Happy Birthday to ME!

My first birthday phone call- it was jerry

with the boys Sal and Pepa
Sal and Pepa
My birthday present!!!

Me looking cool on the beach- with my sea urchin

Its a manicure set!! So necessary!!!

I´m 24 now!

girls rock

I forgot to mention, Stephanie, the other girl in my agroforestry group has early terminated her service, so this means that I am the last girl in the group. Also because they are cutting the program this coming year, our group being the last Ag-4 group, I will be the last agroforestry girl FOREVER in the history of the Peace Corps Dominican Republic. Holler!!!!

gobble gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!
This year thanksgiving is definately going to be different for me, but i expect it to be fun, especially since I am in charge of the entertainment for the day. So far we have planned: a bachata/merengue dance competition, talent show, dating show, and of course and in promptu gobbling contest. haha It should be a blast. We of course will be eating turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. I plan to take lots of pictures so i'll get those up as soon as i can.
So last week i was in my site without a cell phone. It was rough, but i survived. One day my boss from the peace corps stopped by and we chatted. I complained about my project partners, who if you don't know, have been completely unhelpful, stressful, and annoying. Everything that I said about they Alberto totally agreed with. He advised me to go ahead and start on my own projects, talk to my project partners about needing to do my own projects, and to just dont' let my stress build up to the point where i can't handle it anymore. I felt alot better after talking to him. He also came to check the safety and security of my house, on which it failed miserablely. I need to cover the cracks in my walls, put bigger sliding dead bolt locks on my windows and doors and put the cement floor in the kitchen area.
I'm making a special Christmas present for you all right now. You'll love it!

PICS

My main man - Jefe
Another foster dog - Lechoza, she's here to stay
I love this picture- It says "get out Yankees" in red. I think my smile says "I'm not going anywhere"
Estoy volando - flying in Luperon
Cooling off in Lori's baby pool

Hurricane Numero 2

So it rained for 6 days straight in my mountain, on the 5th day PC called and standfasted us, which means no traveling. Turns out Santiago was flooded and about 108 people died across the country. I stayed in my house for 5 days without going outside. I was going crazy. 2 days the electricity neglected to show its face at all. I've never experienced such boredom. Lets just say I swept the floor alot and took frequent naps. I didn't even go to Lola's house b/c besides the rain the wind la brisa was fuerte. I felt like the pig from the 3 little pigs that lives in the stick house and at any moment my house was going to come crashing down on top of me. You know if the huff and puff of the big bad wolf had the force of hurricane blows. One night one of my windows blew open, I felt like I was on that ship in the movie The Perfect Storm and I was fighting to close it to save my life. So all this time "trunca'o en su fortaleza" (closed off in your fort) as the old man says, I lost track of the days of the week. I was sure it was friday but needed confirmation, so I called Lori and over the extreme static told me that it was in fact Monday. haha Thats when i started to go a lil wacky. My walls were so wet they looked like they were bleeding, everything was becoming moldy, my matches to light my stove and oil lamp were so damp it took 20 tries to get just one lit and it was monday not friday.
Finally on thursday i was allowed by PC to leave my house and my mountain and i jumped on that opportunity to go to Luperon (Loris site) to play yatzhee with her and chris and just be dry and warm again. So the morning before I left i was cleaning up my house and tying up loose ends with the neighbors and what not, because they take care of my dogs when i'm gone. Anyway I was washing my dishes in my big bowl of water that they were soaking in over night and i was fishing in the bottom for any silverware when i grabbed something squishy and fuzzy. Immediately I knew, It was a mouse! A drowned mouse. Now I was pretty nonchalent about it because I'm the man of the house. So i took the bowl outside and dumped it and sure enough there was a drowned, bloated mouse, and i just squeezed it and washed my dishes in the very same water.

I must tell you all about my new project description. I have a few titles that I have earned through my time here. I am a dectective. I enjoy investigating unusual situations in this country and finding missing items (dective is my side job). So for my primary titles, 1. exterminator: I kill every cocroach, spider, mosquito, and ant that i can slap with either my hand or my flop flop with no fear and complete determination. 2. doctor: I have diagnosed alexis with slight ADD along with obsessive compulsive tendencies (if you knew the guy you would agree), Chris with not the fungus, but scars from bug bites, and Lori with an extreme allergy to dominican limes. 3. Home Health nurse: Chris had a severe case of mono and i stayed with him for 4 days in the hospital and 1 day at the pen, Now I am in the capital taking care of Lori and her claw hands, opening things, dressing her, and other random duties, i'm her substitute hands.

I believe thats all for now. I am very excited to come home. And i know you are all patiently awaiting my arrival as well.

LOVE YOU

mom and dad

Hola!

So its been a while... Mom and Dad were here and they totally survived and toughed it out with me no problem, and i believe they had an awesome time. It felt really great to share my life with them because words can not describe what the experience is like. Its just something that you have to see. I hope I can share it with more of my loved ones as well. We also went to some beautiful beaches, drank alot of coffee and hung out. Mom only had one moment when she was ready to "check out" of El Ranchito, after a spider lunged at her in the latrine. haha Boy did i have a good laugh. And Dad got adopted by the man across the way who rolled him his own cigars. When we brought the old man a bag of coffee, his reaction was enough to bring tears to both mine and moms eyes. Its those little things that really keep me going here. The neighbors can't wait til Mom and Dad come back.

In other news, now i have my own bed, stove, and hammock, thanks to mom and dad. I am fostering Margarets dog Caoba. Things are going better, i'm just counting down the days until i come home for christmas... 77 days.

Howdy! So its been a rollercoaster over here. This past week i moved into my own house, its got 3 rooms- bedroom, living room/dining room, and a dirt floor kitchen soon to be cement floor- and my latrine out back is now complete! ----->

Lola lent me a bed that is propped up on paint cans and i have yet to buy a stove so when i don't eat with the neighbors, peanut butter and jelly is my main food source. I got a kitten, he's all black and i named him Jefe (boss in spanish) b/c he lets me know when i can sleep with all his mewing and clawing.

Mom and Dad are due to arrive on SATURDAY!!! I'm so excited, they are in for a treat. While they are here with their rented jeep we are going to buy a bed, stove, and materials to build a few tables. We are also going to eat typical dominican food (rice, beans, chicken, and plantains), go to the cock fight, hike up to the peak of my mountain, and visit the playa. Should be a blast.

Ok so heres a story for you... The other night the power was out and i wanted to go use the latrine before i went to bed. I couldn't find my flashlight because my things are still all packed up, so i'm walking around with an oil lamp and was deciding if i should leave it in the kitchen or take it all the way out with me. I was about to put it on the ground in the kitchen, when i spotted a TARANTULA, and it spotted me too as it walked quickly towards me. I immediately screamed and ran in the living room where it wasn't. My first thought was that i needed a picture, but that only lasted about 5 minutes when i realized, I'm living alone and there is a tarantula in my house. So i threw open the front door and luckily my old neighbor was right there on his way over to talk to me about avacados, i grabbed him and made him get it. At first he couldn't find it and i felt like a fool, then he did find it and killed it. But geez all mighty it was scary!! Didn't know i had those buggers in the mountain!!!

The agroforestry group (minus jake and stephanie). Margaret is coming tomorrow to pick up her stuff and say goodbye as she has been medically seperated. Because she was my best peace corps friend i am really sad and am going to miss her terribly, but we willl stay in touch forever and ever.