A Whirlwind Week

This past week has been quite an experience. It was jam-packed, and one of the best weeks I've had in a really long time.

It all started with Semana Santa, or Holy Week. I ate at least a gallon of habichuelas con dulce. Unfortunately I had to leave my community during the heart of the celebrations, in order to help my friend with a Builders Beyond Borders group who was coming to his site to work. On the bright side, my Dona filled my nalgene up with habichuelas so I got a bunch to go. I stayed at my friend's site helping out from Friday till Monday and we had a lot of fun.

On Monday morning my friend and I got a bola down to my site. I had to change out some things from my backpack in order to prepare for a water conference in the capital. After spending about 1 hour unpacking and packing (and another glass of habichuelas), I was off to the capital.

When I got to the capital we finished editing our presentation that we would be giving the following day. The conference was headed by an NGO called Water for People. They are looking to start work in this country, and they wanted to have a little conference with all the other organizations that work in similar fields in order to get an idea of work that is going on this country. The best thing about this conference: we got a free, 2-night stay at the Hilton. We checked in at about 4, and already took advantage of the pool and hot showers by like 5. Oh yeah, and it wasn't some room on a lower level looking over the parking lot, it was on the 11th floor overlooking the ocean. The room itself was pretty small, but they were some of the nicest accomodations I have ever been in. The evening we checked in there was a meet and greet with all the people who would be attending. Cocktails and appetizers were served. And not just any appetizers...there were fried coconut shrimp, caviar, shishkebobs, and lots of other great things.

The next day was spent listening to presentations by other organizations, talking about their work being done in this country. It was a great experience overall...especially the hot showers. And the group of us 4 Peace Corps Volunteers won US$2000 for our projects. Since two of us there had all our funding, the remaining two volunteers are going to split those funds.

Unfortunately, at 12 on Thursday our time at the Hilton had to come to an end. It was really sad to leave, but we definitely took advantage of everything it had to offer.

On Thursday, I was planning on going back to my community, but when I got to the office, they were taking down names for people who wanted to go to a meet and greet with Hillary Clinton at the United States Embassy. As I'm sure you guessed, I decided I would stay in the capital one more night. The Secretary of State kept us waiting for quite awhile, but it was worth the wait. I was probably about 15 feet away from her while she was giving her speech. She gave a little shout out to the Peace Corps, and then walked around and shook hands. And yes, I got to shake her hand and say nice to meet you. It was very surreal. I think that is the only famous person I have ever had an encounter with.

And as usual, all good things must come to an end. Today I'm heading back up to Santiago, where I will be for the weekend for a little get together with some friends I haven't seen in awhile.

As far as the project goes, we're just doing some final touches, and then we should be done. Projected inauguration date: May 23rd.

Peace and Hugs!

Aqueduct Udpate

It´s been about 2 months since I last posted an update...sorry about that. The reason is that we´ve been working really hard and we´re almost finished with everything. We did a test in one part of the community the other day and water is successfully arriving. Since we had to turn it off, so as not to be favoring one part of the community over the other, people were filling all their buckets and tanks in order to have water until the next time we could turn it on.

Within a few weeks we should be done, and we should be inaugurating in the middle of May. Everyone is welcome to come. There should be enough beds for everyone. I´ll give more information as it comes to me.

In the meantime, check out some of my construction pictures.

picasaweb.google.com/kebmodee

Inauguration

The presidential inauguration has brought me to Santiago once again. A group of about 20 volunteers came to watch it. I was debating whether or not to come because it is a work day, bit since tomorrow is a holiday, I decided I'd leave work early and let my community do their thing without me. Hopefully they don't screw things up.

Once again I'm going to keep things short because my computer is still being repaired and I'm writing this on my iPod touch. I hope everyone enjoyed and took to heart the inauguration speech.

Peace.

Update

Just wanted to give a quick update since it has been so long since I last posted.

Work is going really well and we are moving along a lot faster than I ever expected. We hope to be finished in a few months.

I have to keep this short because I'm writing this on my iPod touch because my computer is currently out of commission. I'm in the city now to hopefully get it fixed if it doesn't cost too much.

Until it is fixed I probably will not be able to post pictures or blog updates as often.

I hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather while I'm here in my shorts and flip flops.

Happy New Year

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year. I know it's not actually the new year yet, but it's close enough. Below is a picture of our view from the balcony where we are at. Notice there is no snow and it's not cold. It's the perfect place to ring in the new year.

Pictures from Christmas

I'm not going to do a whole blog post on Christmas, because it was pretty much the same as last year. If you didn't read my post from last Christmas, go and read it now and you'll know.

On the 23rd we roasted all the pigs that we would be eating on the 24th, La Noche Buena. There were about 17 in total. I couldn't keep track because there were just way too many.

Check out pics from the pig roast here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kebmodee/PigRoastDec232008#

On Christmas day, the 25th, a few friends and I went to Santiago to celebrate. We decided on meatloaf since it's affordable. There was also some Carlo Rossi wine. Nothing but high class for us on Christmas. The food tasted a lot better than it actually looks in the pictures. Even in person it didn't look too appetizing. It kind of looks like food you would get in prison, or in those hot lunches in the foil containers from grade school. But it was way tastier. We even had leftovers on the 26th. We also made a gingerbread house, of which there are way too many pictures. I must have had one too many glasses of wine by that point.

Check out pics from Christmas day here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kebmodee/HubChristmas2008#

First Weeks of Work

My last post that I was going to do has changed from “First Week of Work” to “First Weeks of Work.” Unfortunately I became extremely busy after Thanksgiving and didn’t have time to update about only my first week of work, so I’ll just do a summary of my first three weeks of work.

A typical day goes like this:

6:30-7:00 - Wake up

7:00 – Eat Breakfast which usually consists of oatmeal because it’s easily and quickly prepared.

7:30 – Load the truck up with materials and go to the worksite

8:00 – After rounding up the troops and getting everything ready we’re usually off to work. Depending on where the worksite it at, we sometimes have a half hour hike, which involves crossing a river.

8:30-11:30 – Dig trenches. Fortunately, I don’t have to get involved with this physical labor. I could if I really wanted to, but honestly it’s probably better that I didn’t. There are plenty more capable men than I, and they do a way better job with physical labor than I ever could. If I were needed to do this I certainly would, but the fact is, is that it’s just not necessary. My American family has given me a lot of s*@t for that, but oh well. My role here is really as a technical resource, as an engineer, not as a laborer. Don’t get me wrong, when we’re doing our 30 minute hike, I help out in carrying materials and tools, but as far as the digging goes, I’ll leave that to the experts.

11:30-12:00 – Lunch. Usually a lo crio (rice cooked with meat, usually ham or salami) or moro (rice cooked with beans). We get a big plate piled with the stuff, and usually spaghetti or a salad, and since it is avocado season, a slice of avocado or two.

12:00-2:30 – More trench digging and gluing pipes. After the trenches are dug to an acceptable depth, we begin to glue the pipes. This is the part I am more involved in since it’s more technical, but the Dominicans have begun to take charge of this also, under my supervision. After the pipes are laid in the trench, the trenches are then filled back up with the dirt that was taken out.

2:30-3:00 – Finish up everything. Gather all the tools and extra materials. Hike back down.

I then have another 10 minute walk back to my house where I usually arrive exhausted. A nice, cold glass of juice is usually awaiting me, and if I’m hungry, there are always leftovers.

We work Monday thru Thursday. Each day there are brigades of between 16-18 men. If it is raining a lot one day, we’ll make up the day on Friday. The next numbers are estimates since I have taken an official count yet, but I would guess we have installed around 200 pipes thus far. We are halfway done with the main delivery line to the tank. The only work items left are two river crossings, the tank, and the distribution line. I estimate it will probably take 2-3 more months to complete the project. This is provided that the money promised by the local mayor arrives on time and the motivation of the people continues. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Usually once a week I also make a trip to the hardware store in order to purchase materials for the coming week, and to fix stuff up that was missing in the previous week. So the next couple months I’ll be a little busy and probably will not be able to update often, but I’m not going to forget about you guys.

Also, I’m not sure if I mentioned in a previous post, and since I’m not writing this when I’m on the internet I can’t check, but the grant that was online has filled up. I have the money in the bank and it’s just waiting there for my next materials purchase. Thanks to everyone who donated!

Check out some pics from the first day here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kebmodee/FirstDayOfWork02#