Christmas Eve
It’s going okay so far. A little boring. A little disanimada, but I’m hanging in there. The days leading up to and including Christmas Day are hyped up here, but the reality is things are pretty uneventful. I had a slightly testy chat with my host family last night as they were leaving for a party, expecting me to go, but having not mentioned a word about the party’s existence to me previously. From a philosophical perspective, I don’t like being expected to be available at the drop of a hat. From a practical perspective, I like to be told when meetings and activities are scheduled so that I don’t end up with conflicts. In any case, I didn’t go, but I told them I’d come tonight, and so I will. Hopefully it will be a good time.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow though, and as this week which was said to be lots of fun and activity is turning out to be not so much, I’m very glad I decided to join some other volunteers for Christmas Day at the ex-pat hostel in
I’m a little late getting to it, but several people have asked for an updated care package wish list. Before I do that, thanks to all of you who have sent packages. They still haven’t all arrived, but I’m hoping the next trip to
That said, here are a few things I’ve thought of. Some of this stuff will break my advice of sending it in a padded envelope. I don’t expect anyone to send any of it (aside from my mom who only sends boxes), but here it is.
- This season’s basic gray, long sleeved, lightweight, zip up hoodie from Gap. (Mom, use my money for this. The one I brought is disintegrating. I should’ve replaced it before I came.) Actually, it doesn’t have to be from Gap, it’s just that they always have one that is pretty perfect so I just go there and save the trouble of hunting.
- Black Reef flip flops (with the skinny straps and thinner soles). I’m not sure whether mine are a 5.5 or a 6, but they are 10 inches long (Again, mom, you can use my money).
- School supplies (pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, markers, pens, post-its, thumbtacks, paperclips, sharpies, manila envelopes, folders etc.)
- Storage containers (like the cheap-but-reusable Glad kind)
- Foam earplugs. Please. Foam earplugs. Campo life starts at 4 am.
- Individual-sized no-refrigeration-needed coffee creamers like at a restaurant (probably best not to put these in an envelope, hehe)
- One of those plastic cone things that you put on top of your coffee mug with a filter and pour hot water so it brews the coffee right into your cup (Michele, you have one of these), and the filters to put in it. OR, the French press I ended up leaving behind when I was packing.
- DVDs (used or older titles are perfectly fine)
- Books and magazines as always (I was sent already Prep; Eat, Pray, Love; The Kite Runner; The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, and Naked)
- Snacks, especially protein-y things like nuts and Luna/Mojo bars
- Instant oatmeal and hot cocoa packets
As for general Peace Corps updates, things are going well here. You guys will feel extremely updated if you read all four of the rather lengthy posts I’ll be putting up at the same time. In any case, things have been going well. I’ve gotten started on my diagnostic, which has made me feel a lot more engaged and productive and thus helped my lost and confused feelings go down a bit. I’ve been working on my map, mostly, and I have sketched out four of the six sectors of my community. I plan to finish the sketching before the New Year and then drawing the large scale map after that. I have also designed my survey (I have to interview 100 families in the community) and am waiting to have a chance to review it with my counterpart, which I hope to do before the New Year as well, so that I can start the interviews first thing in January. I think it will take me at least six weeks to get all the interviews done, and then a couple weeks to write my report (in Spanish). I also have to do some general community history research and an organizational diagnostic (history, finances, structure, work areas, purpose, etc of my counterpart organization) for that presentation at the end of February.
My Spanish is coming along too, although certainly I still have a way to go. I find myself not having to translate as much to understand others or formulate my response, but I’m not feeling fluent or normal speaking it yet. I have had a couple of actual, real, honest to goodness conversations with a few people in the community and I was able to hold my own and talk about real topics, which was really reassuring. I still do better in a one-on-one rather than group conversation though, and I still struggle with following conversations between several Dominicans.
As for the housing situation, it looks like I will probably wait for Dan to move out of his house when he finishes his service in April or May and then move in there. That means instead of moving out of my host family’s house at the end of three months, it will be more like at the end of five months (which does not excite me), but the house I’ll be able to move into is worth it. It’s not glamorous, but it’s comfortable, sturdy, safe, quiet and set up. I’ll probably just give Dan the majority of my settling in allowance and he’ll leave me the bed, stove, house supplies etc. Easy for me, easy for him. It’s glorious because the house just has one neighbor house, instead of being on a compound of seven houses (with probably 15 kids) that starts banging and screaming and crowing at 4 am. The only downside is the extra wait before moving out. Hopefully I’ll be able to save enough of the settling-in allowance (or have enough of my money I brought from home left) to look into buying myself a small refrigerator and a lavadora (a campo-style washing machine). This is a little un-Peace Corps sounding, but PC tells us we are expected to live at the level of the people in our communities and nearly everyone here has both a fridge and a lavadora, so I don’t feel too guilty about it.
Gosh, I talk too much. This is going to take you forever to read. Signing off now. I love you!!!!
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