Capital to Campo

(from, Domingo 5/23/10...Viernes 5/28/10...Sabado 5/29/10)

Last week was my final week in Pantoja. On my last night with my host family, we had a mini-fiesta and exchanged going-away gifts and photos. It was pretty sad to leave them, but since I’ve been here in Mao, the family has called a few times to check in with me which has been nice. Hopefully I’ll visit for their graduations in August when we return to the capital for 3 month in-service training (IST). These are some of the photos from our last night.

Obama!

Maikel, Mayelin, Me, Miki

So I don’t have a lot of Internet access at my site - by which I mean there’s none at all. Even though it’s a large city (nearly 70,000 people), I’m outside of the town and see more cows and goats in my barrio than cars, motos or even pavement itself for that matter. There are all dirt roads here, and no matter what, my toes rarely feel as dust-free as I would like. Anyway, I haven’t found an internet cafe yet (que triste), and I think this computer is likely the only one in my barrio. I plan to upload this at some unknown point in the future. So if you’re reading this now, gracias a Dios, I found internet somewhere. The lack of online communication aside, things are great, and I really like this campo. I’m really happy with how Peace Corps life is turning out. Hopefully everyone else is too.

The neighbors here are all nice, welcoming, and there’s already a group of kids I haven’t met yet that somehow know my name. I smile and wave whenever I hear “Eeemmmma” even though I usually don’t know who I’m greeting. I’ve made friends with some of the colmado guys when I go to buy calling cards and chocolate. And I’ve seen about a half-dozen stray dogs that I would strongly consider adopting in 3 months. A little about the weather - it is a LOT cooler here in the north than in the capital. It has been raining a lot lately - just about everyday - and its awesome. The best place to be in the rain is under a metal roof, because its so loud that it sounds like the world is falling apart a little. I love it. And the nights here sound like all evenings in this country, DR music, and the shuffling of dominoes. The neighborhood itself is really picturesque in my opinion, a lot of brightly-painted wooden and cement homes, wide views of the sky, and red sunsets. ...Hint to friends - visit.

In my first week here, I’ve been going to the school everyday, and just meeting as many people in the community as I can. Essentially, that means attending everything that anyone invites me to... Dia de las Madres parties, neighborhood meetings and prayer groups, masses, a lot of dominoes games, and meeting all of the relatives and friends that come in and out of my host family’s house. When I’m not being the only American at social gatherings or trying to remember peoples’ names, I attempt to introduce myself to the community in other ways... running with my host brother in the barrio, saying “Buenas!” constantly or just smiling at everyone I see.

The purpose of these next three months is to do a community diagnostic and then present it at the beginning of August at IST. The diagnostic is a way to meet the communities that we’ll be living in for the next two years, and through a lot of observations, interviews and surveys, we’ll find what the community wants and where a volunteer can work within that. So far, everyone at my school has been helpful with getting me started with ideas for topics and questions to ask about. I’ve made all my surveys and interview questions, mostly all about education and informatica, and based on input from everyone’s ideas, have tailored the questions and added more specifics about Mao. I’ve started a few interviews this week, and my goal is to interview as many different people (families, youth, community leaders, teachers, etc.) as possible...we’ll see how that goes!

Sunrise before Mass

My host brother, serving at Mass

Campo View

Sunset after a storm

Also...Happy Early Birthday, Cam!! :o)

xo,

Emma