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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ December 27, 2006 }
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas a little late! Christmas was ok here, relatively uneventful. Christmas Eve (here called La Noche Buena) they have a big dinner, which wasnt that much different than normal but it was good. Then we went to Mass at 11pm. On Christmas Day, people pretty much just visit with family and friends and eat leftovers from the night before. They didnt exchange gifts, I think partially because people dont have much money and buying different foods for Christmas is extra cost enough. I got my family small gifts, played some dominoes and hung out. That was pretty much my Christmas. I want to go home next year. It was really strange not being with my family. I dont care about presents, but I definitely missed the food.
Since I ended up staying in Santo Domingo for so long, I went to the Shakira concert the Tuesday night before I left with some friends that were already going because Joy had extra tickets. No folks, her hips dont lie. It was a very entertaining and fun concert and I had a great time after that crazy week.
Im going to Jarabacoa for New Years on Friday until the 2nd. Im definitely looking forward to it as an actual break and several other friends are going to come also. Today I had a meeting with Francis about what Im going to be working on while Im here such as looking for more outlets to sell the coffee and possible exporting. Thats what they want, and Ill work on that, but I also made it a point to explain that the Association needs to work on a lot of general office practices as well. One of the nice things about my job is that I get to do what I want, on my own schedule. Its also one of the difficult things. Im going to start setting deadlines and creating more goals (Ive done some, but not a lot) and I need to get cracking on my community diagnostic after New Years. I cant say Im looking forward to doing 100 awkward interviews but Im sure the information will be helpful.
Posted by katie at 03:15 PM | Permalink
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ December 19, 2006 }
I'm still in Santo Domingo...almost a week later
The Artesan Fair ended Sunday and I was supposed to go home yesterday but I will be going home tomorrow instead. Let me start at the beginning of the incredibly stressful week at the fair. As I said in my prior post, the coffee didn't come until late- about 3 or so on Thursday. All 440 pounds of it. The old secretary, Monica, came with it. We hauled it over to the table and started selling. The entire week at the fair, we only sold 101 bags. I got so much advice about how we could have done it better which, thank you very much, I knew already but didn't have time to do because I just got to my site and also because there was practically no support from my organization on the last minute planning. The last minute planning is typical here, but I definitely should have had more support. The fair was from 8am to 8pm Thursday through Sunday, and I was alone at the table at least half that time, if not more. At an Artesan Fair with Dominican products, why should an American be alone selling the products? Granted, most Dominicans have a LONG way to go as far as customer service is concerned, because they time they were actually there they didn't sell any coffee unless someone said 'I want to buy this coffee.' No chatting it up and talking about the Association unless the person directly asked. So 1) late coffee, 2) people besides me only there half the time. Let's continue. It was really hot the whole week, so not only was I by myself a lot, I was beat from the heat and sun. Saturday I had a Coffee Committee meeting at 4 and then Romeo (our Country Director) had a Christmas party starting at 5, both of which I really wanted to go to. Well, my project partner who came on Saturday around 10 had to leave at 3 and I was going to be alone because he had a 'committment.' Obviously, so did I and I, unlike him, had been there all week and was also going to be there all alone on Sunday but he is a micro manager who makes decisions and then that's how it is. So, he left. My PCVL (PCV Leader- they have one for each sector) was in charge of the fair and had to be there anyways so she watched my table for a few hours so I could go to the meeting and then I told her just to close it up around 6:30 because I needed a break and wasn't going to come back.
As I said, we only sold 101 bags the whole time. Honestly, without exaggeration, if I had been able to swing brewing the coffee there I believe we would have sold, at minimum, double that amount if not more. However, due to lack of time to plan and me just getting to my site and having a lot of other things to do and other people not helping plan for the fair, that didn't happen. This begs the question- how were we going to get all the other coffee back to the Juncalito since no one could come pick it up? I left 95 bags at the Peace Corps office to sell, but there were still a lot left. Well, Francis (my project partner), when he was at the fair had met a guy who had a tourist shop and wanted to buy some of our left over coffee to sell at the shop, but at a much cheaper price with very little profit margin so Francis said no. Francis then called him again on Sunday and got the price up a little bit, not enough to do if it were a regular thing, but to get rid of some of it so we wouldn't have to take it back, we sold 120 pounds to them. A representative from the store was supposed to come get it on Sunday. He comes and says I am supposed to bring it on Monday. As if I can carry around 120 pounds of coffee, and, that I'm going to bring it to where I'm staying and bring it back to the same area the next day? I don't think so. So after much confusion and phone calls, we get it to the store but then I had to come back the next day to pick up a check for the coffee because they couldn't give it to me there. More trouble, thanks much. Even with selling that coffee, there was still 120 pounds that needed to go back to Juncalito, which, again, they asked me if I could take it with me on the busses. I said no because I am not their employee and also that it was impossible for me to do that, and very unreasonable for them to ask. I didn't mention that last part, but I will be having a lengthy discussion with them shortly about what my role is at the Association. So they sent Juan to come get it, which I feel bad because he had to then take it on the bus and everything, but it really is not my job and it was too much for me to manage. He came and got it yesterday morning.
Yesterday I was running around trying to get a bunch of things done so that I would be able to leave on time to catch the bus in Santiago on time. I got on the bus to Santiago and half way there, I realized I forgot to get the check for the coffee money. Then when I got there I had to turn around and go right back to Santo Domingo, but I couldn't get the check yesterday because I got back too late, and wasted 400 pesos on that round trip. In my defense, I would have had to stay last night anyways because I wouldn't have had time to get the check and do all my other errands in time to catch the bus, although I wouldn't have had to stay tonight also. It took forever to get the check today and when we first went, the people who needed to sign for it weren't going to get there for another hour and a half or I would have actually made my bus today on time. All in all, it was stressful and I felt really unhappy with the lack of support from my organization. I talked to Joy, my 'supervisor,' yesterday about the whole situation so we could work out how I should approach talking to my Assocation. I've got a lot of work to do on that front.
Aside from all those issues, I really enjoyed the fair. The artesans were interesting to talk to and I got to see a lot of my friends, eat non campo food, and have a good time. Also, thanks mom and dad for the Christmas package! For others who have inquired, I am always up for some chocolate, I could use some more flash drives for all the pictures I've got and I need some good markers, which you can't find here. I don't really need anything, but since you keep asking. I'm not picky, if you send me a card with a paper clip in it I would be happy because it's from you.
Posted by katie at 12:54 PM | Permalink
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ December 14, 2006 }
I went to a casino.
Yes, that's right. Last night I went to a casino. While not my first time entering a casino, it was my first time spending money in one. Lara and I played 200 pesos (about $6- doesn't sound like a lot but it's a bit here) at the slots...it was ok but nothing spectacular. Some other friends of ours were playing Blackjack, and losing, but then I joined at the table and used some of their chips and won the money back for them to break about even, so they gave me 200 pesos and I ended up even. If there's a next time (no, this is not going to be a habit), I may do a little bit there. It was probably just beginners luck. Anyhow, it was a fun and new experience.
No, there's not a casino in my site. I'm in the capital for an Artesan Fair, which starts today, where I will be selling my Associations' coffee. In typical Dominican style, the coffee has not yet arrived even though the fair started at 8 this morning. It's alright though, it goes through Sunday so we'll still have plenty of time to sell it. Supposedly it will get here this afternoon. I got in yesterday and have been hanging out with other PCV's- it's so nice to speak English and get to see some friends! I haven't been in my site that long, but it feels as though I have because I'm in the stage of meeting people and getting comfortable.
I've been working the past week or so with our new secretary at the Association. She's also a neighbor of mine and is really sweet. We've been organizing the very poorly organized office and have started to make the accounting daily instead of monthly. The former secretary (who is still with the Assoc., just in a different area) is nice, but when there weren't people in the office she didn't do a lot. I saw this as a good opportunity to get to work with Fior (new secretary) and establish how we can work together and also that she will be working even when there aren't people in the office.
I put up my pictures from CBT in Jarabacoa and have also labeled all my pictures from then and Santo Domingo, so you can have an idea of who some people are. http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k145/kdjoy3/CBT/
Posted by katie at 10:37 AM | Permalink
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ December 02, 2006 }
Katie, who?
I know I havent given an update in a while...the last week in Santo Domingo was really busy. I did have a Thanksgiving dinner, although not as good as at home, it was nice. All the PCV´s get together at a country club and have dinner together and a whole day of games, sports, contests, etc. The whole week was packed though- I swore in (Im official now!) the day before Thankgiving, we had a settling-in conference (about $, rules, etc.) the day before, Thurs. was Thanksgiving and then Friday was the All-Volunteer Conference. I was soaking up my time to be around other Americans...I already miss a bunch of the other volunteers.
Saturday Adeline and I went back to Jarabacoa before heading to our sites. It was a lot of fun and we are going to go back for New Years. I will admit that we had a little trouble getting on our way- we intended to leave Sunday but that didnt work out because of some bus issues and really, a friend of ours making us late. Then we left on the 7 am bus on Monday and missed where we were supposed to change busses because we were asleep and no one else got off, nor did they make an announcement about stopping.
Regardless, Im back in my site now and, guess what? ITS COLD! I kid you not, I am in the Caribbean and I am cold. It is colder than South Carolina (not that that is saying very much), but still. Yes, it is because I live in the mountains, but really, I think I need to buy another coat because all I brought was a little sweat shirt and a rain jacket. In my quest to take out about 10 lbs of my suitcase before leaving, I took out my beloved hoodie and now am sorely missing it. Enough complaining about that- it is beautiful here. Id rather live in the mountains and visit the beach so its good for me. Ill be here for Christmas- first time away from home. Its sad but it will be interesting to see how their Christmas traditions differ from ours. Ill take lots of pictures even though it may be Easter before they are up for you all to see.
For all the inquiries, although Im in a different place, use the same address. Mail is very unreliable here and though I wont get mail often there (only when I go to Santo Domingo), its pretty much my only option. Also, if you want to call me, I have a cell phone now! Signal is not perfect but I do get reception in my site and Im on the Cingular network (called Orange here). Here it is- 829 770 0200. Call me! It would probably make my day. While we are on communications, my email responses will probably take longer since the internet cafe here only has one computer and its really slow. This also means I will only be putting up pictures when Im out of my site. The government is putting in Technology Centers in every municipality and one is here but its not done yet and I dont know when it will be done. I may be able to communicate more often once thats up and running.
Work is slow going right now- Ill try and put more about that later, but the first three months Im supposed to do a Community Diagnostic. This means Im supposed to get to know people, observe and analyze what the community needs. It also involves me interviewing a random sample of about 100 houses. I could write a ton more, and I feel like Ive left out a lot of details but my time is up. I miss you all and Im sorry I cant really send Christmas presents. Imagine that I sent everyone really amazing gifts and that you are going to enjoy them for a long time.
Posted by katie at 04:38 PM | Permalink
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