I am here in the capital and taking advantage of the internet access. It has been a long time since I have updated anyone on what I've been up to--so long in fact that I forgot what my blog's web address was. So now I will try to squeeze as much in as possible. So, at the end of last month we had to turn in our community diagnostics--which are the reports that we are supposed to spend our first three months in site doing. We presented them at a conference all together, and then spent a few more days doing training about what we are supposed to do once we get back to our sites--which is where is gets a bit nebulous. Now is when we are supposed to be launching our projects. The honeymoon period, if there was one, is now over. I came back from the conference with a plan made, and have since already had my share of disappointments and frustrations. We've all quickly realized that just because we are ready to work and want to start things doesn't mean that our communities are, or that anything has changed. The other frustration is that during the conference I found out that all of the volunteers in my group have found their own houses and have moved out on their own. In my community there are no available houses, and I know, because I have been looking for months. The one empty house I found was technically located in another community and needed a lot of repairs, and for this reason was vetoed by my regional leader. So, being that this was one of the things I was really looking forward to here, it is a big disappointment. I was thinking that I would just stay with my host family for the time being, since it has always seemed that they were opposed to my leaving anyway, but when I broached the subject with my host dad the response wasn't exactly positive. It seems that they would rather me live in my own house too, which I am trying to attribute to a lack of space (they all sleep in the same room while I have the other room) rather than something personal. But it still didn't make me feel so good. So now I am exploring other options for housing--meaning other people I could move in with. Also, lots of the other volunteers have pets, which is something I would love to have too but is obviously not a possibility for me now. Peace Corps doesn't really have any helpful suggestions for me either--the availability of independent housing is not something they guarantee but is almost never a hard thing to find.
My first "official" project was to start an English class for my jovenes. After some careful planning and advertising, we had our registration day, to which no one came. By the first day of class I finally got four students registered and was expecting more to show up since it seemed like there was a lot of interest. I had my "assistant" announce the class at the last youth group meeting and when she said that the first session would be limited to 20 students they all replied "why so few???" So, needless to say, I was surprised and frustrated when not a single person showed up to the first class, not even my assistant. I have tried to figure out why, but have realized that there is no use, because there are phenomena here that have no logical explanation. Or I haven't had enough experience here yet to understand their thinking behind why they all decided not to come--it is something cultural that I just don't get. I was mad because I had spent a lot of time planning and had made a trip to the city just to make copies, and no one could be bothered to show up. But I decided not to give up on them, and the day of the next class I spent going house to house looking for students. A lot of them said that they didn't sign up because it was only for 20 students, even though I explained that space wasn't an issue because there were currently 0 students. Apparently this had created some confusion. By the end of the day I didn't have anyone more signed up but did have some say they would make it. The first kid to arrive was only about 10 minutes late and over the next 45 minutes they kept arriving, and by the end I had 13 students. Even though we didn't get through too much since we had started so late, it seemed like they enjoyed it and some of them actually paid for the class afterwards. Money had been a point of contention before, as some of them told me they didn't have the 100 pesos to pay for materials, but I told them it didn't matter and to come anyway. It is not that my community is so poor that they can't afford 100 pesos--it is that their priorities are um, different. To give some perspective, there are high school students who pay 20 pesos each way on a motor to get to school each day, even though they could walk the 1 km and get there faster than it takes to wait for a ride. My 5-year-old sister also gets 15 pesos a day to buy candy at school, even though she brings snacks from home. So there is disposable income, even if no one wants to pay for an English class. But, I am considering my first English class a success, and hope that I have students again. Other than that effort, I have continued to work with my women's group--planning an event for international women's day, making their "business" (a tiendita) more functional, and planning social activities to strengthen their group. I pushed them to buy more stuff for the store in preparation for Valentine's day, and did some advertising for them, and it paid off. The first day with new stuff in the store we sold 800 pesos, which is a big deal since we usually don't sell anything, and I think it got them excited. We also planned an "angelito" gift exchange and potluck for V-day, which honestly blew me away. They took it really seriously--we had good food, decorations, and a huge beautiful flower arrangement that one woman made. I am happy when any of them take any sort of initiative. Also this week I threw a baby shower--unrelated to my women's group. And yes, I do more in this country than throw and attend parties. Baby showers aren't really a custom here, so I proposed it as a welcome party to the women of my project partner's family (his sister is pregnant). It turned out very low-key, but she was surprised and excited because we had decorated and set up the room for the baby. I will put up pictures of it.
Also, some of you may have seen pictures of me dressed up at a beach--this is not where I live--I was at a wedding last weekend here in the DR of which my uncle was in attendance so he invited me to come. I spent an incredibly relaxing 2 days at a really nice resort in Cabarete, and enjoyed my first hot shower since October. Not to mention air conditioning, internet, a pool, the beach, American food, speaking English, and everything being paid for. It was great. You can look at my resort pictures and see what you could enjoy if you came here to visit me. That being said, when am I going to get a visitor?