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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ June 28, 2007 }
English class
I have been giving English classes since Patronales finished, starting on June 14th. I have two different classes- one with children from 8 to 14 years old that is 1 hour long 2 times a week and the other class is with adults for 2 hour twice a week. I'm not a teacher by profession nor do I particularly want to be but there have been many requests for classes so I said I would give it a try and that we would have pilot classes for 6 weeks to see how they go and if it goes ok, I may continue but am not obliged to. I wanted to try it out but not commit myself for the next year and a half to something that isn't quite my cup of tea. The first class with the kids was challenging. It has gotten a lot better but from how I feel now, I doubt I will continue with the kids' class. The adults class is going really well and has been pretty fun, so I will probably extend that one but won't decide for certain until closer to the end.
After Patronales ended, I started feeling somewhat homesick. It has mostly passed, but it has been 10 months since I have been home and I really miss all my friends, family and my church. I'm fortunate that I have had a few visitors and that more are coming, but I will be very happy to go home for Christmas. We have been allowed to go back for a while now and many volunteers have, but since I have had visitors, Christmas will be my first visit to the states, so by then it will have been more than a year in the DR! It's incredible that I have been here almost a year already...time has truly flown by as I knew it would, but when I think of my life this time last year it is hard to imagine. I definitely feel at home in Juncalito and whenever I go somewhere else within the country, whether it be for business or pleasure, I am always ready to be back when I am done (if not sooner).
A few weekends ago I went to Puerto Plata, which is on the North Coast, to talk to another volunteers' Dominican friend about a tourist shop he is interested in opening up. I'm not sure that it is going to work out, but it was interesting to see her site. She (Stephanie) is a youth volunteer and works with preschoolers in a very poor neighborhood. We went to her site (it is a bus ride away from her house because the neighborhood is dangerous at night and she can't live there) and it was the poorest part of the country I have seen so far and quite an eye opening experience. All the houses are very close together and there is sewage in the street, among other problems. The community is actually called Aguas Negras (Black Waters) because of the sewage problem. There are some fairly poor communities near mine, but the difference between poverty in the country and the city is a great one. In the city there are so many more negative alternatives readily available whereas, although it is difficult in the country, there is more of a sense of community and you also don't see the income disparity that there is in the city.
Earlier this week I went to the capital (where I am again) to attend a course on Cafelio for the association, which is a computer program specifically for coffee groups that has one aspect dealing with loan control, others for receipts, etc. It was a 2 day course with 24 people and only 2 computers. I got a little bit out of it but not much, as it went very slow and many of the other people don't have good general knowledge of computers so we spent some time on that, but it was nice to meet some people from different parts of the country that also work in coffee. My association at one point had used this program some, but not correctly so we will have to delete and correct information that is already in it and almost start from scratch, which will be a lot of work but in the area of loans has the potential of helping a lot. The harvest has ended for the year and won't start back up until October so the summer is a particularly good time for us to work on administrative issues and hopefully get our loan information, which is finally up to date for the most part, computerized. One step at a time. I also got Quick Books for us; several copies were donated by the mom of one of the other volunteers so I claimed one. Since I got back to site Wednesday and then had to come right back here yesterday, I haven't had much chance to look at it yet but between that and Cafelio, there shouldn't be a lack of work any time soon. However, we only have one computer and I have a feeling it may go a little slow. I 'could' just work on the programs myself but that isn't really the point in Peace Corps, so I will be working with the secretaries, making sure they know how to do it and working on it all together, which means it will be slower but better for the association long term.
I hadn't particularly planned on going to the Cafelio course...one of the secretaries was going to go but she had chicken pox and then the other one is pregnant, so they asked me. I am back here again because last night we had a goodbye party for 2 of our PCVLs (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) who are going back to the states soon and then today I am helping to give a baby shower for my friend who is pregnant.
Nico called me the other day using Skype (http://www.skype.com/intl/en/), which is a computer program that you use through the internet to make calls and she said it was free to call. Another PCV friend said a friend of hers used it and it wasn't, but she is on a different phone network than me. So, you should all download the program and try and call because it appears to be free on my network for some reason (not complaining!). The connection was pretty clear. I got another interesting phone call recently from a woman (Rosa) in NY who read my blog and has family in a community very close to mine. It was really neat to hear from her and hopefully when she comes in July and August I will be able to meet up with her.
I have been asked what there is to do here as far as vacation is concerned. Near my site...not much, although it does have some gorgeous views. Hiking through the mountains and going to the river are the 'vacation' options. In Jarabacoa, which is similar to my site only more touristy, there is the same plus horse riding, white water rafting and a few other 'adventure' type activities. There are plenty of beautiful beaches to keep anyone occupied for quite some time (I'm sure I won't be able to visit all of them while I'm here). Near the border in Dajabon there is a big Haitian market where they sell all kinds of clothes and goods for pretty cheap. I haven't been yet but when I go visit Adeline I want to go. Santo Domingo and a few other areas have historical points of interest. There is good scuba diving, snorkeling, kite boarding and other water sports in various parts of the country. I'm sure I am leaving some things out, but those are the highlights, apart from the every day fun of dominoes, merengue and bachata.
Posted by katie on June 28, 2007 08:38 PM | Permalink
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Comments so far:
Hey sis,
Glad to hear you're doing OK. Busy as usual here in DC and not much new to report. I'm headed over to the Eley's for the 4th of July as Kevin will be back in town, Kurt is suppose to be getting back from Iraq this weekend too. Also, Fred Thompson picked up our office to work for him so doing a lot of stuff for that now that's very interesting. Anyway, I'm at work now and have to get back to it so have fun with our English classes and I'll try to post a comment again soon.
hasta luego,
Brian
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Posted by:
Brian |
June 29, 2007 12:42 PM
hang in there, Katie. we'll be visiting soon! i can't wait to see you. take care.
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Posted by:
justin |
July 2, 2007 08:47 PM
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