An Avocado a Day, Two and a Half Books a Month

Only the better off Dominicans have the luxury of eating an apple with any frequency—at US $1 each or more, they have got be imported all the way from Washington State (or else from the moon, at that price!). Most families share one or two at Christmastime, and are a surefire hit if you show up with a few after a trip to the city.

On the other hand, it sure is a good thing I acquired a taste for avocados over the last couple of years, because avocado season here runs from mid-July to oh, nearly March I’d say, and considering that fresh produce is hard to come by here, coupled with the fact that between my neighbor and I we have at least eight trees on our properties, I have overwhelming access to and consumption of these fine, Omega-3-rich green goodies.

A normal person, especially an American 20-something woman, would worry that eating up to 2 (huge) avocados a day, most days, might result in some additional poundage. But I like to be different. Attributable to several factors (it’s hot; I walk A LOT; I am BORED TO TEARS of the food here; anything other than coffee in the morning should be a punishable offense) I am as thin as I’ve been in a while, so it’s cool with me I double my daily fat intake comiendo aguacates. It still doesn’t amount to much. My concern is that these, too, will lose their luster long before the season ends.

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People ask often enough what we, Volunteers, read, both on the inside and outside of the Peace Corps circle. I just did the math and I have read 31 books since September 13, 2007 when I left the USA. An average of 2.5 per month. What can I say, I’m and Oro…

… in order, with the best in italics:

1. The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
2. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
3. Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway
4. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
6. Naked by David Sedaris
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
9. Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
10. The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
11. Paula by Isabelle Allende
12. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
13. The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr
14. To Feel Stuff by Andrea Seigel
15. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
16. This is Not Chick Lit by Elizabeth Merrick
17. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
18. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
19. Atonement by Ian McEwan
20. The Namesake by ?
21. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
22. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
23. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
24. Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty
25. Midwives by Chis Bohjalian
26. The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
27. The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabelle Allende
28. Nine Hills to Nambonkaha by Sarah Erdman
29. In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez
30. Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keynes
31. Marley and Me by John Grogan

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Last but definitely not least, please give a warm welcome to the new group of Peace Corps Dominican Republic Volunteers who will be working in health, business, youth and water/sanitation (just like my group!). Volunteer groups arrive about every six months, alternating between these sectors and environment, education and I forget the other. Anyways, the “my sector” group ahead of me is winding down (they leave in November) and the new “my sector” group arrived, well, today, I think. This is a milestone for my own group of Volunteers; it means we are nearly at the half-way mark. We are no longer the “new” group. We have accomplished much and are (supposedly) nearing the elusive “lightbulb” moment they tease us with when all our projects and work and frustration come together and we start seeing fruits of our labor.