A day in the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer

So, it turns out the local internet café is cheap yes, but extremely slow and not very condusive to my typing. As a result, I think I will likely not use the café since it nearly brought me to tears out of frustration not being able to open my email in an hours time (this hour only cost a mere 25 pesos, approximately equal to 50 cents). Still, I really do not think I am going to deal with that stress right now and so instead, I will still try to write blog post every week, but likely update my blog once a month. Approximately once I month I will likely go into the capital for a meeting and find wi-fi there or be able to go into San Juan to use wi-fi spots. In the meantime here is what I have been doing in the last week. Since I am not allowed to stay at my old host family’s house anymore to sleep, due to Peace Corps circumstances, I am living in Hato del Padre at night. A typical day consists of me waking up at 6:45 pulling on my tennis shoes (still muddied from yesterday) squeezing out the door, dumping my pee bucket from the night into the latrine in my back yard, and running off along the canal near my host family’s house. This start to my day is heavenly. My old host family would definitely not have let me be out by myself, so this is one of the enormous positives that I can go running at my host family’s house. I run on the dirt paths surrounded on both sides by fields, with the mountains in the distance, still auborn from the sun rising, the canal rushes next to me, as I run on the edges of the path to avoid mud and cow pies the long grasses wet my legs and shoes with the fresh morning dew. It is still a cool time in the day and though I sweat -because let’s face it I am already out of shape and the yucca diet has definitely not done wonders for my body- my morning runs refresh me. After my run I return home, change out of my sweaty clothes, throw together my things for the day, have a small glass of coffee from a neighbor (heaven knows you CANNOT leave someone’s house without a cup of 1 part sugar, 2 parts coffee- which I love). I then yank on my oversized helmet and hop on the back of a moto of my host brother, Jose, who is 27 I believe. We drive the approximately 15 minute moto ride up the mountain, dodging pot holes, and coasting on the hill, to save every extra pesos from less use of gas. When I arrive at Chica’s pink house at the top of the hill, I am often greeted by three little girls (Nicauri, Carla, and Paulina). These three often keep me sane as while and making me crazy. These girls are so sweet, yet the sassiest 2, 4, and 9 year olds you will ever meet. They often ask me to play with them, and how can I say no they are so cute. After greeting the family, the women with a kiss on the cheek and the men with a hand shake, I proceed to sit down in plastic chairs and watch breakfast being made in the kitchen in the back building outside of the house. I then eat my breakfast, often piled on way more than I am used to. Following breakfast I usually have some time to sit. There is a lot of free time right now in my schedule, often too much, which can make me anxious, but at times can also be nice to have a break from that hectic schedule I had during training. I am going to take this time now to describe my schedule.

So far this is how the Dominican Republic Peace Corps schedule goes for people. The first three months are training, the first month approximately is spent in Pantoja, a suburb of the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo. Here you stay with a host family assigned to you and walk or take a carro publico every week day into the lovely training center for Peace Corps where you take courses on development work and language classes. The second month approximately is spent in community based training where you learn more sector specific training (for example I am in the health sector and we learned about how to start our two required health groups and about health secondary projects). The third month is spent in Pantoja again, wrapping up last minute training and orientation and includes a week in your new assigned site. Following this three month training there is a graduation in Pantoja and then the new official volunteers leave for their sites in every nook of the country. The settling in to your site includes the initial four months of living with a host family in your community and during the day working with you project partner about orientating into the community, becoming family with the health problems of the community and the people. In the first three months you are not allowed to start any groups to promote the education of health. These three months are purposed to allow time for an extensive community assessment. With this assessment, you go to various houses and ask questions about the health of the house, the community, and understanding of health issues. Following this evaluation period, you then travel again to the capital for 3 month IST where you share, along with your project partner, with the other health volunteers and your overseerers, what the health needs of your community are and your plan for the future of your work. You then return to your community, live with your host family for one more month while you are starting off the new groups of Escojo Mi Vida and Hogares Saludables, which are required and must be completed before you start any other projects. Following this last month with your host family, you can move into your own house in the community and continue with your work with your two groups. After approximately 4 months, if you have a course every week for an hour, your groups should be about ready to graduate. You then ideally teach these groups how to educate others and at this point can start on secondary projects such as organic gardening, latrine building, or stove projects. –This is the ideal situation. Right now I am in the phase of the first three months of community assessment.

Because I am all set-up and really can do in my community now is sitting and getting to know people and occasionally going on more formal interviews about health, my days are extremely slow. While utilizing my phone given to us by Peace Corps and communicating with other volunteers in the DR fairly frequently, they have all shared approximately the same sentiments. People are feeling, lonely, isolated, and bored, yet so excited and often optimistic and brimming with ideas for our future work. Before this time we have been surrounded by amazing people, United States citizens from all walks of life, with great ambitions, amazing world views and experiences, and inspiring attitudes. Surrounded by others that understand your native language, understand your culture, and are going through most of the same emotional rollercoaster rides as you are was such a blessing, but in your site, these people are a little harder to lean on. Because of this change in scenery and support system, people are feeling like this. Also, often with the lack of understanding –language and culturally- it is very hard to connect with people around you. I am often treated like a baby, talked in a baby voice, things taken from my hands when not done correctly, and for a long time I was not allowed to be alone anywhere. For example, I just recently this last week (my 4th week with my project partner) have been able to walk to the town center by myself (approximately a 15 minute walk very simple and very safe). I am never left alone, unless I am sleeping. For example the other day Carla (the young girl at my project partner’s house) was in the latrine with me and would not leave no matter what I said while I was trying to use the bathroom! I am proudly able to say that now I am allowed to walk by myself to the center of town (occasionally) although often I have a band of young pre-teen girls to accompany me back to the house.

Despite my slow and sometimes lonely times I try to fill up my day even with little accomplishments and activities. My typical day consists of me waking up at 7 AM and going for a run (Sometimes I do sleep in, but I try to run every day). I then come back drink my coffee and my project partner’s son picks me up on his motorcycle and takes me off to my project partner’s house the next town over (approximately 15-20 minute ride). I then eat breakfast, usually soup with spagetti, potatoes, and carrots or viveres (yucca, green bananas, or plantains). Following breakfast I have some free time until lunch at 1. I usually clean rice or beans or peas. Cleaning rice consists of searching through a large bowl of rice with my hands and picking out bugs, rocks, plants, and other unidentifiable objects from the uncooked rice before cooking it. I then usually read, prepare for my interviews or Spanish class, call a friend, do a craft, or just sit and talk with my sisters or project partner. Following these few hours of free time, I eat a very large lunch (the largest meal of a Dominican’s day) which typically consists of “la bandera”- the colors of the Domincian flag- meat often chicken(blue), rice (white), and beans (red). I then am required to sit for a little while to digest. I then walk to the latrine in the back the house to bath. The latrine consists of a 3 foot by 3 foot structure of tin with a door that does not close all of the way. In the center of this structure there is a raised box-like cement structure in the middle with a hole in the center. I bathe in the corner next to this cement structure with my clothes and towel hanging next to my face on a metal wire. I bring with me an old plastic container that used to hold vegetable oil, now filled with well water I have usually filled earlier in the morning. I poar the cool water over myself and then lather up with soap and then splash some more water on myself to rinse off, dry off, and then get dressed. Following my bath I am then ready to face the world. Often I go off to a meeting in the afternoon or just leave the house to talk with other people in the town, often receiving at least 3 small cups of coffee and many snacks and treats before returning to my project partner’s house at the top of the hill before it gets dark. Lately I have been having interviews, which has been a great excuse to visit more houses and get to know the community and the people more. I have been going with various youth in the youth group in the community or a woman who will likely participate in Hogares Saludables when I form this group. When I arrive back at Chicha’s house I eat dinner quickly, often leftovers from lunch because I have to eat early to return to the next down to sleep. I then hop on a motorcycle and ride into the next town where I am required to sleep. I then often sit with my host family there for about an hour and then either go off with my host mom, Berkis, to a friends house and sit and talk some more or I read a book, call up another volunteer, or do some work for my interviews. I then go to bed fairly early often 9 or 9:30 and then it repeats.

The meetings that I go to consist of the women’s group in Tierra Preita, the youth group in Tierra Prieta, or the town meeting in Tierra Prieta. I hope to go to meetings in the surrounding towns as well soon, but for now I am getting acoustumed to one town at a time. The women’s group is led by my outspoken, strong project partner, Chicha. This group is full of wonderful women wanting to do something for their community. They do projects in the town like ensuring that identification cards of the neighbors are secure and in order. The town hall meeting often consists of discussing how to get an accuduct to the town because as of now the only way to get water in my town is the sparatic wells spread out throughout the town. This makes obtaining water very difficult for many houses.

The youth group in my town is so incredible and I am so impressed by their motivation. This group is solely run by youth and they hope to do things like reach out to the adults to teach writing and to form groups to help the children in school and do crafts; they also have some fundraising ideas. I am so lucky to have this youth group and I hope they will be excited to work with me with the group Escojo Mi Vida, which aims to prevent preganancy in young people and prevent the spread of HIV and STIs.

This past Saturday I was also able to take a quick break from my schedule to go to a graduation of a Hogares Saludables group of two other volunteers that live close to me. I was able to go into San Juan, the closest city to me and celebrate with a group of about 30 women their officiation as Hogares Saludables health promotoers. Following the completion of various courses and approximately 4 months of work, these women then graduate from Hogares Saludables. This graduation usally consists of a small party often with cake. These women are given a certificate, an identification card, and a sticker to put on their door, all to indicate that they are officially health promoters with Hogares Saludables. These women are then required to visit at least 30 houses throughout their community to share the information they learned in their courses. They teach the families they visit about topics such as child health, women’s health, HIV prevention, sanitation of the house, nutrition, mental health, etc. Following the graduation I was then able to visit a fellow volunteer’s site, which was so great to see more of what my life could resemble in a year. This volunteer, Lauren, is the closest volunteer to my site (approximately an hour ride away) and has some great programs started.

I am also getting a break from my daily routine this week because I will be in the capital (Santo Domingo) to celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday, which conveniently fall on the same day. I am so excited to have Thanksgiving food (cooked by other volunteers), meet older, wiser, more experienced volunteer, and reunite with some of my closest friends in this country. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities I have had throughout my whole life that I am realizing more and more so few people have to priveledge to even hope for. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities I have here in the Dominican Republic and I am so incredibly thankful for all of the people I love, especially in the United States who even though I may not be able to talk with lately as often as I like are still there especially when I really need them. I hope everyone is having an incredibly happy, safe, and carpe diem kind of Thanksgiving.

A classic and the most common by far way of cooking food in my community is to have a small kitchen building in the back of the house made out of tin slabs. Within this kitchen a person often has a small table where they have a fire burning all day and place pots over this wood fire to cook the family’s food.

Dominos is one of Dominican’s favorite pastimes. Often women do not play dominos, but I do know how to play and it is a lot of fun seeing how excited people can get about the game.