On My Way
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2008
1
34
41
Trip End
Oct 29, 2010
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Monday, March 29, 2010
COUCHSURFERS: Couchsurfing.com is a social networking site for people interested in cheap travel aka sleeping on someone's couch for free. It is very extensive and includes countries and people all over the world. Being a social person, I decided to put my house up on the site (after a friend told me about it, tried it out, and didn't get robbed) and sure enough my beachfront property has been somewhat popular among DR budget travelers. I have a spare mattress so in the spirit of cheap traveling, I opened it up and have met some really cool people because of it. People from Spain, France, Czech Republic, Ireland, and all over the United States have stayed here and it's been an extremely positive experience. It's nice because as a part of the site, visitors then rate the host to give him/her more legitimacy on the site for future visitors searching for places to stay.
POLITICS, DOMINICANIZED: In reading TIME Magazine and Newsweek (all months behind, of course), it seems like American politics is getting pretty heated -- Democrats and Republics having similar goals but different objectives, Barack Obama being beraded by the GOP, and Sarah Palin still being ignorant to life (answering, "All of them" when asked "Who is your favorite founding father."). At any rate, all of the ridiculousness of American politics has nothing on politics here in the Dominican Republic. For one, out of the three main political parties, not one person so far that I've asked has known the differences between them. In addition, politicians (known for being corrupt and self-entitled) have absurd campaign tactics that are nationally accepted. For example, huge signs, larger than life, are posted all around a city for a political campaign. I asked one candidate running for mayor what his platform was and he told me, "I would like to work on cleaning up our city" just has a flyer with his face blew by in the wind. Politicians give hand-outs to citizens hoping for votes, such as shirts, hats, and even salami, yet never really know why their running. I guess it really doesn't matter as long as the people get their salami. But these actions just fuel the already vicious cycle of poverty. Plus, political campaigns (just like the US) cost so much money, hence only the most wealthy can run for office. Every system has their flaws, but when you start including processed meat products in your campaigning, I consider that something much more grave (and strange...).
CONFERENCES GALORE: This past week I attended two conferences; one where I brought two kids (Escojo Mi Vida) and the other was for facilitators teaching the Construye tus Suenos Youth Business Plan curriculum. It's a little stressful at these conferences because volunteers are behind the scenes always preparing the next presentation or activity and especially when kids are involved it has to be engaging. One thing that's nice is being there with other volunteers. I almost feel like a superhero joining forces to teach kids important information like wearing condoms and making right decisions. I love bringing kids to conferences and camps though mainly because it gets them out of their community to another part of the country where they meet other kids with similar interests. One boy I brought told me, "Me gusta viajar contigo porque me siento mucha confianza" (I like to travel with you because I feel a lot of trust). It's stuff like where I know that still being here is the right thing to do.
COMMITTEE WEEKEND (FROM FRESHMEN TO SENIORS): A time when most volunteers come to the capitol to collaborate on planning camps, conferences, and committees (Dominican/Hatian Relations, Marine Interest, Gender & Development, etc.), there is always a lot of energy (and Peace Corps stink) in the office. This year many of the volunteers in my group are the ones running these groups so it was a different feeling in the air for us. I am going to be coordinating two youth camps this year; Celebrando el sur (Celebrating the South -- Diversity Camp) and Jugar para Vivir (Play to Live -- Sports Camp). I guess since we're coming up on being the oldest group (the one above us leaves in early May), it means that we're the "big man on campus." Sometimes Peace Corps feels like high school or college in the sense that we have these invisible tiers of groups coming in at different times of the year making the people who have been here longer lo mas sabio. It means more work, but in being here already for 1.5 years, I'm pretty sure we're up to the challenge.
HOMECOMING: As many of you have heard, I am coming home from March 31-April 16. I guess it is a little soon since it seems like I was just home (if 3 months is "soon."). Not that I need to explain myself, but I have a lot of built up vacation time and I wanted to use it to go home and actually relax. My last trip was go-go-go with little to no down time. This time, in addition to visiting Redlands and giving a presentation on Peace Corps, I'll have the liberty to just go to a coffee shop and research graduate school programs, or watch tv, or sleep in -- most of which I can't do here (although I sleep in pretty often to tell you the truth...). Plus, during this time in the DR it will be Semana Santa (Holy Week) where everything is put to a hault so that everyone can drink and go to the beach (and I suppose do their religious activities). Obviously I'm looking forward to seeing everyone but without the holiday craziness I'll be able to breathe a bit.
