Thursday, March 29, 2007

Poverty & Relativity

This entry has been brewing in my head for about a week, and more and more relevant experiences and conversations keep presenting themselves. Hence, I figured I should write this out before it becomes a book! Recently a group of us were discussing the pocket money that Peace Corps provides us during training--a little over a dollar a day, which is enough to use occasional internet or buy a small snack. It's not much, but it is more than we technically need. Volunteers are frustrated though, because it would be nice to have more money. One girl commented, "Poverty Sucks!" which reminded me of a quote from aBarbara Kingsolver book which I shared with the group: "Poverty Sucks... yah, they should make a bumper sticker or something." That quote made us all laugh, and another person commented that bumper stickers would be a great idea, because that way all the people in this country that have cars (only the very wealthy), could display it. AHH... irony! That conversation led to another in which someone told of the time that Newsweek International ran an article about the "really poor" in Appalachia. The magazine was flooded with feedback from International development workers because of a photo that showed a really poor family's house--it included a t.v. and refrigerator. Extreme poverty does exist in Appalachia, but if differs from poverty in the developing world. Even here, it has been fascinating to see how people understand theirworld and what they consider poor. The family that I live with considers themselves well off. They have lights 24 hours a day, an inside bathroom, hand soap, a semi-automatic clothes washer, a 13"t.v., a microwave, and a bath rug. They eat meat almost daily and bought a cake for a 10 year old's birthday. They also have about 3 hours of running water a day, a zinc roof that leaks when it rains, 6 hours of real electricity a day (lights are supplied by an inverter), unfinished concrete floors, a dirt yard, plastic chairs, and they sleep 4 people in one room, with two beds. To accompany the little meat that they have, daily they eat rice, viveres (root vegetables), and what-we-gringos-like-to-call bean juice--due to the lack of actual beans in the mix! An average teacher's salary here, which places them in the top 20% earning bracket of the country is USD $260/ month -- exactly what Iwill make once I am sworn in as a Volunteer. The thing I find so interesting is this idea that I am to spend 2 years living with and as a poor person. I cannot allow myself to believe I am experiencing poverty. Peace Corps Volunteers make enough to travel the country, eat occassional McDonald's and pizza, eat protein, fruits and veggies, and live in a safe place. I will not have AC, internet or running water, but I'll also sit in the top 20% earning bracket of the DR. Today our group toured Centro Leon, supposedly the best museum in the Caribbean. After the museum we gorged on Domino's pizza. Once we'd rested a few minutes, we climbed back into the trucks and drove 15 minutes to Barrio Moscas--"Neighborhood of Flies". Barrio Moscas formed at the edge of the city of Santiago's garbage dump. It's an unorganized collection of shacks built of scrap metal and wood. The people in the barrio make their living off of the dump. There are businesses that will buy scrap metal that has been found by the people for a very small price. So everyday, men, women and children spend hours climbing though the garbage, searching for metal. They light fires to the garbage in order to burn through the organic material and are sometimes burned by the fires. They also raise pigs, goats, and cattle on the garbage and sell them for meat. I saw pigs eating plastic and cattle grazing in a field of tires. Two bare-footed boys around the age of 6 befriended us as soon as we arrived. The guided us up a trail (it felt like we were hiking--the dump is that big--30 years of trash), over a river that was filled with garbage and had water that was a very odd green color (they told us they bathe there) to the top of the dump. While we took it all in, they rummaged for stuff. One of the boys stepped on a large piece of glass, looked at it, casually pulled it out of his foot, and kept scrounging. With our hearts heavy and their heavy load of trash, we proceeded back down. I was feeling especially pensive, trying to process the magnitude of the situation, when one of the boys found an old Pepsi sign. At a particularly steep and slippery part of the hill, he flashed us a huge grin, then slid down the hill on his Pepsi sign, laughing hysterically the whole way.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

rich

Today I stood in the back of a truck, listening to my iPod and sharing it with a new friend, Zoe. We bonded over mutually-liked songs. Our truck climbed the steep mountain, always revealing breath-taking views of the valleys giving way to more mountains and the city of Santiago, way below us. Everything was green. I saw seas of tobacco, interrupted only by huts to dry the leaves and tall talms. We spotted a large waterfall in the distance and I felt it calling me to locate a path towards it. We passed a few men urging their donkeys up the mountain. They paused, waved, and shouted an hola to us. One of the ride's highlights was a mama goat and her 4 kids, with some of them nursing.
Later on, after working the land to learn gardening techniques (by land, I mean mud and clay), our trainer took us further up the mountain to a tiny house where Dominicana lives. She's small, shuffles, has a hairy chin, and apparently makes the best dulce de coco in the entire Cibao region. I won't argue, it was incredible! We wished Dominicana a "Buenas Tarde," and headed down the mountain. Once in Los Cocos, I walked home, worried only about my favorite gallina because I haven't seen her in two days. Zoe and I then discovered that one of the gates we normally walk through is now wired shut. That was earth-shattering news, worth several minutes of discussion. I love that the things that worry my mind these days include missing chickens and re-wired gates.
I arrived home to a smiling Dona who asked how my day was and declared that I'd arrived just in time, as she has just completed cooking my dinner. She kept me company while I ate, then let me be as I prepared to bathe. I found my bedroom spotless, and was grateful that she had cleaned. I enjoyed a much needed shower, and prepared to go out. Plans had been made to visit another volunteer, watch a movie, and relax, but the rains came and transformed my street into a river. When rains come here, plans change: schools close and people stay put. For me, that meant snuggling into bed early in order to enjoy a lullaby of rain pounding the zinc roof. I feel so rich.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Bucket Baths 101

1. Recognize that you smell, and a bath is necessary.
2. Gather clothes, towel, soap; then find a place to put them so they don't fall on the floor.
3. Step into shower.
4. Convince self that shower is necessary.
5. Fill small bucket with water, bend over and wet only your hair. Use caution not to get neck and back wet.
6. Take a deep breath and stand up straight.
7. Wash hair. Enjoy clean smell.
8. Wet bandanna, move it quickly between your hands so it's not ice cold when it touches body.
9. Wash body.
10. Remind self that you're living your dream--living in the Caribbean, speaking Spanish, and part of Peace Corps. Take a really deep breath.
11. Remind self that for health and social acceptance, bathing is necessary.
12. Hold breath, pour icy water over head.
13. Uncontrollably squirm and dance while quickly pouring more water over head to rinse out shampoo and soap.
14. Laugh at the idea of conditioner and another round of rinsing. Soft hair is not a priority for me.
15. Although cold, relish the clean refreshed feeling and know that no one at home has such an exciting daily shower experience.
16. Dress, leave house, and 15 minutes later, wish you were showering again because you are already sweating.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

5 Days of Comida

Due to popular demand, here is a listing of my last 5 days of food. Enjoy!

Monday
bfast- white bread and hot chocolate
sn-saltines and peanut butter
lunch-rice, beans, chicken
snack-coke and 2 oreos!
dinner-yuca, fried squeaky cheese (not sure of the real name but that´s what we call it. It´s white, relatively tasteless and squeaks when bitten sometimes. Nevertheless, it´s cheese and I can appreciate all cheese), sauteed onions

Tuesday
bfast- white bread and hot chocolate
lunch-rice, beans with some starchy thing, chicken, tostones (fried plantains), tomatoes soaked in oil
snack- banana batida (milk, ice and banana in a blender) and 2 crackers, presidente beer
dinner-mangu (boiled plantains mashed with butter), fried egg, onion

Wednesday
bfast-white bread and hot chocolate
snack-coffee, cracker
lunch-rice, taiota (tasteless and nutrient-less root veggie), tomatoes soaked in oil
snack-chips, too much rum and coke
dinner-mangu, fried egg, sauteed onions

Thursday
bfast-some type of really sweet, hot, liquidy cereal made of corn
snack-wafer cookie
lunch-spaghetti with a tomato slash oil sauce, white beans, tomatoes in oil
dinner-yuca, onion, squeaky cheese

Friday
bfast-white bread, hard boiled eggs, hot chocolate
lunch- pineapple juice, pasta with the tomato grease sauce, tostones
dinner- (note on dinner--all the gringos cooked together and gave each other instructions in Spanish as part of class, hence the non-Dominican menu) mac and cheese, guacamole and chips, chocolate chip cookies, green beans, coke

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

CBT

Community Based Training has begun. We started by spending four days way up in the mountains of the Cordillera Septentrial mountain range. There, we had workshops on eco-tourism and trail maintenance. Part of that included doing actual work on a trail. Hence, we all rolled up our sleeves and learned how to use axes and machetes. I, of course, managed to slice my finger a bit on a machete, but it´s not bad. In fact, I´d much prefer a small machete slice over a paper cut. Paper cuts are boring, and thankfully, I´ve already received a tetanus shot.
We also had a great hike to the top of Diego O´Campo, the highest mountain in the Cordillera Septentrial range. The hike took us through a manacla forest. Manaclas are mountain growing palm trees. Pretty cool.
Now I am living in Los Cocos, campo outside of Santiago. This is the most lush area of the island, so it´s beautiful. I am with another host family and will be with them for the next 32 days. Our Spanish class of 4 meets almost daily... which is so needed, let me tell you. This is supposedly the time when we learn the most language. I hope so! The only problem is that we´re in an area of the country that has a very strong and distinct accent. They replace their R´s with I´s. Crazy, crazy.
Due to incidences of mystery pig meat and goat at my last house, I have decided to tell this new family that the only meat I eat is chicken. It´s working out so far, just pray for no chicken feet.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

busy days


I spoke of Independence Day in my last entry, so I will begin there. February was a very exciting month here, as Carnaval is in full swing and it is the month of the Dominican Republic´s Independence. A few days before Independence Day, I was sitting on my host family’s front porch with my Doña and my host cousin, Angele. Angele was putting my hair in twists while the Doña read to us from the newspaper. We learned about the history of “La Bandera,” or the flag. The red symbolizes the blood that was shed in the fight for freedom, blue represents liberty, and white represents a quest for peace. In spirit of all of this patriotism, they decided my hair should be la bandera. Hence, the rubberbands used where red, blue and white. According my host family, everyone in the country acts crazy in February, so it’s completely acceptable to have crazy hair!
To continue my celebration of Dia de la Independencia, which is the 27th of February, I went to the national parade with another volunteer and a few of his host family members. We took public transportation to the Malecon, a street downtown that runs alongside the Caribbean. Using incredible skill, we wove through the masses to the front stage of the parade, and then proceeded to wait about 2 hours for the president, Leonel Fernandez, to make his appearance. (waiting entailed standing in beating sun with thousands of people). When he appeared, there was much fanfare, and then the beginning of the parade. It was essentially a display of civil servants and military. There were marches and helicopter fly-overs. My favorite part of the parade was a float that demonstrated airport security. There was a woman on the float who acted as a model traveler, and the agents “checked” her and her baggage!
From Independence Day, I had one more day of training in Santo Domingo, and then took off for four days by myself for a site visit with a Real Live Peace Corps Volunteer (I am only an aspirante, or aspiring PCV). I visited Lindsay in the south, near San Juan de la Maguana. It was great to see her day-to-day. We walked to the closest river with some kids and enjoyed the cool water and a small waterfall. Her main project is a Brigada Verde group of 5 girls—much like girl scouts. We also traveled to San Juan to see the market and meet up with lots of other PCV’s and aspirantes for a few hours of pizza and a pool!
I left Lindsay’s early on Sunday and arrived home in time for lunch. My thoughtful Doña had bought me Chinese food for lunch. I’ve come to love Chinese food here because that means Chop Suey and Chop Suey means tons of vegetables, which I do not get to eat often. I ate lunch and had about an hour to rest before setting out with Angele and a few of her friends to the Malecon again.
This time, the Malecon held CARNAVAL! I am not quite sure how to describe Carnaval except to tell you that there were thousands of people and more colors than I’ve ever seen. I loved the creativity of people’s costumes. One man covered all of his clothes in bottle caps from Presidente beer. Another created a costume out of tiny teddy bears. I did buy a pirate mask which I wore with pride! An important part of Carnaval is that a lot of people have inflated cow bladders on strings (think leathered), which they run up and smack women on the butt or legs with. I was hit only once, and I don’t think it was done with full force. Gracias a dios! The Carnaval experience was total sensory-overload, but so much fun! As soon as I can, I will post all of my pictures, which will help paint the picture for you. http://picasaweb.google.com/colleengatliff/DR3Carnaval
I leave my house here on Thursday for CBT, or Community Based Training. We’ll be near Santiago, the 2nd largest city, in a very beautiful region of the country. There, our group will consist of just 10 environmental education aspirantes, 2 Spanish teachers, 1 main trainer, and tons of special guest trainers. I will have a new host family, and will begin to slow down my pace in preparation for Peace Corps life. This segment of training will last into mid-April. I am really excited about time in CBT. I’ve loved training here in the Capital, but we are busy all of the time and it is so crowded. A change of pace should be fun.
It’s hard to know what to share with you. If you have any questions, feel free to post them under comments or shoot me an email and I’ll do my best to answer them! Keep the mail coming, it is a very exciting part of the week. Letters, inspiring quotes, and local Jax news stories are welcomed. :)