I don’t leave my site too, too much, but when I do, for some reason, my host family tends to grow a little bit. There’s some kind of math correlation to be made between my out-of-site trips and the addition of host siblings this past month. In July, I left my site twice and gained two host sisters after each return: one after Paraiso, and another after spending a night in Cabarete this past weekend. Next week I’m leaving again for 3 month IST (in-service training) - I wonder how many siblings there’ll be after that? Vamos a ver. Living with kids under 10 years old definitely keeps life around the house entertaining. I met another host sister, Ana just today. She’s four, and hilarious. After asking me if we could be sisters, she introduced herself saying, “I’m your sister, An-na - like Han-nah Montana.”
Having so many kids around all the time can be helpful, too. For one thing, they usually understand my Spanish better than adults do. So when necessary, they translate my Spanglish into Spanish - which was especially useful during all those diagnostic interviews. And back when the community was new to me, it was nice to have kids who wanted to walk around the neighborhood while I introduced myself to the families, trying to establish confianza and make friends. The list goes on - and I feel bad because the kids are a lot more helpful to me right now than I am to them, so I try to compartir and share in whatever they ask of me - watching (and translating) Harry Potter movies, listening to MJ, Antony Santos, Aventura or Shakira, teaching them English on the porch (they really want to learn English, maybe if only to understand Harry Potter and MJ songs better?) And they like video-recording everything. They video record one another to, “show my mother what they look like.” And thanks to that, now I have video clips of my host siblings doing all sorts of random things: singing songs (slash screaming songs), introducing all the different kinds of fruit trees in the garden outside, and washing dishes amongst other household chores. I doubt I’ll figure out how to post a video on here, but here are some photos they took the other day:
* * *
So with the diagnostic finished, I have been focusing on looking for a place to live for a while now - “a while,” meaning the greater part of this last month. And you’d think that’d be easily done in a large town with 50,000 residents (a little diagnostic fact for ya!). But no, it hasn’t been easy - I went so far as asking tigueres to help me (sorry, Grandma).
It started in my neighborhood back in May: There was just one house available, sort of expensive, but otherwise more than ideal - 3 bedrooms, on the second story, brand-new, spiral staircase leading up to the roof with mountain and hillside views and lots of light and fresh air. I could stay right here, surrounded by all my lovely neighbors, down the street from my host family, and have plenty of room for my US guests - sounds perfect, right? ...Obviously, I was a little bit in love with it, but I was new then, and figured I was too green to actually know what kind of house to look for, anyway. Then, of course, as I do with all big potential decisions/purchases, I thought about it for a long time, waited, and then talked myself out of wanting it altogether. “I shouldn’t live in DR’s Barbie Dream House for Peace Corps service,” “I should suffer a little bit,” and “It’s probably bad karma to rent the cutest house in the barrio.” And then the day I got over feeling guilty and decided I wanted the house, I found out a family started renting it. Oh well.
So with (literally) no other homes available to rent in my barrio, I started looking afuera, outside the campo, broadening the scope, and searching downtown. Where I found: nothing. That’s when I began asking everyone I met to help me, having new tiguere friends and motoconchistas take me around town to places they knew through a hermano/primo of their tio, etc. If nothing else, I was learning to navigate the town, meeting people, mastering bolas, all the while not finding a place to live. And then after spending time with other volunteers in Cabarete (awesome place, very touristy, but gorgeous - kite surfing, restaurants/lounging right on the beach, and all lit up at night), fears were confirmed as I learned that I was one of the only ones who hadn’t found a place to live. Sad and disappointing - apparently, I’m a terrible house hunter.
Finally though, things turned around yesterday, and friends from the school found places I may be able to stay. They reassured me that it is difficult, as most here are expensive, and those that are available go pretty quickly. And after seeing what they found, I now know there just isn’t much for rent here in town - the two apartments they showed me are the same two that one of my tigueres introduced me to last week. One of the apartments is already out of the running because each time it rains (or so I’ve been told), the street floods with a foot of water, making it impossible to drive and difficult to walk when that happens. (Not to mention, I can only imagine how many mosquitoes take advantage of a water-logged habitat like that - I don’t need any more bites right now). But this other apartment is a 2-bedroom, big enough for guests, dog-friendly :), has a little spiral staircase too, with overall potential to be cute if I work it right. So it looks like I might have a place - and one of the only places - for rent here, with many thanks, as usual, to the help of everyone else. I’ll be honest though: it’s nowhere near as pretty as my former beloved campo dream palace (that another Dominican family is now newly enjoying), but when I’m through with it, maybe it will be. Anyway, I’m leaving all these adorable kids in a month or less to live completely on my own (for the first time ever - no family, no roommates, no pets...yet!) in my fourth (and hopefully final) home in the Dominican Republic.
I’m already really sad about leaving the campo though, and to be honest would rather just stay right here where I am for the 2 years. It’s so rural, and I’m really happy here: I like living so tranquillo. I’m lucky enough that everyone already knows me and I know them. My family is great. And its so scenic to run on the canal trails alongside the yucca and guineo fields. It would be a great place to stay and live...if I could find a place to stay and live. But I want my family and friends from home to visit, and I doubt anyone one of them would be comfortable sleeping squished on the cement floor of my bedroom, so I need a place of my own. I just really wish that place could’ve been here in the barrio and not way on the other side of town. Anyway, the new house is big enough for friends to visit, which is the whole point of living on my own - so make sure you do that! I won’t be living in the Caribbean forever, you know.
* * *
Next week I’ll present the diagnostic at IST in Jarabacoa (located in the middle of the country, sort of near Pico Duarte if you look at the map above) and then be officially done with these first 3 months in my site. I’m pretty excited to get the diagnostic finished and close that chapter. It was fun meeting everyone and getting to know the town, and I learned from the process, for sure. But I’m really ready to work and start classes and youth groups. I’m not used to so much unstructured time; its possible to work that way I guess, but I like having everything planned out, more or less. (Basically, running on American Time, vamos a ver si es posible aqui). I held off on starting classes these first months, because I still don’t really feel settled at all yet. I wanted to get to know the community better, find where I fit in, get a schedule, (aka have my own place to live - almost there!). But I do have upcoming plans to start an English program and classes in town (at a cultural center, with music classes and IT programs), but I told the directors I couldn’t begin until after the diagnostic was completed - aka end of August/beginning of September. The center is part of the city hall, doesn’t charge money from students, and doesn’t pay teachers (they volunteer), so they need an English teacher willing to work for free. It is far away from where I currently live, and I just really want to be settled in my own house before I start diving into things. So that said, I’m not nervous to present this diagnostic next week, but I am super nervous to start these classes - mostly because of the enthusiasm from the directors. Apparently, there’s a lot of interest in learning English from the current students, which is great. My friend from the school (who put me in contact with this place) says they keep asking him when I will start teaching. "Bueno - at the end of the month." Then this afternoon I went to the center to check it out (I’d been once before). Right when I got there the secretary walked up to me, and asked me if I was “there to teach English today.” Woah, I just came to relearn where this building is actually located, say “hi,” maybe check my email? "Bueno - at the end of the month." Oh well. So there's pressure to start. And soon. But, it’s better to have a lot of interest rather than none at all, right? They just really want to offer English classes, and because they want it so much, I want for it to be good. And that’s why I’m nervous - I just want people to like it.
* * *
I feel weird about posting a phone number on the internet, but I’m not in very good contact anyway, so what could it hurt? Plus, it’s wicked expensive for people to call me here (already racked up a phone bill of a few hundred dollars - not even pesos but dollars - on only one phone call! Ugh, awful!), so I seriously doubt anyone would want to prank call me. All that said, if you’re interested, and ever want to just say "Hi" you can text me for free online! The website is in Spanish, but its easy:
Click here.
Enter my Claro number: 8097234843, a message, and click Enviar / Send!
*Please just include your name so I know who you are. :) & Thanks!
Sorry that this is the length of a mini-novel. Someday I’ll write something short and sweet. Take care of yourself!
XO
PS - Wanted to throw it out there that I recently mastered the DR lavadora. (Yeah, who cares, right? Sounds so lame, “I washed my clothes in the DR!” but Dominican washing systems are unlike any other I’ve used in the US, so this actually is a bit of an accomplishment for me, gracias). The lavadora, coupled with a three bucket washing/rinsing assembly line, topped off with line-drying everything in the blinding sun y ya. No problem, so please feel free to bring on all laundry great and small - granted we have electricity and water, of course.
& Congrats, Sara for making the Dean’s List...yet again! :D
I sent you a text...hopefully you got it okay...luv Papa xoxo
ReplyDelete