Bienvenida!

Livin’ life Dominican style! this is the first blog I have ever written, but instead of prefacing anything or writing any disclaimers, I guess I will just get right into it..... and I will start by setting the scene. Hay luz! which translates to, there’s light, meaning electricity because unlike the U.S., this isn’t a given. The luz comes and goes and the celebration is always the same, as if it were the first time! kind of cool they never take it for granted. so, as always I have someone looking over my shoulder. one thing about this culture for sure is that there is always someone watching, waiting and watching and looking and staring. personal space is non-existent here! I am getting used to it, but slowly. I never actually knew that I even liked to be alone until it wasn’t an option! I have my entire family with me right now, Mama (Soraida - 30) and her four kids; Berto - 13, Junior - 9, Aida - 6 and David - 2. They are an amazing family and I love them dearly. They are an evangelical family and resist dancing like no other, but the i-tunes currently playing on my laptop are challenging them tremendously. I can just feel their dancing legs yearning to move to the music! but who am I to encourage such behavior! In addition to a crash course in Spanish and D.R. culture, I have also recently become submerged in Religion 101 and I didn’t read “Evangelicals for Dummies” so I am learning rapidly. I am planning to do a charla (presentation) on being a Jew, but that might not surface until much further down the line.
well, to get to the meat and bones of it…… I have become a vegetarian since I moved to this country! I anticipated being more open to all food, but I simply just don’t trust the meat around here and don’t feel like taking any chances with it. now, really, here is what is going on..... I moved to my site November 26th or so. The name of my Batey is Las Pajas. I would recommend hitting up google to learn what a Batey is, because I am still unclear. However, as far as I know, it usually refers to a place where Haitians come to for a short time to cut and sell sugar cane. Haitians have been living in my community for years now though, but it is still considered a Batey. Las Pajas is in Hato Mayor, recently voted the poorest province in this country! My community is amazing. They are an extremely positive, united group of people who don’t have much nor dwell on the idea of not having much either. They have mastered l’arte d’arrangiarsi (the art of making something out of nada) There are approximately 330 houses and about 1200 people, but how accurate that is, I am not too sure. We have a school with about 5 classrooms, a Sala de Tarea (which is an alternative to a school, but pretty much the same thing for the younger kids) and a library that is attached to the Sala de Tarea. It is the size of a closet, but Dr. Suess managed to make the shelf in English and Spanish so I have high hopes for the place. I spent some of the afternoon organizing and things are looking up for our little biblioteca. We also have a cancha (court) outside the school and a play (baseball field).

You may ask, why am I here?? well, I often wonder the very same thing. The best reason I have come up with (actually the Peace Corps came up with it and I am just now coming to terms with it) is just living with another culture and seeing how other people live and opening another people’s eyes to the same. They constantly watch me in awe or astonishment and not because they are impressed by me, but just because they are stunned at how different I operate. The actual plan, as far as work is concerned, is to start a youth group. My community is missing this. There are a lot of teenagers who are pregnant or already have a few kids, but then are also a lot of teenagers who do not have kids nor cedulas (birth certificates) and therefore can’t go to school past the 8th grade. When there isn’t work, this leaves them unemployed and just hanging out. So, my project is to get some of them involved in any sort of group. I am planning on doing a few things as far as this is concerned. For the next 3 months I am going to be spending my days walking around this area, talking to the people & sitting awkwardly on their porches and making the same conversation. All of which will hopefully lead me to knowing whose who, where’s what and figuring out what this community needs and wants and who to talk to when it’s time to put things into action. So here is what I am thinking.... an Escojo group, which educates people about sexual health and positive decision making, a girls volleyball or soccer club, a mother’s group, a dark room and photo business and potentially a recycled paper stationary youth business. All of this is very ambitious given just about everything, but these are just ideas. In other news, I have had two allergic reactions to red ants, two epinephrine injections, diarrhea since November 27th, one short term vomit stay and a muffler burn on my right calf. Now, I know living in the Caribbean sounds romantic and all, but paradise has its downfalls. so that’s about it for now! Much love to the U.S
p.s. Please ask questions if you would like this blog to have direction. (it helps those with A.D.D.!)