I woke up in my humble abode this morning. I crawled out of my mosquito net once again to take my pan of the nights urine to the outhouse and use the bathroom. I proceed to take my shower with the hose and get myself clean because a clean body leads to a clear mind. I breakfasted humbly too with two eggs and what seemed like light mashed potatoes. I was expecting a visit from my director at the Peace Corps today. It is my third day here and she wanted to see how settling in went. Well, in short she wasn't able to come but proposed I find my way to El Seibo provincial headquarters and attend an inaguration of a new health center, which was to be inagurated by The First Lady. Have you, Hillary or Laura whichever your political persuasion you may be. For some reason I am still clueless as to what my day will hold.
So I made my way to El Seibo and said health center. OHh on the trip there I passed by a skinny old man playing a large very old guitar on his front porch. His name is Dilio and he played that old beat up guitar so raw and real! I felt like I was hearing a part of the Buena Vista Social Club in person, right there on his humble paint flaking front steps. Sorry, so upon arrival I find many people, all of which were dressed nicely and looked very important. Even I could see this. There was a tent and lots of cameras and a head table with microphones. One of the directors of the organization I will be working with was there and she figured I should meet all of these people. In an instint I proceed to go from my world of pee-pots and outhouses, and chacos and guitars, to shaking hands with really important people: Secrataries of State, the Governor, representatives of the UN and the millenium goals project, and others whose names and positions I have long since forgotten.
The First Lady comes and gives her speech and leaves. I proceed to snack and drink some amazing fruit juice thinking well and good of my short time with the big suits. The next thing I know I am being wisked away in a nice new SUV to an undisclosed location. Upon arrival I find myself at a country club with about 15 round tables set for lunch and a head table with microphones, once again. I am at a lunch-in with The First Lady! I've never been to a lunch-in in my life! Well, everyone gives their talk about the millenium goals and how the DR is realizing these. Goals like erradicating extreme poverty and hunger. After the talks The First Lady invites everyone to partake and a large line forms at the buffet. I find myself comfortably near the back but not at the very end. What happened next I really found irronic. I grab my plate to find that all the food had finished and the chefs were not scurring around to refill the containers. But this is no problem with me as I am a flexible PCV and will find food somehow. I head back to my round table and think. A significant portion of this party was left without food, at a lunch-in with The First Lady about extreme hunger. I had to chuckle a bit.
Afterwords, I shook hands with some of the important people I had meet before and others I had yet to meet. They all then jumped in their important looking SUVs and headed off to what seemed like much more important business while I walked away with my Chacos on my feet and my nap sack over my shoulder reflecting on what just happened to my day.
Two final thoughts. One observation: How would you like a job where you pull out the seat for someone where ever they go...all day every day? I was intrigued by this gentleman the whole day as he pulled and pushed in The First Ladies seat. Two thoughts actually: I would never ever have gotten this oppurtunity to have an experience such as this one in the states. The second, I'm very sorry if I misspelled words, butchered sentences, or used weird phrases in this post. My agaility with the english language is going down hill fast.
I sign off now.
Please take care.
Love from Mateo
11.30.2005
11.20.2005
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Well it´s hard for me to imagine that it is almost Thanksgiving back in the states. I feel like I should be having a half week at school this week then driving to Toledo for a fun filled day of eating and relaxing with the Ferner clan. Oh no! I just remembered Tina´s way to sweat, sweat potato cassrole. I was fine before this thought but now I am going to be thinking about that cassrole all week as I eat my yuca and platanos. Ahh, what a different life I had back in the states. But we will be having our own American style Thanksgiving here with all the other volunteers and PC staff. I´m really looking forward to it! There will be a 5k run, soccer and basketball tourney, and talent show all of which I plan on participating in.
Thanksgiving will be on thursday if I remember correctly and on Wednesday I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! I´m pretty pumped about this as I will finally get going with my work here. Training has been great and I´ve learned a whole lot about development, culture, and my job but it´s not what I came here to do. Sunday will be my first day at work and in my community and I can´t wait to begin.
Maybe I should describe a little more what my visit to Pedro Sanchez was like. Well, the first night there I was welcomed with a huge surpise party. There were probably over 200 people packed into this little community center awaiting my arrival and ready to celebrate. The excitment I felt and the welcome I got was overwhelming. I remember thiking that these people either have no idea that I am a regular kid who just graduated college or they truely don´t care who I am. They were clapping and chanting my name as I came in and I remember standing in front of them feeling both extremely humbled and like a dirty politician, all at once. I was shaking hands and kissing babies and the whole sha-bang. They even had a live band that played some traditional dominican folk music and I was requested to dance a little jig in front of the whole crowd. I sat up front feeling out of place with the important people in the community like the mayor, police cheif, and director of the local school as people were standing up and welcoming me individually. It was like no other experience I have had before. I felt important and intimidated sitting in front of my new neighbors. It´s great that they are so excited and motivated but I also don´t know what they expect from me.
Anyway, the next four days were filled with meeting so many people it made me dizzy. I was meeting Ana, her mom and dad, her tia, her 1st and 2nd cousins, the abuela, and then more cousins and nephews. If I ever want to sort things out in my head I am deffiently going to have to put a few community family tress on my bedroom wall and fill them in as I meet a new relative. Also, if you ever want to feel like a celebrity just join the Peace Corps! That is really how I felt most of the visit. I would walk down the street and people whould call me by name and invite me in to talk. It´s really incredible. One night I played chess with a neighbor across the street and I next day I´m at the basketball court and someone, who I have never met, comes up and says "I heard you lost to so and so in chess last night." I already know that whatever this gringo does will be quickly spread through all of Pedro Sanchez in a matter of minutes. And I can foresee this being a possible frustration down the road, but we will deal with that when it comes. As for now I have to get to work on some names...
Ohh, another thing I remembered that was really great about my visit. My host family has an outhouse and a shower stall next to it behind the house. I know thats not so great. But what is cool is that instead of going to the shower stall and showering in the pitch black at night I just take the hose and shower behind the house under the light of the stars and moon. What a great place to shower huh? I can´t wait to bath under the meteor showers. Oh, and the stars here really twinkle! I remember a little twinkle in the states but here the stars out twinkle anything I have seen in the states.
Alright well Happy Thanksgiving. Paz y Amor
Mateo
Thanksgiving will be on thursday if I remember correctly and on Wednesday I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! I´m pretty pumped about this as I will finally get going with my work here. Training has been great and I´ve learned a whole lot about development, culture, and my job but it´s not what I came here to do. Sunday will be my first day at work and in my community and I can´t wait to begin.
Maybe I should describe a little more what my visit to Pedro Sanchez was like. Well, the first night there I was welcomed with a huge surpise party. There were probably over 200 people packed into this little community center awaiting my arrival and ready to celebrate. The excitment I felt and the welcome I got was overwhelming. I remember thiking that these people either have no idea that I am a regular kid who just graduated college or they truely don´t care who I am. They were clapping and chanting my name as I came in and I remember standing in front of them feeling both extremely humbled and like a dirty politician, all at once. I was shaking hands and kissing babies and the whole sha-bang. They even had a live band that played some traditional dominican folk music and I was requested to dance a little jig in front of the whole crowd. I sat up front feeling out of place with the important people in the community like the mayor, police cheif, and director of the local school as people were standing up and welcoming me individually. It was like no other experience I have had before. I felt important and intimidated sitting in front of my new neighbors. It´s great that they are so excited and motivated but I also don´t know what they expect from me.
Anyway, the next four days were filled with meeting so many people it made me dizzy. I was meeting Ana, her mom and dad, her tia, her 1st and 2nd cousins, the abuela, and then more cousins and nephews. If I ever want to sort things out in my head I am deffiently going to have to put a few community family tress on my bedroom wall and fill them in as I meet a new relative. Also, if you ever want to feel like a celebrity just join the Peace Corps! That is really how I felt most of the visit. I would walk down the street and people whould call me by name and invite me in to talk. It´s really incredible. One night I played chess with a neighbor across the street and I next day I´m at the basketball court and someone, who I have never met, comes up and says "I heard you lost to so and so in chess last night." I already know that whatever this gringo does will be quickly spread through all of Pedro Sanchez in a matter of minutes. And I can foresee this being a possible frustration down the road, but we will deal with that when it comes. As for now I have to get to work on some names...
Ohh, another thing I remembered that was really great about my visit. My host family has an outhouse and a shower stall next to it behind the house. I know thats not so great. But what is cool is that instead of going to the shower stall and showering in the pitch black at night I just take the hose and shower behind the house under the light of the stars and moon. What a great place to shower huh? I can´t wait to bath under the meteor showers. Oh, and the stars here really twinkle! I remember a little twinkle in the states but here the stars out twinkle anything I have seen in the states.
Alright well Happy Thanksgiving. Paz y Amor
Mateo
11.11.2005
Home Sweet Home
Just want to do a quick post and say that I´m finally home and it feels great! Well I´m only here for a visit but will be comming back to stay at the end of November. My new home is a small village of about 2,000 strong nestled in the valley of some rolling hills. It´s Peace Corps picture perfect! I´ll write all about my warm welcoming when I get more of a chance.
11.02.2005
The 500's
My barrio here in Nagua is called The 500's. It is one of a kind and deservidly should be refered to by a number. I had a moment a few days ago. It was one of those moments when I was walking back through the 500's from class and I realized where I was. So I got back home and sat out on the pourch to write everything I was hearing, seeing, and feeling. This is a little of what I got. Bachata and Merengue music comming from all around me. The sound of Dominos smacking and being shuffled on the board. Kids riding bikes back and forth on the sidewalk and in the street. A Grandma carrying 2 two gallon buckets to fill for water. A moto with a boombox blarring Reggeton and the driver carring bags of bread around his neck and shoulders. Mystery water splattering across the street, comming from the pvc pipe that over hangs the sidewalk. Above me, a birds nest of bootlegged wire up the electric pole. An old man walking slowly up the sidewalk. A section of the houses accross the street being painted a new shade of bright (yellow, green, pink, teal, red, and white) A warm humid breeze blowing softly through the various tropical tress across the street. Political fliers blowing gently in the breeze hanging off the the electric pole. A young girl yelling "Mateo" at me while I sit here observing. A young guys who passes on the street and greets me with an accented "how are you?" An incredible sunset that lights up the sky different shades of hot carribean red and oranges accented by purple coulds...giving way to darker blues and greys as I sit and write. Kids playing and yelling excidly in the street, most of the time unintelligable to me. 4 people deep passing by on a moto. The gazeebo made of all different types of metal, wood, car parts and appliances under which dominos are being played. Heat lighting flashing softly over the 500s. |
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