Day 16: Free Day at the Mayor's Estate!

Oh no…my LAST Saturday here in the Dominican and it’s lined up to a memorable one.  Got up early at 7 AM since breakfast was served promptly for 8 AM.  This morning, probably has been one of the most appetizing breakfasts thus far, bread, ham, hard boiled eggs, melon and coffee! Yeah, one hearty meal for us, since it was going to be a FUN and EXCITING Day! 

After we were well-fed, we had to prep our CAP groups since we had to go to exchange money.  Interesting yet sad experience at the money exchange place, since I had two people beg for money, one telling me she was short 20 pesos to buy medicine and another person asking me if I speak English and then asking for 50 pesos.  I unfortunately, had to tell them that the money I had  was not mine, which wasn’t a lie but it was just an experience that one hardly can forget.

Once we were done exchanging money, we went shopping as a group for our materials for our CAP project, the main reason we bought everything a day before was because most shops are closed on Sundays here in the DR, but there are a few exceptions.  We went to the hardware store and went to town purchasing stuff…I think what made this a memorable experience is that I was seriously helping out the groups not haggling or negotiating but more like a overseer of what was going on, and of course speaking with the workers that were helping us just so they know.  I must say that they must love us, because we definitely cam e in under budget even after we had priced checked everything before.  Maybe getting mistaken for a Dominican or Puerto Rican has its advantages…LOL! 

Once we got our supplies it became an interesting feat to bring that stuff back to the hotel, but with 10 people we were able to manage.  Once everything was put away in my room we had to wait until the other CAP group made it back to the hotel so we could go to our field to the MAYOR’S HOUSE! Yeah, you read that right.  Our delegation got a personal invitation to spend some time and lunch with the mayor and her family.  The walk there was pleasant, but what was an eye sore was her house.  I have not seen a house like that ever…it was grandiose and elegant.  The fact that she is an architect and we later found out that she designed it herself…truly means a lot.  Her backyard was awesome, with a Flinstone’s theme pool we definitely had a blast…playing in the pool, learning how to play Carivana, playing dominos and talking with her family was truly a surreal experience.  Lunch again, was to die for…literally she cooked the appetizers we ate, but of course ordered the food from a local restaurant, but nonetheless the food was finger lickin’ good….HAHAHA! 

Of course all good things must come to an end and we made our way back to the hotel for some downtime and more shopping time for materials.  My group has been so efficient that we were done in two hours, but had an adventure since it started to down pour and we had to walk through the streets with cardboard boxes on our heads so we wouldn’t get drenched…yes we looked ridiculous and people were laughing at us, but it was priceless.  Especially, when you have your students saying, “This is an experience of a lifetime” or “I’m having the time of my life.”  We made it back and literally just chilled at the hotel until dinner.  Yeah, you know what that means…more SLEEP TIME! 

At 8 PM, we headed out to dinner, where I lost 3 times in a row in speed…which is completely abnormal…but I am sure I’ll bring my “A” game tomorrow! After dinner made it back to the hotel for our regularly nightly meeting and finished writing both blogs.  I even managed to have a late night snack, thanks to a student.  Now need to go to bed, since we have to implement our CAP tomorrow!

Can’t believe it’s my last Saturday here in the DR!?!?! Buenas noches!  

Day 15: Aid & Development

Today was again an early wake up call from our student leader of the day.  We had to eat breakfast earlier than usual because we had to have our LAST academic seminar on Aid and Development…YAHOO! After our aid and development seminar that James and I conducted we had a guest speaker Gertrudis from Fundasep an NGO that works with three counties Aswana, San Juan, Elias Pina and help virtually anyway possible through many departments such as education, housing, health, etc.  She was talking to us about how Fundasep has helped many people in the poorest area of the DR, which happens to be the southwest.  She gave numerous examples far too many for me to remember but it appears that this is one of the largest NGO’s here in the country. 

After her talk we had a field trip to one of the communities where Fundasep has help establish numerous projects.  We boarded the guagua and headed on our 30 minute ride to the community of El Batey.  Our first stop at this community was a bathroom break…too bad the restrooms were locked so we ended going to the church and used theirs.   After our pit stop, we were asked to go to the adjacent building of the church where we were introduced to many of the leaders of the subdivisions of El Batey.  Once all the introductions were done we were treated to a traditional song and dance “El Palo.”  It truly was memorable because I don’t think anyone was expecting that it would sound like the way it did.  The community was so thankful that we had arrived and paid them a visit that they played another song and invited our students to join in and dance.  That for me was nice to see, and it appeared that the students had fun.  As that came to a close a couple of community members recited a few poems and we made our trek throughout the community to see some of Fundasep’s projects.  

We split into two groups and the group that I was in saw the latrines that they were install throughout the community.  From there we went to see the stoves that they are constructing in the houses that use barro and have chimneys so the smoke doesn’t fill the house!  We then went to learn about the hydration program they have for kids and adults so they learn about dehydration.  Our last stop was going to see the aqueduct but we were running pressed for time because of the show the community put for us so we decided to head back to San Juan and go to lunch.  Lunch like always was amazing and so filling that we all said we’re eating too much.  I know for a fact that I have eaten more everyday here that I do on a normal basis…I guess it’s time to hit the gym when I get back! :)

After lunch my CAP group decided to do more price checking for materials for their project.  I am pretty impressed thus far since the students seem to be way ahead of the curve on this and have allotted time and are being very efficient with the budget.  We had some down time once we got back from the hotel and I wanted to go out and get some stuff from the market.  Was it my luck or an omen…but the market was closed…really at 3 pm?!?! Wth…anyway so I came back to the hotel to actually get some rest, which I’ll be honest was nice.  By the time I woke up it was time for dinner, which wasn’t that great…you know me and pasta…but beggars can’t be choosers.  Had a great time with my table group and got in some games of speed and played a round or two of burro. 

After dinner we came back to the hotel and had our nightly meeting, which was nice since it was short and sweet.  We finished early, my student leader of the day wrote the blog and believe it or not I was in bed early yet again…the downfall of the night was the part that I was bit twice while in the lobby as I was waiting for her to finish.  But otherwise it was a chill last Friday in the DR. 

Can’t wait for tomorrow though…FUNDAY at the Mayor’s house!

Day 14: Tropical Storm Chantal

Waking up this morning to grey skies and rain, is not the way one wants to wake up in the Caribbean, that’s for sure.  But apparently, the worst of the storm hit are area late last night, which honestly wasn’t too bad at least as far as I can see.  We ate breakfast inside in the third floor restaurant since it was still sprinkling outside.  As for breakfast, we had a pretty hefty meal which was interesting since all of our breakfast meals have been pretty light.  

Since we had to cancel our second reality challenge due to the in climate weather we had our Appreciation Letter seminar where Lucy explain what the purpose of the letter is and what should be included in the letter for our donors.  As the students dispersed around the hotel they were allotted one hour to work on their first draft.  After they are done with their first draft they have to submit their letter to the GG leaders so we could edit them and return them back with our corrections and suggestions for a second draft and then their final. 

After our Appreciation Letter Seminar we got into our CAP groups and head over to the community to see get a better picture as to what can be done at the location.  The group I’m overseeing is working at a a recreational play area for the community—basically a safe place where the kids of the community can play.  We took dimensions and pictures of the area and made our way to a hardware store to start pricing the stuff that we are using for the project.  We made our way to lunch since on the schedule it said 12:30 PM…too bad the other CAP group was 40 minutes late so that definitely did not bode well with us; especially when we saw that they had passed by the bakery to get some stuff.  But it was all good, since our group was first to get lunch and yet again…it didn’t disappoint.  

After lunch made it back to the hotel, where we had some free time…YAHOO! My original plan was to go out and run some personal errands…but instead some of the kids asked me if I would go with them and get ice cream and pollo rey…of course I said I would and had to postpone my errand run.  Once we got back from our trip, we made it just in time for CAP meeting…my group being the ever so diligent we finished our part in 30 minutes and had a bit more free time to get ready before we headed to the palace of fine arts to watch the movie The Life of Pi.  It was my first time seeing it and I totally enjoyed the film…not to mention that for two hours I was in an air conditioned room, which is always a plus! 

After the movie we walked to dinner and had a great time since some of the students decide to put on a little bit of a dance routine to help us pass the time.  Once dinner was over we made it back to the hotel and had our nightly meeting.  We finished the nightly meeting pretty fast, because the girls of the group decided to have a “girls night” as for us guys we decided to opt for free time and just do whatever we wanted until it was time for bed time and lights out.  

The fact that this may be my third night in a row that I will be going to bed early is totally worth it, since tomorrow is yet another early day and I totally can use the extra time to rest and relax.  On a separate note can’t believe that two weeks have flown by.  It’s bittersweet that time has flown by…students and leaders are bonding…even though some of them can are bit much at times…and I personally am enjoying the country, learning so much.  But on the other hand, I know that I have to go back home and get back into the groove of things…you know face reality.   Nonetheless, have to enjoy the one week left that I have here in the Dominican Republic and make the best of it…even with the copious bug bites that I have.   Well got to go and take my malaria medicine, before I forget.

Hasta Luego and will be seeing the USA in one week…T-minus 7 days and counting!

Day 13: Fun Day?!!? Tropical Storm Chantal

Well we woke up early to the alert system for tropical storm Chantal that was spinning in the Atlantic.  That being said when I peeked through the window early in the morning and noticed that there was  blue skies, white clouds and the sun was shining.  That being said, all the leaders got on their computers to monitor the progress and the expected landfall for the storm was going to be later today.  

After find that information we got ready to eat breakfast and once the program manager arrived she told us that we would continue with today’s schedule until there was an immediate threat and we couldn’t  fulfill the activities scheduled.  So the first thing we did was get our trunks and athletic clothes because we were going on our field trip to Angela’s Ranch.  What I found interesting as we traveled to the Ranch was that the sky totally changed color and turned grey and as we approached to the ranch we also noticed that it started to sprinkle, but that did not damper our day since it was our FUN DAY! We spent 5 hours at Angela’s Ranch and we all had a blast.  There was a pool, a clubhouse with a pool table, dominoes, and cards.  There was also a cover patio that looked like a hut…it was really nice of Angela the owner of the Hotel to invite us to her ranch free of charge.  She even provided lunch for us, which was yummy and very thoughtful of her.

We left Angela’s Ranch at 2 PM and make our trip back to the hotel.  We had some free time and a group of students went out to get stuff with James…too bad while they were out it started to rain quite a bit and once they made it back to the hotel they were wet.  We had a pretty lengthy downtime due to the in climate weather being that tropical storm Chantal was approaching so the rest of the day had to be modified.  We had our CAP seminar at 4:30 PM, met with the leaders of the organization that we are partnering with and had a share of ideas as to how each group can help the community.  Walking around and watching and hearing what they were doing was amazing.

As the seminar continued, the GG leaders had to literally revamp tomorrow’s day…unfortunately we cannot complete our second reality challenge # 2 of working like a local.  We were supposed to go to the local market and help defeathering dead chickens and prep them for sale, but because of the weather and the health and safety of our students, this isn’t happening.  Instead, we had to brainstorm and write up an entire new schedule for Thursday…even though it was crunch time we were able to pull it off, awesome way to use team work! After the seminar was over we headed in the heavy rain to eat dinner.  Yup, you guessed it we had our raingear and all but still got very wet as we make our trek to the restaurant.  What made the trek worth it was the food…we had beef for a change and potato salad with eggplant and rice with beans and meat…can one say, “yum!”  

After dinner we made our way back to the hotel, and yes it was still raining, but not as hard the kids were acting up going bonkers and having fun in the rain.  We warned them about getting to rowdy and getting hurt because of the slick concrete.  Do you think they listen?!?!? No, so you can guess what happened…one of our students slipped and hit his head.  We are monitoring his progress and I am sure he will be fine.  Upon entering the hotel we were remembered that we had a nightly meeting and since it was raining we had to change the location to the 3^rd floor restaurant instead of the 4^th floor balcony.  It was an interesting nightly meeting with some of the same old antics of some of the students, but for the most part everyone was in high spirits despite the rainy weather.

Once the nightly meeting was done, helped the student leader of the day write her blog and it was during this time that the heaviest rain came down, with strong winds.  From the looks of the tropical storm it looks like we will be “spared” per se and only get gusty winds and a lot of rain.  As for Haiti, that’s another story.

I’m tired but at the same time stoked that I will be going to bed before 11:00 PM which is a first for me this entire trip…YAHOO!

Day 12: Politics

We woke up with sunny skies still on alert with tropical storm Chantal still spinning out in the Atlantic.  We had our breakfast promptly at 8:00 AM and began our academic seminar on politics at 9:00 AM and then we had an amazing field trip where we were able to speak to the mayor of San Juan de la Maguana Hanoi Sanchez.  She totally gave us amazing insight into the Dominican Politics and she spoke about her personal goals and aspirations as to what drove her to run for public office.  She had this charisma and feisty yet kind attitude with a bit of spunk and pizzazz that made the 1.5 hour meeting with her just pass by.

After that we went to the Orlando Martinez museum here in San Juan.  Orlando Martinez was a reporter that was assassinated because of what he was publishing in the paper.  He was a strong advocate for the rights of the campesinos and rural people, but also questioned some of the actions of the politicians of his time.  It was a small but quaint museum with a lot of history displayed…the murals and pieces of art that pay homage to the report were interesting to look at as well.  From there we walked to the call center where the students were able to finally call home for the first time since we got here.  It was a mix bag, because some students were able to get a hold of someone, and some were not.  Some kids even started to breakdown in tears, because they were homesick.  As a leader, it was a tough to see some of these kids in that situation, but nothing a bit of candy and just giving them some space and letting them know you are here can’t fix.  By the end of lunch time they were back to their old selves.

After lunch we made it to the hotel only to get an update on the tropical storm that was in the Atlantic.  Some reports saying that it will turn into a hurricane as it passes through the DR and Haiti.  We have taken precaution and have a plan in place if it does make landfall.  We had our CAP # 2 meeting, for our culminating service project and broke into our two groups that will be helping the organization that we have partnered with.  After the seminar, we had English class prep class for our regular English class. 

While we were at English class the skies turned color to a darker grey and it started to down pour…but after 10 minutes it lit up.  By the time class had ended it was just overcast and a bit muggy.  Dinner was interesting…I was the last one to get in line and they ended up running out of food…just my luck that is the second time this happens to me on this trip.   Are they implying that I’m fat and I should be eating less…haha.  Anyways, since I didn’t have any food along with Lucy our program managers, we got the special treatment we got chicken and couscous, while everyone else got queso frito and two scoops of plantains with garlic and potatoes.

After dinner we made it back to the hotel checking up on tropical storm Chantal and constructing a plan B for tomorrow if we can’t do what we have planned.  We had our nightly meeting which went pretty well and had our self reflection.  Believe it or not the student leader of the day finished her blog and I will FINALLY head back to my room before midnight…for the first time this trip YAHOO!!!! Yeah, I’m exhausted, the bug bites are killing me but it’s still a life changing experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.   We are now done with 13 days of the program which means that we only have 8 days left in the Caribbean!

Hasta luego y buenas noches!