I have finally been settled into my new home for a little
over a week. I will be living here for the next 3 months before I move out and
find my own place, somewhere near my currently host families home. I have yet
to live with a host family for this length of time here, but I think I lucked
out. First of all my family is amazing. My host mom Chichi and my host dad
Aretti (sp?) are in their 60’s. Their granddaughter Michelle (15) lives with us
as well. So the house is normally quiet. Although, we always have many visitors
during the day. Their children all live in the capital but they come to visit a
few times a month. Just a few perks of
living here besides my wonderful family: WiFi in my house, an indoor flushing
toilet and shower. My family has a jeep, not a moto. We have a cleaning lady
that comes 3 times a week. And my house is rodent free (we have 4 dogs and a
very loud rooster) and very clean—none of the animals are allowed inside. Sometimes
I wonder if I’m actually in the Peace Corps…and then I look at my bank account
and sure enough, I’m a volunteer!
Since I am in my diagnostic period my job is to meet people.
That’s it. To build confianza (trust and friendship) and compartir (share your
life with another). We actually are not allowed to work. So my life has gone
from a rigorous 8-5 schedule to actually doing whatever I want, whenever I
want. Usually I wake up around 8am, not for any reason, just so I’m not a bum.
And then I will work out a bit, eat breakfast and get ready. Some days someone
will stop by to get me, to take me to meet people in the community, other days
I won’t have any meetings and I will literally sit around and read for a
majority of the day (I’ve already finished two books). And most days I feel
like a child. Since I moved to Cotui it
is more difficult to meet people. It is a larger city and I am technically not
working with this community so I really just need to get to know my
organization (the women’s group).
There is another CED volunteer named Samantha who came last
August. She has been quite helpful in showing me around and introducing me to
people who can help with my project. It is nice to know that there is another
American just a car ride away. Sometimes I need someone to speak English to and
reminisce about home with or just get away for a while.
And then there is always my women’s group. They hold
meetings every Tuesday from 2:30 until about 6 or whenever it looks like it
might rain. The last meeting I went to I came back with a bucked full of fruit
(2 papayas, a bag of cherries, 5 chinolas, 1 guanabana, 3 mangoes). Being a part of the
women’s group is like having 15 mom’s all at once. They all want to have me
over for meals, take me around, introduce them to their neighbors—it can be
overwhelming but I always feel a sense of belonging when I am with them.
Last but not least, I must talk about the weather. If a
Dominican isn’t gossiping about someone, they are talking about the weather.
Right now is rainy season. As in it will downpour 1-5 times a day. Every day.
But, before it rains, it gets so hot and humid you think you might die. To make
matters worse, we do not have power for usually 8-10 hours during the day—which
means no fan or air circulation in my house—woof! Apparently there are supposed
to be 18 major tropical storms here during hurricane season this year (May-Nov
30)—which is a little scary. I am glad that I did move to a city though, where
our infrastructure is better than in the campo.
So there’s that for now. I’ve included a few photos below for your enjoyment:)
Drinking coffee, eating fruit, and compartiring,
LJ
Our "fake" cake at our swear in ceremony.
It's official! Finished training!
Our rooster which wakes me up at all hours of the night.
Our front porch where I spend a lot of time reading, writing, and thinking.
This is one of our four dogs. He is blind and passes time laying around.
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