Campo Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
(Termondt Family Pic 2008)














It's been a rollercoaster for the past few weeks. I've been super excited about my parents coming, super busy building the outdoor bathroom and tying up ends, and also unfortunately trying to come to terms with the fact that I won't get the chance to tell Gramps thank you again for the massive loads of chocolate he kept sending me and the advice on resources to tap into for the aqueduct project. He passed away last week unexpectedly and it has been the most difficult thing I've dealt with at my site. I want everyone to know what an incredible guy he was, which you can't accurately put into a little blog post. He was a major influence and inspiration for my doing Peace Corps. I am so lucky to have had him as a grandfather and know that he is proud of me. I'll miss you alot Grandpa.



Here is a quick photo reel of the family up in the campo. We went to a cock fight on Christmas day itself which I wasn't expecting but ended up being quite an event (Roosters don't die and it wasn't as bad as I thought. The most entertaining thing is watching my Dominican guy friends going INSANE.)

Wish I had pics of this too - Mom tried really hard to communicate and got a lesson in Bachata. I love my mom, she's such a gem. We weren't able to make it out to dance but did literally everything else possible in two days. The community LOVED them and I assuredly will come back and be asked for the rest of always 'When is your family coming back Sarah!?' They loved Dad who was handing out cigars as if he'd just had quintuplets.















In the living room with the bearded brother being festive



















Carina! Infront of our 'Usa su propia bulto' 'Don't use plastic bags' poster.
















Bija, Jim, and Dad. That is me talking on the phone in the corner haha.




















Mom, Dad, and Bija infront of the 'Greenhouse'
















Church music on Christmas morning
















Me and Jimmers!
















First SQUASH! SCORE!
















Basil - kicking ass. Tomatos in the background.
















My view with Christmas morning fog



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AUNT JENNA!

Hope you all are doing well and Happy New Year 2010!
Sooner,
Sarah

Scuba Diving in December

This is a Lionfish. He is an exotic species and can sting you.





Today I was a fish. I am taking a scuba diving class to get my certification! I went to a sunken ship wreck at around 60 ft and we saw a bunch of stuff and it was GREAT! I saw the lion fish and shrimp and damselfish and butterfly fishes. I highly recommend getting certified because you have an entirely different experience from snorkeling when you can really get down there with the fishies. They give a discount to PC Volunteers which is great (only 230 bucks for open water dive to 60 ft), and then we will eventually be able to help out with Reef Check – an organization that has locations all over the country that need help with things like fish counts, buoy cleanings, and coral reef checks. I thought this was an awesome opportunity and therefore am aprovecharing (taking advantage). It is really important to take a class – there are basic things you need to know that are easy but don’t come naturally. The dive instructor told me that I appear very comfortable underwater. I liked that alot :)

My parents are coming really soon now! My whole community is really excited to meet them and I’m really excited to show them stuff. I feel like a 4 year old a little bit. I’m also excited to go to Cabarete to vacation. I’m going to read and sleep and eat good food and dance. I also hope I might be able to go diving. We'll see.

Here is an update of the garden! I've 90% finished it beside the fence around. The tomatos are doing great as are the squash. Basil are taking their time. One carrot bed is up and kicking while the other isn't which was confusing. I couldn't get zuchs or lavender or some of my marigolds to germinate which was weird. My mint also isn't doing great. Yet it is still a lot of fun. This week we learned that you can apply a little wood ashes to tomato plant leaves if you have a problem with flea beetles which I definitely did. The kids went and got the ashes from a neighboring Dona's fogon (Wood cook stove), then we sprayed on my garlic spray and gently applied ashes. They seem to be retaining the info from the gardening classes easily which is cool. They know alot already. The literacy club is also going well. I have abotu 5 really dedicated kids, one of which who can't read at all (9 year old) and they really like the books and participating. I really like the club now too because the kids are sweethearts and it is just really fun playing with them. I did get in an argument with a straggler student who came in and was really...well just not very pleasant to work with - and we argued over the existence of witches. Ben tells me, well Sarah, they might have that here. Ben was not helping that day.

I've got to study for my test! I love you all and hope you have a very Very Merry Holiday. I'll post more pics soon of me scuba diving or making faces.

Love,

Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Here are some pictures of my garden. It is basically my most favorite thing. I've been showing kids the plants and people walking by ask about the raised beds and I talk to them about the organic pesticides we can use to deal with local pests. Therefore it is a little project in itself. Dominicans though have told me that they (ie their neighbors) are too lazy to do their own hortilizas like mine. I'm hoping at least the organic pesticides could catch on a little. People don't spray so much in my community because it is Organic Cacao but I've still seen some of these backpack pesticide cases and the masks. It's a dirty business. I overheard some other volunteers near Pico Duarte talking about how they lost a community member to spraying chemicals without using shoes or a mask and having direct contact.

I've also built some Bird houses recently and I'm hoping to get a bird appreciation aspect going in my site. They kill the birds with sling shots and I think it is actually due to a lack of other things to hunt (no real game besides gallos). There was a meeting given around Nagua regarding Carbon credits, paying Dominicans, and protecting natural habitat for migratory birds. I hope a project can develop from that. I'm in the office right now and am looking for a bird call CD.

I went with the other volunteers to the Thanksgiving celebration which was hosted in a country club in Santo Domingo. It was actually really nice. I got to swim and play soccer and see lots of people. It was sort of bittersweet though because being around Americans always sort of makes me miss my friends and my family. Other volunteers say it makes them less homesick but I've got pretty cool friends and family so it's hard to compete :)

Check out this centipede. Bija is my little hunter. Speaking of which I miss him like a ridiculous cat person. I am thinking of spending the night again in the Capital so I can play music with Mica and Claire (i got to play piano for the first time in country yesterday and it was so nice).

Cabbage Loopers suck

This is a cabbage looper. He sucks. I think he is the one eating all my sunflowers and basil leaves.


I made an organic pesticide using a recipe PC gave us. Garlic, Vinegar, and Jabon de cuava diluted in a bunch of water. It seems to be working but I am still finding a few and hand picking them.

Any suggestions?


Pics of my hortiliza next time! I am sore from digging raised beds but it's a good sore. The garden is in the shape of a rectangle which I've staked off with the help of some of my kids. The town drunk actually took it upon himself to pick up the earth which is fully of huge rocks, clay and historical relics from the previous Dominican tenants otherwise known as basura. I don't know why, but I like pulling the rocks out. It's hard and a great sense of accomplishment when you get a big one out. Maybe Dentists understand? Haha, I hope not. Half of the rectangle has tomato, basil, carrots, lavender with random pockets of marigolds just in case nematodes make their way in. The other half will be dedicated to zucs, squash, onions, garlic, and I'm thinking pepinos (cukes). Pepino is a cute name for a cat. Everyone gives me crap because I named Bija - Bija - and he's a boy. People are actually asking me daily how Bija is doing. I always tell them fine - and when I'm feeling up to it I say, he's still pissed at me from the whole castration ordeal and the nibbling has improved but it's still an issue.

I really love looking outside my window to the garden - it's a beautiful start to the mornings.

Also - a treat for my parents. In my last cooking class, Nana (Arianny) taught us how to make Orange Wine. I has hesitant being that it is in my nature but once I tried the final product I decided to make some! Home brewin!? Moonshine anyone? Dominicans love it - they buy the stuff like crazy for Christmas.
Here's the recipe (pa' que sepa):

VINO de NARANJA - Orange wine
10-12 Naranjas de Jugo (They have 3 names for oranges and I can't tell the difference from outter appearance for the life of me. These ones those are specifically good for Juice and sweet. Just not tart tart apparently.)
Equal amount of water to juice
2 Tablespoons of levadura (Yeast)
5 cucharons de azucar (equivalent to about 1/2 pound of sugar. Dominicans have no fear of Diabetes. Ie do less sugar....I'd say around 5-8 tbs but just until it's like sweet to you.)

Mix all together. Pour into container and top with cheese cloth and rubber band. Let sit for 15 days and then strain if desired. Then let sit for a month and it's ready to serve.

I put it in 2 wine bottles. Lets see what Mom thinks of it. I think she'll like it emborrachar de una vez. Joking.

Hope all is well
Love,
Sarah

A HUGE THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL BOOKS AND CARE PACKAGES. I immediately started the Story of Sushi Nana and it's great. THANK U MOMMY. Rechargable batteries are incredible. Like incredible. I should start some sort of project with the PC volunteers to get them rechargable batteries and Diva cups - both incredibly environmentally friendly products. The pants are wonderful Jenna! The underwear fit Lea! THANK U!

Pavo

Happy November!
(This turkey is from last Thanksgivers at Jen and Dave's. Turkeys can just work the converse.)

I made it into the capital this week for a Spanish language training course and also to get Bija his 2nd series of vacs/flea champu! I am back at Dona Roma’s house for a week which is really nice because she is definitely my favorite homestay Dona and they are also letting me keep Bija here while I go to class every day. At the same time it is a very weird feeling being back here and also realizing I have been in country nearly 8 month. A group of us were actually giving advice to the newest group of sworn in volunteers and that was really odd. I am still grateful for the internet time and being able to Skype with the parents.

It’s good seeing the other volunteers as always. I feel like I have met some really good people here and made some great friends. You can get a wonderful sense of validation (that even u didn’t know that you were secretly seeking) along with a bunch of colorful ideas and stories. I love seeing the other projects that people are working on. It is almost always in a non-competitive manner with my group – much more of a check out the basic design and see if you can replicate in your site idea swap.

We are doing language training right now – I am ranked higher on the spectrum and had to request to be in the class and yet I definitely have a cloudy understanding of a lot of things. I don’t see this week clarifying much honestly but I think it will motivate me into self study. I do feel like I can understand my Dona much better than when I arrived though – she was telling me great stories about her childhood and how she was a ‘Maria Macho’ (tom-boy) who liked to run and play baseball right in there with the big boys and also was an accomplished ranch hand who knew her way around a lasso. Seriously, don’t mess with Donas. You never know where they’ve been.

I had a fun Halloween this year. I dressed up as a Pulpo (Octopus). I made 4 tentacles out of some extra foam I had bought with my sofa foam, a cut up black shirt, Petal sewing machines in Eva’s site, bottle caps to look like suction cups so people wouldn’t think I was a spider and a belt I found. I totally copied this idea from my little cousin Maddie I think. Just had the belt with four tentacles – then put on a black long sleeve shirt and pants and therefore had 4 more tentacles –and math doesn’t lie, that’s 8. Kiri braided my hair in a billion little braids too. The volunteers just hung out at a hotel and I skipped ‘de club’ because I’ve realized I really am fourty. Nana says I always have been. I tend to agree.

Just got to my mailbox and THANK YOU AGAIN for the package/letter love. It is so nice. Thank you especially to Lea and Mateo, Nana and Grandpa, and Mom. Lea bought me underwear. She misses me. I miss her too but don’t tell her.

My Dona just told me that you can put Amonium Hydroxide on your Magi bites and it will remove it in a second. I don’t know how I feel about that yet. I have to look up how much damage that is doing to my body. She knows her stuff though generally.

Right now I am working on a few grants to help my community get cement bags and painting materials to fix the condition of the cancha court as well as to do a mural project with my kids. I wanted the mural to correspond to the installation of painted trashcans in my community but I’m working on it….the neighboring town Mayor would be the one to donate them generally so I want to see if that option is open to me before I spend any grant money on trashcans which might not be used (as is the case of many other volunteers).

I have been currently thinking – the things I thought would be the most difficult in the country aren’t really turning out to be any problem at all. You just adjust. Your body can do it after enough time just as long as you aren’t a total burro and refuse to take a bucketbath. What is difficult then? Cultural differences. A lack in validation for your work and an excess of personal opinion on your physical appearance. A lack of personal boundaries and an excess of self doubt. A lack of light and an excess of guineo? Hah. I did have an amazing moment after advertising the cancha to some of my new neighbors and the woman told me ‘Wow, Thank you’ which at this point made the whole struggle worth it because it made me that happy that someone said that. Fellow volunteers help a lot too when it comes to making you feel good. So do friends and family.

I AM SO EXCITED to have my family come out and check out life here. That is going to rock. I’m trying to build a better place for everyone to shower until then. I hope the garden is looking cool too. Speaking of which let me put this for Nana and anyone else interested. It’s a little drawing of my house layout so the pictures make a little more sense. Or you could just come visit me and see…it’s better. (Click on the picture to see it better)

Mark, Ben and Tamara came up to visit (which was ridiculously great) and they were my first visitors. Bija loved having uncles around and it was just so nice to have company. It was also really awesome that Mark described my house to Leeann as ‘Tricked out’. I don’t understand his language sometimes, being the guttural northern California it is – but she explained to me that it means pretty freaking cool. Score! I think it is too – I had a great time making it. Almost done with the bamboo doors for the cabinets and I’m spending any extra energy I have on my garden and reading up about gardening. I’m making humming bird feeders, bird houses, and was considering Toad homes to help serve as Organic Pesticides. I also was reading about how Basil can serve as a natural Mosquito repellent. It has got to be the best plant ever I swear. Repellent and pesto in one night...I mean COME ON! Nobel Plant prize right there.

We’re heading into the capital today for a little fun – to the modern art museum and then to a movie. I am very excited. I’m also excited to go to the Peace Corp office again and mail off a bunch of letters I have written and was storing at my site. Thanks again for reading! Hope all is going splendifically!
Love,
Sarah

Bija the kitty

Greetings!

It's been a long time and I've got a chunk to update but don't have much time at the moment so hopefully pictures will tell some stories. I am in El Factor visiting Mark, Ben, Leeann and Bekah at the moment and we're heading into Nagua today to have some American time and visit the beach for approximately the 3rd time since I've been to this country haha. I'm having Mark, Tamara, Ben, and Eva come up to see my finished house afterwards too which I'm horribly excited about! I finally finished everything and am very proud of how the house looks now. Just need to get the bathroom situation in order and then it'll be ready for American guests haha - volunteers don't count because they are used to using latrines.

Here is a picture of Bija. He is a little toasted marshmellow that likes to run around my house and has a slight biting problem...but is full of love and very fun. Que chamakito!

Also a pic of the cancha! The volleyball net is now up and running and we fundraised money for a volleyball using my cooking course and selling the cookies after church. So far the donas have learned Sugar cookies with passionfruit jam, Banana cookies, and coconut bars. Here is also a pic of my Donas with some treats. Next week they are going to teach me arroz con dulce.

I also have a reading club with some struggling students in my community. It's going really well and the kids are loving it - we are also utilizing the library that the previous volunteer had worked hard to get donations for but nobody was really taking advantage of.

Ok that's about all for now. Just so everyone knows - MY ADDRESS IS THE SAME! No fears. It is still lovely to get letters, won't ever not be. Also Nag champa incense which helps repel the mosquitos. I did have Dengue and am totally fine because it wasn't a bad case...just don't want to repeat it. I am totally fine - no worries. It was actually an awesome trip into the capital - no hospital, just a sweet hotel room!

Love you all and hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Sarah

Ingrid Michaelson

http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/

Ingrid Michaelson
New Album 'Everybody' is very good! Open up music player and check it out.
Thanks to Bay for the recommendation!

House pics

Bookshelf! Painted and made out of free wood Manolito was throwing away!


















Armario! Dresser made out of cheap ferreteria wood (wood they were throwing away!)

My counter and cabinets - Made out of a combination of thrown away wood for the legs, cheap hardware wood and then also I paid for the surface wood. Then I varnished it with two coats and painted the legs and I think it looks nice now. I need to make barstools for the bar (which you can partially see on the right) for when my Donas come in....but I might not want to risk it and just buy stools, I don't want any injuries. Also you can see my little mini fridge and a corner of my horno that I painted black and looks much better now. I also plan on putting bamboo doors on the cabinets. I put a little drawer under the counter that rolls on soda bottle caps to put flatware and oddball utensils in that is working out pretty well right now.
Love you all!
Sarah


All for now!

Working on the house

Ok so I spent the last week moving into my new house and making it mine! The house was completely empty inside and therefore I spent most of my time being ‘chica curiosa’ making a big kitchen counter, book case, cabinets, and basically shelves of a dresser. I had a lot of fun making everything and it was actually wonderful to have the alone time and just be able to do things without running commentary. I still need to buy and cover the other half of the sofa, make a dining table, and I’m thinking I need another sort of craft shelf for the yoga/work room. Yet I wake up in the morning and am very happy when I look outside my room to my pretty kitchen.

I also have unfortunately woken up to the landlord in the backyard tending to all the cacao…realizing now that I’m living on his conuco (his farm plot) and that basically the rules of privacy just don’t apply here. I told him that I need privacy and that I’m going to reinforce the fence around the house but I don’t think he realized that I was referring directly to him. Dominicans have no sense of personal boundaries – like I’ll have my gate closed and door closed – normally a fairly uninviting sight and yet I am constantly being met at my back window with people going under the gate to look into my house. I am hoping it is because I just moved in and people and not something that will go on for the next 2 years. There is also a neighbor, a married 16 year old that seems to have a little something weird with her, who likes to watch me work for like 2 hr chunks and I’ve finally told her that I need personal space. They also take all my fruit! Needless to say I am a little burned about this and I don’t really have a problem with reinforcing the gate. Yes I realized a huge part of Dominican culture is sharing but….I was raised American and between the hours of 6 pm and 9 am I would like privacy and nobody should ever be in my backyard.

I made guava syrup which I plan to put on pancakes when I get back to my site! I need to go to the supermarket and get the stuff. I made sugar cookies to thank Mata and they turned out ok! I love my horno, it is amazing.

I was fairly frustrated this week and am now glad to be in the Capital. My Junto de Vecinos leader, Jose, was being how do I say…a jerk. He actually said in front of all the meeting after I had given them a little update on what I had been up to, plans, and what I need help with – well he told them that I need to be a little bit more aggressive with what I’m doing in the community because apparently he’s not seeing the results. I was obviously caught off guard by this and responded by saying – well what is it exactly that you are looking for from a single person? He apparently thinks I am supposed to change the attitude of the kids in the community to be respectful and hardworking and driven (which might be a problem because I dunno the adults in community aren’t really leading by example). I then went over to Jose’s house to try to get him to answer a few questions for a grant I am working on for our aqueduct project and after getting to the bottom line I calculated that in actuality they need over a million pesos (closer to 50 grand US) and are in a serious amount of debt with the hardware stores. He also explained to me during my recap of costs that they had been paying Haitian workers much less and I asked him if he thought that was fair and basically he told me that’s just the way things work with a little smile. That is just crap by the way. Dominicans really don’t like Haitians and that’s all I’m going to say about that for right now.

I’m frustrated because the aqueduct project is much less feasible to finish now. My project plans are slipping slowly thru the cracks. It will get better I hope. I am planning to do a few cooking workshops in my house – trying to emphasize the importance of not using plastic bags to help cook your rice and boiling water – while simultaneously playing with jams and cookies to see if we can fundraise for a volleyball for the cancha (they told me they’d really put up the poles for it today so let’s see when I get back...). I’m also going to print out some map mural grids to see if the kids are interested in that project for the library.

And for a little cheese with this whine.

I just got a stellar care package from Reedly and I am eating peanut butter pretzels. Life is good. I am also wearing my new threadless t-shirt from Nana and I love it! Thank you so much!

I am in the Capital this weekend for committee weekend but I haven’t found anything I want to join quite yet. I am just enjoying seeing people here and the running water. I might go to the marine interest group to see about getting scuba certified with a real trainer for cheap but I sort of have a fear of scuba diving! I don't like idea of having to acclimate to the pressure!

Will post pics soon!
Love,
Sarah

Few new pics

Mata's Kitchen! Where we hang out most of the time













Mata checking out the rice and corn on our front porch













View from my new house!














Front view of my new house! I'll add better pics when i have more time!
Love,
Sarah

Moving Soon!

Greetings!

I think I now have a bit to update. I’m moving at the end of this month into the little casita I had been hoping for! That is the good news. The last few weeks I haven’t had too much to do besides get the house in order and by that I mean dealing with the landlord (I’ll explain that in a second) and making furniture for the house since they are leaving it completely barren. When I say completely barren I mean it – like they were even thinking about taking the electrical wiring, sockets, and outlets - because apparently it is the current tenant’s personal property. We worked it out where I’ll reimburse them to keep it but yea? Yeah!
I personally think the house is great and that I got really lucky! The pros– it has a tamarindo, guayaba, limon, platano, coco, café, cacao, peppers, beans, and even a little pineapple (called Ahnana in Kreole by the way) already there! I am stoked about that. There is also enough room for a larger garden and a side herb garden. There is a great view from the backside of the house you can walk 20 feet to get to. There is also cell phone signal from the top of one of the windows so that is amazing. The two closest neighbors are Donas Fuertes so if anyone messes with me I just yell out to them - and one of the even has an oven. There is also a good rainwater collection system and the house is hooked up to the electrical grid so when there is light I can aprovechar (take advantage of it). I think that I will be able to make the house very comfortable and I have an extra bedroom for visitors so I am really happy!
The cons – the only real con besides a small leak in the roof and rustic bathroom is that the landlord, Juan, is one of my least favorite dudes in the community. He is comparable to a small Dominican snake – real shifty like. I quickly fell into bad terms with him during the first week I was here with him tirando piropos (flirting) infront on his wife who is very nice– her name is Meeka and she’s a jolly large woman. I am feeling slightly more comfortable with my ability to communicate effectively and last week I was a bit fuerte with him finally. I went into his colmado and explained to him that if he was going to be my landlord he needs to stop talking to me like that because I am a professional that is trying to help his community and it is completely inappropriate. Also, I said strongly that I have absolutely no interest in him - none. I told him that I only have interest in my novio (the fake Dominican one I made up to ease tigueres) – and that I don’t think it’s appropriate to have interest in more than one person. I made sure to say this infront of his wife and there were also a lot of people in the colmado and IT WAS GREAT – the people were like, oooohhhh….burn Juan. I’m so glad the burn is a universal thing. Then Juan covered his heart like he was shot – pretending to be playing around – but I never laughed and I am fairly sure he got the message I won’t take anymore of his BS.
That being said, David, my PC emergency coordinator came by to talk to him today and he was really in top snake form arguing with David that it is my responsibility to fix the leak in the roof and mentioning that he should raise the rent. That worried me and David left telling me that I’ve got a dirtbag on my hands which I already knew but there really isn’t any other housing options in the community. If all falls apart Mata told me that I could live with them for 2 years and it is always nice to know I won’t be put out. Tomorrow I’m going to go talk to Clide, our town animador/priest, to explain to him the situation with the basic house repairs and see if he can convince Juan to stop being a bastardo and help out the voluntaria in the community so she can try to help the community. If that doesn’t work –ie he doesn’t fix the small leak in the roof – over time I’ll have to save money for my plan to build a side hut for a nicer place to bathe along with a counter and other small house improvements - and then show it to Juan after two years when I am going to leave and then tear it down and sell the materials to other people in the community. Sounds a little spiteful I know. Yet why in the world would I want to improve the house of a guy like Juan – especially when other community members seem to want to help me. So I think it is justified. The thing that sucks is that if Juan doesn’t help me, the Peace Corps won’t help me with house improvements really either so it is all from my monthly allowance – ie definitely not giving any freebies to una culebra como el.

I did have a big blow this last Sunday – my little kitty Mauricio died. It was really quite sad how it happened too. I went to Milagro’s house to finish up sewing this rug I’m working on after saying goodbye to the kitty in the morning. Then I came back to Mata’s for lunch and the cat and I always eat meals together – he sat at my side and I would put some of the excessive quantity of food that Mata serves me in the little food bowl I made him. I had finally gotten people in the community to stop saying that if I eat a cat hair I will die or won’t be able to become pregnant…believe me it got really annoying. Anyways, I walked back home and start calling Miso, Miso (kitty kitty) and the cat didn’t appear so I sat down and started eating. I couldn’t find the cat dish either which was weird but I thought I’d just ask Mata after we talked about renting a stove from another neighbor and in the meantime I was putting Mauricio’s food on one of the extra plates I had. Mata and I talked about the stove and I called the cat again with no response. Then Mata sat down and looked at me and said, “Sarah, I need to tell you something” and then didn’t say anything for 10 seconds while her eyes welled up with tears and she told me Mauricio died. After bawling for about 10 minutes she finally told me that he ate some of the bountiful rat poison that they put all over the house. I sat and consoled her, which she probably thought was odd because I think she was really crying for me although the family did start to treat the cat much better when they realized I loved him and that he wasn’t going to kill anyone. Then I went into my room and didn’t let anyone see me because I really dislike crying in front of people. Mauricio was a wonderful, loving little kitty cat who was basically my best friend in the community due to his similar lack of Spanish skills and cuddleable nature. I told my community that I was in Luto (mourning) for him and while they were joking about that, I didn’t let them see that I was completely serious. I will really miss him.

In other news, there hasn’t been much going on in my community. I made the volleyball net and just finally got them to get two poles to put in the ground, but they still haven’t done it. It is really frustrating when you have to, for everything, take them by the hand. I haven’t started up the next English class because I want to get the housing stuff in order so I told all the kids it’ll be about a month. I am looking forward to the advanced class of serious kids and that is about it because having all those kids running around was definitely not easy. It makes me hesitant to start the Environmental Ed classes, especially talking about technical things in Spanish. With the water project – I am currently working on a grant to get my community out of debt for the materials they already have. This totals to over $7,000 and I am constantly amazed as to how this could have happened. There must have been no budget whatsoever and people must have backed out from every corner paying their shares. The grant, if I got it, would maximum only give me $5000 and it’s a slim chance. I was optimistic about this at first because the person I initially talked to about the sum forgot to put in a zero and I thought it was only 700 dollars. Funny how those zeros work. The jam project is at a standstill right now because I need to find sealable jars in order for the jam to store and not get anyone sick. The mango jam is delicious but unfortunately it is quite an acidic fruit I think and goes bad really fast. The chinola stores for more time, but I’m still looking into better jars. I also emailed my contacts with project DIG to see if we can start community hortalizas in El Firme and also contacted a few people about Fair Trade but nothing has come yet. Therefore there has been a lot of waiting and in the meantime I’ve been making stuff!
I am actually getting pretty good with my carpentry skills, along with bowstaff skills, clearly. I therefore am confident given the materials I could make the side bathroom I’ve designed without needing to pay for someone to help. Hurricane proof? We’ll see haha. Most recently I’ve finished a sofa minus the cushions, little boxes, coasters, a quilted rug which I might embroider with a mountain scene, and also I’m proud of my estante (book shelf) which I’m going to paint and think it will be a nice addition to the house. Plus a place to put all the wonderful books my Nana has sent me. Speaking of which:



I HAVE THE BEST NANA IN THE WHOLE WORLD. SHE IS AMAZING. I LOVE HER VERY MUCH.


My Nana is making the other volunteers question the awesomeness of their grandmothers in the quality and quantity of carepackages she sends me. Thank you so much Nana!

Mark took off to the states. He told me he’d bring me back seeds and turkey jerky from Trader Joes. I highly anticipate our next meeting haha. I’m really glad he made it out ok because there was supposed to be a tropical storm on the day of his flight which quite luckily dissipated. This country seems to be working out pretty well for him. I am also a fan of his mom who likes my blog!
My other volunteer friends Ben and Kiri have moved into their houses already! Leeann and I are in about the same stage with our houses and have been talking a lot about latrines, colmado noise, and housing issues. Her current host family sounds noisy and sort of mean, while mine is really funny and warm but noisy. Therefore we are all excited to have our own space for the first time in 5 months. For me---first time ever besides sophomore year of college when I had my own room. My brother Jim’s idiosyncrasies at times can be comparable to blasting bachatta at 7am. Needless to say I’ve waited for this move for a while.

I watched Across the Universe last night on my laptop and I thought it was interesting and a couple of the pieces really struck me. My favorite song was how they redid Let it Be. There is something about Gospel music that just utterly rocks. In another life I hope I can be a large black woman that can belt it. Clearly Patty Griffin was. I also really liked the football players running slowmo as Prudence sung I want to hold your hand. You should watch it if you have a chance.

I’m going to try and post some pics of the new casita, but you should just come out and visit. This especially means you Costa Rica kids because you would love it here. Shoot me a line anytime and I’ll answer when I have internet!

Miss you all and hope everything is going well 
Also thanks to all of you who are sending me texts! It is GREAT! I am getting them and do a little dance with each one. A little bachatta here, a little merengue there.
All my lovin,
Sarah

P.S. I just remembered a really funny story that you shouldn’t read if you are easily freaked out ie Aunt Jenna. Hahah. Mata was trying to point out this ENORMOUS cockroach to me that was near the water bucket and I freaked out and jumped on the chair because I thought she said cacata (tarantula) but while she was saying it her false teeth dropped out of her mouth and she chased after them, I’m still on the chair wondering what’s going on and where the tarantula is, and the cockroach runs away and disappears. Se fue la sana! We had a good chuckle with that.
We also were sitting one night and there hadn’t been any electricity for like the whole day – and we were talking when suddenly Mata shushes us all and listens intently to the fridge that had just switched on. Then he jumps up and does a fist pump elatedly saying ‘POR FIN! LLEGO LA LUZ!’ (At last! The electricity/light is here). That is actually how the light situation can be summed up here and I am in for a nasty surprise when I get to the new house without an inversor (large rechargeable battery). Anyways I laughed really hard about that too. Mata is really fun, you’ve got to meet her.

End of English Class!

Here are a few photos.
We are at IST in Santiago hanging out and I've had internet for the last few days, let me repeat again...amazing. My presentation went well I think and I taught my group how to make Chinola Jam and am sending out the designs for the volleyball net out of reusable materials. We also learned how to build a nursery, worm composting, and a few other little knick knacks so overall it's been a great week. I brought Orlando with me, one of my favorite and most serio english students, instead of my project partners since they no sirven (they don't really help me with anything). He did wonderfully doing the presentation and I'm really proud of him.

Anyways - not too much to tell - English class finished up well. Did my graduation ceremony with my 18 students (13 passed so I still felt like it was a success). I'll be doing advanced classes at my house after I'm settled in, probably September. Here are some photos of the graduation (kids with their certificates and a pic of me and Orlando - he spoke a little English during our Community Diagnostic Presentation!)

Also finished my little table so take a peek! I lined the sides with sea glass I found to give it an artsy look and continue with the reuse material theme. The table in total cost me 50 pesos to make (Less than 2 bucks). You'll have to come visit me for me to show you how I rearrange a few pieces to get the top part all level. It is the first piece of furniture for my house!

The last pic is of our training group at IST (In service training) building the nursery...but just of our faces with our older volunteer friend Danielle.
Hope you are all doing well! I'll put up pics of my homestay house and community next post.
Love,
Sarah

Another reason not to eat Mondongo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072800390.html

Credit to Bailey Maria Bonura.

Did the open mic last night...there are some volunteers who are stellar guitarists. The Hub is wonderful. I recommend it to check out whenever it's available. Way nicer than the Pen. I have IST tomorrow. Wish me luck with my presentation and also transportation.
Love,
Sarah

Reminder and tiny pump movie

Hey guys!

A quick reminder that you need to put your name in the text if you want me to know who is texting me. I have been able to figure out most, with the exception of the person quien sabe Espanol and is in Eugene Orgegon riding their bike around and enjoying life - who was that? :)

Also a quick movie showing that pump I was talking about.
Haha - in Spanish I am trying to say ' This is the pump and it's a project that will make the life a Dona a little easier. It can also be used to wet the little muchachos in your community.'

Text me for free

Well look at this handy dandy little tool I just found. If you would like to send me a text message for free, go to this website and scroll to the bottom of the page until you see a phone. Put in the number 809-723-9938 and write your message and then hit Enviar and type in the pin that pops up and I'll be able to receive a free text! Make sure you write your name otherwise I won't know who it is from. I also won't be able to text you back, but it's still a pretty cool thing.

www.claro.com.do

I am heading back to my site in a bit, currently in the capital and got my packages!!!
Thank you Sanders, Bailey, Nana, Mom, Jwall, Jenny, Matt, and Po. It is just so great. I walked into the volunteer lounge with all my packages and people were like - well somebody is loved. And that is exactly how it makes me feel!!! THANK YOU!

Went to San Fran de Macoris the other night for a regional get-together. I will definitely be going there more based on that visit - it's convenient and much nicer than Nagua from what I saw. I went out in the capital last night with some other volunteers. Mica and her Tennessee friends, Mark, Leeann and Ben and it was one of my favorite nights so far in the country. We went to Rinconcito to watch live Salsa music and then somehow ended up from there into a Merengue festival that was just ridiculously fun. I love dancing. Apparently it is every Sunday and I will take you if you come visit. Then we went back to the Penn where we played a little music. They asked me to go to this beach town with them (since they were visiting from the states) which I would have loved to do since these are all Tennessee folk with southan drawls and good tunes -- but there is this thing called Campo guilt in our training group -- when you leave your site a little too much and feel like you are having too much fun. Hopefully there are other opportunities. I think I want to visit Tennessee now because there is something in the water there that makes the people great.

Ok - off to Castillo to pick up some wood, finish the diagnostic, and then to Santiago next week. I was invited to play an open mic night the day before and I really hope I can get that in there too! They are doing Indian food, that is far beyond incentive.

Love you!

Spare time! Ha - lets make some stuff!

Ok yeah so I've been having way too much fun playing 'Dominicana Bob the builder'. I also probably appear like a crazy homeless woman because I'm always scavenging for parts (the other day I found a singular shoe while with my homestay family walking and they for sure thought I was batty until I showed them what it was for - the rubber for the pump)

I want to show you guys though, especially the other volunteers reading this because if you like something you see on my blog I can show you how to make it and it might come in handy for your house (ie those of us without showers, sinks, tables) Compartir :)

The pump works! The design is simple (can be found on google) but making/collecting materials takes a bit of time depending on your circumstances.

I'm stoked. The only part I'm looking for now is a spring to cut the work load in half. With ever 36 inch stroke the pump can basically discharge .3 liters of water (36pie(.4)sq=18cub inches or ~30ml) which is pretty cool! I put a soda cap with a nail hole on the outgoing end and turned it into a mini water gun that can shoot water across my street which is bad news for the kids going by on their motos when it's raining (so as not to waste the water). They get a nice blast (although they are already soaked). Haha - it's probably not the most intelligent idea to do this to motorists and I will probably be the first PCV to kill a small Dominican child but I'd say it is worth it. Sometimes I have a crowd to watch me get a passerby. My favorites are the older men who freak out.

More importantly - the pump will be used in the community to help alleviate some serious back straining of carrying water up small hills (and also transporting it around the house in less than 40 trips). It is a prototype as of the moment - but I'm going to teach them how I made it out of materials (carved wooden dowel, goma or shoe rubber, screw, PVC cement and 3/4, nail, teflon, hose found in the community (sans the check valves which are at the hardware store in the nearest city for approx 8 bucks each). The whole thing (including the hose) took me about 20-25 bucks to make.

The next project is a foot pump using the same method for sinks. To have the semblance of running water mainly.

Here is a pic of my shower head. I took a normal plastic soda bottle and cut the top 3rd off. Then I took a sink strainer and nailed even larger holes in it. I wrapped the circle in teflon a few times and stuck it into the bottle. I then took a candle and melted the plastic to secure it in and it works fairly well as of the moment when attached the the pump.




I was in Nagua the other day for my last blog entry and while on my 45 minute walk through the crazy city to the university I can across a fallen broken sign with prime wood and I was on that like a pregnant women craving peanut butter. I ripped off the boards with Dominicans watching and applauding. They are now the frame to this little coffee mesita!
I'm so pleased with it. On the side there you can see I started glueing sea glass that I collected during our Brigada Verde beach trip -- really silly to put it on before you finish hammering by the way. But I was testing out the look and if the superglue held. It is currently lacking the top (superficie) because of an unpleasant incident with one of my gua-gua drivers who I asked to pick my up 12 ft of 3inch wide cedro o caoba wood and long story short is that basically he is not the smartest guy in the world and came back with a huge crate that I totally couldn't use for the table and charged me 150 pesos +50 for his services which I wanted to tell him...you made me wait 8 hours for something i didn't even ask for and that is your service?

Yesterday was actually just a really bad day because of the gua-gua driver not understanding anything, then I had a few English students who are very frustrating and refuse to study but expect their certificates, a student who was cheating during my final English test, and finally and most importantly Mata telling me the Marta was not going to move out of the house I am looking to move into (the one I really have my hopes up for). It was a little much with all that yesterday and I felt like I was starting to get a little short with the kids at my house and so I decided to shut myself in my room and try to get my heart out of the blender. Then Bailey called and it was beautiful. Everyone needs a Bailey.

Then driving out of my site to San Fran de Macoris this morning I stopped by the house and asked Marta when she was moving out (pretending I hadn't heard the Chisme) and she told me the beginning of August so now I'm just really confused and still sorta upset...mainly because she didn't give me an exact date and hadn't started packing anything (Dominicans do this thing where they don't mean what they say sometimes and I'm new at figuring it out). Wish me luck though, I'd really like this house. There is a tamarindo tree for goodness sakes!

That reminds me for some reason. I'm thinking about doing a JAM project for my Donas as an income generation project. The mango and chinola jam were a hit - super easy to teach how to do (Mata and Taga already made a batch of Mango) - and a way to reuse mayonnaise glass bottles. The other volunteers seem to like them so maybe...more to come on that later.

Miss you all. Hoping to get your mail tomorrow in the Capital. Dear me I hope I get it and the Dominicans stop stealing it. Otherwise - hope to catch you online and talk! Take care.

Love,
Sarah

Volley Ball Net!

I realized I had 500 pesos left and a trip to the ATM was badly needed. The ATM is located in Nagua – a good 1.5 hr trip and it takes about 250 pesos roundtrip so I don’t want to cut it any closer. I also thought it would take advantage of the free wireless they have at the university and sit uninterrupted and remember how amazing it is to have internet access. Do you realize how valuable of tool the internet is? It is AMAZING. Like I can look up guava jam recipes, how to make a bar stool, the names of common Dominican flowers, get world news, and find out what is going on with my family and friends. Plus I hope I get to skype with Bailey or my parents and maybe they can show me Chester on the videocam. That is just flipping amazing. Hahah.

I finished the volleyball net! Check out pics below! Above is Milagro sewing

It was a great project. I hung out with a Dona named Milagro who taught me how to use her old fashioned Singer Sewing Machine (Yup with a pedal) and I had a great time with that. It was like learning stickshift all over again – but I got it eventually. Milagro sewed the large stretches and I sewed the sides because she is faster than lightning and also very nice. Ok let me tell you the design – I went to visit Meeka at the Colmado in El Firme and asked her for rice sacks and a tarp which she donated for free – although the tarp was sorta torn and dirty. I cut the tarp into 21 ft strips since that was its length – shorter than official net standards but it’ll serve. We cleaned the tarp in the rain with laundry suds and brooms – Milagro was super nice about this, she has what seems like varicose veins but it’s really painful to walk around and yet she was still helping me out a lot. Then I had my muchachos help me collect 100 beer bottle caps. I took them home and nailed a hole thru them all and hammered them flat so they had no sharp edges. Then I went and bought canamo (rice string sac) for 70 pesos which besides labor was the only cost. I took all the stuff to Milagro’s house where we sewed the tarp (A line above for the tension and the caps 6 inches apart – also basically hemmed the bottom part) for all four sides which took 3 days. I sewed all the sides together in a rectangle and then strung the canamo thru all the caps after I took a hot nail to poke thru the plastic. I then proceeded to weave the 6x6 inch squares and got the net as tight as I could and although it’s not perfect – it’s pretty cool! I was also glad to see the community was taking an interest and helping me and I look forward to getting the poles up and playing with the kids. I need to remember the rules. It has been a long time since 8^th grade De Anza Volleyball. (That’s where I met Bailey! The first time I hung out with Bailey was after a vball practice at her beach apt. Her mom had the little dog Sammy and we drove in the brown BMW thru Burger king’s drive thru and got cheeseburgers and these frosted coke drinks. Do u remember that Bay?)

Speaking of everyone helping me, it’s actually sort of hard to not get help. Sometimes you just want to do stuff for yourself. I’ve been trying to figure out what I need to do to show my community I am actually a very capable, mildly educated woman, albeit I am still figuring out Spanish. Most of the time though I think even if I spoke Spanish like a Dominican they still would be amazed that I know how to use a hammer. It’s fairly demeaning when the men do this. Yesterday I found a few pieces of wood that I cut into smaller blocks and started to make Mauricio a little table/feeding dish. I knew exactly how I wanted to make it and then my homestay Dad, Chiche, found out what I was doing and basically took over right when it was the fun part and he just nailed all the pieces together! Then he told me, ‘You can tell them back in your country that I taught you how to do this’ and I was in a really great mood yesterday but otherwise that would have pissed me off pretty good. The worst thing is that you can’t really do anything but be submissive for right now. I think that is a huge part of the problem for women here. Today for example, I went up to a different community to visit a sick lady with Mata and a few neighbors and during the short trip I was hissed at by every group we passed. They usually say ‘Rubia!’ and some other stupid novia comment that there is no way they can think makes me feel flattered in reality. There was a gua-gua driver who I find to be a creep who stopped his car in front of our house and hissed at me to come over to him for like a minute straight. They don’t accept no for an answer and that is just like a pet peeve to me now. So I sat there on my porch and said – My name is Sarah, not Rubia, and I’m gonna sit right here and you can tell me what you need. He still insisted on telling me to come over and thinking he had something to give to Mata I finally got up hoping he could tell how much I disliked him – and all he had to say to me was that he heard I played guitar well and he wanted lessons. That was just ridiculous and I envision bailey dropkicking him. I am sick of the way the men here have this completely distorted mindset they have the god given right to treat women, a foreign woman especially, like this. I am also pretty disappointed when I see why they think this – it’s the women who perpetuate it by the way the dress and call for the attention and never do anything when someone is being harassed. To me educating women is the first step. Educating women to respect themselves and have higher aspirations than solely marrying the first guy that hisses at you and then reproduce like rabbits – well it’s a cultural difference but I have a hard time seeing it as anything else but a problem for the women. Anyways – sorry I was just hissed at little too much today. I also have more bug bites than I can count although I wear pants in the blazing sun so you might find this note to be a little less sugar laced (as many of you have been asking me for haha).

Speaking of today – I was actually ordered to go down a steep hill and carry two gallons of river water up to the sick woman I was visiting. I was really surprised by this but excited that they would let me help – like the naïve little goat I can sometimes be. Then I realized how unnatural it was that they (actually only Carmen) asked me to do this and wondered if I had done something wrong. So yeah, I’m still a little confused as to what it really was. I also can’t help but feel a little annoyed in the aftermath at Carmen because not only did I have to go visit a sick person (which I do unfortunately quite often and it is horrible because you sit there and don’t have anything to do or say except look at the person) that was really far away, but then she just orders me to go down a crazy steep hill and lug up water. It was one of the only times I’ve thought that someone in the community might be taking advantage of me being a ‘volunteer’. Needless to say, I’m glad I have other options of landlords instead of just Carmen. I felt like a strong donkey after my trip though. Carry water sucks by the way – have I told you how amazing aqueducts and water systems are? AMAZING! Hahah

Almost done with my pump. Just got the tephlon today (which will hopefully help with air /h20 leaks) and then a wood screw which I wasn’t been able to find in my site. Crossing fingers it works!

Also wanted to say that I heard that my ‘super volunteer’ friend Jared had to be med evac-ed to the States and I’m really hoping you are doing ok and that we’ll see you at IST. He is one of the healthiest creatures I’ve ever met and that news was really baffling. Sending you good thoughts Jared.

Take care

Sooner,

Sarah

Pumping it up









Mauricio with his new food dish!


















Ramon, Manuel y Leo ayudando. Aranas tejiendo.













La Maya! Turned out pretty good!









This little guy fell on top of me while I was doing Yoga.
Take Care!!

Tarantulas

Hi!

This morning in my room I was moving my yoga mat from the corner and saw the figure of a giant tarantula. I specifically learned the word for tarantula in Spanish for when this day came and I was prepared and went to Mata and calmly said, ‘Cacata en mi habitacion’ and she calmly picked up a machete and took my flashlight and promptly killed it. It was huge – like the size of my palm. I was a little scared of it and I’m definitely glad Mata got it so that I’m not thinking about it in my room hiding. Otherwise it was a beautiful spider and I’m sorry things had to end that way.

It has been a while and that is due to the combination of inconvenience/cost of leaving my site and being busy with the community diagnostic where I interview community members. I’ve been finding myself really wanting to check my email lately though. Trying to keep up with the news is pretty difficult. Michael Jackson’s death randomly popped up on the TV in between telenovelas and that was really weird. Speaking of which I’d just like to say that Michael Jackson will always be one of my favorite artists, and although he had his share of problems that any pressured child star with a messed up Dad seems bound to encounter, I think a lot of people tended to focus on media warped stories instead of how much he did to try to help children across the world. Therefore – I personally have no problem saying I will always be a huge fan of Michael Jackson because I think underneath it all he was a good guy and an amazing musician. The caliber of talent doesn’t exist in today’s market. My site only knows vaguely who MJ was and therefore it feel sorta surreal that he’s passed away.

Speaking of passing away – I’ve decided that Dominicans die all the time because I’ve been to way too many funerals in the last month. A man told me that there is a fundamental difference between Americans and Dominicans and that is their value of life. Dominicans don’t value their lives as much and therefore don’t protect themselves against accidents or harm. There are points to disagree and agree – but I found this to be an interesting viewpoint. By the way Dominican funerals are horrible if I haven’t said that yet. They have several women who just seem to sit and moan, actually more like scream, the whole time. It is like a specific job maybe. The whole funeral event is very different and much more complex than in the US.

So I’ll be getting my own house I hope in about a month and a half now. One of the Donas in the Mafia group offered me her mom’s house which was the only option for a while (my rent would go towards paying for an expensive heart med for the mom but the exchange was the guilt I’d feel for kicking an older lady out of her house of 30 years plus it was not that nice of house and right next to the billard/bar hang out). Then just this week during an interview visit with one of the wealthier community members, her daughter in law Marta told me – ‘Oh Sarah so I’m moving and I live right here and you should rent it’…which was really weird because it was one of the only houses in the community that I thought, well that one would be really nice because it’s private and new (with the downfall that it’s close to a gallera – where legal cockfights happen). I talked to the landlord who isn’t my favorite guy in the community but I told him my price and he agreed so if all works out I’ll have that house in mid august. The price by the way is 800 pesos or just around $30 a month for the whole house. I was paying nearly $500 month to rent half a room in a fairly crappy apt in La Jolla. Yeah. Ha. This yard isn’t giant but it has cacao trees, café plants, a giant wonderful tamarindo tree, guayaba trees, bean trees, a view, and importantly space for my future herb and veggie garden. The house It is basically a square divided in half with one of the halves partitioned into two rooms. Therefore anytime someone wants to visit, I should be able to offer a living room and a guestroom to sleep at least. I like drawing my ideas for what I want to build and how the house will look in my spare time. Ben and I are very similar in this aspect – we were talking about sofa designs recently and it makes me really excited to compare notes. We like making stuff.
A lot of the volunteers went to Samana for the Fourth of July. Speaking of making stuff – I took the Chinola Jam I made and put it in a little Malta India bottle and made a cork using a machete and it turned out fairly cute. The jam is a little too thick for the shape of the bottle but it still worked. I also brought my chocolate for the other volunteers to try. Ben brought his peanut butter and we were both saying how we need to join super powers to defeat the enemy of reeses craving. His peanut butter was delicious.

Otherwise, Samana was ok but I started to feel a little sad there. The beaches were beautiful but something was just off. I didn’t get to say happy birthday to Jimmy and I love being at home for the fourth especially with my friends and family. We were surrounded by some older volunteers who really like to get their party on and I caught myself feeling very disconnected. It doesn’t help having the freshmen feeling of ‘new volunteer’ whenever you are around older volunteers. I have to say that I have felt much more awkward around American volunteers than around the Dominicans. I got to play music with Mica again this weekend which I was really looking forward to but I felt like I came off too eager and then just felt like that awk new person again haha. I have good reason to be eager though because it is just absolutely wonderful to play music with anyone que sabe, let alone someone who likes the same type of music, plus Mica is just cool and I feel like I’m playing with Patty Griffin. It took me coming to DR to find that so I have a hard time hiding being stoked. I also was a little sad because Jean and I didn’t get to talk much which sucked. In summary, although it was a pretty place, I felt a bit jipped after Samana in a few ways. I left unfortunately a bit sunburned (I did put on the block), my wallet felt a lot lighter, and generally I was really sleepy and wanting to return to my site! Your site is like a safe haven because it’s what you know and it’s nice to have that. I am looking forward to going to Samana with my family though because now I know the area and I have a friend who lives next to the giant waterfall in El Limon that I want to check out.

My English class is going well – the average on the test was 86% before about 6 kids who avoided the test like the plague came in 4-5 days late and brought that down to something I haven’t calculated yet. The majority know their colors and numbers and basic greetings which I’m jumping for joy about considering how difficult they are to settle down. I’m going to end the beginner class at the end of July and the print their certificates in the capital and have a little graduation ceremony with just the kids in August. I’m thinking about making cookies for them too with the chocolate and jam since that worked out dandy. In terms of the basketball court – I got permission from the owner to use the chunk of land for the court and am currently working out sewing the net (With an old fashioned petal Singer Machine mom!) out of rice sack string and a giant tarp and bottle caps. Otherwise it’s going to be a longer process getting the money for a real court. I told the junto de vecinos club to put up temporary backboards so the community isn’t restless. The kids just have absolutely nothing to do in the summer so I don’t see why we shouldn’t put up temporary hoop right away while I search for funding over the next 6 months. My agenda is basically finish up the useless community interviews (which are all giving me no new information really at this point) and my English class, go to 3 month In Service Training and present diagnostic, settle into house and furnish it while starting gardens, and then start up second English class while looking for grant money for court and aqueduct money. It hasn’t really rained here for over a week and it’s bad. The people have to walk a long way to these spread out wells to carry buckets of water back to their house. Therefore if I can help them get money for any project I’d say the aqueduct is the highest need and the community tends to agree.

There are two sweet little waterfalls near my site. I’d say less than an hour walk. Mark visited and I went with some of my kid friends and it was great. One has a giant tree trunk ladder you jump off of and the other is a ravine you walk through for a bit which is gorgeous and you come upon a small waterfall and swimming hole. It has been so ridiculously hot here that I was thinking about doing it again soon. If you come visit I’ll show you the Indian caves and the little waterfalls!

Ok – so I’m off to Castillo manana to buy a new cell phone charger (somebody took mine! What a jerk thing to take!), to check my email, to buy PVC ¾’’ pipe for my nearly completed shower hand pump, and also to check pricing for planks of wood in the hardware stores and see how much they want to rip me off.

Happy Birthday to Lea! Sorry I wasn’t able to say it sooner.
Miss you!
Love,
Sarah