Rainy season is just starting. The past three days have seen heavy afternoon showers so I will be taking my umbrella around with me everywhere. Last year it rained nearly every day in May so this year I am prepared. When Im in my house I love hearing the rain pound the tin roof. It completely drowns out any other noise and gives a great feeling of solitude. Also, now that some very generous people (my parents) donated a laptop to the association I will actually be able to get work done during rainy season if I am stuck at my house and cant go anywhere.

The Association is still heavy into the harvest and we have been very busy getting coffee prepared for our exporting contracts. The first shipping container is supposed to go out by the end of this month and the second in May. It has been hard getting all of the coffee dried because of the rain starting up but we are getting there. There is so much involved in the process of exporting and we are working hard and crossing our fingers that there are no major problems. So far just the rain, but our drying tunnels have plastic over them to prevent the coffee from getting wet. Obviously it wont dry as fast in the rain as it does in the sun but at least the workers dont have to run out and cover up the coffee every time it looks like it will rain. The second Quality Coffee Competition is coming up as well so our farmers are getting their coffee ready for that. We got a filing cabinet donated also and I have been wanting to close the office for a day just to organize the immense amount of paper that is in our small office but it has been hard to arrange it because of all the farmers that come in during harvest time.

I was playing in a volleyball tournament. My team lost but I enjoyed playing a sport again as it had been quite a while since I had played one. They get really into it…Ive only ever played backyard volleyball after barbeques or at the beach so Im not that good but I was getting better. The tournament is still going on and some of us will probably get together and play some when it is over.

Mom and dad came to visit last week and it was a nice visit, although short. We came to Juncalito and they met Alberto (my boyfriend) which was interesting. We had a sancocho (Dominican stew) dinner with a bunch of friends of mine. It was fun but my throat was dry by the end of the night from all the translating as my friends dont speak English and my parents dont speak Spanish. Mom understands more than she lets on though; I am convinced. Everyone remarked on how young my parents are and enjoyed either meeting them for the first time or seeing them again, as it was a year since the last time they were here. After Juncalito we went to the beach in Cabarete and Sosua with Cat, another volunteer. When we went to the beach at Cabarete, we went into a bar for happy hour just in time as it poured buckets about 10 minutes after we sat down. Fortunately we had cards, dominoes and free refill beer for happy hour. What more can you ask for on vacation? We also went to the Centro Leon, which is a museum in Santiago. There was a really well put together exhibit about baseball in the Dominican Republic that had the history of the sport in the country, how to play, information about Dominican street baseball and also about all of the players that have gone and played in the States.

Posted by katie at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had a great time on my trip to Saint Louis for Kim and Jake's wedding. Matt and Maura came out from Boston so I spent most of the time trucking around town with them, getting together last minute wedding details and observing all of the 'interesting' statues that we seemed to run across, and I'm not talking about the arch, although we did visit that too. It hailed one of the days I was there so I got to experience some of the winter weather that I haven't really seen for a number of years. I finally got to meet Jake, who I had been hearing about for two years. He's a great guy and I am very excited for both of them. Congratulations you two. I will post pictures of the trip when I get the chance.

I got back to the DR on Monday but I haven't made it back to site yet due to lingering tooth issues. I had a dentist appointment yesterday and I couldn't get a follow up until tomorrow because today is Independence Day and everything is closed, so I am trying to catch up on some emails and research that I've been meaning to do. I can't wait to finally get back to Juncalito and to getting some work done. I got a filing cabinet donated and once it gets to Juncalito I want to have a big spurt of office organization. Other association projects I need to get a move on for are another accounting program (which I found out about thanks to another volunteer and is much better and more easily tailored according to business needs), follow up on grant proposals for our big infrastructure project, and creating marketing materials. I also really want to get another computer (preferably a laptop) for them because the one really isn't sufficient for all of the people that need to use it. My parents are coming to visit in April so if anyone reading this has or knows of someone who has a used but in decent condition laptop that they would consider donating to my association please leave me a comment or email me at kdevinedrv@gmail.com and we could coordinate getting it sent to my folks so that they could bring it down.

My English class will be starting up again after a two month break next Wednesday. It was going to start today but as I am stuck in the capital for dental reasons it has been postponed. Classes will be with the same students (+1 who already has some English experience) but will be once a week on Wednesdays and focused on comprehension and pronunciation. I tried to find some helpful materials at Borders in St. Louis for pronunciation which is the most challenging area for them but I didn't find anything that I really liked much. If anyone knows of some good materials, websites or anything for teaching specifically pronunciation I would love to hear from you. We have covered the majority of basic grammar points so, aside from some initial reviewing and covering whatever may come up that we haven't done yet, I want to more get them comfortable talking (talking so that they can be understood, that is). I have a lot of respect for teachers...I enjoy this class because it is all women and am grateful for the experience but thoroughly appreciate that teaching is not for everyone and requires much patience, something which I admit I lack.

I may have mentioned that in Juncalito there is a girls' home for girls that go to high school in town but live in farther out campos and have to walk hours each day to go to and from school. The home exists for them to stay there during the week instead because many students don't go to school due to these conditions. There are certain rules of the home as far as the amount of time they are allowed to spend outside of it for activities other than school. I am probably going to start a curriculum with them called 'I Choose My Life,' which includes lessons on self esteem, planning for the future, sex ed, HIV/AIDS and others. Part of the curriculum also encourages the facilitator to teach the youth how to give talks and subsequently share the information with the community. I am excited about this possibility as I miss working with youth and they are very important topics to cover that are certainly not covered in school here. There are also several regional and national conferences in the country which would be nice to go to. I'm also considering trying to do an income generation project with the group but we haven't started anything yet so that would be in the future.

Posted by katie at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I had a great time on my trip to Saint Louis for Kim and Jake's wedding. Matt and Maura came out from Boston so I spent most of the time trucking around town with them, getting together last minute wedding details and observing all of the 'interesting' statues that we seemed to run across, and I'm not talking about the arch, although we did visit that too. It hailed one of the days I was there so I got to experience some of the winter weather that I haven't really seen for a number of years. I finally got to meet Jake, who I had been hearing about for two years. He's a great guy and I am very excited for both of them. Congratulations you two. I will post pictures of the trip when I get the chance.

I got back to the DR on Monday but I haven't made it back to site yet due to lingering tooth issues. I had a dentist appointment yesterday and I couldn't get a follow up until tomorrow because today is Independence Day and everything is closed, so I am trying to catch up on some emails and research that I've been meaning to do. I can't wait to finally get back to Juncalito and to getting some work done. I got a filing cabinet donated and once it gets to Juncalito I want to have a big spurt of office organization. Other association projects I need to get a move on for are another accounting program (which I found out about thanks to another volunteer and is much better and more easily tailored according to business needs), follow up on grant proposals for our big infrastructure project, and creating marketing materials. I also really want to get another computer (preferably a laptop) for them because the one really isn't sufficient for all of the people that need to use it. My parents are coming to visit in April so if anyone reading this has or knows of someone who has a used but in decent condition laptop that they would consider donating to my association please leave me a comment or email me at kdevinedrv@gmail.com and we could coordinate getting it sent to my folks so that they could bring it down.

My English class will be starting up again after a two month break next Wednesday. It was going to start today but as I am stuck in the capital for dental reasons it has been postponed. Classes will be with the same students (+1 who already has some English experience) but will be once a week on Wednesdays and focused on comprehension and pronunciation. I tried to find some helpful materials at Borders in St. Louis for pronunciation which is the most challenging area for them but I didn't find anything that I really liked much. If anyone knows of some good materials, websites or anything for teaching specifically pronunciation I would love to hear from you. We have covered the majority of basic grammar points so, aside from some initial reviewing and covering whatever may come up that we haven't done yet, I want to more get them comfortable talking (talking so that they can be understood, that is). I have a lot of respect for teachers...I enjoy this class because it is all women and am grateful for the experience but thoroughly appreciate that teaching is not for everyone and requires much patience, something which I admit I lack.

I may have mentioned that in Juncalito there is a girls' home for girls that go to high school in town but live in farther out campos and have to walk hours each day to go to and from school. The home exists for them to stay there during the week instead because many students don't go to school due to these conditions. There are certain rules of the home as far as the amount of time they are allowed to spend outside of it for activities other than school. I am probably going to start a curriculum with them called 'I Choose My Life,' which includes lessons on self esteem, planning for the future, sex ed, HIV/AIDS and others. Part of the curriculum also encourages the facilitator to teach the youth how to give talks and subsequently share the information with the community. I am excited about this possibility as I miss working with youth and they are very important topics to cover that are certainly not covered in school here. There are also several regional and national conferences in the country which would be nice to go to. I'm also considering trying to do an income generation project with the group but we haven't started anything yet so that would be in the future.

Posted by katie at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Since I last wrote I've been through another tropical storm, to and from the US and we have started a new year. I'll start with before Christmas. My Association participated in the Artisan Fair in December again this year but it was much more successful and less stressful for me, mostly because I was working with other volunteers who were also selling coffee and cocoa so the support was much better. We sold a good bit of coffee and I enjoyed the fair overall. 2 days after the fair ended I was still in the capital working on some other things when we got the news that another tropical storm was coming in but this time the Peace Corps wanted to consolidate everyone in Santiago, Santo Domingo and another town in the south. This was just a few days before I was supposed to be going to the States for Christmas. At first I thought I was going to get stuck consolidated in the capital and was worried because my flight was out of Santiago and I thought I wouldn't make it back to my site before I left. I did end up getting to go to Santiago, where we were consolidated for 3 days, but I didn't make it back to Juncalito so I had to buy shoes in Santiago because all I had with me were sandals and I didn't have a lot of clothes packed, but at least I made my flight!

I had a really nice time over Christmas. Brian picked me up from the airport and I had a bit of culture shock going to a trendy wine bar for the first place that I ate at, but it was interesting. I got to see Bill, Ashley, Susan and Tom in Maryland which was great. I'm glad mom and dad moved from Texas so that I could visit some friends even though it was brief. The rest of the time I was in Virginia Beach with the folks- it was nice and (mostly) relaxing. I got one of the most useful gifts I've ever receive this year- a battery powered lantern for when the power goes out! Perhaps not so useful but entertaining was the Jack Sparrow action figure that 'Santa' gave me...

I made it back to the DR with no problems and had a fun new years here, dancing it in Dominican style until 5 or so in the morning. Since I was out of my site for a full 3 weeks, I spent the first week and a half back mostly catching up with people in my town and having lots of cafecitos as well as hearing about all the good Christmas parties that I missed. Their way of trying to make me feel guilty, that and 'what did you bring me?'

I was proud of my association for actually filling out a grant proposal that I had been mentioning for a while before I had left. I would not have necessarily chosen the same projects as priorities, but at least we have got the ball rolling on some more infrastructure for the future as the amount of coffee that we are buying from our members is growing rapidly, as well as interest from foreign buyers. Not so encouraging was the accounting situation (shocking, I know). They had entered the information in the spreadsheet while I was gone (great!) but not balanced it with the cash drawer and check book (not so great). I spent an entire day making a months' work of accounting balance. We are getting there, slowly but surely. If I leave nothing else done when I go, I hope they keep doing that. Laly, the secretary who was on maternity leave, is back, so I am working on teaching her how to do it. It's not hard but I think part of the problem is that they are slow on the computer and know that I can do it much quicker so they try and see if I'm going to do it for them. I must not break down! Still working on that patience and it's coming slowly but surely.

During IST (which was before the Artisan Fair) we got to go to a baseball game and that was a lot of fun. My team (Las Aguilas/The Eagles) won the game and they just won the Final Series. The Caribbean series is here this year in Santiago with Venezuela, Mexico and I don't remember who else. I might go to a game on Sunday. I'm in Santo Domingo for committee weekend, which I usually don't come to but because I'm now president of the Coffee Committee I considered it important that I come. Now I just need to figure out what we're going to discuss in the meeting.

The other day I went to one of our campos for a meeting with some socios and the roads were so bad that 2 trucks got damaged and we had to walk a while and ended up going the rest of the way on a motorcycle. It was quite a trip- it should have taken a little more than an hour but it took over 3! Good thing for once that the meetings here never start on time anyways, so we only missed a little. It was worth going though- I hadn't been to Cerro Prieto before and it was beautiful. It's about 1380 or so meters above sea level and you can see really far around from the top where we had the meeting. It was definitely chilly up there and when I went back the other day with Roque, our tecnico, it was cold enough to see your breath. I know that's not much for home but that's freezing by Domincan standards.

Posted by katie at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This guy from my area made a deal with the former administrator of the association about a farm that the association owned that he was going to run it and if there were a certain amount of profits he would get some benefits from it. That is what I (and my project partner and board of directors) have understood. No one is 100% on the details because the administrator no longer works for us and it was a verbal deal. Well, the farm ended up losing money. The guy, who was never actually an employee of the association, later claimed that we owed him money and that the deal was more of him as an employee, which is not true. Because he wanted to get money out of the association, he hired a lawyer. The sum of money really wasn't all that high, but he had no right to it, so the board of directors, mostly influenced by my project partner, ignored the first court date that was sent to us. The second one was sent over the summer while Francis, my project partner, was in the States and so no one went. Finally, a third order is sent for the end of October and they were going to go because it was getting drawn out. Several times other members of the board had tried to come to an accord with the guy and it didn't work out because he is greedy and just wants a lot of money for nothing. The day before the appointment, he and a member of the board supposedly reach an agreement on a sum of money just to get rid of the case and that they don't have to go to the court appointment the next day. The guy shows up anyway and mentions nothing about an agreement. 2 or so weeks later there is a warrant of arrest out for Francis, who is the president and therefore representative of the association, for evading the law by not going to the appointments. This is a Thursday and there is another appointment the following Tuesday. Sitting in jail for the weekend was not really in his plan so he waited over the weekend and then the whole board of directors went to the appointment on Tuesday and straightened out the warrant, however, the guy never showed up so they have another court date for December. Who said life in the campo is boring?

I had a fun Thanksgiving. Every year there is a big Peace Corps Thanksgiving event at a country club in Santo Domingo and while not quite the same as at home, the food is really good and it's nice to be with fellow volunteers. Friday we had the annual All Volunteer Conference and today through Wednesday I have my one year IST (in service training) with the other volunteers in my project sector who came in at the same time as me. Because of that (and that we have to be at the office at 8 this morning), I stayed in Santo Domingo all weekend. Otherwise I would have left Saturday morning to come back yesterday afternoon so it wasn't worth it to go home. Yesterday Cat, Laura and I went to the botanical gardents. It was really pretty and refreshing to go there because there are not many green spaces in Santo Domingo and we don't ususally get a chance to do tourist things when we're here because there is often so much going on and so little time. Laura, Cat and I stayed with an Embassy family and it was relaxing and fun. We cooked them dinner on Saturday night and then last night Karen cooked dinner for us. They put up their Christmas tree on Saturday also and that definitely put me in the Christmas mood and made me even more excited to go home.

After IST I am going back to Juncalito and we will hopefully have our Assembly on Thursday. Next week I will be back in Santo Domingo for the Artisan fair but it should go much smoother than last year. Should.

Posted by katie at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Within the past month I’ve been to Santo Domingo more times than I care to say. I’ve made a personal record of going three times within one week. There is only one thing that could possibly cause me to venture into the heat, humidity and unpleasant bustle of the capital so many times in such a short period of time- that’s right, a medical problem. The first trip was actually for the previously mentioned Coffee Committee meeting, which went well. We have 2 new members from the Agroforestry group, established key areas for the committee and held elections. I’m the new president, although it’s really just a title. A few short days after I headed back to m site, my ear became blocked up and started to hurt, which caused me to ask people more times than normal to repeat themselves. A quick call to the medical office resulted in the decision to go back on Monday. By Thursday there had been no improvement so I called again and went back in on Friday (visit number 3), this time to see a specialist. Here’s where the fun starts. You can’t make an appointment with the PC recommended EENT but have to go to the office in the open time window. The doctor was supposed to arrive at 5:30, which turned out to be closer to 7. I was the second to last person to be attended to, despite having arrived before many other patients. No problem. I just wanted to hear out of my ear. Finally, I went in. After looking at the ear, the doctor retrieved a spray bottle and squirted liquid at my ear. When I asked him what he was doing (it must have just slipped his mind to inform me), he replied that it was anesthesia. Anesthesia?! For what, I’d like to know. Before I had time to inquire, the doc came back and started shoving something, painfully, in my ear. Explanation? No. I responded with some ‘Ows’ and ‘That hurts;’ all I got was ‘Calm down.’ But really, how calm was I supposed to be with someone forcefully shoving an unidentified something into an already painful ear? Once Dr. Pain was satisfied with his work, he told me that it (whatever it is) was supposed to open my ear and that it should come out on its own by Monday, but if it doesn’t, I can just get someone from my campo to take it out with tweezers. (Uh…excuse me?) By the time I left it was dark and almost 9pm. I tried calling several taxi companies but no answer. Erica and a friend walked to come get me. I called a PC doctor the next morning because I was uncomfortable having something shoved down my ear without a satisfactory explanation. She took it out and it had actually helped a lot, however, I certainly hope to never have to go to a DR doctor again. My fourth capital visit within the month was to get the ear checked one last tie last eek. All better, but I just got an email to schedule my dentist appointment in November- something to look forward to.

Despite that unforgettable experience, it has been a good month. A former volunteer left me a camping oven- a collapsible square oven that I can use on top of my stove. I’ve already made good use of it, including several birthday cakes, one of which a group of us took to a friends’ house at night when she was asleep to serenade her (don’t worry, it was with a CD; I didn’t sing).

I wanted to do something fun with my English class so I assigned them skits with different topics to do in English. They went all out and used costumes and props. One groups’ skit was in a doctor’s office with a crazy patient. They didn’t quite, as I’d hoped, looked up medical vocabulary, however, they worked very hard perfecting the crazy lady and learned important phrases such as ‘Shut up!’ and ‘Go to hell!’ She also tried to light a cigarette during the skit but the fan was on strong and 4 matches blew out before she was able to do so. I haven’t laughed so hard since I’ve been here as I did during that class.

With the Association we are getting ready for the annual assembly with all of our associates before the new harvest begins. I want to start working on a grant to get more infrastructure for the association but that will have to be after the assembly.

Maura, Matt, Andy and Justin are coming to visit for a week. They will get here this weekend. I can’t wait! I have now been in country for over a year. The time is flying.

Posted by katie at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last week the East Lake Community Church HS youth group was in the DR for a missions trip in Jarabacoa and a campo outside Jarabacoa called Boma. Getting to spend the whole week with them was so refreshing, not only because I got to speak English and be with awesome people, but also because I have not been communicating with God lately and being around youth enthusiastic about serving the Lord was truly a breath of fresh air for me and my faith.

I had a hard time getting in touch with them to meet up due to some cell phone problems but I thought I would do the Peace Corps thing and wing it by jumping on a moto and hoping to find them. How many groups of Americans can possibly be in a small campo at one time? Fortunately it worked out fine and I ran into them on Monday while they were bringing in supplies for the week to the campo. During the week the group worked on various projects including digging a latrine, clearing away and digging out the foundation of a house, clearing rocks from a pathway to make it passable when it rains, hauling sand from the river to mix cement, putting on tin roofs and conducting 2 childrens' services. The kids worked really hard and did an awesome job. Some of them were the youth I was with when I worked with the junior high group and they have grown in every possible way- physically, emotionally and spiritually- and it was so amazing to see them getting their hands dirty and also forming relationships cross-culturally when they don't speak the language. There were also several youth that I didn't know or not very well before and I really enjoyed getting to know them and see how God is working in their lives. Lexi brought me some goodies from Cory (thanks!) and the new Harry Potter book (gracias a Ashley and Bill), which I have already finished. So nice of them, and Lexi for bringing it all! The youth also gave me a bunch of their snacks that they didn't eat on the trip so, all in all, I left with considerably more than what I came with. I was definitely tired when I got home because we all got up at 4 am for them to get to the airport with enough time on Saturday but it was a great trip and I hope they come back while I am here for another trip.

Saturday and Sunday after they left I wound down a bit and prepared my talk to the Agroforestry and Environmental volunteers on Monday, which went ok but they were mostly tired from having a good time the night before. I did get to see a pine tree nursery run by Plan Sierra and a beautiful botanical garden in Janico, as well as hang out with one of my favorite Spanish teachers from training. This week has just been busy catching up at the office and doing a lot of work- yesterday we had a visit from CODOCAFE and the French Development Agency, which funds part of PROCA'2, the loan side of CODOCAFE. I talked with the 2 guys from the Development Agency and it was interesting to hear about some of the other countries they have worked in, including Morocco, Chad, Lebanon and others.

Right now I am in the technology center while my adult English class takes their exam. Several of the class members did not show up so I will have to decide what to do about that. I'm not overly suprised, although somewhat disappointed.

Next in the office is to really get into Cafelio and get the loans all computerized. I know I have talked about that for a while but one computer isn't a lot, especially when there is always something going on that needs to be done. Little by little we are moving forward and I am pleased with how far we have come even though there is always more to do. I am fortunate in that I have people that want to learn and work because just that can be a challenge here sometimes.

Posted by katie at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I moved! I am finally in my own house, above a colmado. It is sooo nice to be able to cook what I want and not have to go to bed at the same time as everyone else. I only have 'provisional' approval though, which means they can tell me I have to move later but hopefully I won't have a problem. Moving was interesting...I finally got approval the day before my parents came to visit but couldn't move anything that day because it rained, so the next morning some friends helped me move everything in and I organized as much as I could before heading off to Santiago to meet mom and dad at the airport.

It was a fun visit and we did a lot in a short amount of time. The first night we stayed in Santiago because they got in in the evening, then the next day we bought a bunch of things for my house and loaded up the SUV and headed to Juncalito. People in my town were really excited to meet them because family is so important here and everyone said they looked very young, which they appreciated. I stayed the first night in my new house when they were there. Apparently, however, they didn't sleep all that well due to the large quantity of roosters in the campo. I have been here so long I don't notice it at all, but both of them as well as Susan commented on it, especially because they do not only crow at dawn but also during the day and in the middle of the night.

The next day we went from Juncalito to Jarabacoa on the mountain road that goes in between them. Well, I hadn't been on it the whole way before and it was somewhat of an adventure. No car could make that trip and I am just grateful dad was driving instead of mom, although he definitely was ready for a few cervezas afterwards. When we were in Jarabacoa we went to a waterfall, where we met another volunteer who I hadn't met before, and her family who was visiting her. Our hotel was right by a river so when we ate at the restaurant you could look right down at the river.

From Jarabacoa we went to Santo Domingo, where we visited the Colonial Zone including the first cathedral of the Americas, the Larimar Musem (larimar is a precious stone only found in the DR), a memorial and a fort the first day. We had dinner with my friend David whos site is only about an hour and a half away from the capital and afterwards listened to some merengue at the Plaza Espana. The next day we went to Diego Colombus' house (Christopher Colombus' brother- Christopher left him in charge of the DR), had lunch with Sarah (the woman who works at the Embassy that I normally stay with in Santo Domingo) and had dinner with my host family from Santo Domingo.

On Sunday we went to Samana. This was an interesting trip. Mom and dad like the beach but none of us had wanted to sit at a resort all week, which is why we trucked around to so many places. I thought the Samana peninsula would be nice because it is on a bay and you can drive a little bit and go to the beach but could also take a boat ride on the bay. Options. Well, I had only been to Samana one other time for my site visit in September, so I had apparently forgotten how long it takes (those buses really fly too!). First, it took a super long time to get there. Then, when we finally got there, the hotel wasn't quite what it was described to be in the Lonely Planet and the only other decent option was a highly over price all-inclusive resort unless we drove further on to Las Galeras, another part on the peninsula. We went to Erica's house (the volunteer I visited) before going on to Las Galeras to see if there was anywhere else to stay but there wasn't. We ended up staying at a very nice hotel in Las Galeras...I am putting pictures up and there are a few with the view from the hotel. Part of the reason I had wanted to go to Samana was to go to Playa Rincon, supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the DR and the Caribbean. The following morning we went there and yes, it was beautiful, however, the experience was partially ruined by the mass quantity of trash on the beach. Mom and dad visited the week after Semana Santa (Holy Week), the only week of the year that almost all Dominicans have off and therefore go on vacation. Environmental damage between the trash, deforestation and other issues is high in this country. There is another sector of volunteers that works in environmental education. We stayed at Rincon in the morning and then hung around the hotel for the afternoon because there was a small beach and area for swimming. The next day we drove back to Samana and went on a boat tour to Parque Los Haitises, a national park on the other side of the bay that has cave drawings from the Taino Indians from as far back as 4,000 years ago. Unfortunately, it rained on the boat ride over and we had to duck under ponchos to avoid getting drenched. It calmed down when we got there and it was a really neat tour and interesting to go into the caves. There were also German and French people on the tour and our guide spoke to each of us in turn. The day tour also included a trip to Cayo Levantado, a little island off the coast of Samana that is pretty and has a nice beach, however, as soon as we got there, it rained again so we had to wait around for a while to get back to town. We drove part of the way back to Santiago and stayed in Las Terrenas for the evening. In the morning we headed back to Santiago because their flight left very early in the morning.

I'm sure I have forgotten something and that mom and dad will remind me, but I haven't had much time for the internet since their visit. I am in the capital now and will try and post again while I am here. I am in for medical right now (no worries) and then have my 6-month language training from Monday through Friday. David and Christina have theirs at the same time so it should be a good time, minus the class part.

Posted by katie at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have had a busy but productive and fun month. The diagnostic period of my service is finally over- I did my report and gave the presentation at our 3 month IST (In service training) conference, which was March 21-23rd in the capital. I also got a great opportunity to work very hard on improving my patience while my project partner were elaborating the Annual Plan for the Association. It was fun, really. The conference went fairly well and is over at least. I need to work some more on my own Annual Plan but I feel like a weight has been lifted since the diagnostic is complete.

Also, we finally finished our big report at the association to send to CODOCAFE! That was a releif. Granted, we have still got a long way to go, but hopefully we will get our loan soon so that we can better support our socios as we are in the final few months of the coffee season. As I said, I am going to be working on my Annual Plan this week (especially because it is Holy Week and the office will be closed after noon tomorrow) but I am hoping to focus on 3 things in particular: the first, basic office organization and getting a lot of information about the association compiled on the computer such as how much coffee we have sold each month, ect; second, revising our statutes and establishing written rules for giving loans to our socios; and third, working on finding more outlets to sell the coffee. Accounting, which has been my biggest concern since I have been here, goes with the first category. I would like to get a program for the computer at the office so mom has been helping me look into it. Hopefully that will happen soon, and then I will have to teach them how to use it.

I just had my first visitor after the conference. SUSAN CAME TO SEE ME! I cant tell you how excited I was that she was able to come! Before starting her new job she came down for a week. We went to Bayahibe (in the south east) and then came to Juncalito. Another volunteer, David, and his mom were also there when we were so we met up with them some as well. Bayahibe is a cute little town with lots of boats and a small beach. We only had 2 days at the beach because the day we got there it was raining. One day Susan, David and I took a day tour to Isla Saona to go snorkeling. It was absolutely beautiful- think of those gorgeous brochures of crystal clear water and palm trees. Yes, that is where we went and we got to see a bunch of different kinds of fish. I would like to go snorkeling again sometime and maybe see some stingrays and other types of animals but it was still great, maybe minus getting rum poured down my snorkel by one of the guys leading the trip but hey, it is the Caribbean. David and his mom were staying at a resort while Susan and I, on the Peace Corps budget, were not, so we visited them one day. It was really beautiful and well kept, but the resort has nothing on the beauty of the beach itself. After Bayahibe we came up to Juncalito and went walking through the mountains a bit. I had a great time and hope she did too and am ready for my next visitors, my parents, who come on the 10th!

I still havent been able to move. My APCD did not approve my house yet because it only has one exit and it is above a colmado, so she has to come see it but cannot come for probably at least 3 weeks, but the owners of the house will rent it to someone else if they find someone else because even when she comes there is no guarantee that I will be able to get it, so I started looking again. It is frustrating because I really want to move and have started to buy stuff for a house because I thought I would be able to move this week. I found another house so I am sending pictures to my APCD now to see if she will approve this one. I want to jump on it because it took me forever to find the other one so I am afraid of waiting too long. I like my family, but I am ready to move.

I am gonig to try and put up more pictures on my Photobucket site so keep a look out for those. Oh, I also got to see Davids site for a day when his mom was here because it is not very far from the capital, so that was interesting. I like to see other peoples' sites because they are all so different.

Posted by katie at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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 | Comments (3)

I got back to Santo Domingo yesterday and it's HOT. It's not as hot as when we left, but after living in the mountains for 5 weeks where it actually gets cool enough to put a sweatshirt on at night, it's hot. Now my fear is getting sent to one of the hottest campos in the South for my site. I'll find out Monday. All the other groups besides mine already know where they are going but we have the great pleasure of being the last to find out. Lucky us. Soon enough though. The crazy part is that we find out Monday and then leave on Tuesday to go on a site visit until the following Sunday. Not much time in between for mental preparation.

I already miss Jarabacoa. I really enjoyed my time there and even though it was short, I felt like a part of the community. I would definitely prefer to live in the mountains and visit the beach...crazy coming from someone living in the Caribbean now I suppose. I'm going to try and put pictures up soon, but it's difficult because they take a long time to load, I have a lot, and the computers are slow, but I'm trying.

We're having a party tonight at my house with anyone that can come so I'm looking forward to reuniting with some of the people in the other groups and hearing how their training was.

The wedding wasn't all that different from a U.S. wedding- it was hot and I got burned a little bit and the preacher talked a lot and added on to some of the vows, but otherwise it was similar. It was nice to have gotten the opportunity to go. We had 3 nights in a row of going away parties from Tuesday through Thursday. Wed. night they killed a rabbit for us...it was actually really good. Thursday night they had a Perico Ripiao party- Perico Ripiao means typical merengue with a drum, accordian and guido (metal instrument). It was really fun.

Posted by katie at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's beautiful here. The mountains are gorgeous- you wouldn't really think this was a Caribbean island by the area that I'm in- there are coniferous trees and it's cool at night. It's very different here from Santo Domingo...a lot more rural. Jarabacoa is the main town and is touristy, but we l ive about 30 minutes outside of it farther up in the mountains. Our group is in 4 different communities, grouped by Spanish classes, and my class is in Los Dajaos, the farthest away from everyone else. The roads are terrible and it's really hilly so I'm getting a workout just walking around the community (it's too much of a stretch to call it a town), but I am really enjoying it. Everyone is incredibly welcoming. They had a little welcome party for us the other day and I'm meeting so many people that it's impossible for me to remember their names.

I like my family- my house is one of the community hang out places because my mom has a colmado. A colmado is a small store that sells basic products...they are everywhere here. Supermarkets tend to be far from a lot of communities and many families don't have transportation or can't afford to go to them often, so there are a lot of colmados. They sell in small quantities and it's common for people to go every day or more than once a day at times. Microenterprise is very important here; many people don't leave their communities but there are tons of tiny local businesses that are supported- colmados, bread shops, people selling this and that out of their houses. Competition here does not mean what it does in the US.

I cross the river every day here...the bridge? It washed down the river the other day in the rain so we cross over the rocks and the log. It'll be a while, but eventually I'll post a picture. I'm working on my dominoes skills- they play it a lot here and it's nightly at my house that a big crew gathers around and takes turns.

For training, we're working on a condensed version of our community assessment that we'll have to do when we go to our own sites. My class and I went up to a mountaintop yesterday to see where some coffee is going to be planted and talked to guy who works for a big coffee cooperative here about how they plant it. Next week our whole group goes somewhere to learn about the whole process and the week after that we do something with ecotourism. I'm giving a talk on marketing next Friday as well.

It's cooler here so that is really nice. I've had to wear my sweatshirt...amazing. What's up at home?

Posted by katie at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

OK this is going to be short because I´m at a less than stellar internet cafe in the city...taking a quick break from walking around the city with a few friends. Monday morning I leave for CBT to Jarabacoa and will be there for 5 weeks. It is in the mountains and is supposed to be beatiful, but is a lot more rural than where I´m at now. I won´t have a phone at my house and will only be able to get to a computer on the weekends. I´m also pretty sure my house won´t have electricity.

I will put a little hint in here though...I can still get mail. HINT. Thanks, mom, for the package. Things I will always welcome include books, candy, cards, pictures and anything random that will make me think of you.

Busy week this past week included the following: visiting a public school to see the education system, day long seminar with a coffee cooperative including a coffee tasting, stalking tourists to interview them about their purchases, just to name a few. I will need patience with my new family, as they have 3 kids whose ages I don´t know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!!

Posted by katie at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wow, there's so much happening that I don't know where to begin. I'll start with some sad news- a friend of mine decided to leave the country. I'm bummed about it because I was just getting to know him and I think he would have been a great volunteer, but I know he'll do great things wherever he is.

I went on a site visit this past weekend to see another volunteer, Erica in Samana. It was great to have the opportunity to sit down and talk to her, ask her all the millions of questions that I had, and really see how a volunteer lives. We had fun too- we met up with some other volunteers and trainees and went to the beach on Saturday and it was beautiful. I, in my usual fashion, got quite sunburnt despite my liberal application of SPF 30. I soaked up the beach opportunity, because I probably won't have one for quite some time. We went out dancing on Saturday night so I got in some merengue finally, and bachata.

Some notes on public transportation...it's a mess. The bus system is terrible and crowded, but cheap. The other popular form of transportation is public cars, which really means shoving 7 people into a car. I'm not talking an SUV or a roomy sedan either, a little compact car with 4 people in back and 3 in front. Not comfortable in the least. Also, motoconchos (motorcycle taxis) are everywhere and necessary to use in many areas outside major cities. Don't worry...I have my PC issued helmet. You can actually get administratively separated for not wearing it.

So, the DR is considered one of the best countries to be a volunteer in but has the highest harassment rate. However, it's striking to realize that so many people here don't have access to water in their homes. There is one group of volunteers that goes to sites and builds aqueducts. Even the houses that have water don't have it all the time because the public services are messed up here. Lights are usually out for several hours each day. Many people don't pay for electricity, driving up the cost for those that do. So yes, I often don't have water or lights. How does one shower, you may ask, if there is no water? Let me tell you about the "bucket bath." (Isn't the Peace Corps glamorous?) It's self-explanatory, but there is a bucket sitting by the shower and if there's no water, that's how you bathe. Happens frequently and for many people, they have to always do that.

Today in training we had a self defense class and a dealing with harassment/machismo class (in addition to Spanish, of course). A guy from the World Bank came and talked to us Monday. Next week we start our CBT (community based training).

I went to a church service a few weeks ago and didn't have time to post on it. It was 3 hours long- singing, dancing and lots of noise. It was beautiful and a fascinating cultural observation, but I won't be going back. It was a bit much for me and I'm not exactly the 'go crazy dancing while in church' type, which led a man to take the microphone and tell me to not be afraid of the Holy Spirit. Yeah.

Posted by katie at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

OK, I will get to the public transportation part but I have to cover something else first. I moved families yesterday. It was not a great situation at my other one- highlights being that I was locked out of the house 3 times and never offered a key despite not so subtle hinting, the parents were never at the house so I spent most of the time with my 14 year old sister who is not disciplined and made comments about me in Spanish to her friends while I was there because she thought I didn't understand, and because the brother and his girlfriend were making out and my friend came over and wasn't sure it was my house but they completely ignored her and me and continued on. So I talked with the family coordinator- I was going to just stay and deal with it because, in reality, I'm only here for 2 more weeks now, and then 2 more weeks after my CBT (Community Based Training) but they really wanted me to move so I did. I went out w/my new sister and her friends last night and it was really fun- we went to a karaoke place that also played some merengue. Yes, I sand and yes, it was fun and embarrassing. It was neat b/c they have random instruments scattered around the room and people will just pick them up and play them with the beat- drums, cow bells and this Dominican instrument that I can't remember the name of. It's like a cheese grater sort of and they rub something against it to make music. I'll meet the mom shortly- she was out of town for a funeral yesterday and didn't get home until today.

Tomorrow (really, really early) I go to Samana to visit the another volunteer until Sunday. I'm really excited to hear about what she's doing, get a break from regular training and see another part of the country. What's going on with you guys? Send me some emails!

Posted by katie at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is going to be a short version of what's up so far.
I got to Miami and we had a day and a half of staging (mostly an overall orientation). There are 56, give or take, volunteers here total- divided into my job, Youth and Family Development, Water Sanitation and Healthy Families. People from all over, mostly young- the average age is 24. It's a fun group and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Yesterday we got to the DR and were at a retreat center for the day where they went over the training program methodology (I'll post more on training another day), a brief overview of health info and we got our mosquito nets and DEET power bug spray. This morning we went to the training center in Pantoja, which is a barrio (town/suburb) outside of Santo Domingo, the capital. We had some more intro and overall PC stuff, 2 shots (yes!), a basic crash course in Spanish and an interview/Spanish conversation so they can place us in our Spanish classes. And I enjoyed the first of many meals featuring arroz con frijoles (rice and beans). Oh, and FYI- it's hot. And humid. Also beautiful.

At the end of training today we met our families. My host sister, Pamela who is 14, picked me up because my mother had to be somewhere. She's really nice and seems like she'll be fun.

Training's going to be pretty intense. 8 to 6 every day. Some Saturday activities but none on Sundays. Oh, we have internet in my house and I'm using it in my sister's room. I may not call much from my house because most families have a plan with minutes per month, that get taken up even by calling cards by my understanding. There are plenty of public phone places though, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Love and miss you all!

Posted by katie at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm currently staying in San Antonio, Texas with my parents before I leave for Miami on Tuesday. Aside from packing, I've mostly been taking it easy and trying to make sure I've got everything together, however, I have gotten the opportunity to experience some of Texas prior to my departure.

Last night I went to a rodeo for the first time. I can't say that this is something I would want to do all the time, but it was interesting to say the least. I can't understand why someone would want to ride a bull that is trying desparately to throw them off and then, when it does, it sometimes will chase the person and try to maim him with its horns. The crowd, adorned in a sea of cowboy hats, seemed to enjoy it though and I can't say I wasn't entertained.

In addition to the rodeo, I went to a Mexican restaurant with my parents where they paid a Mexican dressed in traditional garb to sing me a song in Spanish. Not at all embarrassing, really. We also ate at the Tower of the Americas restaurant- the same type of structure as Seattle's space needle- where we had a rotating view of the whole city. A lot of places have random live music. It's really hot. There are bbq, steak, and Mexican restaurants everywhere and, at a minimum, 5-10 pickups and SUV's are parked in every parking lot, many with Bush, Long Horn, or 'Don't Mess with Texas' stickers on them. This is Texas. I don't think I'd ever want to live here, but it's definitely an interesting piece of the American culture.

Posted by katie at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've finally finished my cross-country trip. I started in South Carolina, drove to Maryland, stayed in Maryland and Virginia, flew to Missouri, drove to Kansas and finally drove down to Texas. It was great seeing family and friends, though, before I leave for so long. Now I am in San Antonio until September 5th, when I leave (bright and early) to go to Miami. My flight is unfortunately at 6:45 am.

I've just begun going through all my things, trying to figure out what to pack and what I need to buy. It was difficult enough packing to study abroad for five months, but packing for two years is obviously much worse. I feel like I have to fit my life into three bags.

Focusing on packing and getting all my affairs in order before I leave is keeping me from freaking out about leaving and what I'm actually doing. I think that's a good thing, it will hit me soon enough.

Posted by katie at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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