Hi this is Danno here and I'm a proud husband, as always. Let me tell you why; Phoebe was elected, by her peers, to give a five minute address on behalf of the new volunteers during our swear in ceremony on Wednesday. she wrote it and gave it entirely en Espanol. We're including a copy of it below in Spanish and English for your reading pleasure. In addition, now that we have sworn in, we are both officially Peace Corps Volunteers!
We stayed in the capital for an additional day to receive training on the recent Cholera outbreak in Haiti. All D.R. volunteers were rounded up for two sessions of the cholera awareness training, how to prevent it, what to do in case of contracting cholera. We were provided information to pass along to our communities. Apparently it's not a matter of IF cholera will come to the D.R., it's a matter of when. Don't be alarmed, we will be safe and have the best medical care either of us have ever received in our lives...we are in very good hands
We're headed back to our new home, Batey Monte Cristi for two days then off to Creole training on Monday. As always in love and peace.
Enjoy!
English Version:
Volunteer Representative speech
Phoebe Sunflower
Graduation 517-2010
10-26-2010
Good afternoon, I want to thank everyone for being here! My name is Phoebe Sunflower. I am honored to be here before you all, as a representative of an exceptional group of new volunteers from the Peace Corps.
About 2 months ago in Washington DC the capital of the United States, for "staging," they gave us a list that had the names of each of the fifty-eight candidates who are present here. That same day, we were all full of different emotions, I remember when we were looking at a group of people who did not know at the time. Fortunately, over time we have been able to share wonderful experiences in this beautiful country, which has enabled us to become a large extended family.
I would like to take a moment to look at all the companions around us. We have to recognize that we are a united family, which we will provide the necessary support, because together we are strong, knowledgable, and able to achieve our goals.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that our solidarity is due to the great support we received during our training. Therefore, we are all very grateful for each of the members of the Peace Corps, and the governments of the United States and the Dominican Republic for their cooperation and support.
I also give a huge thanks to Entrena. Thank you for your exemplary organization, preparation, and support. Thank you for being our guides during this great adventure. Thanks for your patience, professionalism and love. We have learned strategies that will enable us to more easily integrate into our communities, we have improved our Spanish language proficiency, and we were able to navigate through the public transportation in Santo Domingo. Thank Goodness! Besides all this, thanks to Entrena for the blessing of a great family. Undoubtedly, we are full of gratitude to these families.
Thanks families for welcoming us into their homes with open arms, for providing delicious food, teaching us about your culture, your traditions and your community. Thank you for your patience. And, especially, for your rich delicious coffee. Finally, you have helped us tremendously, and I would like to thank you with all my heart. We will always remember the sharing.
And Volunteers! Look around your peers and please recognize this group of professionals with talent and ability. Please remember that during the next two years, there may be moments filled with inspiration and hard times. Through these times, share our achievements and adversities, we are here to support each other. If it's worth doing, it's worth celebrating. Take time to listen to each other, and remember that listening is a primitive act of love. Our support is the foundation of this group. Our love and patience will take you through our service and our energy will be reflected in this country, the United States and worldwide. Finally, congratulations to all my colleagues. In peace…safe journey!
And Spanish Version:
Discurso de Voluntaria Phoebe (Girasol) Sunflower
La graduación de 517-2010
10-26-2010
Buenas tardes, les quiero agradecer a todos por estar aquí presentes! Me llamo Phoebe Girasol. Me siento honrada de estar aquí delante de todos ustedes, como representante de un grupo excepcional de voluntarios nuevos del Cuerpo de Paz.
Hace aproximadamente 2 meses en Washington DC la Capital de Los Estados Unidos, durante “staging,” nos dieron una lista que tenia los nombres de cada uno de los cincuenta y ocho aspirantes que están aquí presentes. Ese mismo dia, todos estábamos lleno de diferentes emociones, recuerdo cuando estábamos mirando a un grupo de personas que en el momento no conocíamos. Afortunadamente, con el transcurso del tiempo hemos logrado compartir bellas experiencias en este hermoso país, que nos ha permitido convertirnos en una gran familia extendida.
Me gustaría que tomáramos un momento para mirar a todos los compañeros que nos rodean. Nos toca reconocer que somos una familia unida, la cual nos brindará el apoyo necesario, debido a que juntos somos fuertes, de gran conocimiento, y capaces de lograr nuestras metas.
A la vez, es de suma importancia reconocer que nuestra solidaridad se debe al gran apoyo que hemos recibido durante nuestro entrenamiento. Por consiguiente, estamos todos muy agradecidos de cada uno de los integrantes del Cuerpo de Paz, y a los gobiernos de Los Estados Unidos, y la Republica Dominicana por su colaboración y apoyo.
También quiero dar unas enormes gracias a Entrena. Gracias, a su organización ejemplar, su preparación, y su apoyo. Gracias, por ser nuestros guías durante esta gran aventura. Gracias, por su paciencia, profesionalidad y amor. Hemos aprendido estrategias que nos permitirán integrarnos con mas facilidad a nuestras comunidades, hemos mejorado nuestro dominio de la lengua española, y hemos podido navegar a través del transporte publico en Santo Domingo. Gracias A Dios! Además de todo esto, gracias a Entrena por la bendición de unas familias excelentes. Indudablemente, estamos llenos de gratitud hacia todas estas familias.
Gracias familias, por recibirnos en sus hogares con brazos abiertos, por brindarnos su deliciosa comida, por permitirnos conocer mejor su cultura, sus tradiciones, y su comunidad. Muchísimas gracias por su paciencia. Y, en especial, por su rico café. En fin, nos han ayudado enormemente, y se los agradecemos con toda el alma. Siempre vamos a recordar su confianza.
¡Y Voluntarios! Miren alrededor a sus compañeros y por favor reconozcan a este grupo de profesionales con talento y capacidad. Por favor, recordemos que durante los próximos dos años, podrá haber momentos llenos de inspiración y tiempos difíciles. A través de estos tiempos, compartiremos nuestros logros y adversidades, estamos aquí para apoyar a los demás. Si vale la pena hacerlo, vale la pena celebrarlo. Tomar el tiempo para escucharnos los unos a los otros, y recordar que escuchar es un acto primitivo del amor. Nuestro apoyo es el fundamento de este grupo. Nuestro amor y paciencia nos llevará a través de nuestro servicio y nuestra energía se reflejará en este país, los estados unidos, y el mundo entero. Por ultimo, felicidades a todos mis compañeros. En paz…que les vaya bien.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Local Flavor
What is uniquely Dominican?
What do we miss most?
What are we the most glad to have gotten away from?
Phoebe here: Through this unique experience we are learning more and more about love. There is love and compassion for every human being in the DR. There is so much grace in their love that indirect communication is the norm, not to be rude, but to be considerate. The action of love is even more shocking then the emotion of love. For example, even the town “loco’s” are taken in, given coffee and sometimes food. We have been living from a primarily ego-centric society and now have come to a strongly eco-centric society and within this assimilation comes a fuerte love. It has been awkward at times. For example, we noticed in our host family in Constanza, we ate first and then whatever leftovers we didn’t eat always went to the children of our host brother. It took us a few weeks of eating the food on the table to notice that the kids always dropped in after meal times looking hungrily for leftovers.
Dan here: We are wanting to come from an appreciative lens with this information. Presenting some of our experiences and perceptions could be perceived as stereotyping, which is what I’d like to avoid. What I’d like you to keep in mind while reading this is that not all Dominicans are a certain way, not all Dominicans think in a certain way and in many ways the culture is evolving. I am also likely missing something, like usual, so keep the questions coming.
What is uniquely Dominican?
We left our host family in Santo Domingo for five weeks and our Dona rented a space in her courtyard to a guy who had been selling empanadas, fried chicken and chicharonnes from a cart across the street. Within five short weeks, he built a space where you can now sit and drink beer, a coke and chill out with you’re greasy food. His shop stays open late so folks leaving from the bar half a block away can come down and grab a bite. I’m not 100% certain where he gets his electricity, however I’m pretty sure his electricity is flojo, aka, he’s stealing it from the lines. It’s also unlikely that he needed to get a license, go through any type of zoning process or what not to be able to sell food or liquor. I’m sure all he had to do was sign a rental agreement with my Dona here and viola, instant restaurante. Pretty wildly cool, entrepreneurial and driven to make this happen. My Dona is now collecting rent and her new tenant has a great location for his business. I also didn’t participate in the weeks or possibly months of negotiation for this new business nor do I have all the information from my host mom.
The style of clothing is very unique…guys wear bedazzled shirts, jeans and hats. Let me clarify, often times the butt pockets are bedazzled on guys jeans and their hats are wild. If I wore pants like this in the states I think it would be a spectacle. We’ll see, maybe I’ll pick up a pair. The hats are like plastic on the top front part and mesh on the back. Some of the hats are bedazzled too. My host brother in Constanza wore a bedazzled hat with a New Orleans Saints logo. Women tend to wear tight clothing, lots of colors, bedazzled jeans, yellow, pink, neon blue, white, black jeans, heels, and are generally very stylie and matching from nails to ear rings, pants, heels, and shirts.
Dinstinclty Dominican: Fitting five people on a motorcycle (motoconcho). This includes babies, toddlers and grandma. People fit all sorts of stuff on motoconchos because it tends to be the primary form of transportation. For example, people will carry propane tanks, groceries, cakes, 2 x 4’s, tools, concrete blocks, and other random stuff. Phoebe and I recently rode on a motoconcho: The driver had my computer bag on the steering column, Phoebe had her bag strapped on her left and I was wearing Phoebe’s backpack and sitting on the back of the moto and squeezing onto Phoebe for dear life. Think we looked funny, just imagine that we were also wearing our Peace Corps issued helmets while sitting on the back of the moto. Our driver was a 60ish year old man wearing a Yankees ball cap.
Throwing toilet paper in the trash, not in the toilet. This took a while for me to get used to and I have made the mistake of tossing a couple wads in the water (oops). This probably isn’t distinctly Dominican, more developing world.
Throwing trash in the street and not in the trash. Trash is just generally all over the place. It’s on the beaches, in the street, on the sidewalks, in the rivers, streams and hillsides. Our new host family piles the garbage in their back yard. Most Dominican’s don’t see this as an issue and part of my cultural immersion process may bring me to the point of throwing my trash on the ground. I’ve definitely considered it.
Loud music everywhere, often and all times of the day…trucks driving around with blaring speakers trying to get people to come to their restaurant, bar, party, dance or show. Today on my walk home in the capital, a car blaring music drove by and set off the car alarm of a car parked nearby.
Food: plantains, coffee, fried cheese, rice, beans and lots of oil. It’s pretty darn good food and I think I’m packing on the pounds. I miss my Good Food Store peanuts and raisins, granola, and dried fruit. There is access to fruits and veggies, but they’re pretty spendy and their prices vary depending on the season.
Miss most: talking to family and friends on a regular basis. Familiarity of “Americanness” whatever that means…I guess it means being able to drive and know with almost 100% certainty that there will not be a pothole in the highway, a red light means red and the lines on the road delineate the number of traffic lanes (not the case here). “Americanness,” might be a new cultural term, knowing that you can drink tap water or flush toilet paper down the toilet. (where does that tp go in the states by the way?) Knowing what is expensive, middle of the road and what is a fairly good price to pay for food, travel, clothing, etc. That value of money and cost of products barometer hasn’t completely set in yet. I struggle with this more so than anything. I don’t want to be seen as a tourist or a volunteer tourist who comes in and can be taken advantage of by the community. Although, I’m I want to be seen as a part of the community and be friends. If my buddy gives me a ride to the airport, I don’t tend to pay him. Living in a poorer community where my neighbor is my friend and makes money by giving rides to people; I pay him a fair price. Asking what price is fair is difficult too because just about everyone assumes that we have money, are here for a short time, and well, this just takes time to figure out. I’m also finding that a fighter with the taxi drivers and money collectors. I’ll argue the price down from 300 pesos to 200 pesos for a taxi, and five pesos to me is measurable because that’s my skim ice on the public transport.
We miss our family and friends, mixed green salad, yoga class, our Jetta, and having a decent conversation on the phone without the internet cutting out.
Glad to have left behind: eh…rigid expectations for time…although we never were very good at that…think we’d rather spend time with people than stick to a routine schedule anyway. Speaking in another language a majority of the time is difficult and learning to really express ourselves clearly and thoroughly in Spanish is difficult.
That's all for now. Phoebes and I are swearing in tomorrow and will officially be Peace Corps Volunteers!! Then we head to Creole Training for a week!! Love you. Checking out with love, excitement, joy.
What do we miss most?
What are we the most glad to have gotten away from?
Phoebe here: Through this unique experience we are learning more and more about love. There is love and compassion for every human being in the DR. There is so much grace in their love that indirect communication is the norm, not to be rude, but to be considerate. The action of love is even more shocking then the emotion of love. For example, even the town “loco’s” are taken in, given coffee and sometimes food. We have been living from a primarily ego-centric society and now have come to a strongly eco-centric society and within this assimilation comes a fuerte love. It has been awkward at times. For example, we noticed in our host family in Constanza, we ate first and then whatever leftovers we didn’t eat always went to the children of our host brother. It took us a few weeks of eating the food on the table to notice that the kids always dropped in after meal times looking hungrily for leftovers.
Dan here: We are wanting to come from an appreciative lens with this information. Presenting some of our experiences and perceptions could be perceived as stereotyping, which is what I’d like to avoid. What I’d like you to keep in mind while reading this is that not all Dominicans are a certain way, not all Dominicans think in a certain way and in many ways the culture is evolving. I am also likely missing something, like usual, so keep the questions coming.
What is uniquely Dominican?
We left our host family in Santo Domingo for five weeks and our Dona rented a space in her courtyard to a guy who had been selling empanadas, fried chicken and chicharonnes from a cart across the street. Within five short weeks, he built a space where you can now sit and drink beer, a coke and chill out with you’re greasy food. His shop stays open late so folks leaving from the bar half a block away can come down and grab a bite. I’m not 100% certain where he gets his electricity, however I’m pretty sure his electricity is flojo, aka, he’s stealing it from the lines. It’s also unlikely that he needed to get a license, go through any type of zoning process or what not to be able to sell food or liquor. I’m sure all he had to do was sign a rental agreement with my Dona here and viola, instant restaurante. Pretty wildly cool, entrepreneurial and driven to make this happen. My Dona is now collecting rent and her new tenant has a great location for his business. I also didn’t participate in the weeks or possibly months of negotiation for this new business nor do I have all the information from my host mom.
The style of clothing is very unique…guys wear bedazzled shirts, jeans and hats. Let me clarify, often times the butt pockets are bedazzled on guys jeans and their hats are wild. If I wore pants like this in the states I think it would be a spectacle. We’ll see, maybe I’ll pick up a pair. The hats are like plastic on the top front part and mesh on the back. Some of the hats are bedazzled too. My host brother in Constanza wore a bedazzled hat with a New Orleans Saints logo. Women tend to wear tight clothing, lots of colors, bedazzled jeans, yellow, pink, neon blue, white, black jeans, heels, and are generally very stylie and matching from nails to ear rings, pants, heels, and shirts.
Dinstinclty Dominican: Fitting five people on a motorcycle (motoconcho). This includes babies, toddlers and grandma. People fit all sorts of stuff on motoconchos because it tends to be the primary form of transportation. For example, people will carry propane tanks, groceries, cakes, 2 x 4’s, tools, concrete blocks, and other random stuff. Phoebe and I recently rode on a motoconcho: The driver had my computer bag on the steering column, Phoebe had her bag strapped on her left and I was wearing Phoebe’s backpack and sitting on the back of the moto and squeezing onto Phoebe for dear life. Think we looked funny, just imagine that we were also wearing our Peace Corps issued helmets while sitting on the back of the moto. Our driver was a 60ish year old man wearing a Yankees ball cap.
Throwing toilet paper in the trash, not in the toilet. This took a while for me to get used to and I have made the mistake of tossing a couple wads in the water (oops). This probably isn’t distinctly Dominican, more developing world.
Throwing trash in the street and not in the trash. Trash is just generally all over the place. It’s on the beaches, in the street, on the sidewalks, in the rivers, streams and hillsides. Our new host family piles the garbage in their back yard. Most Dominican’s don’t see this as an issue and part of my cultural immersion process may bring me to the point of throwing my trash on the ground. I’ve definitely considered it.
Loud music everywhere, often and all times of the day…trucks driving around with blaring speakers trying to get people to come to their restaurant, bar, party, dance or show. Today on my walk home in the capital, a car blaring music drove by and set off the car alarm of a car parked nearby.
Food: plantains, coffee, fried cheese, rice, beans and lots of oil. It’s pretty darn good food and I think I’m packing on the pounds. I miss my Good Food Store peanuts and raisins, granola, and dried fruit. There is access to fruits and veggies, but they’re pretty spendy and their prices vary depending on the season.
Miss most: talking to family and friends on a regular basis. Familiarity of “Americanness” whatever that means…I guess it means being able to drive and know with almost 100% certainty that there will not be a pothole in the highway, a red light means red and the lines on the road delineate the number of traffic lanes (not the case here). “Americanness,” might be a new cultural term, knowing that you can drink tap water or flush toilet paper down the toilet. (where does that tp go in the states by the way?) Knowing what is expensive, middle of the road and what is a fairly good price to pay for food, travel, clothing, etc. That value of money and cost of products barometer hasn’t completely set in yet. I struggle with this more so than anything. I don’t want to be seen as a tourist or a volunteer tourist who comes in and can be taken advantage of by the community. Although, I’m I want to be seen as a part of the community and be friends. If my buddy gives me a ride to the airport, I don’t tend to pay him. Living in a poorer community where my neighbor is my friend and makes money by giving rides to people; I pay him a fair price. Asking what price is fair is difficult too because just about everyone assumes that we have money, are here for a short time, and well, this just takes time to figure out. I’m also finding that a fighter with the taxi drivers and money collectors. I’ll argue the price down from 300 pesos to 200 pesos for a taxi, and five pesos to me is measurable because that’s my skim ice on the public transport.
We miss our family and friends, mixed green salad, yoga class, our Jetta, and having a decent conversation on the phone without the internet cutting out.
Glad to have left behind: eh…rigid expectations for time…although we never were very good at that…think we’d rather spend time with people than stick to a routine schedule anyway. Speaking in another language a majority of the time is difficult and learning to really express ourselves clearly and thoroughly in Spanish is difficult.
That's all for now. Phoebes and I are swearing in tomorrow and will officially be Peace Corps Volunteers!! Then we head to Creole Training for a week!! Love you. Checking out with love, excitement, joy.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Extreme Needs Placement
Dan here y’all and I’m here to tell you more about my future placement. I have “provisionally” been placed in what the Peace Corps Dominican Republic terms as and “extreme needs” placement. The extreme needs program partners volunteers with existing organizations who work specifically with children who are either currently in or have been in various extreme situations. The Peace Corps Volunteers role within the organization is to provide institutional strengthening, youth empowerment and access to services. I feel blessed to have a unique opportunity to work alongside an international non governmental organization who appears very well equipped to work with youth who have lived in extreme situations. I’ll be working with Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos.
All Peace Corps Volunteers will be working with children who would be considered extreme needs. The main difference in my placement is that nearly each and every child I will come into contact with would be considered extreme needs and I will be working alongside an organization who works specifically with children of extreme needs. The Peace Corps defines extreme needs children as follows:
• Living with HIV/AIDS
• Living outside the family unit
• Victim of child labor or exploitation
• Victim of neglect or abuse
• Not declared (meaning no birth certificate = they don’t exist in the eyes of the law)
• Sobre edad (overage) in school, behind in school or not attending school
• Living in a marginalized community
I am currently one of eight extreme needs aspirantes, soon to become volunteers, in the DR and we will soon become volunteers (we hope). Upon our swearing in to become Peace Corps Volunteers, we will join four additional extreme needs volunteers who are currently in country and have been working with a local NGO over the past year. This year is the first year that the extreme needs initiative has included an extreme needs specific training and our group of outstanding volunteers will be working with Dominican based nonprofit organizations, orphanages, a Dominican governmental agency, an International Non Profit (Me), centers for street children, and day homes. In addition, each volunteer will have the opportunity for community based projects outside of our primary project and we are assigned a secondary project partner within the community to help facilitate this process.
The project has the potential to consume a majority of my time, energy and spirit. It is my plan, now, and as expected by the Peace Corps, to take my first three months to evaluate the NGO and conduct an assessment. During this time, I’ll be able to determine alongside my project partners how I’ll best fit into their system of operation, find what strengths, programming and ideas I can bring to the orphanage staff and children. It has been made very clear that I’m not coming in to fill a specific job within the organization; meaning I won’t come in and be their new therapist, receptionist or soccer coach. What company wouldn’t want an employee to come in and work for free? That’s not what the PC is in the business of doing nor is it my intention. So, I can work with my new co-workers to help in training new skills, different perspectives and the like. My role will become more clear in the coming week as I’ll be heading to Batey Monte Cristi to visit for 5 days, meet our project partners, new host family, neighbors and begin making friends.
As always, let us know what you think, feel or would like to hear more of. We’re here to interact and share in this experience. We feel more motivated to write when you comment, so bring them on!
Next week we’ll be headed to visit our new community for five days and I don’t think we’ll have much internet access. It’s our hope to get a couple more posts in before we leave, however that remains to be seen.
I’ll sign off with this: Celebrate the small successes…I’m feeling excited writing and thinking about our future placements, missing my family, friends, IYFD profs and students, MKP Bros, enjoying the last few days of training with my Youth and Family Development volunteers, bumbling through Spanish each day, and loving myself and my wife.
Dan Out.
All Peace Corps Volunteers will be working with children who would be considered extreme needs. The main difference in my placement is that nearly each and every child I will come into contact with would be considered extreme needs and I will be working alongside an organization who works specifically with children of extreme needs. The Peace Corps defines extreme needs children as follows:
• Living with HIV/AIDS
• Living outside the family unit
• Victim of child labor or exploitation
• Victim of neglect or abuse
• Not declared (meaning no birth certificate = they don’t exist in the eyes of the law)
• Sobre edad (overage) in school, behind in school or not attending school
• Living in a marginalized community
I am currently one of eight extreme needs aspirantes, soon to become volunteers, in the DR and we will soon become volunteers (we hope). Upon our swearing in to become Peace Corps Volunteers, we will join four additional extreme needs volunteers who are currently in country and have been working with a local NGO over the past year. This year is the first year that the extreme needs initiative has included an extreme needs specific training and our group of outstanding volunteers will be working with Dominican based nonprofit organizations, orphanages, a Dominican governmental agency, an International Non Profit (Me), centers for street children, and day homes. In addition, each volunteer will have the opportunity for community based projects outside of our primary project and we are assigned a secondary project partner within the community to help facilitate this process.
The project has the potential to consume a majority of my time, energy and spirit. It is my plan, now, and as expected by the Peace Corps, to take my first three months to evaluate the NGO and conduct an assessment. During this time, I’ll be able to determine alongside my project partners how I’ll best fit into their system of operation, find what strengths, programming and ideas I can bring to the orphanage staff and children. It has been made very clear that I’m not coming in to fill a specific job within the organization; meaning I won’t come in and be their new therapist, receptionist or soccer coach. What company wouldn’t want an employee to come in and work for free? That’s not what the PC is in the business of doing nor is it my intention. So, I can work with my new co-workers to help in training new skills, different perspectives and the like. My role will become more clear in the coming week as I’ll be heading to Batey Monte Cristi to visit for 5 days, meet our project partners, new host family, neighbors and begin making friends.
As always, let us know what you think, feel or would like to hear more of. We’re here to interact and share in this experience. We feel more motivated to write when you comment, so bring them on!
Next week we’ll be headed to visit our new community for five days and I don’t think we’ll have much internet access. It’s our hope to get a couple more posts in before we leave, however that remains to be seen.
I’ll sign off with this: Celebrate the small successes…I’m feeling excited writing and thinking about our future placements, missing my family, friends, IYFD profs and students, MKP Bros, enjoying the last few days of training with my Youth and Family Development volunteers, bumbling through Spanish each day, and loving myself and my wife.
Dan Out.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Provisional Placement
Last Friday, October 2nd, our APCD, Associate Peace Corps Director, our Peace Corps Volunteer Leader and our Project Director, also known as our new bosses, came to visit our Community Based Training group and notified us about our “provisional” placements. Can you say “excitement!" The process went like this; our names were on star shaped Post-it notes facing down on the floor; the chairs were in a horseshoe circle and our future placements were on two pieces of large paper taped onto the wall in front of the room. We were informed we would be picking a name at random and our APCD and three facilitators would then share a brief two to three minutes about our future site placements, project partners, and location, including expectations of the future projects.
Now we know where we are going for the next two years. Plus, it was fun hearing about each persons potential project site, project partner, cities where our new friends who could be “provisionally” be living nearby. Although it was a bit awkward (On a side note, I recently learned that there is no word for awkward in the Spanish language) being on display in front of our peers, our reactions were all of excitement, anticipation and our palates were left wanting more information.
So, with all the anticipation building for the past several weeks, we are going to be living in Batey Monte Cristi, which is near San Pedro de Macoris in the east of the Dominican Republic. Knowing what city we are going to be living in for the next two years is a major positive outcome from this entire process and we have a more narrowed idea of what work we could be doing. Dan will be working with an international NGO called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanitos (Our little brothers and sisters) and Phoebe will be partnering with two community based organizations in the Batey (one of which is a women’s group!).
Based upon conversations with our trainers, bosses and other Peace Corps Volunteers, we have learned that Batey’s in the Dominican Republic were initially developed as housing for the workers of the sugar cane industry. The grand majority of the laborers for the sugar cane industry have been Haitians who were brought to the Dominican Republic, at first on a seasonal basis and later on a permanent basis, to work in the fields and factories for the sugar cane industry. Many Haitians who have lived in the D.R. for the past 50 plus years consider themselves Dominican, consider their children Dominican and many second and third generations have never even visited Haiti. Creole tends to be widely spoken in a majority of Bateys, although from what we have learned from the other Peace Corps Volunteers, the majority of Haitians in Bateys also speak Spanish and can understand French. It’s likely that we will be able to take additional courses in Creole throughout the next few years. Phoebe and I are expecting to learn much more about the history of Batey's, the people of Batey’s and of course the people of the D.R. over the next two years and we will definitely share more as our journey continues.
What we have discovered so far about Batey Monte Christi, NOT to be confused with Monte Cristi in the north of the country, it is about a 15 to 20 minute motoconcho ride to San Pedro de Macoris, about 30-45 minute motoconcho ride to the beach and about a two hour bus ride to the capital city, Santo Domingo. We are also close to La Romana, probably 45-minute bus ride, and La Romana, hosts an international airport for those of you wanting to come and visit us in the coming two years!
As always, In love and the spirit of sharing.
Now we know where we are going for the next two years. Plus, it was fun hearing about each persons potential project site, project partner, cities where our new friends who could be “provisionally” be living nearby. Although it was a bit awkward (On a side note, I recently learned that there is no word for awkward in the Spanish language) being on display in front of our peers, our reactions were all of excitement, anticipation and our palates were left wanting more information.
So, with all the anticipation building for the past several weeks, we are going to be living in Batey Monte Cristi, which is near San Pedro de Macoris in the east of the Dominican Republic. Knowing what city we are going to be living in for the next two years is a major positive outcome from this entire process and we have a more narrowed idea of what work we could be doing. Dan will be working with an international NGO called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanitos (Our little brothers and sisters) and Phoebe will be partnering with two community based organizations in the Batey (one of which is a women’s group!).
Based upon conversations with our trainers, bosses and other Peace Corps Volunteers, we have learned that Batey’s in the Dominican Republic were initially developed as housing for the workers of the sugar cane industry. The grand majority of the laborers for the sugar cane industry have been Haitians who were brought to the Dominican Republic, at first on a seasonal basis and later on a permanent basis, to work in the fields and factories for the sugar cane industry. Many Haitians who have lived in the D.R. for the past 50 plus years consider themselves Dominican, consider their children Dominican and many second and third generations have never even visited Haiti. Creole tends to be widely spoken in a majority of Bateys, although from what we have learned from the other Peace Corps Volunteers, the majority of Haitians in Bateys also speak Spanish and can understand French. It’s likely that we will be able to take additional courses in Creole throughout the next few years. Phoebe and I are expecting to learn much more about the history of Batey's, the people of Batey’s and of course the people of the D.R. over the next two years and we will definitely share more as our journey continues.
What we have discovered so far about Batey Monte Christi, NOT to be confused with Monte Cristi in the north of the country, it is about a 15 to 20 minute motoconcho ride to San Pedro de Macoris, about 30-45 minute motoconcho ride to the beach and about a two hour bus ride to the capital city, Santo Domingo. We are also close to La Romana, probably 45-minute bus ride, and La Romana, hosts an international airport for those of you wanting to come and visit us in the coming two years!
As always, In love and the spirit of sharing.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Tanques
Tanques = Tanks
Tanques are the water tanks that are found on the roof of many homes here in the Dominican Republic. They're water storage containers that will give us the appearance and we slightly feel like we have running water when the tanques are full. The water comes to our home here in Constanza every other day. Our host mom makes sure the water is pumped up to the roof and the tanque is filled when the water arrives early in the morning. In the morning, the neighbors call her to the back door to share her water. I think she lives in one of the few houses in the area which receives running water. She is obligated to share the water with her neighbors.
The tanques themselves seem to be like 500 to 1000 gallons plus. (Not real sure about this). Phoebe and I try to fill our 25 gallon trash can at the same time the water comes...then we have water to bathe and flush the toilet until the water comes again. We flush the toilet by dumping about a half gallon of water into the toilet. We didn't know this was even possible until we came here. I bet you could try it back in the states if you want to save water! Occasionally we have the opportunity to use the shower head, but only when the tanque is filled with water and taking a "real" shower is usually very cold. The optional cold shower is a great way to get the blood flowing. Thankfully, our host mom heats up a few gallons of water in the morning so we get to take some hot bucket baths.
As always, please post your comments here. This is an opportunity for us to engage with you while we are abroad. If you have questions, comments, are unclear about something, or just want to say hello; please post.
We had some friends receive care packages from home, which made us think that maybe some of y'all might want to do the same for us! We would love to receive goodies in the mail! Things like movies, books or music on dvd or zip drive, hard candies, chocolate, homemade baked goodies, crayons, markers, construction paper, books, i tunes gift cards, a handwritten note or other fun stuff that you would send to someone in college, or abroad, feel free! You can send items in the fed ex, ups, dhl, or large manilla padded envelopes and they'll be fine.
In love and the spirit of sharing, Danno.
Tanques are the water tanks that are found on the roof of many homes here in the Dominican Republic. They're water storage containers that will give us the appearance and we slightly feel like we have running water when the tanques are full. The water comes to our home here in Constanza every other day. Our host mom makes sure the water is pumped up to the roof and the tanque is filled when the water arrives early in the morning. In the morning, the neighbors call her to the back door to share her water. I think she lives in one of the few houses in the area which receives running water. She is obligated to share the water with her neighbors.
The tanques themselves seem to be like 500 to 1000 gallons plus. (Not real sure about this). Phoebe and I try to fill our 25 gallon trash can at the same time the water comes...then we have water to bathe and flush the toilet until the water comes again. We flush the toilet by dumping about a half gallon of water into the toilet. We didn't know this was even possible until we came here. I bet you could try it back in the states if you want to save water! Occasionally we have the opportunity to use the shower head, but only when the tanque is filled with water and taking a "real" shower is usually very cold. The optional cold shower is a great way to get the blood flowing. Thankfully, our host mom heats up a few gallons of water in the morning so we get to take some hot bucket baths.
As always, please post your comments here. This is an opportunity for us to engage with you while we are abroad. If you have questions, comments, are unclear about something, or just want to say hello; please post.
We had some friends receive care packages from home, which made us think that maybe some of y'all might want to do the same for us! We would love to receive goodies in the mail! Things like movies, books or music on dvd or zip drive, hard candies, chocolate, homemade baked goodies, crayons, markers, construction paper, books, i tunes gift cards, a handwritten note or other fun stuff that you would send to someone in college, or abroad, feel free! You can send items in the fed ex, ups, dhl, or large manilla padded envelopes and they'll be fine.
In love and the spirit of sharing, Danno.
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