Hola!
Once again, I’m writing from the beach on a beautiful sunny day. Jealous?
What if I told you that currently blocking my view of the ocean, is a rather large man in a speedo dancing around to the techno music playing at the restaurant behind me. Still jealous?
I now have only 2 weeks left in the DR before I head back home. I cannot believe it has been a year. I am looking forward to being home with family and friends. Although, that is not to say that it will not be difficult to leave. I am already getting sad about having to go. In all my time here, the thing I have missed most is the company of you all at home. But, I really love the work I do with DREAM and my students – that will be hard to let go of. I can’t imagine waking up and not heading down to the school to teach those crazy kiddies every day.
I’ll start by throwing in a couple random Dominican observations.. just because I find them fun to share..
- As far as I can tell, in the DR it is entirely appropriate to pick your nose. Anytime, anywhere. Children and adults alike. In secret, in public, or in the middle of a conversation. My personal favorite was when one of my students, Robin, went ‘diggin for gold’ during class. It was a reading day and he stopped in the middle of a book, picked his nose, observed the specimen on his finger, then licked it off and resumed reading. Just like that - without any worry of someone catching him doing so. Unfortunately I have, on several occasions, been in the middle of a conversation with an adult when they get the irresistible urge to pick that booger and can’t seem to wait until they are done telling me this or that story.
- I have yet to figure this one out, but every time I yawn, if anyone sees me doing so they ask me whether I am tired or hungry. Apparently here you yawn not only when you are tired, but also when you are hungry?
A lot has happened since I last posted. I will spare you and just fill you in on the highlights between then and now.
My parents came to visit in April. It was great to have them here and be able to show them everything I had been telling them about all year. They came to DREAM with me and got to help with some classes. Turns out they did not like traveling by guagua, but really enjoyed riding the motos. Dad also enjoyed the political demonstrations that went on in the street. So much that Mom and I caught him watching them out of the only window in our hotel room that faced the main street – the window in the shower. I know a lot of you have probably heard stories about their trip from my dad. And since I could never tell a story as well as he, I will leave most of it to him.
I would say the highlight of their trip was when we went to the library in Nazareth (a village not far from where I live). I volunteer at the school’s library on Saturday mornings so that the students can use the library and read. The kids were reading through the books on the shelf pretty quickly. When my parents came, they brought with them the books that the Imprints Bible Group from PUMC raised money to buy. (A quick shout-out, and huge THANK YOU to the Imprints Group and all of you who donated to their cause.) They raised enough money to not only require more shelf-space in the existing library, but also to provide books for a new school being built in a neighboring village, so that they may have a library as well. It was a great morning that day in Nazareth. Everyone was excited about the new additions to the library, especially the kids. They have been reading the new books every week since. I have been especially impressed with some of the kids who have selected chapter books to read. The library did not have any chapter books before, and the students are pretty into them. In a country where there are so few libraries and books are hard to come by, Imprints has provided Nazareth with a very valuable gift.
I had the opportunity to visit my friend Ria where she lives and works in Los Maranitos, in the mountains of the DR. I escaped there during Semana Santa (Holy Week) and had a very tranquilo (relaxing) mini-vacation. Her community is very different than mine, as it is considered to be in the “campo” or countryside. We spent all of Good Friday visiting families at their homes. And, of course, everyone wanted to feed us. Habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans) are a traditional food eaten by Dominicans during Semana Santa. It is essentially a mixture of beans, condensed milk, and crushed crackers in soup form. Don’t get me wrong, it is good, but after 2390843209 servings (slight exaggeration) I started slipping my cup to the kids, who were all to happy to help me out.
A group of artists with an organization called EcoArte from a museum in Santiago came to DREAM to do a project with our students. They brought with them 12 big trashcans. The students were introduced to the group and shown a presentation on the importance of taking care of the environment. They were then able to form groups and paint the trashcans which were placed around the community to discourage people from throwing their trash on the ground and instead to place it in trashcans. This was a fun activity for the kids, the kind of activity they don’t have the opportunity to do often, and one that will benefit the Callejon as well. Trash disposal is a huge problem here. Even though there are some trashcans around, there are not nearly enough, and people often choose not to use them. The kids get excited now when they see their trashcans on the street.
Local elections were May 16th. I cannot tell you how happy I am that they are done and over with. Elections here are nothing like elections in the states. As far as the ‘politics behind politics’ goes, I could go on and on about this topic, but I will try not to rant too much. Although I have never read this myself, I have been informed by several different people, each of whom are educated on the topic, that Dominican presidential candidates spend the same amount of money on their campaigns as do American presidential candidates. Think about how much smaller the DR is than the US. Think about how much more money there is in the US than in the DR. This is absolutely absurd. But it can all be traced back to the corruption of the government here. Granted, the elections that just passed were not presidential elections, they were only local elections. But you would not believe how much hoopla went on and how much money was spent on them. All because whoever wins knows that for the next 6 years, while they are in office, they will have a steady supply of money headed straight for their back pocket.
The part of elections that bothers me the most, however, is the manner in which these political figures campaign. The candidates are well-educated Dominicans and obviously know how to work it. First of all, they are aware that a majority of people in the DR have a low education level and, frankly (in my opinion), they exploit this. Instead of having debates they organize ‘demonstrations’ where there is very loud music and they hand rum out to people. A couple of years ago, my boss Julie was here for the presidential election, and one candidate flew over a community in his helicopter and dropped money down for the people to catch. Some go into very poor communities and throw food out of their cars. The problem is that even though some people will openly recognize that the government is corrupt and complain about it, when asked, they say they will vote for whoever gives them the most money or ‘gifts’.
I just finished my last day of work at DREAM this afternoon. The last two weeks of work were a little different. Most of the DREAMers were on vacation before they delve into preparing for summer camp. There was a lot to do -- reading testing, a big pulga (flea market/yard sale) to raise money for the summer camp program, and data analysis from the past semester. But I also had time to plan some of my own activities with the kids. An addition to the DREAM School was just finished adding 3 new rooms, one of which is a bigger library. One of our students, Yoni (age 12), is a very talented artist. So, I helped him plan, sketch, and paint 3 mini-murals on a wall in the library. (And by “helped” I mean that I just supervised.) They turned out nicely and everyone has been admiring them since he finished. I was also able to get donated surf lessons from a friend at surf beach, so I took a few of the kids (who could swim and had good records in school) to go surfing. We went the past two afternoons, and this has been one of my favorite activities with the kids. Dueri turned out to be a great surfer, Ronald was all over the place, and Estefani… well, she tried. They were a little apprehensive to start, but once they got in they didn’t want to stop. Both the kids and Marcus, the owner of the surf shop, want to continue some sort of program so that they can return and continue learning how to surf. It sounds simple, but kids here don’t have much opportunity to be a part of an organized sport or extracurricular activity. While not in school, most kids just run or lounge around their street, work for their parents, or take care of younger siblings. Things like this – surfing – are rare for them, and I hope we are able to arrange for them to continue.
I have already had to say goodbye to several good friends and am in denial of the many more to come in the next couple weeks. But I do get to see some familiar faces before I head home. Tomorrow I am traveling to visit friends in the capital, Santo Domingo, before leaving for Haiti on Friday. I am meeting up with the PUMC College Crew in Cap Haitien to join their mission trip. I am thankful for the opportunity to spend some time in Haiti before I leave, and am looking forward to spending it with friends from Providence. When I return to the DR, if things pan out as planned, a group from DREAM will be climbing Pico Duarte. It is a 3 day hike up the highest mountain in the Caribbean at 10,300ft. And just a few days after that I will be headed HOME!
Although I am sad to leave, I can’t wait to get back and catch up with everyone!
I wish everyone a very happy two weeks. I will be seeing you soon! =)
Cuidense,
Lindsey
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Oh, to be young again....
Buena noche! This post is not Part 2 of the last post, as I promised… but instead something different that has been on my mind a lot lately.
Also, I would like to say (in reference to the title of this post and in order to avoid any reprimands from my parents or others), I know I am only 22 and still young. By ‘young’ I really meant.. “Oh, to be a child again..”. Hopefully that is acceptable.
I’ve always been nostalgic. I have my dad to thank for that. Every time he visits Chapel Hill, he has to visit all of the important places on campus, as well as those that have personal meaning to him – whether he walks by it, runs past it, or (if all else fails) has to drive by in the car; he never forgets even one spot. As I love Chapel Hill also, I have appreciated this, most of the time. Although, I must admit, while living there as a student, I wasn’t always entirely amused with the hike across campus to see the bell tower – one of those landmarks I walked by every day on my way to class.
However, while home for Christmas, I got to go back to Chapel Hill for a couple days, and guess what I found myself doing? Yep – passing through the student union, convincing Ashley to swipe me into the dining hall on her meal plan, taking a lap or two around the quad, and even swinging by the bell tower – just for old time’s sake. Turns out I’m just as nostalgic as my father.
(For those of you who are not as nostalgic as I, I ask you to hear me out. I promise there is a point to all that follows and I hope that it will be a worthwhile one in the end.)
After a long day at work and all of the stress (mostly emotional) that come with it, not to mention the exhaustion, I often find refuge and sanity on the beach. Whether I walk or just sit and think/listen/pray, I enjoy having time to myself to unwind. Often I end up staying until it is dark and I can see the stars, as I did tonight.
(Sidenote: tonight is my dad’s 50th birthday, and as I was not home for it, I was already feeling a little nostalgic. Yes, Dad is now 50, and I’m sure he appreciates that announcement ;)
Most nights here the sky is clear and full of stars. I can pick out the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, as most people can. But the constellation I always pick out first is Orion’s Belt. I’m sure you all saw this coming, but there is a reason and (short) story to explain why. A while back, probably when I was in middle school, I was on a camping trip with my family, the Pixleys, and the Pattersons. One night, Dr. Pixley took Stephanie and me on a walk to see the stars. Like I mentioned before, Steph and I could pick out the standard constellations, but that night Dr. Pixley pointed out many different constellations and told us about them as we walked. For whatever reason, of all those constellations, I remember just one: Orion’s Belt. And now, on a night when you can see all of the stars, I look up and immediately find Orion’s belt before any others. Looking at the stars tonight I was reminded of that time at the campground with Dr. Pixley and Stephanie. I remember those camping trips – not a worry in the world: Dr. Pixley always mapped our hikes, mom always prepared our meals, and dad set and broke camp (with the help of us youngsters – however much help we actually were).
In the grander scheme of things, I am reminded of my childhood in Charlotte with my family. As a kid, I passed by without having to worry about hardly anything. Oh, of course there were those teenage struggles where you think the world is against you and nobody understands Рbut when it really comes down to it, I was one of the luckiest kids in the world. I had my mom and dad that loved and supported me in everything and every way. I had wonderful grandparents who I am so thankful were always in my life and there for me. I had a great community at my church, good friends, and two younger sisters whom I love. I had a nice home, food to eat, and I always felt safe. I realize this sounds clich̩, but as I promised, I do have a point, and I am getting to it.
Basically, when I think back to my childhood, I think of a time when everything made sense. Life was so easy and carefree. I never felt unsafe and I never truly wanted for anything. Anything I could have needed was provided for me. I cannot explain how thankful I am for this. I have been so blessed in my life, and I still am.
At the same time that seeing that constellation and thinking back on those days makes me incredibly happy and nostalgic, I can’t help but let my mind wander elsewhere. To the Callejon, perhaps. To the people who don’t have those same feelings when they think back to their childhood. And to those who are kids now without the same comforts I had. There are so many children here in the Callejon and elsewhere in the world that might not have eaten dinner tonight, that don’t necessarily have two parents around to care for them and love them, and who might not feel safe in their own home. There are some kids who don’t have the luxury of living in a carefree world before they get older and grow up – they are forced to grow up at too young an age. Being a child is such a delicate thing, and as I thank God for my childhood, it breaks my heart that some kids don’t have these comforts that I have always inherently associated with being a child.
I’m not exactly sure why I decided to write this post, other than I have been wrestling with these thoughts and frustrations recently and sometimes the best way for me to deal with them is to express them in words – to write them down – and to share them with others. My intent is not to sadden – I guess I just hope those of you reading this will recognize the blessings in your life, in your past, and be thankful.
If you will, I ask for your prayers for those kids who grow up too fast – especially those who do not have a loving and secure environment in which to grow and develop – and that they may, by the grace of God, find comfort somehow.
Thankful for all of my many blessings,
Lindsey
Also, I would like to say (in reference to the title of this post and in order to avoid any reprimands from my parents or others), I know I am only 22 and still young. By ‘young’ I really meant.. “Oh, to be a child again..”. Hopefully that is acceptable.
I’ve always been nostalgic. I have my dad to thank for that. Every time he visits Chapel Hill, he has to visit all of the important places on campus, as well as those that have personal meaning to him – whether he walks by it, runs past it, or (if all else fails) has to drive by in the car; he never forgets even one spot. As I love Chapel Hill also, I have appreciated this, most of the time. Although, I must admit, while living there as a student, I wasn’t always entirely amused with the hike across campus to see the bell tower – one of those landmarks I walked by every day on my way to class.
However, while home for Christmas, I got to go back to Chapel Hill for a couple days, and guess what I found myself doing? Yep – passing through the student union, convincing Ashley to swipe me into the dining hall on her meal plan, taking a lap or two around the quad, and even swinging by the bell tower – just for old time’s sake. Turns out I’m just as nostalgic as my father.
(For those of you who are not as nostalgic as I, I ask you to hear me out. I promise there is a point to all that follows and I hope that it will be a worthwhile one in the end.)
After a long day at work and all of the stress (mostly emotional) that come with it, not to mention the exhaustion, I often find refuge and sanity on the beach. Whether I walk or just sit and think/listen/pray, I enjoy having time to myself to unwind. Often I end up staying until it is dark and I can see the stars, as I did tonight.
(Sidenote: tonight is my dad’s 50th birthday, and as I was not home for it, I was already feeling a little nostalgic. Yes, Dad is now 50, and I’m sure he appreciates that announcement ;)
Most nights here the sky is clear and full of stars. I can pick out the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, as most people can. But the constellation I always pick out first is Orion’s Belt. I’m sure you all saw this coming, but there is a reason and (short) story to explain why. A while back, probably when I was in middle school, I was on a camping trip with my family, the Pixleys, and the Pattersons. One night, Dr. Pixley took Stephanie and me on a walk to see the stars. Like I mentioned before, Steph and I could pick out the standard constellations, but that night Dr. Pixley pointed out many different constellations and told us about them as we walked. For whatever reason, of all those constellations, I remember just one: Orion’s Belt. And now, on a night when you can see all of the stars, I look up and immediately find Orion’s belt before any others. Looking at the stars tonight I was reminded of that time at the campground with Dr. Pixley and Stephanie. I remember those camping trips – not a worry in the world: Dr. Pixley always mapped our hikes, mom always prepared our meals, and dad set and broke camp (with the help of us youngsters – however much help we actually were).
In the grander scheme of things, I am reminded of my childhood in Charlotte with my family. As a kid, I passed by without having to worry about hardly anything. Oh, of course there were those teenage struggles where you think the world is against you and nobody understands Рbut when it really comes down to it, I was one of the luckiest kids in the world. I had my mom and dad that loved and supported me in everything and every way. I had wonderful grandparents who I am so thankful were always in my life and there for me. I had a great community at my church, good friends, and two younger sisters whom I love. I had a nice home, food to eat, and I always felt safe. I realize this sounds clich̩, but as I promised, I do have a point, and I am getting to it.
Basically, when I think back to my childhood, I think of a time when everything made sense. Life was so easy and carefree. I never felt unsafe and I never truly wanted for anything. Anything I could have needed was provided for me. I cannot explain how thankful I am for this. I have been so blessed in my life, and I still am.
At the same time that seeing that constellation and thinking back on those days makes me incredibly happy and nostalgic, I can’t help but let my mind wander elsewhere. To the Callejon, perhaps. To the people who don’t have those same feelings when they think back to their childhood. And to those who are kids now without the same comforts I had. There are so many children here in the Callejon and elsewhere in the world that might not have eaten dinner tonight, that don’t necessarily have two parents around to care for them and love them, and who might not feel safe in their own home. There are some kids who don’t have the luxury of living in a carefree world before they get older and grow up – they are forced to grow up at too young an age. Being a child is such a delicate thing, and as I thank God for my childhood, it breaks my heart that some kids don’t have these comforts that I have always inherently associated with being a child.
I’m not exactly sure why I decided to write this post, other than I have been wrestling with these thoughts and frustrations recently and sometimes the best way for me to deal with them is to express them in words – to write them down – and to share them with others. My intent is not to sadden – I guess I just hope those of you reading this will recognize the blessings in your life, in your past, and be thankful.
If you will, I ask for your prayers for those kids who grow up too fast – especially those who do not have a loving and secure environment in which to grow and develop – and that they may, by the grace of God, find comfort somehow.
Thankful for all of my many blessings,
Lindsey
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Back in Action
Hola, hola mis amigos!
I hope you are all surviving winter in the states. I hear there hasn’t been anything like it in years. Actually, a while back a friend told me that there was snow in every single state except Hawaii.. I couldn’t believe it. As for me, I’m writing from the shade of a palm tree on Cabarete beach. (I know, I’m sorry. I had to do it.)
Gosh, it has been awhile.. a lot has happened. I’m happy to be back, but I do miss everyone. It was so good to see yall while I was home! I had a great Christmas break. I hope 2010 is treating everyone well so far!
So, I guess I’ll start from the beginning. I came back to Cabarete on New Year’s Eve so that we could use some of our vacation time to travel to the capital, Santo Domingo, in the south. It is so different from anywhere I have been in the country before.. even Santiago (the second largest city). We stayed in a nice, little hostel/hotel within walking distance of the historical part of Santo Domingo – La Zona Colonial. We didn’t do anything too exciting to speak of.. mostly just walked around and saw the city. In both Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata - cities that are on the coast - there is a street called the Malecon that runs along the water. The Malecon in Santo Domingo had a large area where you could sit on a wall and just watch the water. The city was a lot of fun, but it was nice to escape to the water for a bit. I suppose we have become more accustomed to living at the beach than I thought.
As soon as work started again, we had a week of planning and orientation for the new volunteers. There are 2 new volunteers: Laura, 25, from Maine and Ani, 28, from Boston. They are both really good additions to the ‘DREAM TEAM’ and have a lot of experience in education. I am still amazed that we have such a good group here and all enjoy working together and spending time together outside of work as well. I am blessed to have such a great group of people to work and live with.
Shorty after getting back to the DR, just a day before we started classes, the earthquake hit Haiti. I was napping at the time, but everyone else here in Cabarete felt it. For anyone who is not familiar with the geography of Haiti and the DR, they share an island called Hispaniola. Port au Prince is near the southern side of Haiti. Cabarete is on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, about halfway from the border with Haiti to the far eastern coast. In other words, it is a great distance between Port au Prince and Cabarete, yet we still felt it.
It has been a difficult time for many people in my community. There are many Haitians in the Dominican Republic, and many people in my community have family and friends that live in Haiti. For over a week after the earthquake hit, there were people coming in to DREAM every day to use the internet to search for any sign of hope. Long afterwards, people still had not heard from their loved ones and had no way of knowing if they were safe or not. I was so relieved and thankful - as were all of you who also know Pam - when I heard that she had finally made it back to the States safely.
At DREAM, the weeks immediately following the earthquake were very hectic and busy, but also productive. We began plans for two events to raise money for Haiti relief. The first was a Pulga (yard sale/flea market) for the members of our community living in the Callejon. Along with donations we already had in our possession, we collected more donations and had a large Pulga with the items that could not be donated to Haiti. The second was an art sale in the middle of town. This event catered more to the foreigners and tourists in Cabarete. We spent an entire week doing art projects with the kids. We also had many local artists, jewelers, and restaurants donate products to be sold at the art sale. There was a great turn-out and a lot of support for our efforts. In the end, both events were a big success. We have been and are still serving as the collection site in Cabarete for supplies that can be donated to Haiti. We have, thus far, sent many boxes of medical supplies, food, and clothing.
On a personal level, the earthquake presented some small struggles. Many people I have talked to mention how much they want to help but that they don’t know how. It is hard being so physically far away from a crisis like this and trying to determine the best way to help. But Cabarete is not too far away. Yet I still felt helpless. The border was closed and the immediate need in Haiti was for doctors and trained relief workers. Not to mention the danger of traveling to and from the country. It has been difficult to be so close and yet not be able to actually go and help. But classes go on here and we talked with the students, and still continue to do so, about the tragedy in our neighbor country. As I mentioned before, we continue to collect supplies and send them to an organization that we know needs and can use them. We are discussing plans for a trip to Haiti, as a DREAM group, to volunteer some time and offer whatever help we can.
All my life, I have been surrounded by a community of faith – family, friends, the church. I never thought to imagine what it would be like if I didn’t have this presence in my life. I am learning now how challenging that can be. In response to the Haiti earthquake, we immediately had meetings and made plans on what actions to take. Of course, this was a necessary and appropriate response. However, in addition to this, my first instinct was to pray. And pray I did. But I prayed alone. It was at this point that I realized just how much I miss having a community of faith - a community to pray with, a community to worship with, a community with whom to grow in faith. It was, and is, very hard at times to live here without the physical presence of that community. All of that said, I very much enjoy the work I do with DREAM and the people I work with. I know this is where I am supposed to be right now, and I continue to grow in knowledge, experience, and faith each day.
This semester at DREAM we have many repeat students as well as many new students. As I think I have mentioned before, we welcome both Dominican and Haitian students. I believe I have also mentioned the racial tensions between Haitians and Dominicans in the DR. (As you all already know, the tensions and prejudices I discuss are not characteristic of every Dominican. But it is a very present and sad reality in my community and throughout the Dominican Republic – even more so in rural communities.) For whatever reason, this semester we have had to deal with much more racial tension. Aside from a general tension in the classroom, there have been fights and arguments between our Dominican and Haitian students. The problem does not exist as much in our classes with older students in the afternoon as it does with our younger students in the morning. It is extremely sad to see students dis-respecting one another in this way. Given how young some of these kids are, I cannot help but assume that they are learning these things from someone at home. I would venture to guess that some of them don’t really understand what it is they are saying or why they are fighting. Although it is difficult, we do everything we can to communicate to our students that we are all equals and every one of us deserve to not only live in this community, but to live in peace. Discussions about the earthquake in Haiti seemed to connect the students in a way we hadn’t seen before.
Recently there was a death in our community that made the tension between Dominicans and Haitians almost tangible. There was a crowd of people near the DREAM Center one morning before work. Right next to our school, there is a colmado (small street shop) owned by a Haitian woman and her family. Her home is connected to the colmado. Her son (a grown man) hung himself from a tree behind the school during the night and was found dead the next morning. I was standing just between the school and the woman’s home when I found out what had happened. A grown Dominican man told me of the man’s death. In response to my horrified expression and mumbled “how sad”, he responded, “Oh, but don’t worry. He was just a Haitian. He shouldn’t have been here anyway.” All the while we are standing not 15ft. away from the home where this man lived, in which his family was mourning his death. It was all I could do to keep myself from crying and yelling at the man at the same time. I arrive to work at 8am in the morning every day. When I arrived this particular morning, I have no idea how many people had already come to see the man hanging from the tree, but people continued to come, from near and far, for the next 3 hours before his body was removed from the tree, prayed over, and taken to his family. It was very disturbing to me to see people (adults and children alike) flocking to the tree just to see the man who hung himself. And even more disturbing to hear the comments similar to those I heard from the man earlier that morning. Apparently deaths similar to this man’s have occurred in the Callejon before, and in many cases the victim has AIDS. Although I recognize that the Dominican culture is different in many ways, one of them being the reaction to death, I was very upset about the treatment of this man’s death and still find it hard to accept.
As I mentioned, we have many new and repeat students at DREAM this semester. There are also some students that did not come back. Being such a small town, I see them around all of the time. Most of the students that did not come back seem to be doing one of two things instead. In this country, the father of a child may or may not be present in their lives. In fact, the latter is the case more often than anyone would wish. This leaves one parent/guardian to provide for the family and care for the kids at the same time. Because of this, older siblings are often handed the responsibility of caring for their younger siblings. For example, walking to work last week I saw one of my 9-yr old students taking his younger, 5-yr old brother to school. Children, most often young girls, are also enlisted to help their mothers work during the day (washing laundry, cooking food, etc – whatever the family ‘business’ may be). There are a couple students I know of who could not come back to DREAM this semester because they have to stay at home and help with work or take care of siblings. Another reason they may not come back to classes is that they are working on the beach – at a restaurant, surf shop, or some other business. It is overwhelmingly young boys that find work on the beach, and of those that are previous DREAM students and currently working on the beach, all are boys and none are over the age of 13.
Here are some more ridiculous/oh-so-very Dominican things that I don’t think I have shared with you yet:
-Here, many people pass time on the porch in front of their house, in the street with neighbors, or at the street’s colmado just sitting and talking. As many Dominicans work Monday-Saturday, this is the ‘thing to do’ on Sundays.. usually with a bottle of Brahma or rum in hand. Most of the older Dominican men roll their shirts up to just under their chest as they sit and drink. The catch is that it seems to only be the men with large stomachs that roll their shirts up. It is not exactly the most pleasant sight ever, but you get used to it eventually. In fact, with how hot it is here, I can’t say that I have never been tempted to do the same.
-There is a sign in the colmado across the street from DREAM that says, “We do not sell cigarettes to persons under 18 years of age.” Not only is that a lie, but they also sell alcohol to anyone who can produce enough money to buy some, no matter if that person isn’t even 13 years old yet.
- We are currently under construction at DREAM. They are adding 3 more classrooms in front of the current structure. This is going to be wonderful once it is finished. It will allow us to accept more students, provide a wider variety of classes, and accommodate more local volunteers. However, right now it poses some problems. Taylor and I teach in the library in the afternoon. The library is located in the front of the school, and 3 walls are covered in windows. Previously we only had to deal with the obnoxious cat-calling parrot and daily domino-playing, cigar-smoking group of men out the window to the north. Now there are construction men yelling at each other out the eastern window and hammers and saws hard at work out the western window. And all of these activities are going on within 5 feet of the building and our classroom. I might not have my voice for much longer. In addition to the noise, the current building and future structure will be connected on the second floor. So, there are holes in two ceiling corners of the library. Last week, our students were reading their books individually and Ricardo was lucky enough to get the most sought after reading spot in the library – the cushion in the corner. In the middle of class, wet, mixed concrete started falling into the corner, onto Ricardo, from the hole in the ceiling. Now, or at least for the duration of the construction, the kids are a little apprehensive about their beloved reading cushion.
- I hope you all know the song, “Car Wash” – one of dad’s personal favorites. (If not, please look it up immediately.) I know the song says “working at the car wash”, but having grown up listening to it while my dad danced to it (sometimes accompanied by his wife and 3 little girls), I always thought “dancing at the car wash”. There is a car wash about a 5 minute walk away from our apartments. Car wash by day, dance spot by night. They have live bands that play merengue and bachata (Dominican music). There was one such place on the beach with the other restaurants and bars, but they recently closed. We were sad, but it is quite possible that they closed solely so that they would not have to watch our pathetic attempts to dance like Dominicans anymore. I have been here for nearly 8 months now and I still cannot get my hips to move like these Dominicans. I honestly think they come out of the womb swinging their hips to the merengue. (An important note: the Dominican hip swing is nothing like an American hip swing – whatever that is exactly. It is much more aesthetically appealing, when executed correctly.) Anyway, we now have a good Dominican place at which to embarrass ourselves trying to dance merengue and bachata.
- When you visit someone’s home here, they immediately pull up the best chair they have for you to sit in. They will then proceed to make you coffee and try to feed you an entire meal. They are very welcoming and generous. So, hanging out with kids all the time we often get offered things. Chips, cute drawings, and even candy. Except people here have what we might consider a weird taste in candy. For example, as far as I can tell, Dominicans’ favorite candy is a Hall’s cough drop. Yes, a cough drop. And yes, they really consider it a candy. Sometimes at the supermercado, if they don’t have any one-peso coins to give you as change, they will pay you with cough drops instead. No one-peso coins or cough drops? I have, on occasion, been paid my change in eggs as well.
- Speaking of change, it is incredibly hard to come by change here. The currency is pesos and the smallest bill is a 50. This is equivalent to about $1.50 USD. There are 1peso, 5pesos, 10pesos, and 25pesos coins. When you get coins, you hold on to them like they are gold. The bank only gives you 200pesos or 500pesos bills. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to the colmado or even to a restaurant and tried to pay with a 500 (equal to $15 USD) and they have refused to accept it because they don’t have change to pay me back with. This means that either I or the restaurant owner has to go off in search of a kind soul that will exchange the bill for smaller change.
- I know I have told you about the chickens in the restaurants, the dogs in the streets, and the turkeys that hang around outside of the DREAM center. But we don’t typically have animals running around inside our school. Yes, we have had the occasional confused dog run in only to get chased out by ChiChe, our awesome guacheman. Today, however, we were sitting in the computer lab minding our own business when we notice a chicken strutting in the door. Upon entering the room he hop/flies up to the counter that goes around the entire perimeter of the room and just wanders around, scratching at this and pecking at that. Honestly, I think by Friday afternoon, we were too amused to do anything but watch it in bewilderment. Eventually one of our students came in and chased him out for us.
As you might have guessed, I am no longer sitting under a palm tree on the beach (I definitely wasn’t able to write all of this in one sitting). In fact, if it makes you feel better, it has been cold – yes, COLD – here for the past week or so. And by cold, I mean that it has been in the 60’s with lots of rain. It actually dipped down into the 50’s yesterday. I have grown accustomed to the heat and so this type of weather does actually feel pretty cold to me. But for the Dominicans who have only ever experienced the weather here in the DR, they are not sure what to make of the cold. A student of mine made a comment about the cold and said that this is what it must feel like when it snows in the States. I tried to tell him that it was actually much, much colder, but I don’t think he can comprehend that kind of cold.
Right now, I am currently sitting in the computer lab at the DREAM Center eagerly awaiting my lunch break (tengo hambre!). I had a lot more planned for this post, seeing as I haven’t posted in a very long time (I’m sorry!). But I think I will go ahead and post what I have written above while I continue to work on Part 2.
So, hasta luego y cuidense (take care)!
Lindsey
- (To Be Continued…….)
I hope you are all surviving winter in the states. I hear there hasn’t been anything like it in years. Actually, a while back a friend told me that there was snow in every single state except Hawaii.. I couldn’t believe it. As for me, I’m writing from the shade of a palm tree on Cabarete beach. (I know, I’m sorry. I had to do it.)
Gosh, it has been awhile.. a lot has happened. I’m happy to be back, but I do miss everyone. It was so good to see yall while I was home! I had a great Christmas break. I hope 2010 is treating everyone well so far!
So, I guess I’ll start from the beginning. I came back to Cabarete on New Year’s Eve so that we could use some of our vacation time to travel to the capital, Santo Domingo, in the south. It is so different from anywhere I have been in the country before.. even Santiago (the second largest city). We stayed in a nice, little hostel/hotel within walking distance of the historical part of Santo Domingo – La Zona Colonial. We didn’t do anything too exciting to speak of.. mostly just walked around and saw the city. In both Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata - cities that are on the coast - there is a street called the Malecon that runs along the water. The Malecon in Santo Domingo had a large area where you could sit on a wall and just watch the water. The city was a lot of fun, but it was nice to escape to the water for a bit. I suppose we have become more accustomed to living at the beach than I thought.
As soon as work started again, we had a week of planning and orientation for the new volunteers. There are 2 new volunteers: Laura, 25, from Maine and Ani, 28, from Boston. They are both really good additions to the ‘DREAM TEAM’ and have a lot of experience in education. I am still amazed that we have such a good group here and all enjoy working together and spending time together outside of work as well. I am blessed to have such a great group of people to work and live with.
Shorty after getting back to the DR, just a day before we started classes, the earthquake hit Haiti. I was napping at the time, but everyone else here in Cabarete felt it. For anyone who is not familiar with the geography of Haiti and the DR, they share an island called Hispaniola. Port au Prince is near the southern side of Haiti. Cabarete is on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, about halfway from the border with Haiti to the far eastern coast. In other words, it is a great distance between Port au Prince and Cabarete, yet we still felt it.
It has been a difficult time for many people in my community. There are many Haitians in the Dominican Republic, and many people in my community have family and friends that live in Haiti. For over a week after the earthquake hit, there were people coming in to DREAM every day to use the internet to search for any sign of hope. Long afterwards, people still had not heard from their loved ones and had no way of knowing if they were safe or not. I was so relieved and thankful - as were all of you who also know Pam - when I heard that she had finally made it back to the States safely.
At DREAM, the weeks immediately following the earthquake were very hectic and busy, but also productive. We began plans for two events to raise money for Haiti relief. The first was a Pulga (yard sale/flea market) for the members of our community living in the Callejon. Along with donations we already had in our possession, we collected more donations and had a large Pulga with the items that could not be donated to Haiti. The second was an art sale in the middle of town. This event catered more to the foreigners and tourists in Cabarete. We spent an entire week doing art projects with the kids. We also had many local artists, jewelers, and restaurants donate products to be sold at the art sale. There was a great turn-out and a lot of support for our efforts. In the end, both events were a big success. We have been and are still serving as the collection site in Cabarete for supplies that can be donated to Haiti. We have, thus far, sent many boxes of medical supplies, food, and clothing.
On a personal level, the earthquake presented some small struggles. Many people I have talked to mention how much they want to help but that they don’t know how. It is hard being so physically far away from a crisis like this and trying to determine the best way to help. But Cabarete is not too far away. Yet I still felt helpless. The border was closed and the immediate need in Haiti was for doctors and trained relief workers. Not to mention the danger of traveling to and from the country. It has been difficult to be so close and yet not be able to actually go and help. But classes go on here and we talked with the students, and still continue to do so, about the tragedy in our neighbor country. As I mentioned before, we continue to collect supplies and send them to an organization that we know needs and can use them. We are discussing plans for a trip to Haiti, as a DREAM group, to volunteer some time and offer whatever help we can.
All my life, I have been surrounded by a community of faith – family, friends, the church. I never thought to imagine what it would be like if I didn’t have this presence in my life. I am learning now how challenging that can be. In response to the Haiti earthquake, we immediately had meetings and made plans on what actions to take. Of course, this was a necessary and appropriate response. However, in addition to this, my first instinct was to pray. And pray I did. But I prayed alone. It was at this point that I realized just how much I miss having a community of faith - a community to pray with, a community to worship with, a community with whom to grow in faith. It was, and is, very hard at times to live here without the physical presence of that community. All of that said, I very much enjoy the work I do with DREAM and the people I work with. I know this is where I am supposed to be right now, and I continue to grow in knowledge, experience, and faith each day.
This semester at DREAM we have many repeat students as well as many new students. As I think I have mentioned before, we welcome both Dominican and Haitian students. I believe I have also mentioned the racial tensions between Haitians and Dominicans in the DR. (As you all already know, the tensions and prejudices I discuss are not characteristic of every Dominican. But it is a very present and sad reality in my community and throughout the Dominican Republic – even more so in rural communities.) For whatever reason, this semester we have had to deal with much more racial tension. Aside from a general tension in the classroom, there have been fights and arguments between our Dominican and Haitian students. The problem does not exist as much in our classes with older students in the afternoon as it does with our younger students in the morning. It is extremely sad to see students dis-respecting one another in this way. Given how young some of these kids are, I cannot help but assume that they are learning these things from someone at home. I would venture to guess that some of them don’t really understand what it is they are saying or why they are fighting. Although it is difficult, we do everything we can to communicate to our students that we are all equals and every one of us deserve to not only live in this community, but to live in peace. Discussions about the earthquake in Haiti seemed to connect the students in a way we hadn’t seen before.
Recently there was a death in our community that made the tension between Dominicans and Haitians almost tangible. There was a crowd of people near the DREAM Center one morning before work. Right next to our school, there is a colmado (small street shop) owned by a Haitian woman and her family. Her home is connected to the colmado. Her son (a grown man) hung himself from a tree behind the school during the night and was found dead the next morning. I was standing just between the school and the woman’s home when I found out what had happened. A grown Dominican man told me of the man’s death. In response to my horrified expression and mumbled “how sad”, he responded, “Oh, but don’t worry. He was just a Haitian. He shouldn’t have been here anyway.” All the while we are standing not 15ft. away from the home where this man lived, in which his family was mourning his death. It was all I could do to keep myself from crying and yelling at the man at the same time. I arrive to work at 8am in the morning every day. When I arrived this particular morning, I have no idea how many people had already come to see the man hanging from the tree, but people continued to come, from near and far, for the next 3 hours before his body was removed from the tree, prayed over, and taken to his family. It was very disturbing to me to see people (adults and children alike) flocking to the tree just to see the man who hung himself. And even more disturbing to hear the comments similar to those I heard from the man earlier that morning. Apparently deaths similar to this man’s have occurred in the Callejon before, and in many cases the victim has AIDS. Although I recognize that the Dominican culture is different in many ways, one of them being the reaction to death, I was very upset about the treatment of this man’s death and still find it hard to accept.
As I mentioned, we have many new and repeat students at DREAM this semester. There are also some students that did not come back. Being such a small town, I see them around all of the time. Most of the students that did not come back seem to be doing one of two things instead. In this country, the father of a child may or may not be present in their lives. In fact, the latter is the case more often than anyone would wish. This leaves one parent/guardian to provide for the family and care for the kids at the same time. Because of this, older siblings are often handed the responsibility of caring for their younger siblings. For example, walking to work last week I saw one of my 9-yr old students taking his younger, 5-yr old brother to school. Children, most often young girls, are also enlisted to help their mothers work during the day (washing laundry, cooking food, etc – whatever the family ‘business’ may be). There are a couple students I know of who could not come back to DREAM this semester because they have to stay at home and help with work or take care of siblings. Another reason they may not come back to classes is that they are working on the beach – at a restaurant, surf shop, or some other business. It is overwhelmingly young boys that find work on the beach, and of those that are previous DREAM students and currently working on the beach, all are boys and none are over the age of 13.
Here are some more ridiculous/oh-so-very Dominican things that I don’t think I have shared with you yet:
-Here, many people pass time on the porch in front of their house, in the street with neighbors, or at the street’s colmado just sitting and talking. As many Dominicans work Monday-Saturday, this is the ‘thing to do’ on Sundays.. usually with a bottle of Brahma or rum in hand. Most of the older Dominican men roll their shirts up to just under their chest as they sit and drink. The catch is that it seems to only be the men with large stomachs that roll their shirts up. It is not exactly the most pleasant sight ever, but you get used to it eventually. In fact, with how hot it is here, I can’t say that I have never been tempted to do the same.
-There is a sign in the colmado across the street from DREAM that says, “We do not sell cigarettes to persons under 18 years of age.” Not only is that a lie, but they also sell alcohol to anyone who can produce enough money to buy some, no matter if that person isn’t even 13 years old yet.
- We are currently under construction at DREAM. They are adding 3 more classrooms in front of the current structure. This is going to be wonderful once it is finished. It will allow us to accept more students, provide a wider variety of classes, and accommodate more local volunteers. However, right now it poses some problems. Taylor and I teach in the library in the afternoon. The library is located in the front of the school, and 3 walls are covered in windows. Previously we only had to deal with the obnoxious cat-calling parrot and daily domino-playing, cigar-smoking group of men out the window to the north. Now there are construction men yelling at each other out the eastern window and hammers and saws hard at work out the western window. And all of these activities are going on within 5 feet of the building and our classroom. I might not have my voice for much longer. In addition to the noise, the current building and future structure will be connected on the second floor. So, there are holes in two ceiling corners of the library. Last week, our students were reading their books individually and Ricardo was lucky enough to get the most sought after reading spot in the library – the cushion in the corner. In the middle of class, wet, mixed concrete started falling into the corner, onto Ricardo, from the hole in the ceiling. Now, or at least for the duration of the construction, the kids are a little apprehensive about their beloved reading cushion.
- I hope you all know the song, “Car Wash” – one of dad’s personal favorites. (If not, please look it up immediately.) I know the song says “working at the car wash”, but having grown up listening to it while my dad danced to it (sometimes accompanied by his wife and 3 little girls), I always thought “dancing at the car wash”. There is a car wash about a 5 minute walk away from our apartments. Car wash by day, dance spot by night. They have live bands that play merengue and bachata (Dominican music). There was one such place on the beach with the other restaurants and bars, but they recently closed. We were sad, but it is quite possible that they closed solely so that they would not have to watch our pathetic attempts to dance like Dominicans anymore. I have been here for nearly 8 months now and I still cannot get my hips to move like these Dominicans. I honestly think they come out of the womb swinging their hips to the merengue. (An important note: the Dominican hip swing is nothing like an American hip swing – whatever that is exactly. It is much more aesthetically appealing, when executed correctly.) Anyway, we now have a good Dominican place at which to embarrass ourselves trying to dance merengue and bachata.
- When you visit someone’s home here, they immediately pull up the best chair they have for you to sit in. They will then proceed to make you coffee and try to feed you an entire meal. They are very welcoming and generous. So, hanging out with kids all the time we often get offered things. Chips, cute drawings, and even candy. Except people here have what we might consider a weird taste in candy. For example, as far as I can tell, Dominicans’ favorite candy is a Hall’s cough drop. Yes, a cough drop. And yes, they really consider it a candy. Sometimes at the supermercado, if they don’t have any one-peso coins to give you as change, they will pay you with cough drops instead. No one-peso coins or cough drops? I have, on occasion, been paid my change in eggs as well.
- Speaking of change, it is incredibly hard to come by change here. The currency is pesos and the smallest bill is a 50. This is equivalent to about $1.50 USD. There are 1peso, 5pesos, 10pesos, and 25pesos coins. When you get coins, you hold on to them like they are gold. The bank only gives you 200pesos or 500pesos bills. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to the colmado or even to a restaurant and tried to pay with a 500 (equal to $15 USD) and they have refused to accept it because they don’t have change to pay me back with. This means that either I or the restaurant owner has to go off in search of a kind soul that will exchange the bill for smaller change.
- I know I have told you about the chickens in the restaurants, the dogs in the streets, and the turkeys that hang around outside of the DREAM center. But we don’t typically have animals running around inside our school. Yes, we have had the occasional confused dog run in only to get chased out by ChiChe, our awesome guacheman. Today, however, we were sitting in the computer lab minding our own business when we notice a chicken strutting in the door. Upon entering the room he hop/flies up to the counter that goes around the entire perimeter of the room and just wanders around, scratching at this and pecking at that. Honestly, I think by Friday afternoon, we were too amused to do anything but watch it in bewilderment. Eventually one of our students came in and chased him out for us.
As you might have guessed, I am no longer sitting under a palm tree on the beach (I definitely wasn’t able to write all of this in one sitting). In fact, if it makes you feel better, it has been cold – yes, COLD – here for the past week or so. And by cold, I mean that it has been in the 60’s with lots of rain. It actually dipped down into the 50’s yesterday. I have grown accustomed to the heat and so this type of weather does actually feel pretty cold to me. But for the Dominicans who have only ever experienced the weather here in the DR, they are not sure what to make of the cold. A student of mine made a comment about the cold and said that this is what it must feel like when it snows in the States. I tried to tell him that it was actually much, much colder, but I don’t think he can comprehend that kind of cold.
Right now, I am currently sitting in the computer lab at the DREAM Center eagerly awaiting my lunch break (tengo hambre!). I had a lot more planned for this post, seeing as I haven’t posted in a very long time (I’m sorry!). But I think I will go ahead and post what I have written above while I continue to work on Part 2.
So, hasta luego y cuidense (take care)!
Lindsey
- (To Be Continued…….)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I'll Be Home for Christmas...
It is almost time to head home!
There is not much new to share…
To celebrate Thanksgiving, us volunteers, as well as the staff and the Dominican teachers (about 30 in total) gathered together. We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner – half American food, half Dominican food. Funny, I actually enjoyed the Dominican dishes more than I did the turkey and stuffing. But I am definitely looking forward to many American foods when I return. In all honesty, the thing I miss most from the US - after family and friends, of course - is milk. Yes, milk. I have realized since being here, and am slightly ashamed of the fact, that I am a milk ‘snob’. There is milk here, but it is just not the same and I cannot bring myself to drink it.
Classes ended with a bang and a fun field trip to Ocean World. Before the field trip we had a week of ‘final tests and assessments’ followed by some fun days (ie. movie day). Many of the kids surprised us with their performance on our final test. Yafreisy, one of our 10-year old girls, improved a lot – she wrote a whole page for her writing test and used paragraph format! Woohoo, success! Another day Davi - a teenage boy who plays the ‘tough guy’ or ‘punk’ in class and is very big into kitesurfing - asked if he could take the book that we are reading in class home with him to continue reading. That was a great day! Some of the kids have been at the center during the past two weeks for special classes, but I am going to miss them so, so much while I am gone!
We have been conducting a census in the Callejon for the last couple weeks before break. Basically this means we have been walking around outside, in the sun, for hours every day knocking on people’s doors (or rather, yelling ‘buenos’ through their windows) and asking them questions. Did I mention that it is still summer weather here? And that there are about 29308420734 houses in the Callejon? (Okay, okay.. that number is a slight exaggeration, there are only about 1,000). Anyway, I’ve been told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. So I think I will choose not to talk about census anymore, and move on to bigger and better things.
We have also spent some time evaluating the past semester – our programs, our classes, further outreach to the community, etc. and have come up with some great new ideas and ideas for improvement in the Spring. I’m looking forward to the things we have planned to implement when we return in January. It is great to be leaving on a positive note and with a lot of enthusiasm for the new semester.
I’m really looking forward to seeing some of you while I am home!
Mostly I wanted to post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. So, Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!
Lindsey
There is not much new to share…
To celebrate Thanksgiving, us volunteers, as well as the staff and the Dominican teachers (about 30 in total) gathered together. We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner – half American food, half Dominican food. Funny, I actually enjoyed the Dominican dishes more than I did the turkey and stuffing. But I am definitely looking forward to many American foods when I return. In all honesty, the thing I miss most from the US - after family and friends, of course - is milk. Yes, milk. I have realized since being here, and am slightly ashamed of the fact, that I am a milk ‘snob’. There is milk here, but it is just not the same and I cannot bring myself to drink it.
Classes ended with a bang and a fun field trip to Ocean World. Before the field trip we had a week of ‘final tests and assessments’ followed by some fun days (ie. movie day). Many of the kids surprised us with their performance on our final test. Yafreisy, one of our 10-year old girls, improved a lot – she wrote a whole page for her writing test and used paragraph format! Woohoo, success! Another day Davi - a teenage boy who plays the ‘tough guy’ or ‘punk’ in class and is very big into kitesurfing - asked if he could take the book that we are reading in class home with him to continue reading. That was a great day! Some of the kids have been at the center during the past two weeks for special classes, but I am going to miss them so, so much while I am gone!
We have been conducting a census in the Callejon for the last couple weeks before break. Basically this means we have been walking around outside, in the sun, for hours every day knocking on people’s doors (or rather, yelling ‘buenos’ through their windows) and asking them questions. Did I mention that it is still summer weather here? And that there are about 29308420734 houses in the Callejon? (Okay, okay.. that number is a slight exaggeration, there are only about 1,000). Anyway, I’ve been told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. So I think I will choose not to talk about census anymore, and move on to bigger and better things.
We have also spent some time evaluating the past semester – our programs, our classes, further outreach to the community, etc. and have come up with some great new ideas and ideas for improvement in the Spring. I’m looking forward to the things we have planned to implement when we return in January. It is great to be leaving on a positive note and with a lot of enthusiasm for the new semester.
I’m really looking forward to seeing some of you while I am home!
Mostly I wanted to post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. So, Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!
Lindsey
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hola!
Que lo que? Como tu ta?
Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!
I had a plan to write less each time, but to post more often, so that I would not have to subject you to such exhaustingly long posts. Obviously, I failed. In fact I may have succeeded in writing an even longer post. You will probably need to take breaks.. it’s going to be a long one. ;) (I’m sorry!)
I’ve wanted to write about all the little, random things that make the DR so great/ridiculous/Dominican… but haven’t done so thus far. So I will share some of these things in this post. Most are funny – or at least interesting, I hope – while others are more ‘informational’, if you will.
For starters, the DR is a very friendly country. Everyone says Hola to everyone else as they pass in the street and people are generally very helpful. Did you know… the DR was ranked the 2nd happiest country in the world? I definitely believe it.
So, the animals. I am used to seeing animals everywhere – and as I am in the habit of saying hola to everyone I see - I often find myself saying ‘hola’ to the horse outside my apartment or to the donkey as I pass it on the street on the way to work. It sounds a little looney, I know, but you would be doing the same after only a couple months here.
While some people do have pets, they are not treated like we treat our pets at home. And I can count with two fingers the number of times I have seen animals tied up or fenced in (both of these occasions have been the pets of two of my co-workers). The animals I run into the most here are dogs, and most of them are strays. It may sound weird, but the dogs here have many human-like mannerisms. They are actually pretty good companions, walking with you wherever you may be going. One time, I was accompanied by two dogs (we have named them Bonnie and Clyde) all the way across town – about a 25 minute walk. They even waited outside the supermercado while I ran inside to grab some dinner.
I mentioned horses and donkeys above; they are both always hanging around in the Callejon. Some days on the way to work, I have to make room on the sidewalk for a donkey passing in the opposite direction. And it is not uncommon for horses to be eating out of the Center’s trashcans out front. In fact, earlier this week Roeli (a morning student) did not come to class. In the middle of our early literacy class period, he rode by the window, shirtless, shoeless, and on horseback. Chickens wander the streets as well.
There is a donkey that belongs to a family living behind the center, who makes the most absurd donkey sound.. approximately every 30 minutes or so. There is nothing to do but pause and wait for him to finish before continuing with class. I’m not sure that it will ever stop being funny. Also, there is a parrot who sits on the center’s fence right outside the library during our afternoon class. The first day I was very annoyed at the domino guys outside who kept “cat-call whistling” every 30 seconds, until I realized that it was the parrot. Without fail, every afternoon it is there talking and whistling at us. The center is also home to a very large turkey. No one knows whose turkey it is or where it came from, but it lives at DREAM.
As far as animals/bugs in our housing.. there are mostly cockroaches, tree frogs, and lizard/salamanders/geckos (I am not quite sure exactly which they are). I thought I had seen some scary cockroaches in the US, but the ones here are HUGE and just as hard to kill. My worst encounter thus far happened one night as I was heading to bed... I walked into my room to find one waiting for me on my pillow. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well that night. I have another trapped under a bowl in the corner of my kitchen right now, and am building up the courage to deal with it. Tree frogs, while they are completely harmless, are surprisingly scary given their amazing jumping abilities. It also makes them very difficult to capture and remove from the apartment. The lizard-like animals are nothing to worry about, and pretty much keep to themselves.
As in any culture, Dominican’s have their own special mannerisms. For example, the ‘finger wag’. It can be compared to our head shake, but you must execute it without moving your hand; only your index finger. Also, more often than not Dominicans point with their mouths instead of their pointer finger. You purse your lips and then push them in the direction you wish to indicate. But, like the finger wag, you must point your lips without moving your head. My personal favorite is the way Dominicans scrunch up their face to ask “What?”. Think of how we would raise our eyebrows if we did not understand something that was said to us. To communicate the same thing, Dominicans scrunch their face - well, their nose to be more exact. It is exactly what you would do if you were pretending to be a mouse. I was thrown off the first time I saw it. While I have adopted the finger wag and lip-point, I have not yet picked up the face-scrunch.
Also, when you meet someone new or run into someone you know, you always address them by kissing them on the cheek. Just like many Europeans give a kiss on each cheek to greet someone, we do the same here, but only on one cheek. So when I return home and see you, don’t be alarmed if I lean in for a quick beso. ;)
A very important thing to know about communicating in the DR is that when someone hisses at you, it is not rude or derogatory. It is simply their way of getting your attention. (By hiss I mean a sound like, ‘pssst’.) Obviously, in the US, this is considered a very rude sound to make at someone. But here it is completely normal – actually, if you do not respond you could be deemed “primavona”, or rude. This took a long time to get used to as well, but now I find myself responding to the hisses as I would a “hello” or “excuse me” in the US. I am slightly ashamed to say that last week I even hissed at a student from across the street to get his attention. I will have to be careful to leave this habit in the DR when I return home.
Another habit that will be hard to ‘kick’ is throwing the toilet paper into the trashcan. The plumbing systems in the DR cannot handle toilet paper in the pipes, so in every bathroom there is a waste can to throw your used TP. I know it sounds gross, and Dad refused to believe that the bathrooms don’t smell horrible, but you get used to it after awhile (especially after one or two times of fishing the TP out of the toilet bowl). In fact, last year after only being in the country for one month, It took me way too long to figure out what to do with my toilet paper the first time I used the bathroom back in the US airport – there was no trashcan in my stall.
As yall already know, we speak Spanish here. I knew only a little Spanish before I got here, and I have been improving with each passing day (although, I am still not fluent). But the Spanish I am learning is Dominican Spanish. As it turns out, it is very different from the proper Spanish we learn in school that is spoken in places like Spain (in that Dominican Spanish is ‘uneducated’ in comparison – that is the nicest way I can think of to describe it). There are some letters that Dominicans use interchangeably (ie. “b” and “v”; “s” and “c”). Even educated Dominicans switch these letters up all of the time, treating them as though they are exactly the same letter. The hardest thing to get used to, though, is the fact that Dominicans rarely ever pronounce the letter “s”, especially when it is on the end of a word. For example, I no longer say “adios” or gracias”. I say “adio” and “gracia”. I no longer say “estoy bien” (I am well) when asked how I am. Instead I respond with “toy bien”. I have gotten so used to this that I dropped the “s” off of the beginning of an English word the other day while talking with a friend. (Yikes!) They also may choose to leave out the “r” in any given word. In addition, if a syllable at the end of one word is remotely similar to the first syllable of the following word, Dominicans join these two words into one new word. For example, the phrase ‘over there’, para alla, becomes palla. And combine all of this with the fact that Dominicans talk a million miles a minute without really acknowledging spaces between words – understanding what they are saying is difficult and exhausting.
Here are some standard Dominican phrases/sayings:
Que lo que – Wuddd up?! (Or, What’s up? Dominicans write this out as “k l k”).
Guacheman (pronounced ‘watch-ey man’) – security guard/night watchman. Spanglish, anyone?
Guapo - as far as I know, in nearly every other place that speaks Spanish this word means handsome. Here it means angry.
Funda – bag. In school we were taught that ‘bolsa’ was Spanish for ‘bag’. Here, bolsa does NOT mean bag, but instead means something rather inappropriate. I found this out the hard way.
A little more spanglish for you: Halo (pronounced ‘ah-low’) – this is how Dominicans answer the phone, and is a cross between ‘hola’ and ‘hello’.
Se fue la luz – not directly translated, it basically means ‘there goes the power’. This is, sadly, one of the first things you will learn here because the power is always going out. (This is actually a big political issue in the DR. A few weeks ago, while traveling back to Cabarete one night in a guagua, we passed a protest in Sosua – a town about 15 minutes from Cabarete. People were burning giant tires in the street and they had broken what looked like hundreds of glass bottles in the street as well. We were just able to squeeze by on the edge of the road and pass safely. They were protesting the power shortage.)
Now for some random tid-bits about the DR that do not fit into any sort of ‘category’ (not to imply that this post has very much organization to it. Sorry about that..)
-Dominoes: THE game of the Dominican Republic. And if you think dominoes is just matching up numbers of dots, you are way off. It is actually a pretty intense game and Dominicans have no mercy.
- I’m not sure if it is just a coincidence, but in my time here I have met several Dominicans (one of which I must admit I didn’t actually meet – he was listening to his music a little too loud on the bus and I heard the song from his headphones) who really enjoy the Celine Dion song, “My Heart Will Go On” from the movie, “Titanic”. (Please note that it is a song in English and is so incredibly different than any other type of music they listen to down here.) For any of you who find this rather odd – I do too.
- Braces: This is another thing that is more prevalent in rural communities, but braces are a sort of status symbol here. They are expensive and so if you have braces on your teeth (whether you need them or not), you will be recognized as ‘having money’. Some people will buy braces solely for this reason. It sounds absurd, but keep in mind we do the same in the US – with designer clothes or really expensive cars.
- If you want to be considered chulo, or ‘cool’, in Cabarete, you should be either a Kitesurfer, Windsurfer, or surfer. Here it is all about the water sports.
- There are pick-up trucks that drive around and sell food from the back – plantains, yucca, guineos/bananas, oranges, etc. They have speakers on the top of the truck and the person driving yells into a microphone in an attempt to sell his products. But when he passes a woman on the street, he often stops yelling to slowly and dramatically say, WOW. It goes a little something like this…. Guineosporcuatropesossolocuatropesosquieresunguineosolocuestan
cuatropesoscompraunquineoporsolocuatropesos…W.O.W. Unfortunately I am unable to display the dramatic effect through text..
- Concon: This is the rice that gets slightly burnt and crunchy on the bottom of the pot when Dominicans cook rice. It is sweet and served separately from the rest of the rice. Yummm.
- Guachemen (watch-ey men - mentioned above), are equipped with guns here. Depending on what facility they are ‘watching’, this gun may be a machine gun. I know this sounds scary and maybe even dangerous, but it’s actually okay. In any case, the guacheman where I live is very friendly. We are on a first name basis. His name is Polo. I’ve never felt uncomfortable. (That is meant to reassure a few people in particular… specifically my mother and grandmother.)
- Speaking of people walking around with ‘weapons’, you see people walking around with machetes as well. They are not carrying them for protection purposes, nor do they intend to use them as weapons. They are tools for these people’s work. Again, nothing to worry about.
- Rain: Especially in rural areas, life tends to stop when it rains. Why would you work? Why would you even consider leaving the house? Are you crazy? (Apparently we DREAMers are… nothing stops us from working. Not rain. Not American holidays. Not even Dominican holidays.)
I have mentioned motos before.. here are some crazy/ridiculous things I have seen riding around on motos (keep in mind, a moto is a lot like a moped and technically only seats two grown people. Also note that - DREAM volunteers not included - I have only seen a handful of people wearing helmets in this country):
o A family of 5.
o 3 grown men. The two not driving were holding several live chickens in each hand by the feet.
o A man drinking rum straight from the bottle… while driving. A – there are not a lot of police here. B – they wouldn’t pull him over anyway.
o 2 grown men and a grown hog.
o 2 grown men and two large dogs (one plopped right on top of the other).
o A man driving, pulling his horse along behind him with a rope.
o A huge tank of gas strapped loosely on the back seat (I see this all the time. I wonder what would happen should this giant tank of gas bounce off of the back seat? I don’t want to be around to find out.)
o 1 man and a ba-jillion fish balanced and hanging on either side from a pole by their tails.
o Women riding side-saddle style if they are wearing skirts or dresses.
Now, a little bit about Dominican family structure. Family is a central part of life in the Dominican Republic, but in a different way than I would have expected. While there is a much larger emphasis on extended family, there seems to be less of an emphasis on immediate family – fathers in particular. When I see a kid around town they are almost always running around with a couple of their cousins, and maybe another sibling or friend. Children typically spend plenty of time with their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and especially cousins. But their relationships with their immediate family members don’t always seem to be so intact. It is not uncommon here for men to have children from many women. Obviously this is not something unique to the Dominican Republic, but male/female relationships ARE very different here. Some couples are legally wed, however most of the time a woman is considered to be a man’s wife if she (and their children) move in with him. And when a man is living with his wife and children, it most certainly does not mean that he does not have more children, or even another family, elsewhere. In general in Dominican culture, men are considered to possess the privilege to ‘have’ many women and fatherhood is taken rather lightly. Please keep in mind, however, that this is not true of every family in the DR (obviously). I would say/guess that these trends are more common in rural and poor areas than in the couple of big cities in this country.
A big issue, and source of sadness on my part, in this country is the racial tension between Dominicans and Haitians. Although I see it first hand in my own community and have learnt much about it since I got here, I do not feel comfortable laying out this situation in its entirety for you until I know more and have a better handle on the facts. Although, I will say that it is a very visible tension, even among young kids.
As you know I am teaching, and therefore involved in education. So part of my work is to understand the Dominican education system – its design, its flaws, its strengths – and use this information to work with my students and fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, there are many flaws and many gaps. You have already heard some about the public school system in the DR in previous posts. Now, I want to throw some powerful statistics your way – they pretty much speak for themselves. The World Economic Forum recently published a Global Competitiveness Report with data from the year 2008. This report contains many statistics, but there are 4 specific stats I want to share with you:
- In the category of “Quality of the Education System (overall)”, the Dominican Republic ranked 129 of 133 countries.
- In the category of “Quality of Primary Education”, the DR ranked 132 of 133 countries.
- In the category of “Wastefulness of Government Spending”, the DR ranked 132 of 133 countries.
- In the category of “Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials”, the DR ranked 133 of 133 countries.
I wasn’t even sure what to say when I first saw these numbers. I was dumbfounded. I mean, I knew the education system was bad here, but I thought for sure there had to be many more countries with worse. I was also aware of the corruption in the Dominican political system, but like education, had no idea that it is literally one of the very worst.
Again, I am not sure how to elaborate on the stats for education – they speak pretty strongly for themselves, and I have spent some time in past posts describing the public schools. However, I do feel that a few comments on the political stats might be helpful. When considering the “wastefulness of government spending” category, we can relate this to education (and, of course, other topics as well). The Dominican government invests hardly any of its money into education; most often I have heard/read only 2%. Where does the rest of it go? In reality, a gross amount of money goes into the pockets of powerful people. Recently a subway system was built in the capital city, Santo Domingo– it is meant to mimic the underground transportation systems of New York or London or any other large city. It is completely unnecessary and not even very convenient to have in this city. However, the government decided to spend massive amounts of money on this subway, in hopes that it could somehow put the DR on ‘the map’ in terms of development. This goal of ‘development and advancement’ seems to be a top priority and main focus, while the fact that many school teachers are under-trained and the education system is failing its students left and right is of little concern.
Moving on to the “Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials” (almost done, I promise!).. did you notice that the DR falls dead last in this category? This just speaks to the amount of corruption that plagues the Dominican political system.
A quick story to provide a concrete example… I did not actually witness this myself, but was told this story by a Peace Corps. volunteer who did witness it. She lives in a small, rural, poor village and was around for the Presidential campaigns and elections. I cannot recall which candidate it was, but he came to ‘campaign’ in this small village. His campaign here consisted of throwing salami from a car into the throngs of villagers crowded around. They literally just threw salami at people. Keep in mind that these are uneducated, poor people. This political figure was knowingly and purposely exploiting the vulnerability and naivety of these people. I would be hard-pressed to draw a comparison to the US, but the best I could think up would be if a candidate went to a desperately poor community and threw dollar bills from his vehicle. Or perhaps you could draw a comparison to an election for class president in a high school – “If you vote for me I will be your friend”. Either, or… they are both appalling.
I do feel bad speaking ill of the education and political systems of the DR, because I love this country. But they are things that need to be fixed before things can change on a large scale here. The good news is that I have met so many great people (locals, foreigners, volunteers, professionals..) who are doing just that – working to change these systems. And that is what it is going to take.
I hope you all get your fill of turkey and football tomorrow (actually, by the time you get to this part of the post - if you make it this far at all - Thanksgiving may have been a few weeks ago). I know this Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for the education I am blessed to have received; I will never take it for granted again.
Gobble gobble.
Lindsey
Que lo que? Como tu ta?
Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!
I had a plan to write less each time, but to post more often, so that I would not have to subject you to such exhaustingly long posts. Obviously, I failed. In fact I may have succeeded in writing an even longer post. You will probably need to take breaks.. it’s going to be a long one. ;) (I’m sorry!)
I’ve wanted to write about all the little, random things that make the DR so great/ridiculous/Dominican… but haven’t done so thus far. So I will share some of these things in this post. Most are funny – or at least interesting, I hope – while others are more ‘informational’, if you will.
For starters, the DR is a very friendly country. Everyone says Hola to everyone else as they pass in the street and people are generally very helpful. Did you know… the DR was ranked the 2nd happiest country in the world? I definitely believe it.
So, the animals. I am used to seeing animals everywhere – and as I am in the habit of saying hola to everyone I see - I often find myself saying ‘hola’ to the horse outside my apartment or to the donkey as I pass it on the street on the way to work. It sounds a little looney, I know, but you would be doing the same after only a couple months here.
While some people do have pets, they are not treated like we treat our pets at home. And I can count with two fingers the number of times I have seen animals tied up or fenced in (both of these occasions have been the pets of two of my co-workers). The animals I run into the most here are dogs, and most of them are strays. It may sound weird, but the dogs here have many human-like mannerisms. They are actually pretty good companions, walking with you wherever you may be going. One time, I was accompanied by two dogs (we have named them Bonnie and Clyde) all the way across town – about a 25 minute walk. They even waited outside the supermercado while I ran inside to grab some dinner.
I mentioned horses and donkeys above; they are both always hanging around in the Callejon. Some days on the way to work, I have to make room on the sidewalk for a donkey passing in the opposite direction. And it is not uncommon for horses to be eating out of the Center’s trashcans out front. In fact, earlier this week Roeli (a morning student) did not come to class. In the middle of our early literacy class period, he rode by the window, shirtless, shoeless, and on horseback. Chickens wander the streets as well.
There is a donkey that belongs to a family living behind the center, who makes the most absurd donkey sound.. approximately every 30 minutes or so. There is nothing to do but pause and wait for him to finish before continuing with class. I’m not sure that it will ever stop being funny. Also, there is a parrot who sits on the center’s fence right outside the library during our afternoon class. The first day I was very annoyed at the domino guys outside who kept “cat-call whistling” every 30 seconds, until I realized that it was the parrot. Without fail, every afternoon it is there talking and whistling at us. The center is also home to a very large turkey. No one knows whose turkey it is or where it came from, but it lives at DREAM.
As far as animals/bugs in our housing.. there are mostly cockroaches, tree frogs, and lizard/salamanders/geckos (I am not quite sure exactly which they are). I thought I had seen some scary cockroaches in the US, but the ones here are HUGE and just as hard to kill. My worst encounter thus far happened one night as I was heading to bed... I walked into my room to find one waiting for me on my pillow. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well that night. I have another trapped under a bowl in the corner of my kitchen right now, and am building up the courage to deal with it. Tree frogs, while they are completely harmless, are surprisingly scary given their amazing jumping abilities. It also makes them very difficult to capture and remove from the apartment. The lizard-like animals are nothing to worry about, and pretty much keep to themselves.
As in any culture, Dominican’s have their own special mannerisms. For example, the ‘finger wag’. It can be compared to our head shake, but you must execute it without moving your hand; only your index finger. Also, more often than not Dominicans point with their mouths instead of their pointer finger. You purse your lips and then push them in the direction you wish to indicate. But, like the finger wag, you must point your lips without moving your head. My personal favorite is the way Dominicans scrunch up their face to ask “What?”. Think of how we would raise our eyebrows if we did not understand something that was said to us. To communicate the same thing, Dominicans scrunch their face - well, their nose to be more exact. It is exactly what you would do if you were pretending to be a mouse. I was thrown off the first time I saw it. While I have adopted the finger wag and lip-point, I have not yet picked up the face-scrunch.
Also, when you meet someone new or run into someone you know, you always address them by kissing them on the cheek. Just like many Europeans give a kiss on each cheek to greet someone, we do the same here, but only on one cheek. So when I return home and see you, don’t be alarmed if I lean in for a quick beso. ;)
A very important thing to know about communicating in the DR is that when someone hisses at you, it is not rude or derogatory. It is simply their way of getting your attention. (By hiss I mean a sound like, ‘pssst’.) Obviously, in the US, this is considered a very rude sound to make at someone. But here it is completely normal – actually, if you do not respond you could be deemed “primavona”, or rude. This took a long time to get used to as well, but now I find myself responding to the hisses as I would a “hello” or “excuse me” in the US. I am slightly ashamed to say that last week I even hissed at a student from across the street to get his attention. I will have to be careful to leave this habit in the DR when I return home.
Another habit that will be hard to ‘kick’ is throwing the toilet paper into the trashcan. The plumbing systems in the DR cannot handle toilet paper in the pipes, so in every bathroom there is a waste can to throw your used TP. I know it sounds gross, and Dad refused to believe that the bathrooms don’t smell horrible, but you get used to it after awhile (especially after one or two times of fishing the TP out of the toilet bowl). In fact, last year after only being in the country for one month, It took me way too long to figure out what to do with my toilet paper the first time I used the bathroom back in the US airport – there was no trashcan in my stall.
As yall already know, we speak Spanish here. I knew only a little Spanish before I got here, and I have been improving with each passing day (although, I am still not fluent). But the Spanish I am learning is Dominican Spanish. As it turns out, it is very different from the proper Spanish we learn in school that is spoken in places like Spain (in that Dominican Spanish is ‘uneducated’ in comparison – that is the nicest way I can think of to describe it). There are some letters that Dominicans use interchangeably (ie. “b” and “v”; “s” and “c”). Even educated Dominicans switch these letters up all of the time, treating them as though they are exactly the same letter. The hardest thing to get used to, though, is the fact that Dominicans rarely ever pronounce the letter “s”, especially when it is on the end of a word. For example, I no longer say “adios” or gracias”. I say “adio” and “gracia”. I no longer say “estoy bien” (I am well) when asked how I am. Instead I respond with “toy bien”. I have gotten so used to this that I dropped the “s” off of the beginning of an English word the other day while talking with a friend. (Yikes!) They also may choose to leave out the “r” in any given word. In addition, if a syllable at the end of one word is remotely similar to the first syllable of the following word, Dominicans join these two words into one new word. For example, the phrase ‘over there’, para alla, becomes palla. And combine all of this with the fact that Dominicans talk a million miles a minute without really acknowledging spaces between words – understanding what they are saying is difficult and exhausting.
Here are some standard Dominican phrases/sayings:
Que lo que – Wuddd up?! (Or, What’s up? Dominicans write this out as “k l k”).
Guacheman (pronounced ‘watch-ey man’) – security guard/night watchman. Spanglish, anyone?
Guapo - as far as I know, in nearly every other place that speaks Spanish this word means handsome. Here it means angry.
Funda – bag. In school we were taught that ‘bolsa’ was Spanish for ‘bag’. Here, bolsa does NOT mean bag, but instead means something rather inappropriate. I found this out the hard way.
A little more spanglish for you: Halo (pronounced ‘ah-low’) – this is how Dominicans answer the phone, and is a cross between ‘hola’ and ‘hello’.
Se fue la luz – not directly translated, it basically means ‘there goes the power’. This is, sadly, one of the first things you will learn here because the power is always going out. (This is actually a big political issue in the DR. A few weeks ago, while traveling back to Cabarete one night in a guagua, we passed a protest in Sosua – a town about 15 minutes from Cabarete. People were burning giant tires in the street and they had broken what looked like hundreds of glass bottles in the street as well. We were just able to squeeze by on the edge of the road and pass safely. They were protesting the power shortage.)
Now for some random tid-bits about the DR that do not fit into any sort of ‘category’ (not to imply that this post has very much organization to it. Sorry about that..)
-Dominoes: THE game of the Dominican Republic. And if you think dominoes is just matching up numbers of dots, you are way off. It is actually a pretty intense game and Dominicans have no mercy.
- I’m not sure if it is just a coincidence, but in my time here I have met several Dominicans (one of which I must admit I didn’t actually meet – he was listening to his music a little too loud on the bus and I heard the song from his headphones) who really enjoy the Celine Dion song, “My Heart Will Go On” from the movie, “Titanic”. (Please note that it is a song in English and is so incredibly different than any other type of music they listen to down here.) For any of you who find this rather odd – I do too.
- Braces: This is another thing that is more prevalent in rural communities, but braces are a sort of status symbol here. They are expensive and so if you have braces on your teeth (whether you need them or not), you will be recognized as ‘having money’. Some people will buy braces solely for this reason. It sounds absurd, but keep in mind we do the same in the US – with designer clothes or really expensive cars.
- If you want to be considered chulo, or ‘cool’, in Cabarete, you should be either a Kitesurfer, Windsurfer, or surfer. Here it is all about the water sports.
- There are pick-up trucks that drive around and sell food from the back – plantains, yucca, guineos/bananas, oranges, etc. They have speakers on the top of the truck and the person driving yells into a microphone in an attempt to sell his products. But when he passes a woman on the street, he often stops yelling to slowly and dramatically say, WOW. It goes a little something like this…. Guineosporcuatropesossolocuatropesosquieresunguineosolocuestan
cuatropesoscompraunquineoporsolocuatropesos…W.O.W. Unfortunately I am unable to display the dramatic effect through text..
- Concon: This is the rice that gets slightly burnt and crunchy on the bottom of the pot when Dominicans cook rice. It is sweet and served separately from the rest of the rice. Yummm.
- Guachemen (watch-ey men - mentioned above), are equipped with guns here. Depending on what facility they are ‘watching’, this gun may be a machine gun. I know this sounds scary and maybe even dangerous, but it’s actually okay. In any case, the guacheman where I live is very friendly. We are on a first name basis. His name is Polo. I’ve never felt uncomfortable. (That is meant to reassure a few people in particular… specifically my mother and grandmother.)
- Speaking of people walking around with ‘weapons’, you see people walking around with machetes as well. They are not carrying them for protection purposes, nor do they intend to use them as weapons. They are tools for these people’s work. Again, nothing to worry about.
- Rain: Especially in rural areas, life tends to stop when it rains. Why would you work? Why would you even consider leaving the house? Are you crazy? (Apparently we DREAMers are… nothing stops us from working. Not rain. Not American holidays. Not even Dominican holidays.)
I have mentioned motos before.. here are some crazy/ridiculous things I have seen riding around on motos (keep in mind, a moto is a lot like a moped and technically only seats two grown people. Also note that - DREAM volunteers not included - I have only seen a handful of people wearing helmets in this country):
o A family of 5.
o 3 grown men. The two not driving were holding several live chickens in each hand by the feet.
o A man drinking rum straight from the bottle… while driving. A – there are not a lot of police here. B – they wouldn’t pull him over anyway.
o 2 grown men and a grown hog.
o 2 grown men and two large dogs (one plopped right on top of the other).
o A man driving, pulling his horse along behind him with a rope.
o A huge tank of gas strapped loosely on the back seat (I see this all the time. I wonder what would happen should this giant tank of gas bounce off of the back seat? I don’t want to be around to find out.)
o 1 man and a ba-jillion fish balanced and hanging on either side from a pole by their tails.
o Women riding side-saddle style if they are wearing skirts or dresses.
Now, a little bit about Dominican family structure. Family is a central part of life in the Dominican Republic, but in a different way than I would have expected. While there is a much larger emphasis on extended family, there seems to be less of an emphasis on immediate family – fathers in particular. When I see a kid around town they are almost always running around with a couple of their cousins, and maybe another sibling or friend. Children typically spend plenty of time with their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and especially cousins. But their relationships with their immediate family members don’t always seem to be so intact. It is not uncommon here for men to have children from many women. Obviously this is not something unique to the Dominican Republic, but male/female relationships ARE very different here. Some couples are legally wed, however most of the time a woman is considered to be a man’s wife if she (and their children) move in with him. And when a man is living with his wife and children, it most certainly does not mean that he does not have more children, or even another family, elsewhere. In general in Dominican culture, men are considered to possess the privilege to ‘have’ many women and fatherhood is taken rather lightly. Please keep in mind, however, that this is not true of every family in the DR (obviously). I would say/guess that these trends are more common in rural and poor areas than in the couple of big cities in this country.
A big issue, and source of sadness on my part, in this country is the racial tension between Dominicans and Haitians. Although I see it first hand in my own community and have learnt much about it since I got here, I do not feel comfortable laying out this situation in its entirety for you until I know more and have a better handle on the facts. Although, I will say that it is a very visible tension, even among young kids.
As you know I am teaching, and therefore involved in education. So part of my work is to understand the Dominican education system – its design, its flaws, its strengths – and use this information to work with my students and fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, there are many flaws and many gaps. You have already heard some about the public school system in the DR in previous posts. Now, I want to throw some powerful statistics your way – they pretty much speak for themselves. The World Economic Forum recently published a Global Competitiveness Report with data from the year 2008. This report contains many statistics, but there are 4 specific stats I want to share with you:
- In the category of “Quality of the Education System (overall)”, the Dominican Republic ranked 129 of 133 countries.
- In the category of “Quality of Primary Education”, the DR ranked 132 of 133 countries.
- In the category of “Wastefulness of Government Spending”, the DR ranked 132 of 133 countries.
- In the category of “Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials”, the DR ranked 133 of 133 countries.
I wasn’t even sure what to say when I first saw these numbers. I was dumbfounded. I mean, I knew the education system was bad here, but I thought for sure there had to be many more countries with worse. I was also aware of the corruption in the Dominican political system, but like education, had no idea that it is literally one of the very worst.
Again, I am not sure how to elaborate on the stats for education – they speak pretty strongly for themselves, and I have spent some time in past posts describing the public schools. However, I do feel that a few comments on the political stats might be helpful. When considering the “wastefulness of government spending” category, we can relate this to education (and, of course, other topics as well). The Dominican government invests hardly any of its money into education; most often I have heard/read only 2%. Where does the rest of it go? In reality, a gross amount of money goes into the pockets of powerful people. Recently a subway system was built in the capital city, Santo Domingo– it is meant to mimic the underground transportation systems of New York or London or any other large city. It is completely unnecessary and not even very convenient to have in this city. However, the government decided to spend massive amounts of money on this subway, in hopes that it could somehow put the DR on ‘the map’ in terms of development. This goal of ‘development and advancement’ seems to be a top priority and main focus, while the fact that many school teachers are under-trained and the education system is failing its students left and right is of little concern.
Moving on to the “Favoritism in Decisions of Government Officials” (almost done, I promise!).. did you notice that the DR falls dead last in this category? This just speaks to the amount of corruption that plagues the Dominican political system.
A quick story to provide a concrete example… I did not actually witness this myself, but was told this story by a Peace Corps. volunteer who did witness it. She lives in a small, rural, poor village and was around for the Presidential campaigns and elections. I cannot recall which candidate it was, but he came to ‘campaign’ in this small village. His campaign here consisted of throwing salami from a car into the throngs of villagers crowded around. They literally just threw salami at people. Keep in mind that these are uneducated, poor people. This political figure was knowingly and purposely exploiting the vulnerability and naivety of these people. I would be hard-pressed to draw a comparison to the US, but the best I could think up would be if a candidate went to a desperately poor community and threw dollar bills from his vehicle. Or perhaps you could draw a comparison to an election for class president in a high school – “If you vote for me I will be your friend”. Either, or… they are both appalling.
I do feel bad speaking ill of the education and political systems of the DR, because I love this country. But they are things that need to be fixed before things can change on a large scale here. The good news is that I have met so many great people (locals, foreigners, volunteers, professionals..) who are doing just that – working to change these systems. And that is what it is going to take.
I hope you all get your fill of turkey and football tomorrow (actually, by the time you get to this part of the post - if you make it this far at all - Thanksgiving may have been a few weeks ago). I know this Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for the education I am blessed to have received; I will never take it for granted again.
Gobble gobble.
Lindsey
Friday, October 9, 2009
Back to School!
Kids here in the Dominican have been back to school for several weeks now, and we are just finishing up our fifth week of teaching. Perhaps it would be helpful for me to first provide an overview of the public schools in the DR. I want to begin by saying that although most of what I will share is negative, I do not intend to imply that there are no positives. There are many great people working in the schools here and some good things going on. We try to find the positive where we can, while focusing on the problems as challenges to overcome in our DREAM classrooms. Massiel, a year volunteer, works as a liaison between DREAM and the public schools – she is focusing on teacher training and professional development for teachers in three schools in Cabarete.
That being said, there is a lot that could be improved in the schools. First - and as you probably already guessed - there is a shortage of appropriate materials. The classroom is run in a very different way than most of us are accustomed to in the U.S. There are many students in one classroom with one teacher. Students do not receive individual attention – it just isn’t possible given the resources and size of classes. The walls dividing classrooms often do not reach the ceiling, making the rooms very noisy. In fact, when I sat in on a class at Colonia Nueva (just next door to DREAM), I sat to the side in the first row and had some trouble hearing the teacher. Students are not required to exhibit the same level of respect for teachers or one another as in the U.S. and thus, controlling a classroom proves to be very difficult. Night classes are also held for older students (some are teenagers at higher levels, and others are adults who never had the opportunity to receive an education and are studying at elementary levels). Obviously it is dark at nighttime, and there may or may not be power at some schools given the unreliability of power in this country. No power at nighttime makes it essentially impossible to hold classes.
Some other issues surrounding education in the DR are largely political. Students are not permitted to advance past the 8th grade without official government papers/documents (ie. birth certificate). Possession of documents such as these is not as common or easy as in the U.S. It is a widespread misconception that Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans are the only children affected by this law, but in fact many Dominicans are denied further education as well. If these papers are lost, destroyed, or somehow were never obtained, it can be extremely difficult and even impossible to get new papers – the reason being that these papers must be obtained through the Dominican government (and the Dominican government is not the most functional system, to say the least). Another example of the political issue in the schools is the requirement that every student be taught French (I will not expand on the purposes of this law right now, but the motivation behind it IS purely political). As a result, many students who lack the ability to read and write in their own language are expected to learn another, sacrificing precious classroom time.
There are often children in grades upward of 2nd and 3rd who do not possess the skills needed to advance past these grades. That is why we have some children in our program at DREAM who are 14 years old and still do not know their alphabet and cannot read at all. It is easy for children to pretend they are able to read and write and complete math problems, etc by copying off of other students or mimicking answers in class. Without the individual attention needed to discover and address such an issue, students can be passed to the next grade again and again without ever learning to read or write. Also, students with special needs do not receive the attention they need to be successful in school. I had one student in summer camp with very serious anger management issues. He rarely made it more than 5 minutes in class before giving up completely. Another has severe A.D.D. and sometimes made it a few minutes longer. It took much personal attention to get them through one class period - something we were able to provide during summer camp due to the number of volunteers, but something that cannot be provided in Dominican schools due to lack of such resources. It was so exciting when these students became engaged in class and I realized they were just as eager as all of the other students to learn. But it was equally as heart-breaking to realize that without the proper support their success in school would be limited.
Also, students only attend school for 4 hours each day (and yes, recess is included in these four hours). They either attend school in the morning (these are usually the higher level children, who can read and write) or in the afternoon (generally lower level children, most of which cannot read or write). And as mentioned before, some schools hold night classes for older students and adults.
Dominican teachers work hard, and some teach three sessions every day. However, they are victims of the same education system, and therefore do not necessarily have enough knowledge of valuable education practices. At no fault of their own, they may not be equipped to teach the students as effectively as possible.
Although this explanation cannot nearly pass as an all-encompassing description of Dominican schools, I hope that it provides some insight.
So now moving on to DREAM…
DREAM has several Montessori Preschool programs in Cabarete and its surrounding communities. One is located on the second level of the DREAM center. A staff member, Gloribelle, works as the director of all Montessori programs, and all teachers in the preschools are Dominican teachers. On the first floor of the DREAM center in Cabarete, we have a program called Estrellas Jovenes (Young Stars). There is also an Estrellas Jovenes program in Caraballo (a batey about 40 minutes from Cabarete) – it only started this year, and Summer and Wilson (two year-long volunteers) are working on developing the program there. Bateys are small communities that were originally built for the purpose of housing workers to cut sugar cane. This was when the sugar industry was very big in the DR, not long ago. However, the sugar industry has since plummeted and the bateys are generally very poor communities. They are often isolated from more populated areas and thus resources such as education and employment opportunities are not always available.
The Estrellas Jovenes program in Cabarete has two “sessions”: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Children who attend school in the afternoon come in the morning (again, these are the lower level kids) and those that have school in the morning (higher level) come in the afternoon. The morning schedule is harder to explain, but essentially we offer Early Literacy, Math, English, and Sports classes for kids and English and Computer classes for adults. There are two class periods, each lasting one hour. The afternoon program is different - these kids are divided into 3 groups and rotate between Reading/Writing, Math, and Computer/English, spending 40 minutes in each class every day. DREAM classes are not mandatory, the kids sign themselves up and come each day on their own. I know what you are thinking… why would any kid sign himself us for extra classes in addition to attending school? We actually have quite a large wait-list – DREAM is a pretty popular place with the kids in Cabarete. We try to keep classes small, so that we can give students as much individual attention as possible. It is hard to put kids on the wait-list, but realistically, once the classes get too large they are no more effective than the instruction the kids receive in school. And with a smaller class-size, we can implement student-centered teaching methods: something most Dominican children have never experienced. This method of instruction focuses on the student and their development in the classroom. It steers away from the traditional classroom design with a teacher speaking most of the time in front of the class. Instead, student-centered teaching encourages students to work together, be more engaged, and involves hands-on projects and activities. DREAM also offers students many materials they do not have access to in their schools or their community. These include the obvious materials you would expect every classroom to have, and much more. I realized after spending some time here, that there is essentially nowhere in the town of Cabarete for parents or children to access reading books – except in the DREAM library. La biblioteca DREAM is open to the public every day of the week and there is a wide selection of books (theme, level, size, etc).
I co-teach with Mauri in the morning program. We teach the early literacy class (this is Spanish language literacy, just to be clear. All classes are taught in Spanish at DREAM, the only exception being the English classes mentioned above.) I knew it would be a challenging class to teach before we began, but it has proven to be even harder than expected. The kids’ ages in this class range from 10 to 14. Only a small handful of them can read – albeit, at a low level. Most of them however do not know most of their letters or how to read or write. We have had to re-evaluate the organization and activities for this class several times so far. For example, since learning that many students in our class could not write their names, this became ‘warm-up’ priority #1 – we write teach students’ full name on lined handwriting paper and they practice writing it several times. Most kids in the US begin learning how to read and write in Kindergarten and have learned how to do so (at least on some level) by the time they advance to 1st grade. Most of these children are ages 5 or 6 and have been read to since they were very little. The kids that come to us at DREAM are ages 10-14 and have not been read to at home. They are in school and have been in school, but still cannot read. There are many issues that make it very difficult to teach a 12 year old who cannot yet read to do just that. Mauri and I have had ups and downs and many frustrations trying to determine how to get past these barriers and help teach the kids something about reading and writing. I won’t lie, it has been difficult and will continue to be, but I am really enjoying it and, although slow, we are seeing some progress.
I have recently begun working with some of the kids from this early morning class that need the most help, and am REALLY enjoying this. Sometimes it is hard for certain students to learn and progress in a group, even if only a group of 4 or 5 students. This extra bit of tutoring will hopefully get them on track with their classmates. Not to mention that the personal attention makes them feel special – even Nelson who never wants to do anything other than color in class got pretty excited about the “vowel game”. =)
The afternoon is very different from the morning and a lot of fun! We have kids that range in age from 10 to 16. They can all read and write, but at varying levels – some can read young adult novels while others struggle with literature at that level. Taylor and I teach the reading/writing class in the library. We are reading Esperanza Renace (Esperanza Rising) as a class. The book is about a young girl whose Mexican family has to move to the US during the Great Depression. Aside from developing reading skills we are able to explore some great themes and ‘life lessons’ from this book. We also teach classes on grammar and writing techniques – for example, punctuation and writing with paragraphs. These classes seem to be slightly harder for the students. Every lesson we teach is based on the student-centered classroom model that I mentioned above. This design is more fun for students – which is good because they are with us by choice and do not want to attend classes just like the ones they came from in the public school earlier that day.
We try to incorporate other subjects into our classes as well. For example, before beginning Esperanza Renace, we spent a couple class periods learning the History of Mexico. This served as a history class as well as a Map-skills class as the students labeled and colored a map of Mexico in relation to the DR and the US. Just some examples.. I hope that gives you a good idea of what class is like.. its hard to explain it all.
Some exciting things coming up are our Community Service week next week, substitute teaching in the Public Schools, and our Mini-course/Leadership classes. For our Community Service week we will not have class as usual, but instead will be holding activities each day with a focus on Community Service and with an “Olympic Games” design. For example, we plan on having a “Callejon clean-up” one day. Groups of kids will have bags and the group with the most trash collected around our neighborhood will win that “event”.
Massiel, as mentioned before, works with the public schools and leads teacher training programs. Also as mentioned before, Dominican teachers have a full schedule that does not allow for time to attend these teacher training workshops. And classes in DREAM are only held Monday-Thursday. Fridays are reserved for workshops, training/professional development, planning, and any other miscellaneous programs. So, on some Fridays we will be substitute teaching at the public schools in Cabarete to give the public teachers an opportunity to attend Massiel’s workshops. Our first day will be this Friday, Oct. 9. Mauri and I will be teaching a 2nd grade class.. I’m excited and nervous!
Leadership and Mini-courses include Hombres Jovenes (Young Men), Mujeres Jovenes (Young Women), Revista (Newsletter), and Apprendizaje (Internship) groups. Young Men and Young Women are groups that focus on individual and community development by empowering these young people. I know that probably sounds pretty generic – I will have more to tell you about these groups once they get started (Kadi and I will be leading the Mujeres Jovenes group). The newsletter group will work toward publishing this season’s edition of the DREAM newsletter for the community and the Internship group will work on leadership skills and have jobs(internships) in the community. A few of the older kids from the Estrellas Jovenes program will be in these groups along with other young adult participants living in Cabarete.
Another function of DREAM is to provide a ‘safe haven’ for its students and other kids in the community. Not everyone who wants to be in classes can be, but the center’s library and outdoor pavilion are constantly occupied with kids from the Callejon. Something I do not feel fully equipped to explain in full detail is the nature of violence in this community. We witness it in its simplest form when kids throw rocks at dogs in the street (there are always dogs wandering around). And unfortunately, Taylor and I have witnessed a few ‘episodes’ in the “play” community where we go to play soccer. Sadly, it is something that some of our students are all too familiar with. In the US there are programs and/or services to help victims of violence, but here there is nothing you can do. I know that is sounds horrible, and believe me, it is hard to deal with and accept. Any intervention at all would only exacerbate the problem, and so we do all that we can: provide a safe place for kids to come to learn, read, and ‘hang out’. I have gotten to know a couple students who have struggled or do struggle with this, and the hardest part is to step back and judge how I can best help them, given my abilities and resources. This, for me, is the hardest thing to accept about life here in the Callejon.
There are some things that I struggle with as a teacher and as a resident in Cabarete. As a teacher, I find it hard to motivate some students. Emphasis on education is not as big here as it is in the US. Many students lack their parent’s (or anyone’s) expectation to succeed in school, or to even attend school regularly. This community is such that many kids work – around town, for their parents, for their aunt/uncle, etc. I see Javier (a kid that was in my group during camp) regularly at the beach and on the main street with his shoe shine box walking around asking anyone and everyone if they would like their sandals shined. Javier is 10. Most often I see him on the weekend when I am relaxing and reading on the beach. His answer to my question, “Que estas hacienda – what are you up to?” is.. “working”. Another student, Pabiel (age 13), misses class pretty regularly. Some days he comes to check in, with a little 2 year old in tow, to explain why he cannot be in class – he has to take care of his younger brother. But, again, they are all with DREAM by choice, meaning they want to be there for one reason or another. And most of them are eager to learn, whether it is obvious or not. One other problem we had earlier on was a lack of respect from the students. It is definitely difficult to teach in Spanish. I learn more every day and feel more confident, but in the beginning it was difficult for Taylor and I, as two (relatively) young females, to teach a class of students in Spanish when a couple of the kids are only 6 years younger than us. In fact we now have a couple students who are 17 and older. However, as each week goes by and we get to know the students better and vice versa, that has become less and less of an issue.
I never thought I would be living at a beach (much less in the Caribbean!) - but I am grateful that I do. Days are long and sometimes pretty stressful/emotional/frustrating, and come 5 o’clock, a walk on the beach can be very therapeutic. It is my time to unwind and think, my time to myself and time with God. I can retreat from the stress and craziness of Cabarete, if only for a short while, at the beach.
So, I know that is a lot to digest in one post.. I had some lost time to make up for. But all in all, I have to say that I really do LOVE it here. I am so glad to be here and to be teaching at DREAM. We have a great group of volunteers and staff and I am so thankful for my co-workers. Although I may leave the center every day at 5, utterly exhausted, sometimes worried about this kid or that lesson plan, I absolutely love the work and the kids I spend each day with.
Speaking of those kids, I must be off to bed so that I’m up and at ‘em tomorrow morning!
Ciao!
Lindsey
That being said, there is a lot that could be improved in the schools. First - and as you probably already guessed - there is a shortage of appropriate materials. The classroom is run in a very different way than most of us are accustomed to in the U.S. There are many students in one classroom with one teacher. Students do not receive individual attention – it just isn’t possible given the resources and size of classes. The walls dividing classrooms often do not reach the ceiling, making the rooms very noisy. In fact, when I sat in on a class at Colonia Nueva (just next door to DREAM), I sat to the side in the first row and had some trouble hearing the teacher. Students are not required to exhibit the same level of respect for teachers or one another as in the U.S. and thus, controlling a classroom proves to be very difficult. Night classes are also held for older students (some are teenagers at higher levels, and others are adults who never had the opportunity to receive an education and are studying at elementary levels). Obviously it is dark at nighttime, and there may or may not be power at some schools given the unreliability of power in this country. No power at nighttime makes it essentially impossible to hold classes.
Some other issues surrounding education in the DR are largely political. Students are not permitted to advance past the 8th grade without official government papers/documents (ie. birth certificate). Possession of documents such as these is not as common or easy as in the U.S. It is a widespread misconception that Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans are the only children affected by this law, but in fact many Dominicans are denied further education as well. If these papers are lost, destroyed, or somehow were never obtained, it can be extremely difficult and even impossible to get new papers – the reason being that these papers must be obtained through the Dominican government (and the Dominican government is not the most functional system, to say the least). Another example of the political issue in the schools is the requirement that every student be taught French (I will not expand on the purposes of this law right now, but the motivation behind it IS purely political). As a result, many students who lack the ability to read and write in their own language are expected to learn another, sacrificing precious classroom time.
There are often children in grades upward of 2nd and 3rd who do not possess the skills needed to advance past these grades. That is why we have some children in our program at DREAM who are 14 years old and still do not know their alphabet and cannot read at all. It is easy for children to pretend they are able to read and write and complete math problems, etc by copying off of other students or mimicking answers in class. Without the individual attention needed to discover and address such an issue, students can be passed to the next grade again and again without ever learning to read or write. Also, students with special needs do not receive the attention they need to be successful in school. I had one student in summer camp with very serious anger management issues. He rarely made it more than 5 minutes in class before giving up completely. Another has severe A.D.D. and sometimes made it a few minutes longer. It took much personal attention to get them through one class period - something we were able to provide during summer camp due to the number of volunteers, but something that cannot be provided in Dominican schools due to lack of such resources. It was so exciting when these students became engaged in class and I realized they were just as eager as all of the other students to learn. But it was equally as heart-breaking to realize that without the proper support their success in school would be limited.
Also, students only attend school for 4 hours each day (and yes, recess is included in these four hours). They either attend school in the morning (these are usually the higher level children, who can read and write) or in the afternoon (generally lower level children, most of which cannot read or write). And as mentioned before, some schools hold night classes for older students and adults.
Dominican teachers work hard, and some teach three sessions every day. However, they are victims of the same education system, and therefore do not necessarily have enough knowledge of valuable education practices. At no fault of their own, they may not be equipped to teach the students as effectively as possible.
Although this explanation cannot nearly pass as an all-encompassing description of Dominican schools, I hope that it provides some insight.
So now moving on to DREAM…
DREAM has several Montessori Preschool programs in Cabarete and its surrounding communities. One is located on the second level of the DREAM center. A staff member, Gloribelle, works as the director of all Montessori programs, and all teachers in the preschools are Dominican teachers. On the first floor of the DREAM center in Cabarete, we have a program called Estrellas Jovenes (Young Stars). There is also an Estrellas Jovenes program in Caraballo (a batey about 40 minutes from Cabarete) – it only started this year, and Summer and Wilson (two year-long volunteers) are working on developing the program there. Bateys are small communities that were originally built for the purpose of housing workers to cut sugar cane. This was when the sugar industry was very big in the DR, not long ago. However, the sugar industry has since plummeted and the bateys are generally very poor communities. They are often isolated from more populated areas and thus resources such as education and employment opportunities are not always available.
The Estrellas Jovenes program in Cabarete has two “sessions”: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Children who attend school in the afternoon come in the morning (again, these are the lower level kids) and those that have school in the morning (higher level) come in the afternoon. The morning schedule is harder to explain, but essentially we offer Early Literacy, Math, English, and Sports classes for kids and English and Computer classes for adults. There are two class periods, each lasting one hour. The afternoon program is different - these kids are divided into 3 groups and rotate between Reading/Writing, Math, and Computer/English, spending 40 minutes in each class every day. DREAM classes are not mandatory, the kids sign themselves up and come each day on their own. I know what you are thinking… why would any kid sign himself us for extra classes in addition to attending school? We actually have quite a large wait-list – DREAM is a pretty popular place with the kids in Cabarete. We try to keep classes small, so that we can give students as much individual attention as possible. It is hard to put kids on the wait-list, but realistically, once the classes get too large they are no more effective than the instruction the kids receive in school. And with a smaller class-size, we can implement student-centered teaching methods: something most Dominican children have never experienced. This method of instruction focuses on the student and their development in the classroom. It steers away from the traditional classroom design with a teacher speaking most of the time in front of the class. Instead, student-centered teaching encourages students to work together, be more engaged, and involves hands-on projects and activities. DREAM also offers students many materials they do not have access to in their schools or their community. These include the obvious materials you would expect every classroom to have, and much more. I realized after spending some time here, that there is essentially nowhere in the town of Cabarete for parents or children to access reading books – except in the DREAM library. La biblioteca DREAM is open to the public every day of the week and there is a wide selection of books (theme, level, size, etc).
I co-teach with Mauri in the morning program. We teach the early literacy class (this is Spanish language literacy, just to be clear. All classes are taught in Spanish at DREAM, the only exception being the English classes mentioned above.) I knew it would be a challenging class to teach before we began, but it has proven to be even harder than expected. The kids’ ages in this class range from 10 to 14. Only a small handful of them can read – albeit, at a low level. Most of them however do not know most of their letters or how to read or write. We have had to re-evaluate the organization and activities for this class several times so far. For example, since learning that many students in our class could not write their names, this became ‘warm-up’ priority #1 – we write teach students’ full name on lined handwriting paper and they practice writing it several times. Most kids in the US begin learning how to read and write in Kindergarten and have learned how to do so (at least on some level) by the time they advance to 1st grade. Most of these children are ages 5 or 6 and have been read to since they were very little. The kids that come to us at DREAM are ages 10-14 and have not been read to at home. They are in school and have been in school, but still cannot read. There are many issues that make it very difficult to teach a 12 year old who cannot yet read to do just that. Mauri and I have had ups and downs and many frustrations trying to determine how to get past these barriers and help teach the kids something about reading and writing. I won’t lie, it has been difficult and will continue to be, but I am really enjoying it and, although slow, we are seeing some progress.
I have recently begun working with some of the kids from this early morning class that need the most help, and am REALLY enjoying this. Sometimes it is hard for certain students to learn and progress in a group, even if only a group of 4 or 5 students. This extra bit of tutoring will hopefully get them on track with their classmates. Not to mention that the personal attention makes them feel special – even Nelson who never wants to do anything other than color in class got pretty excited about the “vowel game”. =)
The afternoon is very different from the morning and a lot of fun! We have kids that range in age from 10 to 16. They can all read and write, but at varying levels – some can read young adult novels while others struggle with literature at that level. Taylor and I teach the reading/writing class in the library. We are reading Esperanza Renace (Esperanza Rising) as a class. The book is about a young girl whose Mexican family has to move to the US during the Great Depression. Aside from developing reading skills we are able to explore some great themes and ‘life lessons’ from this book. We also teach classes on grammar and writing techniques – for example, punctuation and writing with paragraphs. These classes seem to be slightly harder for the students. Every lesson we teach is based on the student-centered classroom model that I mentioned above. This design is more fun for students – which is good because they are with us by choice and do not want to attend classes just like the ones they came from in the public school earlier that day.
We try to incorporate other subjects into our classes as well. For example, before beginning Esperanza Renace, we spent a couple class periods learning the History of Mexico. This served as a history class as well as a Map-skills class as the students labeled and colored a map of Mexico in relation to the DR and the US. Just some examples.. I hope that gives you a good idea of what class is like.. its hard to explain it all.
Some exciting things coming up are our Community Service week next week, substitute teaching in the Public Schools, and our Mini-course/Leadership classes. For our Community Service week we will not have class as usual, but instead will be holding activities each day with a focus on Community Service and with an “Olympic Games” design. For example, we plan on having a “Callejon clean-up” one day. Groups of kids will have bags and the group with the most trash collected around our neighborhood will win that “event”.
Massiel, as mentioned before, works with the public schools and leads teacher training programs. Also as mentioned before, Dominican teachers have a full schedule that does not allow for time to attend these teacher training workshops. And classes in DREAM are only held Monday-Thursday. Fridays are reserved for workshops, training/professional development, planning, and any other miscellaneous programs. So, on some Fridays we will be substitute teaching at the public schools in Cabarete to give the public teachers an opportunity to attend Massiel’s workshops. Our first day will be this Friday, Oct. 9. Mauri and I will be teaching a 2nd grade class.. I’m excited and nervous!
Leadership and Mini-courses include Hombres Jovenes (Young Men), Mujeres Jovenes (Young Women), Revista (Newsletter), and Apprendizaje (Internship) groups. Young Men and Young Women are groups that focus on individual and community development by empowering these young people. I know that probably sounds pretty generic – I will have more to tell you about these groups once they get started (Kadi and I will be leading the Mujeres Jovenes group). The newsletter group will work toward publishing this season’s edition of the DREAM newsletter for the community and the Internship group will work on leadership skills and have jobs(internships) in the community. A few of the older kids from the Estrellas Jovenes program will be in these groups along with other young adult participants living in Cabarete.
Another function of DREAM is to provide a ‘safe haven’ for its students and other kids in the community. Not everyone who wants to be in classes can be, but the center’s library and outdoor pavilion are constantly occupied with kids from the Callejon. Something I do not feel fully equipped to explain in full detail is the nature of violence in this community. We witness it in its simplest form when kids throw rocks at dogs in the street (there are always dogs wandering around). And unfortunately, Taylor and I have witnessed a few ‘episodes’ in the “play” community where we go to play soccer. Sadly, it is something that some of our students are all too familiar with. In the US there are programs and/or services to help victims of violence, but here there is nothing you can do. I know that is sounds horrible, and believe me, it is hard to deal with and accept. Any intervention at all would only exacerbate the problem, and so we do all that we can: provide a safe place for kids to come to learn, read, and ‘hang out’. I have gotten to know a couple students who have struggled or do struggle with this, and the hardest part is to step back and judge how I can best help them, given my abilities and resources. This, for me, is the hardest thing to accept about life here in the Callejon.
There are some things that I struggle with as a teacher and as a resident in Cabarete. As a teacher, I find it hard to motivate some students. Emphasis on education is not as big here as it is in the US. Many students lack their parent’s (or anyone’s) expectation to succeed in school, or to even attend school regularly. This community is such that many kids work – around town, for their parents, for their aunt/uncle, etc. I see Javier (a kid that was in my group during camp) regularly at the beach and on the main street with his shoe shine box walking around asking anyone and everyone if they would like their sandals shined. Javier is 10. Most often I see him on the weekend when I am relaxing and reading on the beach. His answer to my question, “Que estas hacienda – what are you up to?” is.. “working”. Another student, Pabiel (age 13), misses class pretty regularly. Some days he comes to check in, with a little 2 year old in tow, to explain why he cannot be in class – he has to take care of his younger brother. But, again, they are all with DREAM by choice, meaning they want to be there for one reason or another. And most of them are eager to learn, whether it is obvious or not. One other problem we had earlier on was a lack of respect from the students. It is definitely difficult to teach in Spanish. I learn more every day and feel more confident, but in the beginning it was difficult for Taylor and I, as two (relatively) young females, to teach a class of students in Spanish when a couple of the kids are only 6 years younger than us. In fact we now have a couple students who are 17 and older. However, as each week goes by and we get to know the students better and vice versa, that has become less and less of an issue.
I never thought I would be living at a beach (much less in the Caribbean!) - but I am grateful that I do. Days are long and sometimes pretty stressful/emotional/frustrating, and come 5 o’clock, a walk on the beach can be very therapeutic. It is my time to unwind and think, my time to myself and time with God. I can retreat from the stress and craziness of Cabarete, if only for a short while, at the beach.
So, I know that is a lot to digest in one post.. I had some lost time to make up for. But all in all, I have to say that I really do LOVE it here. I am so glad to be here and to be teaching at DREAM. We have a great group of volunteers and staff and I am so thankful for my co-workers. Although I may leave the center every day at 5, utterly exhausted, sometimes worried about this kid or that lesson plan, I absolutely love the work and the kids I spend each day with.
Speaking of those kids, I must be off to bed so that I’m up and at ‘em tomorrow morning!
Ciao!
Lindsey
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Cabarete. Home, Sweet... Home?
I did not have to work the 3rd week of August. Some DREAM volunteers had told me about their visits to a coffee farm near Jarabacoa, a town in the Dominican mountains. I got in touch with the two volunteers who work there and planned to visit during the week. Not yet having traveled in the country, I was excited (and maybe a bit nervous) to travel on my own – thats got to be the best way to learn, eh? My strategy was to get started early so that I would arrive at the farm before dark. So on Tuesday morning I caught a gua-gua to the Caribe Tours bus station in Sosua. Caribe Tours is a bus system that travels to many large cities/towns in the DR. It is very inexpensive for a comfortable (air-conditioned!) ride in a charter-size bus. From Sosua I caught a bus that stopped in Puerto Plata, Santiago and La Vega before I transferred onto another bus that took me to Jarabacoa. It was all smooth sailing until then. Once in Jarabacoa, my directions were to catch a gua-gua up the mountain toward Manabao and get off in El Manguito, from where I would hike up to the office. I thought it would be easy enough.. just ask the locals where to catch a gua-gua. However, this proved harder than I thought. I was expecting the gua-guas to be the same as in Cabarete – old vans. But as I learned after walking myself in circles for about 30 minutes, the gua-guas in Jarabacoa are just trucks. Not only that, but you can only catch them at one spot in town, you don’t just flag them down from the side of the road. In addition (although this may not seem to be a problem at first), I was wearing my t-shirt, running shorts, and flip-flops. While this outfit is completely acceptable in Cabarete – a beach and tourist town – it is definitely NOT in Jarabacoa (as I found out later from Ria, the volunteer at the farm). So there I was, the American in my athletic attire, sticking out like a sore thumb, asking everyone I thought looked nice and willing to help where the gua-gua station is (in my not-so-great Spanish), then wandering around like a lost puppy trying to find it – and yes, I did try to flag down a few vans that I thought were gua-guas. Well I finally gave in and called Ria who explained the gua-guas were trucks and I would just have to throw my stuff in the back of one and wait for the driver to show up and decide it was time to head up the mountain – and it wasn’t until then that I made it up the mountain to El Manguito (which is, by the way, only a 50yd stretch with a colmado – a small roadside stand - on the side of the road and a bamboo school on the other). I started my hike up the mountain just as a truck returning home from work kindly gave me a lift. I left my apartment at 9:30am and arrived at the office of La Finca Altagracia (the coffee farm) in Los Marranitos at 5:30pm, in time for dinner.
La Finca Altagracia is owned by Bill and Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez, author and part-time professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, used to be on the Board of Directors for DREAM. While the farm does produce and export coffee, its main purpose is to serve as a research/experimental farm. The farmers test the growth and product of beans that are grown under different trees that provide specific amounts of shade, and growth on different elevations, etc. This research is then evaluated and distributed to other farmers and farming initiatives in the DR through an organization called EDF. Every year, two graduating students from Middlebury are selected to live and serve in Los Marranitos (the community where the farm is located). Eli (one of the volunteers for this year) was not there this week - but he works with the farm and the community on projects that build and strengthen a relationship between the two. The volunteer in his position last year helped two men in the community start a chicken farm that is still operating very successfully. Ria, the second volunteer, is responsible for providing educational and recreational activities for the members of the community. She holds classes with the children, provides some individual instruction, and plans fun activities for them as well. She also plans things for the women, young adults, etc, including English classes for those who are interested.
Los Marranitos is located on the side of a mountain. It is a very poor community that is a far walk away from schools, job opportunities, and recreational activities. Most people in the community do not leave very often, and to get to school (which not all of the children attend) the students must hike up and down very steep hills. Some men work on the farm, some in colmados on the road to Jarabacoa, and others on farms that neighbor La Finca Altagracia. Eli and Ria live in the community in a small house near the top of the mountain. They do not have hot water or a toilet – there is an outhouse out back. But they DO have running water. Ten years ago some Peace Corps volunteers built a water tank and filter at the top of the mountain and trained members of the community to maintain the tank. For 10 years this community has been able to drink clean, safe water from the tap and no one has gotten a water-borne disease. This is basically unheard of in the DR, especially in this area. Pretty amazing.
I spent three nights with Ria in Los Marranitos. The first morning I got a tour of the community, the farm, and the surrounding area. I met some of the families and many of the children. We walked to Los Dejaos, a neighboring community to visit some friends of Ria’s, Don Jose and Dona Nate. They have been married for a long time and both worked in Santo Domingo (the capital of the DR) for years. They retired to this community and help out in whatever ways they can. Don Jose reminded me a lot of Grandbob – I think they would actually make quite good friends. That afternoon we hiked back up the mountain and walked through the village collecting children for a group activity in the library. We made masks and the kids had a lot of fun decorating them. The second morning Ria and I went down to El Manguito to the Bamboo school. This school is a mission funded and run by a group from Taiwan. They taught some men how to make bamboo furniture and they now have a business making and selling their products. They also teach anyone who is interested how to make bamboo furniture. We spent nearly 4 hours that morning learning 3 main techniques. You would be surprised how difficult it is to work with bamboo – a lot harder than it looks. We made it back to the office for lunch just before it started to rain. When it rains in this country, nobody does anything. Kids don’t go to school and people generally don’t venture outside. So we just relaxed and talked for the afternoon until 5 when the rain slowed down a little. Ria was teaching an English class at 5 and only 3 students showed up. So she taught the class in the little library next to the office - the library is the size of a small bedroom or big bathroom by most standards in the US. I mostly watched and helped a little when Ria needed it. At one point during the lesson, I looked around and realized what a funny scene our English class was: The 5 of us are sitting in a small wooden hut library on top of a mountain in the rain in the Dominican Republic. There is an Indian (Ria), an American (me), and three students: a Spaniard (an artist who lives just above Los Marranitos – she moved from Spain to study the ceramic art of the Tainos) and 2 Haitians (one man who works on the farm and a young boy from the community) – no Dominicans.
Life in Los Marranitos is very different from Cabarete in many ways. Life is much slower there. Ria spends time on activities with the community, but she also spends a lot of time visiting with the families, having coffee with them (whenever you enter a home, you are immediately offered a seat and brought a cup of coffee), and getting to know them. She teaches classes sometimes but also spends one-on-one time with kids since she has found that to be more effective. She does not work 8-5 as I do in Cabarete and may not hold class every day, but you could argue then that she is working 24/7 since she lives in the community.
If you ever find yourself headed for the mountains of the Dominican Republic be sure to bring long pants and a light long sleeved shirt. I am sure there are also mosquitos, but what you should be concerned about are the “Magi” bugs. They itch much, MUCH worse than mosquito bites and bleed some too. I have yet to lay eyes on one of the little devils, but they are everywhere. Thankfully Ria had an extra pair of pants for me to wear, but my legs had already been exposed before I could get into them. No need for bug spray, you could shower in it and you still wouldn’t be able to keep them at bay.
Those couple of days in the mountains were wonderful (I love the mountains – definitely one of God’s most beautiful creations in my opinion – and Oh, you should see the Dominican mountains). It made me think of camping trips back home - sleeping in Ria and Eli’s house with a tin roof felt and sounded similar to sleeping in a tent. And each morning around the time the sun rose we were awakened by a chorus of roosters’ cock-a-doodle-doos – the closest one was right across the street about 15 feet from our beds. It serves as a very reliable wake up call.. just one you can’t set yourself.
I spent most of the day on Friday traveling back to Cabarete, sleeping a lot on the bus. Its funny how traveling can make you so tired even if all you are doing is sitting and sleeping. Despite the fact that I really enjoyed my time in Jarabacoa and can’t wait to visit again, when I got back to Cabarete I felt something like relief – like I was returning home after a trip. Not quite like when I am home in Charlotte or Chapel Hill, but it still felt like I was back; back to where I should be. It was an unexpected feeling – one I was very comforted by.
I was also able to go to Santiago for the day on Saturday with some DREAM friends. We got there mid morning and walked around town. I experienced La Sirena for the first time, which quite possibly may have been the highlight of my day. La Sirena (which literally means “The Mermaid” in Spanish) is a large store with a grand selection of items. It is like a Wal-mart, but Dominican style. After being in the DR for a while, visiting La Sirena is a treat (even though we hardly bought anything – just being there is enough). Santiago is very different from Cabarete and Jarabacoa. It is very much a city, and I was surprised by much of it. Santiago has a very large public library (which is top of my list to visit next time I go there) and several branches of Universities. (In the DR universities have branches in different cities.) However, our main purpose in visiting Santiago was to see the Harry Potter movie. The theatre is in a mall and we ate lunch at the food court before the movie. I must admit, it was a day of luxury: Wal-mart, food court, and movie at a theatre.
Whether I am in Cabarete, Santiago, or Jarabacoa – people are often wearing donated clothing with logos and sayings written in English. Some are actually quite funny and usually whoever is wearing the shirt has no idea what it says. In the past week and a half I have run into a Dominican wearing a Tyler Hansbrough jersey (yeah Heels!) and another Dominican wearing a Green Bay Packers t-shirt (lets go Pack!). I felt compelled to share, knowing Dad would appreciate it. =)
And now, I think I should be heading to bed…
Buena Noche!
Lindsey
La Finca Altagracia is owned by Bill and Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez, author and part-time professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, used to be on the Board of Directors for DREAM. While the farm does produce and export coffee, its main purpose is to serve as a research/experimental farm. The farmers test the growth and product of beans that are grown under different trees that provide specific amounts of shade, and growth on different elevations, etc. This research is then evaluated and distributed to other farmers and farming initiatives in the DR through an organization called EDF. Every year, two graduating students from Middlebury are selected to live and serve in Los Marranitos (the community where the farm is located). Eli (one of the volunteers for this year) was not there this week - but he works with the farm and the community on projects that build and strengthen a relationship between the two. The volunteer in his position last year helped two men in the community start a chicken farm that is still operating very successfully. Ria, the second volunteer, is responsible for providing educational and recreational activities for the members of the community. She holds classes with the children, provides some individual instruction, and plans fun activities for them as well. She also plans things for the women, young adults, etc, including English classes for those who are interested.
Los Marranitos is located on the side of a mountain. It is a very poor community that is a far walk away from schools, job opportunities, and recreational activities. Most people in the community do not leave very often, and to get to school (which not all of the children attend) the students must hike up and down very steep hills. Some men work on the farm, some in colmados on the road to Jarabacoa, and others on farms that neighbor La Finca Altagracia. Eli and Ria live in the community in a small house near the top of the mountain. They do not have hot water or a toilet – there is an outhouse out back. But they DO have running water. Ten years ago some Peace Corps volunteers built a water tank and filter at the top of the mountain and trained members of the community to maintain the tank. For 10 years this community has been able to drink clean, safe water from the tap and no one has gotten a water-borne disease. This is basically unheard of in the DR, especially in this area. Pretty amazing.
I spent three nights with Ria in Los Marranitos. The first morning I got a tour of the community, the farm, and the surrounding area. I met some of the families and many of the children. We walked to Los Dejaos, a neighboring community to visit some friends of Ria’s, Don Jose and Dona Nate. They have been married for a long time and both worked in Santo Domingo (the capital of the DR) for years. They retired to this community and help out in whatever ways they can. Don Jose reminded me a lot of Grandbob – I think they would actually make quite good friends. That afternoon we hiked back up the mountain and walked through the village collecting children for a group activity in the library. We made masks and the kids had a lot of fun decorating them. The second morning Ria and I went down to El Manguito to the Bamboo school. This school is a mission funded and run by a group from Taiwan. They taught some men how to make bamboo furniture and they now have a business making and selling their products. They also teach anyone who is interested how to make bamboo furniture. We spent nearly 4 hours that morning learning 3 main techniques. You would be surprised how difficult it is to work with bamboo – a lot harder than it looks. We made it back to the office for lunch just before it started to rain. When it rains in this country, nobody does anything. Kids don’t go to school and people generally don’t venture outside. So we just relaxed and talked for the afternoon until 5 when the rain slowed down a little. Ria was teaching an English class at 5 and only 3 students showed up. So she taught the class in the little library next to the office - the library is the size of a small bedroom or big bathroom by most standards in the US. I mostly watched and helped a little when Ria needed it. At one point during the lesson, I looked around and realized what a funny scene our English class was: The 5 of us are sitting in a small wooden hut library on top of a mountain in the rain in the Dominican Republic. There is an Indian (Ria), an American (me), and three students: a Spaniard (an artist who lives just above Los Marranitos – she moved from Spain to study the ceramic art of the Tainos) and 2 Haitians (one man who works on the farm and a young boy from the community) – no Dominicans.
Life in Los Marranitos is very different from Cabarete in many ways. Life is much slower there. Ria spends time on activities with the community, but she also spends a lot of time visiting with the families, having coffee with them (whenever you enter a home, you are immediately offered a seat and brought a cup of coffee), and getting to know them. She teaches classes sometimes but also spends one-on-one time with kids since she has found that to be more effective. She does not work 8-5 as I do in Cabarete and may not hold class every day, but you could argue then that she is working 24/7 since she lives in the community.
If you ever find yourself headed for the mountains of the Dominican Republic be sure to bring long pants and a light long sleeved shirt. I am sure there are also mosquitos, but what you should be concerned about are the “Magi” bugs. They itch much, MUCH worse than mosquito bites and bleed some too. I have yet to lay eyes on one of the little devils, but they are everywhere. Thankfully Ria had an extra pair of pants for me to wear, but my legs had already been exposed before I could get into them. No need for bug spray, you could shower in it and you still wouldn’t be able to keep them at bay.
Those couple of days in the mountains were wonderful (I love the mountains – definitely one of God’s most beautiful creations in my opinion – and Oh, you should see the Dominican mountains). It made me think of camping trips back home - sleeping in Ria and Eli’s house with a tin roof felt and sounded similar to sleeping in a tent. And each morning around the time the sun rose we were awakened by a chorus of roosters’ cock-a-doodle-doos – the closest one was right across the street about 15 feet from our beds. It serves as a very reliable wake up call.. just one you can’t set yourself.
I spent most of the day on Friday traveling back to Cabarete, sleeping a lot on the bus. Its funny how traveling can make you so tired even if all you are doing is sitting and sleeping. Despite the fact that I really enjoyed my time in Jarabacoa and can’t wait to visit again, when I got back to Cabarete I felt something like relief – like I was returning home after a trip. Not quite like when I am home in Charlotte or Chapel Hill, but it still felt like I was back; back to where I should be. It was an unexpected feeling – one I was very comforted by.
I was also able to go to Santiago for the day on Saturday with some DREAM friends. We got there mid morning and walked around town. I experienced La Sirena for the first time, which quite possibly may have been the highlight of my day. La Sirena (which literally means “The Mermaid” in Spanish) is a large store with a grand selection of items. It is like a Wal-mart, but Dominican style. After being in the DR for a while, visiting La Sirena is a treat (even though we hardly bought anything – just being there is enough). Santiago is very different from Cabarete and Jarabacoa. It is very much a city, and I was surprised by much of it. Santiago has a very large public library (which is top of my list to visit next time I go there) and several branches of Universities. (In the DR universities have branches in different cities.) However, our main purpose in visiting Santiago was to see the Harry Potter movie. The theatre is in a mall and we ate lunch at the food court before the movie. I must admit, it was a day of luxury: Wal-mart, food court, and movie at a theatre.
Whether I am in Cabarete, Santiago, or Jarabacoa – people are often wearing donated clothing with logos and sayings written in English. Some are actually quite funny and usually whoever is wearing the shirt has no idea what it says. In the past week and a half I have run into a Dominican wearing a Tyler Hansbrough jersey (yeah Heels!) and another Dominican wearing a Green Bay Packers t-shirt (lets go Pack!). I felt compelled to share, knowing Dad would appreciate it. =)
And now, I think I should be heading to bed…
Buena Noche!
Lindsey
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