One Year

It's been a while since my last update. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which being a certain fatigue I felt after posting 169 times beginning eight months before my Peace Corps service and leading up to just before my first Christmas in country. Christmas and New Years were such long and unusual experiences that I simply became overwhelmed at how behind I was once they were over.

While it appears that after nearly two years my blogging stamina finally ran out, I am not even finished with my first year in Moca. And having 13,000 views on my blog tells me that I really ought to keep this thing going. So, with my 28th birthday almost here, and less than two weeks from the one-year anniversary of first stepping sweaty and bewildered onto Dominican soil I am renewing my commitment to writing it all down and sharing it with you.

Teaching At The Library

Every volunteer has what they call a “project partner” who is basically a Dominican all-star community member who helps them set up the activities of their service. Through visiting Heather in Juan Lopez and donating the Free Geek laptops, I became acquainted with Heather’s project partner, Rafael. Rafael wasted no time arranging a class for me to teach at the library in Moca, and on Saturday we had our first class session.

The class consists of five adults (six if you count Rafael) of varying experience and skill level. Two of them are teachers—one in Juan Lopez, the other in Moca—who want to help me set up an Encargados del Futuro group. Encargados del Futuro is a youth group model that volunteers implement throughout the country. It helps prepare youths to become people in charge of community computer labs through participation in activities involving digital media and community service.

It was six exactly six months from the day I took the oath of service and became a Peace Corps volunteer and finally, I felt as though my service was beginning in a meaningful way.

The view from my window at night.

Getting Back To Portland

Monday morning I got a call from one of my favorite volunteers, Jose. It turned out he and his girlfriend, Magee were coming through Moca the next day on their way to the capital. Since I was headed that way as well, I couldn't resist catching the same bus as them and passing the three-hour trip catching up on the dwindling months of their service and trading bits of Peace Corps chisme (gossip). When we arrived at the Peace Corps office, it was full of October 2009 Volunteers who were in town for their COS (close of service) conference. Among those not COSing was Katie, a volunteer at the beginning of her second year, who was dealing with a security incident. She was getting her room at the Bella Epoca reimbursed and, per an agreement they have with the Peace Corps, she could fill the room's other bed for just 300 pesos (about $9 American), an offer she graciously extended to me.

Fellow volunteer Dave peruses my movie collection in the sala of my new apartment

After a pleasant night spent visiting with Katie and some reminiscent short-timers from the COS group, I rose early and made my way to the office where I was met by Wilson. Wilson gives volunteers rides to and from the airport at a great discount and he more than lived up to the glowing reviews given by everyone I talked to. I didn't notice as the half-hour drive flew by on account of his interesting stories and veritable charm. At the airport I was pleased to find that my visa excused me from paying the twenty-dollar tourist tax. I arrived at my gate with time to spare. Two flights and eleven sleepless hours later, I found myself at midnight in Portland.

Moving Out Part 3

The Prior tenant moved out days ago. While I am checking it out, another party, a mother and three daughters, come to see it as well. Pablo says they are the third to come look today. The mother balks at the fixed utility cost, complaining that it is too high. Compared to Portland utilities, it is a dream come true, even on my income. As soon as she leaves, I tell Pablo I'll rent it. We go to an ATM, I withdraw three months' rent (first and last month plus lawyer's fee), and Pablo hands over the keys. I am glad I have pinched every penny possible since the beginning of March. Even after this hefty payment I am little worse for the wear.

Back at the clubhouse I tell Pablo Ovalles that I've found a new home and that I'd like to move in as soon as possible. He tell me he can haul my stuff there today. Back in my old room, the fan has chosen this moment to break down again. I cram into bags and backpacks everything that hasn't already been made ready to move, suffusing my shirt and jeans with sweat in the process. Outside it has begun to rain, and by the looks of me you would think I was out in it.

A handful of caminantes (teen-aged scouts) files in and leaves with my things, piling them in the back of Pablos pickup. We pull away from the clubhouse and I breathe a sigh of relief. I am no longer outstaying my welcome. I have a place to call my own.

Scouts take a class on WordPress

Moving Out Part 2

While I wait, I call Sabrina. Her sunny greeting breaks me in two. I have to tell her I can't come with her and Masa to the beach. They are taking advantage of the weekend the precedes a trip to the capital and I had hoped to come along, but I can't afford to miss any housing opportunities. She is understanding and sympathetic, but it hurts all the same. Volunteers like her and Masa won't be around forever. They arrived a year before me and will be gone by next summer.

Jose and Oswaldo hang at the clubhouse

Because it's Saturday, the scouts have their activities at the clubhouse. It is a welcome refuge from my home life and I take advantage of the opportunity to announce my upcoming class schedule and plead my case with Pablo Ovalles, leader of the Moca scouts. He says that he will try to help me find a temporary home while I continue to seek housing, but I am doubtful. An hour or so into the scout meeting, I run home for my camera and am greeted by the other Pablo, who now has a key and wants to show me the apartment.

A chart of scout activities planned out through December

The second-floor apartment in Los Cácares is very humble. A thin wooden wall divides, more or less evenly, a space 16 feet deep and 14 feet wide. A tiny, doorless bathroom (5.5 x 3.5 feet) has been fashioned in a corner of the bedroom out of the same concrete blocks as the floor, ceiling and walls. The kitchen consists of a small plywood counter with a tiny sink that leaks. Nonetheless, I am impressed. All the light switches work and the place smells like fresh paint. Furthermore, the price is right.

Moving Out Part 1

"¿Estás usando el escritorio en la habitación?" Flor asks, "Are you using the desk in the room?"

"Es de Francia, y ella lo está necesitando." The desk in my room at the Henriquez house where I have lived since May belongs to Flor's daughter and she needs it back. It is a gentle threat. In this culture where everything is said without saying it, Flor wants me to know he's going to begin taking the furniture from my room whether I move out or not.

This morning, I finally got some help from his wife, Doña Antonia in searching for an apartment. She pointed me to a guy in the neighborhood who brokers houses and apartments. An hour later we went to the corner where I he introduced me to a motoconchista named Pablo. I went with him to a building in the nearby neighborhood of Los Cácares, brightly painted in primary colors and suspiciously resembling a grade school. Unfortunately, Pablo, who is the property manager, neglected to bring the keys to the room so he brought me back to Villa Carolina with the promise of returning soon.

My room at my host family's house

Diagnostic Survey Part 5

After our first survey we proceeded in similar fashion to drift from one stairwell to the next surveying everyone who would let us. While relatively few people were home, those who we met were generally quite friendly and welcoming. When we had exhausted our little wing of Euripedes, we still had three surveys to go. Luckily in the little park adjacent to the development we met three teenaged girls who were happy to accomodate us.

Of the four pairs that went out surveying, all four collected six surveys from community members. In addition, I had the surveys the scouts themselves had completed, giving me a total of more than 30 surveys. Not bad for a couple of hours' work! If all five days of surveying go this well, I'll have more than 150 by the end of the week.

Diagnostic Survey Part 4

On Monday at three in the afternoon, I got to the clubhouse. It was the day that troops Maura and Cuervo were to help me and some of them were actually early. Having worked giving a survey with the grocery store at New Columbia during my VISTA year, I had pretty good idea of what to expect. To my delight, about eight scouts showed up and I started by having them fill out the surveys themselves so they could ask clarifying questions and so they would know how to explain the survey to other. Next, I roleplayed good and bad examples of how to approach someone to survey them. After that, there was nothing for it but to go forth and conquer

I decided we would begin with Urbanizacion Euripedes, a nearby apartment complex with several mixed-income buildings and retirement homes. I put them in pairs, remember from my days as an outdoor school counselor that nothing is quite so intimidating when you have a partner. I decided to follow around Maria, an outgoing teenager who had shown initiative before during the olimpiadas when she helped me run the minigolf station, and Luis, a member of another troop who had jumped in today to help me martial the scouts when he could see I was struggling to call them to order.

Timidly, we approached the first door and knocked. We weren't quite sure what to expect, and nobody answered, so we went to the next floor and knocked on the next couple of doors to no response. On our way back down, the first door opened to reveal a women with her phone to her ear. Maria hopped to and explained what we were doing an that we would only need five minutes of her time. Graciously, she excused herself from her phone conversation and invited us in. I explained the survey questions as best I could and the scouts jumped in whenever I struggled with the Spanish.

Diagnostic Survey Part 3

Before I began to give my survey I observed weekly scout activities and generally let myself sink into the patterns of daily life at the clubhouse. I wanted to be perceived as part of the group and to gauge what would be an appropriate approach in terms of logistics and of the organizational culture. Each week before Saturday activities, I gave a breif announcement on the survey to get the kids used to the idea and I consulted with Pablo as to the best way to go about having the kids fill it out and also survey community members.

The whole process sort of came together in slow-motion and I think it's going all the more smoothly as a result. Last Saturday, I called meetings of the Caminantes (the scouts old enough to no longer belong to a troop) and the Guias (the leaders of individual troops). Through a relatively informal process, I divided up the eight troops among four different weekdays (two per day) to come help me survey. The Caminantes will help me next Saturday. At this point, I couldn't help feeling more than a little excited and nervous. I had a survey and a schedule, all that was left was to execute.

Diagnostic Survey Part 2

During training when we are first exposed to the diagnostic concept we are given the idea that it is a general tool for gaining a holistic perspective on the community's general situation. We are encouraged to find out things like how many children and adults live in each household and what a typical meal consists is like. Aneudy, however, said questions like these are too personal and insisted that we stick to the topic of classes to provide at the CCI. Since this concerns my primary project and I need his buy-in, I decided to let it be fine for now. I'm confident that needs pertaining to secondary projects will emerge in due time.

Thus, my survey collects basic identification information about the respondant and proceeds to ask for information about prior exposure to computer education, a self-assessment of understanding of various programs, a selection of desired classes, and an indication of what days and times the respondant would be available to take a class.

Diagnostic Survey Part 1

Today, after a month of preparing and winning the scout community's trust and support, I put into action the plan to gather information that will help me decide the direction in which to take my service. As I've mentioned before, every Peace Corps volunteer performs what is called a community diagnostic where he or she gains perspective as to the community's needs. The design of the diagnostic is entirely up to the volunteer and in smaller communities in the DR it can be a matter of visiting literally every home in the community and having an informal conversation with the inhabitants.

Mine, however, is not a small community. There are surely more than a thousand residents in the four barrios (neighborhoods) that are the focus of my service, and while it would be lovely to sit and chat with each and every one of them, that simply wouldn't be appropriate given the community's size and suburban culture. Instead, I've determined to use the scouts help me survey a sample of the greater whole. My principle tool in this endeavor is a survey.

I began drafting the survey during the week after I arrived and have been at odds to make it worthy and well-suited to its audience. It was important to me during the design phase that I involve stakeholders like Alvaro (the youth who accompanied my project partner, Pablo, when he came to pick up from Santo Domingo) and Aneudy (CIO at the local hospital and likely to be a key figure in keeping the Community Information Technology Training Center-CCI for short-in working condition after I am gone). I think their co-ownership of the process will be key to the CCI's success.

Information Overload

It's three a.m. on a Sunday morning. Today will be my third Sunday and, unbelievably, only my sixteenth full day in-site. I awoke just now in a cloud of unnamed anxiety and while writing is typically a way I process anxiety and refocus attention, I'm afraid to say it plays a roll in the stress I feel at this moment.

As of today I have posted a total of 108 posts starting from the time it became clear I would probably be invited to serve and leading up to today. So far, my blogging efforts comprise the most ambitious undertaking of my time in the Peace Corps given the obstacles to posting updates and the change in lifestyle, but now that I am actually beginning my service, this is about to change.

Like perhaps a lot of volunteers, I feel a desire to capture my experience in writing and share this chapter of my life with the people I love. Unlike most people, though, I begin to feel anxiety every time the date approaches when I will have no new material in the queue to be published. Combine this with the anxiety of feeling like I ought to be doing more at work, and something has got to give.

I hope that in the coming months, I can learn to balance my desire to blog with my need to become a part of my community and be the best volunteer I can be.

Swearing-In

On Wednesday, May 11, 2011 I took the oath of service and became one of Peace Corps Dominican Republic's 51 newest volunteers. The highlight of the swearing-in ceremony was a speech by Jamie David Fernández Mirabal, secretary of the environment, imploring us to plant a tree wherever we were placed. Mr. Mirabal went on to say that while he loved us all, he had a little extra love of Colleen Ferris who will be spending the next two years on an island, Isla Saona, near the southeastern-most point of the country.

Post-graduation (left to right): Will Dale, Pedro Medrano, Ryan Browning,
Ekow Edzie, Mike Bustamante, Christina Bradley, Mike Bourgeois, Kayla Reynolds