Easter Day

Here's from an email I sent out on Easter:
So why didn't those lazy Caribbean bums call home for Easter?
We were helping to resurrect some new life. Save an endangered species. For real. We spent the day snorkelling and diving with an expert dude that lives in Fiji but works on coral reefs worldwide to help preserve the reef. He advocates no-take zones, not contaminating groundwater, etc... but also has his own cool project-- he does coralg ardening! So, we gardened on Easter. But in the water. The idea is that endangered corals are grown on these metal racks and when they grow big, we trim them and replant the "stems" onto new racks and over dead reef. Yeah, it's as cool as it sounds. We'll send some pictureswhen we can. This is the website: www.coralsforconservation.com
Anywhoo, we just got in from the boat and were able to snag hot showers at Punta Cana before heading home to make egg salad with our eggs that we dyed yesterday. Before the egg salad though, we have toplay a new game that an American friend taught us that involves bashing the eggs into each other, trying to crack your opponents'. Fun.

this is peace corps

Being a PCV is sitting at a colmado after a day of training on biosand water filters to create potable water for our communities while a little buzzed due to drinking a few Brahma beers because this colmado sells them for 3 for a RD$100, which is a fantastic deal and we’re all broke and talking about what we’ll do when we COS (Close of Service, ie leave the country after our 2 years are up).
The conversation I was having with a fellow PCV proceeded like this:
“Ya know, going to apply to International Development graduate programs and a few jobs in Africa, then we’ll see what happens.”
“Africa, wow, why Africa? You already speak Spanish and I thought you loved Latin American”
“I do, I love it here, but I’ve always thought if I am going to work in development work, I should work where I am most needed. Latin America’s got a chance. There are emerging markets here. These people have electricity, most of the time, rice to eat, some healthcare. Africa’s pretty desperate.”
“Ok, true, makes sense. Well awesome. Ya... we are working in poverty, but nothing like over there…”
“There are people dying of hunger in Africa. 5 year-olds dying of preventable…..
(Enter other PCV friend) “Colleen, ready to go get a chimi?!”
And so I dash off with my other friend to buy a delicious late-night Dominican street food called a chimi. About half way to the stand I realize that I just left a friend in mid-sentence, talking about starving, dying children in Africa so that I could go buy a greasy treat at midnight, even though I already had dinner. But, new conversations ensue, my chimi is served and I make my way back to my Africa friend while thoroughly enjoying the treat. .
A new merengue hit comes on the radio and we all sing along. Then there’s a discussion of the upcoming elections here and how politicians campaign by throwing salami logs out of the backs of trucks (or helicopters) to mobs of screaming, shoving people (and that PCVs have been known to push & shove for their own salami).
We eventually make our way back to our accommodations and en route, I apologize to Africa guy for brushing off the intense conversation. I admit that as I walked towards my chimi I felt guilty… He says, “No worries. This is Peace Corps.”

fish poop & bomb dogs

Mural #5, check. Done. That’s right, this mural thing has taken off for me. Of the six public schools in the area, I have guided the painting of 5 and will begin the sixth next month. I have found mural painting to be an incredibly fulfilling activity for me as a PCV. Upon reflection of this fulfillment, I have realized that I like mural painting because at the end of the day, I can see a product. A concrete accomplishment. This “International Development Work” thing is hard. Seriously. Come in as a college-educated know-it-all American and try to motivate folks to change their behavior (whether it be fishing sustainably, not throwing trash on the ground, saving money, or attending a meeting) … and do it in a kinda-second language. But I try. I get up in the morning and paint trash cans with kids, remind people about meetings four times, and talk about the importance of parrotfish for cleaning corals and producing sand. Progress is slow. The educational system here is pretty bad, so many people don’t know how to learn. Mix that with mistrust of an extranjera (and a female at that!) and what you have is very tedious, often-without-noticeable-results type work. I do love it. I’m not complaining, just letting you know it is hard and that’s why I love mural painting. At the end of the day, there’s a product. If nothing else, I painted a mangrove today. Get it?
So back to murals and the title of this post. When I work with an area school, I ask the director to choose 15 eighth graders. I then meet with that group for 8 sessions. With each session I teach an environmental theme, then we paint related to that theme. (Re: this whole environmental education thing—the master plan is that by next year, the teachers will be trained in executing the lessons themselves and can use the mural as a teaching tool). Anyway, here are the lessons;
Session 1: Importance of water & where is it – Paint water
Session 2: Habitat, niche, ecosystem, food web—Paint sea grass & mangrove “ecosystems”
Session 3: Mangroves & Sea Grasses—Paint animals that live in mangroves & sea grasses
Session 4: Coral Reefs, coral polyps—Paint hard & soft corals, sponges, algae
Session 5: Wonders of the reef—Paint lobster, dolphin, grouper, etc.
Session 6: Wonders of the reef cont—Paint parrotfish, flamingo tongue, barracuda, turtle, etc.
Session 7: Living with the natural world (sustainable fishing, trash disposal, etc)—Paint fishermen & chosen phrase for mural
Session 8: Fieldtrip—We go to Punta Cana to snorkel at the beach to see sea grasses, then go on a boat ride to the reef, plus visit the mangroves to explore what’s living in them.
So last week we arrived at Session 8 and I took a group of kids on the fieldtrip. Before going to the beach we stop at the airport for a tour. Towards the end of the tour we saw some drug-sniffing K9’s. Our guide explained what they do and one of my students leaned over and said “So its NICHE is to sniff for drugs & bombs”. !!!!!!!!! Yes, kid, yes. You got it. I taught you the concept “niche” weeks ago and you remembered! Seriously, this was a huge moment for me. I know it seems so simple, but if you’ve ever struggled to teach, you’ll understand.
A few hours later we’d arrived at the beach and the kids were all splashing and playing in the water. A girl picked up a handful of sand and said, “Colleen, this is parrotfish poop, right?” !!!!!!!! Yes, kid, yes. You got it. Parrotfish help produce a lot of the sand on our beaches because when they eat the algae off the corals, they also chew up and ingest coral fragments, which they defecate as the sand….the sand that attracts the millions of tourists here.
So, poco a poco, kids are learning. But I think I am learning more.