My First Week of Construction

Pictures and story coming soon!

Starting Work

Last Wednesday (which by now it wasn’t actually last Wednesday, but Wednesday, November 12^th…man how time flies) I went to the hardware store to get our first round of materials for the project. It was a rather stressful experience, but everything worked out.

First, I went to the bank to pick up my debit card so I could do the transaction without cash. Unfortunately, the debit card was not ready. There was some miscommunication between the bank and one of my friends who also went there to open up a bank account. Since we are starting work on Monday, I couldn’t wait for the debit card, and had to decide that I would do the transaction in cash. First, I would go to the hardware store to know the amount of money I would have to withdraw.

So, from there I went to the hardware store, without cash, to purchase materials. After finding everything I needed and getting a quote, I went back to the bank to withdraw the money that I needed. Since I was going to have such a large sum of money, I decided to travel from the bank in a taxi; I wasn’t risking public transit.

I then successfully purchased the first bunch of materials, for around RD$107,000, or US$3,060 to get the project going. It would be next day delivery, for about US$25.

Without a flaw, the goods arrived the next day. After a little bit of arguing, we decided where we would store all the materials. I preferred the locked warehouse in a separate part of the community, closer to where we would be working. Other people preferred putting materials out in the open next to a house, where they would be better watched, since stuff had been robbed in the past from the warehouse. Also, a close friend offered the use of his truck for free to transport tubes and materials closer to the worksite every morning. This would come to be a minor problem. I try to let them make most of the decisions themselves, so out in the open next to the house was were we put the materials. Since there are pretty much always people around, and the location next to the house was actually pretty hidden behind shrubs and stuff, I decided it would be ok.

So far, pretty much everything is well and nothing has gotten stolen. We have however decided to begin using the warehouse. This is because the second day of work, the owner of the truck told me that there was no gas, and wanted to know who was going to pay for it. I told him he was because that was what I thought the deal was. I told him I didn’t put money in the budget for it and I couldn’t be using project money for stuff that wasn’t in the budget. I ended up giving a little money, since not only is he transporting pipes, but also helping with some technical masonry and concrete work. I told him in the future I will not pay, and that we would be storing everything the warehouse. Other community members seem to be in agreement with me now. We’ll see what happens. The other day we got a shipment of pipes and it was raining. If the truck went down into the lower part of the community where the warehouse is, it wouldn’t have been able to get back up, so guess where we put them…yep, outside next to someone’s house. Let’s see how long it takes them to get into the warehouse, if ever.

I Love Luxury

So right now I'm staying at the house of a USAID employee for Thanksgiving. They are a lovely couple and are very welcoming and nice, for letting 6 volunteers stay in their home for the better part of a week.

The reason for this is because I'm part of the Thanksgiving committee. I will be baking desserts with some friends for our Peace Corps Thanksgiving celebration for about 200 or so people. My group is in charge of making 25 pecan pies and countless chocolate chocolate chip cookies. The cookies that I eat as we go along are countless as well.

So, just a small list of the luxurious things I love:

• Hot Water - Not only is there hot water in the shower, but also in every sink and faucet in the house. My most frequent encounters with hot water in this country are attachments to the shower head which heaten up the water really quickly as it comes out. Not very efficient, and not very hot. I'm pretty sure I took off a layer of skin in my shower tonight.
• Air Conditioning - This is on my list, but I actually haven't used it yet. Temperatures are pretty comfortable right now, but just knowing that it is there in case it gets hot is very comforting.
• A kitchen with two sinks - When you're cooking 25 pies and a lot of cookies, two sinks come in handy...even when you have a dishwasher (the machine, not a person) as well.
• Reliable electricity - The power never goes out...or at least it hasn't yet.
• Good food - Our dinner the first night were these amazing bean-filled taquito things with salsa...I ate 6. The second night: homemade chicken pot pie. I'm not sure if I have ever actually eaten one of these in my life, but it was amazing. I had three slices. Tomorrow is spaghetti and meatballs. I can't wait.
• Wifi - Last but certainly not least. Wifi is one of my favorite things in the world.
• Security guards - Ok, I must admit I don't think I've ever had this luxury before, and don't know how necessary it really is, but it's nice knowing that if a burglar comes to rob my house and my security system malfunctions, I have a guy with a big gun there to protect me.
  

Also I would like to inform everyone that I now have less than one year left of my Peace Corps service. November 21st of next year is my tentative last day. I hope that I always think of the above items as luxuries, and not just ordinary, as these things will be making their way back into my regular life. I dare you to just go one day without internet, or hot water, or even a shower. You will appreciate it so much more the next day.

Check out a new post below about the elections. It didn't show up at the top and I don't want you guys to miss it.

Also, I think my fundraising grant that I had up the link for finally filled up. I went to check how much money I still had to raise the other night and it didn't show up online. This usually means that it has been filled. I haven't confirmed it with PC staff yet so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks to everyone who made it possible. Your thank you cards will be arriving later, not sooner. I'm going to wait until someone visits me or until I make another visit home since I can't really trust the mail system here. Thanks again and sorry for all the begging!

Hopefully in between my pie baking tomorrow I can get a quick post up about my first week of work.

Sorry for all the grammar mistakes again...I feel like I should proofread this stuff more, but I'm writing it on the fly. It's almost 2 in the morning here and I was shopping for thanksgiving stuff and baking all day.

Peace.

Oh wait...one last thing. I bought myself an early Christmas gift. For our Thanksgiving shopping, we went to this place called Price Mart. Basically like a Sam's Club or Costco. You'll never guess what they had there. Big boxes of goldfish crackers. I bought three. That was the only time I have seen them in this country and I had to take advantage of it. They were US$8.30 a piece, and were worth every peso. Being in the Christmas spirit of giving, I shared one of my boxes with about 10 other volunteers on our way back from the store in the back of the big Jeep. It made me happy knowing that other people were enjoying them just as much as I was. Ok, well probably not as much as I was, but close.

Will Have Full Post Soon

Sorry...I've been really busy since I received my first chunk of money.

I start construction on the aqueduct on Monday the 17th. Wish me luck.

I will have a more detailed post in about a week or so. Also I will be in the capital for a week during Thanksgiving, so I'll have regular internet access then.

Bye.

Change We Need

This post is long overdue. I wrote some of it the night of the elections, saved it, and then promptly forgot about it. I finished some stuff up immediately before posting it.

So I think for the first time in my life I can say that I'm proud to be an American. I just watched Barack's speech, and needless to say, it was so inspirational, for all Americans. He is the change we need. For the past eight years the United States has been, well I don't think I need to go into specifics since all of you have lived through it, but it wasn't that good.

From now, and into the future, I think the world will have a different attitude toward the US. I can pinpoint the exact moment where I was losing confidence in our nation, back in 2002-03 or so, but this is a huge change that was necessary, and will not only change the American people's view of America, but also the world's view of America.

I must admit I was a little sad watching Obama's speech in Chicago, from far away in the DR, even though if I had been there, I probably wouldn't have been in Grant Park. It would have just been a little different feel. Although, I must say that being in a foreign country, the whole feeling is completely different.

It's amazing to already feel a different attitude of Dominicans toward me. On plenty of occasions I will have random people come up to me and tell me congratulations. We'll then have a small discussion on who I voted for. I tell them Obama (I'm not gonna lie...I didn't really vote, but for all intensive purposes, my vote went to Obama. I'm from Chicago. My vote wouldn't have counted. Barack was going to win. Please don't scold me) and in somewhat disbelief, they are surprised that a white guy in the states would vote for this black dude to run their country.

So anyways. Yeah, I like Barack. But I must say, in no way whatsoever is the Peace Corps associated with this opinion. This is my opinion, and my opinion only.

Si, se puede.

November...Fall is arriving...but really it's just hot and rainy

Just wanted to post a little update on how things have been going for the past month that I haven’t posted.

I’ve gotten used to life here again after my little respite in the US. I’ve been comfortably enjoying the undeveloped world with bucket baths and no AC.

On the project front, there is still no physical evidence of work being done, as I’m still in the search/wait for resources. I know I’ve said this before, but I really am on the cusp of getting money. RD$150,000 has been promised from a foundation with which my boss has really close ties. This money should be arriving any day now. With this amount of money I will be able to buy tools, tubes, and other materials to get the project started. Finally, we will be able to start the more physically demanding work that the project entails. In the meantime, I will continue following up on leads for more money. The local government, after going back and forth for a few months, has finally promised money starting in January. Through the grapevine I’ve heard I will be getting a total of RD$300,000 in installments starting then. Also, when my online grant fills up, which I know all you reading this have so graciously donated to, I will receive that US$5,000, or RD$165,000 to buy more project materials.

I know I have been begging for a while now, but please, if you know of anyone that might even be slightly interested, even with $5 or $10, any amount will help. Please send the link out to all of your friends and relatives. If all of you just cooked dinner at home one day instead of going out to eat and donated that difference, this grant would fill up quickly.

Hopefully before the year ends we will be able to get a few weeks of work in. I will be spending almost a week in the capital for Thanksgiving, and another few days in the beginning of December in a conference for 1 year in service training. We will also be taking several weeks off for Christmas and New Year’s as that’s what people who live in the campo here do. But from January onward we will be working hard to complete what I came here to do, which is bring running water to the community.

Beyond my water project, I am also starting a few smaller side projects to help the community out.

I will be starting a youth group to educate those in their early teens to mid-twenties to make healthy decisions. The group is called “Escojo Mi Vida” or “I Choose My Life.” It’s a Peace Corps wide program which aims to educate the youth about HIV/AIDS and other related themes which rarely, if ever, are discussed in school here.

Also, I will be starting to give English classes. This I’m not really looking forward too. All other volunteers have told me that this is one of the least rewarding things that you can do here. I decided against my better judgment after I received more than a few requests for me to do it. Hopefully it will be a little more rewarding for me since a lot of people in my community work in the tourism industry, and even if they know a little English, they will have better opportunities.

Last but not lease I will be working with my local woman’s group in educating them about business and health. I am scheduled to work with them on the 16^th of November, together with my friend, to teach them how to make Mistolin, a floor cleaning product, which they can then sell and make a profit. There will be more activities like that in the future.

That’s it for now. I will have my eyes glued to the television tomorrow tonight watching history be made.

UPDATE:

I called my boss yesterday, the day I wrote the above post, and he said he was on his way to my community to give me the check. This morning I went with my project partner to deposit the RD$150,000 from La Fundacion ADEMI. This Saturday we have a community-wide meeting to inform them about everything that is going on with the project: food, work brigades, what's expected from them, etc. Our tentative start date is November 16th. Wish me luck. After a year of work, I finally get to get down and dirty and really do some work.

This however does not mean that you should stop looking and begging all your friends and relatives for money for me. I just found out recently that a matching gift from the company my brother works for was denied due to some tax reasons. This means that I now have US$1790 left to raise instead of US$490.

www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=517-263

Peace.