hey guys,
i don´t have alot of time cuz the power is out and we are only allowed 30 minutes b-c the inverter is on, they run on car batteries. Anywho, everthing is good here, tomorrow we are going to an organic coffee plantation. I will hopefully have more time later this week. Perhaps I will have to go into town again this weekend. Love everyone and miss the internet

Pobrecita Margharita

HOLA!
It has been raining like crazy here. Downpouring almost twice everyday. That has been effecting our power supply, so i haven't been on the internet all week. Right now i'm in town (Jarabacoa). Me and 2 other americanos got a ride down here with a host family member but we have to take motchoncos (motorcycle taxis) home. Funnn, if it rains they charge triple, so like close to 200 pesos to go back home, its only like 10 or 15 minutes too.
This week at la escuela nacional forestale we were working in the vivero (tree nursery). We learned how to graft, germinate seeds, prepare dirt and fertilizer, seed collection and alot of other thangs. Everything was explained in spanish, so i know how to do everything, but the background of why is a little fuzzy. oh well.
I found a doggie on thursday, she was near where we have spanish class and we became friends of course. Then she followed me around for the rest of the day. I left her at school that night and in the morning she was waiting there. She proceeded to follow me everywhere. The dominicanos hate her, but i like her. I named her Margharita. And i say. Pobrecita Margharita (poor little margharita). Oh and she loves to chase butterflies, i don't know how i found another animals that likes to chase maryposas but i did. She and Lmno would get along great. I'm contimplating whether or not i should bring her back to Santo Domingo and then to my site with me or if they will take care of her at school. We shall see.

Ok, more next week

ropa interior

It rains alot here, especially at night. And the sound of rain on the tin roof is so soothing. Sometimes a rain drop sneaks in but usually its dry. There is a lizard that lives in or on one of the cross beams in my room i think. I´ve seen him twice, the first time i saw him he pooped on my floor while he was hanging from the ceiling. That wasn´t too pleasant, lizard poop looks like bird poop. I´ll be mad if he does that again.

I need to wash my ropa interior aka underwear. Apparently it is disrespectful for the woman of the house to wash another womens underwear. So she washes my pants and shirts about twice a week, but my underwear has just been building up. Fortunately I brought about 20 pairs, so i´m not running out but i dont´want it to come down to that. Tomorrow i have to do a presentation in spanish about the interviews i did in the community on saturday morning with the other 2 guys in my community, so today and tonite i will prepare for that. but hopefully tomorrow night i will get my ropa interior washed. The last time i washed my underwear was at my house in santo domingo, i used 3 buckets of water, one with soap and 2 to rinse. It was a pain in the buttocks.

Tonite we have an evening session with the peace corps nurse and our tech trainer, Eli who is a great guy, is bringing us PIZZA for dinner, that will be the highlight of my day!!!!

tanto decir, tan poco tiempo

Hey guys, i dont´have much time now b-c i have to go to a health sessions with the peace corps nurse tonite. Anyway the weekend was great I have alot to tell but can´t describe it all in these 5 minutes that i have, there will be pics up soon of the waterfalls. I miss everyone, and thanks crimandos for commenting, it makes me happy that you guys have commenting capabilities haha. I love your comments too, you make me smile.

ok until next time

Aralen Fog

Hola!
Its lunchtime. Today we worked on our garden. I was in a fog all morning, which is becoming a trend the morning after i take my weekly dose of Aralen, the anti-malarial medicine. I´m going to start taking it on the weekend so i´m not in the fog during training. Another side effect of Aralen is ¨technicolor dreams¨. They are supposed to be really crazy and seem really real. I´ve heard alot of peoples, but i havén´t experienced any yet so far. Sometimes i wake up and feel like i´ve just hung out with the people in my dream, but besides that nothing. I´m going to try again next week, and every week after that.

Tomorrow we have to start our practice community diagnostic. I have to go to 7 houses and ask them questions about the community, like population, facilities, their income and education level. Just really annoying questions. When i get to my actual site i will be glad to do it b-c i will have an actual interest in the community and the people but for practice i´m not into it. Oh well its all a part of training.

After i´m done with that around noonish. We are going the waterfallls. I´ll def. have pics of that for you all. Then there is a party at a house in my community where another volunteer is staying. That should be fun, i guess there is a crazy uncle louigie. haha

Last night for dinner i had Mangoo for the first time. And no thats not mango. Its mushed up, kinda pureed bananas or plantains i´m not sure which one, with garlic and cheese and onions. It was actually really good. Like cheesy mashed potatoes.

Ok til next week... PEACE

1 month in country!!!

Hi guys,
So I´ve been here in the DR for 1 month!!!! Feels gooood. Only 26 left!!
Today was an exciting day. I saw my first TARANTULA. We were working in the field and it was walking along, It was soooo much bigger than the ones in the pet store. It was very cool but i did get the heebie jeebies. After that we cleared a field with yolked oxen and the old fashioned plows. The oxen spoke spanish, well understood spanish. Those things whipped me around. My arms are so tired and my legs as well.

If you guys wanna see a video of our agforestry group introducing ourselves I HAVE JUST THE THING... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd6l2OBWrhg

There are also pictures from today, but i can´t seem to find them right now. I´´ll investigate that tomorrow.

I am so dirty and smelly right now. Its alot cooler here in the mountains than in santo domingo. I use a blanket at night and keep the window closed. I also bought a pair of sweatpants yesterday in town, but they are dominican sweatpants. Which means they are TIGHT! haha I got a size grande too cuz i was afraid of that. But thats ok i suppose, they keep me warm at night. I also wear one of my tiny jackets during spanish class, cuz the breeze is muy fresca.

Last night for dinner i had boiled bananas and eggplant mush. But before that when our tech trainer took us into town I had a slice of pizza. MMM. We fit 11 people into a toyota SUV it was hilarious, but didn´t feel abnormal b-c thats how they do it here. Oh and this morning we got a ride in the back of a random pickup truck with about 15 dominican kids on the way to school. It was great. I hope they stop for us everyday!!!

hoy

Today in tech. training we sharpened our machetes then dug out baby banana trees to replant. I worked so hard trying to keep the roots on and as it turned out we chopped them off anyway. I guess bananas are like a super plant, they can sprout roots on command. So now there are a bunch of banana plant stubs soaking in a concoction of pesticides and fungicides with a sprinkle of hormones. Then we chopped down the biggest bamboo ever and we are going to build a fence tomorrow! I have to share my bed tonite with another volunteer. the one i visited last weekend. She is teaching us how to build a fence and my host family now was her host family last year when she was training. I hope we have something good for dinner. Rice and Beans is my guess.

Let me know if this set up works for you all.

Just setting up

HEY Friends and Family,
I set this up for uuuuuuuuu to keep in touch with me and with each other!!! Love you alll