Standing by the sign near the entrance to our hike.
Location of our latest hiking adventure near Constanza
The Reserva Cientifica
Guess who!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Photos of the weekend
Standing by the sign near the entrance to our hike.
Location of our latest hiking adventure near Constanza
The Reserva Cientifica
Guess who!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Some of our daily routine
Life in Contanza has been great so far. As we've mentioned, the climate here is much cooler than Santo Domingo, so we're not drenched in sweat half way through our walk to training in the morning. Contanza is a beautiful community in the mountains of the Dominican Republic and is considered a Pueblo community. Pueblos are basically cities with fewer than a couple hundred thousand people. Constanza, from the word on the street, has about 90,000 people.
Monday through Friday we head to the training site with the other 23 trainees, to a local preschool (the kids have the 5 1/2 weeks off since we're using their school) and have our technical training. Technical training is in English from 8am to 12n. The preschool is about a three minute walk from our house, which is nice compared to the 30 minute walk and carro publico ride in Santo Domingo. Phoebes and I head home for a two hour lunch break from 12-2, which usually includes a huge lunch of rice, beans, chicken, and salad. Coffee follows lunch and of course, a nap!
We have three hours of Spanish classes from 2p to 5p, in Spanish of course. There are three peeps in my Spanish classes again, which makes for ample opportunity to speak and get our individual learning needs met. Phoebe is in class with a total of four students, which gives her some ample opportunity to practice as well! Our Spanish is coming along and we're getting better everyday.
We are excited to be here in Constanza for another three weeks of Community Based training. In the meantime, give us some love, comment please. It is our hope to make this blog an interactive opportunity. When you have a moment, let us know what you think, what questions you have, what information you'd like from us. This is our first time doing this so we're learning as we go. Join us and follow along on our ride. We appreciate your love and support, questions, open mindedness and interaction. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Monday through Friday we head to the training site with the other 23 trainees, to a local preschool (the kids have the 5 1/2 weeks off since we're using their school) and have our technical training. Technical training is in English from 8am to 12n. The preschool is about a three minute walk from our house, which is nice compared to the 30 minute walk and carro publico ride in Santo Domingo. Phoebes and I head home for a two hour lunch break from 12-2, which usually includes a huge lunch of rice, beans, chicken, and salad. Coffee follows lunch and of course, a nap!
We have three hours of Spanish classes from 2p to 5p, in Spanish of course. There are three peeps in my Spanish classes again, which makes for ample opportunity to speak and get our individual learning needs met. Phoebe is in class with a total of four students, which gives her some ample opportunity to practice as well! Our Spanish is coming along and we're getting better everyday.
We are excited to be here in Constanza for another three weeks of Community Based training. In the meantime, give us some love, comment please. It is our hope to make this blog an interactive opportunity. When you have a moment, let us know what you think, what questions you have, what information you'd like from us. This is our first time doing this so we're learning as we go. Join us and follow along on our ride. We appreciate your love and support, questions, open mindedness and interaction. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Se Fue La Luz
Fun fact of the day: Se fue la luz, literally translates to "the light left" and llego la luz translates to "the light came."
Electricity is not a constant source of power here in the D.R. The electricity comes and goes throughout the day and night. I'm not able to follow the schedule of when the electricity comes and goes; our host family claims there is a schedule. There's usually no light in the bathroom in the morning when I go to take a shower, at night I can't turn the t.v. on (my family has cable t.v. and cell phones) and I haven't used my electric razor yet. Darn. (read sarcasm). We brought a power strip with us and are able to charge the computer, ipod and mini portable stereo throughout the day without blowing the circuits (Our luxuries from the US) . So we really are able to have access to some of the comforts we were not fully expecting during our Peace Corps Service. Although, this is the training portion of the Peace Corps, it appears that our two year here will likely be filled with many of the comforts available in the US, with a few blips along the way. Most Dominicans have refrigerators too!
None of these things really bother me too much. I mean, we have cable t.v. and I got to watch the first half of the Colts game on Monday (It was a replay on ESPN DEPORTES during my lunch hour and I got the first half in before, guess what, se fue la luz). We weren't really expecting to have t.v., we don't even have cable television in the states, so watching anything right now is all about making our Spanish better. Yes, I watched the colts game with dubbed spanish commentators!
As for when the electricity is gone, our family in Santo Domingo had an inversor (basically it's a backup power system of batteries that charge when there is electricity) which allowed the lights and the fans to work throughout the evening hours...We don't need a fan here in Constanza since the temperatures are "uber" cool throughout the evening hours. However, I don't think we'd be able to sleep in Santo Domingo without the fan.
The Dominicans which we have lived with here, for the most part, live fairly comfortable lives. The Peace Corps training team has mentioned that they are easing us into the life of Dominicans. I think Phoebe and I have scored quite awesome living situations, wonderful people to help us with our language acquisition and excellent food at every meal.
Electricity is not a constant source of power here in the D.R. The electricity comes and goes throughout the day and night. I'm not able to follow the schedule of when the electricity comes and goes; our host family claims there is a schedule. There's usually no light in the bathroom in the morning when I go to take a shower, at night I can't turn the t.v. on (my family has cable t.v. and cell phones) and I haven't used my electric razor yet. Darn. (read sarcasm). We brought a power strip with us and are able to charge the computer, ipod and mini portable stereo throughout the day without blowing the circuits (Our luxuries from the US) . So we really are able to have access to some of the comforts we were not fully expecting during our Peace Corps Service. Although, this is the training portion of the Peace Corps, it appears that our two year here will likely be filled with many of the comforts available in the US, with a few blips along the way. Most Dominicans have refrigerators too!
None of these things really bother me too much. I mean, we have cable t.v. and I got to watch the first half of the Colts game on Monday (It was a replay on ESPN DEPORTES during my lunch hour and I got the first half in before, guess what, se fue la luz). We weren't really expecting to have t.v., we don't even have cable television in the states, so watching anything right now is all about making our Spanish better. Yes, I watched the colts game with dubbed spanish commentators!
As for when the electricity is gone, our family in Santo Domingo had an inversor (basically it's a backup power system of batteries that charge when there is electricity) which allowed the lights and the fans to work throughout the evening hours...We don't need a fan here in Constanza since the temperatures are "uber" cool throughout the evening hours. However, I don't think we'd be able to sleep in Santo Domingo without the fan.
The Dominicans which we have lived with here, for the most part, live fairly comfortable lives. The Peace Corps training team has mentioned that they are easing us into the life of Dominicans. I think Phoebe and I have scored quite awesome living situations, wonderful people to help us with our language acquisition and excellent food at every meal.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Espanol...
Changed our blog name to Arroz y Habichuelas (Rice and Beans), the main course here in the DR. Yesterday we completed our first Spanish presentation…20 minutes of Spanish in front of an audience…and, we DID IT!!! Yay! Learning the language has now become even more challenging with the dialect of Constanza; The put an S in the middle of words and then take the S out of the end of words…hilarious at some moments and frustrating at others. However, hopefully in a few weeks, we will be rattling of the language of the campo. We are starting to make some friends, which has been fantastic!!! Hooray, new friends. Played cards last night until the wee hours and visited with a few of the 23 volunteers that are here with us. We have so much in common…ESL teachers, Social Workers, and many folks whom have worked with at-risk youth, we are glad to be surrounded by such a talented group of folks. We keep looking at each other and exclaiming, Wow! They picked us? This is pretty incredible. We are always reminding ourselves that even a hard day here is a hard day, IN THE CARRIBIAN…this keeps us smiling.
One Month in Peace Corps!!
One month PC anniversary…it is hard to imagine we have been here that long; the days fly by so quickly, full of charlas (lectures), Spanish, incredible Dominican fare, coffee, compartir (visiting) and mountains of information.
Just a little reflection of the past month…Initially, we spent three intense weeks in Santo Domingo living with a host family in a barrio in the city and at the Peace Corps training center (Entrena) with 57 other volunteers. Entrena is a little oasis in the middle of Santo Domingo…it has every tropical fruit tree you could ever imagine on the property, and these awesome outdoor classrooms (aulas and agricolas) for presentations and Spanish class.
Everyday at Entrena, we had 8-9 hours of classes, including; Language, Peace Corps policy charlas, informal round table discussions, field trips, medical concerns, volunteer visits, and DR geography, public transportation, culture, DR euphomisms, and we played lots of initiative games. We both departed soltero after three weeks to different sites to visit current Peace Corps volunteers.
Dan went to visit a Youth Peace Corps Volunteer in an at-risk youth center in Jarabacoa. Phoebe went to visit an Environment Peace Corps volunteer working with youth and environment in San Jose Matos (Amou). The experience was helpful for both of us because, we actually got to see what a Peace Corps Volunteer gets to do here for 2 years, yay! They are doing incredible things here, and living a simple life…we were impressed.
A few days after we returned to Santo Domingo from our volunteer visit we packed our bags again and we hopped on a bus with 23 other Youth volunteers, 6 Spanish professors, and the youth and families training director. We made a trek northwest through the mountains from Santo Domingo to our new home, Constanza. We will be here for 5 weeks to complete the Youth sector Community Based Training.
A little bit about Contanza, it has a population of about 90K people. It was formed by a huge meteor, which left us a beautiful little valley south of the Cordierra Septentrional (The northern most mountain range in the DR). It is one of the most fertile valleys in the country so we have been eating incredible fresh fruit and vegetables everyday. We live with a patient, friendly, and very fun host family (three brothers and a sister). It is a refreshing change from the traffic, trash and pollution of the capitol Santo Domingo…we have been enjoying life here and in general, we have been feeling at home here. The family we live with has a huge extended family (familia extendida), there is always someone new related coming to lunch or dinner, so the house is always filled with people, food and lots of laughter.
Just a little reflection of the past month…Initially, we spent three intense weeks in Santo Domingo living with a host family in a barrio in the city and at the Peace Corps training center (Entrena) with 57 other volunteers. Entrena is a little oasis in the middle of Santo Domingo…it has every tropical fruit tree you could ever imagine on the property, and these awesome outdoor classrooms (aulas and agricolas) for presentations and Spanish class.
Everyday at Entrena, we had 8-9 hours of classes, including; Language, Peace Corps policy charlas, informal round table discussions, field trips, medical concerns, volunteer visits, and DR geography, public transportation, culture, DR euphomisms, and we played lots of initiative games. We both departed soltero after three weeks to different sites to visit current Peace Corps volunteers.
Dan went to visit a Youth Peace Corps Volunteer in an at-risk youth center in Jarabacoa. Phoebe went to visit an Environment Peace Corps volunteer working with youth and environment in San Jose Matos (Amou). The experience was helpful for both of us because, we actually got to see what a Peace Corps Volunteer gets to do here for 2 years, yay! They are doing incredible things here, and living a simple life…we were impressed.
A few days after we returned to Santo Domingo from our volunteer visit we packed our bags again and we hopped on a bus with 23 other Youth volunteers, 6 Spanish professors, and the youth and families training director. We made a trek northwest through the mountains from Santo Domingo to our new home, Constanza. We will be here for 5 weeks to complete the Youth sector Community Based Training.
A little bit about Contanza, it has a population of about 90K people. It was formed by a huge meteor, which left us a beautiful little valley south of the Cordierra Septentrional (The northern most mountain range in the DR). It is one of the most fertile valleys in the country so we have been eating incredible fresh fruit and vegetables everyday. We live with a patient, friendly, and very fun host family (three brothers and a sister). It is a refreshing change from the traffic, trash and pollution of the capitol Santo Domingo…we have been enjoying life here and in general, we have been feeling at home here. The family we live with has a huge extended family (familia extendida), there is always someone new related coming to lunch or dinner, so the house is always filled with people, food and lots of laughter.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Peace Corps Goals
1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their needs through technical assistance.
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Constanza
Hello Everyone! Phoebes and I are busy busy busy. We are currently in Constanza, Dominican Republic. The weather is phenomenal here and it reminds both of us of Durango, Colorado and many other mountain towns throughout the western US. Its wonderful to walk out the door of our Donas house and see the beautiful Lomas towering over us.
Our days consist of focused training on Youth Development in the D.R., Language, Tons of Food!, and lots of walking. We are working in small groups with other Youth Development volunteers, or aspirantes as we're currently called, in conjunction with local youth groups. We are conducting a rapid fire community assessment, trying to gain perspective of the youth in Constanza and assist them in achieving a productive and useful goal for the five weeks we are here.
Phoebes and I have been very focused on the language acquisition, so much so that we have failed in updating the blog. We'll make more of an effort to update for everyone.
For now, we're safe and sound.
Our days consist of focused training on Youth Development in the D.R., Language, Tons of Food!, and lots of walking. We are working in small groups with other Youth Development volunteers, or aspirantes as we're currently called, in conjunction with local youth groups. We are conducting a rapid fire community assessment, trying to gain perspective of the youth in Constanza and assist them in achieving a productive and useful goal for the five weeks we are here.
Phoebes and I have been very focused on the language acquisition, so much so that we have failed in updating the blog. We'll make more of an effort to update for everyone.
For now, we're safe and sound.
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