The Loop

I'm out of it.

It took a text message from across the ocean for me to find out about the untimely death of Michael Jackson. Had it not been for that 35 word tidbit that was somehow encoded in Phoenix and displayed on my cell phone, I might not have found out about the King (of Pop, that is) for days...or weeks. I was far from any person who might have cared, spending a weekend with my buddies riding some ponies (for your viewing pleasure, I've attached a couple pictures at the end of this email).

It is a constant struggle to try to stay in tune with the goings-on of the world outside of my ever-shrinking Peace Corps bubble. If M.J. barely made it on to my radar, you can imagine how cursory my knowledge of other (read: more important) current events are. Honduras? Iran? The economy? The Twins? That polarizing comedian quasi-Senator guy?

Although, now that I have spent a couple of days reunited with the outside world, I'll probably be content to check back in to my own little societal version of the Hotel California - you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leeeeaaavvveee (insert Joe Walsh guitar solo played poorly, in the dark, by me).

Maybe the hotel management was on to something. Now, I'm not going to waste your - or my - time bemoaning the misdirection of our society or extending this trite hotel metaphor any further, but suffice it to say that I'm never too impressed when I get/have to hear about what is happening when I do get a taste of the outside world. Who are these people that are deciding what it is that we get to hear about or read about or see on television? Is it even possible to get an unbiased account of events that are of actual importance and significane to our lives?

As I write this, I'm already hearing the sirens of the irony police as they come to arrest me for doing exactly what I'm complaining about - giving biased opinions on topics that don't seem to be of that much importance to anybody, let alone the public at large. But, there are a few differences: nobody is telling me to write this or what to say, I'm not going to write this everyday for the next week every half an hour so that you can't escape it, and I'd like to think that my topics might change from time to time. But hey, what do I know? I'm not Rupert Murdoch.

-----------------------

In other news not pertaining to anyone but myself...I'm doing well!

Work is good, play is good, health is good - I can't complain.

I'd say the only thing that's not doing so well right now is my train of thought. After spending day after day, week after week, month after month with all sorts of thoughts turning themselves over and over in my head, I finally get a couple of hours with a computer and get stage fright. Oh well...maybe next time!

Until then, enjoy the pictures and be well!

David


Us at the end of the day


The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse



Me and Morán (or Moron, as I came to know him)

An Update, Finally!

Hello all,

It has been quite an eventful couple of months - maybe I´ll use that as my excuse for having not updated in a while. At any rate, I have a little time and I thought I´d write a bit and post a couple of pictures.

------------------------

New Job:

I´ve recently moved out of my campo site and into the city, where I´ll be transitioning to my new job and finishing up my old business. Things in the old site ended up well...

*My environmental youth group and I had an informal last meeting where I gave them some pictures and a certificate thanking them for their participation. I´m hoping to use them as a base to solicit a new volunteer for the fall, as I do believe that particular campo to be a fertile place to do some good development work.

*My English classes culminated with an epic Guys vs. Gals competition. As much as I´d like to try to make excuses for the boys, they got beat pretty handily by the much more energetic ladies. I think people had fun and it was a nice way to have a little bit of closure on an activity that has brought me a good deal of satisfaction over the past year or so.

*The women´s group is continuing to manufacture and sell the floor cleaning product. After some bad luck the previous few tries, I think this one is sticking and they are having success. Hopefully they´ll continue to work hard, despite the fact that I won´t be there.

*The local community group finished up the community diagnostic and is in the process of using the information to start new projects in the community. They took ownership of the project, and for that I´m happy.

Those were the main things I was working on. All the other little things are about to be wrapped up and I´m ready to be moved on...

...that being said, the new job is turning out to be a rather frustrating endeavor. Without going to much into it, there have been some snags in the transition process (government bureaucracy at its finest), and it´s been a bit difficult to get myself moved and up and working. However, once the process does work itself out (unfortunately, probably not until July or even August), I´ll be doing a bunch of different things:

*Regional coordinator for the Business Plan Competition - in the northern part of the country, I´ll be working with volunteers and their groups to make sure their classes are going well as well as coordinating regional activities.

*Site development - I´ll be the first point of contact for new sites that are being developed in my region. This is my favorite part of the job because I´m the first person that goes to sites and makes sure that there are good projects and places to host a volunteer for two years.

*Volunteer visits - I´ll be supporting volunteers who are already in their sites as they go through different phases of their service.

...and all sorts of other little things. I will be on the road a lot, which will be tiring, but I´m looking forward to the new challenges and responsibilities...

----------------------------------

What else?

Medical Mission: About a month ago, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in one of the many Medical Missions that volunteers get to help out with each year. For four days, I translated for doctors in small campos up in the mountains in the middle of the country. We saw all sorts of cases...skin problems, cold/flu, broken bones, infections, and just about everything else. We worked all day, which was tiring, but it was cool to be able to see immediate results for the long days that we were putting in.

Pico Duarte: I climbed Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River in the Western Hemisphere (at over 10,000 feet) with a bunch of friends of mine. Below, I´ve attached some pictures of the hike. It was great to get back into nature a little bit, even if it was only for 4 or 5 days...

It got me thinking a lot about what does make me tick and what kinds of activities do satisfy me most. Before the hike, not surprisingly, I had gotten caught up in what all the other volunteers were doing and planning. Not to say that what many of my friends and other volunteers are planning for their futures isn´t legitimate or worthwhile, but I´m not sure that their route is my preferred route. It´s impossible to have a conversation with a group of volunteers (especially those of us who might be leaving in a few months) without talk of GRE scores and who has gotten into Colombia, Harvard, the University of Chicago, or any other number of A-list schools. It´s enough to make someone believe that they should be following that route as well.

Maybe part of the problem is that I do believe myself to be capable of following that path. I don´t question my academic abilities (despite being slightly understimulated for a couple of years), and I think I could get into those schools. I think I could pick a career that would interest me that would start from a place like Johns Hopkins.

At the same time, I don´t think I´m ready to make a decision that will probably tie me down for a number of years. Graduate school is not a small financial investment, and starting one of those careers is not a small time investment.

So...what to do? I do feel a lot of motivation to be moving forward, trying something new, and maybe (*gasp*) not being so broke all of the time. I didn´t finish up the hike feeling as though I just wanted to spend the rest of my life on a mountain, but it certainly did remind me that I do really enjoy being out in nature and seeing that part of the world. I also happened to be hiking with a bunch of guys who enjoy that kind of thing, as well - we didn´t talk at all about GRE scores of grad school or how long it was we expected to be working before we were working in the White House. It was nice.

But, I suppose I´ll be having this conversation with myself until I do find the next thing. I know that I previously had written that I´ll be here until next summer, but I´m not so sure anymore. Maybe that´s why I am feeling some pressure to make some decisions...

For now, though, I just need to figure out what´s for dinner. I moved to the city and my neighbors don´t cook for me anymore! And I am getting hungry, so it´s time to go.

Thanks, as always, for reading my rants and keeping up with what I´m up to down on this little island. I hope all is well back home, and we´ll talk soon!


Here are a couple pictures from the hike...Enjoy!

*The Río Bao, in the Valle de Bao
*Me at the top
*Duarte (father of the republic), the full moon, the Dominican flag, and a cross at the highest point
*Sunrise from Pico Duarte
*Yours truly cheesing in the Valle de Bao
*All the volunteers at the top

The Whirlwind

...continues...

I haven't found time to write in ages - sorry!

I still am not going to write anything of substance here, but I would love to update for real in the next couple of days...

Hope you are all well!

New Pictures (Thanks to Joe!)

Hi friends,

Here are a few new pictures from Dave and Joe's recent visit. Be sure to check out the post right below the pictures for a short update, as well!

Pictures:
*A view from my friend Destin's house, where we stayed.
*Ceci and I throwing rocks at other rocks - the sport sweeping the nation.
*Joe and I, beachside.
*The Granite Gear Vapor Trail packs together again - all three of us had matching ones...pretty ridiculous.
*Sunset at my site.
*Joe and I in the mountains by my site.
*My neighbor and I.
*Bringing technology to the world, one digital camera at a time.
*Dave and his pack - that's all he brought for 2 weeks.

What a month...

Hello again!

If those of you who follow this blog were my Dominican friends and family, you would give me a hard time about having not updated in such a long time. Think something along the lines of ¨you don't love us anymore¨ or ¨you´ve forgotten about us¨ or any other number of guilt-inducing jabs. Unlike my conversations with my Dominican pals, though, I won't try to make excuses or assuage those sentiments - I've just been busy!

I don't even know if I could recount all of the great things that Dave and Joe and I did while they were here for a total of almost three weeks - there was a lot of time spent in my site, a lot of time spent at the beach, a lot of time spent hanging out with volunteers, and most importantly...a lot of time spent catching up with two of my best friends whom I haven't seen very much of in a year and a half. It was truly a wonderful couple of weeks.

I could signal any number of reasons for such a successful trip, but I think it mostly has to do with the flexibility of Dave and Joe and their willingness to throw themselves out there into situations out of their comfort zone and just go with the flow. It can be stressful to have visitors (not to say that I wouldn't be more than happy to host anybody for any length of time), and I never felt the stress of having them around for a second.

What is hard to believe right now is that they're already gone. I thought that I had a pretty good grasp on the ever-increasing velocity of passing time during my Peace Corps experience, but this was just ridiculous. It's already been a month since Dave first arrived. Wow.

As would be expected, I took somewhere between zero and no pictures - (sorry.) However, maybe they would be so gracious as to send a couple pictures of the trip my way via email and I'd be happy to post them up here on the blog. As for now, there is one picture of me (above) - just a couple miles from my house in the campo. In any case, it was great. Thank you.

-----------------------------------------

Before I get to some work stuff, I have another piece of fun news to relate. A couple of years ago, a group of Volunteers began the annual tradition of the ¨Bola Race.¨ A bola, for those unfamiliar with the very Dominican term, is a free ride - a hitchhike. As I was unable to participate last year, I was excited to try my hand in 2009.

It is a 2 person team event, composed of one male and one female member. Cecilia and I thought we had a chance. I thought that my previous experience hitchhiking on the Appalachian Trail might help me out - we also decided that the ¨little black dress¨ look on Cecilia might expedite the process. Little did we know...

Part of the competition, besides arriving from point A to point B without paying for any form of transportation, is dressing up in a thematic costume and sticking with the story. Ceci and I decided to dress up as a traveling Mexican/American/Dominican musical duo. She and I set off from Santiago with a little black dress, her luggage, me, a cowboy hat, and a guitar (which was all I brought for 3 days).

Less than 4 hours later, halfway across the country, ahead of ALL 22 other teams, she and I came screaming across the finish line - in 1st place. Champions. After getting 6 different free rides, on highways, mountain roads, beach roads, in the back of Daihatsu trucks, in vans, in the back of pickup trucks...winners. I might never pay for another ride again. I'm still waiting on some pictures to get sent my way from that one, as well.

------------------------------------

Work? Work.

It's been a fun month, with the visitors, bola race, Semana Santa (Holy Week - maybe the biggest Dominican vacation of the year), and everything else. But we've still been accomplishing a good amount in my community.

English classes are still alive and kicking - nobody is leaving fluent, but I enjoy them and so do the students. The women's group in town is still producing and selling Mistolin, with much more success than any of the other times I've tried that project. With one community group, we did a survey of all of the houses in the community (over 300 families) - we are now in the process of synthesizing all of that information into a usable format. Hopefully it will give us some ideas for new projects. My environmental youth group is still rolling along. We spent yesterday in the mountains, exploring, learning about the environment, and chilling by the river. Not a bad Monday. Our newest idea is to hold a nature photography contest in the community.

The community stuff is great. I love where I live and the people around me take great care of me. I have invested a good deal in the community work, and I'd like to continue to do more. However, word has started leaking down from the head office in Santo Domingo, and (if all goes as planned), I should be moving out of my community in the next couple of months to take a new position as a regional peace corps volunteer leader in a nearby city. Besides a change in where I will be living and what I will be doing, this also means that I will be sticking around the D.R. for more time - probably around 7 or 8 months. By my count, that will leave me here until the summer of 2010.

Although it's tough to leave my community early and postpone my return to the United States by another half a year, I've though a lot about the decision and I think it's the right one. One it becomes official I'll be sure to let you all know what is going to happen more concretely.

---------------------------------------

Thanks for keeping up with what's going on here, despite the extended time between entries. Enjoy the warmer weather State-side as I prepare to fry for the next six months!

David

Amigos...

Hello!

I was going to take some time over the next couple of days to take care of some stuff and perhaps get to a longer blog entry.

I decided to change my plans when Dave called me yesterday and said that he was coming into Santo Domingo tomorrow at noon.

So, my schedule for the next 3 weeks now looks like this:

Dave - March 22-30
Dave and Joe - March 31-April 3
Joe - April 3 - April 10

(Life is good.)

Maybe we'll get some free time over the next couple of weeks to get some computer time in, but something tells me that it might not be a priority...

Talk to you all soon!!!

Lil´ Dave

En la lucha!

¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

EN LA LUCHA!! (In the fight)

-----------------------------

As much as I enjoy my time in the D.R. and, in general, try (try) not to complain too much, sometimes it feels like I am fighting. Although the phrase "en la lucha" was surely born in the vocal chords of a Dominican peasant who was working 12 hours a day doing backbreaking labor in the fields only to come home to his or her little wooden, tin-roofed shack in the woods and a group of hungry children (and I by no means believe that my life is in any way nearly that difficult), I can sometimes relate in a sort of abstract manner.

Maybe it's a characteristic of the culture here that leaves all of us feeling at times like we are fighting, or maybe it's just life, but Dominicans do have a knack for describing how frustrating the old day-to-day can be. They also, not coincidentally, have a number of ways to describe the manner in which one can cope with fighting a seemingly losing battle - "God willing," "We'll see," "Yeah...maybe," "That's just life," etc.

Ironically, sometimes I feel that the losing battle that I am fighting is against the feeling that I am fighting a losing battle. Or, perhaps more accurately, I fight against the attitude that "aquí no hay vida" (here there is no life) - how do you convince people that they can move forward when all they've ever known is the lack of opportunity in the face of institutionalized poverty, political corruption, and any other number of deep-rooted factors outside of their immediate control?

It's the kind of question that makes you want to go to the beach.

Which is what I did when my dad came down a couple of weeks ago. I've attached a few pictures at the end of the post. We had a great time and it was a good opportunity to get away for a few days.

-----------------------------------------------

So...what am I up to these days besides making myself crazy?

*I am working with a women's group to try to start a micro-business, selling household cleaning products. This project, although sometimes frustrating, is worth it. Many of these women have never had the opportunity to practice any sort of entrepreneurship or really gain any money for themselves. At times I feel like a mother bird pushing her chicks out of the nest so they can learn to fly - but these chicks are old women. And I don't like pushing old women off of things.

*I am facilitating a community diagnostic in my new community. Rather than doing it myself, I am helping a community group to create and implement the project. So far, so good.

*I am still facilitating the youth environment group. We are currently practicing our presentation that we are going to give in the high school. After that, it sounds as though we are going to get our green thumb on and make a garden. MMMMMM....veggies.

*I still teach English. They have an oral exam tomorrow. Study up.

*I've recently been put in charge of ecotourism at my partner foundation. After well over a year of marginally terrible relations with them, I get more responsibility. Go figure. Every time I pull out my matchbook to burn the proverbial bridges, something comes up. Maybe I'm just a sucker, but hopefully we can accomplish some positive things.

*Whatever else comes up! Staying busy, but not too too busy.

-----------------------------------------------

That's all for now! I'm going out to eat, because I just got paid. I'm thinking a sandwich as big as my face. And french fries. And maybe a milk shake.

------------------------------------------------

Pictures:

-Me and Dad at the beach
-Me and Dad at Salto de Limón waterfall
-Salto de Limón (check out the people swimming in the pool for size reference)
-Me and Dad chowing
-Me, Cecilia, Evan, and Dad chowing