Pigs

Ok, I had no intention to post, but here I am at a computer- using the internet in the DR - and trying to load photos. This is not an easy task.

Anyway, I am good. 4 months here...life in the campo is going well. I´m learning to relax and take things as they come, which I´ve never done before. I´ve always worked with goals and tasks somewhat in the near future. Here I do whatever comes, whatever the community needs. There is planning of course, if you can call it that, because it never turns out the exact way you planned or expected, which I´m learning isn´t so bad after all. Versatily and all that jazz. The unknown. That´s my life.

I´m looking forward to projects, projects I never saw myself doing like latrines and working with the school. I have a found love of pigs. I LOVE them. They are adorable, they remind me of Tallulah. I want one for my house. Which reminds me...did I tell you guys they´re building me a house? Yup. I am beyond excited because, no matter how much I like my host family - a girl needs her space, and pancakes in the morning. Not yucca and fried cheese.

Also, a HUGE thank you to mom and Jeff for my christmas present!!! I miss everyone and am waiting to hear from you guys about your visits. Yup your visits...make it happen!

3 months!

Update:

• Tropical Storm Noel - I'm alive, it was horrible, my floor was full of water and my latrine flooded, the water group had to be evacuated by helicopter (I'm so J)
• I fell in love with my host family at CBT..Nina and Welman. ....Nina stepped on a nail and had to get stitches, that's the background of the story. Anyway, Kim and I were doing the usual, sitting with the family in plastic chairs listening to Es tan difficil, pretending to know spanish and them pretending like they know what we're saying-looking at each other---when a cockoroach runs by, well Nina gets all excited, not scared excited but happy excited and had Welman catch the cockaroach and then he preceeded to put it into a plastic baggy full of other cockaroaches--- turns out after much confusionon my part as to why she's collecting and buscando for cockaroaches- turns out that she uses their guts as a home remedy to extract the tetanus from her wound, so there ya go.
• I graduated Peace Corps training and am now an official volunteer!
• I love the kids in my site- so much so that I actually played soccer with them- and then I fell and bruised my knee- but I redeemed myself by teaching the boys cheerleading and yoga, and they actually really love it.
• My site- In the hills of the northwest, yup I live in the hills, although I can pretty much say that it's nothing like the hills of hollywood- unless rollers and hairnets are in fashion now and I missed it. But the lastest gossip is that the price of cheese has increased, which has pretty much resulted on screaming matched in the street and chairs thrown...yes actual chairs thrown. I guess people like their cheese even more than I like cheese, and I like cheese.
• And the hills are not alive with the sound of music, but full of the sound of cows, and the people in the site think I am weird that I don't eat them..or pork or goat. And they just think I'm weird in general because I told them I slept with my dogs back home and every time I see a puppy I have to play with it..also because I've taken up running, for exercise but mostly so I don't have to take a cold bucket bath.
• My Dona looks for guys under my bed every night.
• Tropical Storm Olga occurred, and all volunteers had to be consolidated to a hotel.
• I'm learning to live without Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and malls...and at first I thought..."How sad, I'm losing a part of myself" things that would literally make me happy and get me through the day. But then I thought of what I do besides drink coffee and shop that makes me happy and gets me through the day- and I thought of playing dominoes with the muchachos, helping Caco learn to read, or dancing with lil' Robinson, and maybe living without a latte or appletini isn't that bad, and what really counts is the time I spend with these kids and the people I'm fortunute to know and that finally I don't think of this as "getting through the day" but as things I look forward to. I feel like I'm letting go of so much but gaining something completely different. (ok I promise that is the last sappy thing I am saying for now except I miss you guys like whoa!)

Oh and please send me stuff...especially for my kids, like markers, coloring books, Uno, a kite, anything really.

Tired but leaving tomorrow and won´t be on internet for a while

It´s been a while... I´m tired but need to write because I´m leaving to my site tomorrow and will not have access to a computer for a while...just an fyi.



1. The phone number I had is no longer...my host mom in Santo Domingo dropped my phone in her hot chocolate...but I have a new one but can of course not access my voicemails since I do not have the pin code. awesome.



2. I´ve been to my site, leaving to live there tomorrow. It´s nice, lots of cows and cheese. No toilet, bucket baths, but the kids are great there.



3. I want to write more but I´m tired so you´re going to have to call me, which reminds me, my phone charger from my US phone died so I have no one´s number, please send them to me. Gracias!!!

x x x

Pictures of my Site

Site Placement

Ok so here is my ¨tentative¨ site placement...well the region anyway because I can´t say the exact site for security reasons, but it looks like I´ll be in the northwest of the country, which is closer to the Haitan border. They showed us our placments on the map before we were assigned a site...and there was one site that we called the ¨dot¨ because it was pretty far away from other volunteers...and it´s me! I´ll be in a small campo and I´m pretty excited that I will be be closer to Haiti. I´m hoping to have a donkey, but we´ll see.

For ALL of you (and I´m hoping ALL of you) who visit, the nearest airport is Santiago.

Update

So I safely arrived, it´s been a month, and I´ve already:

-had gripe (Dominican word for the flu/cold)
-met some cool people
-watched The Office and Will and Grace in English (Emily´s casa is the best!)
-sweated more than I ever had in my whole life (great, I can cross that off my list of things to do)
-taken numerous bucket-baths by candlelight (very romantic all by myself)
-packed myself into the back of a pick-up truck with chickens - where I was hit on the head by a bag of Cheetos (or the Dominican equivalent) then one of the chickens decided to lay an egg right by my feet
-have seen traffic stop for cows and goats
-been accidentally fed salami
-used/using a latrina, which is quite treacherous at 4 in the morning, I have a war with the cockroaches and giant spiders in there every night...so far me and my flashlight have won
-been to the beach!
-drank a jumbo presidente...yup no more cocktails for me, apparently at the local colmado (decorated with the latest and greatest plastic chairs) they do not serve appletini´s
-lived/living with 2 really great host families, my host family now has family in Boston whom I´ve talked on the phone with
-learned bachata and merengue
-have done some really impressive work with my mosquito net (patched wholes with elastic and have hung it from some really strange places)
-had chickens in my house..just chilling
-had a 40 minute motoconcho ride through mountains, sheep, goats, horses, cows and pigs, it was actually pretty awesome

I´m working on:
-not looking like I have leprosy from my numerous mosquito bites
-not looking like an idiot when I speak spanish, which I feel may be awhile
-planning a trip to climb Pico Duarte
-loving rice and beans every day

That´s about it, I have to attend a meeting tonight..and the next night and the night, because my Doña tells me I have to (....and I want to of course)

I miss everyone, I´m already looking forward to my hot shower in March when I see Jessica´s baby, although I kind of prefer bucket baths now, they are quite efficient.

xoxoxox
Yennifer (apparently my new name)

Quick note

Hey everyone!

Just a quick note...I made it. I can´t believe it´s been a month!! Things are going really well. My spanish is improving...slowly, but improving non-the-less. I miss everyone a ton! I´m near the south for four more weeks, learning spanish and having technical training then back to the capitol and on to my site for 2 years. Every day of the week is really busy, like today...so next time I promise to give a more descript update.

x x x x