl, Jessica (yes, the granddaughter of the Grandma I did a shout out to) was robbed. I guess some woman walked up to her and was telling her to watch out for thieves and stuff then took her wallet off of her lab and took off running! Jess, like the crazy girl she is, took off after her but the chick had too much of a lead and got away. It’s a bummer because the lady got Jess’s bank card and ID but the real tragedy is the fact that she stole her lip gloss!

Some good news: I called the Regional PCV and set up an appointment for him to come and inspect my house! He’s coming next Wednesday and so January 10th (that Saturday) I’m hopefully having a move-in “party” with some other PCVs in the area. I figure it’s no big deal because it’s only 19 days early out of my three months that I’m supposed to live with a host family. Thank goodness though, because I wasn’t sure how I was going to draw my map in Minga’s house. There is no room for the big piece of paper I have.

Yes, that’s right: I have paper now. When Sarah, Mark and I were on our way home we stopped in Puerta Plata to take care of some errands. I needed to get paper so we went on a wild goose chase for paper. Unfortunately we arrived around 1 pm so a lot of the paper stores were closed. We grabbed lunch in the meantime and finally, after trying 3 or 4 stores, we were able to find the paper I needed. It was a great store! It was really nice inside, had everything I needed (tape and whiteout too) and for a good price too! They even had great customer service! Mark was looking for corkboard and when they didn’t have it, they called another store for him to see if it had it! Customer service in the DR, as I’ve experienced, is pretty much non existent so this was amazing.

We stopped at a little place to use internet which was a waste since I couldn’t get anything done I was trying to get accomplished due to several problems with their internet. We left and had walked about 4 blocks when I remembered I left my helmet there! That would have been baaaaaad! I walked back, got it and we continued on our way. We were quite a bit further when I realized that I didn’t have my paper! Not again! I left that at the internet place too!! Arg! I walked back, discovering that people here are weirded out by a power-walking chick, and got my paper. Thanks goodness!!!

I hopped on a different bus than Sarah and Mark and arrived in Navarrete from Puerta Plata in about an hour. It took me another 25 minutes to get to my house which puts me about 2 hours from Cabarete and only an hour from Puerta Plata: something to keep in mind when planning your trips to see me:)

1/1 Thursday: Happy New Year!!!

Before I begin talking about last night I would like to point out that Cabarete is a weird town. There are people here who don’t even speak Spanish. I’m not talking about the zillion of tourists that are here, I’m talking about the people who live and work here! I understand how it’s possible but I still think it’s weird. Although, being in a town with a ton of white people sure has its perks. For instance, people hardly stare and me and I don’t get hissed at very often. It’s beautiful here with the white sand beaches and cool, gentle waves in the ocean but the people selling stuff to tourists are annoying. When we were on the beach yesterday we had to tell a lot of people no. No we don’t want a massage. No we don’t want fruit for 5 times the price of the vendor on the street. No we don’t want our hair braided. Ugh. Cabarete is beautiful but like everywhere else, it has it’s pros and cons.

One pro is has is the restaurant/bar we hung out at a lot; Jose o’Shays. Yum. If you ever go to Cabarete, want good food and don’t want to pay a lot: go there. I suggest the brownie a la mode. The restaurant is open to the beach and is nice enough to let us use their beach chairs for free. Most other places charge for beach chairs.

I wish we had eaten at Jose O’Shays last night for dinner but we went to this restaurant called Casanova. It was my first sitdown meal since sometime before I left the States. It was ok but it was overpriced and didn’t have a lot of choices. I went with the classic, delicious burger. How are we able to pay for all this you may wonder? Well, we received our move in allowance today so we had an extra 12,500 pesos in our account. Yes, I do need the money to get some stuff for the house I’m going to move into (such as a wall to keep the house from one day falling off the “cliff” it’s on) but for now, that burger was worth it.

After we ate we went back to the hostel. I ran with a friend to the grocery store to pick up some crackers and Gatorade for another friend who was sick with food poisoning or the flu. We both had the same thing for lunch at the same time so hopefully it wasn’t food poisoning! By the time we got some stuff for her and we ready to leave it was already 10:30! We tried to find the group but were only able to find about 10 people. That was ok though. The 10 of us spent the night on the beach, dancing and having a blast. At midnight there were fireworks and it sounded like everyone on the beach was counting down. There were a TON of people on the beach and at the bars dancing. It was so much fun.

I was trying to remember where I was last year for New Years and I finally remembered: I was at Niagara Falls freezing my butt off! That was a lot of fun too:) I was with family and we went to a concert at midnight. Hmmm, last year a waterfall, this year the beach… what’s in store for me next year?!

12/31 Wednesday: Off to Cabarete!

When I woke up today I was a little concerned that Minga would think that I threw her “no cats inside after dark” rule out the window when she saw that the cat was happily sitting inside of my net with me. I was going to put the cat outside but every time I did it would meow. The goal was for Minga to think that the cat came into the house after the front door was opened in the morning. So, I had to try to keep Kudbie quiet until then. (By the way, I’m still not sure how to spell her name… any suggestions? Koodbie maybe? ) Why I didn’t think to simply explain that the cat knows how to get inside without using the front door, I don’t know, but I would have gotten a lot more sleep if I had thought of that. Tolo got up at 6 and so did the cat. I appeased her until 7 when Minga finally got out of bed and then put her in her box of dirt. She just sat there. I thought that cats naturally knew the point of litter boxes but I guess I was wrong. She seemed to be eyeing the area under my bed with a kind of scheming expression on her little face so I just tossed her outside to avoid another mess while I made some breakfast.

I took a motor ride to the next town, which was about a half hour away. It was kind of a rough motor ride with a rocky, dirt road. When I got into Altamira I hopped on a bus for about 20 minutes and got off in Imbert to meet up with two other PCVs, Sarah and Mark. I was able to get that bus for 10 pesos cheaper than normal thanks to misunderstanding Mark who told me it was 50 pesos. I thought he told me it was 15 pesos so when I handed the guy 15 pesos he maybe felt bad for me and told me it was just another 25. When I met up with Sarah, Mark, we took a bus from Imbert to Puerta Plata, a city right on the coast; another 20 minute bus ride. In Puerta Plata we had to get on another, smaller and crappier bus from Puerta Plata to Cabarete, which of course since it was the smallest, crappiest ride, it was the longest at about 30 or 40 minutes.

When we finally got to Cabarete we had to find the hostel, Laguna Blue, where we made “reservations” but we didn’t have the address or anything. Once off the bus we began asking people if they knew where it was and it just so happens that we got off of the bus about 3 blocks away from it. When we got to the hostel we found that Laguna Blue didn’t have quiet a few people’s reservations. It works out well though since I’ll be sharing a full bed tonight and tomorrow with 2 other people so the two nights here will only cost me 700 pesos- a great deal for a tourist place.

After we dropped our stuff off we went to a great little pizza place and got the daily special for only 75 pesos each. I used to only like cheese pizza but since living in the DR I’ve had to eat so many different things that I’ve adjusted to trying new things with an open mind. (For the most part. I wasn’t going to eat pig intestines for Christmas no matter how good Minga said they were.) I got Hawaiian pizza- ham with pineapple and it was gooood. Pineapple on pizza is a good idea. So is corn.

After lunch we all went to the beach while other PCVs straggled in. We were at the beach for about 4 hours before heading back to the room to get ready for tonight. We’re about to meet up at 7 to go get dinner. What will we do the rest of the night? Vamos a ver…

12/30 Tuesday: Drawing my map, going to a party

Today I had a fun and interesting day walking around with Wandy, Vangie and at the end of the day, Ernie. I was working on drawing my map which is coming along nicely. I’ve drawn about 2/3 of my notes and so far there are only two people I have found that I still have to interview. There are also a handful of semi-sane or semi-crazy, however you want to view it, people who I can’t interview.

After lunch a random car drove by and invited me to a party later that night. Minga seemed a little pissed that she wasn’t invited. She was going on and on how the guy invited Vangie, Ernie and me but not her. It was because of this that she later told me that I would have to be home by 8. That was too early since the party didn’t even begin until 6 so I negotiated another hour. I feel like I’m 15 again with a freaking curfew only this curfew is way earlier than the one I had when I was a teenager!

After lunch I went out and did some more interviews and map drawing. I was wearing my awesome new rain boots (Rach brought me some that I ordered online from Target. They’re a beautiful blue plaid:) so I was being made fun of a lot. I didn’t care though; I wore them proudly. I also discovered that they are awesome for climbing up to the muddy mountain side to the hard to reach houses. I joked with the girls that I was going to wear the boots to the party and they dropped their jaws and screeched how I couldn’t do wear la botas.

When we finished for the day it was a little after 5, and being the punctual people that we are, we all hurried home to get ready. I arrived to my house to find that Ming had left somewhere with Tolo so I was locked out. Vangie was horrified that I was going to wear my boots to the party but I thought it was pretty funny. Luckily Minga came back around 6 so I changed and was just a little late to the party.

The “party” was at the discoteca. There was a bonfire and we played a game called surprise. A person chooses a paper out of a cup and reads it out loud. Whomever the paper applies to, the person gives a kiss on the check. I kind of felt like I was in junior high but it’s not the first time I’ve felt like that in the DR. Also I was thinking that these are maybe the kids who I’ll be playing lots of games with for my youth groups. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was since people greet with the check kiss here. Despite that, I got three or four kisses and they were embarrassing each time; although it was more embarrassing when I had to pick someone for each thing that I drew.

My group was pretty bummed when 9 came and I said I really needed to go. We were having a lot of fun dancing and stuff. I’m not sure if it was the little bit of alcohol that Wandy was drinking but he was putting the moves on me which is a big bummer. He’s 17! When I got home it was about 930 and Minga had already locked me out so I had to wake her up to get in.

After I got in and packed my bag for my trip the next day, I brushed my teeth and tossed my cat outside. About 15 minutes later I heard an awful noise and looked up to see the cat climbing over the wall into my room! There’s a space between the tin roof and the wall and somehow the kitten that I can’t teach how to use the litter box figured out how to get up the house and into the hole.

I was just going to ignore her but then she started kneading my net and meowing. I don’t need anymore holes in my net! So I let the little flea bag in my net with me and she slept the whole night next to me. At least when she’s in my bed giving me fleas I know that she’ not under it, pooping.


12/29 Monday: More interviews, another run, forgot the meeting again…

Here I am, sitting here in my room and actually enjoying it for once (I have 5 candles burning- two of which are citronella) while Minga carries on a conversation with some guy who’s name I should probably know, in the other room. Of course, with walls that don’t go to the ceiling and a sheet for a door, I can hear the tv and their conversation perfectly. The only problem is that, hopefully just today, my Spanish seems to have regressed to where it was about 6 weeks ago… maybe even more than that! I feel like I can’t understand anything!!!! Why is that? Is it because I’ve been out of my site a lot lately and haven’t been practicing? Is it because it’s been forever since I studied? I’m not sure but I feel the need to crack open the books some more and study study study!

Aside from that little roadblock of communication, today went well. I have 18 interviews left to do- or rather I had 18 left to do this morning. I wanted to do 100 interviews in total to make my statistical analysis easier since I don’t have a calculator and never considered myself to be much of one. I’m learning that there may not be 100 houses here though, which, thanks to Rach, is not big deal since I’m entering all of my results in Excel. Today Wandy and I did 5 interviews and then went through my notes where I wrote the Doña’s names of the completed house and tried to figure out who was who. Everyone gave me their proper name but most everyone uses a nickname here. So my lists of who was done were pretty much useless since my helpers didn’t know what people matched with the names.

Tomorrow I’m going to begin my map. Since I’m leaving Wednesday for Cabarete I don’t think I’ll get all my notes made for the map but who knows. After I have each house marked down and assign a corresponding number to each house and interview completed I should be able to see who I skipped, if anyone. There are three houses still that I know of that I need to do. Even after those that, I’m 12 short of 100 and 37 short of the estimate I was given for how many houses are in my community. We shall see.

After Wandy and I did the interviews and sorted out the names, I decided to try and take a nap. I just don’t understand it: why was it so calm when Rach was here and now it’s back to the normal psycho state? With the tv blaring, Minga yelling from inside the house to people walking by in the street, and the 4 kids in the house screaming and punching each other it’s no wonder I didn’t sleep. Now, I know you all are probably not feeling bad for me. I can hear it now; “Oh, jeesh, you couldn’t take your nap? Here I am working all day while you’re complaining you can’t take your nap. Pleeeease!” And it’s a good argument. The only thing I can say is this: you don’t have to listen to Tolo all night snoring and getting up to use the pee cup while he farts endlessly. It’s disgusting.

After a much needed nap of which I was deprived again (I should expect this now) I went out with Wandy and Vangie to go for a walk or run or whatever you want to call it. We walked down to the river (or bridge as they refer to it) and back. I’m not sure if the way back was a lot slower but it felt like we were sure walking a lot faster. In all it’s only about 1 ¼ mile each way. It took us about 50 minutes to power walk it. It was painful. My right calf is demonstrating its disproval right now and I wonder if I’ll be able to walk it tomorrow without some serious consequences. After all, my legs have a mind of their own.

When I got back home and was talking with Minga, it was mentioned that Minga went to the Woman’s meeting again today. DANG!!! I know that things have been all messed up with the holidays and all but shoot! I need to remember to go to those things! Ah well… hopefully next week.

One good thing happened today, sort of. So, last night I was not about to sleep above the makeshift cat box the cat had created under my bed. I decided that although it would be super disgusting, if I can deal with Tolo each night, I could deal with what I knew I had to do. I semi-crawled under the nasty bed which I don’t think has ever been cleaned and all the spiders scurry to when Minga swats them away. I took my scissors and began cutting the plastic away. I couldn’t get it all but I got most of it out. I was a little concerned since I was doing this in secret and I had to pull the plastic from the corners without pulling the bed off of the paint cans it’s perched upon.

After I successfully removed the plastic with puddles of cat pee and a few piles of cat poop, I took some wipes I had (thanks Rach!) and went to town on the cement. I couldn’t and wasn’t willing to get all the way under the bed to the few lingering dried pools of urine but I planned on swiping the mop from Minga the next day when she cleaned the house. My plan worked except the next day she saw me and took the mop from me. I left to do my interviews and apparently there was either a fresh pile of poop or one I missed because Minga saw it and reported it back to me.

There is now a new rule that the cat is only allowed in the house during the day when the front door is open. Minga must be giving the cat the benefit of the doubt that it just does this when it gets trapped inside. That’s fine and well except Minga doesn’t know that yesterday when I was sitting outside with the cat, it went inside to use the bathroom under my bed. Maybe I should just get a new kitten when I move and start over…

12/28 Sunday: Dude, where’s my paper? Back to the campo and what IS that smell???

As I sit here in my room, trying to enjoy my delicious peppermint bark (thanks Rach!!!) despite the nasty smell of cat excreta emanating from under my bed, I realize how glad I am to be back in the campo. Although it is true that life in PC is a roller coaster I feel that overall it is good. I feel very safe and wanted in my community. Yes, no matter what happens in the city or how anxious I feel, I know that I can always come here and feel better, for the most part.

However, Marvey is REALLY getting on my nerves already. It was really nice last week when Rach was here. Not only because she was here but also because Marvey was not. I don’t like kids and I especially don’t like this one. It seems to me that each offspring produced by Borein, Minga’s son, is a terror on Earth and needs to be at least temporarily institutionalized. Marvey is not the worst but he is the one who lives with me. He whines. He hits. He’s rude to adults. He ignores whomever he wants. It’s like he’s 2 but really he’s almost 9. Ah yes, I enjoy this house but I think I’m back to counting down until I can officially move out. 32 days.

Overall, my day today was pretty good, pretty regular. With the exception of one thing: when I got out of the taxi we all took from the Hub to the bus station I left the paper I bought in the back seat. I was a little upset by this but more upset by the fact that when I called the company, even after talking to about 4 or 5 different people, nobody understood what I was saying. Yes, I know even a PCV who has lived in the DR for over a year has problems on the phone with people but it was frustrating to no end. I wanted to cry. It was only 150 pesos worth of paper but Santiago is so huge, unless someone goes with me I don’t think I’ll be able to find the store again. It’s not like I can just get on a car and drive by the store. Well, I can do that if the car follows its route but I learned this past weekend that they commonly don’t follow their route exactly. They don’t turn in some places and if you know where you’re going and aren’t just looking for a store then its fine. I however, don’t.

When I got on the bus finally after giving up on the paper search, I called my friend Jess. Since I don’t have service much and it’s hard for me to make calls, I’d only talked to her once sine Romeo’s party. I was glad that I called her since she is hilarious and cheered me right up. I also found out that her grandma reads my blog! Yay for Jess’s Grandma!!! :) Hi there Grandma, you rock! :)

When I got home, Minga wasn’t here so I sat outside and chatted with the neighbors (who understand me quite well thank you very much) and Wandy until Minga arrived home. I went inside and tried to find the source of the nasty cat smell and was grossed out to find it coming from under my bed! I cleaned what I could but now what am I supposed to do?! Seriously, if anyone has suggestions that don’t include throwing the cat outside (which is my last option but I’ll do for sure if I have to) PLEASE let me know. It’s a cement floor and the cat is going on a plastic bag on top of it! The problem is that the bag is attached to the bed but is sagging down onto the floor. Sick.

Tomorrow Wandy said he would help me with my interviews. I have 18 I would like to do. Actually I would like to do all the houses for the sake of knowing everyone and also for the sake of my community map but we shall see. I may have done all but a couple after I complete the 100 I want to do. The next few weeks (after my trip to Cabarete) are going to be pretty busy getting my diagnostic completed. I would like to make the optional community map and number all the houses to a correlating number assigned to the interview I do. That will require some help since I don’t remember each person’s name but if I can get it done, then this should help me remember each person’s name!

When I asked Wandy if 9:30 tomorrow was ok he said that was kind of late so Minga piped up, saying we should meet at 8. What are you nuts? I don’t want to meet at 8! Wandy’s on winter break so he told me he could help me during the afternoons too. There’s no rush thus no reason to begin at 8. Wandy had already walked away so I’m not sure when he thinks we’re meeting in the morning. How about 9? Ugh.