6-15-10  7:46pm

So now things in Las Lagunas are getting pretty routine and boring. I pretty much start my day either going for a run to prep for the half marathon later this month (which I am going to die in) or I convince myself not to run because of some dumb reason and stay in bed until 8am when I get up and go to the lab in my liceo to work. I've taken it upon myself to make my own breakfast in the morning which has been nice to eat oatmeal, cereal and fruit rather than more eggs and viveres. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches never tasted so good. (Still cant wait to move in to my own place.)

In the lab things are getting better even though there is never enough luz to do very much work everyday. I have however been able to clone and fix 12 computers and only have 3 more to figure out. I recently wrote a letter of solicitud to get batteries and fix our inversor which I have sent to the district in Moca and am going to hand deliver to the main office in the capital "Thursday." I say "Thursday" because my project partners first said it would be on Tuesday then Wednesday and now Thursday. I guess thats how it goes. But I feel really annoyed because I am dying to get into the capital and into the PC office to get my mail. I am glad I had Heather bring me half of my mail with lots of cool stuff from my bestie. 

As for the rest of my work, I have been trying to finish up this diagnostic but I still need several surveys to do with the community members. I have already wrote out a draft of my report in spanish and I am beginning on the presentation so I hope by the end of the month to be done with the diagnostic and start working to train teachers. I am nervous to start working but I feel like I need to prove myself somehow and the best thing that I feel I can do is start some classes.

Some good news is that I bought a bike! Its a road bike and its white and ugly but it runs good with its 2 gears and does the work I need it to. I hope to become a better biker soon and maybe get in shape to ride across the country? Laura can ride across the US but shes never ridden across the DR! haha. Doubt that will happen anyway.

I need to do something fun… I am dying staying home and in my site. Traveling soon!

6-19-10  7:05am

This week has been such an emotional rollercoaster and the weekend is not over yet. I started off this week feeling great, I fixed up my lab, attended neighborhood meetings and passed out surveys and still was pretty busy. About mid week I started to develop this crazy tick. Haha. I was really starting to go nuts because I pretty much reached a standstill and was dying of boredom to do something. I fixed the computers in my lab to the full extent of my knowledge so I could't do much there, I was waiting to take this damn letter to the capital which took forever to come around (we went thursday by the way and I got my mail and I think the visit went well), and there wasn't a planned neighborhood meeting for the rest of the week so I couldn't finish off my surveys and was like a sitting duck. Quack. On top of all that a lot of the dominicanisms that normally wouldn't bother me were now making me contemplate murder. Or a least harming someone in a bad way. Haha. I could not handle the dominican men cat calls and stares when I go for my runs anymore and I was feeling lonely and bloated and fat. Poop.

I hate just being bored and unproductive. I can handle a day or two where I become so anti-social that I lock myself in my room from everyone else and read all day but this was starting to become a habit and I needed to get out! So I decided to go buy an empanada from the nearby stand in the park and sat down. Bad idea. The empanada girl was cool, we started to talk about who I was and she offered me a beer so I accepted. I probably sat there for 45 minutes telling her my sob story about how I need to go out and I was looking for dominican friends and she understood what I felt and said nice things. Ok. So why bad idea? 

Last night I had a side meeting with one of my project partners where he needed to warn me about being friends with a certain someone. Apparently someone had contacted him and told him to "Be careful" with me because I have been seen numerous times talking to a lesbian. FML. To show you how the dominican chismé works. I decided to release myself and make this new friend Wednesday night. I only had met her this night and never spoke to her since. I had this talk with my partner Friday night and he said he has been meaning to talk to me about this for days now. WTF!!!!!!! This shit just happened! I was seriously talking to this girl for 45 minutes eating an empanada and having a beer and now I am a lesbian. Apparently I met up with her on more than one occasion. These dominicans are nuts about finding gossip. I pretty much got the lesbian vibes from her from the gitko, she looks butch, she talked like a boy and she asked if I had a boyfriend then asked if I have ever had a boyfriend. Haha. Yes girl, I like boys!! Ay dios….. 

I guess thats what I get for doing something to make myself feel better. I dig myself into a bigger shithole. Haha. Thanks for listening to my lesbian rant. And excuse the language.

On another note, this weekend is Joe and Tophers birthday so we are headed out to Santiago for a well needed night of relaxation (or beers and dancing). I think I can honestly say that I need to get out of my site and have some contact with other individuals who understand the frustrations that I am going through. And I do need a beer. The rest of this month seems to be jam-packed now with all the events coming up. Next week I have to give 2 presentations to the parents and students of the liceos about the work I have done and the results of the surveys I passed out and future plans (sign-up sheets for classes and such, yikes I am starting classes!) Next weekend is the half marathon which I am going to die in or at least be made a fool (Friday morning I ran to the zoo which I am guessing is 8 km or close to 5 miles one way for a total of 10 miles (It really seems like so much more!). I really was just trying to run constantly for 2 hours straight but I actually met the owner of the zoo and had a private tour (they have lions!) so that was kind of cool.) Anywho, the next weekend after the half marathon is 4th of July which I am so excited for! Camping out on the beach (just getting to use my sleeping bag is exciting! I was beginning to think wtf did I bring this) seeing a different site in the south with all the rest of my friends for the weekend will be epic. I am highly excited for this event.

P.S. Thanks to my sister and family for sending me a huge package that arrived in April but I am barely getting now. I love the granola bars, new clothes and trail mix. Yes! Love you guys!

P.P.S. I think I may try the Atkins diet. Yes its that serious.

6-8-10  6:38pm

I think I can, I think I can, I think I...

Sometimes it brings a smile to my face when I think about how I am probably the only person in the world who has walked around in my neighborhood listening to Animal Collective, Naive Thieves and Crime Mob's "Stiletto Pumps." Only thing is that I can't dance like I once used to. I'm aching.

We rockin' stilettos hoe! :)

6-1-10 21:50

Please excuse me if this sounds like a long rant, it certainly is. I have been reading a lot of David Sedaris as you can see in my new Blog sidebar "Books I've Read Since I've Been in the DR…" and I find him so hilarious and utterly truthful that I am inspired to write a blog post in his style. I don't think I will do it justice but at least I could drop his name in my blog and encourage you to read one of his books. My fav so far is "When You Are Engulfed In Flames." Do it!

So far my stay in the Dr has been bittersweet. I've been here a total of 3 months and it kind of feels like 1 year already. There are definitely some days where I am better off than others and I can definitely say that my patience gets tested everyday and I may have failed a couple of times but then something brings me back to why I'm here and I see all the positive things about the DR and I feel blessed. 

For instance, things that are annoying me now are all the mosquitos and flies and strange enormous bugs that haunt me everyday. But then I think about all the time I share with my siblings killing and chasing after the bugs. Here's a better one. My doña seriously bugs me by the amount of times she says my name everyday. I think one day I should just count it. I bet I would get around 400-500 times. I don't even know why she says it so much, we will be the only two people in the room and I am staring straight at her and she will still say "Ay Sabrina look at all the flies, Sabrina." It's like why do you have to say my name? Maybe she likes it or maybe I am starting to develop this abnormal tick about very miniscule things but sometimes I wish my name was harder to pronounce so she couldn't pronounce it correctly and never say my name. So part from the annoying unnecessary name calling my doña is absolutely sweet. She cooks everything so delicious and her beans are amazing! Haha, I think they're better than my pops at home and thats saying a lot. So you see, there are good things and bad things everyday and I am working on all the bad things that I can control (I got a fly swatter and bug spray for the things I can't). A big bummer is the lack of lug my town gets, its absolutely ridiculous. The electricity goes out everyday randomly and lasts for hours at a time. The other day it was gone pretty much the entire day until it came around 11pm when I was already in bed. But the upside is that I have plenty of water. I can shower whenever I need to and wash my clothes when I deem it necessary which is a huge blessing when compared to having electricity. I would much rather be clean and bored than sweaty with the lights on. Candles and flashlights are treating me well.

I started working last week as well, I passed out about 100 surveys at the high school (50 in the morning school and 50 in the afternoon school) and the results are as follows:

Morning Session: Crazy About ICT

Has basic knowledge of Windows and the Internet

Want to learn more about Microsoft Office and advanced programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver 

Want to start youth groups about ICT and Business

Afternoon Session: Crazy About Everything BUT ICT

Also has basic knowledge of Windows and the Internet

Want to learn more about the Internet and Office

Want to start youth groups about Sexual Education

Interesting… Doubt this is interesting for you all but right now this is my life...

What I found from both groups is that they want to start a youth group on how to start your own business and they also both want to learn how to swim. So I am hoping to start developing curriculum to start doing both soon.

One thing that I haven't gotten used to is the money system here in the DR. So for every American dollar you get around 35-37 pesos depending on the currency rate of the day. So for things like guagua rides from one place to another for 20 pesos, you are basically spending $0.55. Ok good deal, right sweet. Then there's deals where things like peanut butter are $100 pesos. Then I think whoa, 100, that should mean a lot but it basically is around $2.75. So then again I am like okay thats not so bad. But the there is a huge jump for things and stuff like tops and clothes are around 500-700 pesos. I think hmmm just 5 x 100 peso bills shouldn't be so much and it turns out to be around $13-20. And it's like whoa $20 bucks what happened? From 500 to 700 pesos theres a huge leap of 7 dollars. It's making me so confused I just can't find the true value of things over here anymore. Should I buy this apple for 30 pesos or should I hop on the next guagua ride to see a cool part of the city? Should I buy this shirt for $1,000 or should I save it to pay for a weeks stay at the local hostel in the city? Money seriously doesn't last here.  

P.S. So I recently just saw this commercial here about some pads for women's menstruation cycles and it was amazing. It's called "Nosotros Dobles" and it's a pad that has two pads in one. You just peel off the top layer and voila you have a new can pad. I was very glad I don't use pads and also very amazed at the marketing genius that came up with this one. WTF.