Today we had a discussion in training about how, statistically speaking, Peace Corps is 2.6 percent of my life. And when I get back to the states, I still have 69.7 percent of my life to live. I haven´t decided if 2.6% is a long time. Compared to 69.7, I guess not.
Life is moving as I know it. Last weekend I visited another IT volunteer, who has been serving for just about a year. She lives in a puebla of about 30,000 people called Cutupu. It´s north of Santo Domingo, outside of a bigger city called La Vega. It was a very eye opening experience, because I was able to first hand see how volunteers live and work in this country. Renata, the volunteer I visited, lives around the corner from a school where she works in the computer lab and teaches English three times a week. She has this awesome three bedroom house all to herself. Now when I say awesome, I mean it´s a big house and it´s all to herself. We didn´t have running water the entire weekend and the power was off most of the day and into the night a couple of nights as well.
But overall, the whole experience made me very, very excited to get to my site in May, and even more excited for August when I will have my own place. Basically, I´m excited to offically start my life in the DR.
This Thursday, my group is broken up into two separate groups: the IT volunteers and the Environment volunteers. Us IT volunteers will be going to El Seibo, which is the east part of the country, for 5 weeks to have technical training. I´m not quite sure what to expect, but spending 5 weeks away from Santo Domingo is quite appealing to me at this point.
The DR has had its ups and downs for me. I feel homesick for Reno, for friends, for comforts of the first world like showers and 24 hour electricity. But when I feel like that, my host family here in Santo Domingo will do something that makes me feel welcome and like I can do this for two years.
For example: my host family is stoked on Tacos. Which only proves what I have known most of my adult life, that Mexican food is the most popular cuisine on the planet. Anyway, before I left to visit Renata, I showed them how to make Tacos, college style. What I mean, is some ground beef, the ¨Santa Fe¨ taco mix you buy at grocery stores and just add water to, to season the beef. Some tomatos and hot sauce. They loved it, and they might have been some of the most unexciting tacos I´ve ever eaten.
The night I got home from my visit, Sunday, Tacos were on the menu again. But this time, my Doña, the head woman of the house, had seasoned the beef with garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. They had the tortillas frying up in some oil on the stove. Fresh cut tomatos and lettuce, and of course hot sauce.
Four days later, these were some of the best tacos i´ve had in the last year.
It just proved to me once more how welcoming the people here are. They are open to me and my past experiences, and they want to take what I taught them and make it their own. I know it´s only tacos, but hey, it´s also a great metaphore for life.
I know not everyday will be easy. But I have to remember, when I do feel homesick and would rather be back in the comfortable living of the US, where I have family and friends... sometimes it just takes tacos to bring people from around the world together.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
My first week in the DR
Tomorrow will offically be one week in the DR. Which means, I have spent seven days understanding about 15 percent of everything around me. It also means I have to take my second dosage of malaria pills, and I will also wash my hair for only the second time.
The DR is everything and nothing I expected. Santo Domingo is crazy. I am already over it. I am ready to go into the interior of the country, where we will spend our two years and work. My host family lives right off the "autopista durate," which is seriously like living off I-395, but much worse. The city is full of trash. Im amazed, mostly at peoples´ complete indifference to trash. People just throw it wherever they want, all over the roads, in gutters, in the middle of sidewalks. It´s disgusting.
My host family here is amazing. Family in the DR is highly regarded and everyone lives near, or with, their moms, aunts, cousins, uncles, grandparents. In my house I live with my mami and papi, their two daugthers (one has never married and I think the other is divorced) and a granddaughter. I honestly havent quite figured out if the granddaughter, Stephanie (now theres a name I can pronounce) is the daughter to either of my Mami´s daughters. Not knowing who belongs with who, or who actually lives with who is very common here and not something that is really discussed.
There is no running water at my house. I take that back, there is running water only on Tuesdays. And Im not sure if that is every Tuesday. Maybe one Tuesday a month or every other? No se. In the shower, there is a big trash can filled with water and a small bucket (basically a liter bottle with a handle). At night, I shower by scooping up water and using as little as possible (hence my reason for only having washed my hair once so far).
The only potable water has to be brought into all the barrios (neighborhoods) and are in those big blue containers that are in most offices in the US. Puts a whole new meaning to "standing around the water cooler."
Despite all this, my house is very clean. I learned last Sunday that we clean the house, disinfect and mop floors and all that jazz every Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday... last week I went to church with my family. It was pretty incredible, even though I understood maybe every 10th word. It was in a cement building, maybe 1000 square feet, with pieces of corregated steel patched together for the roof. The floor was dirt, the chairs were old lawn chairs that had most likely been donated by the parishoners. Despite this, the people were happy and singing, and it was incredible. At one point in the service, everyone hugs each other and literally I think EVERY SINGLE person in the church came up and hugged me. And I think every person in the church hugged each other.
I think that says the most about this people. I stand out like a sore thumb everywhere I go, especially in my barrio. A light haired gringa. And yet, they are very welcoming. And so patient with me and my horrible Spanish.
Another thing that struck me at church was a 3 year old boy. On Sunday I decided that the people here learn to be street smart at a very, very young age. There is no other choice. The boy´s shoe fell off and instead of running around without his shoes, he picked it up and brought it to his mom (who was maybe 16 by the way) and lifted his foot up for her to put it back on. This 3 year old boy already knows that walking around streets and buildings with dirt floors, no pavement, glass and trash everywhere is NOT a good idea.
It made me think about kids in the US. Myself in the US. How even clean streets are not something we think twice about.
A few more highlights: Spanish is going well. We have training everyday, with at least 3 hours of language class everyday. Its awesome. Im not going to lie, despite having to shower out of a bucket, I feel so lucky to be here. The training we are receiving is incredible. Soon, hopefully very very very very very very soon, I will be speaking converstational Spanish. I will be trained in computers, will mostly likely teach students and kis how to use computers in Education. It´s really just an incredible opportunity.
Anyway... there is so much more to say, but dinner is on "la mesa."
The DR is everything and nothing I expected. Santo Domingo is crazy. I am already over it. I am ready to go into the interior of the country, where we will spend our two years and work. My host family lives right off the "autopista durate," which is seriously like living off I-395, but much worse. The city is full of trash. Im amazed, mostly at peoples´ complete indifference to trash. People just throw it wherever they want, all over the roads, in gutters, in the middle of sidewalks. It´s disgusting.
My host family here is amazing. Family in the DR is highly regarded and everyone lives near, or with, their moms, aunts, cousins, uncles, grandparents. In my house I live with my mami and papi, their two daugthers (one has never married and I think the other is divorced) and a granddaughter. I honestly havent quite figured out if the granddaughter, Stephanie (now theres a name I can pronounce) is the daughter to either of my Mami´s daughters. Not knowing who belongs with who, or who actually lives with who is very common here and not something that is really discussed.
There is no running water at my house. I take that back, there is running water only on Tuesdays. And Im not sure if that is every Tuesday. Maybe one Tuesday a month or every other? No se. In the shower, there is a big trash can filled with water and a small bucket (basically a liter bottle with a handle). At night, I shower by scooping up water and using as little as possible (hence my reason for only having washed my hair once so far).
The only potable water has to be brought into all the barrios (neighborhoods) and are in those big blue containers that are in most offices in the US. Puts a whole new meaning to "standing around the water cooler."
Despite all this, my house is very clean. I learned last Sunday that we clean the house, disinfect and mop floors and all that jazz every Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday... last week I went to church with my family. It was pretty incredible, even though I understood maybe every 10th word. It was in a cement building, maybe 1000 square feet, with pieces of corregated steel patched together for the roof. The floor was dirt, the chairs were old lawn chairs that had most likely been donated by the parishoners. Despite this, the people were happy and singing, and it was incredible. At one point in the service, everyone hugs each other and literally I think EVERY SINGLE person in the church came up and hugged me. And I think every person in the church hugged each other.
I think that says the most about this people. I stand out like a sore thumb everywhere I go, especially in my barrio. A light haired gringa. And yet, they are very welcoming. And so patient with me and my horrible Spanish.
Another thing that struck me at church was a 3 year old boy. On Sunday I decided that the people here learn to be street smart at a very, very young age. There is no other choice. The boy´s shoe fell off and instead of running around without his shoes, he picked it up and brought it to his mom (who was maybe 16 by the way) and lifted his foot up for her to put it back on. This 3 year old boy already knows that walking around streets and buildings with dirt floors, no pavement, glass and trash everywhere is NOT a good idea.
It made me think about kids in the US. Myself in the US. How even clean streets are not something we think twice about.
A few more highlights: Spanish is going well. We have training everyday, with at least 3 hours of language class everyday. Its awesome. Im not going to lie, despite having to shower out of a bucket, I feel so lucky to be here. The training we are receiving is incredible. Soon, hopefully very very very very very very soon, I will be speaking converstational Spanish. I will be trained in computers, will mostly likely teach students and kis how to use computers in Education. It´s really just an incredible opportunity.
Anyway... there is so much more to say, but dinner is on "la mesa."
Friday, January 2, 2009
happy new year!
2009 will prove its worth in events. In both unexpected and expected, planned events. It should be a year of memories. The good kind: filled with adventure and optimism.
My friends are amazing people. I am continuously reminded of that. They are smart, fun, caring, hilarious, inventive, inspiring and generally lovely people. What awes me the most is their diversity. Each one offers something another doesn't, and each of my friends will prove to make this world a better place by being true to themselves, those around them and the universe. They already do by going out in the world and trying at something no matter what it is.
To try is one of the greatest lessons we can learn and practice. Everyday of my life I will try at something. Whether I succeed beyond my wildest dreams or fail miserably, I refuse to sit around and wait.
I believe in the universe. I believe this world is a circle and what you put into it, you will receive in other ways as the circle completes itself. The universe will take care of you if you take care of it.
It's so much more than global warming. For me, it's understanding what this world consists of is miraculous. We as humans are apart of the divinity. Even though we can be destructive, self-absorbed and arrogant, we can conquer these faults by embracing them, owning them and finally mastering them. We have the responsibility to take care of each other, no matter what part of the planet we come from.
This is my goal in 2009. In the circle that makes up the universe, I will put help and hope and the positive energy to make them both successful. I have no idea how the circle will complete itself because of my actions, and I do not intend to wait in vain. I do know, however, I must try to do as much as I can to give back to the universe all the wonder it has given me in my short 23 years.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
So much of my existence is consumed in being an American. When I travel, I don't feel so much as an American but more of a human. A human who shares things with other humans, no matter where they reside on the earth, even if it's only breathing, eating and sleeping. We are all the same species and we are all here to do basically one thing: to live. To survive in our surroundings.
As an American, I am blessed because surviving can be summed up in the avoidance of 5:00 traffic. Think about the people who cannot leave their homes, who have no homes for that matter. Surviving and living are two very different things in those circumstances. And this is 2/3 of the world. 2/3 of the world is not as lucky as me or my many American neighbors. 2/3 of the world lives in extreme poverty without food, shelter, peace. 2/3 of the world has no concept of the life I lead, or that a life like mine is even real.
The Internet and television has changed this in countries with communism. We have learned this from the iron curtain, from history in general. People living on one side see how others live on the other side and want that same life, or at least the chance at it.
In a way, we really are just animals. Animal Farm style. Survive anyway you can. No matter what it takes.
As an American, I am blessed because surviving can be summed up in the avoidance of 5:00 traffic. Think about the people who cannot leave their homes, who have no homes for that matter. Surviving and living are two very different things in those circumstances. And this is 2/3 of the world. 2/3 of the world is not as lucky as me or my many American neighbors. 2/3 of the world lives in extreme poverty without food, shelter, peace. 2/3 of the world has no concept of the life I lead, or that a life like mine is even real.
The Internet and television has changed this in countries with communism. We have learned this from the iron curtain, from history in general. People living on one side see how others live on the other side and want that same life, or at least the chance at it.
In a way, we really are just animals. Animal Farm style. Survive anyway you can. No matter what it takes.
Evolution
When we finally die, and if there really is a heaven, I hope before you pass through the pearly gates a "passing on packet/manual" is handed-out to all newcomers with an explanation of how the universe was really created.
And no one could argue. Because it would be signed with God's signature, or lightening bolt, or moon rock from a moon orbiting Jupitor or whatever.
I'm curious. Real curious. Maybe more so than anything else in my life.
And no one could argue. Because it would be signed with God's signature, or lightening bolt, or moon rock from a moon orbiting Jupitor or whatever.
I'm curious. Real curious. Maybe more so than anything else in my life.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
"Two tall skinny men from Illinois have made a difference in American history: Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama."
Barack H. Obama- President Elect.
Barack H. Obama- the 44th President of the United States of America.
This is our victory. The people of America's victory.
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