Day-tripping in the Northwest

Hurricane Irene Update: At most yesterday there were maybe a couple downpours and a few drizzling light rain showers here in site. And yet, the majority of town has shut down today, school’s closed nationwide again and we’re another day behind. Bueno. I know I’m not a meteorologist/weather person, and of course time spent planning ahead/being cautious/putting safety first is time very well spent. ...But subjectively speaking for a second - come on, really? Closing all the schools in the country again? Day off due to light rain and a gray sky? Imagine that, New England! ...Well you might not have to, since all this internet time has led me to weather websites and that Irene is shipping up to Boston soon. That and just now apparently there was an earthquake, too? Ugh, being connected to current events is draining. If being this news-informed were my normal day-to-day, I would be constantly scared out of my mind. Praying for you, family and friends. Hopefully the hurricane just blows away somewhere in the ocean and the environment calms down a little.

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On a non-Storm Chaser’s note - taking advantage of the time and internet again to get this blog updated a little since I know you’re all super anxious to know what’s going on my Grandma will be checking in. :)

So I came across some photos from mini travel day trips that I never shared on here and if internet cooperates, I think I will now. Over the past few months, I’ve been making an effort to see more of my region - the northwest. The northwest is great! I’ve been to Monte Cristi a couple of times (pictures here and here), but there are many sights and much history to see elsewhere in this region, too. The problem is that off the main highways, the roads are pretty undeveloped in this region (read: bad - made of dirt, rocks, and sometimes completely non-existent - you’ll see what I mean in the pictures!) So it can be tough to get out there and see all there is to see. Nonetheless, it is an adventure, as always. One afternoon in May I went to Punta Rusia & Playa Ensenada, and just the other day I visited La Isabela. 

Enjoy the pictures! 

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Punta Rusia & Playa Ensenada

Going to start this off by saying maps are deceiving. After studying a map, I determined that these two beach sites were not that far away at all from my town - probably an hour tops. What a great Friday afternoon post-work day trip! I was looking to go see a new place, and this seemed perfect because I could be there and back so quickly. So on a whim after work, I decided to check out both places and brought my little dog along (she’s very well-traveled, pa que lo sepa) and off we went. Cute day. Until I see just how far off the beaten path these places are. Taking the bus out there was easy enough, but after being told to get to the beach itself I’d need to take a moto on a dirt road for 300-something pesos? (roughly 9 dollars, but that’s a lot to me here. Yes I know. Ha-ha) Thanks, but that's too much. After dismissing the moto option and having all the moto drivers warn me that my destination was bien lejos (very far) and dangerous, I set out to just walk it. Going off the fact that Dominicans have also deemed it bien lejos to walk a couple blocks, I figured I could handle whatever the distance ended up being. Well to make this short - turns out they were all correct this time. A long, really bad, mostly very deserted dirt road, and hours later, we arrived. Although it was fun in the end, and of course I met a lot of interesting and wonderfully nice, helpful people along the way - decided I may not need to do this trip again for a while. Bien lejos, indeed.

after walking for a long time, finally found a sign! Punta Rusia is to the left, to the left. 

made it to Punta Rusia!

Playa Ensenada

sea food on the beach - perfecto

La Isabela

Wanted to see this place for a long time now. Considered one of the first European settlements in the Americas, Columbus lived here in the 1490’s and named the settlement “Isabela” for the Queen of Spain. It was founded in 1493 during his second voyage to the Americas after the Tainos (indigenous people native to the island) destroyed La Navidad (first European settlement, only lasted a year, located in northern Haiti). La Isabela only lasted for three years, then Columbus abandoned it for a new settlement - Santo Domingo (the DR's capital).  In La Isabela there are lot of Taino artifacts, as well as the excavated ruins from the little settlement including the house where Columbus himself lived. Not that I’m a huge Columbus fan or the direct/indirect repercussions he brought upon the island, but La Isabela was a place I had to check out, for history’s sake.

For being among the first established settlements in the Americas, La Isabela was kind of deserted. The location was set up really nice, with an entrance fee and museums, but we were the only people there! We had to cross two rivers (literally, Oregon Trail style) to arrive - fording the first river, then floating across on a raft for the second. The experience made me wonder of how La Isabela might be were it Stateside...think Plymouth Plantaion, Sturbridge Village, and all the re-enactment history stuff in Pennsylvania. Kind of funny. But it was a beautiful place just as it was - deserted, quiet, and a bit of an adventure to get to - it was really neat to see. I’d definitely bring future visitors. But I think next time we’d travel on a real road from the east - and not wade across rivers, (unless you’re into that sort of thing, too, then by all means it's on). :)

exactly what it looks like - road ends and we cross the river on a raft.

Bridge we would have used if it were finished. Locals told me that after Trujillo (former dictator) died, bridge construction stopped...over 50 years ago now 

the rock outlines designate building locations from the 1490's

looking out from the La Isabela settlement into the bay

shots around La Isabela

cemetery with Tainos and European settlers

sign designating Columbus's house

inside Columbus's house - original didn't include this thatched roof 

part of Columbus's house looking out over La Isabela Bay

he decided we couldn't leave before getting mangos 

mangos!

exiting the settlement

Minnie is such a champ! She rides buses, public cars and motorcycles on these trips - a baby rockstar. Sidenote: at least 4 people on the recent La Isabela adventure asked if I would regalar (give away) Minnie to them...um - heck no, amigo! Cutest Min there is!

Next up on the northwestern tour: visiting Dajabon (located on the border) with my neighbors. They’re weekly regulars at Dajabon’s Haitian/Dominican market, and said that I can travel with them whenever. Except I’m always working/at school. Bueno. One of these days! Can’t wait!

Be well, all! 

XO

Live from Hurricane Irene

To track the storm, click here. 

So there’s a storm on its way here. Due to Irene, all schools in the DR (both public and colegios) were closed by the Ministry of Education, and all volunteers are on Standfast. What this means: can’t work today, and also can’t leave site. Basically condemned to do not much of anything all day. Frustrating, since we’re in the middle of teacher training. Plus, the rain didn’t start until 12pm here, and currently it is not raining too hard. Kind of feel like we could have had school, at least in the morning. But that aside, hopefully these precautions keep people out of harm's way and that by tonight when the hurricane is scheduled to be here, everyone will be prepared, safe, and dry. Say a prayer for my fellow volunteers, Dominican friends, and neighbors! :) Hopefully everyone will be just fine. 

Anyway, after aprovecharing this day off - visiting neighbors, running errands, and spending time with my host family, I found some internet and here I am using it. Fascinating, no? The lights have flickered a lot, but gracias a Dios neither the internet or the electricity has gone out here yet. Vamos a ver. Here are some photos from earlier today with my host fam, getting ready for Hurricane Irene. 

flower patch at my host family's

Dona Dominga in the garden

Chiquita does not enjoy storms that much...get ready, little one!

Don Jose adds more nails to hold the roof down

rooftop view of the yucca field and lomas in the distance

Rodolfo and Chiquita

shadow shot

HOLA from the roof Pre-Irene! :)

Panorama. Right before the first downpour. Got a bola from the car on the left just in time, gracias a Dios.

Be well and Stay safe! 

XO

The Embarque.

flying into Santiago - hola, beautiful Cibao!

Hello! & Cuanto tiempo.

After a fabulous visit to the States, I’m back in the DR and back to work. The past couple weeks have been spent getting the school ready, and doing the teacher training workshop (more on that at a later date). Home was great - a chance to refresh and reconnect. I loved it. Thanks to everyone for making time to meet up with me. To those I visited and those I missed - come here soon! ..Can only really say that for the next 9 months so seriously - visit! Aside from seeing many lovely people, home even featured a little Dominican adventure. Namely how to get all 160ish pounds of these education materials:

back with me to the DR (without breaking anything - important!) for our teacher training workshop in Montessori. So, after realizing (pretty instantly) that only about two thirds would fit in suitcases as planned:

we had to think of another option. Sending the remaining materials via embarque. 

For those unfamiliar, an embarque is a shipping company or shipment from a shipping company. Many Dominicans receive things this way from their Stateside families. I’ve seen all kinds of things come into the country by way of embarque - food, clothes, shoes, electronics (both out-dated and brand-new), 80’s Coach bags, baby strollers, bikes, car parts, medications (in English), toiletries (also in English)...I could continue, but you get it. So many things. And what do people do with all this stuff? Use it, sell it, ask the gringa to translate it (note: tiny bottles of shampoo, face lotion, and foot cream all look exactly the same if you can’t understand the label), or give it away. People love to share. :) 

So mid-vacation I found myself in a mini-dilemma - shipping these remaining materials to my site. (Yes - essentially mailing mail to myself. Cute). And to be honest, I didn’t really know how to do this/where to go. So I called a few Dominican friends for help, turned to Google, and discovered something pretty crazy along the way. Turns out there are 10-15 or so embarque companies that ship exclusively to the DR in Boston/Greater Boston. I was shocked about how many companies are in the area, and how frequently each brings shipments to the DR (even learned that some companies bring 4 large shipping containers into the country on a weekly basis - ayy, cuantas cosas!). Bueno, that’s a lot of stuff, but crisis averted. We had a way.

My mom, grandmother and I traveled about ten minutes from our hometown to one of the embarque companies. Passing bodegas with signs in the windows advertising jugo natural and La Bandera, it was pretty plain we were in a Dominican neighborhood. After breaking out Spanish with the Dominican-Americans at the company, I got a little tour of how everything works there. And there is just so much stuff - bikes, furniture, boxes and boxes with who knows what inside, bins of shoes and barrels everywhere. And this is only one company of many just in Massachusetts. Imagine how many other cities all over the country are shipping to the DR on a regular basis? For sure places in NY, NJ, and Philly, por lo menos. Crazy.

very small sampling of the shipments

shipping container...filled with anything you can think of.

And I know its all just a lot of mail, but in part, it speaks to how one community can impact another. Or how you can never be sure what someone will do with what you send their way. Or how just a little from everyone can equal a lot (literally). That’s also how I feel about teacher training. And that’s how I feel about all of you donating to the project to buy the materials, to train the teachers, to develop students’ individual abilities, so that more can learn to read and write. ...We’ll see about all that - but just as these Dominican embarque companies are a community effort, so too was fundraising and getting the Montessori materials to my school in the DR. Thank you, because it wouldn’t have worked without you.

So even though I’ve seen people receive a lot of things via embarques, I was still in awe of just how much stuff is sent to the Dominican Republic from my home state. And how often its all sent. And how this is a business that I didn’t even realize was so expansive. 

In the end though, I sent our embarque to a Dominican friend’s house (I technically don’t have a real address here, as “across from the little pink colmado” probably does not suffice), saving 10 dollars (yay, haggling), and am now left hoping the materials arrive soon. Si Dios lo permite! ...But seriously all, cross your fingers.

To close - a bit of good embarque news: turns out sending oil and rice is completely free of charge! Which actually is good news, since just about every single family here cooks rice on a daily basis. (note: Mom - not an invitation to mail me bags of rice). :D

gracias! cuidense!

XO

Happy early Birthday, Aunt Julie!