ten.

Part 2.

Alright, well, due to technical difficulties, i wish to add to this entry prior to going to a cafe, as more has happened today, that should be written, discussed etc. this morning we went to a current volunteer's site, and spent the day with her. she is also an environmental project volunteer, although here, in DR, its not called Protected Areas Management. and she is a perfect example of a great volunteer. she is loved by her community, her host country counterpart, and she is very successful in the projects that she has undertaken. her work currently involves improving the cooking stoves, or fugones, of the community in which she lives. so far, a large proportion of the village of only 250 people have constructed and learned how to use the estufas mejoradas, or improved stoves, which greatly reduced the amount of smoke which the women have to breathe, as well as reducing cooking time, increasing quality, etc. basically, this project not only improves the quality of life, but reduces environmental and health impacts of daily activity. its amazing. she has managed to gain the trust of everyone in her community, working with the whole village to complete this difficult project. she even received monetary support from US organizations, friends, and family. and, now as she completes this stage of her service, she has already begun a nursery, and a latrine project. basically, she is the model to which we all should aspire. regardless, today was awesome. much of it was spent riding in a bus, which gave us some time to see the dominican countryside, which reflected greatly the current status of life in the campo here. the majority of people live in small poorly-constructed shacks, which provide adequate protection, however frequently collapse or fall into nearby ravines. but at the same time, people seem comfortable, which does not surprise me. as long as they're not starving, have their family close, and get a chance to drink a beer and play dominos, they're happy. maybe that's what life is all about.

Part 1.

So, three things have happened in the last 24 hours that are worth mentioning to you guys. First and foremost, our group of PCT's is going to Honduras. At first, the was some doubt regarding our situation, especially with the violence that occured in the capital when Mel Zelaya tried to return, but today Washington approved our departure on Tuesday. We are finally going to start our technical training, and soon, if all goes well, begin our service as Honduran PCV's. Of course, this will require some work on our parts, but I'm not worried. In fact, I think that we have an excellent batch of people. The majority of us are ecstatic about the news, and those that are currently suffering from malaise, depression, or disease, will probably be much happier once their conditions pass. I had my bout, a couple of days ago, and now, I am back to high spirits and high hopes. I feel awesome. Anyway, so that's news number one. Two. What was two again? Oh right, my family named a kitten after me. Yeah that's right. There's now a little Dima running around here, somewhere, squealing at the top of his lungs. He's adorable, and if you look at my web album, you should see the pictures of him with his little brother. The other one was given to my host aunt, who lives next door, but Dima belongs to my family, and as long as he's around, they may think of me once in a while. I think in fact that things are going wonderfully. I get along great with the "mom", my host sisters love me, and the little kids who run around here are in awe of us volunteers, so they're easy to please. My new friend here is Johandy, who is a brilliant hard working kid, who seems to get life pretty well. I hope one day he does something amazing, in fact I know he will, just with the right motivation and pressure. And since all of the children in the family are either done with, or working on, advanced degrees, I think he will be just fine. Maybe, I will have some impact on him as well, although I doubt it, since I'll only have been here for three weeks when I leave. But yeah, anyway, so kitten = Dima. More awesome. And finally, the third thing, is I finally did some manual labor. So there's this building being constructed in front of my "mom's" house, or well, in front isnt exactly the best explanation. Picture walking out of your door, and 6-10 feet in front of you, starts another building. Anyway, so the guys building it, dumped a bunch of dirt and trash in the space between the building and the house. Well, I, along with Johandy and Carlito, removed all the construction debris, dug out a lot of the dirt, and leveled the whole area, so now my "mom" has something that resembles a small patio. Maybe, the construction guys will be nice enough to pave the whole thing, and then it will be nice digs all around. What's funny about the whole thing, is that all of the trash we collected, was later dumped down the street, into a ravine with a small river below it. When I saw what was at the bottom, I almost cried, as it seems that the area has become a local garbage dump. But then, I realized, that the people of this part of Don Gregorio, have no other options. Noone comes to pick up their trash, and either they burn it in their yards, or they dump it down the street. What else can they do. Maybe, if they had a PCV living here, they could start some sort of trash collection, recycling program, but I doubt it would catch on here. Regardless, it still sucks. But, for now, I'm gonna let it go, and go back to reading George R.R. Martin. If you haven't read his Song of Ice and Fire series, check it out. Alright, for now that's it. Hope all is well with all of you. Write me.