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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ January 28, 2007 }
Hanging out in Santiago
Yesterday was my mini-vac meeting at the 27 charcos...it was awesome! It was a 3 and a half hour hike in total, first hiking up the trail, including up through some of the smaller waterfalls, and then going back down, jumping off of some waterfalls and silding down others. It is something that would probably not be allowed, at leasst in parts, in the states for safety reasons, but I am looking forward to doing it again at some point. The biggest jump that everyone did is about 20 feet, a little less than the big rock we jumped off when we went rafting during CBT. There is one jump that is higher than that, but it is a little more dangerous so I'm saving that for the next time I go. Don't worry mom- they make you wear a helmet.
The Dominican baseball final series just ended on Friday- my team, Las Aguilas (the eagles), won. Miguel Tejada, who plays for the Orioles, also plays for Las Aguilas. I didn't sleep much Friday night because everyone was celebrating. You can see all the way to Santiago (the 2nd biggest city in the DR and home of Las Aguilas, where the game was held at) from Juncalito and we saw the fireworks after they won. They were tiny all the way up in Juncalito but it was cool to see them.
We didn't finish at the falls until about 6 or so, so last night a few other volunteers and I stayed in Santiago. I am staying again tonight because my host family is coming tomorrow to do something with all of the family on the dad's side that lives here and I'm going to meet up with them. There is a house here called the Hub that is owned by some Americans and PCVs and other expats can come and stay for cheap. It's really nice and they have a dvd player, a bunch of books and a really nice kitchen. Feels like home! Adeline (another volunteer who is a good friend of mine) came today to meet up with me and hang out since I didn't have anything going on today. I really like my site but it's nice to get out for a little bit and be with other Americans. Even though people mostly don't bother me when I am in my room, there isn't really anywhere I can go to be alone or just get away so I appreciate when I get out of the site for a bit.
Every week it seems I discover that the organization in the office is worse than I had thought. I discovered that there was really not any accounting done for the office. It is also impossible to do it correctly because there are receipts missing so it won't balance. We are making sure we have the necessary information from here on out but it's going to be challenging trying to get it up to snuff, especially considering I don't really care for accounting, but this is obviously a huge thing they need help with. In February we are going to do an official coffee tasting with some of our socios and an organization called IDIAF, which helps with agriculturalists in the country. Socios will have to bring samples of their coffee and we will sample it and pick out the characteristics of the coffee. I went to one during training but I am looking forward to doing one with the coffee from my region.
I'm going to try and throw in a few cultural notes for you all here and there. Here's one for today: they can sell alcohol pretty much anywhere here, and take it anywhere too. It is sold in most fast food restaurants and other unlikely places. It is not illegal (or if it is, it is not enforced) to drink and drive or to drink in public and have open containers.
Posted by katie at 03:22 PM | Permalink
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ January 15, 2007 }
Happy New Year!
Better late than never. I had a great time in Jarabacoa. I has been fairly rainy and cold lately, so on Saturday I finally broke down, went to Santiago, and bought a coat. I went to about 30 stores and found 1 coat. Not one type of coat,but literally, one coat. One heavy coat...there were plenty of jean jackets, but nothing but this one for actual cold weather. It would not have exactly been my first choice if there had been options, but it is definitely preferable over being cold every morning, night, and whenever it rains.
Check out this site: www.27charcos.com and you can see where Im going in 2 weeks for a meeting. We have regional safety meetings a few times a year at different peoples sites in our region, so Im lucky that this just happens to be where my meeting is and we can jump off of waterfalls after. Tough break, huh?
Shortly after that, I will be heading back to Santo Domingo for a few days because in February marks the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. All the PCVs that have ever served here are invited, but right now, they expect about 150-200 to come and there are going to be several events, although Im not sure exactly what yet. There will be a mini-artesan fair so I will be selling coffee again, but it will not be the headache of last time, as there is only one table for all of us in coffee, so I will be working with other volunteers instead of my project partner. Im looking forward to it and it will be interesting to meet some of the volunteers who have served here in the past.
Right now, besides my diagnostic, Fior (the secretary at the Association) and I are working on some office problems, namely updating all the loan amounts to the growers of the associations. As there isnt usually electricity to use the computer, we have to maintain manual accounts as well, but the former secretary did not keep up with them so we have got ourselves a big headache trying to work out how much each socio owes. This is something she could do by herself, but its peak season for coffee and this is a headache on top of the regular work of the office. I think we will finish up soon, but I can safely say there wont be a lack of projects for me here during the next 2 years.
Posted by katie at 02:53 PM | Permalink
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