How you can help with Haiti?
(Send by my friend Orville!)

Donors may send checks to the local chapter, designating Haiti Relief to: American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties, 3950 Calle Fortunada, San Diego, CA 92123, by visiting the website at www.sdarc.org, or by calling 858-309-1200.

Donors may also text "HAITI" to 90999 and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts; the charge will appear on the next cell phone bill. If you would like to volunteer for the American Red Cross for future events, please contact the local chapter at 858-309-1200 to begin your training.




Hope all is well!
Love,
Sarah

7.3 Earthquake hits Haiti

Just a quick blog post to tell everyone that I am fine. A quick refresher - Haiti does border the Dominican Republic and it is a fairly small island. There were a few volunteers I've talked to that felt the earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday but I wasn't one of them. I'm in the capital right now to get my greencard and a group of us came back from dinner to find on the hostel's television the news.

Right now I'm feeling frustrated. I came into this program, into this country, to work - to help people. It sure would make sense if Peace Corps would let us go to Haiti (which we are prohibited to) for a relief effort since the people there really need the help now.

That being said, I am totally fine. Thanks for thinking of me.

Photo: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/01/13/world/20100113-HAITI_2.html

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