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.

Upppppppppdate

Saludos!!! So i assume you are here for an update on my life in the dominican republic verdad?

Well I was out of my site for a month, a week at training, a week in santiago, 4 days in the capital, 2 days in Imbert visiting Chris, a week at an all inclusive resort in puerto plata with lauren and nick, 5 days in luperon during the hurricane at another volunteer, Lori's site, and then i went back to Ranchito for 4 days. Right now i am in the capital to get my phone fixed, which is going to take 3 whole days (god only knows what they are going to do with it) and tonite we are going to a going away party for a dutch girl that Alexis became friends with whos internship is ending and she's flying back to the netherlands tomorrow. So i've been busy, busy lounging and thinking.

In other news. I will be moving out of my house with the crazy lady next week and into my very own house. Right now as you are reading this a man is digging me a hole for a latrine. Then he will build a little house with a seat and a hole to go around it. Its kind of an expensive thing, i mean $50 to dig a hole and even more money to get crappy wood to surround it with, but man o man it will be worth it to have my own crapper. Only friends and family will use it and i will take very good care of it so no one is afraid of it, like the one i go in now, its nasty. Monday i will being going into Santiago to buy a bed and a stove and a barrel to fill with water and 2 tables. So if anyone feels like giving me an early birthday present feel free to contact kim or stef b/c i believe i will be scrapping the barrel to get those things. I was banking on some donations from the townspeople but it seems they are being stingy, or just have no extra beds or stoves to give to me. Stoves are table top stoves here so i will need a table to put that on and a table to eat on oh and maybe i should get a chair. At any rate with or without a stove i will be moving out. I've already bought a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly in anticipation of eating meals of my choice. No more boiled bananas, you best believe that. So that is all very exciting and i do hope it runs smoothly

As for other things, my vacation with lauren and nick was awesome, we had a great time, went to the beach and hung out at the adult pool. We went horse back riding. The food was awesome and so was the air conditioning and hot showers. It was great seeing people from home, it was really comforting to me and i can't wait til my next visitors, mom and dad, get here on the 15th, they are going to be staying with me so they will be in for the time of their lives. haha in a good way of course.

I think thats about it for now. I will update you all again soon. Love and Peace

rock you llike a hurricane

Hi everyone
just giving you the heads up that i´m in standfast mode which means i can´t travel anywhere until monday when hurricane dean has past the dr. Up here in the north of the country we will just be getting some rain but in the south where alot of my friends are they are consolidated into hotels all hunkered down preparing for the worst. I was furious yesterday b-c i had to leave my all inclusive resort with lauren frisbie and nick b-c standfast mode had started and i could have stayed in the hotel til monday if i could have paid for it, but b-c i´m poor i had to leave a day early. i was not a happy girl.

So in other news, my dog perla is no longer with us, she got sick with Parvo and also got hit by a motorcycle, i brought her to the vet, but she passed away over night.

At any rate, things are not getting better or easier here for me here, but i am hanging in, at least til christmas anyway. Luckily mom and dad will be here within the month, so hopefully i will have a house by them b-c they are prepared to rough it!!! I´m excited about that for sure!

Love you all i will write more sooon when i get another chance.

Congratulations GAV on your graduation, you kick butt!!!! love you

oh and i did expect to use the computer right now so i don´t have any pics for you just yet, but i will soon

Mud ball

Hola,

So I made it through my 3 month technical training. It was alot of fun, didn't get too much out of it but being back with the whole group was a blast. One night we turned one of the communal bathrooms into a club, named Club Potty. More than 2/3 of the volunteers were in the bathroom at one time, i of course was dancing on the sink. We also built a wood burning cook stove and with the extra mud from that a couple of us played a not so friendly game of mud ball. Thats me and Kevin playing mudball

So I haven't been back to Ranchito for a week and 5 days. I tried to go back but I just wasn't mentally ready. I really haven't been happy in my site, living with my crazy host mom, struggling with the language, waiting for my house to start getting worked on, dealing with homesickness and complete and udder boredom. Its been a difficult time. Lucky my bestfriend will be here in 8 days!!!! Lauren is bringing alot of clothes and things that i have been missing and so maybe i will feel more complete when i have all that.

Lots of older volunteers say that when you move out of your host families house that it makes all the difference in the world on your sanity and happiness, so i'm really banking on that. I will need to buy alot of stuff to make that house feel like home, you know like a bed and a table and chairs and a stove, pots pans plates and i need a radio with a cd player. When mom and dad come they are going to buy me a hammock so thats exciting. I'm pretty sure i'm going back to Ranchito today to get this process started.

Hope everything is going well at home. On august 15th i will have been in the DR for half a year, FYI. Can't wait to come home!!!!!!! Love you all!!!