Love

Thank you to everyone who has read these blogs. I may say that every time, but it is only because I truly mean it. I cannot express enough gratitude for the feedback I get from people who have read them. It uplifts me up to no bounds, and grants me another stepping stone on this journey of love. I thank you and wish you love, love that we cannot even comprehend, love that also knows no bounds. Thank you for reading, and know that I am at peace, content and joyful on my journey. The past turmoil I had described has gone, and it's been replaced with complete peace. Amazing. Thanks for reading.

With love, from

Allyson

To mi great friends

To all ye great friends still looking for new blogs,

Thank you, first of all. I hear once and a while from someone that they check for blogs more often than I seem to be putting up a new one, so for that I apologize.

Since I’ve been back, I re-read a lot of them and it was really neat for me, so I hope it was as neat for you to read them. People have commented on how personal they are, a neighbor even so much as didn’t read them because she felt bad, like she was reading my diary, something too personal. Well, don’t worry, because I wrote them so that you would have an idea of all that I went through. I wrote them knowing and hoping that you’d read them. So, although they were indeed, very personal, I wanted to share that with you.

As personal as some seem, as I’ve been back I’ve realized they just skimmed the surface of stuff I went through and learned from being gone. I’m writing to say that I came back a different person. Completely. I’m still me, it’s just that every day is one step deeper into what that really means. I wanted to write this to let you know what’s going on with me. I’ve been back since May 10^th and it has taken this long to finally be able to put into words, no, grasp what changes I have gone through and been going through. People say some amazing stuff about college and studying abroad, but I don’t always believe things until I live through them. They were right. These have been an amazing 3 years of my life. Thanks to all of you long time friends who have been watching me grow. When I was little I had a picture in my room that said, “To love something is to give it room enough to grow.” I truly believe that. So, I say thank you to all of you for giving me that room, and that undying love. You make me smile.

So, please bear with me if I seem different, good or bad. You may encounter me on a day when I just feel intolerant, just need to vent about all that is going through my mind. It seems to be something I just cannot control after trips like these. You may encounter me on a day when I’m very negative, or just need to talk about the things I don’t agree with in America, or the world. But, you could also get me on an awesome day, and I hope that’s true for you. The bad ones are starting to get outnumbered by the good. It’s been hard getting back. When you see outside of the box, you don’t want to go back in. Thanks for listening, all of you. As important as giving someone room to grow is, it’s also so precious to be there when that person is ready to share. I’ve got to thank everyone who’s been there for me through all of this. It’s appreciated more than you know. And everyone reading is included because if you’re reading, it’s pretty likely we’ve talked, and that is so special to me. thanks friend.

To give a hug is to get a hug, and love is what makes the world go round.

How Allyson got her groove back!

Ok, so my last blog was pretty sad, but that’s where I was right then, and I’m pretty honest when I write these things.

Well, the next day was a huge turn around. On Thursday I called Genesee Valley to see if they were still hiring for the summer, they said yes, fax in an application today and we’ll call you! They were really excited and so was I. So, I spent that day fixing up my resume, I wrote a cover letter, did the app and faxed everything in. On Friday I was interviewed twice, back to back, and hired on the spot. I’m moving in today (Sunday) and training starts tomorrow!!

So, I’m going to be a counselor of the high adventure sleepover camp for older campers and we’ll be out in the woods all week canoeing, backpacking, rock climbing and mountain biking and all kinds of awesome stuff! So, if you can’t tell, I’m pretty psyched!

Training starts tomorrow, and I can’t wait!!!

I leave you with this blog, because as my sister put it, “you’re going to be out in the bush!” and will not be writing for a while.

Hope everyone is having an awesome summer and gets to fun stuff!

I'm BACK

I’m baack!

Yup, finally back, well the finally part is that I’m finally writing. I’ve been home since May 10^th. I was originally supposed to get back on the 14^th but I changed the plans (with the help of my sister) to come home early and surprise my mom for Mother’s Day. She was very surprised and happy to see me! I think she thought she was seeing a ghost. So, it worked. haha. I love surprises.

I was just going to write that I’ve been back for 3 weeks, but really I looked at the calendar and it’s only been 2? It feels like an eternity.

Today was a break through in my time readjusting. I finally broke down and wrote in my journal. It’s been soo hard getting back into things here. The best way to describe it is that I feel like a hermit crab that left its shell and came back, but couldn’t fit in it anymore. I came back a new completely changed person but didn’t even realize to what depths and what that meant until I was back where I came from. So, it’s been really hard.

The ironic thing is that I’m going through the same silent world of adjustment I went through getting adjusted to the DR. And it’s just as hard, but harder I think. Because here, I’m back to familiar stuff. You could say nothing’s new, but it all is. I stare at things like a 5 year old that’s seeing her world for the first time. And I stop and smell almost every flower. And I drive almost below the speed limit just staring at my surroundings until I realize there’s a line of cars behind me and maybe I should pick it up a little or get run over. So back to the readjustment. So, the first time it was new country, new everything, and new language. So, I was silent and frustrated at trying to speak. But the ironic part of this transition is it’s old country, old everyone, and same language, but I’m still not speaking. Now, what I mean by this is I’m not speaking about my feelings of readjusting. Today was the first day I broke down and talked to someone other than my parents about what’s going on inside of me. There’s no way to explain it, so I will not begin to try. I’m a new person, and I’m still learning what that means, and about my new self. If anyone reading has lived abroad for a long period of time, or has any insight into what I’m going through, please shoot me an email and let me know. allyson.raker@gmail.com I’d love to hear from anyone right about now. I’m a little lonely, and trying to fit back in. More to come later. Don’t know if I warned you in a blog, but I always write loads after trips, and this was a long trip. So, there is definitely a lot to come.

And again, thank you very much those who read this. Every once in a while someone new lets me know that they were reading the whole time I was gone. It makes me so happy to find that out. Especially because then, when I come back, I don’t have to start at day one to explain what I was up to while I was gone.

I’d love to get together and talk with anyone in the area, to “t about l,” talk about life, as Christie says.

LOVING LIFE!! Almost home!!

I now have three names. Allyson, alison (with spanish accent) and eelison (I was renamed by the grandmother here). Oh, and there are 3 Allysons in the program here, so I'm also Raker. When I was in the hospital that became Raver on all the medical forms. I'm gonna develop a complex before this is all over!!

Update to the nicknames: My host family started calling me rubia now, and apparently I look FRENCH, so i'm also la francesa. woohhoo. Now I definitely have a complex. Let's see how many more nicknames I can pick up in the 2 weeks that are left, my who's hardly ever had a nickname in her whole life!!

April 14, 2007

OK, apologies to everyone who has been checking this page without response. I have been too busy to do anything. Let me give an example of my life here, in which I fly by the seat of my pants.

I’m usually a very diligent student, badly enough that I do projects or papers when they’re assigned and have to look at a calendar to put the right date on the heading for the day it’s due. I do things that far ahead of time. Not here, nope. I realized how bad it had gotten yesterday. I sat down at 4 o’clock to write a paper due at 6 at a school at least a half an hour away. No big deal, lol. In the states I probably would have been freaking out, but here, I just kind of laughed. It’s not that I’ve become a procrastinator, I just don’t have time, and I’ve adjusted all too well to the lifestyle here. So, I laughed really hard when I went to put the date on my paper, and instead of grabbing my calendar, I grabbed my cell phone with the current date. Wrote it down, printed the paper without editing, and ran off to class.

So, that’s just to show what life’s like here, and give some meager excuse as to why it seems like I’ve dropped off the face of the earth.

I have 2 weeks of class left. I literally have done nothing in my classes all semester, I think honestly I have taken 4 exams all semester which I can’t believe, seeing as I have 6 classes. The schooling here is ridiculous and really ineffective even at the university level. Whatever stereotype you have of schools in Asia that turn out geniuses, imagine the other extreme and you’ve got the lovely country of the Dominican Republic. BUT, to redeem a semester of doing nothing, apparently in every class the teachers decide you need to write a final paper anywhere between 5-15 pages and take a final exam. About what, I have no idea.

So, for the next two weeks I’m swamped with work, and will not have time to blog (at least it doesn’t seem so at this point). Then I have 2 weeks to chill till I come home, unless I decide to change my ticket, because I’m definitely ready to come home. So, you all may see me before May 14 as originally planned.

Spanish is coming really fluently, I’m feeling great about that, and cranking out these papers will sure put the finishing touches on everything I’ve learned.

I’m ready to see you all, miss you much, and send a great big hug. Sadly, I wouldn’t expect another blog for a while, but if I can, I will. And I always write and write after really intense trips in my life, so just because I’m home won’t mean that the blogs stop. I gotta let you know how re-entry goes.

Ps-I forgot to write what made me think to write a blog (it’s always a random little thing that I want to share that makes me sit down and write for a little while). It’s so hot here that I have lotion sitting near the window (NOT in the sun) with a pump dispenser. I looked at it this afternoon and saw that it had leaked out lotion through the pumper. Do you know why? Because it’s so freaking hot that the lotion expanded, had no where to go, and squished its way out.
Also, I didn’t know it was possible, but I think the heat got to my Planters cashews too. I didn’t think they could go stale, but they did, in a week. I gotta get out of here.

I don’t even want to think about what the heat’s doing to the eggs that perpetually remain on the TOP of the fridge (not inside). The box milk’s ok, it could survive a nuclear winter in its spot in the cabinet along with the flying roaches that like to land on me at 11 pm when all I want is a snack and to go to bed and dream about America and a normal life. I’m so ready to come home, jeesh, everything I write makes it even more clear.

I’m ready for pasta with real sauce, not just noodles with red coloring and some funky flavor. A BAGEL. A real toaster, the one here is a waffle maker without the waffly texture, it pretty much heats the bread and flattens it. It sucks. As does my pillow. I don’t know why I haven’t written about it before, but I definitely documented it with pictures. Lets just say if you had back problems and had this pillow, you would die. A dryer. We’re all familiar with the normal phases that jeans go through. You wear them for way too long because they just always seem to pass the smell check. So, finally you finally decide to wash them, and in America you dry them too. Then you try to put them on. If you are a girl, do not deny this process, my roommate in particular. The jumping around as you try to pull them up, the sucking in to zip, which may even be achieved by laying down on the bed!! But, after a day they’re back to normal and you don’t wash them for the next couple weeks (remember, we’re in college). But no, not here. They never get uncomfortably shrunk by the dryer. Result? The pants that my mom lovingly hemmed that used to fit perfectly now need to be rolled up at least THREE inches until I can walk. What’s the deal???

Broken Conversation

Ok, funny story, a little. There’s a Haitian guy working in the house next door, which really is sad because he lives there and works there and they hardly feed him. I could go on about that, but I don’t want to dwell on it as that’s not the story I want to write, nor the mood that I’m in.

He speaks Creole, French, and some English, and some Spanish. Seeing the story-line yet? The communication? Yes, it’s challenging! Because I studied French, but I’m thinking in Spanish, therefore the French se fue, opps, that means it left. YES! I’m thinking in Spanish! Ok, back to the story. We try to talk, but it’s like this:

Me: hola!
Him: hola!
(now I’ll translate, but keep in mind all that follows is a mix of VERY broken Spanish, Creole, French, and English.)

Him: You to school?
Me: Yes
Him: -- lots of pointing and gestures--
Me: --what are you doing??--
Him: You to school?
Me: yes…I back afternoon. (full sentences are of no use. Cut out the crap and the point gets across)
Him: hungry –points to stomach—
Me –pissed at his family for leaving him like that—

Other conversation:
Him: you, phone? (tell me you didn’t just think of ET phone home)
Me: no (my only defense, because the next line is I need your number. Let me say that out of all the phrases he knows, this next part came out the clearest and was the hardest to pretend I didn’t understand because I wanted to laugh. It’s what every man asks for here, apparently not only Dominicans.)
Him: you, number, I need number call you.
Me: no phone
Him: I go Haiti need number to call you.
Me: I school !!!! (haha, my cue that I’m leaving, the only phrase he gets)

Peanut Butter!

For the first time today, I laughed as I actually enjoyed fulfilling a stereotype! I really have a craving for peanut butter! And I wasn’t aware of it, but apparently it’s a stereotype that Americans love peanut butter. So, I went to the supermarket and they didn’t have it (sometimes they do). Then I went to the colmado (like the convenience store) and there were about 5 men there, including the 2 or 3 workers. I asked for peanut butter (in Spanish obviously, but you’d think not from the response I got). I received some blank stares, the owner asked me a few questions and handed me a jar of peanuts, to which I replied, no cream! Butter! Peanut butter! One man understood what I wanted and said, that’s like a staple for you guys isn’t it?

So, I left, sadly, without my peanut butter, my craving unfulfilled. I really wanted some bananas with crunchy peanut butter.

Woh is me. Haha, my doña told me to walk to another supermarket because she knows I like to walk. And she said, if it’s not there, keep walking! There’s another one after that.

But, I have decided against it as I need to get dolled-up for the music festival at the National Theater, hopefully, as I said, the first even out of 4 recently that will actually take place!! I’m excited.

Great Stories, an must read Monday 3/12/07

Well, today was a fun day! Last night I stayed up late against better judgement to watch Godzilla for the first time. Then my alarm on my cell phone screamed: it’s time to wake up! At 6:30. so, I walked to the bathroom bleary-eyed, my host brother saw me and laughed, and I got myself ready. I left for my internship at 7:30 with the intention of getting there at 8:30. This trip entails a few blocks walk to a public car and then waiting for a bus that I usually have to shove into because it’s so full at that point. So, I had my nice morning walk, got in the public car, arrived at the place to catch the bus and waited. And waited. And waited! I waited until I decided that there was a strike of public transportation.

Indicators of a strike (which are unannounced, only happen in the morning, and shut down the whole city):
-too many people waiting at the same place you are
-no buses
-you start to notice pick-up trucks hauling people
-taxis either disappear (you can’t call one by phone) or double as a public car to help people get to work
-random guys decide to make some money (and maybe want to help people get to work out of the goodness of their hearts) and turn their car into public transportation.
-people just start walking.

The final one was me after all my observations. The line to take the car that got me to that point in my trip was way over 30 people long, so I walked home. It took my like a half an hour.

Got home. Then my doña looked at me like, WHY are you home?? I just said, “Strike.” She rolled her eyes and said, “yeah, it said something about that in the newspaper.” WELL WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME??

See my host dad a few minutes later. He didn’t even realize that I shouldn’t have been home, I should have been having a battle with the rugrats at that point. So I told him I couldn’t get to work because there’s a strike. Again, I thought I had breaking news, and that it wasn’t announced in the paper. NO. He said, “But I thought the strike was only for the buses.” Stop, and think about that statement. Again, that means he knew. And, yes the BUSES are exactly what I take to work.

So, I ask myself, isn’t the fact that there is a strike information that should be shared in the morning before I leave? I think so! But, all is well, I got homework done and took some pictures with my new macro lens. I just got a little angry while I was writing when I realized how ridiculous this was.

Ok, but the story gets better. So, my internship is normally from 8:30-2:30 and then class from 3-5. I took a public car to class. On the way there (well, here) the driver just stopped on the side of the road with a full car load of passengers and said, I’ll be right back. He ran across the street to drop his phone off at a cell phone store! I just burst out laughing. There were 5 women including me just sitting in a public car on the side of the road with no driver. It really cracked me up.

So, after his crazy driving all over the place (and you know it’s bad when it scares the Dominicans) I got out and started to walk to class. I walked real fast! Because I was late. But, it turns out, I arrived and wasn’t late because class was cancelled. Just like the strike, why didn’t anyone tell me? They called my house right after I left! Lol, all I can do is laugh! I had a free day! Just had to do some travelling to find out that I didn’t really need to go anywhere.

So, tonight, I’m supposed to go to a music festival. JEESSH, LAST night I was supposed to go to a play for class, got all dressed up, called a taxi, got there, found out I was an hour early bc my teacher told us the wrong time, waited a long time for people to arrive, and found out that there were only two people in the play and one was sick. So, the play was cancelled too!! Wow. DR madness. So, maybe fourth time’s a charm in this country, and my scheduled event for tonight will actually take place!!

Oh, and ps: I can’t post this because the internet’s not working, but are you really surprised?

End note: I’m not mad or even frustrated, the sad part is this is all kind of normal and doesn’t even surprise me. I’m going to be in for it when I get back to America and things actually run on time and I really have to be somewhere when they tell me to be there.

Quick Update Monday March 5

Really quick:

Great weekend. Went BOWLING in the Dominican Republic! While we were there my friend Doron (American) told me that he tried to call before we came and got this message, on his Dominican phone to my Dominican phone IN ENGLISH, “You cannot make this call.” What’s the deal, he was like, “What do you mean I can’t make this call? And was really threw me off was the English!”

Sunday I went to the Domincan “Carnaval.” Like Mardi Gras Dominican style. Amazing!! There were amazing costumes and crazy people. The best part was that there are little kids, and teenagers that dress up (it’s sort like the DR version of Halloween) and have these pillow/football shaped things on a string that they wind up and HIT YOU IN THE BUTT with. They chase down girls that aren’t looking and hit them so hard. So you can imagine at first it was funny, but girls started to get mad by the end of the night. I watched my back, quite literally, and escaped the pain.

Today I went to my internship and tried out my letter project that I mentioned in my previous blog. Didn’t go as planned but they still listened to me for at least a little while and drew pictures and I got them to write the names of what they drew. I don’t think they understood we were trying to learn the letter A, but that’s ok, there was some sort of order and it lasted longer than I expected. That’s all I want. And maybe they learned something?
Also, we always line up outside before school starts and it’s a Catholic organization, so they pray before school. They recite the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish and typically one of my boys laughs at me and the fact that I don’t know it instead of saying it himself. BUT, today, instead of doing that, he told me my Spanish was better! It melted my heart. High for the day.
Also, I played the DR version of checkers and you can attack backwards here. I’m not great at the American version, so it’s a little harder when I don’t even know the crazy rules!! BUT, these kids could make a living at checkers they’re so good. I swear, they’re like 5 moves ahead in their minds, when I look like Tom Hartka playing chess, concentrating on my ONE move and how to not lose. Sooo, after 2 games of them beating me and about 5 boys moving my players and telling me what to do, I WON!! It was awesome. And the boy didn’t let me win either. I quit while I was ahead. Dad and Reid, and Mom (watch, Mom was probably in some Checkers League when she was young, just like bowling, she never told us and whipped out her bowling skills one weekend! I bet she’s good a checkers too!) we’ve got to play some checkers this summer.

Ok, it’s about 7 pm here and I left the house at 7:30 this morning, so I gotta go man the public cars to get home, eat a domincan supper, and sleep!

PS-Did anyone see the lunar eclipse Saturday night? It may be really regional, anyway, there was one here and it was really neat!

Saturday Morning March 3

So, it’s Saturday morning here, and I apologize for not writing in a LONG time. But you know what that means, I’m about to write a lot.

Biggest news: My big sister Chris is coming to visit in 2 weeks. I’m so excited, and telling everyone, so now you all know too!

Onto a quick blurb of what I’ve been up to, which usually leads me into some story or pensive thought that I decide to share.

Two weekends ago: Got to mix concrete and move some cinderblocks with a mission group that came down for a visit to a town very close to Esperanza, where we have spent a lot of time with St. John’s. Very fun! And I even got to learn a little Creol (the language they speak in Haiti, our neighbor to the west) because the church service was in English to Creol, so you learn a lot that way.

Last Weekend: Went to visit Yasmín and family. Wonderful! Learned how to drive a moped, road in the back of a pickup truck with 30 other people (pretending we were Haitian immigrants with sheets over our head (which were really just to protect us from the sun)), got to visit a potential site for medical clinic this summer, and just enjoyed myself. It’s so nice to get out of the city; they live in a very rural town compared to the Capital. It actually gets cold a night. And you can breathe.

Internship this Week (every week is different, I go to the same place, same kids, but I swear there is no rhythm nor order to that place): No one helped me, the kids went psycho. They all run into the room where I teach and go to the only closet that doesn’t have a lock on it and start raiding it. It has children’s books in it. But the sad thing is, they can’t read them!!! So, I made my best effort to gain control and keep calm. But as I said to my friend Arianna, who I have to check in with weekly to tell her how it’s going, there’s a difference between having patience and letting little psychos rule your classroom.
So, I have a plan now, that she helped me with. As it stands, I spend about 1.5 hours trying to teach them, or less. I only go once a week because it’s an hour away. And I’ve got about 10? weeks left with them. New plan of action: Bring newspapers and start with “letter A.” Get them to cut out words that begin with A, practice writing simple A words, draw pictures of A animals….you get the picture. Exercises that trick them into learning!!! WOOHOO! So, I’ll see how many letters I can do a day. Probably 2 at most, I don’t want to expect too much. I feel better now that I’ve got a plan. But, look at how long I’ve been here. TWO MONTHS. That’s how slowly the DR moves. It took 2 months for it to become obvious that no one was going to help me teach, nor give me teaching materials, nor tell me what I should be doing!
Then, after my try at teaching a few letters, I run away from the crazies to some other crazies who live nextdoor. But, there the only thing I have to do is play soccer for a few hours in the blaring sun. I love it. Great break from banging my head against the wall!!

Stories for the week:
-At my internship where I play soccer, they are always very interested in my skin. Because as most of you know, and it’s second nature and nothing special, when you push on your skin or palm, it goes from pinkish to white, and then returns to normal. (It’s fun to imagine many of you pushing on your palms right now to check it out.) So, just about every kid here is amazed at that and grabs my hand when I arrive to start the amazing, “push on her palm, watch the blood disappear and rush back, tap your neighbor to get his attention, he does it too, and so does his neighbor, and his…” activity.
-Other internship story: They were talking about scars on day, and as boys are, knew exactly who had the worst one and I HAD to see it. They dragged me over to this boy, made him put on shorts so I could see it, and then showed me. Let me just say, I see a lot living in this country, but this was bad. He pretty much had a hole in his thigh about 3-4 inches long and at least ¾ inch wide with the evidence that the Dominican version of stitches was in it at one time to try and close it up. This thing was ugly. I finally worked it out of him what happened: Some guy escaped from jail (I think) and stabbed him with a red-hot knife. No reason, didn’t know the guy. This happened when he was 10. Can you believe it? This little guy is lucky to be alive with the first aid he received.
Public Car Story (as it’s my daily life, you’ll have to indulge me with the opportunity to tell another one): In a public mini van, as we will call them here, you get shoved in, and I mean shoved. The cobrador (guy who takes the money and hangs out the side door) yells at you as you try to sit down comfortably in the second to last row, “Fits 5, Fits 5!!” about the back row, meaning you better get back there. Side note, the back of this type of bus is referred to as the “kitchen,” it’s really hot. Ok, so in this particular instance I got to the back, and only half of the banked seat had a back. Let me digress right here to say that none of the furniture, and yes I consider it furniture because it did NOT come with the car and is some piece of junk from who knows where, is really from a car. It could be a kind of plastic bench, bolted to the floor in the back of the mini bus that I sit on. So, yes, in this case it was. But one part of it had no back. And I was lucky to get the part with a back. But as I looked around, I could see the street moving below me, and I could have sworn that when I pushed on the side of the car, the metal separating me from my comfy plastic bench and sudden doom moved. So did the metal covering the wheel wells, it had kind of rusted off from the floor and the curved part was just kind of flopping around with very pot hole we hit. Oh, and ps: the back door didn’t shut so good luck to the person who sat on the bench with no back; they really could have flown out the back.

My history class: I was researching in English websites because I can’t seem to find many in Spanish, and found one that you guys might find interesting if you’d like to know a little about this country.

http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Dominican-Republic.html

Here’s some stuff I copied:

Symbols of Social Stratification. The symbols of social stratification are similar to those in Western cultures. Many of the growing middle-class population own homes and cars, and enjoy updating them with the latest electronic appliances. Their children graduate from high school, and may go on to college. (this is where I live with my host family). People take pride in their personal appearance and prefer New York fashions and jewelry. However, there is still a large segment of the population which lives in urban slums and poor rural areas without electricity or running water. (this is where we work in the summer)

A voluntary national contributory scheme exists to provide insurance coverage for sickness, unemployment, dental injury, maternity, old age, and death. Only about 42 percent of the population benefits from it.

Personal space is limited, touching is normal, and crowding, particularly on public transportation, is common. (my life!)

Dominicans point with puckered lips instead of a finger. Men shake hands firmly when they greet and close friends embrace. Most women kiss each other on both cheeks, and a man who trusts a woman will also kiss her. (we kiss cheeks all the time when I meet up with a friend, meet someone new, or get to class and sit near people I know)

There are about one thousand people to each doctor, with over eight hundred people per each hospital bed. Many people still consult native healers, including witch doctors, voodoo practitioners, and herbalists. Parasites and infectious diseases are common. Contaminated water must be boiled in rural areas. Malaria and rabies are still a problem. In spite of this, the life expectancy is sixty-eight for men and seventy-two for women.

Pretty shocking facts huh? But, there’s other interesting stuff to read, that’s not as bad. I was just interested in that, so I decided to copy it.

Well, I’ve written a lot for today. Just quickly I’ll say that yesterday, with my program, we drove about 4 hours to the Haitian border, looked at it (you can’t cross, you might never get back) and came back! It wasn’t really guarded or anything. It was just a place where Dominicans and Haitians crossed back and forth freely with market goods in jacked up pickup trucks that crossed a river. Neat to see.

My Birthday!! 2/22!! WOOOHHHOOO!!

Hey everyone!! I know it's been a LOONG time since I got to put up a blog. I'm late for class (it's 6:08) but the professor never gets there until 6:20 or so, so I'm ok. In a few sentences I will sum up life life since we last talked.

Had a mad busy week last week. BUT, then I went with a friend from the study abroad program, met a mission group from her church at the airport, and went with them to San Pedro for the weekend! We shoveled cement, hulled rocks, had a water fight with the kids, and I got to do some translating. Oh! And I even learned some Creol bc we were in a Haitian village. And I met a guy who plays for the Ironbirds. It was a completely awesome weekend. I got to see Papito, Mercedes, and Marcia. Great, great, great. I got to use my muscles, or what was left of them after riding around in public cars for the past month or two (how long has it been??).

Hmm, then, Monday I had my intership with the crazy illiterate boys. But, after that one of them hung around and wanted to learn something! So I started a spontaneos math class with him an another boy. Started with verbal addition (that was too hard), went to flash cards with pictures (that one was too hard too), when to counting pencils and fingers (a little too hard), so I then wrote 1-10 on a piece of paper for them to trace and learn the numbers (that one was juuuust right!). So, like all in the DR, you have to have plan A-Z and patience. That's all you need! I loved worked with them, it melted my heart that they hung back, wanting to learn.

Then, I went over to another building to a place with boys off the streets too, except they live there and are there to stay. There were about 6 not in school, and just sitting around. No one gave me anything to do, so I asked them what they wanted to do. SOCCER! So, soccer it was for the next 3 hours. I had a blast!! They kept whispering to eachother, man, she knows how to play! I guess they'd never seen a white girl kick a ball before! It was awesome, loving life here.

Then Wednesday I acted out Hamlet in Spanish, that was fun!

Today was my birthday and I took myself shopping! I got some dominican clothes, so I feel like a real woman, dr style. You guys won't recognize me when I get back: nice jeans, earings, a little makeup, strappy shirt, nope, definitely I think I'll hold a sign when I get off the plane!

Love you all, got to run to class!!

Journal Entry: real personal, real important

I’m gonna type up something I wrote in class one day when we were discussing community initiatives. We were divided into groups and asked to describe different words. One group had the word “poverty.” They listed words like, “no hope, drugs, dirty, AIDS, trash…and the list went on.” What I’m about to type up is really personal, but I feel like it’s kind of important because I’m never able to let you in on what I’m feeling during a mission trip because I’m always here during them. And when I come back, I’m so muddled and confused in my own feelings and reactions that I don’t give you an accurate picture. So here’s a little insight to the world of Allyson (as of now).

“I’m in my internship class and SOOO frustrated. One girl just listed off all of her feelings about poverty-all the words she associates with poverty. One of the first was no hope. I jumped on it and said, “I have seen poverty, and there is hope. Every summer we go to a poor, poor village and the name is Hope. You have to see it, you have to experience it.” Plain and simple, she just doesn’t know anything about it. And this is one of the things that really bothers me. But I always remember that I never knew about it, and I still hardly know. I just know what I’ve seen, and that I have best friends that live in that situation, and that there is hope. But you’ve got to experience it before you can say something like that. I’m sitting here mad and frustrated. I knew Arianna (a good friend who knows about our trips to San Pedro, is the teacher of the class, but we had a guest speaker this day) heard what I said. But the worst part is when someone you super respect calls you out and speaks such truth that it strikes you. She said like 10 min later, “Allyson, do you think maybe you (I) just see hope because you see those people one week out of the year when you bring medical supplies and gifts and make them smile?” I’ve just been sitting here stewing/hopeless myself ever since. Then I remembered other things we’ve done. We don’t just bring meds. We’ve built stuff. I want to go see Esperanza so badly. I want to see the playground. I want to see them during the year and see that what we do doesn’t just last one week. Because I can’t believe that it does. If it affects me the whole year and gives me reason to live, how can it only affect the people we work with for only one week. It can’t be. I won’t settle to the views of this world and the absence of hope they have. And I’m talking hope like HOPE. Hope in God, faith in your heart. Great Love. That’s what makes the world go round. I need to remember why I’m here. {At this point, I was not paying attention to the Spanish flying around the room as I was obviously journaling in English. The guest speaker asked me a question to the effect of, “How do you know that what you do during one week is sustained through the year?” Now, if I needed a sign from God, there it was! It was like someone was giving me a chance to tell myself that what we do does matter, and does last. I replied, “Because we work with the same pastor year after year. And she works with everyone in our absence, and makes sure the things we bring and build are put to good use. And we haven’t been doing a medical clinic since the beginning. We started it after we saw a need.” He seemed satisfied with my answer, and I did too.}I’m here to learn Spanish and follow my heart and discover myself. (at that point I left, and my journal ends.)”

So, there’s insight into my feelings to date, if you’d like to comment, go for it.

“Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly…and leave the rest to God.”

February 8th!!!

Ok, today and yesterday were SO much better. I posted my last blog yesterday but I wrote it Tuesday. Don’t worry, yes I do get down, but it doesn’t last for long.

My ride to school has greatly improved, as the sewage leak that covered the entire street every morning was fixed and no longer sprays me in the face! I got to make my own breakfast this morning, which I always enjoy. Oh, I forgot to write about this one (it has relevance to breakfast)!! Ok, one night I was getting ready to go to bed and was looking for something to eat. I checked the oven (which does not have a thermostat that I can find and seems to remain perpetually at 150 F) where my host mother keeps foods warm. I saw a pot of white stuff and dipped my finger in to try it, thinking it was dessert or something like a weird DR cake. Then, I thought better of it, remembering I was in the DR. I looked at my finger, which had hit liquid, and smelled it. It smelled like rotting milk. IN THE OVEN. I washed my hands and thought nothing more of it, found another snack and went to bed. Unbeknownst to me, I would be seeing it again soon. I woke up late, no one was home, and I saw a note on the kitchen table that said…
“Good morning Alison (no one can spell my name in the States, why would they be able to do it here?). Your breakfast is in a pitcher in the fridge, I made you yogurt. Have a good day. –Mabel”
Ok, so my brain starts churning…she MADE yogurt??? How? Cooking milk in the 150 degree oven all night? I took it out of the fridge and stared at it for a long time. I smelled it, and contemplated the repercussions that could occur in my stomach if I did indeed decide to ingest the “homemade” yogurt. But the problem was, if I didn’t eat it, she would know. And if I did, what would happen? Should I just pour some in the trash can? …. So, I tasted it, like a cat that laps at milk hesitantly. And, it wasn’t that bad! Now, I actually love it! Haha, so Mom and Dad-the “you have to try EVERYTHING” rakerness that has been engrained in me since childhood spoke up. And yes, sometimes you turn out to like what repulses you.
SO, back to my breakfast! I ate the last of the yogurt. And the phone ran, I answered, “Good morning.” And the person on the other side said, “Hey Allyson!” I was so confused (this was in Spanish). It was my other host brother who lives in Canada! So obviously he knew I wasn’t one of his family members. It was neat to finally talk to him.
After my strange phone encounter, I left the house and locked the NINE locks on the way outside, and walked to my little spot where I catch the public car, caught it, and now I’m here at school writing to all of you!

Random Little Stories:
-I usually ignore what the men say to me, but on this occasion I just had to burst out laughing: A man said loudly to his friends as I walked by, “Es un amor fatal.” Which means, “She is a fatal love.” Just the way people say what they do cracks me up.
-We fit NINE people in a public car one night. Not a bus, not even a little bus. A car. Yes some where kids, but still, can you imagine??
-I was watching TV with my host family and I think the movie was “As Good as it Gets.” They were walking along a beach and I said that I go to a beach like that every summer with my family. They were asking about it, and I intended to say, “The sand is beautiful even though the water looks grey/dirty.” Well, in Spanish sand=arena and oatmeal=avena. (You can imagine what happened.) I said our beaches have beautiful oatmeal!!! My host mom just stared at me. Then I started laughing hysterically.
-On the way to my internship one day I caught a public car to a place where I could then catch a bus. The bus I needed was roaring by and I flagged it down. I proceeded to run to it before it pulled away. Then I stopped when I saw why it was roaring by, not picking up passengers: it was packed to the brim and people were hanging out the door. I said, heck! And jumped on and shoved in. I wasn’t one of the hangers though, for all the worried adults. And after a little while one guy my age said to me (in English), “I see you’ve gotten used to the Dominican transportation, you just jumped on and made your own space!” Yup, what else was I supposed to do? When in Rome do as the Romans do!

So yesterday my acting class started! It’s two hours a week on Wednesday mornings, no credit, just fun. It’s really small, and seems like it’s going to be awesome. So, first day, he teaches us how to breathe from our bellies. And he made us each lie down on a table individually and breathe with a book on our stomach to make sure we were breathing from below and not up top in the lungs. THEN we had to all individually stand up and say, “Arrrr, Errrr, Irrrrr, Orrrrr, Urrrr, Rrrrrr,” using our newly learned breathing techniques. I’ve already made a friend because I was just laughing hysterically with/at her when she went first. I actually had to turn around and face the wall so that she could do it without laughing. Then, wouldn’t you know, I had to go second. You have to try an imagine this. Stand up, force yourself to breathe from your belly, like now you’re pregnant, now you’re not. It’s hard. Then go through the vowels with rolling rrrrs after them, very loudly and make it last your entire exhale. Don’t think about the class staring at you, and don’t burst out laughing! (which of course, you know I did.) Anyway, I tried really hard, but even some of my Dominican classmates had trouble. It’s gonna be a fun class! But I’ve got to memorize a page long monologue of my choice (in Spanish) by next Wednesday. Hmm, I better start that one pronto!!


So, I went through a little down time, and now I’m back to being me!! Just plain old me. I love it. I’m working on a poem, an ode to DR toilets. Check for updates on that one.

Bummed-Better

So today is a really bummy day. Many reasons, but none I feel like writing about. So, I'll be real. I'm exhausted from the weekend and that's a bad way to start the week when I don't have time to catch up on sleep. Anyway, I'm in a John Denver melancholy mood, I've got it going on my ipod. Yesterday was a blast Dixie Chicks really loud day and sing at the top of my lungs in the shower.
So, qué pasa? This morning I had to go buy a new cellphone because mine broke again. Second time, it just stops working. And then I have to go to Orange and wait in a line like one you find at the DMV. This is the second time, and they should just give me a new phone. But, because this makes sense-I have to wait until it happens three times until they'll give me a new phone. GREAT. I'm not waiting, so I went and bought a whole new phone. Whatever. The lady almost didn't sell it to me bc she knew I wasn't going to use the new number.
What else, this weekend I went dancing Friday night, it was ok. I learned how to dance Salsa in Mexico last summer, and it's really fun. But here, I've heard that when a Salsa song comes on, all the Dominicans clear off the floor because they think it's so hard. I asked a guy that came with our friends if he knew how to dance Salsa, he said yes. He did NOT. We looked like a couple of idiots out on the floor. Then I tried dancing it with this other guy. He might as well have been dancing a totally different dance, not the Salsa I know. So, by the end of the dance he asked me if I learned Salsa in Nicaragua. I replied, no, in Mexico. Then he understood. You know a guy has decided that you don't know how to dance (the steps) when he decides to spin you for the whole song. Which, I prefer and it's more fun anyway, so woohoo!
Then Saturday I finished up homework and spent the day at Orange trying to get them to give me a new phone, which as you know, they did not. Saturday night I went to San Pedro and stayed till late Sunday. It was fun. This weekend is whale watching and next I'm hoping to go to S.P. again and see all the old friends, I still haven't gotten to do that!!
So onto better times. Last night I was really bummed and needed to make a call. I walked to a call center where you pay by the minute. It was closed! You can only laugh at the DR when you're that down and it makes you downer. But, the security guard befriended me. He went and bought me juice and a phone card and gave me his cell phone to use. He was so nice, and cheered me up. He's in his forties or fifties, so don't worry he wasn't some young dude hitting on me. He has the outlook of Papito, happy-go-lucky and just wanted to help and make a friend. So, I consider him my first real Dominican friend. Thanks!
So, at my internship I go every Monday and Friday morning for two hours and it takes an hour to get there. I've been waiting for them to tell me what to do, or give me direction. But, no. So, yesterday I showed my americanness that I've been suppressing and I took over. I asked for my group of boys to stay after class before they could go get their snacks. I sat them down and asked for silence (which is relative in this country, and something you never experience. They were quietER, which is all I can ask for). I told them I came here to teach them, my age, what I study and have studied, and that I WANT to be here. I asked them if they wanted to learn how to read and write. Some said yes very enthusiastically, which was encouraging. Then I just kept talking about respect and how I wanted to be their friend, but I was also going to be their teacher. yaydada, I babbled in an unprepared speech in Spanish. At least I'm not shy or scared, well I wouldn't be doing anything that I'm doing if I was. So, basically, things are going to be different from now on there, and I'm taking control. And I asked for another classroom to teach them in bc at this point we've got two groups of really rowdy boys in one room. That doesn't work.
How is it that my first real teaching experience is in Spanish, and teaching illiterate boys how to read when I don't know the first thing about that? I guess I like challenges? Nothing I do is ever easy. And I'm here for a reason, there's always a reason. To look at the big picture, this something so huge. And bigger than me. Teaching someone how to read? Even if I only get one boy to read, or none, and just lay the foundation, even that is something that they don't have. These boys can't even write their names or the date. Celia Whitler sings a song called "Great Love." It goes, "We can do no great thing alone, we can only do small things with great love. The truth is all of us are helpless, without heaven above, giving us the strength to do small things, with great love." So, bring on those crazy boys, and I pray for strength and wisdom in how to reach them.
I cannot thank all of you enough for your e-mails and calls. And memories that we share, because you can bet I have a lot of time to think on my public car rides. And although I'm enjoying myself here, many thoughts fly home to you: all the people I love and miss.

Additional News!! 1/30/2007

Additional News!!

Ok, I have this awesome friend Molly and together we duke it out against McGonagal/Umbridge. The reason for writing about this is to tell you about her Doña (a general name for the woman of the house). Her mom is so crazy that she gives her ONE roll of toilet paper per every 8 days, which she has to guard in her room. Molly has fire red hair, is short like me, and she’s hilarious. A saving grace in the middle of all the crazy Dominicans. When Dominicans call at her, she says, “hello” in a voice dripping with sarcasm, she makes me laugh.

Another friend, Doron, decided he loved Dominican food so much that he was going to try corn from a roadside stand. BAD IDEA. He got sick. He proceeded to throw up so violently that his retainers flew out of his mouth and he lost them for good. Just goes to show you they know what they’re talking about when they say don’t take chances with roadside food!

And, today, the driver of my public car tried to cheat me on my change. I was in a particularly good mood and ready to test out my Spanish for the day. I loudly told him that I have paid the same amount for 4 weeks and that he needed to give me my change. HA, I got it. That one was for Molly, she gets cheated almost everyday.

I LOVE IT HERE!! I’m listening to Disney music in our computer lab at school and sitting next to hilarious Molly. Life is great. Simple pleasures. I’ve got my Language and Culture class and then Linguistics with M/U lady. Did I mention there are only 4 students total in the class? Bring it on.

Random fact of the day:

Speed bumps are called “sleeping policemen” in Spanish.

Weekly Update 1/30/07

Wow, I’ve been here for 4 weeks now. And I’m finally getting the hang of it. Just think, this is the point at which you get used to the language, culture, country, and lifestyle, and this is when I left Mexico. I’m glad I’m here to stay, because the hardest part is over.

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster despite the fact I usually just put up funny stories here. But my previous experiences have prepared me for it, or else I wouldn't be here. Knowing that helps me deal with the crazy Dominicans that whistle and call at me in the streets. Which by the way, depending on my mood, I usually laugh or smile at them now instead of giving them death stares.

So, yes, I’m loving it. I’ve got the Annie song in my head, “I think I’m gonna like it here.” I love the heat, the public car adventure everyday, the lizards all over the place, the music, everything. It’s so much fun. This weekend I went out dancing two nights and had a great time. My classes are going well, and the score in McGonagal/Umbridge’s class is her-20, me-2. At least I’ve got two!! I’m not scared of her, and I won’t let her get to me!!

A few funny anecdotes:

-Although I do laugh when I get called at in the street, I still ignore them. So one day I was walking with a friend and a man said this (in perfect English):

“Hey, hey, are you from Canada? America? What, you don’t speak English? How, blonde hair, blue eyes, and you don’t understand me?”

Yayadada…he kept going and we laughed. My friend Amy actually had someone say in English, why are you ignoring me? She couldn’t believe it!

-We took a taxi one night in which the driver could have battled with Robin Williams for funniness. He was great, I told him he should be an actor and he said he was. Well, that solved that mystery!

-One day I took a public car with a friend and the driver tried to charge her extra and she really didn’t understand that well and I pretended that I didn’t, so she didn’t get charged extra. Then she got out and I kept riding to my house. He turned around and asked me if I understood Spanish really well, to which I said yes. (ps-unless I write otherwise, all of my stories are in Spanish). Ok, so he paused as if he was thinking how to ask a question.

Then he said, “You’re not from around here are you?” (That’s the nicest way I’ve had it put, usually everyone just assumes I’m American.)

“No.”

“Where are you from?”

“United States.”

-pause-

“Could you tell me why is it that foreigners always slam the door of my car?”

-I had to pause to laugh because I had indeed slammed the door when my friend got out.-

“Well, to tell you the truth, your car is pretty new compared to all of the other ones we take daily. You have to slam the other doors to get them to shut.”

“ohhh, yes, I was thinking that, but thanks for clearing that one up.”

-Another routine adventure for me is a public bus ride. Imagine Papito’s bus, but sooooo much worse. He’s is amazing compared to most that I’ve seen. So you get on, and try to find a seat (they shove you in like there’s no tomorrow). One day the bus was completely full and someone yelled, “Let the gringa sit down.” And I got a seat! People here are really nice. So then you pass up your money, and watch for your stop. When you see it coming you have to scream, “Let me off!!” And for the most part, your cry goes unheard. But there’s usually someone around you who then screams, “Let her off!!!!” And then the bus stops and you’re on your way to your next big adventure of the day!

I’m sure there are so many other funny things that happened, but the most important thing is that I’m happy now. I’ve found my heart song as Chris says. So thank you for all of your prayers and love, because I can’t and couldn’t have done it without you.

Ps-If anyone wants to talk for free online, real voices, download “Skype.” I just got it, and my name is “odderbrooke.” It seems really cool, go check it out!

Beach and Dunes

News from the DR!

Trips

Friday I went with a friend, Janelle, to the biggest mall in the country and we saw Happy Feet in Spanish! It was so great! Someone that has seen it in English needs to write and tell me if the little posse of penguins that followed him around had Mexican accents in the English version. Because in the version I saw they were apparently Cuban, and everyone in the theater was laughing hysterically. It was really fun. This city is so huge that it took me an hour and a half to get there. And these weren’t even extremes of the city. I took a taxi back though and it was 50 minutes I think. So either the city is huge, or the public transportation sucks like woh. I think it’s both.

Yesterday I went on a trip with my group to the Dunes of Baní. It was SO cool! It was just dunes and dunes and dunes. I got some amazing shots. And we hiked a secluded beach that we got to by climbing up this monstrous dune that would put the sledding hills of Jvill to shame. It was awesome!

I thought I didn’t like the beaches here because I always go in the summer and it’s so hot and you go in the water and it just seems hotter in there. But, they’re nice in January! But my heart will still always be at Dewey Beach, DE. Love it there. Anyway, the beach we went to had smooth polished rocks all along the shores, and they were beautiful, the kind they sell in stores.

Language

As frustrated as I’ve been with the language at times, I took a step back the other day and realized how far I’ve come. It’s neat because I can compare how much I’ve learned on a yearly basis because we come every summer. I went to church on Thursday night and understood everything. And I understand the songs on my rides to and from school and in the public cars. All the stuff that used to be noise I can now understand! Now I’ve gotta work on making some noise myself. Which, by the way, is getting great (well relative to me a week ago). I’m talking more, and it’s pretty enjoyable. Like Arial when she finds her voice.

Public Cars

Ok, so I know I’ve explained them before, but they just keep getting worse. I asked one driver how old his car was, to which he proudly replied, 27 years old! Oh my gosh. By the way, before I go on, we drove my a junk yard yesterday. Completely different from an American junk yard. They actually still have junk. The ones here are the bare scraps of what used to be a car. Like an empty box of metal. You know were all the parts are? Still in use-keeping the public cars running. So, back to my story. In the past four days I’ve laughed a little harder every time I get into the car. I may have written before about a strap going through the middle of the car from side to side to hold up the two front seats. Ok, so one day it was a strap. The next a pipe. The next a chain. I commented on this to a friend. I said, what’s it gonna be tomorrow? I got my answer yesterday. It was an electric cord. I wonder if all possiblities have been exhausted or if there are still more to come?...

Side note

I’m at the house alone for the first time since I’ve been here. Aníbel went to Brazil for business and Alex and Mabel went out driving. When they left they told me not to answer the door for anyone, because I don’t know anyone and can’t tell if they’re a friend or not. But, I’m here and two men have been knocking on the gate for about 10 minutes now. So, I’ll just keep writing and hope they go away!

Lot's of little stories

Sorry it's been so long, but now all you avid readers have a lot to catch up on!

Wednesday January 17, 2007

Current thoughts:

Every time I get into a car, I swear it’s the oldest car I’ve ever seen. But they just keep getting older! I think to myself, no way. Can they get any worse? Can we shove anymore people in here? My car today on the way to school had a strap from one side to the other through the middle to hold up the two front seats. Good thing I’m not scared, sometimes blind trust is a good thing.

My “Big Daddy” sunglasses (that allowed me to think I was invisible when I wore them) broke, so I’m not invisible anymore L But, I’m sick of walking around the city with a bad attitude because I don’t like people staring at me. I have to constantly remind myself that I wanted to come here, and why I’m here. And not let city life get me down.

But, gosh do I hate the pollution. I wince every time I get into a car, because the windows are always down and the crap in the air coming out of every car just bombards your face. So, from the combination of pollution, my lack of sunglasses, and the crap that flies into my eyes because of that, I think I have a permanent wince/scrunched up face while traveling.

Amy has had a bad cough ever since our “pollution walk” when we walked too far looking for the wrong street (I wrote about it before).

Code

Life’s good here. I went to my internship for the first time today. It always sucks at the beginning of a conversation when I’m trying to get used to a new person’s accent and they talk too fast because they assume I’m fluent I guess? So once they realize I’m not understanding they do one of two things. A: they turn to their friend and start talking about me and how “she doesn’t understand.” Which, obviously I understand if I’m writing it here. And by that point I’ve got them figured out and can understand! But they’ve already given up on me. Or, B: They are very kind, slow down their rate of speech, and I get along just fine! I prefer B, obviously, and absolutely despise when people automatically assume I won’t understand, and refuse to slow down their speaking-it’s so frustrating.

On that note, it’s like understanding a new code every time I meet someone new. Everyone has a different way of speaking, and it’s like a jumble of stuff is coming at you that makes no sense for at least a few sentences, until you can decode it. Like, picture any video game or space movie when you’re going head first into stars and meteors and all the space junk. And you just get bombarded until you get the hang of it and then you can use your super lasers or something like that to break up the stuff in your way, before it hits you. That’s what it’s like. But there’s a lag in the beginning where you start to sink, until you catch up and realize that the person is still talking to you and you need to figure out what’s going on.

Blind Trust-Trip to San Pedro

San Pedro-the city 1 hour east of Santo Domingo (where I’m living) where we go every summer and all of my friends from the summer trips live.
Henry-the leader of the trip this summer
Yasmín-my friend
Yaquelín-her mom, Henry’s sister, she’s our amazing cook on the trips

I’ve had so many experiences where I’ve had to rely on blind trust, and I mean really trust. For example, I went to San Pedro last weekend. I asked my host mom how to get there before leaving for school that day, and she gave me an idea. From there I got to school and realized I didn’t really know how to get there, so I asked someone else. He gave me more of a clue. Then I asked the driver of the car I caught to a park. He told me I needed to catch a car to this other place. I got in that car, and sat next to a kind lady (I feel like all of my stories are starting to end with that line) who told me when to get out for the bus station to San Pedro. Then, I got to the bus, sat next to another kind old lady (!!), and rode to San Pedro. Where, might I add, I had no idea where to get off. But she got off, and told me out of the blue that I was the next stop.
So, I can’t count how many busses and cars, and people that was, but I trusted and got to San Pedro. And for those of you parents out there wincing and hoping I’m safe, I am. There’s really no other way to do what I did. There’s no direct route anywhere. I don’t like NYC, but being here is making me wish I was there. It takes FOREVER to get anywhere in this city, the transportation is ridiculous. But, I’m starting to see through the haphazardness and see the order to it I guess.
Anyway, back to San Pedro. I got out, on the old lady’s command and had no idea what to do. I was supposed to wait there for Yaquelín, Yasmín’s mom (I was going to visit them). I called her a few times and her phone didn’t work. Then I finally got through and she said she was on her way and to just wait. Ok, so I sat on a stool, braced myself for the stares that were bound to come, and I waited. She came, and it scared me so bad. You think you’re fine and at ease, at least that’s what you tell yourself, until someone comes up behind you and you freak out and realize how much you had your guard up!
So, then we went to her house. I had fun there. They gave me a tour of the town (it’s called Quisqueya) on a little motorbike. That’s been my dream for 4 years now, to get to ride on the crappy motorcycles people drive everywhere, and I got to! Dominican style-with three people shoved on one. That was awesome.
I didn’t get to see Papito or Pastora Mercedes yet, but I saw Henry. The green house looks good. Montana’s still there guarding it, there’s a new fridge (so the old one won’t make a river every time the power goes out), and Steve-the toilet upstairs flushed!!! The stars must be aligned!! Haha
Notes on Quisqueya:
-The power goes out every night. And then people just sit in front of their houses and spend time together, greet the passerbys, and talk. And the stars are amazingly bright, despite the pollution. I think it’s because power at night around there is so scarce. And it’s not near any big cities. It’s really neat.
-When it “get’s cold” here (I’m talking like 75-80 degrees) people think they’re going to freeze to death. I kid you not, one of Yasmín’s friends had on a huge black down jacket on night.
-Imagine living in a place where you can count the nice cars. One guy was telling me that one guy in the town, a famous baseball player who grew up there and moved back I guess, owns an H2. And two people have a Cadillac. That’s it. I never thought I’d see one of those cars there period.
-We went to a house one night of a friend whose dad had died. The friend was a jokester and came over to me and started telling me stories. He said he used to have eyes the color of mine. But when he was a baby his mom bathed him in hot water and the color left his eyes and turned the water blue. And to punish him she put him out in the sun where his eyes turned brown and his skin too.

More thoughts:
My cell phone broke somehow on Saturday, so if you have tried to call, I’m sorry and it will work by tomorrow. (I hope).

Funny Words

OHH!! This is great! Ok, so bouncers here, the guy outside the bar, is called a “watchiman.” My mom here was telling me this whole long story which included a tangent about a bar and she said the word “watchiman” and I couldn’t believe it. It’s hysterical to me. Try saying it out loud to yourself in a Spanish accent. No, better yet, do it with a crazy Asian accent. That’s what it sounds like.

It’s crazy, words borrowed from English here. And you can’t say them like you normally do. No one will understand. You’ve gotta put a crazy Spanish spin on them to be understood. For example, there are many streets with famous dudes’ names. Like Winston Churchill, Ab Lincoln, etc. And you can’t say it like you have your whole life. You’ve gotta change it. It’s strange to get used to. And SUVs are called “jeepetas” I think, like from our word “jeep.” And folder, they say folder (but again with the accent). But it throws me off when I hear an English word because it’s so distorted that it’s almost a different word.

Getting Robbed

Yesterday I got pickpocketed. And had no idea. Not just one pocket, but both. And no one in my group believed me. They were like, did you drop it, or move your money or something? NO! Well, didn’t you feel them putting their hands in your pockets? NO! You dummies, if I felt it, pickpockets wouldn’t have a job. That’s what they’re good at. I can’t believe that my group couldn’t understand that yes, someone took my money. And no, it wasn’t a huge deal because I only keep a little in my pockets for transportation and had the rest (again, not very much) in my bag, in a safe place.

My Grammar Professor

Ok, for those Harry Potter fans out there, imagine a combination of McGonagal and Umbridge. Scary. Yep, that’s the teacher I have for TWO classes. It’s safe to say I’m currently giving her the benefit of doubt and trying to give her a chance, but it’s really hard to warm up to her. She corrects what you’re saying AS you say it. Everyone’s scared to talk. I refuse to let her get to me and just sing “I have confidence” to myself in my head.

Pictures

I've been taking some pictures and plan to get them up soon! Oh, and ps-I have no classes on Fridays!! First time in my life, and my earliest class starts at 11:30!!

Host Family

Their names, in case you wanted to know:
Mother-Mabel
Father-Aníbal
Brother-Alex
Other brother who lives in Canada currently-Joel

And no pets. I was informed yesterday that there used to me a lot of cats in the neighborhood but the all crapped in the back patio of our house. So, what'd Mabel do? She put out poison and killed them all! Yeah, so, needlesstosay, there are no pets in the neighborhood anymore. Or at least no one lets them out. Except there's a dog next door with a purple tongue and orange teeth. No joke. Things are strange in this country.

Love you all!! Thanks for reading!

1-10-2007 Long Update

Ok, so it’s been a while since I’ve given an update. Sorry it's long. Don’t worry, assume no news is good news bc I’m so busy doing stuff that I don’t have time to write.

So, last week we were in orientation everyday, which kinda sucked because they spoke in Spanish the whole day, no English, it was important, and I didn’t understand most of it! But, then every day we had the adventure of taking the public transportation home to break up the monotony.

There are 4 places we can take classes, but I’m only taking them at two, and four of my classes start next week and one some time in feb, so I had a free week this week. We visited sites to see where we wanted to do our internship and I found one that I love!! It’s with boys from 7-12 years old who work on the streets shining shoes, selling stuff, stealing stuff, or do whatever they can to make a living. The program gets them off the streets and gives them a safe place to be. They come to the place during the day and still live with their families at night. The place provides classes, I think food, sports, art class, and fun stuff for them. As far as I know, I can choose any aspect of working with them. And as of now, I have mornings free and that’s when the ONLY teacher needs a lot of help bc he/she is alone. So I’d be tutoring/helping out with class, which is completely perfect. I’m really excited.

Next, my classes: I passed the diagnostic grammar exam but I still have to take another grammar class at PSU, so I’ll be taking it here and put it to good use while I’m speaking. So that’s the internship, grammar, DR culture and language, some ethnocultural class? (I don’t know what that means), and human sexuality. Sounds like an interesting schedule to mee! Much better than organic chemistry, bio, and animal science!

So, for some funny updates….

-I will be completely honest and say that I have gotten lost twice. I knew where I was, but was not where I meant to be. It’s been really comical trying to figure out the public transportation here. That phrase means, put some car or extended minivan into service that looks like it was previously in a demolition derby. It’s hysterical, I need to take some discreet pictures to show you all what I’m talking about. But imagine getting into a little tiny Corrolla or something like it, that looks like it’s 50 years old, and then shoving 7 people in it! Or, an extended minivan (called little busses here) with, I counted, almost 30 people. Now, mind you, this does not mean seated comfortably and relaxed. This means there were at least 3 people hanging out the side door (but there is no door ever) with a chair too!, me on someone’s lap (a friend thank God), and countless other things… There’s never a dull moment around here. It’s the Dominican way.

-One morning my friend Amy and I were walking to FLACSO (our home base for the program) and as if it wasn’t obvious enough that we’re not from around here, one guy yelled, “Welcome to Santo Domingo!” We laughed, that follows every story I will write.

-Yesterday, we tried to figure out to get back home from one of the places to take class by ourselves. We took a bus to a street near our house? And decided to walk up this giant hill to get to the next street to take the next public car to our street. We were still ½ from home. Well, apparently all of the streets change names at different places and why would you put something like that on a map? So, we just kept walking and walking up this hill, a few miles I think, in the pollution, starving, and getting stared at and sssstttsssed at (the Dominican version of a whistle). The pollution was so nasty yesterday that if you looked to the horizon, you saw brown until you looked up higher to the white clouds. Gross. So, anyway, Amy just kept saying, maybe it’s a little further, it’ll be the next street. I was finally like, I’m sick of this, and I pulled out my map. We walked so far past it, it wasn’t even funny, because the street had a different name where we were than what the map said. I laughed so hard I cried. We finally made it home. Fun stuff.

-Crazy: I was in a little bus (guaguita) and this lady was holding her baby and singing really loud, just started nursing the baby right in the middle of the bus, and kept singing.

Also, apparently my host brother has been teaching me bad words bc I said something to the effect of “I’m fed up with this” when my host dad asked if I wanted some juice after dinner. My host brother, Alex, says it jokingly to say “I’m full,” as I did too, but I got a sit down with my host dad about being vulgar. He wanted to explain the difference btwn words for the street and words for everyday use. It was kind of funny. So now, whatever I learn from my bro and mother, I only say in front of them, they teach me stuff and tell me not to tell my dad.

So, there’s all kinds of things to write about, but the most important is that I’m doing great, and loving it. I’m still in somewhat of a silent world. I’m understanding most everything, but it all comes in and nothing comes out. Meaning, I don’t talk too much. But it gets better everyday. Take each day as it comes, or when you’re lost, each street, and each minute. And boy do you discover the value of laughter to lift your spirits. I get slap happy just about every afternoon when I get fed up with trying to understand Spanish, and all I can do is laugh. But then I feel better!

Thanks for all of your e-mails and replies!

PS to DR folk:

-My mom here is a retired dentist and wants to volunteer her time with a church or something doing dentistry for free a few mornings. Sounds like something we could use! And, she loves what we do every summer and goes off about how all churches in Santo Domingo do is ask for money and do nothing for their people.

-Víctor told me Henry fired Papito, if that’s true I’m pissed. I’m going to call Yasmín and find out, and I’ll keep you updated.

The Plague

Two funny things:

1. Last night, I got the plague. If any DR folk remember the year Joel’s forehead got bitten, that happened to my arms last night! I have crazy red spots all over my arms that look like the plague, but don’t itch or anything!

2. They told us about these mosquitos that carry dengue and what they look like. Well they told us this in span, and I honestly thought “dengue” was pronounced “deng” in English. So, I told my friends in our group that I say some “deng” mosquitos in my house, and that those “deng” mosquitos bit me. (play on the word dang if you didn’t get it). We have fun!!

Funny story for people from Mexico

The first morning I woke up here, in the house of my fam (too strange, I´m writing in eng with spanish grammer) I was like, great, here comes the Spanish again... And my mom here said, goodmorning Allyson! Do you like papaya? But it´s different word. I stood in the doorway thinking, I probably looked like Reid when you wake him up, until i realized what was going on. and I thought for a minute and it clicked, and I so NOOO!! I HATE papaya, tastes like barf to me, sorry for the lang. Oh well.

AND unlike my Mexican fam who served me a mountain of food for every meal, this one gives me plates of it to serve myself. And I have never heard the phrase that still haunts my nightmares since Mexico...."Come Allyson, Come." (EAT Allyson, EAT) I can acutally get hungry here, instead of feeling like I cannot move after every meal. Wow.

So, thanks to God, this family is perfect for me and completely amazing.

Friday jan 5

I´m here, everything´s going well. My family is amazing! I gave them my twin maples leaf picture last night and they loved it. Then I showed them all my other pictures and they loved them so much. I love it here. Yesterday in class it was so hard. We´re in orientation all day, them just talking in spanish and I want to understand everything but cant and it gets really frustrating. My friend Amy here is having severe culture shock and I feel bad bc there´s really´nothing I can do except be there and speak eng with her bc shes so sick of spanish right now.

Last night we played dominios and I kept winning and my family is awesome1!! Cant say it enough how great they are, I feel so at home. When I showed they pictures of our family g-ma was in one and I said she´s a little crazy and the dad said, Alzhiemers? And he pulled out some herbal supplement from Utah that strenghthens and repair nerve connections in the brain. He has lots of herbal supps and its really cool bc that´s the stuff Cathy uses also. We all have a lot in common.

Today we had to take public transportation (Amy and I live very close to eachother) with the mom from my house. We caught a public car, don´t worry its safe, and it took us almost all the way and then cut diagonally across the road almost into a huge bus. Nothing really phases me here, so I was just like ok, but it turns out we had a flat on a front tire. So we got out and he flagged down a friend who took us. And when we got in he looked at me with blonde hair and Amy w red and said, Blondies-reds, i said in english to Amy, GREEEAT. At that point she was so sick of the whole thing she didn´t even care.

We get so dragged down that our only defense is to be slap happy and laugh. The classroom part of the day was pretty draining yesterday but then we left and I could understand everything and talk a lot, so what´s the deal? No se.

We live half an hour from FLACSO, the main place but there are about 4 universities that we´re supposed to choose classes from. A little overwhelming. And we´re supposed to sign up for 10 and go to them all to see if we like them bc you can drop, but not add. So you have to travel to a million schools and 10 classes for like the first month and navigate your way, and freakin try to understand everyone!! I was a little upset yesterday after sitting in that stupid classroom ALL DAY and not picking any of that up. Then I told Arianna, one of the leaders, that I needed help choosing my classes and Amy started crying, so Arinna ended up just talking to us for half hour to calm us down, and told us all that was covered throughout the day. Mind you, she spoke spanish the whole time too, I just understand everything she says and not anything the other lady says. But everyone is so nice, it´s just getting used to the accents of every different person that is the challenge.

I haven´t gotten a cell phone yet bc the stores close at 5 and we are in orientation until then.
So Chris, i keep remembering your advice and i´m not stressing about the classes part bc i have no idea what they are, so i´m not even looking at the list until someone helps me. And I just keep reminding myself that I´m here because I love the people and want to learn. I remember all these thoughts, and all of your love. Country song: I´m carrying your love with with me.

I appologize for the grammer and spellings and weird characters that might pop up. It´s more important that I get everything down and you guys know how its going than i write well...!