Bags of Hope

Wanted to share something! 

It’s called Bags of Hope.

Bags of Hope is a project supporting the NGO, Vision of Hope which works with at-risk girls in Lusaka, Zambia.

Bags of Hope creates and sells handmade bags in the USA, and the purchases help to fund Vision of Hope’s projects in Zambia. Each bag is a unique pattern, roomy, and fully lined with beautiful designs, pockets and buttons. (hi Kathy!) The website was designed by my sister. (hi Sara!)

Check it out - Bags of Hope :)

on the Conde in Santo Domingo with a 'Bag of Hope'

XO

Samana

Post-COS Conference, 9 friends and I went to Samana for the weekend. Wish that this place wasn’t 4+ hours away from my site - I would have gone more frequently in the last 2 years. Thankfully I have visitors coming which is all the reason I need to make a return trip. Thanks, friends :)

First, a picture that isn't from Samana but I thought was nice:

Feb. 23 - Sunset in Santo Domingo during post-COS Conference gathering at our Country Director's house

Now, some of the pictures from a couple beaches we visited in Samana:

Playita, Las Galeras

Panorama of Las Galeras

Arriving by boat to Playa Fronton, Las Galeras

Playa Fronton

Not bad, right? So happy to have made it out here, one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen.

Love and Miss you all. See you sooner than soon. (COS-ing and coming home in less than 3 months! Eeeeek & also so excited)

XO


PS - Happy Birthday, Angela!

KC in the DR!

In case you didn’t get that... KC was here!! 

And it was a fantastic visit. We traveled across the country, made all sorts of friends, and saw the sites. We visited Santiago, Mao, Monte Cristi, Damajagua, Cabarete, and finally, Santo Domingo - a sampling of the northwest, north and of course the capital - all in six days! But this was not all fun and games, mind you, I did put KC to work during the afternoon when she visited my school, (I’m the worst. Sorry, there’s just always a lot to do!), but we had fun. Work hard, play hard and all that jazz. :)

It should be noted that KC is a champ regarding DR culture! By morning one, she was ordering mangu for breakfast, and taking local transportation. She danced bachata and merengue, jumped off waterfalls, drank Dominican super sweet cafecitos, and didn’t even question my judgement when we hopped onto a bus filled with foam cushions, barrels, sacks of rice, and at least 1 chicken during our travels. Always an adventure, and it is so much better shared with a friend! I've been really blessed to have friends share in my experience whether through staying in touch, or coming down to visit - it really is the best. Anyone who knows me even a little could tell you how obsessed I am with my site, my school, and Dominican families, so love to share it all. 

A few of our pictures from the visit and the places we went:

celebrating KC's arrival - bienvenidos a RepDom!

Santiago

view from the monument

Celebrating Student's Day in Mao at IDENE

KC with MA - making friends and influencing people!

view from 2nd floor of school's new talleres building

Monte Cristi

Playa del Morro

27 Charcos in Damajuaga with friends - hiking/jumping off waterfalls!

Cabarete in Puerta Plata

living the life! breakfast on the beach!

nothing but smiles in Cab!

Rinconcito! Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo

las Ruinas de San Francisco, Santo Domingo

Still got a couple months here, so visit again soon, KC! 

Cuidense! :)

XO

Mom Visits & PCDR is 50!

February has been exciting. At the start of the month, Peace Corps celebrated 50 years in the Dominican Republic! Hundreds of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV’s) from past years, some who even served in the first cohort in 1962(!), came back to the DR to celebrate at the anniversary event in Santo Domingo. 

The anniversary conference featured current projects of volunteers, panel discussions, excursion trips for the RPCVs, an artisan fair, and much more! I helped out a couple of days with a volunteer initiative to document and record memorabilia, site locations and project summaries from previous volunteers who have served in the DR. It was fun to meet the RPCVs as they came through our room and see all of their old photos and documents from their days here. During the conference, I even met a volunteer from Boston who not only served in the same Dominican town, but also lived on my same street here in 1962 - how crazy is that?! PCDR is really something awesome - a fact which can be confirmed by my mom, as her visit coincided with the 50th anniversary. :)

Aside from taking part in the wonderful 50th events, meeting the PCDR Worldwide Director, and being in the presence of many generations of volunteers, my mom and I were able to tour Santo Domingo a bit, meet my friends here, as well take a cacao/chocolate making tour in the east (a volunteer’s project!). It was a busy trip, but I think, a really unique time to visit, and, in my opinion, the best way for my mom to have seen Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. 

Enjoy the pics!

a night out to dinner with RPCV's from the 1960's

Amber's presentation, featuring IDENE and our school's teacher training initiatives in Mao

larimar for sale at the artisan fair

new murals in Hacienda Hernandez - volunteer lounge name dedication to PCDR's first director

with worldwide Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams at the US Embassy

Ambassador's Reception at the Embassy

first public transportation experience in the capital...jammed 7 to a sedan - and loving it!

peace! from the overpacked carro publico

Colonial Zone

artwork spotted along the way... sums up the local DR travel experience

Colonial Zone

fabulous 50th logo on the cake!

during the chocolate tour

all the steps from cacao to chocolate

sampling the finished chocolate :)

Coincidentally, exactly two years ago today (March 3rd), this happened, and we all met Director Williams for the first time!

Take care, all.

XO

All Over the Place.

Holas.

This post is a bit unorganized, and comes to you in the form of a recap of January and early February happenings. It is all over the place, and features a medley of two months of travel and fun things in my town crammed into one post...so, sorry. :) The posts that follow will be better than this one! Quizas. Here’re early 2012 highlights:

• Saint Anselm hosted another NH Primary debate. And on a related note - I hosted my first (and probably only) NH Primary watch party...meaning Dominican friends and I watched the debates online live on the St. A’s website. Naturally this was in English, so I also played translator so everyone could know what was going on. One of my friends even paid attention until the very end - such a good sport. Anyway, this was a noteworthy evening as 1. now I know who the Republican candidates are, and 2. my Dominican friends know what my college’s gym and lecture hall looked like. A good time had by all.
• In January the DR had a bunch of earthquakes measuring between 4-6 something on the Richter Scale. One of the earthquakes even had an epicenter in my site! With so many earthquakes (think I counted more than 7 that month?), odds are I had to feel one, right? And I did - January 2012 marked my first (and as of now, only) earthquake experience! 
• About a month and a half ago I finally moved to my new house. This switch has turned out to be an upgrade and downsize all at once as I’m paying less than half the rent of my old place, and the new house is 3x’s the size as the old one. I don’t really need the space, but its nice to save the pesos, claro.
• The Augilas (eagles), who are the Cibao’s baseball team, were in the prelim rounds in the Dominican series. It was exciting as the majority of my town supports the Augilas. Here’s a video of the reaction in my town immediately after one of the winning games:

• Also, I went to the disco in my site with Dominican friends and taught one of them how to dance bachata. Bachata is a DR dance that everyone (or so I thought) knows. This lesson doesn’t really speak to my dancing skills as much as it does beg the question... um, what do you mean you can’t bachata? Pero ven aca, muchacho!

And now, photos from January and February: 

Minnie's older sister, Blanca! ...same smile:)

the cutest!

Min's valentine from Stateside sis, Ellie

Thanks, Ellie! :)

Valentine's Day snacks in Maternal class

Elisa visited and prepared a feast! also: my first time ever cooking meat. (yes, believe it).

Natasha and I arranging chairs at Jess's literacy graduation

los graduados! 

America's next top (Dominican canine) model.

school-wide movie viewing of "Tangled"

Teacher of the Month for January - feliciades! 

a line dance bachata-style for Claire's birthday in her site!

La Caya

touring the new UASD (university) in Mao

happy birthday!

More soon, thanks for reading! and Happy Leap Year Day!

XO